Hank Williams

Exploring Songza: Four Offbeat Playlists From the Curated Music Service

We introduced you to Songza -- the service that acts as a "music concierge" -- a few weeks back. Using curated playlists sorted not only by genre and theme, but also by activity, Songza helps you pick the best songs for the occasion. More importantly to me, the playlists are expertly curated, mean ... More >>

The 30 Best Texas Albums

Ranking the 30 best Texas albums of the past 30 years seemed like an impossible task. We did it anyway.

Who Should Play RodeoHouston In 2013?

On October 30, just a few days from now, RodeoHouston will announce its first round of performers for the 2013 edition of the star-studded, yeehawin', nearly three-week event at Reliant Park. The booking the last few years has been getting more adventurous, with the likes of Kid Rock, KISS, Mary J. ... More >>

Notes on Nashville: The Finer Points of Sex and "Songwriting"

There's a saying in the music business that you have your whole life to make your first album, and a few months to make your next one. The second episode of a new TV show isn't quite the same thing (production schedule, for one), but it is just as useful for potential fans to decide whether or not t ... More >>

Guess the Country Star by Only His Cowboy Hat

You'll ride a black tornado cross't the western skies Rope an ole blue norther, milk it till it's dry Bull dawg the Mississippi, pin it's ears down flat Long before you take this cowboy's hat. -- Chris Ledoux, "This Cowboy's Hat" A popular saying in Texas goes that a man who talks a good game but ... More >>

The Perfect Soundtrack To Your Next Crawfish Boil

Crawfish boils have become a springtime ritual in Houston. At least once a season, it's an accepted necessity that we waste an entire day pinching tails, sucking heads and covering ourselves in spicy, stinky seafood slime. Finding the bugs typically isn't a problem -- you can hit up any number of r ... More >>

The Roots Of Jimbo Mathus: From Charley Patton To Charlie Parker

Jimbo Mathus's latest work, Confederate Buddha, was easily one of the most overlooked roots albums of 2011. Don't worry, we sort of slept through it too, but that just means you can make up for that with us by checking him out Saturday night at the Continental Club, with opening act Shinyribs. You ... More >>

Who Are You? Songs Commonly Attributed To The Wrong Artists

​Last week, after the tragic, alcohol-fueled passing of Jackass hero Ryan Dunn, Rocks Off at Taco Cabana wearing a promotional shirt for The Hangover II that we stole borrowed from the office here at the Press. As we were loading our hands with condiment containers, a guy came up to us and sai ... More >>

My Head Hurts, My Feet Stink: Five Songs For A Hangover

funny.desivalley.com​Every now and then after a night out, Lonesome, Onry and Mean's head feels like it's been in a fight with some guy who owns a nail gun. While we may no longer be on a regular first-name basis with morning - nor, by way of waiver, are we particularly prone to over-serving o ... More >>

Carrie Rodriguez

Wrong Number

Houston's Miss Leslie dials up more honky-tonk homilies on her new CD.

Magnolia City Mixtape: All The Scoop In One Fell Swoop... ACL Starts Us Off

Mark C. AustinWe sure hope this doesn't happen two years in a row at ACL.​ Austin City Limits will be October 8-10 this year, and MCM expects the line-up to be released in the next month or so. You can sign up for the e-list to get first notice of who's playing. If your profile is updated by today ... More >>

Aftermath: Willie Nelson and an Arena Theatre Audience Apparently Raised In a Barn

Photos by Jason Wolter​ Congratulations, Houston music fans! We are barely a week into the new year, and you already proven to Aftermath that our dreams and hopes for a new decade of change and decorum during live shows was just that: A wish that will never come to fruition, right up there with ho ... More >>

American Central Dust: The Americana Class of 2009, Part 2

​5. Great Lake Swimmers, Lost Channels (Nettwerk) Great Lake Swimmers frontman Tony Dekker has written his fair share of heartbreaking, reverb-soaked ballads in the past, but Lost Channels finds him and his band also dabbling in Waterboys-style folk rock. What results is the Swimmers' most varied ... More >>

Wednesdays are Honky-Tonk Heaven In Houston, and Thursdays are Hillbilly Hell

Photos by Chris GrayRobert Ellis & the Boys, under the blue neon​ It's no secret Rocks Off is a big fan of the country music, which is why we're starting to get a little excited about the inner-loop honky-tonk scene that's taking root. Over the weekend, we caught Sean Reefer & the Resin Va ... More >>

Lonesome Onry and Mean: Our Pal Arty Hill Picks His Favorite Songs About Drunk Women

Arty Hill is a Baltimore, Md., honky-tonker who has been playing regularly in Austin the past couple of years. He also reads Lonesome Onry and Mean's blog religiously and has already penned a couple of new songs based on the goings-on in these pages. He recently contacted LOM about Mike Stinson's l ... More >>

George Strait Week, Part 2: Cajun George

After Tuesday's look at the shockingly Morrissey-like sentiments of the many George Strait songs where his love interest is either already gone or on her way out the door, Rocks Off thought today we'd take a look at a much happier - and, it should be said, significantly smaller - subcategory of Kin ... More >>

Burnin' for You

Heartless Bastards: The Mountain

Don't Stop Believin'

Remembering Martin Luther King Jr. in Song

In the Name of Love

Aftermath: The Magpies and Sideshow Tramps at the Continental Club

Photos by Chris Gray It didn't look good at the beginning. A few minutes after 9 p.m. Wednesday, the posted start time for visiting Cleveland roots-rockers the Magpies, the "count" at the Continental Club front door was all of 16 paying customers, and the band was nowhere in sight. Two chicken t ... More >>

Beyonce and Luke the Drifter

Because her public appearances are stage-managed to the hilt, and otherwise she generally stays out of trouble (or out of sight altogether), Beyonce is of constant interest but limited use to gotcha!-media outlets like TMZ. "It's hard to imagine Beyonce scratching an itch without undergoing a litt ... More >>

Me and Mr. Jones

A Review of Sing Me Back Home: Love, Death, and Country Music by Dana Jennings

Dr. Roger Wood's Matagorda Island Discs

Sunday Afternoon: Ramsay Midwood at Under the Volcano

Honeydripper Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Flying Burrito Brothers: Live at the Avalon Ballroom 1969

Charlie Louvin

Max Stalling, blacktopGYPSY

Fuck-off Friday: It’s Too Hot to Work Anyway

Diana Jones

Diana Jones will be performing Thursday, May 17, at Mojo Risin' Coffee Shop, 1600 Shepherd, 713-426-1505

Starry Lullabye

Ailing Houston-area native David Schnaufer has taken the Appalachian dulcimer to the mountaintop

C.J. Chenier

C.J. Chenier appears as part of the Accordion Music Festival on Saturday, June 3, at Miller Outdoor Theatre, 100 Concert Drive, 713-284-8350

James Hand

Friday, May 5, at Blanco's, 3406 West Alabama, 713-439-0072

Greg Trooper

Saturday, April 30, at McGonigel's Mucky Duck, 2425 Norfolk, 713-528-5999.

Rotation

Rotation

Wigged Gigs

A selection of some of the wildest, weirdest, and most dangerous bands and shows in Houston history

Greg Ashley

Medicine Fuck Dream (Birdman)

West Virginia Wild Man

Though he loves to salute them in songs, chickens aren't all that's on the Hasil Adkins diet

Superjoint Ritual

Saturday, June 29

Norah Jones

Wednesday, March 27

Truth Be Told

Lee Roy Parnell finds his roots everywhere but Nashville

Urbane Cowboy

Lyle Lovett is smart, funny and wears Armani. That's right: He is from Texas.

Under(ground) Achievers

Can Nashville's creative underbelly save country from Music Row?

Honky-Tonk History

He had 78 hits over 50 years and revolutionized country music. Now, Hank Thompson gets a new green light.

Hats Off

Dwight Yoakam's the last great country singer -- and he doesn't need a twang to prove it

Vintage Sounds

Wayne Hancock is a new-fashioned guy with old-fashioned desires