Jimmy Cliff

Buckwheat Zydeco

Promised Land

SXSW 2012, from Bruce Springsteen to Buxton.

SXSW: Echoes Of Festivals Past In A Vastly Different Landscape

The most telling, most poignant comment about SXSW 2012 came on Twitter. Texas Monthly music writer Jason Cohen tweeted something to the effect that watching the band with the current No. 1 song in the country -- in this case Brooklyn's fun., who plays Warehouse Live tomorrow and whose "We Are Young ... More >>

SXSW: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band Rock ACL Live

Bruce Springsteen's Thursday started with a keynote speech in one of the big ballrooms at the Austin Convention Center, and ended with a mythic three-hour set at ACL Live across town, in front of a few thousand people cooing "Bruce". The keynote and the show went hand in hand. If you weren't there ... More >>

SXSW: Tom Morello, A Vigilant And Emphatic Nightwatchman

Besides Music World Gospel, New West Records is probably the most locally connected sub-major record label, and owner/partial Houstonian George Fontaine has long worn his heart on his sleeve about local music in general and recent New West additions the Wild Moccasins, Robert Ellis, Buxton and Grand ... More >>

Alert: SXSW Coverage Ahead -- 50 Cent And Much More

"What I want from each and every one of you is a hard-target search of every gas station, residence, warehouse, farmhouse, henhouse, outhouse and doghouse in that area." -- Tommy Lee Jones, The Fugitive You don't have to spend much time at South By Southwest to know that all of the above building ... More >>

Finding Austin

The neo city on the hills is a far cry from its cheap pot, cold beer and low-rent former ways.

Friday Night: Sting At The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion

Photos by Groovehouse​Sting with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion June 25, 2010 "If you love somebody," Sting once sang, "set them free." Friday night at the Woodlands, he set a good two dozen of his songs free from their original arrangements, and set ... More >>

The Top 10 Music-Video Riots

From Agnostic Front's "Riot, Riot Upstart"​Just like the Stones said, "Summer's here and the time is right for fighting in the street, boy." Only the best social insurrections and riots happen in the heat of the summer. It makes us wonder why Houston hasn't had more angry, heat-stoked street ... More >>

Win A Pair Of Toots & The Maytals Tickets

Ed. Note: Rocks Off is giving away a pair of tickets to Toots & the Maytals at high noon on our Facebook page. Please add us here. ​If Toots Hibbert didn't actually give birth to reggae, he certainly dated the midwife. Hibbert's legacy traces itself to the earliest reggae recordings as ska slo ... More >>

Toots & the Maytals

Ed. Note: Rocks Off is giving away a pair of tickets to Toots & the Maytals at high noon on our Facebook page. Please add us here. ​If Toots Hibbert didn't actually give birth to reggae, he certainly dated the midwife. Hibbert's legacy traces itself to the earliest reggae recordings as ska slo ... More >>

Another Side - Several, Actually - of Willie Nelson

It's easy for older Willie Nelson fans to overlook his modern works, where he saw his influence dig out tributaries away from the safer riverbeds. In the past two decades, he has ventured out from his hearty country roots into reggae, spooky Daniel Lanois-produced noir, pop standards, Spanish-tinte ... More >>

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inducts Stooges; Rocks Off Team Member Faints In Disbelief

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced its Class of 2010 inductees Tuesday. Somehow, Jann Wenner and his cronies even managed to induct an actual rock band this year: streetwalkin' Detroit cheetahs Iggy & the Stooges - who, according to RRHOF rules (25 years after an artist's first recording ... More >>

Happy 4/20, Mon: Why Bob Marley Is Overrated

When the calendar hits April 20, thoughts turn to man's other best friend: the marijuana plant. Yes, along with copious amounts of Reese's Pieces and trips to the nearest Jack in the Box drive-thru, almost everyone agrees nothing goes better with the reefer than reggae. (Personally, give us Slee ... More >>

Willie Nelson: One Hell of a Ride

When the calendar hits April 20, thoughts turn to man's other best friend: the marijuana plant. Yes, along with copious amounts of Reese's Pieces and trips to the nearest Jack in the Box drive-thru, almost everyone agrees nothing goes better with the reefer than reggae. (Personally, give us Slee ... More >>

Strikes and Spares

Original punk Richard Tomcala rejoins the nightlife fray; also, Greg Wood's new crib bowls us over

Gilberto Gil and Milton Nascimento

Gil & Milton (WEA)

Ska Fathers

When searching for the source of the Jamaican sound, look no further than the Skatalites

Wong's War on a Reggae Club

Are the problems traffic and parking, or just the color of the customers?

In the Clear

Are the problems traffic and parking, or just the color of the customers?

Rotation

Are the problems traffic and parking, or just the color of the customers?

Rotation

Are the problems traffic and parking, or just the color of the customers?