John Mellencamp

Acts You Shouldn't Miss at iFest's First Weekend

Rocks Off asked our staff members who will be covering the Houston International Festival for us this weekend to give us one or two choices for artists they don't want to miss. Forro In the Dark Bud Light World Music Stage, 2:30 p.m. Saturday/Center Stage, 6:30 p.m. Saturday As one of the first ac ... More >>

The 5 Best Shows In Houston This Week: December 3-6

Of Montreal, Wild Moccasins, French Horn Rebellion Warehouse Live, December 3 Of Montreal's sunny psych-pop brims with such starry-eyed youthful bliss that it might be a little sobering for aging hipsters to remember that Kevin Barnes' crew was once peers with Elf Power, Olivia Tremor Control and T ... More >>

Sex Expert Rachel Khona's Steamy Road-Sex Soundtrack

Nevermind the bushes, the parking garage, the vacant tollbooth, the Wendy's bathroom, the Walmart gardening center. I guess we've all been there, when the urge and vapors and blood flow gets to be so troublesome that we just gotta have sex in the car. It has to happen in the car. No exceptions. Th ... More >>

Pinot Grigio Nation

"Soon as we walk through the door," sang Mariah Carey in her 2008 hit, "Migrate," "Fellas be grabbin' at us like yo / Tryin' to get us going off the Patron / We sippin' Grigio... slow." These lines came to mind last night when the day's umpteenth press release caught my eye from an over-saturated i ... More >>

10 One-Hit Wonders Who Should Have Had More Success

One-hit wonders, in some ways, are more innovative than their legendary counterparts. Sometimes -- such as is the case with the Buggles -- they are too innovative. People are not ready for them, and musical trends may not be in their favor, whether they are innovative or passe. Anyway, here are te ... More >>

Texas Guitar Great David Grissom Digs Way Down Deep

David Grissom has a résumé that most guitarists can only dream of. From his early days with Hank III in Killbilly, Grissom went on to playing, along with Jimmy Pettit and Davis McLarty, for Joe Ely from 1985 to 1991. A hell-for-leather band that could hang with the Clash or just about anyone else, ... More >>

The American Bandstand (Extended) Hot 100

Somehow it's hard to believe that Dick Clark was only 82 years old when he died after suffering a "massive heart attack" Wednesday morning in Santa Monica, Calif. (Since I managed to survive one myself, I've noticed that anytime someone dies of a heart attack, it's always "massive."). Despite his yo ... More >>

Here's The Pitch: Top 10 Commercials Starring Musicians

Madonna's infamous "Like a Prayer" Pepsi ad, 1989​Every now and then, name-brand companies need a little extra pizzazz when it comes to advertising, and often they turn to the music world to do this. Either way, it's a win-win situation for both the artist and the company because the artist us ... More >>

1986: Best Musical Year Ever?

​For almost two weeks now, Rocks Off has been obsessed with the year exactly 25 flips of the calendar backward from this one. It started when Steve Earle did one of his "Time Machine" shows, where the singer-songwriter who plays House of Blues Wednesday spotlights a dozen or so of his favorite ... More >>

Billy Joel Safe At Home In Final Play At Shea

​Billy Joel Live at Shea Stadium: The Concert Sony Legacy, $13.98 While not a Queens-bred boy, what better choice for a musical performer to close out Shea before its demolition than Billy Joel? Filmed over two nights in July 2008, this 2-CD/1-DVD package offers a great overview of Joel's car ... More >>

Eight Songs For James Dean's 80th Birthday

​Had he lived, the original angsty hero, James Dean, would have been 80 years old today. Dean died in a violent September 1955 car crash, ending his film career after only three major roles. It only took three movies for the young man to become a brooding, enigmatic legend. Dean died just as ... More >>

Lonesome Onry And Mean's Top 11 Obscure 2010 Albums

​As per previous years, Lonesome Onry and Mean isn't going to bother with running down all this year's major-label releases. Ranking the relative merits of Lady Gaga, Carrie Underwood and Adam Lambert is the Houston Chronicle's job, we suppose. Seeing major players like Robert Plant, Bruce Sp ... More >>

Time Waster Tuesday -- NBA Superstars Videos (via YouTube)

"'Remember when' is the lowest form of conversation." -- Tony Soprano Tony was right, you never want to be "remember when" guy, and I try my best not to be. But the fact of the matter is, for many of us, what happened between the ages of 16 and 28 constitute the "good times." High school, maybe ... More >>

Upcoming: Buzzfestivus, John Mellencamp, Merle Haggard, Etc.

​Amplified Heat: Fri., Nov. 26. Rudyard's. Authority Zero: Thu., Dec. 2. Scout Bar Clear Lake. Belanova: Wed., Dec. 1. House of Blues. Born Liars, The Energy, The Mahas, Talk Sick Brats: Wed., Nov. 24. Rudyard's. "Buzzfestivus" with Smashing Pumpkins, Jimmy Eat World. Sun., Dec. 5. Verizo ... More >>

Happy Anniversary, Nirvana's Nevermind

​This past Friday, a significant musical anniversary came and went with barely a peep. It was only 19 years to the day the last album to cause a legitimate sea change in popular music - both the industry and the art - was released. Rocks Off knows that was a few days ago, but hey, we had a bus ... More >>

Mary Gauthier

Singer-songwriter revisits painful past .

Like James McMurtry? Michigan's Erik Koskinen Will Scratch That Same Itch

​ One of the biggest surprises of last week's SXSW fallout was young Erik Koskinen. Koskinen, originally from Michigan, drove down from Minneapolis to play guitar with Randy Weeks, and LOM met him at KPFT's 40th-anniversary soiree at the Mucky Duck. We've been listening to his new EP pretty much n ... More >>

The Musical Minds That Made Booker T The Soul Man He Is Today

​How good a musician is Booker T? Along with the rest of the MGs, the house band of seminal soul imprint Stax who had several instrumental hits of their own besides backing Stax's powerhouse roster (Rufus Thomas, Albert King, Sam & Dave, Otis Redding...) throughout the '60s, the Memphis-born m ... More >>

2009 Concert Rewind, August: Weezy, Blondie, Depeche Mode, JoBros, Katy Perry, Mos Def, De La Soul, Blue October, Green Day and an Audience With King George

Shea Serrano​ Asher Roth, Kid Cudi, House of Blues, August 1: "[Cudi has] tapped John Goldstein, Kanye's famed stage light guy, to help him create an actual feel to his show. Hipster rappers get derided a lot as not being "real rappers," but they put on a hell of a show. The crowd is already his." ... More >>

Big Willie Style: The Red Headed Stranger at the Movies

Honeysuckle Rose This weekend at the Woodlands comes one of the most prolific trios of artists to ever appear on the same bill. Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp converge on the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion for what looks to be one of those landmark shows people brag about catching, k ... More >>

Back to the Dead

Black Leather Jesus's Richard Ramirez resurrects the Dead Audio Music Festival.

Got Live If You Want It

Our Spring/Summer concert preview, part deux

Just How Texan are Hayes Carll and Miranda Lambert?

Nothing Happening Here: Protest Music, Then and Now

Roots Redux

Dan Colehour's Midwestern musings get their day in the Texas sun

A Thin Line...

Introducing the most hated men in rock (besides Sting)

Songs Of Freedom

Perhaps the candidates running in the 2004 election could use some help selecting their campaign music

Blame It on Braid

A reunion tour provides a rare peek at where this emo thing started

Soul Doubt

Louis Schwartzberg aims for America's Heart, but mostly sticks to the surface

Coal Miner's Brother

Chris Knight extracts songs from the same ravaged west Kentucky earth he once rehabilitated

Lucky Boy's Confusion

Ignoring hometown neglect, Mando Saenz signs a Nashville publishing deal and ponders his next move

War on War Songs

Iraq and roll don't go together well when rockers protest

The Enforcers

Unlicensed jukebox music may be the downfall of feisty Sassy's

Night & Day

July 1 - 7, 1999

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Static

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All That Glitters

Now that the hype is over, the Crystal Method just wants you to listen

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Sound Check

Regular Treat

Troubadour for a Lost Generation

Critic's Choice, The Road to Storyville

Ready to Rise

Raisin' Cain may give Jesse Dayton his long anticipated push into prominence

Heavenly Fire

Jason and the Scorchers reunite, and get hot in the process

Sounding Out Mary

Mary Karlzen doesn't want to be anyone but herself

Somber News from Nashville

Townes Van Zandt hospitalized with lung problems

Hot Sounds in the City

The 5th Annual Houston Press Music Awards

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