Justin Townes Earle

Seven Recent Albums By '60s Artists That Don't Suck

Age gets us all eventually. I'm only in my early twenties and already I'm having to do stupid things like eating healthier, quitting the smokes, and watching my blood pressure. So it really shouldn't come as any surprise that musicians start to slow down in their old age, especially if they've been ... More >>

Seven Spring Music Festivals In Texas That Beat Staying Home

SXSW is officially over, thank the sweet baby Jesus. Now music fans have already begun to fan out to the four winds, seeking sunshine, swimsuits, alcohol, easy hookups and all the tunes they can handle until it gets ridiculously hot. Texans: you have about three hours. It's already begun over in Mi ... More >>

Wanda Jackson

Shot In The Dark: Angels & A-Holes

When you're in the photo pit taking pictures for a publication such as Rocks Off, you can become the unwanted center of attention from both the audience and especially the artists. Most of the time you are only a few feet away from the performer, and often in their direct line of sight. They can and ... More >>

Justin Townes Earle

Chris Gray Day: A Few Auction Item Photos

On Saturday, there will be some amazing bands at Chris Gray Day, which is completely appropriate when you consider who this is for. There is also the whole "let's raise some money for Chris Gray" thing. Really, this should be enough for you to want to show up and spend some cash. But, yesterday whe ... More >>

Old Man: A Happy Birthday Randy Newman Playlist

Photo By Jim BrickerRandy Newman at ACL '11 back in September. ​Mr. Randy Newman, who turns 68 years old today, turned in one of the best and our most most favorite sets of this year's Austin City Limits Music Festival. In a festival littered with Kanye West, Coldplay, and Skrillex, Newman's s ... More >>

10 Things You Need To Grab At Black Friday Record Store Day

While your other shopping contemporaries are slashing each others' throats at Walmart and Best Buy for $20 plasma televisions and six Blu-Ray players for $5 on Black Friday next week, why not sleep in and head up to your favorite local record store and fight other music nerds for limited edition vin ... More >>

Bayou Country

Mike Stinson has a thing for his adopted hometown.

Nick 13

Dex Romweber Duo

On The Road Again: Bikinis And Bands At The Hangout Festival

Photos by Craig Hlavaty Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters, duh.​See the bands and bikinis of the Hangout Festival in our slideshows. Imagine the Austin City Limits Music Festival or even the rapidly approaching Free Press Summer Fest on pure, white sand just feet away from a (variably) blue ocea ... More >>

Crazy In Alabama: Hangout Festival Preview

jambase.com​This weekend this member of Rocks Off is heading to Gulf Shores, Alabama, for the Hangout Festival on the beach. Well, hopefully, considering the drive may take us through some rough waters due to the flooding in the deep South. Let us pray... Anyhow, this is the second year for H ... More >>

New Music Releases April 5: Leon Russell, Robbie Robertson, The Ravonettes, The Kills, Etc.

​Last week brought new releases from Britney Spears, Radiohead, and a few Pearl Jam re-issues hitting store shelves amid reports that the industry was finally starting to see some improvement. Spears' Femme Fatale is currently projected to enter the top spot of the Billboard 200 chart with sal ... More >>

March Madness

At SXSW 2011, almost everything that could go wrong did — except the music.

SXSW: The 10 Best Of The Fest This Year

Photos by Craig Hlavaty​

SXSW Find: Valerie June At The 18th Floor Hilton Garden Inn

Craig Hlavaty​ Each year at SXSW there are certain artists that you find either by sticking around after the artist you came for, or coming to the venue early, for said artist you came for. Memphis' Valerie June is our first and best find so far this year, coming directly after Buxton at the 1 ... More >>

Balaclavas, Moccs, Fat Tony Place In Pazz & Jop Poll

Show of hands, everyone who is surprised this is No. 1.​Music writers all know that once they get their Village Voice Pazz & Jop ballot in their e-mail inbox, that it's time to tally their loves from the last year. It's sort of like the leaves changing or the first freeze of winter coming. You ... More >>

Last Night: Justin Townes Earle At Fitzgerald's

Photos by Jim Bricker​Justin Townes Earle Fitzgerald's December 2, 2010 It's been a tumultuous year for folk-rocker Justin Townes Earle. Lucky for him, we're fast approaching year's end. This fall the Nashville native and recently settled New Yorker released his third album Harlem River Blues ... More >>

In Case You Got Stoned And You Missed It...

​It's Friday, it's time to party, but in case you're futzing around the Internet this weekend sometime, here's Rocks Off's week in one easy post. NEWS We don't know how you could have missed this one, but almost exactly one week ago, Willie Nelson got busted. (Since he wrote "Me & Paul," we ... More >>

Justin Townes Earle

Justin Townes Earle's Musical Family Tree

credJustin Townes Earle at Warehouse Live, May 2009​Tonight Justin Townes Earle headlines Fitzgerald's with Caitlin Rose in tow. For the past three years, Earle has been making believers out of most every audience he has come across, either converting the uninitiated or further leading his dev ... More >>

Springsteen 2.0: Can Baby Bosses Cruise The Backstreets?

Daniel Kramer​This fall, Houstonians salivating for another touring run by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band don't have to search to hard to find bands heavily influenced by the man's sound and work ethic. Even though Springsteen and his merry band of musicians may be cooling their road ... More >>

Rocks Off's Top 10 Favorite Story-Songs

​The Internet wants to kill Gordon Lightfoot - back in February, someone started a rumor that the Canadian troubadour was dead. Of course it started on Twitter, of all places, where an offhand remark about a celebrity death will be held as fact. Hell, the other night we killed Tim Allen and To ... More >>

Steve Earle Emmy-Nominated For Treme Song

​Steve Earle, one of Houston's favorite musical sons, was nominated for an Emmy today for his song "This City," featured in the recent season finale of the HBO series Treme. Earle, who recently touted Houston's rich history and musical assets on an episode of NPR's World Cafe, wrote "This Ci ... More >>

Treme: Getting The Tribe Back Together

Hamsterdam: Treme gets a few Wire shoutouts.​This was the most Wire-heavy episode of Treme yet. We've already got Wendell Pierce and Clarke Peters in major roles, but this ep was packed with shout-outs to David Simon's former series. One of Sonny's buddies mispronounced Amsterdam as "Hamsterda ... More >>

Treme: Getting The Tribe Back Together

Hamsterdam: Treme gets a few Wire shoutouts.​This was the most Wire-heavy episode of Treme yet. We've already got Wendell Pierce and Clarke Peters in major roles, but this ep was packed with shout-outs to David Simon's former series. One of Sonny's buddies mispronounced Amsterdam as "Hamsterda ... More >>

SXSW Aftermath: A Night Of Ecstatic Peace, White Mice And Courtney Love Singing The Blues

Photos by Craig HlavatyBlack Helicopter​Rocks Off Jr.'s fourth night of SXSW frolicking starting off groggily as we woke from a well-needed nap after what has seemed like a month now pounding the pavements of Austin, seeking out new music from club to club like soldiers kicking in doors in Iraq lo ... More >>

Back To The Future: The Path Of Joe Pug

​ As the Houston SXSW spillover begins to permeate our bars and clubs, we find ourselves inundated with talent. Sunday, Joe Pug and Horse Feathers set up shop at Mango's for a show that is sure to quench anyone's Americana thirst. ​We first got hipped to Joe Pug while we were interviewing Justin ... More >>

Still Not Sold On SXSW? How About Smokey Robinson, High On Fire, She & Him, Band Of Horses, Drive-By Truckers, Deer Tick, Anya Marina, Black Angels, Major Lazer...

Today the organizers of the SXSW Music Festival announced their showcase schedule for the music portion of the industry fest starting on March 17. This is the news Rocks Off has been looking for, so let's get it on. We are now one month away from Sixth Street and one of the world's biggest conglome ... More >>

SXSW Update: Anybody Remember The Zeros? Lemmy, Maybe?

Have you ever been to a party or bar with about 30 or so acquaintances that you all know to some degree or another? You want to try to talk to all of them, or at least hug and say hello. But you can't because the party just gets louder and louder, drinks start flowing and people are just running ar ... 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 >>

He Said She Said: Albums From the Past Decade of Our Lives

​When this decade began, He Said was but 15 years old, bored, jobless and chubby. It ends with him 26, overworked, overstimulated and chasing away his self-imposed demons with too much of everything and too little of most things. But the one constant has been the power of music to lead him out of ... More >>

Aftermath: Deer Tick Remembers Lightnin' Hopkins - Do You? - at Warehouse Live

Photos by Eggs/ breakfastontour.com​ Deer Tick's set Sunday night at Warehouse Live, opening for the lovely and photo-shy Neko Case, was the perfect capper to a weekend that saw us become sleep-challenged conspiracy hounds and road-weary travelers all within the span of a day. Too bad that the ban ... More >>

Distant Early Warning: 30FootFall, Agnostic Front, Dropkick Murphys, George Thorogood, Joe Ely, Slayer, etc.

​30FootFall: Fri., Dec. 25. Fitzgerald's. Agnostic Front, Death By Stereo: Sun., Jan. 24. Walter's on Washington. American Sharks, The Watermarks: Wed., Nov. 25. Boondocks. Band of Heathens: Fri., Dec. 11. Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe. Basses Loaded, Springfield Riots, Nosaprise: Fri., Nov. 27, 8 p. ... More >>

Aftermath: Justin Townes Earle, Gaining on His Dad and Lightnin' Hopkins at House of Blues

Photos by Craig Hlavaty​ It seems every time Aftermath encounters Justin Townes Earle live, the guy has peeled another layer off himself revealing another astounding bit of his promise. Barely three years into his career, Earle is seemingly moving at an accelerated rate, even if the casual listene ... More >>

Lonesome Onry and Mean: The Pogues' "Fairytale of New York" and the Tragic Ballad of Kirsty MacColl

Lonesome, Onry and Mean has never hidden our distaste for Christmas music. So if we were ever called on to choose our favorite Christmas song, the Pogues' "Fairytale of New York" would win hands down. We can still remember the day - we were still Pogues virgins - when the lyrics, waffling between a ... More >>

The Pogues' Rum, Sodomy & the Lash Answers Famous Musical Questions

​Dear Rum, Sodomy & the Lash, Who wrote the book of love? - The Monotones, Newark, NJ Dear Monotones, I'm going to make me a big sharp axe, shining steel-tempered in the fire. I'll chop you down like an old dead tree. Dirty old town, dirty old town. Dear Rum, Sodomy & the Lash, Why do fool ... More >>

No, We Haven't Forgotten About That Other Guy Playing House of Blues Thursday

​Amidst all the rum, sodomy, and lashing going on this week about the Pogues hitting House of Blues Thursday, it's easy to forget that they have a pretty stellar opener warming up the crowd. Hmm, kinda reminds us of another Irish band that brought a really kick-ass young band with them a few weeks ... More >>

Aftermath: Kevin Welch and Dustin Welch at McGonigel's Mucky Duck

Photos by Harley C. Pitts This was not the usual Mucky Duck opener, some member of the street team with a guitar and a desire to hang with rock stars. Dustin (son of Kevin) Welch stunned the sparse crowd at the Duck last night from the first note of "One False Move," the brilliant opener to his n ... More >>

SXSW: Justin Townes Earle at SESAC Lounge in Austin Convention Center

Justin Townes Earle ran through a short set on Thursday of new material from his recent Midnight At The Movies album.

Justin Townes Earle: Midnight at the Movies

How About Some SXSW Day Parties? A LOT of SXSW Day Parties?

We here at Rocks Off are only about a week away from chafed inner thighs, weird Japanese punk bands puking in hotel pools and sweating out our morning mojitos while walking to an art space off 4th Street. South By Southwest is now only a week away. It was all fun and games in December when we w ... More >>

Can't Get It Out of My Head: Kleenex-Core with Justin Townes Earle's "Mama's Eyes"

I will be the first to admit that when it comes to music, I get misty at points. I guess it's the sentiment of a song, if it lines up with something that I could never intimate to someone else. Love, death, remorse, all the biggies that get that lacrimal gland going in our everyday lives. I have ev ... More >>

SXSW Update: Watch Out for Devo; Peter, Bjorn & John; Justin Townes Earle; Hungry Villagers and More

Devo on the BBC's Top of the Pops 2 With the big bad final band announcement coming next week, all is quiet on the SXSW front. For now. This past week was slow, with the biggest names confirmed being Devo, Cursive, Peter, Bjorn & John, and Justin Townes Earle. Devo will be clos ... More >>

Lonesome Onry and Mean: Miss Leslie Takes Top Honors in Freeform Americana Radio Awards

Miss Leslie and Her Juke-Jointers, "Yes Ma'am" Houston's own Miss Leslie Sloan of Miss Leslie and Her Jukejointers was tipped for a slew of honors in the most recent Best of 2008 voting by FAR (Freeform Americana Radio) members. She was voted Female Artist of the Year over Eliza Gilkyson and C ... More >>

New Year's Resolutions from a Few Big Musical Names

Fine in '09

Aftermath: Justin Townes Earle at McGonigel's Mucky Duck

Justin Townes Earle at Tuesday's Cactus Music in-store Photos by Craig Hlavaty Nothing could really ruin a Justin Townes Earle show - not even the worst venue setup in town. That handsome, rail-thin cowboy owns the stage as if trying to transform you back to the days when hardened souls put on ... More >>

Tonight: Justin Townes Earle at McGonigel's Mucky Duck

Honky-tonk blues youngun Justin Townes Earle, 26, hits McGonigel's Mucky Duck tonight. Rocks Off called him up last week to ask about last year's first round of tours behind debut release The Good Life, his early hip-hop influences, his new record and how he'll handle a venue with no room to dance ... More >>

Justin Townes Earle