Kinky Friedman

Billy Joe Shaver at Discovery Green, 5/30/2013

Billy Joe Shaver Discovery Green May 30, 2013 As the saying goes, Billy Joe Shaver is the kind of character who, if he didn't already exist, someone would have had to make him up. Was that Larry McMurtry? Kinky Friedman? Willie Nelson? Doesn't matter, really. Shaver, the old five and dimer 73 year ... More >>

Houston Bands Prepare to Invade SXSW

Starting this coming weekend, a slew (yes, a slew) of Houston bands will be invading Austin to take part in SXSW's official and unofficial revelry. Grandfather Child, Electric Attitude, Something Fierce, Bagheera and many others will be playing free day parties, showcases and pop-up festivals. Rec ... More >>

Coming Next Week: The Texas 30

One day this summer, it must have been, a certain Mr. Craig Hlavaty brought a book he had found at a Houston-area thrift shop called (the) Genuine Texas Handbook into the office. This book is about everything you ever loved about Texas in the early '80s condensed into 200-something pages -- big hair ... More >>

Upcoming: Willie Nelson, Local Natives, Fun., The Manichean, Taj Mahal, etc.

Al Stewart: Fri., Nov. 16, 8:30 p.m., $58-$98. Dosey Doe, 25911 I-45 N., Spring. Alejandro Escovedo: Fri., Nov. 2, 8:30 p.m., $28. Dosey Doe Music Cafe, 463 FM Road 1488, Conroe. Alex Cuba: Fri., Nov. 16, 7:30 p.m., $15/$16. McGonigel's Mucky Duck, 2425 Norfolk, Houston. Angelspit, Myparasites, C ... More >>

iFest's Jesse Dayton: "I'm Ready To Throw Down"

The last time Rocks Off caught up with Jesse Dayton, he was up to his eyeballs in alligators with his film project Zombex, working on an album of Kinky Friedman cover songs, and playing Kinky for a bunch of New York art types in Marfa. One of the hustling-est hustlers in show business, Dayton has pl ... More >>

Distant Early Warning: Kenny Rogers, Ting Tings, Helstar, Styx, Yann Tierson

​The Bad Plus: Sat., May 5. Da Camera, 1427 Branard St., Houston. Colin Hay: Wed., March 21. Dosey Doe Coffee Company, 25911 I-45 N., Spring. D.R.I., Carry The Storm, Fallacy: Sat., March 10. Scout Bar Clear Lake, 18307 Egret Bay Blvd., Houston. Eastern Sea, Darwin's Finches: Sat., Jan. 14. ... More >>

The Wylie Llama for President

The singer-songwriter on ­Michelle Bachmann, seceding from the Union, big hair and wild hogs.

RIP Joe Gracey, Austin Media Giant

​Another Austin music legend, Joe Gracey, passed away this morning of cancer complications. He was 61. When Lonesome, Onry and Mean arrived in Austin in June, 1973 after having worked in radio in West Texas, Gracey immediately became our hero. A disc jockey at the notorious KOKE-FM, Gracey an ... More >>

Upcoming: Big & Rich, Kinky Friedman, Lemonheads, Young Jeezy, Etc.

​The '71s, Otenki, El Bodo: Sun., Nov. 13. Scout Bar Clear Lake. The Adicts: Fri., Feb. 3. House of Blues. Big & Rich, Gretchen Wilson: Thu., Dec. 8. Nutty Jerry's (Winnie).

The Prince of Skull Orchard

Artistic polymath Jon Langford is still a Leeds art-school punk at heart.

Jesse Dayton's "Fans": Singer Is "Faggy," "Douchebag"

​Jesse Dayton is learning the joys of Facebook. The ex-Houston honky-tonker and Rob Zombie rockabilly muse, who plays the Armadillo Palace February 26 and Conroe's Texas Independence Day Festival March 5, took to YouTube Tuesday to explain why he had to start a new fan page. Not only had his ... More >>

Bob Dylan Rolls With The Thunder In Shelter From The Storm

Shelter from the Storm: Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Years By Sid Griffin ​Of the many different periods in the career of Bob Dylan, the years 1975-76 were particularly productive on a variety of fronts: the recording of Desire, two Rolling Thunder Revue tours, filming of Renaldo & Clara, and ... More >>

R.I.P Former Sugar Hill Studios Chief Engineer Mickey Moody

Courtesy of Sugar Hill StudiosLeft-right: Huey P. Meaux, Leo O'Neil and Mickey Moody​ Former Sugar Hill Studios engineer Mickey Moody, who - unlike his boss Huey P. Meaux - was a quiet, behind-the-scenes man, died in Fort Worth over the weekend. Moody, chief engineer and right-hand man during Meau ... More >>

Distant Early Warning: Carrie Underwood, Eric Benet, Kinky Friedman, Muse, Rogue Wave, Supersuckers, etc.

​The Audition, Sparks The Rescue, The Right Coast: Thu., Jan. 28. Meridian. The Bellamy Brothers: Thu., Feb. 4. The Firehouse Saloon. The Black Dahlia Murder, Obscura, Augury: Mon., March 1. Meridian. Carrie Underwood: Mon., May 10. Ford Pavilion (Beaumont). Citizen Cope: Sat., March 13. House of ... More >>

The Tug of War

Rick Perry and Kay Bailey Hutchison are locked in a pitched battle over the soul of the GOP. They are also running for governor.

Ghosts of Washington Avenue

Noise goes whistling through the scenester artery's music venue graveyard.

Lonesome Onry and Mean: A Brief Chat With Mickey Clark

Unless you were around here almost 30 years ago and traveling in the music scene, Mickey Clark probably means nothing to you. But the inside liner sleeve on Clark's new album, Winding Highways, is the Anderson Fair music calendar for March 1980. Nanci Griffith and John Grimaudo both had two-day ... More >>

Lonesome Onry and Mean Extra: Billy Joe Shaver Indicted for Aggravated Assault

Playing Pretend: Local Sports Media Figures as Political Pundits

Taking Liberty's at Fitzgerald’s

Cowboys Are Frequently, Not-So-Secretly Fond of Each Other

Stealing the Show

New Orleans musicians blew into Houston on Katrina's winds and everything was magic for a while

Voter Fraud

Barry Levinson wags the dog again, but his bark is worse than his bite

The Edge of the Spotlight

Trouble for "Texas Troubadour" Chris Knudson

Chris Bell Is In Your Extended Network (?)

Losers Win

Changes in Attitude

When voters elected Martha Wong, they thought they were sending a moderate Republican to Austin. Critics say once there, she took a right turn. Now her district is rethinking its representation.

Online Confessions

An alleged killer bares all on MySpace

Surls's World

A seminal local arts icon and teacher shows his work at Blaffer Gallery

Christmas in July

Six dozen of Houston's finest bands for a mere $7

Book 'Em

Among musicians, everyone wants to become an author

Truth Be Told

Lee Roy Parnell finds his roots everywhere but Nashville

World Class?

Houston can't join the ranks of other cities until it has an anthem of its own

Dish

Rotation

Press Picks

Going One-On-One With God

Illuminati muses on the Almighty and basketball, with mixed results

Simple Wonders

A mean cook shines through Shug's unlikely facade