Nick Lowe

A Little Too Ironic

Lomax’s Weekend Round-Up

John Royal's Astros Recap. In Song.

Lonesome Onry and Mean: Only a Week Until Robert Plant/Allison Krauss

Black October, Set to Music

Local Music Reviewed

Ashbury Keys

Hiatt Regency

Spend a few stolen moments in the grand hotel of songwriters -- a perfectly good performer lives there too. Plus: The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion.

Elvis and Other Attractions

Spend a few stolen moments in the grand hotel of songwriters -- a perfectly good performer lives there too. Plus: The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion.

Rotations

Spend a few stolen moments in the grand hotel of songwriters -- a perfectly good performer lives there too. Plus: The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion.

Keeping His Cool

Nick the Knife's regained his edge, and the world's a better place for it

The Country of Rock and Roll

From the ashes of Uncle Tupelo springs Wilco, genreless and great

Rotation

From the ashes of Uncle Tupelo springs Wilco, genreless and great

Rotation

From the ashes of Uncle Tupelo springs Wilco, genreless and great

Wanted Man

Johnny Cash may just be a legend, but he's never sounded better

Sound Check

Johnny Cash may just be a legend, but he's never sounded better

Rotation

Johnny Cash may just be a legend, but he's never sounded better

Last Man Standing

Kim Wilson is the sole T-Bird on the band's best release in years. But is anyone listening?

Rotation

Kim Wilson is the sole T-Bird on the band's best release in years. But is anyone listening?

Freddie Krc

Kim Wilson is the sole T-Bird on the band's best release in years. But is anyone listening?

Noise's Handy Holiday Local-Music Gift Guide

Kim Wilson is the sole T-Bird on the band's best release in years. But is anyone listening?

Fill 'Er Up

Ten-gallon hats and ten-gallon gas tanks come to mind when BR5-49 plays

Local Motion

Ten-gallon hats and ten-gallon gas tanks come to mind when BR5-49 plays

Pure Spunk

Del Rio-bred Radney Foster is a cowpunk both on stage and off

Seth Walker: Leap of Faith

Del Rio-bred Radney Foster is a cowpunk both on stage and off

Bill Kirchen

Hammer of the Honky-Tonk Gods

The High Score

We Showed Up to Leave

Overlooked in '05

Ten great discs that were underserved by the media but are more than worthy

David Holt

Perpetual Motion (Blue Corn)

Sleepy Labeef

Friday, April 2

The Proclaimers

Born Innocent (Persevere Records)

The Gift Of Music

2001’s top ten picks

What's So Funny 'Bout Burt Bacharach?

2001’s top ten picks

Lonesome Onry and Mean: How Much Does Nick Lowe Rule?

I first heard Nick Lowe - and Stiff Records mates Dave Edmunds, Wreckless Eric, Ian Dury and Elvis Costello - when I lived in Europe in 1977. That Live Stiffs album not only saw me through a stint in northern Europe, it stayed with me for seven more years as I criss-crossed Asia with a Sony Walkman ... More >>

Aftermath: The Krayolas at Cactus Music

Photos by Chris Gray The coolest band in Houston this weekend couldn't find a club or venue to play. Not at night, anyway - San Antonio's the Krayolas did manage to play Dan Electro's during Saturday afternoon's live broadcast of KPFT's Joe's Roadhouse, and Cactus Music an hour or two thereafter. If ... More >>

Five Ways to Improve 107.5 the Eagle

Paging the Purple One... the Eagle Needs You!For Houston music commentators, picking on the sorry state of the city's commercial airwaves is even more fun than sportswriters must have making fun of the Astros. But on the rare occasion a new format does come along - even if it's hardly "new" - it sti ... More >>

Aftermath: Mike Stinson at Under the Volcano

Photos by Chris Gray​ At his first proper gig since relocating to Houston last month, suit-clad Mike Stinson raised the bar for honky-tonk around here a little. Maybe a lot. Joined by guitarist Lance Smith and Winfield Cheek on keyboards, steel and mandolin, Stinson sang his way through a jukebox ... More >>

Lonesome Onry and Mean: Jesse Winchester and Ian Hunter Prove 70 Is the New 30

Those of us who read Tom Friedman's July 28 New York Times column about 59 being the new 30 like it was a lost edition of the Dead Sea Scrolls should be cheered by the musical efforts of two 70-year-olds who just keep on keepin' on. So far this year, both Jesse Winchester and Ian Hunter have issued ... More >>

Aftermath: Taylor Hicks' Supper-Club Soul Patrol at Warehouse Live

Craig Hlavaty​Monday night's Taylor Hicks show left Aftermath with way more questions than answers, mostly of the existential variety rather than the musical. Our minds were blown, and not in the same "Oh man, I finally got to listen to Zaireeka the other night" kind of way that the Soul Patrol ma ... More >>

2009 Concert Rewind, June: Roky Erickson, David Byrne, Heartless Bastards, Santigold, Clapton & Winwood, the Jenny Lewis Shushing and '90s Alt-Rock Back from the Dead

Daniel Kramer​ New York Dolls, Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears, House of Blues, June 4: "What we got last night at the House of Blues was an hour-long set of sporadic and confounding re-workings of their bedrock material, and a whole helluva lot of middle-of-the-road bar rock from two dimming ... More >>

Bros Before Hos: Tales From The Wedding-Band Front Lines

Courtesy Allen Hill EntertainmentAllen Hill (left) would rather not play "Take a Letter, Maria" at weddings, but he will.​ Sting once stated in an interview about The Police's trademark song "Every Breath You Take" that he was bewildered by the tune's popularity at weddings. It is, after all, a so ... More >>

Eight Songs That Make Us Want To Go Back To School

​Last week, when Rocks Off was editing our former intern Matthew Keever's article about the worst back-to-school soundtracks when Jerry Lee Lewis' "High School Confidential" popped into our head out of the blue. Not really out of the blue, we guess, but the next thing we knew we were thinking, ... More >>

Jesse Dayton & Friends Silence Old Quarter Cafe

Photos by Roger Reed/FacebookL-R: Brennen Leigh, Jesse Dayton and Mike Stinson before a hushed Old Quarter crowd.​Aftermath is so busy in the city, we don't get down to Wrecks Bell's Old Quarter Acoustic Café in Galveston enough. But we caught a free ride down Saturday and rectified that situ ... More >>

Out Today: Other Things Besides Born This Way... Seriously

​This past weekend was magical, what with Rocks Off finally getting to see Foo Fighters play songs from Wasting Light and all. You may remember that we have been wanking over Light since it came out in April, but it's really good. Best rock album of the year? Maybe, unless Jack White or Josh H ... More >>

Joe "King" Carrasco & the Crowns

​This past weekend was magical, what with Rocks Off finally getting to see Foo Fighters play songs from Wasting Light and all. You may remember that we have been wanking over Light since it came out in April, but it's really good. Best rock album of the year? Maybe, unless Jack White or Josh H ... More >>

Best Riffs Only: Krayolas Going For Tex-Mex Rock & Roll Master's

​Krayolas drummer David Saldana is not your average power pop rock and roller. While his resuscitated band continues to draw gobs of press and is grabbing some high profile gigs, Saldana's life is taking him in another direction. "I'm actually getting my Masters in education so I can be a pri ... More >>

Buddy Holly Raves On Into 21st Century

​Lonesome Onry and Mean's buddy doesn't like the new tribute to Buddy Holly, Rave On, which features a major-league lineup of artists ranging from Sir Paul McCartney, Lou Reed, Patti Smith, and Graham Nash to youngsters like Modest Mouse, My Morning Jacket, Black Keys and the unlikely inclusio ... More >>

The Funky Chicken: Good Stuff in the Mailbox

Yeah, it's like that.​Once again our mailbox has filled to overflowing with CDs (and zip files). The desk looks like a Three Mile Island nuclear meltdown of jewel cases, and the entire room is littered with (largely unread) piles of hype-and-tout. And while much of what comes over the transom ... More >>