Reba McEntire

Last Night: George Strait at Reliant Stadium

George Strait Reliant Stadium March 17, 2013 Sunday night, George Strait wrangled 80,020 fans into Reliant Stadium for what is surely to be just one of his first "farewell" shows here in Houston. This glut of country fans -- only few thousand short of the total population of Santa Monica, Californi ... More >>

Bizarre Acting Roles by 20 Famous Musicians

It's a toss-up whether actors or musicians will go to greater lengths to make rent, but some musicians have even found themselves so hard up they've been forced to take an acting gig. Such is the case with the haystack-sized Sleepy LaBeef, who in 1968's The Exotic Ones appeared as the "Swamp Monster ... More >>

The 12 Days Of Christmas, Houston Texans Style on 12/12/12

Well, Monday night wasn't very much fun. Patriots 42, Texans 14. As bad as it must have been for all of you who had to watch the Texans lay an egg on the big stage from the comfort of your living rooms, I had to go through the pain of the live Chowd audience, complete with all of their Marty's and ... More >>

Bon Iver, Hipster Doofus

UPDATED: Memorable Houston Concerts of 1992

UPDATE (2:03 p.m.): Alice In Chains was advertised but dropped out, and was replaced with Australia's Baby Animals. The year 1992 was an important one for me as far as Houston concerts are concerned: It's the first time I went to a concert within the Houston city limits, the "Outside Broadcast" leg ... More >>

The Cowboy Prepares to Ride Away: George Strait Announces His Touring Retirement

Today country legend George Strait -- King George around these parts -- announced during a live YouTube broadcast from Nashville's Country Music Hall of Fame that he is hanging up his touring boots and saddle after decades on the road. Strait is still slated to close out RodeoHouston's 2013 seaso ... More >>

Ten Musicians Who Did Time On Broadway

Broadway has been known to make both actors and singers into legends. However, due to what is known as stunt casting -- which is essentially gimmickry in order to gain ticket sales -- some musicians have headed to Broadway, if only for a short period of time. Here are some of the musical artists fro ... More >>

Musically Speaking, What Is the Best Zodiac Sign?

Sometimes some musicians just can't even be put in the same sentence as one another. Depending on people's musical preferences. It's hard to compare and can be a bit confrontational. But one thing is for sure the day on which someone is born can't be changed. And then that's where astrology comes in ... More >>

15 Things Rocks Off Learned Watching The ACM Awards

Sunday nights, I usually like to watch The Amazing Race after 60 Minutes. I don't usually watch much reality television at all, but something about the combination of total incompetence, vicious backstabbing and exotic locales as several, two-person teams race around the globe is completely intoxica ... More >>

Last Night: Miranda Lambert At Reliant Stadium

Miranda Lambert RodeoHouston, Reliant Stadium March 13, 2012 Miranda Lambert has been "doing this music thing for 10 years now," and her mantra is simple: She's all about girl power and being a sassy southern belle. A Texas-born blonde with attitude up to her ears, she doesn't apologize for being c ... More >>

Friday Night: Reba McEntire At Reliant Stadium

Reba McEntire RodeoHouston, Reliant Stadium March 9, 2012 A Reba McEntire concert is like visiting your really fun aunt, except not all aunts wear rhinestone-covered go-go boots and had a hit TV show on the WB network for a better part of the '00s. Plus, most aunts can't get away with singing what ... More >>

Rocks Off's Ultra-Hip Rodeo Concert Guide: Reba

Date: March 9 Name: Reba McEntire AKA: "Reba"... wait, when did she get the single-name treatment? Was it before or after that horrible TV show? Genre: Pure country

Ten Musicians Who Played Other People on TV

Sebastian Bach on Gilmore Girls​Fictional television shows are full of gimmickry. Some of it is good and some of falls flat. Others are subtle in-jokes. However, it can be interesting when a popular artist appears on a television show because it gives the audience a glimpse into another side o ... More >>

Nine Covers of "Heartbreak Hotel" on Its 58th Birthday

Exactly 58 years ago, Elvis Presley released Heartbreak Hotel on RCA Records, which had just bought his contract from Sun Records for a measly $35,000. Heartbreak sold 300,000 copies in its first week and would eventually become the King's first certified gold record. Also, it's worth noting that, ... More >>

2012 RodeoHouston Lineup Features ZZ Top, Train, Kid Rock, John Legend, Enrique Iglesias

The Houston Livestock And Rodeo continues it's march it's non-country waters with today's musical announcement, with Houston's own ZZ Top (March 8), Train (March 16), Kid Rock (February 29), John Legend (March 2), and Enrique Iglesias (March 6) topping the pop and rock segment of this year's bill. ... More >>

Artist of the Week: Payton Rae Quietly Eyes Fame

Each Wednesday, Rocks Off arbitrarily appoints one lucky local performer or group "Artist of the Week," bestowing upon them all the fame and grandeur such a lofty title implies. Know a band or artist that isn't awful? Email their particulars to sheaserrano@gmail.com. ​Sometimes you think and ... More >>

French Onion Soup & Deathbugs: Our Nine Musical Turkeys Of 2011

Danzig Shame on us for thinking that a Danzig show would go off without a hitch, and infinite shame on Glenn Danzig for the debacle that was his "appearance" at Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin. We will never look at French onion soup ever again without bellowing "Mother". Lulu We're not mad at Metall ... More >>

Starring Tim Russert: Five Awful, Mawkish Pieces of Father's Day Treacle

Heartwarming (the blurbs said so!!)​There are some good, honest, entertaining and trenchant books and songs out there done by people about their memories of Dad. On the other hand, there's a lot of crap. Cloyingly sentimental, predictable, tear-jerking crap. Five of the worst: 5. Tim Russer ... More >>

Friday Night: George Strait & Reba At Austin's Erwin Center

Photos by Marc Brubaker​George Strait, Reba McEntire Frank Erwin Center, Austin January 14, 2010 Friday night, Aftermath drove to Austin to catch one of the lone Texas stops on this round of tandem touring by the King and Queen of Country, George Strait and Reba McEntire, with Lee Ann Womack ... More >>

George Strait Looking For Sea Of Red At Austin Show

Photos by Craig Hlavaty​Of course Rocks Off is driving to Austin on Friday night to see George Strait and Reba McEntire at the Frank Erwin Center. Who do you think we are? Isn't everyone driving to Austin to see the Morrissey of Texas and the Queen of Modern Country? Anyhow, Rocks Off will b ... More >>

1991: Best Music Year Ever?

Rocks Off Sr.'s choice for 1991's best album.​1991 was one of the biggest years in modern music. It was when metal went pop, radio country ruled, grunge went mainstream, and rap began its climb to chart dominance, even if it was spearheaded by a white candy rapper from Dallas. There were man ... More >>

Taylor Swift's Ten Best Disses On Speak Now

​Taylor Swift has just released her third, and angriest, album, Speak Now. It's an alternately aggressive and poppy turn for the country girl, who is quickly shedding any previous genre trappings and very much becoming one of the pop industry's biggest stars. She combines female conviction wit ... More >>

The Ten Bleakest Songs In Country Music History

decodedstuff.com​Country music isn't all high-tech rednecks and honky tonk badonkadonks. Country artists have a tendency to, every now and then, sing about some dark, disturbing stuff. Sometimes scary, sometimes violent, and sometimes just weird, here are some country songs that rival the blac ... More >>

Vince Gill Heads Huge Weekend Of Music In Conroe

​This one has sorta snuck up on us, but this weekend Conroe is bulging with top quality Americana and country music. The centerpiece of the weekend is Saturday's writers-in-the-round at the Crighton Theater, which features Country Music Hall of Famer Vince Gill, big-time songwriter Tony Ara ... More >>

Taylor Swift, Slapping Away Romantic Defeat At Toyota Center

[Ed. Note: We sent two reviewers to Taylor Swift Tuesday and flipped a coin to determine which to publish first. The next one will be up at 10:30 a.m. Boys.] Photos by Marco Torres​ It's not easy being a teen girl... Aftermath presumes. You are engaged in what feels like romantic combat with male ... More >>

Aftermath: A Quiet Night At The Rodeo With Lady Antebellum, John Mellencamp (Sort Of) And Larry The Cable Guy

Photos by Jason Wolter​ On Monday night, Lady Antebellum performed to a crowd of a little more than 65,000. Having been in a band, the idea of playing in front of so many people is both exciting and nerve-racking, but by RodeoHouston standards it's about middle of the road, and felt like less. It ... More >>

Anatomy of a Diss

Breaking Curfew, Houston rapper MC Kane explains the protocol for putting people down.

Lonesome Onry and Mean: Vince Gill Confirms for Conroe's Crighton Theater

Lise Liddell​ Lonesome Onry and Mean has been holding his breath for a few days, keeping a secret. We've been waiting on one last signature on the contracts before announcing one of the biggest shows ever at Conroe's Sounds of Texas music series. But Wednesday night we got an email from Mark Germi ... More >>

2009 Concert Rewind, March: Erykah Badu, Britney, Billy Joel & Elton John, A Baybrook Beatdown and A Whole Lotta Rodeo

Mark C. Austin​ Rascal Flatts, Reliant Stadium, March 3: "It's almost devious how much these guys sweetened and tune their songs up, close to the point of an almost automaton-like perfection. Each song is custom-built like a souped-up hot rod, with almost no flourish or guitar vamp going to waste. ... More >>

For Your Entertainment? Nice Try, Adam Lambert, But These Music-Awards Moments Were Even Creepier

​The best news that Jennifer Lopez could possibly have heard this morning was that America is still more interested in clucking about public displays of gayness than in pointing and laughing when a diva falls on her ass. We imagine there's already one of those jumbo-sized Harry & David fruit b ... More >>

More Musical Medocrity For Houston's Private Party Of The Year

​For those folks out there wondering if superlawyer Mark Lanier had suddenly -- after all these years -- finally developed good musical taste, you can rest assured: He hasn't.Tort King Lanier is famous for his Christmas parties, elaborate (if liquor-free) bacchanals that feature kiddie rides, top- ... More >>

He Said She Said: A Stripper Soundtrack

Rocks Off has a naked lady fetish. It's shameful to admit. We really like seeing naked chicks. It's been something we have dealt with since we were four years old and started sneaking into the women's dressing room when our Mom would go clothes shopping. It's not so cute today, what with the beard ... More >>

Happy April Fool's Day: Fools in Popular Music

Photo illustration by John Seaborn Gray In the Tarot, "The Fool is the spirit in search of experience. He represents the mystical cleverness bereft of reason within us, the childlike ability to tune into the inner workings of the world." Hat sold separately.As you've hopefully been able to t ... More >>

Aftermath: Reba McEntire at RodeoHouston

Photos by Mark C. AustinReba McEntire is the closest modern country will ever get to the artistic heights of its pioneering female vocalists. Sure Tanya Tucker had her run but the booze, powders and Glen Campbell took their toll. Shania Twain was just a Nashville/Pat Benatar Frankenstein proje ... More >>

Think Buckcherry Has Mellowed? Crazy Bitch...

All Lit Up Again

The Roaster Meets Cracker Barrel

South By Lomax: Part One

Pacific in the Gulf

He's Gone Country

The Nightfly tries out as the next Bocephus at Sam Houston Race Park

Devin the Dude

To Tha X-Treme (Rap-A-Lot)

Best Jukebox

Warren's Inn

Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!

Houston S&M Ball VII

Silver and Gold (and Green)

Some artists make holiday records for the beauty, not the bucks

Supreme Sap

Diana Ross and Brandy act maudlin in TV's Double Platinum

Rotation

Hill Country

Here Comes the Judd

Press Picks

The Year of Living Anxiously

Are We Having Fun Yet? Or is it just the jangly buzz of advanced urban stress syndrome?

Press Picks