Subject: Robert Ellis

• SugarHill Goes Live on the Web

  Benjamin Wesley at SugarHill Studios Houston's own legendary SugarHill Recording Studios is making the leap into the world of live Internet broadcasting 7 p.m. tonight at http://www.ecslive.com. The first musical gues is Benjamin Wesley of Tha Fucking Transmissions, Robert Ellis, Grandfather Child and Sad Gorilla. The show will also feature live session footage, with the guys at Houston's own Zenfilm doing the honors. "Live from SugarHill" producer and SH marketing director Gina Miller

  December 4, 2008

• Aftermath: The Magpies and Sideshow Tramps at the Continental Club

  Photos by Chris Gray It didn't look good at the beginning. A few minutes after 9 p.m. Wednesday, the posted start time for visiting Cleveland roots-rockers the Magpies, the "count" at the Continental Club front door was all of 16 paying customers, and the band was nowhere in sight. Two chicken tacos at Tacos a Go-Go and one Lone Star at the Big Top later, things were much improved. The room was considerably fuller - and would go on to be one of the biggest Wednesday-night crowds Aftermath ha

  January 8, 2009

• Mango's Becomes Full-Time Music Venue Next Weekend

  The Houston scene has another music venue in the mix, as Mango's Café on Westheimer has its grand opening next Friday with a huge show headlined by the Sideshow Tramps. Took 'em that long to get the joint cleaned up from the Homopolice show, we imagine, and let's hope they got the restroom situation sorted because we can't afford any more tetanus shots. Though Mango's made its debut as a music venue last weekend during the Westheimer Block Party, it officially goes live in earnes

  April 2, 2009

• Morrissey Taps His Never-ending Reserve of Lyrical Bons Mots

  April 9, 2009

• Letters to the Editor

  July 20, 2006

• THE ROBERT ELLIS

  A singer-songwriter cocktail at MANGO'S

  May 7, 2009

• The Last Roundup: Paul Weller, South Memphis String Band, Indian Jewelry, Robert Ellis and More

  www.breakfastontour.comHere's another installment of what's been blowing up other Houston music Web sites' skirts recently. If you'd like us to look yours over (your site, not your skirt, though we can talk about that too), email hprocksoff@gmail.com. Breakfast on Tour caught the brand-new South Memphis String Band at the Continental Club April 25 (above): "Their stage interaction was as natural as any band that had been playing together for years." 29-95.com gave some love to Black Joe Lewis, w

  May 6, 2009

• The 2009 Houston Press Music Award Nominees

  Here they are, folks. You nominated 'em, we mulled 'em over and sorted out the stuffers, and now the 2009 Houston Press Music Awards ballot is set. Normally Rocks Off would say something cute like read 'em and weep, but since we've been listening to almost nothing but '80s hard rock and new bands that totally sound like '80s hard rock (Low Man's Joe, The Answer, Charm City Devils) for the past couple of days, we'll just say this: Eat 'em and smile. Just kidding. We know this is serious stuff, an

  May 21, 2009

• Houston Press Music Awards: And The Nominees Are...

  Here they are, folks. You nominated 'em, we mulled 'em over and sorted out the stuffers, and now the 2009 Houston Press Music Awards ballot is set. Normally Rocks Off would say something cute like read 'em and weep, but since we've been listening to almost nothing but '80s hard rock and new bands that totally sound like '80s hard rock (Low Man's Joe, The Answer, Charm City Devils) for the past couple of days, we'll just say this: Eat 'em and smile. Just kidding. We know this is serious stuff, a

  May 21, 2009

• Running the Numbers

  May 28, 2009

• Enjoy the Silence

  July 9, 2009

• Progress Report

  July 23, 2009

• Houston Band (Finally) Makes Rolling Stone

  Pam Cantu​ Thanks to Classic Rock Bob Ruggiero for passing along the following bit of happy news. In today's edition of Rolling Stone's "Rock and Roll Daily" blog, the first band listed in the "Hype Monitor" section is none other than Houston's own listenlisten. The Hype Monitor got hip to Hymns from Rhodesia, listenlisten's forthcoming LP due September 22. Here's a little of what Rolling Stone had to say: "It's the kind of music cowboys might hear in the distance as they stagger dumbly to the

  July 30, 2009

• MP3 of the Day: Chase Hamblin

  ​Chase Hamblin's A Fine Time EP somehow bridges the gap between the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and the late orchestral work of Elliott Smith, without all the suicidal tendencies. The five-song release really is a marvel to listen, sounding like George Martin or Jon Brion themselves were behind the boards. Hamblin's reedy voice reminds us of one of the Davies brothers in the Kinks (we're not sure which), and it settles in swimmingly with each of the tracks on this debut rele

  August 5, 2009

• Aftermath: More Free Press Summer Fest at Eleanor Tinsley Park

  Photos (except where indicated) by Craig HlavatyB L A C K I E and friends​ "How is this Houston?" "How the hell is this Houston?" Aftermath couldn't stop saying that phrase over and over again to whoever we found ourselves walking with the past two days all over Eleanor Tinsley Park at the inaugural Free Press Summer Fest. Attendance figures of up to 30,000 (total) abounded by this morning, though a final number may not be ready for a few days. The two-day concert reminded us of a fun-size Aus

  August 10, 2009

• listenlisten

  August 13, 2009

• Things to Do This Weekend If You're (Almost) Broke

  Friday​The freaky folk band everyone's talking about, listenlisten, helps Block 7 Wine Co. (720 Shepherd) celebrate its grand opening this evening with Robert Ellis. Festivities continue Saturday with Runaway Sun (9 p.m.) and Sunday with Kenneth Scott (8 p.m.). No cover. The adorable Cop Warmth headlines a seizure-inducing bill at Mango's with How I Quit Crack, Austin's Mutating Meltdown and //Tense//. $5. Armadillo World Headquarters survivors Cleve and Sweet Mary Hattersley step out from beh

  August 14, 2009

• Openings and Closings

  ​Was last week's announcement that Galleria-area Tex-Mex joint Maggie Rita's (2800 Sage) had closed perhaps a bit hasty? It seems so, since the owners contacted our friends at B4-U-Eat to let them know that they were indeed still open, but had been closed for a few weeks to repair damages after a fire. Call us crazy, but maybe answering your phone during those weeks to confirm that you're still open would be a good idea as a restaurant... In other news, several restaurants opened th

  August 14, 2009

• Listen Up

  September 17, 2009

• Listology: Chase Hamblin Chooses His Favorite One-Hit Wonders

  Chase Hamblin performs with Robert Ellis and the Small Sounds, 8 p.m. tonight at Walter's on Washington, 4215 Washington, 713-862-2513 or www.4215washington.com. Easybeats, "Friday on My Mind" Anxious changes, solid backbeat and sweet harmonies, this is a killer track. Amazing Australian '60s hit written by George Young, who went on to produce his little brothers' band, AC/DC. West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, "The Smell of Incense" I learned this song playing with Stephen Adams in the Drea

  October 16, 2009

• Wednesdays are Honky-Tonk Heaven In Houston, and Thursdays are Hillbilly Hell

  Photos by Chris GrayRobert Ellis & the Boys, under the blue neon​ It's no secret Rocks Off is a big fan of the country music, which is why we're starting to get a little excited about the inner-loop honky-tonk scene that's taking root. Over the weekend, we caught Sean Reefer & the Resin Valley Boys doing their hemped-up Hank Williams thang at the West Alabama Ice House, and Miss Leslie & Her Juke-Jointers' Sunday-evening sets (6-9 p.m.) at the Continental Club, a fine way to wind d

  November 5, 2009

• The Lost Weekend?

  November 12, 2009

• Westheimer Block Party News and Notes

  ​This weekend's Westheimer Block Party is already going through some minor scheduling changes, just less than twenty-hours away from the time Bryan Jackson cracks open his first Modelo on Taft. Facebook and MySpace (yeah, we know) have been awash the past two days with changes to the lineup and set times. A recent Facebook status update from WBP sponsor Free Press Houston said this: "I don't know when your band is playing. Bands keep on trading slots like trading cards. It is what it is." FPH

  November 13, 2009

• Aftermath: Conspiracies, Prog-Metal, Gypsy-Folk, Hardcore and Remembering a Fallen Friend Sunday at Westheimer Block Party

  Craig HlavatyRoom 101​ Day 2 of the Westheimer Block Party started with slightly cooler temperatures and an hour-long caffeine-fueled session speaking with the 9/11 conspiracy booth in the parking lot at Numbers. Did you know that there were three shooters at Columbine, and bombs planted inside the federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995? That's another blog for another time and place, where we're not being followed by corporate spies with guns that shoot ice bullets and rayguns and whatnot

  November 16, 2009

• Honky-Tonk Revival

  November 19, 2009