Roger Wood

RIP Bobby Lewis of Third Ward Blues Joint Miss Ann's Playpen

Bobby Lewis, whose no-cover Blue Monday jams at his Third Ward juke joint Miss Ann's Playpen welcomed professionals and amateurs alike and became legendary among the Houston blues community, passed away over the weekend from a number of health problems. His age was unknown. Reg Burns, Director of F ... More >>

9 Cool & Cheap Weekenders: Alkari, Black Bananas, Chico Trujillo, Etc.

Pot luck show of the weekend: ElecTrick, The Space Villains and Los Area 51 tonight at Rudyard's. Free. It's the big Art Car Weekend, if you haven't heard, and you can get a peek at Saturday's parade at Discovery Green tonight at 6:30 with two solid hours of a murderer's row of local blues greats ... More >>

Old School

Musicians in their 70s and 80s are keeping Houston's traditional blues scene real.

“Texas Zydeco”

Texas Zydeco, In Five Indelible Images

​One of Rocks Off's main resolutions most years is to both see more zydeco and write about it more often. Unfortunately, we don't get out to the country as often as we should, and no one ever seems to want to give us a ride to Jax Grill on Friday evenings. We have to remind ourselves to check ... More >>

Soul City: Unsung Blues Legend Joe "Guitar" Hughes

Black History Month is always a great time to recall some of Houston's greatest musical innovators and leaders. This is our final installment. ​Great Houston blues guitarists makes a long and storied list indeed, arguably headed up by Albert Collins, Lightnin' Hopkins, Johnny "Guitar" Watson ... More >>

Soul City: Talent Scouts Lola Anne Cullum And Lela Macy

Black History Month is always a great time to recall some of Houston's greatest musical innovators and leaders. Rocks Off will highlight some of them during the remainder of February. Jody PerryTexas Johnny Brown, one of the few Houston musicians who remembers "Mrs. Cullum"​At a local blues j ... More >>

Soul City: The Amazing Jazz Crusaders

Black History Month is always a great time to recall some of Houston's greatest musical innovators and leaders. Rocks Off will highlight some of them during the remainder of February. "Hey, let's get back to that down-and-dirty old-school chicken-shack sound" mosaicrecords.com​While Houston ... More >>

Roger Wood and Andy Bradley, Wendy Hundere Parnell

Little Joe Washington's Comeback Thrills Continental Anniversary Party

Photos by Jay Lee​Less than a week after finally going home from the rehabilitation facility where he had been recuperating from a pair of surgeries to clear an obstructed bowel, beloved Houston bluesman Little Joe Washington put on a spellbinding - if brief - performance at the Continental Cl ... More >>

SugarHill Studios Burglarized Over The Weekend

6:08 p.m.: Updated to include list of stolen gear. Chris GraySugarHill Studios in 2008​ Legendary Houston recording complex SugarHill Studios, subject of the recent book House of Hits by local historian Dr. Roger Wood and studio co-owner/engineer Andy Bradley, was burglarized over the weeken ... More >>

Andy Bradley and Roger Wood: House of Hits

A SugarHill Studios sound engineer and an author reveal a history of sweet sounds

Hitsville, Texas

A new book documents the shady past and solid-gold singles of Houston's SugarHill Studios.

Freddy Fender And Huey Meaux Reel Off A String Of SugarHill Hits In The '70s

Ed Note: All this week, to celebrate the release of Dr. Roger Wood and Andy Bradley's new book House of Hits: The Story of Houston's Gold Star/SugarHill Recording Studios and preview this weekend's related festivities at Sig's Lagoon and the Continental Club, Rocks Off and Lonesome Onry and Mean are ... More >>

Roy Head, Sir Douglas Quintet Help SugarHill Swing Into The Psychedelic '60s

Ed Note: All this week, to celebrate the release of Dr. Roger Wood and Andy Bradley's new book House of Hits: The Story of Houston's Gold Star/SugarHill Recording Studios and preview this weekend's related festivities at Sig's Lagoon and the Continental Club, Rocks Off and Lonesome Onry and Mean are ... More >>

House of Hits' First Hit: Harry Choates' Cajun National Anthem "Jole Blon"

​All this week, Lonesome Onry and Mean will be blogging about House of Hits, the new book by Dr. Roger Wood and SugarHill Studios engineer Andy Bradley. A complete and well-annotated history of Gold Star/SugarHill, the oldest continuously operating recording studio in the U.S., the book is a trove ... More >>

Little Joe Washington Still Having Birthdays, Celebrating Them In Public

Jay Lee​Last year around this time, Rocks Off and our buddy Lonesome Onry and Mean both got caught up in multi-day musical benders that left us both dazed and confused (conditions from which some would argue we have never fully recovered). Although our respective paths through those days were very ... More >>

Dr. Roger Wood to Discuss Spirituality and the Blues With I.J. Gosey and Diunna Greenleaf Tonight

farm1.static.flickr.comI.J. Gosey​For the past few weeks, local blues scholar and Down In Houston author Dr. Roger Wood has been interviewing several of Houston's leading blues musicians about their experiences in "The Soul of Houston Blues Stories." For Wednesday's concluding program, a conversat ... More >>

Tonight: Dr. Roger Wood Talks With Local Blues Legend Texas Johnny Brown

​Local legend Texas Johnny Brown is a living link to blues history. The 80-year-old was a key player in the genesis of the electric form of the genre, penning hits for the likes of Bobby "Blue" Bland, supporting stars like Ruth Brown and recording under his own name as far back as the late 1940s. ... More >>

The Soul of Houston: Blues Stories

Texas Johnny Brown shares stories of his life as a blues pioneer

Aftermath: Big Walter "The Thunderbird" Price's Birthday at the Big Easy

Reg Burns​While the indie-rock world dodged lightning strikes Sunday afternoon, Houston's blues community gathered inside the Big Easy Social and Pleasure Club to pay homage to its most elder statesman, Big Walter "The Thunderbird" Price. The venue was packed with dancers, drinkers and a plethora ... More >>

Bayou Beat: Method Man on His Pellet-Gun Aim, The Debut of HUSH, Local Bands Vying for ACL Spot, Thee Armada MySpace Finalist, etc.

Above, Method Man talks about his pellet-gun accuracy, which was a little off the night he allegedly shot Houstonian Mary Anderson, who is now suing him on several counts including assault. Besides playing House of Blues Friday with Redman and Ghostface, looks like Meth will spend some time in Hous ... More >>

Lonesome Onry and Mean: Jody Nix Does Western Swing Right

As we reported some weeks ago in this column, if you're down with hardcore Western Swing twin fiddle dance music of the Bob Wills variety, you should be in heaven Saturday when Jody Nix and the Texas Cowboys make a rare Houston appearance on the iFest Texas Stage. Nix is old-school, so old scho ... More >>

Little Joe Washington's 70th Birthday

Lonesome Onry and Mean: New Records from Nicholas Tremulis and Felix Cavaliere

Nicholas Tremulis with Robbie Fulks, "Mystery Train" Some killer records have recently fallen through Lonesome Onry and Mean's cracks, either due to a lack of space in the paper or LOM having just found the CDs under the seat of his truck. Yeah, stuff happens. The Nicholas Tremulis Orchestra's Pin ... More >>

The Collector: Mack McCormick's Huge Archive of Culture and Lore

A great American folklorist has spent a life squirreling away bits and pieces of Texas culture. Now time is running out on him and his inventory.

Dr. Roger Wood's Matagorda Island Discs

Little Joe Washington Gravely Ill

Houston’s Golden Horn Is Silenced: Calvin Owens, R.I.P.

Texas Zydeco Hits the Big Screen

A Gulf Coast Christmas at the Orange Show

The Soul Rebels Brass Band and Lil’ Pop Ledet crank up the holidays

Save Our Houston Songs

A plea for monuments and musical preservation

Houston Press Music Awards Winners

Devin the Dude, Katie Stuckey and The Dimes clean up

Services for Jimmy "T99" Nelson

That Was the Year That Was

Looking back on the local scene in '06

Joe Doucet

Joe Doucet appears Thursday, September 21, at Sig's Lagoon, 3710 Main, 713-533-9525.

H-Town Zydeco

Dr. Roger Wood and James Fraher serve up another heaping helping of Houston music lore

Joe Doucet

Houston's Third Ward Blues

Go See Gosey

Big Boss Man

Jimmy T99 Nelson predated and outlived Elvis P. and has won the affections of Elvis C.

The Real Deal

Who is the more "authentic" bluesman -- Bobby Bland or T-Model Ford?

Best Book by a Local Author

Down in Houston: Bayou City Blues by Roger Wood

Another Man Done Gone

Joe "Guitar" Hughes, RIP

Don't Try This Anywhere

If Steve-O comes at you with a staple gun, run!

Rocker Robbery

The theft of his trailer capped a bad week for John Evans

Letters 06-08-2000

Wylie Coyote

Jimmy "T-99" Nelson and Friends

More Blues Than You Can Use

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