Roy Orbison

Rice President David Leebron Plays a Painful DJ Set On KTRU

Disclosure: The author of this piece volunteers for KTRU. On Wednesday afternoon, Rice University president David Leebron pulled up a chair inside of the KTRU Rice Radio studio and played some of those rooty-tooty, groovin' oldies. In other words, music that KTRU has made a point not to play since ... More >>

Capsule Art Reviews: "Ariane Roesch: Simple Machines and Simple Dreams," "CraftTexas 2012," "Dieter Balzer: Objects," "Endless Disharmony and Telltale Ashes," "Endless Disharmony and Telltale Ashes," "Texas Eclectic," "Tony Feher: A Work in Four Parts"

Last Night: Chris Isaak at Arena Theatre

Chris Isaak "Beyond the Sun Tour" Arena Theatre August 28, 2012 Chris Isaak is an accomplished singer and actor. He is also, as his performance at Arena Theatre Tuesday night proved, a great dancer, a snazzy dresser and a pretty funny guy. The Houston leg of his "Beyond the Sun" tour just as easi ... More >>

RIP Gene Thomas: Swamp-Pop Singer of "Sometimes" Passes Away at 74

Gene Thomas, the Texas singer and songwriter whose 1961 swamp-pop hit "Sometimes" was recorded at Houston's Gold Star Studios (later SugarHill), and was later covered by Doug Sahm, passed away Sunday morning. Houston musician Buzzy Smith announced Thomas' death on his Facebook page. The Palestine n ... More >>

Who Are You? Songs Commonly Attributed To The Wrong Artists

​Last week, after the tragic, alcohol-fueled passing of Jackass hero Ryan Dunn, Rocks Off at Taco Cabana wearing a promotional shirt for The Hangover II that we stole borrowed from the office here at the Press. As we were loading our hands with condiment containers, a guy came up to us and sai ... More >>

Top Five Clint Eastwood Soundtracks

pasoroblesfilmfestival.comDr. John, Clint Eastwood and producer/director Bruce Ricker in a publicity photo for "Piano Blues," Eastwood's installment of PBS' 2003 series The Blues.​Today the one and only Clint Eastwood turns 81 years old, and he can still kick your ass. According to the Interne ... More >>

Portuguese Men of War

The Walkmen jump-start their momentum on Lisbon.

Last Night: Clay Aiken At Jones Hall

Photos by Groovehouse​Clay Aiken Jones Hall February 14, 2011 While most people celebrated Valentine's Day last night, we headed to Jones Hall to see former American Idol contestant Clay Aiken. While it wasn't necessarily our ideal way to spend the most romantic of all holidays, we'd by lying ... More >>

Elvis: 30 Famous Quotes About The King

​Rocks Off is celebrating Elvis week this week - the King would be 76 years old on Saturday. (Or hell, maybe he will be 76 years old on Saturday.) That's more than three-quarters of a century, but it just doesn't seem like a very long time. Maybe that's because whether or not he actually died ... More >>

Saturday Night: Raul Malo At House Of Blues' Bronze Peacock

Photos by Jason Wolter​Raul Malo House of Blues (Bronze Peacock Room) October 2, 2010 Raul Malo torched the Bronze Peacock Room at House of Blues Saturday night. Faced with a rowdy, lively audience packed with a huge percentage of 40-something ladies (especially up front) and their escorts, M ... More >>

Bollywood's Greatest Western Hits: Beatles, Elvis, "Thriller"...

​Tonight, prolific Indian film composer/choreographer A.R. Rahman comes to Toyota Center to make up a July date he had to cancel after his tour was plagued with set malfunctions. In the wake of a near-disaster in Detroit back in June, Rahman and his company postponed dates in order to get thei ... More >>

Dax Riggs Says Goodnight To The World, Hello To Houston

myspace.com/daxriggs​Tonight Dax Riggs debuts his brand-new LP, Say Goodnight to the World, for Houston ears at Walter's On Washington. The record is his first full-length release since 2007's We Sing of Only Blood or Love and more than worthy follow-up, tempering Love's death rattles with sof ... More >>

Top 5 Daniel Lanois Productions

​This past Saturday in Los Angeles, legendary producer Daniel Lanois, known for his trademark echo-heavy sound and work with the likes of U2 and Bob Dylan, was involved in a near-fatal motorcycle accident. Lanois was slated to soon begin work on Brandon Flowers of the Killers' solo debut and the u ... More >>

Shelby Lynne Rated Highly By Askmen.com

​Lonesome Onry and Mean came across this odd little item today when Googling Shelby Lynne prior to  this evening's show in Warehouse Live's studio. Now, LOM makes no pretensions that we are privy to Lynne's private life in any way, but based on what we think we know, finding an item ... More >>

A Musical Guide to Post-Secession Texas: "Palo Duro"

View Five States of Texas in a larger map As any proud Texan can tell you, the Lone Star State is entitled constitutionally to split into five states if it so wishes. The scenario has rarely been more in the news than it has relatively recently, when Gov. Rick Perry played to the wingnut gallery in ... More >>

Happy Birthday, "Louie Louie"

Forty-six years ago today, a group of teenagers gathered in a Portland, Oregon, studio to record a ridiculously simple anthem that would go on to become one of the most influential - and most misunderstood - songs in rock history. The group was the Kingsmen - none of whom was over age 17 - and the ... More >>

Chart Check: Texans on Amazon.com

[Rocks Off scrolled through the various Top Sellers lists on Amazon.com this afternoon to see which albums by Texas artists are moving, and where.] Top Sellers Overall 2. Steve Martin, The Crow: New Songs for the Five-String Banjo 7. Willie Nelson & Asleep at the Wheel, Willie and the Wheel ... More >>

The Top 10 Reissues of 2008

[Note: This is the first in a series of articles that constitute Village Voice Media's year-end music package. The others - pop, indie-rock, dance mixes, Latin, country, alt-country/Americana, metal, rap/hip-hop and special graphics breaking down the year in charts and 2008's worst lyrics - will be ... More >>

Me and Mr. Jones

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

Sending up the biopic, this film sells cheap laughs, lame cameos and lifeless Cox

Unknown Legend

Roots renegade Joe Ely never achieved pop stardom, but that's all right by him...sorta

Don't Fear the Reaper

The annual return of the Greil Marcus Rock Death Meter

Leaving the Wolfe Pack

It's Johnny Falstaff's time to "Shine"

The Other Man in Black

Waylon Jennings, Nashville Rebel

Clan Ferdinand

It takes a true Scotsman to get to the bottom of this whole Franz Ferdinand thing

Let the Eagle Soar

Alt-country hero Fred Eaglesmith dumps guitars and makes a pre-Beatles pop record

Songbird Silenced

Pioneering singer/songwriter and native Houstonian Mickey Newbury passes away

David Lee's Froth

Diamond Dave rants on fashion, being a digital gigolo, his rival/tourmate Sammy Hagar, a pending lawsuit and a bunch of other stuff

Off the Road Again

Jesse Dayton sans Road Kings

The Burbs

Nic Nicosia's photos aim to prove that bedroom communities aren't always so sleepy

Hats Off

Dwight Yoakam's the last great country singer -- and he doesn't need a twang to prove it

On the Right Track

Sound Check

Austin's Fave

Louvin It Up

The high, lonesome hardships of country's best duo are getting easier to hear

Boldly Going

The latest voyage of the Enterprise is a trip worth taking

Leaving the Country

Jimmie Dale Gilmore broadens his horizons -- and if he's lucky, his listeners'

Postmarked Texas

Joe Ely sends a sad, beautiful Letter to Laredo

Even the Normal (Get Lucky Sometime)

Craftsman Tom Petty uses the right tool for the right job

Thriving -- or Simply Surviving?

After all these years, Alex Van Halen insists his band isn't "D.O.A."