Scott Joplin

Homegrown Houston - 3G

Five Murderers' Unreleased Children's Albums

​Reading this article from our San Francisco sister blog All Shook Down got Rocks Off thinking: If Leadbelly could murder a man in cold blood, yet also excel in the gentle whimsy of children's music, could there have perhaps been other killers who tried to record children's albums that, for on ... More >>

How Josef Stalin Stole Sergei Prokofiev's Flowers

Library of Congress​In can be easily argued that Russian born composer Sergei Prokofiev, who would have been 120 this week, was the most popular 20th century composer. As a sheet-music salesman, we can tell you that only Scott Joplin and Ennio Morricone come close to the number of requests for ... More >>

Mickey Newbury: Houston's Forgotten Genius

"Hank Williams' pain songs, Newbury's train songs/ And 'Blue Eyes Cryin' In the Rain' - Willie Nelson & Waylon Jennings, "Luckenbach, Texas" ​Lonesome, Onry and Mean was sitting around having a few cold pops the other night when we put on The Best of Mickey Newbury. It wasn't long before the ... More >>

How Texas and Alabama Match Up... Musically

​ For once, Rocks Off is grateful for this sinus-splitting headache (thanks, Mike Stinson!), because it gives us something to focus on besides the fact that we are crawling out of our skin waiting for kickoff tonight. At this point, sports pundits have analyzed the Longhorns and Crimson Tide to wi ... More >>

A Musical Guide to Post-Secession Texas, Part 2: "Trinity"

[Note: This week Rocks Off is looking at the musical heritage, highs and lows, for each of the five possible states that might result should Texas secede from the U.S. like Gov. Rick Perry wants it to. Yesterday we began with the Panhandle/West Texas "Palo Duro" territory; today it's northeastern qu ... More >>

Strings Attached

Will Linden move on to become a music mecca or fall beneath the weight of a racist past?

Music Lessons

A singing success

Gay Day

A singing success

Rotation

A singing success

Press Picks

A singing success

Turn Up de Heat

The Reverend Horton Heat is only the baddest-ass live band coming your way