Son Volt

Prodigal Players

Aftermath Extra: The Best Concerts of the Year, Part 9

[Note: This is the final installment of Aftermath's survey of memorable 2008 concerts - the ones he attended and reviewed (mostly, but not always, by him) anyway; kudos to Valient Thorr, Ice Cube, Dr. Dog, Son Volt, Journey/Heart, Wilderness, the HPMA showcase and many other ... More >>

Sound Check

[Note: This is the final installment of Aftermath's survey of memorable 2008 concerts - the ones he attended and reviewed (mostly, but not always, by him) anyway; kudos to Valient Thorr, Ice Cube, Dr. Dog, Son Volt, Journey/Heart, Wilderness, the HPMA showcase and many other ... More >>

Unpolished Gem

[Note: This is the final installment of Aftermath's survey of memorable 2008 concerts - the ones he attended and reviewed (mostly, but not always, by him) anyway; kudos to Valient Thorr, Ice Cube, Dr. Dog, Son Volt, Journey/Heart, Wilderness, the HPMA showcase and many other ... More >>

Rotation

[Note: This is the final installment of Aftermath's survey of memorable 2008 concerts - the ones he attended and reviewed (mostly, but not always, by him) anyway; kudos to Valient Thorr, Ice Cube, Dr. Dog, Son Volt, Journey/Heart, Wilderness, the HPMA showcase and many other ... More >>

Still Flying

Roger McGuinn is happy to look at the past, but he's not ready to live in it

Rotation

Roger McGuinn is happy to look at the past, but he's not ready to live in it

Utmost Blue

Roger McGuinn is happy to look at the past, but he's not ready to live in it

Spit and Polish

Roger McGuinn is happy to look at the past, but he's not ready to live in it

Rotation

Roger McGuinn is happy to look at the past, but he's not ready to live in it

Aftermath: Son Volt at the Continental Club

Photos by Jay Lee"Now and then it keeps you runnin', never seems to die..." The opening line to Son Volt's soothing elegy "Windfall," which closed out Tuesday's main set at the Continental Club - just like almost every other SV set since the band's 1995 debut Trace - goes a long way to explain ... More >>

Rotation

Photos by Jay Lee"Now and then it keeps you runnin', never seems to die..." The opening line to Son Volt's soothing elegy "Windfall," which closed out Tuesday's main set at the Continental Club - just like almost every other SV set since the band's 1995 debut Trace - goes a long way to explain ... More >>

More Blues Than You Can Use

Photos by Jay Lee"Now and then it keeps you runnin', never seems to die..." The opening line to Son Volt's soothing elegy "Windfall," which closed out Tuesday's main set at the Continental Club - just like almost every other SV set since the band's 1995 debut Trace - goes a long way to explain ... More >>

Tonight: The Magpies at the Continental Club

[A review from the Magpies' January Continental show is here.] Chris GrayMy son, a guitar plunker raised on huge doses of Rockpile and Joe Ely, tipped me to the Magpies. He saw them at Hayes Carll's Stingaree Festival about a year ago and pronounced them the hardest-rocking band of the whole ... More >>

Son Volt

[A review from the Magpies' January Continental show is here.] Chris GrayMy son, a guitar plunker raised on huge doses of Rockpile and Joe Ely, tipped me to the Magpies. He saw them at Hayes Carll's Stingaree Festival about a year ago and pronounced them the hardest-rocking band of the whole ... More >>

The Magpies

[A review from the Magpies' January Continental show is here.] Chris GrayMy son, a guitar plunker raised on huge doses of Rockpile and Joe Ely, tipped me to the Magpies. He saw them at Hayes Carll's Stingaree Festival about a year ago and pronounced them the hardest-rocking band of the whole ... More >>

Chris Masterson & Eleanor Whitmore

[A review from the Magpies' January Continental show is here.] Chris GrayMy son, a guitar plunker raised on huge doses of Rockpile and Joe Ely, tipped me to the Magpies. He saw them at Hayes Carll's Stingaree Festival about a year ago and pronounced them the hardest-rocking band of the whole ... More >>

Texas Music on Sirius/XM's Outlaw Country

[A review from the Magpies' January Continental show is here.] Chris GrayMy son, a guitar plunker raised on huge doses of Rockpile and Joe Ely, tipped me to the Magpies. He saw them at Hayes Carll's Stingaree Festival about a year ago and pronounced them the hardest-rocking band of the whole ... More >>

Johnny Falstaff: Honky Tonkin' Daddy, John Evans Band: Lucky 13, Kanude: Kanude

[A review from the Magpies' January Continental show is here.] Chris GrayMy son, a guitar plunker raised on huge doses of Rockpile and Joe Ely, tipped me to the Magpies. He saw them at Hayes Carll's Stingaree Festival about a year ago and pronounced them the hardest-rocking band of the whole ... More >>

Son Volt

Son Volt performs Sunday, May 6, at the Continental Club, 3700 Main, 713-529-9899.

Home for the Holidays

Son Volt performs Sunday, May 6, at the Continental Club, 3700 Main, 713-529-9899.

2007 Music Year in Review

Son Volt performs Sunday, May 6, at the Continental Club, 3700 Main, 713-529-9899.

Houston Radio Still Sucks

David Sadof shares his dream station with Racket

The Bards of Baytown

Scattered Pages' urban art-country music is as pretty as its hometown is ugly

If It's Not Scottish, It's Crap!

Wack puts this whole Franz Ferdinand thing into context

Young Gun

Collin Herring hits somewhere between Merle Haggard and Hüsker Dü -- and that's a good place to be

The Litmus Band

Is Wilco still trying to break your heart, or has it done so already?

Califone, with Clem Snide and Scattered Pages

Friday, October 10

Mando Saenz

Watertown (Plethorazine/Angus Records)

Chasmatic

Kicker Wisdom (Self-released)

Rotation

The Jayhawks -- The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

Monday MP3s: Two from LL Cooper's Tucson

When it comes to salt-of-the-earth working-class roots-rock, groups (especially around Houston) don't come much more solid than LL Cooper, the semi-eponymous band led by Houston/Austin roots vet Larry Cooper. "For my money, very few acts sound better accompanying a round of Lone Stars in a smoky bar ... More >>

Aquarium Drunkard (Snarkily) Remembers the Fabulous Satellite Lounge

Deron NeblettThe Hollisters at the Fabulous Satellite Lounge, circa 2000For a solid decade, Washington Avenue's Fabulous Satellite Lounge was Houston's go-to spot for roots-rock, alt-country and pretty much anything else that might get covered in the late, recently resurrected online No Depression m ... More >>

Back to the Dead

Black Leather Jesus's Richard Ramirez resurrects the Dead Audio Music Festival.

Lonesome Onry and Mean: Blacktop Gypsy and Shurman

Two fine bands who don't come through much are playing just blocks apart tonight. Dallas's Blacktop Gypsy will be knocking the audience out with their amazing harmonies and the virtuosity of fiddler Heather Stalling (wife of Max Stalling) and former Lake Jackson resident Rodney Pyeatt. Stalling was ... More >>

I Wanna Be Your Dog: Michael Vick's Entrance Music

Keith Allison​The mystery of whether or not Michael Vick would be picked up by an NFL team was solved pretty handily last week, when the Philadelphia Eagles signed him as a backup for Donovan McNabb. The Eagles were able to look past Vick's history of...questionable behavior because they need a re ... More >>

Ghosts of Washington Avenue

Noise goes whistling through the scenester artery's music venue graveyard.

Dust in the Wind

Son Volt's latest album is steeped in Midwestern musical history.

We've Been Had: The Enduring Wisdom of Uncle Tupelo's Anodyne

Anodyne: Noun. Anything that relieves distress or pain. (dictionary.com)​When Son Volt goes onstage tonight at the Continental Club (we've heard around 11 p.m.), there's an outside chance the band might pull out Doug Sahm's "Give Back the Key to My Heart" - we are in Texas, after all. Otherwise do ... More >>

The Way He Sees It

To Raphael Saadiq, music is music and Yeasayer is all right with him.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

2009 was definitely a year, we'll say that much.

2009 Concert Rewind, February: Killers Kill, Annuals Amuse, Hammered at Hank III, Spewing Slipknot and More

Mark C. Austin​ The Killers, Verizon Wireless Theater, February 2: "The general knock on the Killers is that they've achieved their relatively lofty position by standing on the shoulders of giants, which may well be true. But Monday night they showed that in reaching for the stars, they have yet t ... More >>

American Central Dust: The Americana Class of 2009, Part 1

​We spent 2009 sorting through piles of folk and Americana releases, revising this list in our heads till the bitter end and failing repeatedly to understand the hype behind the Avett Brothers in the process. While a year of listening brought no shortage of pleasant surprises, our hands-down favor ... More >>

Live with Me

The best Houston concerts of 2009: U2, George Strait, Kid Cudi, Jandek, Peaches and even T-Pain.

Two Cow Garage

The best Houston concerts of 2009: U2, George Strait, Kid Cudi, Jandek, Peaches and even T-Pain.

Houston Gets Over-The-Air Country-Music Channel

​Believe it or not, some of us get by just fine without cable or satellite TV. When Rocks Off goes home at night - the odd evenings we stay home, that is - not only do we enjoy the finest network television has to offer, but the cornucopia of choices across the digital-TV spectrum: B- and C-mo ... More >>

Centro-matic Scratches A Very Specific Itch At Fitz

Photos by Jason Wolter​Unless there's no way to avoid it, the one night of the week Rocks Off does not like to review shows is Friday. After five straight 10- to 12-hour days (at least), our brain is usually in tatters and all we want to do is limp home or to a preferred watering hole and shut ... More >>

Happy Hour Scene: Char Bar

"Hey, I can call my ma from up here."​The Place: Char Bar 305 Travis 713-222-8177 The Deals: $2 Pabst Blue Ribbon The Hours: 5 p.m. to close Wednesdays The Scene: We've only been to Char Bar a couple of times, but each time there were always at least a few women present. Wednesday after wor ... More >>

The Jayhawks

"Hey, I can call my ma from up here."​The Place: Char Bar 305 Travis 713-222-8177 The Deals: $2 Pabst Blue Ribbon The Hours: 5 p.m. to close Wednesdays The Scene: We've only been to Char Bar a couple of times, but each time there were always at least a few women present. Wednesday after wor ... More >>

Last Night: Old 97's at House of Blues

Photos by Jay Lee​Oh, dutiful journalism, the places I will go in your name. Last night, one of those places just had to be House of Blues. It's always a pleasure to watch Old 97's and I would put up that good fight to keep my spirits high in what is arguably my least favorite venue in town. B ... More >>