T-Bone Walker

Here's the Lowdown: The Boz Scaggs Interview, Part 1

From his earliest records and concerts to his most recent discs and tours with buddies Michael McDonald and Donald Fagen as the Dukes of September, Boz Scaggs has always shown a reverence for music history. That's especially true for the old blues and R&B tunes he'd hear wafting over the airwaves fr ... More >>

A Young Person's Guide to Houston's Historic Blues Venues

Houston is a sprawling metropolis of subdivisions and strip centers that retains a strong cultural hub. But this "cultural hub" has actually become more of a cultural sprawl. Especially music-wise, neighborhoods outside Loop 610 are often seen as culturally sterile, though some elements of Houston's ... More >>

10 Doug Sahm/Sir Douglas Quintet Albums You Need to Own

Tonight at the Continental Club, Austin's Freddie Steady 5 will head up a tribute to the late Doug Sahm focusing on Sahm's 2000 album The Return of Wayne Douglas, which he recorded only a few months before dying of a heart attack in November 1999. La Porte native Freddie Krc, leader of the 5, has ju ... More >>

Houston Babylon: The 1970s Shotgun Death of Bonnie and Clyde Assistant William Daniel "Deacon" Jones

Houston Babylon, the feature that came out earlier this week, dissects a few of the creepiest and most chilling events in Houston history. In coming up with four of those tales, we stumbled over many more -- too many to fit the print edition. All this week we'll bring you some extra, online-only s ... More >>

The Chitlin' Circuit: Road to Rock & Roll Ran Straight Through Houston

Above: Walter Barnes and the Royal Creolians, the first kings of the Chitlin' Circuit Most music critics, writers, historians, and aficianados in Houston don't think this city has ever gotten enough credit for its contributions to blues, soul, and, the Holy Grail, the birth of rock and roll. Well, ... More >>

The Tedeschi Trucks Band Keeps in the Family

Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks are married both to each other and their musical careers. She with a busy solo schedule, and he with full-time gigs fronting the Derek Trucks Band, playing guitar with the Allman Brothers Band [Derek's uncle is founding member Butch Trucks], and minor side-jobs with t ... More >>

A God-Fearing Boogie Man

Reverend K.M. Williams says the blues aren't the devil's music.

Earl Gilliam: "A Huge Loss That Can't Be Filled"

Another of Houston's unique blues treasures, the effusive, ebullient and always stylish pianist Earl Gilliam, has moved on to the big juke joint in the sky. Gilliam, 81, died peacefully this morning at his home in Tomball of advanced lung disease.

Half a Paycheck

Dave Alvin is an inveterate troubadour and staunch advocate for Houston's blues history.

Eldorado Ballroom: A Concise History By Dr. Roger Wood

David Bush/ houstondeco.comThe Eldorado Ballroom in 2006​Rocks Off was pleased as punch to report last week that, thanks to the efforts of the Texas Blues Project's R. Eric Davis and Project Row Houses, which has owned the historic Third Ward venue since 1999, the Eldorado Ballroom will receiv ... 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 >>

Beyond His Years

A bluesman since age ten, Bernard Allison has learned his lessons well.

Inquiring Minds: All Along The Watchtower With Ex-Traffic Cop Dave Mason

​Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Dave Mason has certainly had a storied career: Founding member of Traffic, guest appearances on records by Hendrix, the Stones and various Beatles, a solid solo career, stint with Fleetwood Mac, and writer of at least one Classic Rock Warhorse in "Feelin' Alright." And ... More >>

Lonesome Onry and Mean: Remembering Doug Sahm - 10 Years Gone Already?

"You just can't live in Texas if you don't have a lot of soul" - Doug Sahm, "At the Crossroads" ​If the Texas music scene ever had a soul, it belonged to Doug Sahm, the leader of the Sir Douglas Quintet who passed away ten years ago Wednesday. It didn't matter whether he was knee-deep in the blu ... More >>

Aftermath: One Wild Weekend

Craig Hlavaty The Imani School Student Jazz Ensemble Craig Hlavaty Erykah BaduRocks Off is still in the very early recovery stages from this weekend, which was one of the most satisfying musical whirlwinds he's been sucked into in quite some time. He started off Friday evening at  ... More >>

House of Lightnin'

Dan Aykroyd on the (Mostly Texan) Blues Brothers Band, Our New House of Blues, Lightnin' Hopkins, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Houston Kinfolk, SNL in Campaign '08 and More

Tonight: Back Door Slam at Warehouse Live

Gatemouth Brown Needs a Gravestone

Texas Johnny Brown to Play Smithsonian Folklife Festival

High Gas Prices Still Hurting Touring Bands

Notes toward a post-cheap-gas touring economy

Larry McMurtry and Willie Nelson in Houston

Overnight Express: Simply Red Does Bobby "Blue" Bland

Day of the Dead at the Graves of Southeast Texas Music Legends

Save Our Houston Songs

A plea for monuments and musical preservation

Farewell T-99

Show business is sure going to miss Jimmy Nelson

Free to Jam

Get the blues at the Eldorado Ballroom's Juneteenth Bash

Prodigal Hijos

Nashville was no place for Los Lonely Boys, the future of Texas roots rock

W.C. Clark

Friday, June 14

Moby Pick

Beaumont's Barbara Lynn lucks out with a song that almost died

Roy Head

Head On! (Music Club)

Ervin Charles, featuring Richard Earl

Greyhound Blues (Dialtone)

On the Off-Road Again

Country legend Ray Price continues to take the path less traveled

Still Howlin'

Omar Dykes keeps finding ways to push the blues out there

Going Public

Dave Alvin's private loss inspires him to search for the eternal sounds

Monday, Monday

The blues make the first day of the week seem less so at Miss Ann's Playpen

Ladies in Blue

You think you like the blues? You ain't seen nothing yet.

Preservation Hall

Project Row Houses will revive Houston's first home of black music

Blowing His Own Horn

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Mind's Ear

Jimmie Vaughan is two albums into a solo career he didn't necessarily want

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Serenade in Blues

Color of the Blues

Static

Rotation

Ready for Home

Sherman Robertson left for success; now he's returning for a shot of the Houston blues

That Indefinable Something

Chris Duarte brings a retro energy to rockin' blues and bluesy rock

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