The Everly Brothers

How to Get Signed In Five Easy Steps, Starring Hacienda

Maybe it all comes down to being in the right place at the right time. Maybe luck has something to do with it. Or maybe it's crafting a vintage-era sound with odes of talent that landed Hacienda a lottery ticket to musical gold. It's no secret that The Black Keys likes to take on extra projects, a ... More >>

Paul Anka, Ladies' Man and Sinatra Worshipper, Tells It His Way

My Way: An Autobiography By Paul Anka with David Dalton St. Martin's Press, 384 pp., $29.99 Currently celebrating his 55th year in show business with this autobiography and the new CD Duets -- which finds him singing with artists like Celine Dion, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, and (through the magic ... 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 >>

True Blood: John Lee Hooker and the Home-School Blues

Alan Ball was known for his masterful use of music in Six Feet Under. He's lost none of his touch when it comes to his current HBO series, True Blood -- which happens to be set in the Louisiana swamps, not terribly far from Houston. We're down to the last two episodes of True Blood this season. Wit ... More >>

The American Bandstand (Extended) Hot 100

Somehow it's hard to believe that Dick Clark was only 82 years old when he died after suffering a "massive heart attack" Wednesday morning in Santa Monica, Calif. (Since I managed to survive one myself, I've noticed that anytime someone dies of a heart attack, it's always "massive."). Despite his yo ... More >>

Rock & Roll's Top 10 Brawlin' Brothers

Note: Not real brothers. We just liked the picture.​Brothers share a link that is unique and special. Same DNA, same familial backgrounds, quirks, talents, and sometimes musical taste. They can also argue, get physical, try to overpower one another, and hold grudges over years that are hard to ... More >>

The Best Songs From 1958

​This Saturday is Craig's Hlist's father's birthday, and the man turns 53. Sorry to out your age, Dad, but it's for science. This week while doing other research, we found that most people whose art we enjoy were actually born in 1958. People like Alec Baldwin, Prince, Jello Biafra, Jools Holl ... More >>

Porter Man Texts Cops To Set Up Drug Deal; Mom (aka "Butterbean") Talks Self Into Felony Bust

Travis Huffman is not happy​Texting dong shots is not the only way to get in trouble with your cellphone. Just ask Porter mother and son Travis Edwin Huffman and Kimberly "Butterbean" Meadows. Police in Montgomery County say Huffman, 25, was trying to set up a hydrocodone deal with one of his ... More >>

Idol Beat: Not So Fast, Five

Winter is coming... Wait, wrong show.​Dear American Idol: I don't like you - I think that's been pretty well established at this point - and I know you don't like me, otherwise you wouldn't still be dragging along for 90 minutes on Wednesday even though there are only five contestants left, a ... More >>

Friday Night: The Wagoneers At The Continental Club

Photos by Jason Wolter​The Wagoneers Continental Club April 15, 2011 Alt-country pioneers the Wagoneers laid down a crisp, essentially flawless 90-minute set Friday night at the Continental Club. They must've used cases of WD-40, but they showed no rust at all despite a 20-plus-year layoff. A ... More >>

Two Timing: The 11 Best Rock Duos

Todd Cole​Wednesday night, noisy indie duo No Age (above) pulls into Fitzgerald's. The two-piece of guitarist Randy Randall and drummer Dean Allen Spunt, starting making waves in 2007 with their debut Weirdo Rippers. 2008's Nouns brought them even more acclaim, and along the way they gained fo ... More >>

More Like "Hall Of Lame," Am I Right?

​Ladies and gentlemen, your 2011 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is ready to admit a new class: Alice Cooper, Tom Waits, Neil Diamond, Darlene Love and Dr. John have all been inducted for 2011, the foundation announced Wednesday. With the exception of Wai ... More >>

Before Ray & Dave, Noel & Liam, There Was Don & Phil...

The Everly Brothers Reunion Concert: Live at the Royal Albert Hall Eagle Vision, 120 minutes, $11.98. ​Long before the professional pairings of the Robinsons, Gallaghers, Davies or even the Righteous, (and just after the Burnettes), there was the early rock and roll fraternal act of the Everl ... More >>

Rocks Off's 10 Favorite Family Bands

​Tonight Kings of Leon plays their fourth Houston date in three years at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. The band of three Followill brothers and one cousin can't stay away from us, or touring, or recording. This date precedes the upcoming release of the band's new album, Come Around Sund ... 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 >>

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 >>

American Idol: Later, Lacey

We w@nt t* punch Ke$ha !n the f@ce.​Last night was my first real elimination round of American Idol. Sure, they've been thinning the ranks for weeks, but that was a rapid-fire bloodletting that sent home four bad singers a week. This is the big show, the top 12, with more lights and makeup and ... More >>

Idol Beat: Later, Lacey

We w@nt t* punch Ke$ha !n the f@ce.​Last night was my first real elimination round of American Idol. Sure, they've been thinning the ranks for weeks, but that was a rapid-fire bloodletting that sent home four bad singers a week. This is the big show, the top 12, with more lights and makeup and ... More >>

Tonight: Florida Indie Beach Boys Surfer Blood Sail Into Mango's

​Florida-based indie kids Surfer Blood pull into Mango's tonight, touring ahead of their upcoming Astro Coast LP. The band was recently anointed by Rolling Stone's online feature "Hype Monitor" as "bright and booming and hooky as FM radio in the late '70s." Rocks Off can hear traces of early "Blue ... More >>

MP3 of the Day: "Claudette," Still a Better Song Than a Storm

It's been so quiet in the tropics lately that even Ike-scarred Houstonians were able to forget that it's hurricane season - until this weekend, that is, when not one but three disturbances showed up "down there." (Better than some other things showing up "down there," Rocks Off can tell you that mu ... More >>

Aftermath: Mike Stinson at Under the Volcano

Photos by Chris Gray​ At his first proper gig since relocating to Houston last month, suit-clad Mike Stinson raised the bar for honky-tonk around here a little. Maybe a lot. Joined by guitarist Lance Smith and Winfield Cheek on keyboards, steel and mandolin, Stinson sang his way through a jukebox ... More >>

Lost Tuneage: Nazareth

Who Dat? Formed at the end of 1968 out of the ashes of a group called the Shadettes, Nazareth - taking its name from the first line of the Band's "The Weight" - included Dan McCafferty (vocals), Manny Charlton (guitar), Pete Agnew (bass) and Darrell Sweet (drums). As the group was from provincial D ... More >>

Lonesome Onry and Mean: Roy Orbison and Odessa

Tonight: Boxmasters at Scout Bar, Part 1

Bill Bentley Goes Online with Sonic Boomers

Native Houstonian creates Web site for boomer music fans

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss: Raising Sand

Starry Lullabye

Ailing Houston-area native David Schnaufer has taken the Appalachian dulcimer to the mountaintop

Bring On the Backlash!

Flinging poo at the haters with the Arctic Monkeys

Wonder Twin Powers, Activate!

A scientific study of the two-piece indie-rock boom

Letters to the Editor

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

Wack puts this whole Franz Ferdinand thing into context

Playbill

Playbill

Everything Old Is New Again

What do punks the Dropkick Murphys have in common with soulful Norah Jones? More than you think.

Reconsider Him

At the end, Warren Zevon's past is finally unearthed

Mauled Eagles

The hipster’s First Commandment: Thou shalt not dig the Eagles

Songbird Silenced

Pioneering singer/songwriter and native Houstonian Mickey Newbury passes away

Brother, Can You Spare the Time?

Charlie and Bruce Robison's tour will be fun, as long as they don't kill each other

Mornings with Woody

Slaid Cleaves "collaborates" with the father of folk music, while blazing his own trail

Hip to Be Square

Quality, not fashion, drives the legacy of Simon and Garfunkel

Rotation

Wanted Man

Johnny Cash may just be a legend, but he's never sounded better

Spunk Rock

The Muffs' Kim Shattuck can't understand why everyone else doesn't write like her

Gracious Angel

A box set doesn't mean Emmylou Harris's career is done; it may mean it's just beginning

Splendid Isolation

For Warren Zevon, it's all about how he looks in the hat

Buff Boys

Rotation

Like Father, Like Son

Spanic Boys make classic rock and roll a family affair

The Man With the Blue Guitar

Chris Smither uses the blues as a launching pad for a sound that could make you cry