Tody Castillo

Tianna Hall: Jazz Singer Unafraid Of Soundgarden, Radiohead

​It's hard to describe how difficult it is to be a good jazz singer. Jazz is such a nuanced, sometimes overwhelming experience, that vocalizing it is, at times, akin to juggling bulldozers. And crap, man, bulldozers are heavy. Which is why when singer Tianna Hall's music got dropped in our l ... More >>

Bright Men of Learning

​It's hard to describe how difficult it is to be a good jazz singer. Jazz is such a nuanced, sometimes overwhelming experience, that vocalizing it is, at times, akin to juggling bulldozers. And crap, man, bulldozers are heavy. Which is why when singer Tianna Hall's music got dropped in our l ... More >>

Eclipse

Brooding folk for the Twilight crowd.

Benefits, Outdoor Shows Fill Up Fall Concert Season Quick

​"Winter changed into spring, spring changed into summer, summer changed back into winter, and winter gave spring and summer a miss and went straight on into autumn" - Monty Python and the Holy Grail That's what it's starting to feel like at Rocks Off HQ, especially on the local front. The su ... More >>

Upcoming: Clay Aiken, The Cult, Old 97's, Smashing Pumpkins, Etc.

​36 Crazyfists, Straight Line Stitch, Taking Dawn: Wed., Sept. 29. Scout Bar Clear Lake. Attack Attack!, Emmure, Pierce The Veil, Of Mice & Men, In Fear & Faith: Thu., Dec. 2. House of Blues. Bob Schneider: Fri., Nov. 12. House of Blues. Bright Men Of Learning: Sat., Sept. 18, 3 p.m. Cactu ... More >>

Houston Leading "Ford Fiesta Movement" Bonnaroo Contest

myspace.com/blackqueenspeaksBlack Queen Speaks​ For what seems like months now, Rocks Off has been seeing emails and posts about Team Houston, Ford Fiesta, Backseat Jukeboxes, and the battle of the bands this Saturday at Warehouse Live. To clear up any confusion, Rocks Off recently asked local pho ... More >>

Somewhere Trouble Don't Go

The best Texas albums of 2009...or what we could squeeze in.

KISS Off

The makeup-clad rockers may be hilarious, but they're hardly metal.

Ain't No Party (Around Here) Like Houston's The Factory Party

www.myspace.com/thefactorypartymusic​ It always amazes Rocks Off how we'll start liking one band - Bunnymen-loving London post-punks White Lies, in this case - and then a little while later, stumble across a local band who could be their twin. If only, you know, they weren't from halfway around th ... More >>

Tody Castillo

www.myspace.com/thefactorypartymusic​ It always amazes Rocks Off how we'll start liking one band - Bunnymen-loving London post-punks White Lies, in this case - and then a little while later, stumble across a local band who could be their twin. If only, you know, they weren't from halfway around th ... More >>

Distant Early Warning: 311, AFI, HEALTH, Kanye West (Boo!), Regina Spektor, Rob Zombie, etc.

​311, State Radio: Sun., Dec. 6. Verizon Wireless Theater. AFI: Sat., Nov. 21. Verizon Wireless Theater. An Albatross, Dark Meat: Sat., Nov. 7. Mango's. Armin Van Buuren: Fri., Oct. 16. Planeta Bar-Rio. Art Brut: Sun., Oct. 25. Walter's on Washington. Breathe Carolina, Cash Cash, Kill Paradise, F ... More >>

Ghosts of Washington Avenue

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

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 >>

China Girls (and Boys)

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 >>

Tonight: Elvis Perkins in Dearland at Walter's on Washington

All too often, the "folk singer/songwriter" label is a warning shot, promising pseudo protest music, self-indulgent hippie strumming, mid-tempo banality, coffee shops in Boulder, sometimes all four at once. Elvis Perkins is not that kind of singer/songwriter. For Perkins, the label is merely a desc ... More >>

Cyberchondriacs

Generation DIY turns to self-diagnosing to save money.

Art Rock: Arthur Yoria at Rudyard's

Tonight: "Live In Texas" Photo Exhibit at Cactus Music

Stephanie Alexander ZZ Top, alive and well in Grand PrairieCool photo, huh? That's the work of Cy-Fair native Stephanie Alexander, who now has one of the choicest jobs any music-loving camera hound could hope for - even if it is in Dallas: house photographer for American Airlines Arena, the ... More >>

New Year's Eve

Stephanie Alexander ZZ Top, alive and well in Grand PrairieCool photo, huh? That's the work of Cy-Fair native Stephanie Alexander, who now has one of the choicest jobs any music-loving camera hound could hope for - even if it is in Dallas: house photographer for American Airlines Arena, the ... More >>

HOUSTON PRESS NEW YEAR'S EVE GUIDE

Kiss 2008 goodbye in style

Bottom Shakefest

Kiss 2008 goodbye in style

HPMA Aftermath: Hell City Kings, Fondue Monks, Pale, Arthur Yoria and Bring Back the Guns

Kiss 2008 goodbye in style

Midday MP3s: Twotenanny Edition

Kiss 2008 goodbye in style

Locals Only

Kiss 2008 goodbye in style

Weekend Music: Setting Things Straight

Kiss 2008 goodbye in style

This Week's MuxTape

Kiss 2008 goodbye in style

Last Night: The Houston Press Music Awards Showcase

Kiss 2008 goodbye in style

2007 Houston Press Music Awards Showcase

Kiss 2008 goodbye in style

Houston International Fest 2007

The Bayou City's biggest festival continues making strides toward total recovery

Houston Rock Scene Woes, Continued

A tri-ologue with three scene vets about selling out, not being true to yourself and rocking too hard

The Orange Show

Spain Colored Orange takes home four Press Music Awards

More Fun than a Barrel of Monkeys

Dispatches from the 17th annual Houston Press Music Awards

The Bards of Baytown

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

2006 Houston Press Music Awards Supplement

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

Houston Band Cartography

The launch of our blog brings forth a quixotic attempt toward a local music atlas

Pandora's Boss

Meet the guy behind the Web site that could be the MySpace.com of music

Fat Beats

The real reason Houston stays near the top of the chunkiest-city charts

Farewell to the Twenty Nickel

Looking back on the '05 and dreaming in the '06

Yule Fuel

A discussion of non-Christmas Christmas music

Low Ride, Take It Easy

A trip to the Los Magnificos Car Show sets us to pondering why there can’t be a local rock equivalent

Art, Music and Crap

It's all there -- in a neat little package -- at WestFest Compressed

Tremé, Texas

The soul of New Orleans lives on in Houston, especially at Sammy's on Main

Houston's Gone Gaaga for Haaga

A former king of the Texas metal world unites Houston's warring rock tribes and wins a passel of Music Awards

Pop Songwriter Night, with Arthur Yoria, Tody Castillo and Lanky

Thursday, July 28, at Rudyard's, 2010 Waugh Drive, 713-521-0521.

Christmas in July

Six dozen of Houston's finest bands for a mere $7

Play It Pretty for Cabaret Voltaire

A Rice grad stakes his claim as the inventor of the ironic "Freebird" request; also: there's a Lanky new kid on H-town's burgeoning pop-rock scene

The Sick Old Man of the Festival Circuit

An open letter to the organizers and music bookers of the Houston International Festival

Todymania!

Houston's scene sees the release of its second great pop-rock CD in six months; also: March Music Madness hits town on the touring front

Not The Nutcracker

Houston Ballet gets raw and sensual with Cullen Contemporary Series

Moby Pick

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