Tom Waits

The 10 Most Hilariously Awful Wrestling Entrance Themes

Last Friday was the 46th birthday of one of my absolute favorite wrestlers, William Regal aka Steve Regal before the WWE instituted its rather bizarre No-More-Steves rule. Not that it matters, his real name is Darren Matthews. "Regal" is an amazing man, rising to hold more than 60 titles in various ... More >>

EPIC: The 20 Most Overused Terms In SXSW Band Bios

Before I take any trip to Austin and SXSW, I always take more than a few days to peruse the schedule and check out a few of the hundreds of names on the roster and read their bios. Some years there are more bands with "wolf" and "space" in their monikers than usual, and some years there are random ... More >>

The Best Concerts In Houston This Week: Imagine Dragons, fun., etc.

Imagine Dragons House of Blues, February 12 You've seen the name all over, from Blog A to Blog B, and the haircuts should look mighty familiar. This Las Vegas act has a sound in the same vein as Passion Pit and AWOLNATION, two acts with a veritable stranglehold on the rock dollar these days. Their ... More >>

When the Voice Goes: 5 Rock Singers Who Have Lost It Live

Last week, this video of Guns n' Roses playing at the Bridge School Benefit in California surfaced on YouTube, raising a lot of eyebrows among music fans. It was an acoustic performance of "Welcome to the Jungle" which might sound like a confusing prospect in and of itself, but what has everyone tal ... More >>

Saturday: iFest In Downtown Houston -- Los Lonely Boys, Los Amigos Invisibles, Etc.

Houston International Festival Downtown Houston April 21, 2012 There's something beautifully eclectic about Houston's iFest. Only there can you drink a beer as you stuff your face with curry, shoulder to shoulder with a Buddhist, while listening to Hare Krishnas sing their hearts out. Ok, maybe it' ... More >>

Last Night: Delta Spirit At Fitzgerald's

Delta Spirit Fitzgerald's April 12, 2012 I am concerned that younger bands these days are not learning the proper value of restraint. It's not even a generational thing, really. I had very little appreciation for or understanding of restraint myself until fairly recently, but a heart attack at age ... More >>

Bartender Chat: Nathan Wells of Beaver's

​This week, we paid a visit to Beaver's to meet bartender Nathan, or "Dollar Wells," as he's called. It was pretty dead at 2:45 p.m. on Tuesday as I sat at the bar, beautifully littered with several rocks glasses filled with different-colored concoctions. Nathan tells me they're making some la ... More >>

Friday Night: Sideshow Tramps CD Release At Fitzgerald's

Photos by Jason WolterHayes Carll (left) and Craig Kinsey go down the road.​Sideshow Tramps Fitzgerald's September 9, 2011 If Aftermath doesn't have to be at the office first thing in the morning, sometimes we let our personal hygiene slide a little. Some days stretch well into the afternoon ... More >>

Friday Night: Eels At Warehouse Live

Photos by Marc Brubaker​Eels, The Submarines Warehouse Live July 22, 2011 Between songs, Mark Oliver Everett repeatedly apologized for taking so long to return to Houston. After 14 years, he'd finally brought his band Eels to town, clad in suits, sunglasses, and enough facial hair to outfit a ... More >>

Shot In The Dark: The Ones Who Got Away (So Far)

UPDATE (3:23 p.m.): Promotional video by Monica Fuentes added after the jump. Jay LeeLittle Joe Washington at the Continental Club's 10th anniversary, July 2010​Slowly but surely, Rocks Off has been getting ready for our "Shot In the Dark" photo exhibition at Warehouse Live's Studio next Thur ... More >>

SXSW: The 10 Best Of The Fest This Year

Photos by Craig Hlavaty​

Top 10 Hottest Jewish Musicians

​The Festival of Lights is upon us, as the eight-day Jewish holiday of Hanukkah officially kicks off at sundown tonight. Some of music's leading bigwigs will likely be sparking up the menorah, among them Lou Reed, Paul Simon, Billy Joel, Leonard Cohen, Diamond David Lee Roth, Perry Farrell an ... More >>

Fun Fun Fun Fest: A Pocket Guide To Rocks Off's Picks

All photos courtesy funfunfunfest.comCall us crazy, but we think we may not be seeing Craig after this weekend.​Tonight Rocks Off heads to Austin to cover our third festival this year in the capitol city, Fun Fun Fun Fest. This is also our second trip to the festival in Waterloo Park. Think AC ... More >>

A Fire, Karaoke Or Ex-Brothel: Where Were We In Drag?

Pull up a chair, start a tab and order a round of shots, because this is Rocks Off's weekly roundup of the goings-on in the Houston bar scene. Ups and downs, openings and closings, we will cover it all. Hit us up with any hot tips at craig.hlavaty@houstonpress.com. Photos by Craig Hlavaty​Op ... More >>

Last Night: Mates Of State And Free Energy At Warehouse Live

Photos by Marc Brubaker / Click here for a slideshowFree Energy​Mates of State, Free Energy Warehouse Live July 8, 2010 There's nothing like getting ripped from your lemon grass tofu because there's a magician opening a Mates of State show. Aftermath was sitting down like a real, live human b ... More >>

Which Actors Can Hack It As Musicians?

​Hollywood Shuffle got word Thursday that Blues Brother and Saturday Night Live alumnus Dan Aykroyd will be at the downtown Spec's this afternoon from 3-7 p.m. to sign bottles of his new vodka, Conehead Crystal Head. Aykroyd is in town to act as Grand Marshal for Saturday's Art Car Parade. Sat ... More >>

Looking for Trouble

Jemina Pearl breaks free of Be Your Own Pet on Break It Up.

Who Might Replace Simon Cowell on American Idol? Funny You Should Ask...

[Ed. Note: Thanks to Craig Hlavaty for sparking this idea with his suggestion that Andy Rooney take over for Mr. Cowell.] As most of you no doubt already know, American Idol returns tonight, which means a return to watching overly processed people performing overly processed versions of overly proc ... More >>

American Central Dust: The Americana Class of 2009, Part 2

​5. Great Lake Swimmers, Lost Channels (Nettwerk) Great Lake Swimmers frontman Tony Dekker has written his fair share of heartbreaking, reverb-soaked ballads in the past, but Lost Channels finds him and his band also dabbling in Waterboys-style folk rock. What results is the Swimmers' most varied ... More >>

Defending the Polka

Listening Room: What's Been Tickling Our Earholes Lately

As Rocks Off has noted in our periodic Mail Call entries, even though the tide of promo CDs has been greatly reduced by the digital revolution - Rocks Off can count on one finger (the middle one) the times he's actually used the streaming/download email link publicists are ever more fond of these d ... More >>

The Mighty Stef

Music to Shuffle Off This Mortal Coil

Soul Day at ACL: I Feel Good!

Over the Weekend: Mugsy's, Big Easy, SW Foodservice Expo, Tom Waits and Astros

Murder by Death creates stunning, dark works that transcend the provocative name

Swan Songs

Americans Recording Mexican Songs

The Bueno, the Bad and the Muy Ugly

Reverberations: Garage Rock Downloads on MySpace

Tom Russell

The Seximals: Small Songs

Lost in Rotation

Rounding Up Recordings by HPMA Nominees

Cat Power

The Greatest

Coal Miner Mother of a Mess

In which we call bullshit on J.T. LeRoy's "essay" in the Oxford American's music issue

Rotation

Playbill

Blood, Flesh and Gore

Jordan Blilie and Johnny Whitney of the Blood Brothers are mighty pleased to ensanguine you

Rogue Bosoms, Bouncing Booties and Pac-Man Raps

Looking back on the '04

Azita and Carina Round

Life on the Fly (Drag City) and The Disconnection (Weapons of Mass Entertainment / Interscope)

Nice Pussy

A killer cat steals a wonderful movie

Blues Lucifers

San Antonio's Boxcar Satan rumbles in from the west with its punk-roots noise

A Clean Brake

After almost losing his voice, country rocker David Brake starts singing his own songs

Best Music Gadfly

Guy Schwartz

Jeff Black, with Ian Moore

Saturday, April 12

Ramsay Midwood

Shoot Out at the OK Chinese Restaurant (Vanguard)

The Boob Scotch Tour

Staying abreast of modern trends in blues with Bob Log III

Ozzy Lore

Several Texans are trying to separate Ozzy the myth from Ozzy the man

Bob Schneider

Scabs front man

Rotations

Rotation