Connor Fields

In treading through the annals of rock music, it’s hard to argue that any approach to the genre has been more persistent than psychedelic-rock. From the jangling opening riff of 13th Floor Elevators’ “You’re Gonna Miss Me,” to the outpouring of groups that flocked to Haight-Ashbury in the late-60s (therein forging a widespread counterculture), to the shoegaze sounds that swept the U.K. throughout the 90s, rock artists have continuously found new ways to interpret the ever-malleable, wide-ranging sound of psychedelic music. Aside from modern pop’s incorporation (*cough* appropriation) of the genre’s aesthetic, the national craze around this music and its culture is clearly not as prevalent as it once was, when thousands of young Americans blew off their middle-class expectations for the Learyology of “dropping out and tuning in”. Since the start of the decade, however, a more subtle independent scene has been brewing...

For many of us, this pandemic has entirely redefined the process of yearning. Where we once yearned for often unrealistic things that we hoped we would one day have, we now find ourselves yearning for everyday simplicities that were at our fingertips just months ago—a pre-pandemic life, where we could visit whoever we please, where we could walk unfazed into Whataburger, where we could happen onto a random bar and catch live music, where we could experience that music in the way it’s meant to be seen and heard, not through our screens. As someone who has been fortunate in avoiding the far more serious repercussions of COVID-19, much of my yearning process has revolved around this last question. When will we get to see live music again?

It goes without saying that 2020 has been a year we’d rather forget—an endless feedback loop of disappointment and disaster. It’s even further obvious that few have had a more difficult path navigating this mess than the countless number of musicians whose financial and creative livelihoods have been put on an indefinite halt, given their increasing reliance on entertaining large (and preferably jam-packed) gatherings of people.Yet that isn’t to say these folks have merely gone dormant over the last nine months...

As COVID-19 wreaks havoc on small businesses throughout the city, forcing a mass stream of layoffs and shuttering of operations, business owners of all forms are dreaming up different ways to mitigate these losses in any way they can. Whether it’s rolling out gift card specials for restaurants, or curbside...

With life as we know it being virtually upended by COVID-19, and a mandatory stay at home order being issued for Harris County (and most surrounding counties), it’s safe to say that we’ll continue needing things to pass the time with during this indeterminate quarantine period. Whether you’re finally getting...