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writes about
Devin the Dude, making fun of the
dumbifying of Texas' public-school curriculum. Today is your last chance to get Summerfest passes for the low, low price of $22.50. They go up at midnight.
Prince Paul, who only produced De La Soul's
3 Feet High and Rising, has signed on to DJ the afterparty. See
freepresssummerfest.com. Besides a new album,
Wrong Is What I Do Best,
Miss Leslieof the Juke Jointers
has a baby! Her name is Emilee Rebecca Anne Bledsoe. Congrats to the happy family. At
Sedition Books, Oakland's anarcho- country folk punk band
Jessie Williams and the BoozeHoundswill play with
Crop Circles, 8 p.m. Friday. The bossman around these parts has been
relentlessly pursing the Lightnin' Hopkins historical marker storyand yesterday's news is that a copy of this portrait of Hopkins, taken in 1959 by
Dallas Times Heraldphotographer Andrew Hanson can be yours for a $100 donation to the
Lightnin' Hopkins Marker Fund(plus a $15 S&H fee). There are only 50 prints, per Hanson's wishes, which were made from one of four surviving negatives from the shoot, which took place at Hopkins' Third Ward shack on Dowling Street. For more information, email Marker Fund coordinator Eric Davis at
redavis59@comcast.net. Houston alt-rockers
Wayside Drivehave just released "Forgetting," the fourth single from the trio's
The Other Sidealbum, with a twist: The band enlisted local translator Francesca Marzola to, well, translate the lyrics into Spanish, French, German and Italian, and recorded a version of the song in each language. Here's the
; download the other four (and see the lyrics) here.
A Thousand Craneshas a video out for their song "a San Juda." They've been getting a lot of attention on blogs lately.
Here's an interviewand
a review, complete with an MP3.
Runaway Sunis on a
short tour, thanks in part to their Houston fans, who raised enough money at the band's Continental Club gig a few months back to buy members of the band plane tickets to New York City. Front man Andrew Karnavas, whose new solo album,
Film Noir, just showed up at the
Pressoffices, is driving to NYC with publicist Monica Danna. Follow their road-trip adventures
onTwitter.
"I'm Billy from the band ZZ Top. The whole world knows about the effects caused by the earthquake that happened in your beautiful country. We know that the Chilean spirit can never be broken and that right now it is stronger than ever. ZZ will be in Santiago on May 18 at the Movistar arena. We hope that you can join us for a special night."
Questions abound, however. Does Billy Gibbons usually get around River Oaks on that old beat-up bike? Who knew he spoke Spanish? And most importantly, if the show is a benefit for Chileans, how much will they charge the Chileans to attend? Mama's got a squeezebox she wears on her chest. This weekend Houston will host Texas Folklife's Big Squeeze Accordion Contest Auditions, for accordion players 21 years old and younger. Musicians from any genre can compete, 2 p.m. Friday at Talento Bilingue and 3 p.m. Saturday at The Big Easy. For more information and to register, contact Texas Folklife, a statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to presenting and preserving the diverse cultures and living heritage of the Lone Star State. Attention local musicians, music bloggers and music organizations: have something that should be included in Magnolia City Mixtape? Leave a comment below or email brittanieshey (at) gmail (dot) com.
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