It's finally 2017, and while many are breathing a sigh of relief that 2016 is finally over, others are gritting their teeth in anticipation for what might be the worst year yet. To get you ready for the first month of America's reckoning, we put together a mixtape of artists playing in January that both pacify and provoke. If you're feeling anxious, listen to the rolling beach rock of Surfer Blood (January 30, White Oak Music Hall) or the melodic troubadour Dylan LeBlanc (January 22, Continental Club). If you're still cloaked in despair, you might want to try the brooding Americana of The Devil Makes Three (January 14, White Oak Music Hall).
And for those of you trying to start of the new year right, that is, with some of our best Houston artists, we've got lots of them here to sample, including local blues legend Trudy Lynn (January 7, The Heights Theater), the bootstrapping Mexican rapper Chingo Bling (January 18, The Heights Theater), and the nostalgic indie-pop of New York City Queens (January 20, White Oak Music Hall). We hope it's enough to get this year started; God willing, this one will be better than the last.