Coronavirus

Patrick Simmons Keeps the Ultimate Doobie Party Going While Eyeing New Material

Patrick Simmons Keeps the Ultimate Doobie Party Going While Eyeing New Material

Classic Rock Bass Thumper Leo Lyons on Woodstock, Old/New Bands and Movin' On

Classic Rock Bass Thumper Leo Lyons on Woodstock, Old/New Bands and Movin' On

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The Wicked Lo-Down Travel the Blues Line Between Austin and Boston

By Bob Ruggiero
Apr 1, 2024

Nick David was one excited man. For though the blues singer/harmonica player had already spent decades plying his trade in the Northeast as part of the groups including Mr. Nick & the Dirty Tricks and Queen City Kings, his new band—dubbed “The Wicked Lo-Down” (likely as a subtle nod to...
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Say Goodbye to Touring—and Mr. Bojangles

By Bob Ruggiero
Mar 25, 2024

You can add another band to the growing list of acts who are out on their Farewell Tours, as country/pop/folk rockers The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band are about to embark on theirs. Although it’s definitely on their terms. “We just didn’t want to stop playing one day or disappear. We...
Adrian Sutherland Mines Precious Diamonds of His Culture and History

By Bob Ruggiero
Mar 15, 2024

Singer/Songwriter/Guitarist Adrian Sutherland was born and raised in Canada’s far north, with his family members of the Indigenous Attawapiskat First Nation and living on James Bay. He grew up speaking in the Omushkegowuk Cree tongue. That heritage has been reflected in much of his work, from leading the roots rock...
Dead Dialect Podcast's New Season Looks Back to Pre-Pandemic Times and a Peek Ahead

By Jesse Sendejas Jr.
Feb 19, 2024

Art, when it’s done well, can whisk you back to days passed but also offer a peek at all the promising ones ahead. That’s one way to consider the new season of the Dead Dialect Podcast. Time — its passing and how we hope it will gloriously unfold before us...
Still Struggling to Get Your Updated COVID-19 Vaccine? You're Not Alone.

By Faith Bugenhagen
Oct 19, 2023

Despite COVID-19 numbers peaking nationally two weeks ago, Dr. Peter Hotez said transmission of the virus is still occurring and could increase in the coming months amid low uptake of the updated COVID-19 vaccination. Hotez, co-director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development and dean of the National School...
Beaumont's Ole Lonesome Checks Into the "Tejas Motel"

By Bob Ruggiero
Sep 22, 2023

Blues Rock bands—like those of any genre—can take their names from the most telling of sources. Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, and Ginger Baker settled on “Cream” because each was the “cream of the crop” in terms of stature playing their respective instruments. ZZ Top’s moniker paid tribute to both bluesman...
Things Can (Still) Only Get Better for Howard Jones

By Bob Ruggiero
Jul 24, 2023

If there was a Mount Rushmore of ‘80s Synth Players (and really, why isn’t there a stone carving of that niche tribute already?) the likely visages on display would belong to Thomas Dolby, Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran, Martin Gore of Depeche Mode and Howard Jones. When this information is...
JW-Jones Mines Powerful Blues and Personal Pain on Everything Now

By Bob Ruggiero
Jun 2, 2023

It used to be in the music biz that in order to make a connection, there was a lot of hanging out backstage at shows, showing up at recording sessions, or schmoozing at parties and participating in activities of various legalities. Today, you can find that potential bond via social...
Selwyn Birchwood Casts Out Demons of Tired Blues on Exorcist

By Bob Ruggiero
May 26, 2023

Read enough articles and press materials on Selwyn Birchwood and one modifying word keeps popping up: that he’s a “contemporary” bluesman. Come to think of it, the same word shows up in pieces on artists like Gary Clark, Jr., Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Toronzo Cannon and Quinn Sullivan. For Birchwood himself,...
The Derailers Pull into the Station at Dan Electro's

By Bob Ruggiero
Apr 20, 2023

Unless you worked for a manufacturer of face masks, hand sanitizers, or sweat pants, chances are the pandemic was not particularly good for your industry. That especially goes for most working, non-superstar bands, the majority of whom make their money on touring and merch. Fortunately for the Derailers, a business...
Los Vertigos Unleash a Coronavirus Cover

By Bob Ruggiero
Apr 17, 2023

The worldwide pandemic has certainly inspired (if only via forced artist seclusion) a lot of musical projects since The World Shut Down in March 2020. According to the most recent estimate from the Centers for Disease Control, a total of nearly 1.3 million deaths in the U.S. alone can attributed...
The FDA Considers New Plan of Administering COVID-19 Vaccines

By Faith Bugenhagen
Jan 25, 2023

The Food and Drug Administration is considering a shift to a new way of administering the COVID-19 vaccine that is akin to receiving the flu shot. The FDA’s vaccine advisory committee will meet Thursday to discuss this proposed change, as well as other updates concerning the status of current and...
Pediatric COVID-19 Cases on the Rise Again in Houston

By Faith Bugenhagen
Jan 17, 2023

Doctors and nurses in Houston hospitals are facing increases in pediatric COVID-19 cases that could lead to a rise in hospitalizations akin to the amount brought in by one of the worst spikes of Respiratory Syncytial Virus last November and December. Hospitalizations of RSV overwhelmed pediatric wards then, and have...
A New Omicron Variant Poses a Threat With Already Growing COVID-19 Cases in Houston

By Faith Bugenhagen
Jan 13, 2023

A new dominant variant of COVID-19 in the Northeast leaves Houston bracing for impact and the possibility of a third brutal winter wave reminiscent of those in 2021 and 2022. The latest variant of the omicron family, XBB1.5, started to rapidly accelerate in both New York and New England in...
Steve Martin and Martin Short: The Two Amigos Ride Into Sugar Land

By Bob Ruggiero
Oct 18, 2022

For many years, when an excited fan would approach Steve Martin and ask for an autograph or picture, the actor/screenwriter/novelist/playwright/comedian (whew!) would immediately hand the person a pre-printed, autopen-signed business card. It said, “This certifies that you have had a personal encounter with me and that you found me warm,...
Accept This: Classic German Heavy Metal Comes Roaring Back

By Bob Ruggiero
Sep 29, 2022

During the pandemic, bands had to come up with creative ways to record and perform. The heavy metal men of Accept already had half a new record in the can before scattering, but months later they gathered in Nashville where leader/guitarist Wolf Hoffmann lived to finish the tracks. The problem...
Harris County Public Health Has Pfizer Omicron Booster Shots

By Houston Press
Sep 13, 2022

The new COVID-19 vaccination booster shots are now available and Harris County Public Health began giving them out Monday. The bivalent Pfizer COVID-19 booster vaccine authorized for individuals 12 years and older, is available to eligible residents and is administered in a single dose. The new vaccine is designed to protect...
The Manhattan Transfer Celebrate 50 Years of Vocal Harmony—and the End of Their Touring Days

By Bob Ruggiero
Sep 5, 2022

A few years before the 1976 movie Taxi Driver came out—complete with its raw depiction of New York City during the era—another “hack” was out on the road trying to figure out his future, this one of a more musical nature. And in the 1972 world of hard rock, glitter...
John McCutcheon Takes a Leap of Faith and Folk Music

By Bob Ruggiero
Aug 30, 2022

While a student at Minnesota’s St. John’s University in the early 1970s, John McCutcheon had a pretty good system going. He had a friend who worked in the school library and who could be persuaded to order certain requested records in exchange for beer. Records that McCutcheon could then borrow,...
The Australian Pink Floyd Show Continues Building Bricks in Wall of Fans

By Bob Ruggiero
Aug 25, 2022

Chris Barnes vividly recalls the first time he was exposed to the music of Pink Floyd. The UK native was about six years old when a cousin who had been living with his family left his record collection in the hands of Chris and his older brother. Among the discs...

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