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Shemekia Copeland's Search for Civility

Shemekia Copeland's Search for Civility

Debunking The Many When We Were Young Conspiracies

Debunking The Many When We Were Young Conspiracies

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How Bluesman Tinsley Ellis Got Pandemic Prolific for New Record

By Bob Ruggiero
Jan 17, 2022

Ever since the first mass-produced automobiles began rolling out of factories in the early 1900s, many drivers have used their time on the open road to ponder their present or plan their future. Tinsley Ellis had a long road—a very long road—to do just that in March 2020. Only six...
The Singers Helping To Move Houston Into The New Year

By DeVaughn Douglas
Jan 3, 2022

Last week we put out a list of the city's produce's to watch, honoring a subsection of the industry that often gets overlooked. There was no way we could capture all the producers that contribute to the city's music scene we were able to highlight a few and today we...
The Houston Producers Laying The Sound For Hip Hop

By DeVaughn Douglas
Dec 31, 2021

The music producer in Hip Hop is usually underrated and doesn't receive the shine that he or she deserves. Houston is no different. Houston might be worse. Producers here have been laying the musical soundtrack that the rest of the industry is following for awhile and, while some producers have...
Eddie Van Halen's Life Story Erupts in New Book

By Bob Ruggiero
Dec 23, 2021

When Jan and Eugenia van Halen emigrated to the U.S. from Holland in 1962, their two sons only knew four words of English. “Yes,” “No,” and – for some reason – “motorcycle” and “accident.” That was the complete vocabulary for eight-year-old Alex and seven-year-old Edward as they got off the...
Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson Finds His Inner Zealot

By Bob Ruggiero
Dec 16, 2021

Admirers of the longtime British Prog Rock legends Jethro Tull know that religious themes and imagery are common subject matter, including on some of their best-known efforts like Aqualung, Thick as a Brick, and A Passion Play. But they really take front-and-center in their newest record out next month—their first...
Book Asks (and Answers): What Happened to Your Fave '90s Alt Rockers?

By Bob Ruggiero
Dec 10, 2021

Now that high school and college graduating classes of the 1990s are reconvening for their 25 or 30-year reunions, Gen X CD purchasers will undoubtedly share their musical as well as educational memories. Some will recall the sounds of bands like Nirvana, Arrested Development, Marcy Playground, Letters to Cleo, Jesus...
You Wanna Whole Lotta Zep?

By Tom Richards
Nov 29, 2021

Led Zeppelin: The Biography (673 pp. $35.00, Penguin Press), presents the story of the groundbreaking band with a level of detail unseen in any previous volume. There have been any number of books written by and about the band itself, its individual members, its manager, and even its roadies, so this represents a significant accomplishment.
Alan Walden's Song of the South with Otis, the Allmans, and Lynyrd Skynyrd

By Bob Ruggiero
Nov 19, 2021

If you had to compare the size of a city to level of musical influence, it would be hard to beat the yawning gap of Macon. After all, it’s there in “The Heart of Georgia” where Little Richard honed his performing chops, Otis Redding brought his deep R&B and soul...
An All Access Ticket to the Rock Show—From Those Who Were There

By Bob Ruggiero
Nov 18, 2021

It’s common among a performer or band’s superfans to note something along the lines of “Yeah, their studio albums are great. But you really need to see them live.” Outside of the different sheen a live performance can put on a song though, that’s not the reason people go to...
It's Not Easy Being B. The Trailblazing Reign of B.B. King.

By Tom Richards
Oct 14, 2021

Multiple generations of blues artists were represented at the "Red, White, and Blues" concert at the White House...
Go-Go's Drummer Gina Schock Gets Snappy in New Book

By Bob Ruggiero
Oct 8, 2021

Almost as much as music, Gina Schock has had a love for an interest in photography for her entire life. And that includes before, during, after, and again during her career as the drummer for the Go-Go’s. Backstage, onstage, at house parties and in various airports and hotels, Schock always...
Mike Barfield Comes Home. And He's Ready to Dance!

By Bob Ruggiero
Sep 30, 2021

It’s the morning after Mike Barfield has played his regular Thursday night gig at the Continental Club in Austin, so he’s shaking off a bit of fuzziness. The ragweed count around his house isn’t doing his allergies any favors either. Still, he’s more than happy to be able to say...
Lucy Dacus Screens Her Past on Home Video [UPDATED]

By Bob Ruggiero
Sep 7, 2021

If there’s one positive outcome from the pandemic, it’s that many people have used the forced downtime to take up a new hobby or interest. A smaller group, of course, has actually stuck to it. Oh, how many sewing machines have sat lonely on dining room tables, or Rosetta Stone...
A Week In the Life of A COVID-Era Concert Calendar

By Jesse Sendejas Jr.
Aug 30, 2021

COVID’s Delta variant has performers, promoters, venues and fans hearing the starts and skips of a broken record. The uncertainty of it all sounds a lot like the music industry’s biggest “hit” of 2020, the one with concert tours scrapped and music venues shuttered. But, it’s 2021. There’s now a...
The Drive-By Truckers Book a Road Trip of Music and Geography

By Bob Ruggiero
Aug 27, 2021

First, let’s start off with that name. It was never meant to stick, only a dark humor-laden joke among band members for a group whose sound, home base, and even lineup were meant to be fluid back when it all began in 1996. “If we had known people were going...
He Ain't Studdin' Us: Bobby Rush Discusses New Memoir

By Gladys Fuentes
Aug 24, 2021

Bobby Rush is the last of his tribesmen. Rush and his good friend Buddy Guy may be the final living links to the original bluesmen and neither artist shows signs of slowing down. This year alone Rush took home his second Grammy for his fantastic 2020 album Rawer Than Raw...
The Metal Magic of Ronnie James Dio Shines in Posthumous Autobiography

By Bob Ruggiero
Aug 19, 2021

When Ronnie James Dio—announced in 2009 that he had stomach cancer, it certainly gave him an impetus to complete the autobiography that he’d been working on for a while. He’d already had a sizable chunk of the manuscript written down in what his widow Wendy Dio said was his “beautiful...
713 Music Hall Announces Its Grand Opening Concert Lineup With Willie on First

By Jesse Sendejas Jr.
Aug 10, 2021

Houston's newest concert venue, 713 Music Hall, will welcome a Texas treasure as the special guest chosen to begin its much-anticipated Houston music annals. Willie Nelson & Family will be the first artists to perform at the downtown show space, located at 401 Franklin in the POST Houston complex. The...
Zamrock Doc Celebrates Spell of the WITCH

By Bob Ruggiero
Aug 2, 2021

It seems that the 1970’s transmitted more musical styles into the public’s ears than any other in history: disco, punk, funk, new wave, heavy metal, reggae, glam, prog and the beginnings of rap. One genre that had a small but dedicated following is Zamrock. It originated in the country of...
Ellen Foley Comes Out Fighting and Remembers Meat Loaf & Jim Steinman

By Bob Ruggiero
Jul 29, 2021

While her place in pop culture and rock history is secured as Meat Loaf’s duet partner on the epic “Paradise by the Dashboard Light,” Ellen Foley is just as importantly a multi-hyphenate entertainer whose long resume includes credits in movies, television, musical and theatrical roles on and off Broadway, and...

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