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For a Master Class in Band Survival During the Live Music Slowdown, Go to Grade 2

By Jesse Sendejas Jr.

Aug 20, 2020

A lifetime ago in March of this year, the Houston Press spoke by phone with Sid Ryan, bassist for the surging street punk band Grade 2. Ryan was in Canada with his band mates, guitarist Jack Chatfield and drummer Jacob Hull. The band had played the first show of a...

Joe Ely released his nineteenth album, Love In The Midst Of Mayhem during the pandemic.

Love In The Midst Of Mayhem: A Timely Message From Joe Ely

By Gladys Fuentes

Jun 30, 2020

Love is a tricky thing that's been called everything from a bitch to the only thing we need. Texas songwriting legend Joe Ely has made it the main focus of his newest album, Love In The Midst Of Mayhem. The ten track album was released digitally in mid April and...

In Praise of Drummers: Goodbye Arthur Hays

By David Ensminger

Jun 19, 2020

Arthur Hays was an irreplaceable figure in music scenes that included San Antonio, Austin, and most recently Houston. A Texas native son born who graduated from high school in the early 1970s, he was a rock'n'roll drum legend whose sheer titanic pounding, flexing rhythmic force, and sheer velocity filled records by The Next, The Ideals, Mystery Dates, Bang Gang, Hickoids, and more, including the project of a lifetime, Screech of Death, an old school punk unit anchored by the love of his life Lisafer/Lisa Pifer. Arthur was a genuine figure that endured some tough times, including multiple stints in prison, but he found a state of grace in the end through his music community and punk family values.

April Hartman (seated) and Apes of the State

Coronavirus Sobriety Check-In: April Hartman, Apes of the State

By Jesse Sendejas Jr.

May 18, 2020

In a few weeks, April Hartman will mark six years of sobriety. Hartman is a busy musician who splits her time between three Pennsylvania-based bands. Her music and the people it reaches have shaped her successful recovery. Many of her followers and fans contact her directly for support staying clean...

Happy Motörhead Day, Houston!

By Jesse Sendejas Jr.

May 8, 2020

As we’ve all learned recently, there’s no telling what tomorrow might bring, so we take it day by day and cling to each day’s certainties. That makes today, Friday, May 8, a.k.a. Motörhead Day, one to circle on the calendar. It’s a sure bet that every music fan celebrating the...

Bree Davidson with Johnny Ramone at a Houston 7-Eleven store on February 19, 1978.

That Time Christian Kidd Met The Ramones at a 7-Eleven And Other Houston Punk Memories

By David Rozycki

Mar 30, 2020

Christian Kidd, founder, lead guitarist and singer of seminal Houston punk band The Hates ran into the Ramones by chance at a Houston 7-Eleven store back on February 19, 1978 after their show at the now defunct On The Border club.

Just Warming Up: Raul Malo Brings His Solo Show To Houston {UPDATED]

By Gladys Fuentes

Mar 9, 2020

Latino contributions to rock and roll have been significantly overlooked historically. Artists like Richie Valens and the Sir Douglas Quintet influenced the layout for popular music in their time and beyond, without always getting the credit they deserve. Raul Malo of The Mavericks agrees, “It certainly is under appreciated, but...

Jon Dee Graham and Los Gallos Luchadores will perform Thursday, March 5 at the Continental Club.

Not Dead Yet: Jon Dee Graham Comes Back Swinging

By Gladys Fuentes

Mar 4, 2020

Don’t worry, Jon Dee Graham was only dead for a little while. The beloved Austin artist had a close call this past summer but he’s back on his feet and playing the guitar with more energy than before and a band of Houston artists lighting a fire deep from deep...

Paulie Think Drops In Again

By Jesse Sendejas Jr.

Feb 24, 2020

On his first day back in Texas, Paulie Think had a gnarly wipeout on his skateboard. “Actually, I ate shit in the H-E-B parking lot. I was on my skateboard,” said the avid skater and musician. “I was going down the hill out the parking lot and I don’t know...

Disruptive Since '79: MDC's Radical American Rock'n'Roll Revisits Houston

By David Ensminger

Jan 2, 2020

For 40 years, groundbreaking hardcore punk band MDC has proven that commitment works. As a globe-reaching political unit, they foreshadowed The Woke Generation's emphasis on social justice, pro-LGBTQIA fights, environmental awareness, labor concerns, police brutality, and much more. Though they began as the Stains at long-lost clubs like Raul's in Austin in the late-1970s, they have spent the last four decades scouring the world, from Brazil and Malaysia to Russia, making music that is ferocious, fast, and focused on creating a sense of participatory culture. As proud vegans and left-wing activists, they are a tour-de-force, with a sarcastic edge.

Piñata Protest Salutes Los Skarnales on Its Silver Anniversary

By Jesse Sendejas Jr.

Dec 27, 2019

Piñata Protest will be in town this week to help celebrate Los Skarnales’ silver anniversary. Àlvaro Del Norte, founder and band leader for the San Antonio-based and accordion-powered Tex-Mex punk outfit, said the groups have a common approach to music. He also hinted that his band, which keeps gaining momentum...

UK-based pop-rock outfit Kero Kero Bonito at Sattelite bar on November 8.

Internet Pop Sensation Kero Kero Bonito Thrill Fans on Chilly Night

By Carlos Brandon

Nov 9, 2019

Nothing makes the world feel smaller and more connected like niche internet fandoms. Transcending borders, cultures, even language, the fanatic devotion of online followings is a fascinating and rather heartwarming side-effect of a perpetually logged-on world. At the same time, nothing makes one feel older than standing in a crowd...

Mike Watt and the Art of Sublime Punk Invention

By David Ensminger

Oct 22, 2019

Mike Watt occupies his own niche in the space and time continuum of punk rock. He seems to belong everywhere and nowhere, simultaneously. Although he graduated high school in 1976 and fervently took the alternative path out of stadium rock clichés by honing jazz-spiel punk escapades in Minutemen, his work...

Tom Thacker, Jason "Cone" McCaslin, Deryck Whibley, Dave Baksh, and Frank Zummo of Sum 41

Sum 41: From Past to Present

By Cameron Martinez

Oct 21, 2019

Even if you weren't into punk-rock back in the 2000s, there's a good chance you've heard some of the genre's most catchy hits. With the pop-punk scene on the rise early in the decade, ear-candy tunes were not only being played on the radio, but also being used in other...

Critical Condition Hits the Road and Starts in Houston Tonight

By Jesse Sendejas Jr.

Oct 18, 2019

At a recent gig at House of J, the upstart band Critical Condition had to begin its set without one of its members. The bedevilment of unexpected Houston traffic struck while this musician was en route to the house show. As he fretted in a sea of cars, his bandmates...

New Zealand's Miss June to play the Bronze Peacock at the House of Blues on October 27.

New Zealand's Miss June Coming to House of Blues

By Carlos Brandon

Oct 17, 2019

"We will never be easy to categorize musically." Annabel Liddell, front-woman of the New Zealand punk outfit Miss June, is no stranger to challenging both labels and expectations. In 2013, the same year she began medical school, she recruited the other three members of her raucous and increasingly popular band...

The Distillers Brings a Vampire Circus to Houston

By Jesse Sendejas Jr.

Oct 16, 2019

I’m no Van Helsing, but I’m pretty sure Brody Dalle and The Distillers are vampires. My hunch comes from some of the titles of the band’s biggest hits, “Coral Fang,” “I Am a Revenant” or “Drain the Blood,” for example. While the veteran California punk band didn’t literally drain the...

Bad Religion Remains a Band for the Ages in the Age of Unreason

By Jesse Sendejas Jr.

Sep 26, 2019

In May 2019, there were several mass shootings in the United States. Politicians allowed wildfires to burn uncontrollably in the Amazonian rain forest. Wars raged in the world’s typical hot spots. Donald Trump was still the American president. And, the seminal punk band Bad Religion released its 17th studio album,...

Dale Alvin and Jimmie Dale Gilmore will be performing at the Heights Theater September 24.

From Downey To Lubbock: The Long And Shared Journey Of Dave Alvin And Jimmie Dale Gilmore

By Gladys Fuentes

Sep 23, 2019

Every Houstonian knows the sounds of a heavy storm, especially after last week's visit from Imelda. Elements in nature feed off of each other to create perfect storms. Last years, From Downey To Lubbock, a collaboration between Texas Flatlander, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and California Blaster, Dave Alvin, melted natural elements...

The bark behind Doomsday Massacre, John Anderson, at Vinal Edge, 2012

Now He's Ready: Hardcore Punk Singer John Anderson's Last Growls

By David Ensminger

Sep 20, 2019

Punk in Houston was a curious Southern aberration, an explosion of personalities and styles that ran the gamut from carefully crafted renegade soundwaves to jittery art-core and manic rock’n’roll. Bands tumbled quickly through the zeitgeist – Legionaires Disease, the Hates, Really Red, Bevatron, Plastic Idols, Mydolls, and many more, each...

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