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Was 1978 the Most Diverse Year in Music History?

By Bob Ruggiero

Apr 7, 2020

On Record – Vol. 1: 1978 – Images, Interviews, and Insights from the Year in Music By G. Brown 340 pp. $40 Colorado Music Experience Even the most causal music listener would find it hard to argue that 1978 was not one of – if not the – most diverse...

Cato is one of the "lost" acts featured on the compilation Stone Crush.

Stone Crush Revives "Lost" era of Memphis Soul & Funk

By Bob Ruggiero

Apr 3, 2020

When most people think of Memphis Soul, it’s the era from the mid-‘60s to mid-‘70s where labels like Stax and Hi put out the massively popular – then and now – music by artists like Otis Redding, Al Green, Booker T. and the MG’s, Sam and Dave, Carla Thomas, and...

From Memphis with Love: Southern Avenue is Tikyra Jackson, Evan Sarver, Tierinii Jackson, Jeremy Powell, and Ori Naftaly.

The Road of Southern Avenue Leads to Blues, Soul, and Funk

By Bob Ruggiero

Feb 25, 2020

When he landed in Memphis, Tennessee in 2013 to compete in the annual International Blues Challenge and represent his native Israel, it was a dream come true for guitarist Ori Naftaly. And while victory in his category eluded him, he quickly made some contacts, formed a band, and went on...

Janis Joplin lounging in her favorite room at the Chelsea Hotel in New York City, 1969.

New Bio is the Last Word on Wailing Texas Siren Janis Joplin

By Bob Ruggiero

Nov 12, 2019

Janis: Her Life and Music By Holly George-Warren 400 pp. Simon & Schuster $28.99 Rock’s first female superstar has already been the subject of a numerous biographies, memoirs by those who loved and worked with her, documentaries, and even a musical play. But nearly 50 years after Janis Joplin died...

Drummer Tyler Greenwell and vocalists Mark Rivers and Mike Mattison (back) with lead guitarist Derek Trucks and lead singer/guitarist Susan Tedeschi (front)

Tedeschi Trucks Band Play Powerful Fall Tour Opener in Houston

By Bob Ruggiero

Nov 7, 2019

Tedeschi Trucks Band November 6, 2019 The Hobby Center In music journalism, terms like “spiritual” and “soulful” get thrown around quite a bit. A good chunk of bands have neither evident in their music. Some of have one. Fewer have both. And still less have both in abundance. Count the...

That's a LOT of mouths to feed on the road! The Tedeschi Trucks Band in 2018: Ephraim Owens, Kofi Burbridge, Mike Mattison, Mark Rivers, Kebbi Williams, Susan Tedeschi, Derek Trucks, Alecia Chakour, Tyler Greenwell, J. J. Johnson, Elizabeth Lea, and Tim Lefebvre. In 2019, Burbridge passed away and Lefebvre left the band.

Derek Trucks on His Family Band, Personal Losses, and...Deshaun Watson??

By Bob Ruggiero

Oct 10, 2019

It’s a Monday morning and just about 36 hours since the Tedeschi Trucks Band have stepped off the stage of New York’s storied Beacon Theatre, wrapping up their ninth annual run of gigs at the venue. The string of six shows saw them play an estimated 80+ different tunes. So...

Clarence Clemons on the Great Wall of China in "Who Do I Think I Am?"

Clarence Clemons Doc Finds the Big Man Looking for Directions - But Not to E Street

By Bob Ruggiero

Sep 19, 2019

After Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band wrapped up their massive, September 11 memorial-heavy The Rising tour in 2003, sax player Clarence Clemons needed a break. A spiritual seeker – if not a particularly religious one – he decided to book a trip to China, in search of…something. There,...

Emily King Floats to the Top of Music Fans' Playlists With Scenery

By Jesse Sendejas Jr.

Apr 22, 2019

Emily King is a New Yorker, through and through. She grew up in Manhattan’s East Village and when she decided her life and the music informed by it needed a change, she packed up and moved upstate, where she pieced together Scenery, arguably the best work of her career. The...

I'm Still In Love With You, I'm Still In Love With You

By Jesse Sendejas Jr.

Apr 16, 2019

In 1973, I was eight years old. My favorite TV show was the Saturday morning live action cartoon Sigmund and the Sea Monsters. The best thing in my toy chest was the Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle. I was learning how to subtract numbers with multiple digits when I wasn’t distracted...

The Blues According to Boz (and Bobby)

By Bob Ruggiero

Mar 25, 2019

On the surface, actor Matthew McConaughey, writer Stephen Harrigan, photographer Mark Seliger, actress Jennifer Holliday, and musician Boz Scaggs may not have a lot in common. But as of this year, they’ve all got the same thing to display in their homes: A Texas Medal of Arts award. Bestowed biennially...

Just like all good boy bands, the children in the Watoto Children's Choir will retire after a tour, letting other Ugandan orphans have their moment in the spotlight.

Ugandan Orphans Sing Their Way From Buckingham Palace to the Bayou City

By Susie Tommaney

Feb 7, 2019

Nobody chooses to join the Watoto Children's Choir. The steep price of admission is to have lost one or both parents to the AIDS epidemic or during the war in Uganda. But taking part in the choir does offer a way out of hopelessness for these talented but vulnerable children. Blending native African rhythms,...

Scorpio Rising: Dennis Coffey Gets Funky and Jazzy on Live Record

By Bob Ruggiero

Feb 4, 2019

It sounded like the greatest theme song to a gritty ‘70s cops-criminals-drugs movie that never came out. But in 1971, guitarist Dennis Coffey’s funky, rocking, slashing instrumental “Scorpio” was a million seller, hitting No. 6 on the Top 40. And it’s one of the few tunes by a white act...

Al Johnson ("You Done Me Wrong" "Carnival Time") in full Mardi Gras mode.

The Sound of '50s/'60s New Orleans Returns on New Anthology

By Bob Ruggiero

Feb 1, 2019

In the annals of New Orleans music, you’d be hard pressed to name a tune more representative of and imbued with the spirit of the Crescent City than Professor Longhair’s 1959 version of “Go to the Mardi Gras.” And the power of the piano-and-percussion fueled tune with its laid back...

Tweed Smith belts it out onstage with bandmembers Geronimo Calderon (drums) and Quentin Calva (bass)

Tweed Smith Keeps Her Birthday Party Rolling

By Bob Ruggiero

Jan 24, 2019

Growing up in 1950s/60s Houston, young Alice Faye Smith – named for the popular performer from a couple of decades earlier – always knew she wanted to be a singer. There was really no other career path for her, simply because it was all around her. Everyone in her family...

Former Stax President/Co-owner Al Bell at the former studios and offices of the label, now home to the Stax Museum of American Soul Music in Memphis.

How Stax Records Merged the Music and the Message in 1968

By Bob Ruggiero

Oct 22, 2018

As both the history books and an endless stream of 50th anniversary documentaries have taught us, 1968 was an Especially Important Year in the United States. It was a time of particular upheaval with civil rights and jobs issues, the Vietnam was spiraling out of control and sparking protests, sharp...

The Suffers are ready to get the river rockin'.

River Revival Is Ready To Flex

By David Garrick

Aug 24, 2018

No matter what you think a music festival should be, it is after all a gathering of like minded individuals. The River Revival Festival organized by Houston's Splice Records,is now in its fourth year, stretched from two days to three, and from a handful of bands to more than double...

There's always plenty of tracks here in the club.

Houston Press Singles Club: Tee Vee, Lera Lynn, So, so

By David Garrick

Aug 14, 2018

This week the club gets richer with new tracks from Tee Vee, Secret Sands, Lera Lynn, From Beyond and So,so. While we appreciate you subscribing to this playlist, we remind you to visit these artists in their respected artist shops or when they perform so that they can keep the...

Jeff Lynne will bring ELO back for the first time in 20 years.

Telephone Line: The Best Houston Music of The Week

By David Garrick

Aug 8, 2018

On deck this week, plenty of entertaining options from Jeff Lynne's ELO, Vacationer, Ski Mask The Slump God, and Walker Lukens will all be on hand while locals like The Prettybads, Alone On The Moon, and Gio Chamba will round things out. Tonight you can begin with the folk pop...

Imagine Dragons will fill Woodlands Pavilion with joyous sound.

Start Over: The Best Houston Music of The Week

By David Garrick

Aug 1, 2018

On hand this week: Sets from Imagine Dragons, Panic At The Disco, 311, Lil B, and Lucinda Williams while locals like John Allen Stephens, Velveteen Echo, and The Mighty Orq, among others, will round things out. Tonight you can get going at White Oak Music Hall downstairs for the guitar...

The tracks are always spinning in the club.

Houston Press Singles Club: Jason James, Jesse Dayton, Cactus Flowers

By David Garrick

Jul 31, 2018

This edition of the Singles Club will add plenty of tunes to get your head boppin' and your feet tapping. Tracks from Jason James, To Whom It May, Jesse Dayton, Max Flinn and Cactus Flowers will all get added. While we appreciate that you check out these acts and subscribe...

Soulsville

Looking to Get Lost by Peter Guralnick

The Sweet Soul (and Rock...and Gospel...) of Memphis

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