Music
December 29, 2021
The Best Songs From Texans in 2021
This year, we jammed to new music by Kacey Musgraves, Leon Bridges, Megan Thee Stallion, St. Vincent, and others.
By
Cat Cardenas
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Music
Storytelling and reviews about the artists and trends that define the sounds of the Lone Star State
Music
December 17, 2021
Texans Mourn the Death of “El Rey,” Vicente Fernández
Little Joe Hernández, George Strait, educators, and fans of the legendary Mexican singer speak about his impact on their lives and the legacy he’s left behind.
By
Cat Cardenas
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Music
December 17, 2021
The Texan Who Saved the Beatles
In Peter Jackson’s documentary ‘The Beatles: Get Back,’ Houston-born pianist Billy Preston makes a strong case for himself as the fifth Beatle.
By
Cat Cardenas
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Music
December 16, 2021
Buffalo Nichols Comes Home to the Blues
The Austin musician has made an excellent traditional blues album—but to get there, he studied punk, West African music, and Ukrainian folk.
Music
December 14, 2021
The Best Things in Texas 2022: Megan Thee Stallion
The rapper and freshly minted Texas Southern University graduate lassoed up trophies and brand deals and gave plenty of Houston shout-outs.
The Texanist
December 6, 2021
The Texanist: What’s the Best Texas Christmas Song?
An El Paso woman is looking for the finest example of Lone Star holiday musical jollity. But can there only be one?
Music
December 3, 2021
Jason Boland & the Stragglers’ New Album Is a Galactic, Time-Traveling Journey
‘The Light Saw Me’ is maybe the weirdest, most unexpected post-pandemic album to come out of the Red Dirt country scene. Just in time for Omicron!
Music
November 26, 2021
A New Dawn for Horizon, the Groovy Granddaddy of San Antonio Funk
The near-forgotten River City boogie-funk band has reunited and a fresh anthology gives a new generation a chance to enjoy this sequin gem of a band.
Music
November 23, 2021
Scholar Emcee Mexstep Drops Some Lessons on ‘Vivir’
University of Texas at San Antonio professor Marco Cervantes mixes history, activism, and hip-hop on his latest album.
By
Katy Vine
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Music
November 20, 2021
The Go-Go’s’ Big Night at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Austin's Kathy Valentine takes us behind the scenes at the star-studded ceremony, which debuts on HBO this month.
Music
November 19, 2021
‘The Willie Nelson Family’ Takes Us to Church
The Nelson clan’s new gospel album meets the grief and trauma of the pandemic with spirit and hope.
By
John Spong
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Music
November 18, 2021
How a Band of Hippies and Potheads Kept Western Swing Alive
Asleep at the Wheel (belatedly) celebrates fifty years of championing a genre once considered all but dead.
By
John Spong
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Music
November 10, 2021
Bushwick Bill Was One of Houston’s Most Provocative Rappers. A New Documentary Reveals the Man Behind the Outrage.
As one third of the Geto Boys, he pushed the boundaries of hip-hop. But the group’s lyrics often clashed with his own values.
Music
November 9, 2021
The Last Ballad at the Dry Creek Cafe
For 68 years, hippies, rednecks, and college kids drank beer at the Austin roadhouse, which received a final sendoff from famed country group Freda and the Firedogs.
By
Michael Hall
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Music
November 8, 2021
After the Astroworld Disaster, a Reckoning for Music Festivals
International crowd-safety experts say better planning could have prevented the eight deaths and dozens of injuries at last week’s Travis Scott concert.
Best Thing In Texas
November 2, 2021
Mariah Carey Armors Up Against a Dallas Bar’s War on Christmas
A bar decreed “All I Want for Christmas Is You” non grata, and the queen of Christmas isn’t happy about it.
Music
October 28, 2021
Keep Austin Spoon
With its tenth album, ‘Lucifer on the Sofa,’ the city’s signature indie-rock band has made its most Austin record yet.
Music
October 22, 2021
Can Paul Cauthen Make Tyler . . . Cool?
The outlaw-country star joins an unlikely cultural movement in the Rose Capital of Texas.
Film & TV
October 12, 2021
‘Hard Luck Love Song’ Is A Tune You’ve Heard Before, But It Hits All the Right Notes
Austin-raised writer-director Justin Corsbie’s debut about a down-on-his-luck troubadour feels as warmly familiar as the Americana songs that inspired it.
Music
October 11, 2021
Tales From ACL Fest: Miley Cyrus’s Janis Joplin Cover and Charley Crockett’s Insane Whataburger Order
The first full-fledged ACL Fest since the start of the pandemic is a wrap. ‘Texas Monthly’ recalls Megan Thee Stallion’s twerk-team auditions and other highlights.
Music
October 6, 2021
Mushrooms, Moms, and “Manifesting” Greatness: Three Days at a Mid-Pandemic ACL Fest
Despite the specter of COVID, Texans and out-of-staters flocked to Zilker Park for a sweaty weekend of debauchery.
Music
October 6, 2021
Olivia Rodrigo Proves She’s the Real Thing
The teenage Disney actress and singer-songwriter sensation performed her first full-length set in front of a live audience, at an ‘Austin City Limits’ TV taping.
By
Cat Cardenas
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Music
October 5, 2021
Megan Thee Stallion, Miley Cyrus Bring Back Pink at ACL Fest
Pinks and purples dominated the stages at ACL Fest, whether Charley Crockett's dashing lavender suit or Marc Rebillet's fluttering pink-trimmed bathrobe.
By
Cat Cardenas
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Music
September 30, 2021
ACL Fest Rain Can’t Take the Sunshine Away From Texas Bands Dayglow and Surfaces
These Gen Z guys just want everyone to chill, and enjoy their homage to the funky music from their parents’ record collections.
Art
September 29, 2021
At the Kerrville Folk Festival, the Real Magic Isn’t On Stage
Photographer David Johnson pays joyful homage to the 49-year-old festival, where revelers gather for late-night jam sessions around the campfire.
Music
September 27, 2021
TM Recommends: 2021 Austin City Limits Music Festival Edition
Two-step with Strait, twerk with Megan, and don’t miss these six other acts during the first two weekends in October.
Music
September 21, 2021
Hayden Pedigo Moves On With ‘Letting Go,’ But His Heart Is Still in Amarillo
The multifaceted musician, former city-council candidate, and documentary star returns with an album of pristine guitar and gentle self-reflection.
Music
September 17, 2021
Charley Crockett Keeps Motoring in ‘Music City USA’
The Texan singer-songwriter-guitarist’s second album of 2021 proves he still has something to say.
Music
September 16, 2021
‘The Nowhere Inn’ Delves Into St. Vincent but Leaves Plenty of Vacancies
Dallas’s mercurial pop phenom writes and stars in this loosely autobiographical satire that raises questions it doesn’t deign to answer.
Music
September 14, 2021
Houston’s Legendary SugarHill Recording Studios Turns Eighty
The oldest studio in Texas has recorded everyone from Lightnin’ Hopkins and George Jones to Beyoncé and Travis Scott—and it’s still making hits.
Music
September 10, 2021
Explorer Tapes’ Bright, Groovy Pop Album Is an End-of-Summer Pick-me-up
Six years after the Denton duo recorded its first and only release, the album is finally out—and worth the wait.
Music
September 9, 2021
A Vain Attempt to Justify Selena Gomez’s $30 Ice Cream Sundae
Does simply putting the Grand Prairie star’s name on some ice cream inherently raise its value? An investigation.
Music
September 3, 2021
TM Recommends: Listen to St. Vincent Covering Metallica
Plus: The simple pleasure of H-E-B’s tres leches cake and emerging Houston-raised artist Zach Person’s debut album.
Music
September 3, 2021
When Texas Punk Band Butthole Surfers Finally Scored a Hit, Their Fans Never Forgave Them
Twenty-five years ago, fans accused the band of selling out. The group’s reply still stands: “Yeah, but who cares?”
Music
September 3, 2021
Luna Luna Celebrates Its Dreamy Debut Album ‘Flower Moon’
The Texan dream-pop group talks going viral on TikTok and expanding the landscape of Latin music.
By
Cat Cardenas
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Music
August 30, 2021
In Her New Album, Kacey Musgraves Pieces Her Heart Back Together
In ‘Star-crossed,’ Musgraves again defies labels, creating an epic requiem for lost love that spans disco, pop, and country.
By
Cat Cardenas
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Music
August 26, 2021
Schoolteacher Turned Honky-tonk Troubadour: Summer Dean Finds Power in Life’s Disappointments
The Fort Worth–based singer-songwriter’s attraction to a life she chose to reject fuels the artistry of her debut album ‘Bad Romantic.’
Best Thing In Texas
August 25, 2021
Waiting on Hold to Claim Unemployment Just Got a Little Less Hellish, Thanks to an Austin Band
Composer Justin Sherburn drew on his own experience to write ‘Texas Workforce Commission Hold Music,’ which the agency officially adopted this week.
By
Dan Solomon
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Music
August 23, 2021
Jason Eady’s Contemplative New Album Explores the Perks of Getting Older
On ‘To the Passage of Time,’ the Fort Worth country singer, 46, meditates on the freedom that comes with age.
Music
August 19, 2021
James McMurtry Has Always Sounded Like a Grumpy Old Man. Now He Is One.
With his new album ‘The Horses and the Hounds,’ the Fort Worth-bred troubadour's age has caught up to his sound.
Music
August 18, 2021
The 20 Essential Texas Rap Tracks
The East Coast may have invented rap, but today the Lone Star State rules the hip-hop world. Here’s a song-by-song history of how that happened.
Music
August 16, 2021
Nanci Griffith Was More Loved Than She Knew
Fans of the Seguin-born singer-songwriter, who died on Friday, are as uncategorizable as the artist they adored.
Music
August 15, 2021
Twenty Years Ago, William Basinski Witnessed 9/11—and Memorialized It in Music
How Dallas-raised Basinski’s life of trauma and creation prepared him to compose ‘The Disintegration Loops’ and console a grieving nation.
Books
August 9, 2021
Reading Selena’s Father’s Memoir Is an Exercise in Empathy
Though uneven and at times lacking in self-awareness, Abraham Quintanilla’s book sheds light on the extreme approach he took to protect his daughter’s legacy.
By
Cat Cardenas
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Music
July 30, 2021
Dallas Indie Rocker Alex Montenegro’s Mellow Debut Is Effortlessly Listenable
The 26-year-old, who performs as Skirts, makes lo-fi pop that's perfect for a lazy Sunday.
Music
July 28, 2021
Dusty Hill Was ZZ Top’s Center of Gravity
This is how the Texas band ends.
Where To Stay Now
July 23, 2021
Time-Travel to 1920s El Paso at the Gardner Hotel
Plus: guitarist Cameron Knowler’s new album, Connie Britton in ‘The White Lotus,’ and a good ol’ country drive.
Music
July 22, 2021
On the ‘Geto Boys Reloaded’ Podcast, It’s the Message, Not the Music
Pioneering Houston rappers Willie D and Scarface reunite for a show that’s all about their community, not about them.
Music
July 21, 2021
Mary McCoy Keeps Texas Country Radio’s Golden Age Alive
After seven decades behind the mic, the Conroe deejay still spins the sort of country records they just don’t make anymore—for a town that barely resembles the one she grew up in.
Music
July 19, 2021
How Going Home Helped Inspire Leon Bridges’s New Album—And Saved His Life
“ ... I’m not handsome enough to be here, I’m not a good enough songwriter. Just feeling like I didn’t deserve to be in the position that was handed to me.”