A seven-year-old guitarist who makes his stage debut alongside blues legend Albert King is a novelty, even after he has jammed with Buddy Guy, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, and Albert Collins. But what happens when the kid grows up? He becomes a seasoned veteran—more of a contender than less experienced peers
Purely in terms of record sales, the Austin band Fastball hit a home run in 1998. But does that mean its members are going to get rich? Not necessarily.
Evan Smith is the cofounder of the Texas Tribune, a senior adviser at Emerson Collective, and the former editor in chief and president of Texas Monthly.
Hot CDsJon Dee Graham is a journeyman whose frontman role has eclipsed his hired guitarslinger reputation. The Quemado native’s second solo CD, Summerland (New West), features his gritty, growling rasp and his incisive, somewhat pensive musings, which approach a kind of brilliance on “At the Dance,” a moody slice of
Texans (natives or onetime residents) have quite an impressive record when it comes to the Grammy awards. Most years we’ve practically dominated—big surprise—the country music category, but we chalked up our share of wins in other classes too. Here’s the score:• Total number of Grammys awarded to Texans from 1958
Hot CDs Steve Earle Steve Earle’s The Mountain (E-Squared) is a set of bluegrass originals that joins the San Antonio-bred bad boy with pickin’-and-a-grinnin’ veterans the Del McCoury Band. Earle’s liner notes pay tribute to Bill Monroe and express the hope that at least one of his
LEON RAUSCH If Cindy Walker had never produced another song besides “You Don’t Know Me,” her stature would be assured among country and pop writers. But the Mexia woman has written about four hundred others, including “Bubbles in My Beer” (Bob Wills) and “Two Glasses, Joe”
When I was seventeen, I didn’t have a band; I pretty much performed either by myself or with a bass player. I often played at a coffeehouse I started called the Windjammer. It was down on McKinney Avenue in Dallas, which was a really rough neighborhood at the time. One
Hot CDsComing Home, the debut release from Paula Nelson (Luck Records), one of Willie’s daughters, proves that the 29-year-old shares at least one thing with her father: the ability to say so much with so few words. This contemporary singer-songwriter’s CD, which deftly weaves a “chamber pop” ensemble around torchy,
Hot CDs“You’ve got to market this music like you were a dope dealer.” So goes a line in “Village Idiot Savant,” the opening track of The Right to Remain Silent (Heiress Aesthetic) by Cottonmouth, Texas, the nom de guerre of Jeff Liles, who was rapping when Vanilla Ice was still
Hot CDsI was already familiar with James Brown’s Say It Live and Loud (Polygram), which was recorded live at Memorial Auditorium in Dallas on August 26, 1968. I was there, a couple of rows back from the front, and hearing it all over again is one sweet pleasure: the tight,
Hot CDsYou could plunk Doug Sahm and Augie Meyers down on a stage anywhere in the world, with any sidemen, and they could deliver the irresistible dit-dit-dit they’ve plied for more than thirty years without missing a beat. On The Sir Douglas Quintet/Live Texas Tornado (Takoma), a reissue of a
Hot CDsInevitable baggage accompanies an album whose sessions splintered a great band, ousted three producers, and outlasted a record company. But if ex-Austinite Lucinda Williams is a paragon of self-doubt, she’s also a gifted writer who gets to the core of a character in the course of a three-minute tune.
They could be Texas’ own Spice Girls—if that’s what they wanted. Destiny’s Child, the vocal quartet from Houston, clearly has what it takes to make hit records: This spring, their song “No, No, No” reached number one on Billboard’s Hot 100 Singles chart. But unlike the “Prefab Five,” as wags
What a hall! The Houston Museum of Natural Science’s new wing has a mask of a pre-Inca lord, a re-creation of a Mayan temple, and more. Plus: An international opera star takes the stage in Fort Worth; boxer Oscar De La Hoya goes round and round in El Paso; the
The bigger you get, the more people complain about you. That’s the sad fact of life La Mafia is learning to accept. In February the Houston sextet won their second consecutive Grammy, for best Mexican American/tejano music performance, and they’ve just released La Mafia: Hits de Colección, Vol. 1 (Sony
Can yet another independent label survive in today’s rough- and-tumble music business? The young founders of Dallas’ Leaning House Records sure hope so.
The Bass Performance Hall is open for business, and the acoustical expectations are high (Fort Worth). Plus: Readers and writers celebrate literary Texas (Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, and elsewhere); the nation’s top golfers get in the swing (Dallas and San Antonio); Texas Czechs bounce to the strains of primo
Hot CDsThis month Texas music shines on the silver screen. The soundtrack for The Horse Whisperer (MCA) not only features cuts from Don Walser, George Strait, and Steve Earle but also a Butch Hancock—Joe Ely— Jimmie Dale Gilmore reunion (long removed from Lubbock, they are now called the Hill Country
Ain’t it funny how time slips away? Before you know it, you’ve made two hundred albums, thirty movies, and had one amazing career. What follows is the Compleat Willie: a discography—including every U.S. album release as well as his early 45 rpm singles (before he signed with RCA in
For music fans in Austin, Dallas, Houston, Round Rock, and San Antonio, these are the fest of times. Plus: An oilman’s artistic vision is realized in San Antonio; a Dallas photography show honors lensmen from Mexico and Houston; Houston Grand Opera stages Arabella; and many of the nation’s swiftest athletes
How has Jacksonville native Neal McCoy, a self-described “easy-listenin’ kinda guy,” managed to sell five million country CDs and cassettes? It has little to do with his singing.
Is there a black cloud hanging over Fort Worth’s Toadies? You might think so based on the alt-rock band’s recent history. Their major-label debut for Interscope, 1994’s Rubberneck—a painfully angst-ridden record—went platinum after two years of incessant touring, but some strange stuff happened during all that time on the road:
Hot CDsSan Antonio’s Monte Montgomery is a guitarist’s guitarist, but he doesn’t let that get in the way of the music on 1st and Repair (Heart Music). He brings taste, precision, economy, and a playful sense of timing to poppish songs with sturdy hooks and sings in a voice that’s
More than a year after his death, he’s still being remembered as the best Texas songwriter of his time. This month’s star-studded Austin City Limits tribute shows why.
Around the State Gary P. Nunn and other singer-songwriters tour the state in celebration of Texas history. Plus: A collection of powerful photos are on display in Corpus Christi; a top Russian ballerina tiptoes into Houston; Golden Gloves boxers are a hit in Fort Worth; and guitar buffs come together
A three-museum Robert Rauschenberg retrospective in Houston. Plus: Garth Brooks plays Dallas and Fort Worth; mountain bikers converge on Big Bend; Goya’s prints on display in Dallas; and Ellen Burstyn onstage in Houston. Edited by Quita McMath, Erin Gromen, and Katy Vine THE MAIN EVENT The Rauschenbergs Are Coming! The
