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
Storytelling and reviews about the artists and trends that define the sounds of the Lone Star State
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![Cat Cardenas's Profile Photo]()
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![Cat Cardenas's Profile Photo]()
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![Dan Solomon's Profile Photo]()
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![Cat Cardenas's Profile Photo]()
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.”
State of Mind
July 14, 2021
State of Mind, Episode 5: G-L-O-R-I-A
Mike Hall tells the story of closing down the legendary Austin club Liberty Lunch in 1999 with a 24-hour performance of Van Morrison’s “Gloria.”
Music
July 8, 2021
The Flatlanders’ Rollicking New Album Pays Tribute to Country Music History
The Lubbock band's first release in 12 years features satisfying covers of tunes by George Jones, Ernest Tubb, Johnny Cash, and other greats.
Music
July 2, 2021
TM Recommends: A Serene West Texas Agave Garden
Plus: a Panhandle music label, a Dallas poetry podcast, and a groovy Khruangbin remix.
Music
June 30, 2021
Skid Row Front Man Johnny Solinger Was Rock and Roll Personified
The Dallas singer never quite became a huge star in his own right, but that didn't seem to bother him.
State of Mind
June 30, 2021
State of Mind, Episode 3: A Life Surrounded by Vinyl
DJ El Dusty traces the origins of the record collection that gave him his signature sound and is helping to shape the music of his hometown of Corpus Christi.
Music
June 26, 2021
“Blue” Gene Tyranny Was Texas’s Greatest Piano Prodigy
A massive box set reveals all the quirks and charms of a San Antonio–born genius.
Film & TV
June 25, 2021
A Scintillating but Uneven New Documentary Probes the Life of Trini Lopez, a Legend in Plain Sight
The Dallas native was a live-wire entertainer who never shied away from his Mexican American roots.
By Paula Mejía![Paula Mejía's Profile Photo]()
Music
June 25, 2021
Vincent Neil Emerson’s Album Makes Poetry of Pain
The Myrtle Springs native counts Colter Wall, Charley Crockett, and Jason Momoa among his fans. His new album should make you one too.
State of Mind
June 23, 2021
State of Mind, Episode 2: O Sister, Where Art Thou?
Skip Hollandsworth tells the story of tracking down the Goree All Girl String Band, who became national radio sensations in the 1940s before suddenly disappearing.
Texas History
June 22, 2021
A Pioneering Black Singer’s Compositions, Long Forgotten, May Finally Have an Audience
Waco-born baritone Jules Bledsoe starred on Broadway and toured Europe, but his original opera and other works languish in obscurity. A Baylor professor hopes to change that.
Music
May 22, 2021
I’m a Fan of Kacey Musgraves and St. Vincent, but I’m So Tired of Their Album Promotions
A fan’s plea: Enough already with the pre–album release media rollout.
Where To Stay Now
May 21, 2021
Texas Monthly Recommends: A Rustic Retreat in Wimberley
Plus, a psych-rock album and the pleasures of homegrown tomatoes.
Music
May 21, 2021
St. Vincent’s New Album Walks the Line Between Vulnerability and Privacy
Dallas’s Annie Clark has long railed against the idea that female songwriters must be confessional. ‘Daddy's Home’ is (sort of) a peek behind the mask.
Music
May 21, 2021
Texas’s Best Young Accordionists Carry on a Conjunto Legacy
At the Big Squeeze, the state’s most talented teen accordion players are keeping a historic Texas tradition alive.
Music
May 20, 2021
Breakout Indie Pop Star Dayglow on His Nostalgic New Album and Growing Up in Aledo
Three years ago, Sloan Struble was a high schooler making music in his bedroom. Now he's a case study in virality.
Music
May 7, 2021
50 Cent Is Texas’s Newest Celebrity Transplant
Plus, Megan Thee Stallion talks to pets, Shea Serrano turns his childhood into a sitcom, and Eva Longoria brings Flamin’ Hot Cheetos to the big screen.
Film & TV
May 6, 2021
Selena Deserves More Than Netflix Kitsch
Part two of Netflix's Selena series delivers a more confident version of the Tejano icon than part one, but fails to portray the late singer as the nuanced person she was.
By Cat Cardenas![Cat Cardenas's Profile Photo]()
Music
May 6, 2021
Miranda Lambert on the Most Unapologetically Texas Album of Her Career
While sitting in a parked car in Marfa last September, the musicians Miranda Lambert, Jack Ingram, and Jon Randall listened to their “work tapes”—what songwriters call raw recordings they typically make just after finishing a song. These iPhone recordings documented the trio of Texas natives’ four trips over seven years
Where To Stay Now
May 4, 2021
7 Nostalgic Texas Hotels With Vinyl Record Collections
With in-room record players, album lending libraries, and, in one case, a vinyl concierge, hotels around the state are embracing the record renaissance.
One by Willie
April 29, 2021
Sheryl Crow on ‘Crazy,’ Patsy Cline, and the Dream of Writing a Standard
With Willie Nelson turning 88 this week, One by Willie celebrates with one of his biggest fans and most frequent duet partners, singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow, who will talk about what may be the single best-known song he ever wrote, “Crazy.” Like the rest of the world, Sheryl initially fell in
By John Spong![John Spong's Profile Photo]()
Music
April 28, 2021
Joshua Ray Walker’s Music Is a Vivid Portrait of Working-class Life in Dallas
His country ballads tell stories about complex, imperfect people who call the city home.
Film & TV
April 23, 2021
Gabriel Luna and Pedro Pascal Will Star in HBO’s ‘The Last of Us,’ Bringing Texan Authenticity to the Apocalypse
Plus: Matthew McConaughey leads Greg Abbott in the polls, Hilary Duff will lead a ‘How I Met Your Mother’ spinoff, and Post Malone makes music history.
Art
April 22, 2021
Rooted in Her San Antonio Childhood, Lisa Alvarado’s Art Transports and Transforms
Gaze at one of her vivid, mesmerizing paintings, and you'll see more the longer you look.
Music
April 16, 2021
The Next Waltz Is an Analog Record Label for the Digital Age
From Bruce Robison’s studio in Lockhart, the company has worked with some of the biggest stars in Texas country music.
Film & TV
April 16, 2021
Can Selena Gomez and Matthew McConaughey Persuade Texans to Get Vaccinated?
Plus: Demi Lovato has an unusually good week, Spoon and ‘Shameless’ come full circle, and viewers demand the FCC do something about Megan Thee Stallion.
Critters
April 15, 2021
Chasing Down Birds of Prey With Ornithologist and Musician Jonathan Meiburg
His new book traces the evolution of caracaras—a strange and beautiful type of falcon.
One by Willie
April 13, 2021
Rodney Crowell on Bloody Mary Mornings and Recording With Willie Nelson
Plus, you’ll never guess who was doing doughnuts outside the studio during a recording session in Bogalusa, Louisiana.
By John Spong![John Spong's Profile Photo]()
Music
April 13, 2021
Veterans and Upstarts Alike Are Optimistic That Austin Hip-hop Will Finally Get Its Due—Even During a Pandemic
Those who have long worked in the shadow of creative epicenters like Houston and Dallas believe Austin rap’s moment to shine is approaching.
Music
April 7, 2021
Demi Lovato’s New Album Confronts Her Demons and Looks to the Future
The singer sheds her painful past on ‘Dancing with the Devil . . . the Art of Starting Over.’
By Cat Cardenas![Cat Cardenas's Profile Photo]()