photo by Marco Torres

Chingo Bling in Hollywood, May 2011.

​When you think of the big, international film festivals, Sundance is definitely one of the first that comes to mind. Held annually in Park City, Utah, the festival showcases new work from American and international independent filmmakers. Movie lovers flock to the city to catch the next Academy Award winner or brush shoulders with Hollywood celebrities. The 2012 festival begins today, and one local celebrity is on his way to the event.

Pedro Herrera III, better known as Chingo Bling, will be making the rounds at the festival this year as a cast member of the new film Filly Brown, a star-studded movie about an "LA street poet who spits from her heart". The movie includes performances by Edward James Olmos and Lou Diamond Phillips, and is directed by Youssef Delara and Olmos' brother, Michael. Rocks off spoke to an excited Chingo as he was at the airport waiting for his Utah bound flight.

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Photo by Lynne Hawrelko

Gurf Morlix

​Part of a storied singer-songwriter scene, former Houstonians Gurf Morlix and Blaze Foley were living in Montrose during the Urban Cowboy craze but were not impressed. In fact, according to Morlix, they worked so much they "hardly ever had a night off, and if we did we certainly weren't going to drive out to Pasadena to some fake cowboy joint." Somewhat ironically, we had just interviewed Mickey Gilley moments before calling Morlix to discuss his gig and the showing of the documentary Blaze Foley: The Duct Tape Messiah at Anderson Fair Friday night. Morlix, who released an entire album of Foley covers last year, Blaze Foley's 113th Wet Dream, spent all of 2011 traveling with the film, usually performing a set of Foley songs after each showing. We caught up with the Grammy winner at his studio in Austin.

Rocks Off: Is the Blaze Foley phase winding down for you or does it have more legs?

Gurf Morlix: I think I'm about done with it. I devoted all of 2011 to Blaze and the film and my album, but I've got other stuff to do this year.

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Photos by Allison Wagoner

Balaclavas last July at the Mink

​There are tiny bone chips in my right elbow because of a curb in Austin, my inability to maneuver a children's bicycle down a steep hill, and inherent humanity. Back at SXSW '09 on the way to see Balaclavas play their showcase, I smashed my bike into a curb swerving to miss a car that was about to hit me, breaking my elbow as I hit the ground. I still showed up at their show a few minutes later with misty eyes, a useless arm, and a smile on my face. I cried like a baby when I got to my hotel room though.

Tonight is Balaclavas' tour kick-off show at the new Walter's on Naylor - still getting used to that phrase - with frequent bill mates Black Congress. Last fall the band released their follow-up to 2010's Roman Holiday, the superbly scary-good Snake People, and made it into our - well, my own - best of Houston top ten list.

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photo via annyas.com

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It's Friday the 13 and superstition says today is unlucky...dun dun dun! A Gallup poll conducted a few years ago found that about 25% of us are superstitious about knocking on wood, 13% about a black cat crossing our path, 12% about walking under a ladder, 11% about breaking a mirror and the number 13 makes 9% of us uneasy. So a good chunk of us believe in those kinds of superstitions but what about charms like a gambler's lucky dice or maybe...a guitarist's lucky pick?

We all know musicians can be...well...a little...quirky. Performing live can be a nerve-wracking experience and the challenge of entertaining a room full of folks can lead musicians to develop some pretty unique pre-show rituals, which are basically superstitious in nature.

Some might keep a specific, lucky item on them while they play, wear a certain pair of shoes or drink a certain kind of booze beforehand. What's key is that the musician notices that he or she did something that coincided with a desired outcome making that something a necessary precursor to the performance.

For example, today, I learned that Robert Plant irons his shirts before performing, saying "I find ironing helps get me in the mood before I perform. I always have an ironing board in my room before I go on stage." What? That's not very... rock & roll...but whatever, it's Robert Plant.

On this first Friday the 13 of 2012 (there will be two more!), we talked to several local musicians (some based here and some born here) to see if they had any weird, pre-gig rituals or just any superstitions in general and here's what we found out:

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The current volume of local music is staggering. New Houston bands are born daily, and all too often pass away just as quickly. Rocks Off wants to help you (and ourselves) keep up.

Marc Brubaker

Mantis

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It's a new year, one sure to be loaded with new Houston music, bursting at the seams like our jeans after all these holiday meals. Whether you just need a moment to kick those feet up, unbutton and relax or are jonesing for some tunes to fuel those workouts (like us, hopefully), there's a solution to be found in our local music scene. Dig This is back with another selection for perusing, so scroll down and dig in.

Mantis: Full disclosure: when we went to photograph the New Year's Day Bonanzarama this past weekend, we had no idea who or what Mantis was. On name alone, we surmised that it would be a heavy rock band, but lo and behold, we were blown away by this six-piece soul-funk outfit and its brass section. Fronted by the dynamic, fiery-haired, nimble-fingered Nicholas Greer, this group delivers bombastic soul fueled by Greer's adeptness at the keys and his lightning-quick vocal delivery.

Other Sites: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube

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​For the past few weeks I have been asking local acts to tell us about their 2012 plans, be it touring, recording, breaking up, or just gigging around town. You would have thought more rappers would have chimed in sense they are veritable promotion machines, but I didn't get much back. OK, Twenty Eleven was gracious enough to peek in and drop a few words.

A long-awaited Buxton album - and their first on New West Records - entitled Nothing Here Seems Strange, drops nationally on January 31. Expect more ink on this one as their February album release show draws nearer. We have had physical copies, complete with beautiful artwork, on our desks since November.

Speaking of New West signees, expect the Grandfather Child debut to drop wide in '12, with singer and lap steel demon Lucas Gorham in high spirits about the album, with each missive regarding the disc rife with exclamation points (!).

2011 darlings Something Fierce are gearing up for a new 10-inch release, following up Don't Be So Cruel, which continues to rack up end-of-2011 accolades from all over.

Runaway Sun's Andrew Karnavas has been filling in his band's '12 album, which is finished and mastered, during chats on Google Talk. We may have helped him name the album somehow too.

Nick Gaitan of The Umbrella Man filled us in on his group's upcoming, as-yet-untitled '12 disc, recorded at SugarHill Studios with Chris Longwood.

"It's recognizable on some levels I think, but you can hear the band evolve. It's a new direction," Gaitan says. Expect special guest Glover Gill on piano, and Gaitan's reworkings of two of his songs from his period in the Los Skarnales on the ten-track album.

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photo by Marco Torres

Having a great time? Probably thanks to this guy.

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Remember that one awesome party, the invite-only one with the open bar that was sponsored by a liquor company, where everyone was beautiful and hip, and you got to mingle with Big Boi or Pharrell Williams or Bun B? Either you do remember, because you wish that every party you attended was half as amazing, or you don't, because you drank way too much.

The man behind many of these events in Houston is 31-year-old David Anderson III, who through his 713Vip machine is able to bring top notch parties, events, and celebrities to the city he calls home. He recalls throwing his first party as a fundraiser for his church's youth group while still a teenager, as hasn't looked back since. Fast forward to the present, and David is now the ambassador for Ciroc Vodka here in Texas, and the go-to guy for all things trendy in the world of events, music, and entertainment.

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The current volume of local music is staggering. New Houston bands are born daily, and all too often pass away just as quickly. Rocks Off wants to help you (and ourselves) keep up.

Houston may have gotten colder, but that's just an excuse to hunker down with those headphones, discover some local music, and find out how good we have it here in this city. That's why we dig through the internet each week, highlighting more Houston acts on the roll - because like a six year-old's Christmas list, it just keeps growing, until one day they've circled everything in the LEGO catalog and half of the Toys 'R' Us tome as well. Okay, maybe we're the guilty party in the case of the LEGO's. Either way, dig in to another round of bonafide local music, find something to love, and then grab that coat, because everyone on our list plays within the next week.

Courtesy of dUNETX

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dUNETX: This is one of Houston's longer-lived groups, clocking in as fifteen year veterans. Producing psychedelic power pop and garage rock, the trio has three albums and several EPs under their belts. Concertgoers might have seen them opening for the Meat Puppets at Fitzgerald's, but if you missed it then head over to Bandcamp and listen to a live recording of Keep Your Eyes On The Weeds for an idea of what the group brings to a show. After that, make sure to pencil in their 13th Annual dUNETXmas show at Big Top Lounge on that calendar. The band goes on at 10 and plays until they run out of songs, and it won't even cost you a dime at the door.

Other Sites: Bandcamp, Facebook, Reverbnation, Twitter, YouTube

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Photos by Barry Sigman

​For more pics from the inaugural Montrose Winter Social, check out our slideshow.

The years spent organizing and attending a number of live music events have taught us several valuable lessons: 1) the line-up will inevitably change the second after being finalized and sent to print, 2) musicians -- especially young, inexperienced ones -- are generally not the most reliable or punctual beings, and finally, 3) most bands, left to their own devices, will sound check and tune for hours.

Rocks Off did see a few exciting performances at the Montrose Winter Social, held on December 3 from 1 p.m. to 2 a.m. at various venues around the intersection of Westheimer and Taft, but in all, the sprawling thirteen hour event left much to be desired.

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The current volume of local music is staggering. New Houston bands are born daily, and all too often pass away just as quickly. Rocks Off wants to help you (and ourselves) keep up.

As we stuffed ourselves silly last week on turkey and dressing and all the other assorted fixings that graced our Thanksgiving feast -- including what may or may not have amounted to half of a pecan pie consumed by our lonesome -- we thought about the metaphor that could be drawn to Houston and its bevy of local music. This town is just jam packed with it, after all that's why we write this column. So yes, while there might still be leftovers in the fridge, forsake them for another day and feast upon another round of Houston music. As always, dig in.

Courtesy of Folk Family Revival

​Folk Family Revival: This quartet -- featuring the three Lankford brothers and longtime friend Caleb Pace -- has been busy of late, tucking shows under their collective belts and sharpening the sound of their rootsy Americana rock. Fronted by Mason Lankford, the foursome show great promise and talent, and after building their name throughout the state, they seem destined to become breakout stars on a larger level.

We've had the pleasure of taking in their stage show, accompanied by some frosty beverages on several occasions. Follow in our footsteps and enjoy a similar experience by catching the Saint Arnold Foam Raiser at the Orange Show on Friday night. After all, nothing goes better with great music than great beer.

Other Sites: Facebook, LastFM, Twitter, YouTube

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