The Homopolice, with Beau Beasley far right

Bassist, organist, composer, member of the infamous Homopolice, one of the Rocks Off 100, self-avowed electronic music geek, flanger aficianado, and suave Poison Girl drink slinger, Beau Beasley has been broadly immersed in the Houston music scene all his adult life. Not long ago over a cold one at Poison Girl, a discussion began about his favorite Houston players.

Rewind:

Beau Beasley, Organist for the End of Time

As Beasley tossed out names and explanations, it became obvious that his vision is deep and his standards are high. Below, in his own words, is a list of his favorite Houston musicians.

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Photo by Torey Mundkowsky

The Killers' Brandon Flowers at then-Verizon Wireless Theater in 2009

UPDATE (Monday, 5:20 p.m.): Due to a flat-out mistake, we thought the Collie Buddz show at House of Blues was May 6. It was actually Sunday, May 5. Rocks Off regrets the error.

Collie Buddz
House of Blues (Bronze Peacock Room), May 6

Just when the week is getting started, here comes the "Light It Up" tour to slow it down to a mellow Caribbean groove; you know what that means. Headlining over Cris Cab and New Kingston, Bermuda-raised Collie Buddz already has a solid Houston connection. One of the first things this "singjay" did upon his 2007 arrival was appear on a remix of Beyonce's "Ring the Alarm" and another cameo on Lil Flip's I Need Mine album.

The pungent aroma of Soca, dancehall and hip-hop on his self-titled album that year made Buddz one of the brightest young names in reggae, where he has remained through a succession of singles, EPs and cameos such as SOJA's "She Still Loves Me" and Snoop Lion's "Smoke the Weed." Another album is due soon, and he may be previewing it on this tour. Come to think of it, Rocks Off just so happens to have three pairs of CB tickets to give away for the first people (who can attend) to email music at houstonpress dot com by 2 p.m. today. CHRIS GRAY

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As does our sister blog Eating...Our Words, from time to time Rocks Off will be giving your our picks for the top taverns in various Houston-area neighborhoods. Of course, the lines can be porous, but here anything with a TABC license that cannot reasonably be considered either a restaurant, coffeehouse or live-music venue is fair game.

10. Cap's Piano Bar
Tuesday through Saturday, Caps Piano Bar boasts one of the best house bands in Houston. Jazz and blues hits from days long gone by are interspersed with present-day hits, though you'll need to keep the tips coming to ensure you hear the latter. But don't worry about racking up a huge bill: There's no cover charge, and the drinks are affordable.

While you wait on your beverages, enjoy some complimentary popcorn as you enjoy the tunes and watch couples cut a rug on the dance floor. Caps is hidden just behind House of Pies off Westheimer, but it's definitely a find.

2610 Briar Ridge 713-784-0024, facebook.com/capspiano.bar

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Graphics by Monica Fuentes

It's hard to believe it's already that time of year again. People seem to say that when it comes to anything from graduation time (congrats!) to holiday shopping, but for Rocks Off it's hardest of all to believe when it's time for our readers to choose their favorite local performers in the annual Houston Press Music Awards.

That time is now. The 2013 HPMA nomination ballot is now online and all ready for you to vote. Seriously. This year is our 25th year too, so we're hoping for a couple more big announcements before all is said and done.

This year to go along with that sleek HPMA logo, the work of our great Houston Press Art Director Monica Fuentes, we have streamlined the categories too. You'll now be voting on 34 instead of 40 HPMA winners, as reflected by the following changes:

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Photo courtesy of MSO PR

Red
Warehouse Live, May 3

The latest Christian band to cross over into the "active rock" mainstream, Nashville quartet Red indeed takes its name from the blood of the Lamb, but not in an overly dogmatic way. In fact, their success among the heathens keeps right on growing, with fourth album Release the Panic debuting in the Billboard Top 10 earlier this year and publications like Revolver singing their praises.

Produced by Howard Benson (P.O.D., Daughtry), Red infuses enough kinetic energy into Panic to raise the album a cut or two above standard-issue radio-rock.

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Welcome to the Rocks Off 100, our portrait gallery of the most compelling profiles and personalities in the far-flung Houston music community -- a lot more than just musicians, but of course they're in there too. See the entire Rocks Off 100 at this link.

Photos courtesy of Jack Saunders

Who? Jack Saunders is one of Houston's most dependable singer-songwriters and guitarists, and is rarely lacking for work. Alongside Shake Russell, he was one-half of arguably the most popular folk duo around these parts for most of the '80s and into the '90s. He has also released four albums of his own material, and seems to be picking up the pace -- his brand-new Grit & Jangle comes hot on the heels of last year's A Real Good Place to Start; Saunders says the new album has "more of an emphasis on the rock side of folk and country."

Saunders grew up a Navy brat, bouncing around California, Rhode Island, Alaska, "and many states in between." When the British Invasion dawned, so did his life's ambition: "make girls scream!" A friend bringing by a Bob Dylan record steered Saunders toward the songwriting side of the continuum, he adds.

As a sideman, Saunders has played with many top troubadors, including Ray Wylie Hubbard, Greg Trooper, Randy Weeks, Susan Gibson, and Hayes Carll. He has also produced and/or recorded dozens of titles at Houston's White Cat Recording, the studio Saunders opened in 1996.

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Alan Alda as Caryl Chessmen in Kill Me If You Can

Not to brag, but I've got a copy of the new Hates album, People's Temple, and it is (as usual) a fantastic little CD that every punk fan in Houston should own. We're still waiting on a confirmed release party at Cactus, but before that happens there's a song on the disc we want to talk about, "Do the Caryl Chessmen."

Today marks the anniversary of the execution of Caryl Chessman, who expired in the gas chamber even as his stay of execution was being sent over the phone in 1960. Chessman had spent most of his life in and out of prison before being convicted for 17 counts of robbery, kidnapping, and rape in 1948.

Note that murder isn't on that list. Chessman ended up with the death penalty due to a quirk in California's kidnapping law that said if a person dragged his or her victim a sufficient enough distance it counted as kidnapping, a capital crime. In Chessman's case he dragged a rape victim only 17 feet. The courts found that sufficient.

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Photo by Marco Torres

How about a Saturday matinee with 2 Chainz?

The moment many of you have been dreading has arrived: this morning Free Press Summer Fest announced this year's schedule and stage times for its fifth year, scheduled for June 1 and 2 in Eleanor Tinsley Park. The festival's eightysomething performers this year are spread across six stages from the approximate hours of 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Last we heard, passes were very close to selling out. We don't think it's reached that point yet, but there can't be many left. Have a look at the schedule, won't you?

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Ed. Note: This article was written by Sonya Harvey.

Guns. Knives. Ammo. Mexico. Prisoners. Hunchbacks. Hermanos. This is the stuff of spaghetti-Western legend in the making, which can only be thought up by Johnny Falstaff and Hank Schyma.

The Honky Tonk Blood brothers and Houston musicians are up to their old movie-script tricks again, this time trading in their six-strings for six-shooters. Their latest offering, The Hunchback of Mexico, is set in the 1840s Wild West, just south of the border.

The film was shot in the barren wastelands of West Texas and Arizona, with a plot that goes something like this: A highwayman flees to a remote Spanish mission where a prisoner has escaped. With a hunchback in tow, the highwayman goes off in hot pursuit hoping to redeem his mangled past.

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Photos by Marco Torres

Luisa Diaz and Nas

Think about your favorite musician for a minute. Do you remember the first time you heard his or her voice? Can you relate each album or song to a different stage or major occurrence in your life?

How many times have you seen him or her (or them) in concert, let alone met and engaged them in conversation? Can you recite lyrics off the top of your head and explain their meaning as if your life depended on it? Are you a true fan?

Luisa Diaz is a die-hard admirer of a certain Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, the New York City rapper known simply as Nas. She can not only answer "yes" to all of those questions, but also permanently carries that admiration on her skin. We spoke to this young lady and asked her about the origin of her fanaticism, her tattoos, and her favorite Nas songs.

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