Houston Music Blog

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​Most mornings, Rocks Off wakes up to Elizabeth Cook's country-as-cornbread drawl on her Outlaw Country satellite-radio program, "Apron Strings" (Sirius 63, XM 13, 5-9 a.m. Mondays). On her 2007 LP Balls - produced by the Houston Kid himself, Rodney Crowell - Cook was as frank and charming on songs like "Times Are Tough In Rock and Roll" and "Sometimes It Takes Balls To Be a Woman."

Cook recently appeared in the stage musical The Conway Twitty Story as the Arkansas-born crooner's daughter Joanie; her next album, this time produced by Don Was (Willie Nelson, Rolling Stones), is due in March. Rocks Off spoke with the rural Florida native earlier this week as she traveled from her home in Nashville to Texas, where she opened shows for Guy Clark in Austin and Dallas in addition to her date with Dwight Yoakam at the Arena Theater Saturday.

Rocks Off: Are you as chatty and homespun in real life as you are on "Apron Strings"?

Elizabeth Cook: I think so. I don't know. I haven't really had the time or energy to develop any persona that I would adopt for purposes of the radio show, so yes.

RO: Do you use any notes for your airbreaks, or are they completely off the cuff?

EC: It's completely off the cuff. No notes. I did at first. [Cook has been doing "Apron Strings" a little more than two years.]

Providence, R.I., band Deer Tick may hail from "Up North" but their sound is purely steeped in grungey folk and rockabilly yelp. They, in fact, hear this description so much that the band has started to rebel against it by in fact upping the dosage on their new More Fuel For The Fire EP, which just hit iTunes this week.

The band has been the brainchild of lead singer and songwriter John Joseph McCauley III since the very beginning in late 2004. He was joined by a full band in 2007, right before the release and recording of that year's War Elephant full-length. Around this time, the band gained a rep for playing what lazy critics would call "alt-country" rather than the Creedence Clearwater Revival stomp that McCauley was building in his mind. War did incredibly well critically, as did follow-up Born On Flag Day, which features probably one of the best songs with Houston in its title that isn't necessarily about our city, "Houston, TX."

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Other than Buck Owens, no artist had a bigger effect on Dwight Yoakam than "The Singing Fisherman," Johnny Horton. This East Texas rockabilly cool cat grabbed Rocks Off's attention every time his name was mentioned or a song of his came on the radio. We suspect it was the same for Yoakam, who channels Horton as well as anyone ever has.

Although born in Los Angeles, Horton was raised in Rusk and Gallatin in deep East Texas before he eventually settled in the Shreveport area, where he was a member of the Louisiana Hayride before stardom found him. Ironically, Horton had begun his music career in Los Angeles, playing Cliffie Stone's "Hometown Jamboree" on KLAC-TV.

The late Bob Claypool did exhaustive research for his book Saturday Night at Gilley's.

​Other than his adopted Los Angeles, Houston may be the most important city in country singer Dwight Yoakam's career. Yoakam's music finally found a rabid country audience in Houston when KIKK disc jockey and music director Joe Ladd began to spin Yoakam's cover of East Texan Johnny Horton's "Honky Tonk Man" in 1986. Houston went wild for "Honky Tonk Man," which gave Yoakam the national breakout he was looking for.

It also didn't hurt that late Houston Post music critic Bob Claypool was an early supporter of Yoakam's. Claypool, the consummate hard-drinking country-music writer, knew the real deal when he heard it. In his book Fifty Years Down a Country Road, legendary Nashville disc jockey Ralph Emery dedicated several pages to a remembrance of Claypool, even relating that Claypool used to ride around in an old Lincoln with Dwight Yoakam before Yoakam had made it: "I love the idea of Bob rocketing round Texas with Dwight Yoakam playing Buck Owens tapes."

​30FootFall: Fri., Dec. 25. Fitzgerald's.

Agnostic Front, Death By Stereo: Sun., Jan. 24. Walter's on Washington.

American Sharks, The Watermarks: Wed., Nov. 25. Boondocks.

Band of Heathens: Fri., Dec. 11. Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe.

Basses Loaded, Springfield Riots, Nosaprise: Fri., Nov. 27, 8 p.m., $5. Mango's.

Bill Maher: Sat., Jan. 30. Cullen Performance Hall.

Bryan White: Tue., Jan. 12. Dosey Doe Coffee Company.

Update: In a Facebook note Friday afternoon, Free Press Houston editor/publisher Omar Afra announced that this weekend's Block Party will be the last one in its current form due to safety reasons surrounding to his inability - or the City of Houston's unwillingness - to close down Westheimer during the festival.

"The streets must be shut down, the city must get behind the event, and I can no longer personally foot the bill," he said. "Our staff can no longer handle the capacity of the growing festival and squeezing all of these people into the same block is becoming hazardous."

According to Afra, he has an on-camera commitment from Houston runoff mayoral candidate Annise Parker to lobby the city to shut down Westheimer and bring back Block Party as, once again, the Westheimer Street Festival. Rocks Off hates to say we told you so, but in this case we support Afra's efforts 100 percent and urge our readers to do the same. Stay tuned... - Chris Gray

​This weekend's Westheimer Block Party is already going through some minor scheduling changes, just less than twenty-hours away from the time Bryan Jackson cracks open his first Modelo on Taft. Facebook and MySpace (yeah, we know) have been awash the past two days with changes to the lineup and set times. A recent Facebook status update from WBP sponsor Free Press Houston said this: "I don't know when your band is playing. Bands keep on trading slots like trading cards. It is what it is."

FPH is also supposed to have a Block Party announcement at 5 p.m. today - as in, now - on KTRU's Revelry Report. Stream it here.

Let's break some of it down for you before you head down to the event tomorrow afternoon. And as always, make sure to follow us on Twitter at @hprocksoff for all the breaking news related to the event, and ya know, drunken bons mots about douchebags and jerk-offs.

Not content to just make records, Cambodian surf-pop band Dengue Fever's projects have included multiple soundtracks, a documentary film, and now, an original score.

Rocks Off can think of few other bands whose music perfectly fits the exotic otherworldliness of the 1925 silent version of The Lost World, based on the book by Aurthur Conan Doyle. Dengue Fever will be at Warehouse Live Saturday night for a one-off performance of their original score for the film. The score was written for the San Francisco International Film Festival this summer, and Houston's screening is presented by the Cinema Arts Society.

Bass player Senon Williams talked to Rocks Off about the film, the band's writing process and their relentless touring schedule.

Sweet little Chris Brown. This is how we prefer to remember him. This video came out when he was, what, 16? He's so young here, so adorable, so polite! The way he calls that girl dressed entirely inappropriately for her age "miss." The way he explains to her the simple steps of dancing while performing his own fancy footwork and kind of stalking her down the sidewalk. His voice hadn't even finished changing yet.

He does get a little grabby in the back of that car, though. Rocks Off's kid sister was watching back then - she had a bit of a crush on Brown. Even though we don't approve of him keeping "three or four sweeties on your clock" It all seemed so innocent then compared to this washed up image of him right here.

Maybe that's the key to keeping this all in perspective, this incident. Brown has talked extensively about his family's history of domestic abuse, even before his own problems started. For a while early in their relationship, neither Brown nor Rihanna would admit that they were a couple.

Looking back, Rocks Off wonders about this. Was it something about the pressure of fame on two people who are just barely adults? Or was there another, internal pressure?

All this week, Rocks Off is previewing Saturday and Sunday's Westheimer Block Party by asking WBP performers to fill out a list from Lisa Nola's Music Listography book we're so fond of.

Next up, Jesus and Mary Chain-y alt-rockers Flowers to Hide tell us the saddest songs in the world.

claudiabelle

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Jonathan Espeche (guitar, vocals) and Stephen Anderson (vocals, guitar)

JE: The promise of good times and fun are always used in popular music to sell something because it doesn't challenge people and appeals to their basest sensibilities. Counterfeit happiness is cheap, easy to fabricate, and easy to digest. I don't know about you, but I usually look for a deeper level of expression in music.

I recognize these as songs that strike a chord within and resonate. They're bittersweet like how a stirring scene from a movie can make your eyes well up. They give you goosebumps or send a chill down your spine. You recognize your own emotions in others even when maybe you're hesitant to embrace them yourself. It just depends on whether you let it spur you on or drag you down. Maybe these songs don't that for you, but whatever the case, here's a sampling of some that do for us...

SA: Sadly, this band is only known here for one song ["Bitter Sweet Symphony"] and considered to be a one-hit wonder, which is shame because Northern Soul is just as good as Urban Hymns. This is the sound of a band falling apart and man is it beautiful. You can hear it in Richard Ashcroft's voice, like his voice just might give out. There is a lot of soul in this song and I don't know if he is singing to his band or to a lover or both.

All this week, Rocks Off is previewing Saturday and Sunday's Westheimer Block Party by asking WBP performers to fill out a list from Lisa Nola's Music Listography book we're so fond of.

Next up, four-fifths of local electro-tinged post-punks the Watermarks choose their favorite duets.

Jessica Brand

My favorite duet, knee-jerk reaction, would have to be PJ Harvey and Thom Yorke singing "This Mess We're In." I love the desperation and the way their voices overlap and tangle like ocean waves. Plus when this came out, I was going through, um, a thing. But I have trouble remembering things about myself, so if you ask me this question tomorrow, I may give you a different answer.

Ryan Russell/ www.myspace.com/converge

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Out of the four bands playing tonight's big "Adult Swim Presents" tour, Converge sticks out like a shard of bloody glass embedded in your foot. Opening doomers High On Fire and co-headliner Mastodon are both devastating bands who orchestrate monolithic walls of precise metal sludge, akin to the kind that cartoon headliner Dethklok both spoofs and executes so succinctly. Where Converge fits in is a happy mystery, but Rocks Off is just happy that they are in the mix converting impressionable kids into pit-dwelling psychotics in ripped jeans with Botch records under their arm.

Formed nearly 20 years ago by teens Jacob Bannon and Kurt Ballou, Converge and Cleveland's Integrity churned out eviscerating stabs of thrash and hardcore, pioneering the sound that would become metalcore and eventually spawn bands such as Hatebreed and Shai Halud. Picking up where their 1998 release Petitioning An Empty Sky left off, Converge released Jane Doe in 2001 to a sea of accolades and praise. It revolutionized their signature sound, while also birthing a whole new generation of bands who would see Jane Doe as their own personal Pet Sounds.

In 2004, the band moved to Epitaph Records, which had always traditionally been a punk label, which stirred many purists into a tizzy of hand-wringing and message-board bashing. The band has released three albums of their best work on Epitaph while also shoving stuff out on their own custom indie shingle Deathwish Inc., starting with You Fail Me.

Anodyne: Noun. Anything that relieves distress or pain. (dictionary.com)

​When Son Volt goes onstage tonight at the Continental Club (we've heard around 11 p.m.), there's an outside chance the band might pull out Doug Sahm's "Give Back the Key to My Heart" - we are in Texas, after all. Otherwise don't count on hearing anything from Jay Farrar's former band's final album, also known as Uncle Tupelo's Anodyne.

This makes Rocks Off kind of sad, but we understand. With its last two albums, 2007's The Search and this year's American Central Dust, Son Volt is on a creative hot streak. Besides, the 14-year-old group has a plenty deep back catalog all by itself without having to stretch back into the Tupelo days.

Give Back The Key To My Heart (Album Version) - Uncle Tupelo

It's just as well. Despite the title, Anodyne is the sound of a band coming apart at the seams. Co-founders Farrar and Jeff Tweedy, friends since their teens, very publicly grapple with their growing creative and personal differences, first dreading, then denying, then realizing they're insurmountable. Uncle Tupelo broke up in May 1994, eight months after Anodyne's release. They only held on that long to give their fans one final tour.

All this week, Rocks Off is previewing Saturday and Sunday's Westheimer Block Party by asking WBP performers to fill out a list from Lisa Nola's Music Listography book we're so fond of. It's not too late for your band to be up here, either; just email chris.gray@houstonpress.com by noon Thursday if you want to play.

Next up, rabid Tom Petty/Replacements fans and infrequent performers (though more frequently of late) Bright Men of Learning remember the music their parents loved.

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Benjamin Davis Murphy, Guitar/Lap Steel

​Crosby Stills & Nash, Crosby Stills & Nash: I used to hate this record when I was a kid, but at some point in my freshman year of college when i was listening to folky, indie-label stuff like Palace and Elliott Smith,. I realized that what i liked so much about those bands were the elements that reminded me of that CSN album I heard so much as a kid. I still listen to that first CSN record regularly.

Marshall Preddy, Vocals/Guitar

From birth until I was almost 6, I lived in Pasadena. And this was the Urban Cowboy heyday, so my dad was a huge fan of the day's country radio hits. I remember loving Johnny Lee, Don Williams, Kenny Rogers, Conway Twitty, and Charley Pride. My dad also bought me my first two cassettes ever, which were the Lovin' Spoonful and the Ventures. I still love all that stuff.

My Mom was more pop-oriented, and she owned a lot of vinyl. She had Blondie, Fleetwood Mac, Eagles, Beach Boys. But my brother and I would always beg her to play us the same 8-track cassette in the stereo of her '79 Mustang: Queen's News of the World.

See the rest of Rihanna's 20/20 interview with ABC News' Diane Sawyer here.

Chris Brown brings his "Fan Appreciation Tour" to town this weekend, leading to several questions. Not the least of which are, "Who the hell is still a fan of this guy?" And, "Will his 'appreciation' of same take some form other than beating the shit out of them in a parked car?"

Brown's assault on Rhianna and his subsequent mealy-mouthing about the incident paint an unkind portrait of the R&B singer, but where does he rank alongside other musicians with a penchant for beating women? Rocks Off has helpfully provided a random sampling of abusive artists for comparison.

Alanna Wiggins

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Naika Whisperwish and HaVoK continue to bring the sweet, sweet pain to H-Town with tonight's Goth-tacular appearance by Bella Morte. Once more of a straight death-rock band with shades of metal, Bella Morte has steadily grown into testosterone-driven counterpart to Evanescence, and is one of the top-selling artists on the Metropolis label.

The Charlottesville, Va., group's latest work is a semi-self-titled album called Beautiful Death (the English translation of "Bella Morte"), but the name is not an indicator of a return to roots. Rather, it shows the continued evolution of the band into one of the forerunners of modern Goth.

Ah, here we go again with local artists trumpeting "Grammy nominations." The latest is Atascocita-grown country singer Susan Hickman, who seems to fancy herself as a Miranda Lambert/Martina McBride type. We stumbled across Hickman accidentally through MySpace's "Status Updates," and our eye was immediately drawn to: "Susan Hickman Up for 6 1st Round Grammy Nominations."

Now Lonesome, Onry and Mean doesn't claim to know everything about what's going on around here, but we do try to keep our ears to the ground about 23 hours a day for what's happening in the local live music scene, especially the country music scene. And, to lay it on the line, we've never heard of Hickman.

What gets LOM is the overblown bullshit of touting "6 1st Round Grammy Nominations" by a virtual unknown. Such public-relations malarkey may fool the average fan, especially if their music diet is the by-the-numbers Nashcrap Hickman specializes in, but it doesn't fool anyone in the working press or most club owners. Remember local folkies Sugar Bayou getting their public relations teat caught in the Grammy hype ringer with John Nova Lomax about five years ago?

All this week, Rocks Off is previewing Saturday and Sunday's Westheimer Block Party by asking WBP performers to fill out a list from Lisa Nola's Music Listography book we're so fond of. It's not too late for your band to be up here, either; just email chris.gray@houstonpress.com by noon Thursday if you want to play.

Next up, neo-classic rock family band Paris Falls' Ray Brown tells us what he likes and doesn't like about music in the movies.

The Circle Jerks' lounge version of "When the Shit Hits the Fan" (Repo Man): Emilio Estevez responds with, "I can't believe I used to like this band." I'm a huge Circle Jerks fan. The scene of them playing is in the background, and I guess an inside joke. You really have to watch. It also has Chuck Biscuits playing in it. He is on my top 5 drummers list. He never recorded with the Jerks, but ended up recording Danzig's first four albums.

All this week, Rocks Off is previewing Saturday and Sunday's Westheimer Block Party by asking WBP performers to fill out a list from Lisa Nola's Music Listography book we're so fond of. It's not too late for your band to be up here, either; just email chris.gray@houstonpress.com by noon Thursday if you want to play.

Next up, in a twist on the evergreen "Desert Island" meme, recent Artist of the Week the Live Lights choose ten albums they'd take with them should they ever leave the Earth's atmosphere. Sounds like they'll have a lot of Thom Yorke to keep them company.

Victor Montemayor, Guitar

Radiohead, OK Computer: I love the way the album flows from start to finish. "No Surprises" is one of my all-time favorite Radiohead songs.

Radiohead, Kid A: It has one of the best opening songs ("Everything In Its Right Place"), for me, on an album I've ever heard.

Radiohead, In Rainbows: I really like how simple the songs are, yet it delivers so much.

All this week, Rocks Off is previewing Saturday and Sunday's Westheimer Block Party by asking WBP performers to fill out a list from Lisa Nola's Music Listography book we're so fond of. It's not too late for your band to be up here; just email chris.gray@houstonpress.com by noon Thursday if you want to play. First up are Lake Jackson post-punk art-rockers Fiskadoro.

Rich Kimball, guitar

Robert Rental: This guy is criminally obscure. I think he played with Daniel Miller's band The Normal for awhile. He made a couple awesome early synth-pop singles in 1979 on Miller's Mute Records. In 1980 he made a great record with Thomas Leer called The Bridge that was released on Throbbing Gristle's label, Industrial Records.

The record hit No. 9 in the UK Indie Charts, and after this he pretty much retired from music, leaving a lean yet incredible discography of music that is influencing electronic musicians to this day. He died in 2000. Kirston from After Party and KTRU's post-punk show needs to donate an hour to this guy.

​40 oz. To Freedom (Sublime Tribute): Fri., Jan. 22. Scout Bar Clear Lake.

"4th Annual Rudz Thanksgiving Eve" With Born Liars: Wed., Nov. 25. Rudyard's.

Bowling For Soup, Smile Smile: Sat., Dec. 5. Scout Bar Clear Lake.

"104.1 KRBE Not So Silent Night" With All-American Rejects, Justin Bieber, Cobra Starship, Jay Sean: Fri., Dec. 18. Verizon Wireless Theater.

Ben Lerman: Fri., Dec. 18. Notsuoh.

Better Than Ezra: Tue., Dec. 29. House of Blues.

Born Liars: Thu., Dec. 10. Mango's.

The Burden, Satannabis: Sun., Nov. 22. Rocbar.

Charles Feelgood: Fri., Nov. 20. Rich's Houston.

Cursive, Capgun Coup, sIngs: Mon., Nov. 30. Walter's on Washington.

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​Rocks Off is about as excited about Sunday's AC/DC show as we were for the Black Ice ballbreakers' show 11 months ago, but for a much different reason. Last time it was because we hadn't seen AC/DC since 1996 at Austin's Frank Erwin Center; this time it's because we're itching to see the band behind our pick for hard-rock album of the year, Everyday Demons. It's not AC/DC, rather openers The Answer.

Formed in Belfast in 2000, the Answer is fueled by the denim-and-diamonds riffs of guitarist Paul Mahon, and although Demons conjures hints of bands like Humble Pie, the Black Crowes and the Cult, it's no retread. Singer Cormac Neeson (how's that for an Irish name?) has a firm grip on that Chris Cornell growl 'n' wail even while tackling some pretty serious subject matter - suicide on "Why'd You Change Your Mind," political disillusionment on "Too Far Gone" and faithless women (several songs, particularly "Walkin' Mat"). Hometown mash note "Dead of the Night" is a worthy successor to no less than Thin Lizzy's "The Boys are Back In Town."

Two alumni of Houston's fabled folk scene return to Anderson Fair this weekend.

Vince Bell lives in Santa Fe, N.M., these days, but he will always be associated with the heyday of the Houston folk scene and Anderson Fair. Mentored by Townes van Zandt and Guy Clark, Bell had a major influence on Lyle Lovett, who recorded Bell's "I've Had Enough" on his album Step Inside This House. Nanci Griffith, another Anderson Fair regular back in the day, recorded Bell's "Sun & Moon & Stars." Bell is touring behind his new album, One Man's Music.

You can think of this weekend's Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin as the indie, metal, and hip-hop little brother of the more staid Austin City Limits Music Festival. The fourth edition of the two-day event held in Waterloo Park in Austin starts tomorrow afternoon. Per our stated life path, Rocks Off will be there covering all the bands, fans and assorted debauchery that all that comes with.

This year's line-up is rife with musical pioneers, unsung heroes, along with the usual "It" bands that you will forget in six months and the one or two bands that will soon be smirking that they were once small enough to play a side stage. In fact, indie duo MGMT played one of those stages back in 2007 and by the next fall were commanding a strong following at ACL. It's amazing what a little label push and a catchy-as-shit song can do within the span of 12 months.

Lucero "Sixes and Sevens" from Lucero on Vimeo.

​A decade and six albums into their career, Memphis country-punks Lucero made the leap late last year from their own indie label, Liberty & Lament, onto Universal/Republic Records. The band's rabid, boozy following may have been hesitant at the time of the signing, fearing a dilution of the band's sound at the hands of corporate handlers. But anyone who has given last month's 1372 Overton Park a spin will instead hear Lucero venturing into stranger territory only hinted at on previous albums.

This weekend, Lucero hits Texas to play Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin ahead of their date Monday night at the Meridian. They are currently touring the country behind 1372 with fellow Memphis act Cedric Burnside & Lightning Malcolm and punkier kids the City Champs and the Dirty Streets. We talked with lead singer Ben Nichols while Lucero was getting ready for a gig out in Cleveland, Ohio. We discussed the bands new direction and some of the ingredients that are shaping their new, soulful tone.

Rocks Off: 1372 Overton Park seems like the next logical progression after the past two albums, 2005's breakthrough Nobody's Darlings and 2007's Rebels, Rogues & Sworn Brothers. What's been the biggest thing defining this new direction?

Ben Nichols: With Darlings, it was just the four of us, the four original members. Then we added Rick Steff on Rebels, Rogues and just the addition of Rick on piano and organ allowed us to expand the idea of the band a little bit. It allowed us to do stuff we weren't able to do before. It was more fully realized on 1372. We went into the songwriting process more intentionally, if that makes any sense.

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This is how we want to remember you, Kenny.

​Kenny Rogers brings his vast collection of hits and the plastic-surgery disaster he calls a face to Jones Hall to perform with the Houston Symphony tonight, and obviously Rocks Off's extremities are sweating profusely in anticipation. Not because he can't wait to hear "She Believes in Me" with full orchestral backup, but because we're such huge fans of his Kenny Rogers Roasters chain of restaurants, featured in one of our favorite Seinfeld episodes.

The Roasters chain is mostly confined to Asia these days, giving the Filipino government a convenient place to dispose of all those avian-flu-infected carcasses. Still, Rogers' return to his hometown got us thinking about other... inspired celebrity products.

Don't act so surprised...

As we can fatefully attest, rock and roll and tattoos go hand in hand. The first time Rocks Off saw a grizzled punk rocker walk by at Fitzgerald's back in the '90s with two sleeves full of tattoos and a chest full of nautical-themed art, we mentally pointed at him and said "That's what we want", and from that day on we were hooked.

Since we started getting tattoos we have seen the world change in regards to how inked people are regarded. They were one or all the following: drug addicts, musicians, mechanics, or jailbirds. We remember a time when tattoo shops weren't huge magnificent buildings with buxom blondes working the front desk with a headset on, like on so many reality shows.

Sometimes the shops we frequented and still frequent don't even have a front desk. The soundtrack wasn't Buckcherry or Kings Of Leon; it was proto-sludge bands like Hawkwind or rock-steady ska in the vein of the Slackers. Also, not everyone has some horrific sob story surrounding each one of their ink spots, like the television would have you believe. There are times when a naked zombie girl straddling Death just looks cool on your arm.