Tag Archives: Music
Professor Trill
Rapper Bun B on Port Arthur, resilience and the meaning of trill.
The Bayou City loves Bernard “Bun B” Freeman so much that he’s been given the title “Houston’s unofficial mayor.” But the Grammy-nominated renaissan...Read More
‘I Can’t Date Jesus’ Chronicles Growing up Black, Queer and Catholic in Houston
Michael Arceneaux’s first book is a logical extension of the polemic, confessional style he’s perfected online.
The book begins, “Before that day, I hadn’t been to church in five Beyoncé albums.” Some people measure time in years; others, like Houston-born, Harlem-...Read More
The Encyclopedic ‘Country Music USA’ Tells (Almost) the Whole Story
Laird does a masterful job of showing how, for many performers, the whole question of authenticity has become ridiculous.
Country music historian Bill C. Malone has lived to see the 50th anniversary reissue of his landmark book, Country Music USA. Fellow scholar Tracey E. W. Laird ...Read More
Austin Writer Ed Ward Celebrates the Black Musicians Who Made Rock
Austin’s Ed Ward Celebrates the Black Musicians Who Made Rock ‘The History of Rock & Roll’ pays tribute to some lesser-known pioneers of...Read More
In ‘Without Getting Killed or Caught,’ Guy Clark Defies Categorization
Clark’s acoustic, finger-picked Southwestern-flavored songs were too countrified for folk and too folky for country — and the Nashville hit factory never knew what the hell to do with him.
Honky-tonk musician Guy Clark defies categorization, argues a compelling new biography....Read More
The Texas Miracle #25: The Patron Saint of Corpus Christi
Road trip! The Miracle heads to Corpus for the worldwide launch of Tejana superstar Selena's cosmetics line and discovers Whataburger along the way.
Road trip! The Miracle heads to Corpus for the worldwide launch of Selena's cosmetics line and discovers Whataburger along the way....Read More
Vaya con Dios, Juan Gabriel
Mexico's most versatile singer and composer leaves behind a global legacy.
Gregg Barrio remembers Juan Gabriel, whose "hardscrabble life is the stuff of telenovelas," and who died August 28 while on tour in California....Read More
Graphic Novel Profiles Brilliant, Bipolar Daniel Johnston
The Incantations of Daniel Johnston, a graphic novel released in July, narrates the creative, chaotic life of an artist and musician with bipolar disorde...Read More
David Bowie in Aztlán
Forty years ago, Chicano students in Crystal City created a Bowie-inspired rock opera.
Forty years ago, Chicano students in Crystal City created a Bowie-inspired rock opera. Teacher Gregg Barrios wonders if his kids influenced the rock genius....Read More