Local musician/producer Ken Sarmiento (Phuz/Channel K) is a metal fan from way back, and he recently had the opportunity to discuss music and the new album, Worship Music, with Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante. Anthrax will be in Houston this Sunday (10.30.11) for a show at Warehouse Live with Testament and Death Angel. Ken Sarmiento: Charlie [...]

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You may remember Jef “With One F” Rouner from his stint in the utterly unique The Black Math Experiment and its TMZ-worthy song “You Cannot Kill David Arquette”. After BME called it quits, Jef wrote a novel (see reviews here and here) and writes about music for 29-95.com and Houston Press (in particular, some interesting [...]

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Orca, the debut album by The Answer Page, was released by Houston-based musician Nate McKee in July. A single listen was all it took for me to realize that Orca was something special and that it would be a shame if no one else in Houston heard it. It’s an album I have continually returned [...]

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British crooner Lee MacDougal returns to Houston on Wednesday, 8.24.11, to play at The Continental Club. You can read my interview with MacDougal from this year’s SXSW preview here. More information on the musician may be found at MySpace.

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The thought of watching a cover band makes a lot of live music fans immediately cringe, and usually with good reason. For some, memories of sloppy college party bands come to mind (ever hear a drunken 20-year-old fumble though “Run Like Hell”?). For others, maybe it’s having to sit through a band crucify a Pearl [...]

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I recently wrote an article about Free Press Summer Fest for the new issue (Summer 2011) of Downtown Houston magazine, which you can pick up around the downtown area. The article includes an interview with festival organizers Omar Afra and Jagi Katial. Or, you can view it online here. The article begins on page 16. [...]

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Canada’s In-Flight Safety‘s felt inspired after David Bowie expressed his approval of the band’s early EP. On its latest, We Are An Empire, My Dear, the band builds on the light and airy pop of their early work to create a batch of songs that, while similar in style to Coldplay, tends to retain a [...]

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Musician Alex Dezen releases his new album under The Damnwells moniker today (Tuesday, 3.15.11). After label deals with Epic and Rounder, the band opted for a less traditional route for its new album: No One Listens To The Band Anymore was funded completely by the band’s fans via PledgeMusic. No One Listens To The Band [...]

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Houston’s Two Star Symphony returns to South By Southwest this week for its second showcase. The band recently played a part in the film Honky Tonk Blood, which you can find more about here. I interviewed the band for last year’s Houston Calling SXSW preview. Read it here. Two Star Symphony plays in Austin during [...]

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British singer-songwriter Lee MacDougall honed his skills in open-mike nights in London and has steadily grown his fan base by opening for the likes of Starsailor, Bob Dylan, and Van Morrison. The musician brings his music to the U.S. this month, performing at South By Southwest and also in Houston at the Hideaway on Dunvale [...]

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