The live music venues. That’s the key component to the whole thing. Musicians need audiences and whatever money they can get. But running a live music club in Austin doesn’t make financial sense. Everybody wants to be on the guest … Continue reading
Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert was recently fined $75,000 for using the ghetto slang term “no homo,” which is what hip-hop fans say when words come out of their mouths that make them sound gay, like “LeBron stretched me out.” … Continue reading
When it was first announced that Weird Al Yankovic was coming to play the Paramount Theatre Friday, I got a little jolt of giddiness. Yes! Weird Al, coming to Austin! I wrote it in red on my calendar. After his … Continue reading
On this particular Friday night, Austin singer/songwriter/bandleader Bob Schneider has a big show in Dallas at the House of Blues, where about 1,000 fans have bought tickets to dance and sing along to such songs as “40 Dogs (Romeo and … Continue reading
The waitress at Hyde Park Bar & Grill says she likes Bill Carter’s big silver skull ring. It’s from the set of “Pirates of the Caribbean,” Carter says. “The first one. It was made for my friend, but he wanted … Continue reading
(From June 2009) Michael Jackson dead at 50. Michael Jackson dead. The words didn’t look right. When I first heard the news Thursday afternoon, my reaction surprised me. The first word in my mind: finally. At last the boy who … Continue reading
The sailors and soldiers called it “Shit Street.” During Vietnam and a few years after, Hotel Street in Honolulu’s Chinatown was the Broadway of the skankiest red light district in the country. Haven’t been to them all, but can still … Continue reading
(Originally published in May 2007. Stephen Bruton succumbed to cancer two years later.) In his home studio in Barton Hills, Stephen Bruton has a picture on a music stand of him playing guitar with Kris Kristofferson for the first time, … Continue reading
In March 2003, as American troops were poised to invade Iraq, Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks decided to make a statement against President Bush that delighted the audience in England. But when the news was picked up in the … Continue reading
(From November 2008) If you want to make President-elect Barack Obama smile about something that has nothing to do with Tuesday’s election, ask him if he remembers the address of Lex Brodie’s flagship tire shop in Honolulu. He should immediately … Continue reading