What do you get when you cross the soul of a big band with the attitude of the P-Funk All-Stars? Big Sam's Funky Nation, of course! Big Sam himself is a killer trombonist who's backed by a motley crew of jazz and brass musicians who put on a raucous, lively show the likes of which you don't often see outside of the Big Easy. Both Big Sam and his Funky Nation wail through the night......

In case you hadn't heard, Steve Goodman can no longer lay claim to the "best country and western song ever written." That tarnished crown now rests squarely on the head of Hayes Carll. The song in question? "She Left Me For Jesus." With lyrics like "It could been Carlos or Billy Ortez / But if I ever find Jesus, he's gonna wish he was dead," it's easy to see why Carll is being hailed as......

Houston, are you ready to rock? The last time we told you about Rock The Bayou, the huge 3 day Labor Day weekend metal fest, they had a mere 40 bands on the bill. They are now up to 110 bands and tonight at midnight is your last chance to get early bird tickets at a mere $99, tomorrow August 1st, tickets go up to $125. What kind of entertainment value does $99 get......

The Houston Press has once again announced their 2008 nominees for the highly-anticipated Houston Press Music Awards. It's not too late to vote for your favorite band, performer, album, underground rapper, drummer, zydeco outfit, tribute band or any number of exciting music geek categories. Just remember that voting ends tomorrow, July 27th. Of course, if you've already voted and want to take in a Sunday afternoon that's fit to bursting with local musical talent, then......

Houstonist missed the grand reopening of the Houston Public Library Central Branch in early June, but we're OK with that. Who wants to explore a library mobbed with people anyway? Instead, we decided to check out the renovation on a lazy Saturday in mid-July after all the brouhaha settled. One thing is certain: those new floors sure are bright. We liked the cheeriness of it, though, and overall the Central Branch feels more like......

Wherever you may be headed tonight, make sure to at least do a fly-by at the Contemporary Arts Museum so you don't kick yourself later for missing Steel Lounge Underground. Held on the last Friday of every month, Steel Lounge Underground is a mad tonic of music and art featuring local DJs and musicians performing alongside the latest exhibit in the Contemporary Arts Museum's Zilkha Gallery. This month features Houston-based DJs Jessica Lozano and Cee......

For the Weekend of July 17th – 20th Hello there Houston. We’re glad that you’ve returned to us here at the H-Town Rock portion of Houstonist and we know that you’re glad that we’re back for yet another week. This is a lovely symbiotic relationship we have: we write about the upcoming music happenings in our fair city and you read what we write, taking in the information we provide and making plans for an......

Houstonist first learned of Bob Log III while watching late-night television sometime in the midst of our sloppy punk rock blues phase. We were fascinated and puzzled by the Evil Knievel jumpsuit and the motorcycle helmet-telephone receiver hybrid the one-man-band wears in lieu of a microphone. Somehow Bob Log III managed to escape our conscience until the advent of YouTube, which boasts numerous videos of his live acts. Since then we've been anxiously awaiting an......

He's been covered by everyone from Limp Bizkit to Ben Folds and Rufus Wainwright. His music has been the main plot point in prime-time TV shows (complete with cameo appearance). He's performed with Queen -- so well, in fact, that it made you not miss Freddy Mercury for a brief moment. He's recovered from awful plastic surgery and awkward undercover arrests for propositioning men in bathrooms. He's a survivor. Admit it: you love George Michael.......

The clap of the hands, the sounds of dancing and the mystical flamenco guitar all await you upstairs at Avant Garden tonight at 8pm. Flamenco Andaluz, a local flamenco troupe, led by the extremely talented, Bianca Antonia has been holding regular Thursday night performances upstairs at Avant Garden for the past few months. Bianca Antonia is no stranger to dance. With a history of modern dance and ballet, she has been dancing flamenco since......

The Vans Warped Tour is coming to town this Sunday, July 6th at Sam Houston Race Park. Since 1995, shoe manufacturer, Vans, has sponsored this all day music and extreme sports festival which in the past has boasted up to 100 bands in a single show. In 1998 the festival went international with dates in Europe, Japan, Australia and Canada. This year, on the Houston stop of this festival, over 40 bands will be......

Looking for a place where you could go way to work off all those hot dogs you're bound to cram down your big American mouth on Friday? Spend Saturday, July 5th jumping around to the sounds of Jeremy Jay and the Don't Fight It DJs at the Caroline Collective for a post-4th bash. Described by Pitchfork as "Peter Pan, or a left-coast Jonathan Richman" Jay has been raking in the accolades of late, surrounding last......

Many, many moons ago, when most of our 11 readers were just in diapers or better yet, not even born, there was a mega concert event that occurred at various times in both Dallas and Houston called The Texas Jam. The Texas Jam was legendary with huge names in rock headlining an all day concert. That was then... Rock The Bayou is now! Rock The Bayou is going to be a four day event......

Veteran singer-songwriter and one of Houston's favorite sons, Robert Earl Keen stands tall among such other Texas artists as Jerry Jeff Walker, Rodney Crowell, Ray Wylie Hubbard and Joe Ely as an example of how to achieve longevity in the country music business without ever having a Nashville hit. Keen is a down-to-earth, engaging and distinctive songwriter with a huge fan base that follows him from honky tonks to stadiums and joyously sings the lyrics......

We first wrote about Glass Candy last November. If you went to the show, you probably burned a hole in the sole of your shoes when what should have been a show turned into a synth-fueled dance party. Currently featuring both John Alexander: A Retrospective and Learning by Doing: 25 Years of the Core Program, the Museum of Fine Arts and Starbucks' Mixed Media Series is keeping with the Texas theme. The Portland-based Glass Candy......

It's Sum-sum-summahtime! What better way to enjoy a brisk summer evening than dancing like a fool under the full moon (well, it looks full to us, so we'll call it "full-ish"). The best dancing in Houston is had at any performance of The Allen Oldies that you can get yourself to, and there's one coming up Friday. Yes, Allen will have plenty of his special SPF 0 to save you from a moonburn, as the......

We missed our chance to properly warn you of Cryptacize's previous show in Houston earlier this year, but we won't do it again. The Oakland-based band plays The Backroom on Thursday, June 19. MP3: "Cosmic Sing Along" from Dig That Treasure (Purchase from Asthmatic Kitty) MP3: "No Coins" from Dig That Treasure (Purchase from Asthmatic Kitty) From the Asthmatic Kitty label, Cryptacize is the fateful union of indie talents Michael Carreira, Nedelle Torrisi and Chris......

Houston-area music for the weekend of May 29th – June 1st, 2008 Well, it seems that another weekend is upon us and that means it’s time for another installment of H-Town Rock. This week’s overarching theme: music from bands who reached their apex two or three decades ago! That’s right – this is your chance to enjoy music performed live that you normally have to listen to on your favorite classic rock station! All sarcasm......

Music for the Week of May 22-25 Welcome to H-Town Rock, your place to figure out just what music venues you’ll be attending around Houston this weekend. And as usual, this will be your chance to run into Houstonist as we’re out and about, braving the heat and humidity that we all love and hate here in Space City. If there’s anything you feel that we’ve left out, feel free to let us know. We......

Montreal rock band Islands [pictured] hone the splendidly scattered sound of their 2006 debut into more cohesive rock-orchestral arrangements on their latest release, Arm's Way. -Read an interview with Island’s lead Nick Thorburn at Pitchfork -Read an album review in Rollingstone -Catch Islands when they perform at Walter’s on June 25 -Buy Arm’s Way Usher's new record, Here I Stand, finds the R&B singer at a crossroads; he's changed management, and even sound - faintly......

Fun and pretty music is for Friday night. However, Saturday night is for outragously loud, all-out intense rock, which is why you should go catch The Jonx, Golden Axe and Awake play at The Backroom on Saturday, May 10. For almost six years, the Jonx has given Houston its fair share of their uniquely noise-garage-punk sound. For reasons unknown to us, they seemed to have taken a hiatus from live shows, with the single exception......

We really wish we could spend Friday night at a really cool, outdoor venue listening to crunchy guitar lined with fuzzy vocals, indie rock with one of the strongest rhythm sections in our 10 mile radius and two guys on guitar righteously rocking the stage. Lucky for us Hearts of Animals, Young Mammals and Wicked Poseur play The Orange Show on Friday, May 9 at 7 p.m. As you should be well aware of by......

Did you miss My Morning Jacket’s stop in Houston a couple of weeks ago? If so, set the DVR to this week’s Saturday Night Live, when the band makes in appearance to promote their upcoming album, Evil Urges, out June 10th. You also can catch musical legend Smokey Robinson on NBC’s Today this Tuesday, or the double header of Cher and Tina Turner on Thursday’s Oprah. MONDAY KT Tunstall (PBS – Tavis Smiley), 10:30......

Quite a few of our favorite classic names are making appearances in our TV listings this week. Neil Diamond, a.k.a. the Jewish Elvis, stops by the Today show this week, but we’ll have to distract ourselves with Def Leppard on Ellen and Carly Simon at GMA till Friday. In case you missed her last week Estelle makes a stop at Jimmy Kimmel Live; catch her before she takes over your iPod, TV set and radio......

::CASE Magazine Release Party:: Three things we CASE magazine issue release party and GIVE UP show closing reception team up tonight at the new Aerosol Warfare Gallery. If you had any inclination to see the installation GIVE UP (the Houston street art legend) did at the gallery this will be the last chance, and the first chance to get the new issue of CASE featuring: Gary Baseman, DUEL, Atmosphere, The Faint, Sage Francis, Bask and......

Have you seen Discovery Green? You simply must hit the amphitheater tomorrow evening from 6:00 - 8:30 pm to see Houston's own Archie Bell performing with one of Houstonist's favorites, The Allen Oldies Band. In fact, if you can go as early as 4:00 p.m. and no later that 7:30 p.m. - Central City Co-op is hosting a "Green Market", so pack a small cooler, just in case to stash your organic and locally grown/made......

It’s no secret that we at Houstonist love music, especially of the live variety. We’re also not oblivious to the fact that Houston isn’t necessarily recognized as musical haven, especially not in Texas, which is why our collective ears tend to perk up when we hear about one of the few remaining stalwarts of live music in Houston in the news. On Sunday, KHOU did a piece on Walter’s on Washington and the never-ending......

It's looks to be a good week for new music. We highly reccommend that you check out Tuesday's Goldfrapp perfomance, since "Happiness" has probably one of the most smile-inducing videos we've seen as of late. If you weren't able to buy your Radiohead tickets weeks ago, catch them on Wednesday night on Conan. Finally, keep an ear and an eye out for Estelle, who visits the States to promote her new album, Shine, which is......

::Aurora Picture Show's Media Archeology presents: Negativland:: It's a short ride from copyfight infamy to mashup immortality. Negativland, an experimental music and sound collage band which originated in the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1970s, took their name from a Neu! song, while their record label is named after another Neu! song. The current core of the band consists of Mark Hosler, Richard Lyons, Don Joyce, David Wills, and Peter Conheim, but......

Young Brit rockers The Kooks are back with plenty of catchy hooks on their latest record, Konk. -Watch a video performance at Rolling Stone -Read an album review in the London Times -Watch the video for the song, "Always Where I Need to Be" at Youtube -Buy Konk Phantom Planet have come a long way since their sunny track "California" became an anthem on the youth drama The OC. The now Jason Schwartzman-less band showcase......