Not-so-fresh off the heels of last year's Wild Mountain Nation, Portland's Blitzen Trapper swings by the Bayou City tonight at Walter's on Washington. Even though they're painfully under the Houston musical consciousness' radar, it'll do you some good to check their set out. Released on Sub Pop Records last year, Wild Mountain Nation proved to be one of the strongest releases of 2007, although somewhat overlooked considering the heavyweights that ended up dominating the ridiculous......

::Troy Winscott at Max's Wine Dive:: Troy Winscott's designy giclee prints will be on display at Max's, and the reception for his work is tonight. Winscott studied illustration at the Art Institute of Houston and has a background in jewelry design as well. Both crafts are at play in his tantalizing prints. Max's will host live music, light hors d'oeuvres and offer wine specials for the night. And, of course, the artist. It's a......

Reigning “Queen of Funk” Sharon Jones [pictured] and her band the Dap-Kings will perform tomorrow night at Walter’s on Washington. The soul revivalists are touring in support of their critically acclaimed album, 100 Days, 100 Nights, a gritty homespun recording of retro R&B that has proven to be the group's breakthrough moment. Everything about Jones and the Kings is retro; from the way they record their music on a sixteen track, to their heavy touring......

Today’s Photo of the Day comes from flickr user and Houstonist photo contributor Renegade Buddha who brings us this vintage sign along Washington Ave. __________________________________________________________ If you have a passion for Houston and photography, consider joining over 444 of Houston's best photographers in the Houstonist Flickr Photo Group. If Houstonist uses your photo for Photo Of The Day, submit it here. For more great photography check out the Houston Photobloggers.......

Spent all your cash on girlie drinks and shattered dreams again this weekend, didn't you? No worries - Thriftster gives you the lowdown on cheap stuff to do until Paycheck Friday. Monday: We are confused about the Sona play date, so let's try again shall we? The weather is awesome, as if you haven't noticed, so tonight you and your main squeeze should grab a blanket and hit the outdoors to watch the free screening......

We're still reeling from the success of our first annual Houstonist photo show opening. Can ya blame us? Just look at the evidence! It's no surprise that an event filled with such wonderful photographers produced such wonderful pics — please continue to upload yours to the Houstonist flickr group, and remember to tag with "600sqmi" and "houstonist." Of course this exhibit and opening didn't just appear out of thin air (geez, wouldn't that have been......

This morning, Houston City Council designated Old Sixth Ward as the first and only Protected Historic District in the city. This new status will enable the Houston Archaeological and Historical Commission to prohibit the demolition of historic structures within Old Sixth Ward's 33.8 acres. There was only one dissenting vote for this measure, which came from council member/real estate broker Michael Berry. As far as actual limitations on properties within the district, the Greater Houston......

Houston has lost the 1929 Coca-Cola Bottling Plant (Pringle & Smith and Alfred C. Finn, architects), located on the east side of downtown at 2600 Capitol. The building was most recently occupied by Leggett's Fabrics, which relocated to Fort Bend County in 2005. The area is being redeveloped from industrial to residential, and there is a sign on the corner indicates that the new development will be called "Capitol Oaks Two," a supplement to......

Two HPD civilian employees have been removed from their jobs in the department's property room pending an investigation into 21 weapons that have been found missing from the facility since October — 19 of which are still unaccounted for. There are more than 18,000 guns in the property room that are either being held as evidence or are waiting to be destroyed, and HPD keeps track of them using a bar code system put in......

Ben Browning and Nik Edgell were lucky to escape from their bookstore when an arsonist set it on fire Feb. 26 — but they weren't fortunate enough to avoid what they say was harassment from arson investigators who showed up to look into the blaze. The issue, apparently, is that the bookstore — Sedition Books, at 4420 Washington Ave. — offered literature on anarchism, Communism, gay rights, radical feminism, socialism and other "viewpoints outside the......

And we’re not talking about the young love that some pervs look for on the Internet. We’re talking about the band Young Love, playing at Walter’s on Washington this Thursday night. We got two pairs of tickets to give away, just in time to celebrate Valentine’s Day (well, the day after, actually). Young Love is a new band out of New York, who just released their first album a couple of weeks ago. The main......

Yesterday, Mayor Bill White announced a new plan for Old Sixth Ward - the Chronicle stated that "[Mayor White] proposed creation of a special district within the neighborhood west of downtown with design guidelines for construction and renovation, along with financial incentives to discourage demolition of historical houses." Historic, indeed: according to the Old Sixth Ward Historic District site, the neighborhood has the largest amount of Victorian homes in this region (except for Galveston,......

Champagne and fried chicken? We’ll take two. The owners of The Tasting Room have brought us the much anticipated Max’s Wine Dive (4720 Washington Ave), opened just a few months ago at the new strip center on Shepherd and Washington. This hip urban joint is far from a dive, though the exposed brick walls, concrete floors and juke box might fool you. The Texas-size bar extends almost the entire length of the narrow restaurant, while......

Houstonist has good news and bad news. Unfortunately, there's no "choose your own adventure" option when you're blogging, so we'll just give you the bad news first. All westbound lanes of I-10 will be closed this weekend from Washington Ave. to Campbell Rd. The northbound and southbound interchanges from 610 to I-10 W will also be closed. Fortunately, the closure only lasts from 9 pm tonight until 12 pm tomorrow, but motorists are strongly encouraged......

Recently, Houstonist was looking for a place to unwind with a friend and share a good bottle of wine without killing our pocketbooks. Luckily, we found The Corkscrew — it's one of the newest wine bars inside the Loop, and it's quickly becoming one of our favorites. Like many wine bars, The Corkscrew has a variety of wines (more than 250 in rotation here) with knowledgeable staff to help you. Unlike many wine bars......