Sarah Shook & the Disarmers will be playing in town at the Kessler Theater on June 18th.
The North Carolina-based quintet has built a reputation for no-frills, honky-tonk-infused rock with a punk spirit. On Nightroamer, the unit expands their sound with pop sensibilities and melodies without sacrificing the unflinching intensity that their fervent fanbase love. Watch the video for their driving, gritty new single “Talkin’ To Myself” HERE.
Continue readingFiled under Steven Doyle
Jen Kirkman is back on tour this year – with all new material. Stories and jokes you haven’t seen on her Netflix specials. Don’t worry. It’s not all about Drumpf – why talk about him when Jen can talk about herself and her year of seeing fraudulent spiritual healers, holidays without family, being accused of not being “woke” by young people, and tales of when she was a young obnoxious third party voter, and pretentious hater of pop culture.
Jen Kirkman is a national and internationally touring stand-up comedian. Her 2015 Netflix Original Comedy Special “I’m Gonna Die Alone (And I Feel Fine)” was named one of the Top 10 comedy specials of 2015 by Time Out New York, New York Magazine, and The Atlantic. Her most recent Netflix Original Comedy Special, “Just Keep Livin’?” is streaming worldwide as of January 3rd, 2017. Continue reading
Filed under Crave, Steven Doyle
by Steven Doyle
Looking for something a bit different to do on the fourth? The Singapore Slingers are performing at the Kessler Theater Saturday, July 4th for a star-spangled Independence Day dance and concert, featuring hot jazz and early swing of the 1920s and 1930s, as well as ragtime and all things American, including some marches by the march king himself, John Philip Sousa. Continue reading
Filed under Steven Doyle
by Sally-Page Stuck
In a sold out performance at the Kessler Theatre on July 17, singer-songwriter Rahim Quazi debuted his newest album, Ghost Hunting.
Quazi handpicked the opening musical acts. It was a seemingly disjointed mix, but worked together in what became one of the most memorable concerts this writer has experienced.
The crowd was equally mixed: a tattooed man in a torn sleeveless Harley Davidson shirt, a mother and son giggling while taking selfies, pretty girls in perilous heels, international musicians. Continue reading
Filed under Sally-Page Stuck
by Jon Daniel
My friend Charles is in his mid-50’s and grew up in Flatbush Brooklyn. You can hear it in his voice. People who are connoisseurs of Brooklyn accents swear they can tell the difference between Flatbush and Bensonhurst, or many of the other neighborhoods in Brooklyn. But this only works when listening to people Charles’ age and older. These communities with specific accents in Brooklyn are largely gone. White flight to the suburbs and the general homogenization of American culture has made regional differences disappear, or even differences between subway lines in New York. But in people like Charles, you can still hear these lost cultures in his voice.
Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Joe Ely and Butch Hancock were born in the mid 40’s and grew up in Lubbock. You can hear it in their voices. People who are connoisseurs of West Texas accents swear they can tell the difference between Lubbock and Midland. People who are connoisseurs of Texas Music and Texas singer/songwriters can hear the vestiges of a lost culture also. The remoteness that produced so many great Texas artists has disappeared. Texas has transitioned into mostly a suburban state. The homogenization of country music into Nashville pop and Texas music into Pat Green style hyperbole has made regional Texas voices disappear. Continue reading
Filed under Jon Daniel
by Jon Daniel
Dave Alvin is grinning at his brother Phil like a kid who just flushed an M-80 down the toilet in the boy’s bathroom, and is waiting for the “boom” and gush of water. He’s a short stocky guy with a big toothy smile, and when he’s feeling particularly happy with his guitar playing he’ll spread his legs and cowboy boots out wider and wider until he looks like he might bust the seams on his jeans. Dave Alvin has written songs for The Blasters, his solo projects, two books of poetry, won a Grammy for a folk album, and had a stint in the punk band X. But tonight, playing with his big brother seems to have him in good spirits.
I’ve seen that smile on Dave Alvin face every time I’ve seen him play, both with his brother Phil and without. Friday night at the Kessler Theater, the brothers Alvin were reunited back in Dallas for the first time since the early 80’s when they played at a long forgotten club named Wild Turkey on Walnut Hill and Harry Hines with Johnny Reno. Continue reading
Filed under Jon Daniel
