earache!

Ray Manzarek: Trying to Set the World on Fire

When I was a freshman at Sonoma State University in 2006, I received an assignment that required I interview a person older than 65. As an out-of-state student in my first semester, I only knew one individual who fit the criteria: Doors’ keyboardist Ray Manzarek. Read More | Comment »

Shuffle 4:20PM Thu. May. 23, Danielle Zelisko

Listen to What the Man Said

Name another human being with more songs in the modern vernacular than Paul McCartney. Dylan, Lennon, Marley, Springsteen? How many of their tunes does your 5-year-old know the words to? The still “cute” Beatle played 38 songs in two hours and 45 minutes Thursday night at the Erwin Center. McCartney, not rock & roll, may be the universal language. Read More | Comment »

Death Valley Nights 10:47AM Thu. May. 23, Raoul Hernandez

The Front Porch Song

By now it’s almost mythological that Lyle Lovett and Robert Earl Keen met as students at Texas A&M in the Seventies. Friends ever since, their appearances together remain rare. That lent last night’s over-two-hour set at the Paramount Theater the feeling of an event. They appear there again tonight and around Texas through Sunday. Read More | Comment »

Geezerville 2:45PM Wed. May. 22, Jim Caligiuri

The Lucky One

With the music industry moving further and further into carbonated, diva-rave blowouts, Taylor Swift makes a lot of sense. At 23, the native Pennsylvanian has a back catalog of sad-girl ballads, a legion of fans, and an ever-documented private life. As last night’s sold-out Erwin Center proved, there’s a need for someone like her in arenas. Read More | Comment »

Shuffle 11:15AM Wed. May. 22, Luke Winkie

Proper Nang for Austin High’s Music Program

On Saturday night, the Proper Nang Night at Maria’s Taco Xpress hosts a fundraiser for Austin High School that includes the Belle Sounds, Mike McCoy’s Tontine, Pangia, the Bare Feat, and my band the Seaside Swifts. Why are we raising the money? School budgets are the issue. Read More | Comment »

Next Up! 3:30PM Tue. May. 21, William Harries Graham

KUTX Takes Mind Over Music Crown

Last night’s Mind Over Music at the Palm Door had all the wonder and suspense of your usual trivia night, only with a score more geeks who hang out at record stores. The fourth annual fundraiser, put on by the Chronicle, finished after three hours of brain-racking competition with one clear champ: the radio whiz kids at KUTX. Read More | Comment »

Check Yo' Self 12:07PM Tue. May. 21, Chase Hoffberger

The Seven Albums Nobody Needs to Own

What a pleasant surprise! Read More | Comment »

Schadenfreude 11:30AM Tue. May. 21, Wayne Alan Brenner

Rock & Roll Weekend

Three nights, three shows, three different venues around town. Playback’s busy weekends don’t show any signs of slowing down. Read More | Comment »

Playback 12:45PM Mon. May. 20, Kevin Curtin

One-Man Bandstands

Sitting with local mainstay Chris Brecht at North Loop’s popular Workhorse Bar last Wednesday, I was informed quite unceremoniously that “the age of the male singer-songwriter is dead.” Read More | Comment »

Check Yo' Self 11:45AM Mon. May. 20, Chase Hoffberger

The Priests of Syrinx

When did the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony become the Oscars? A nearly three-hour run-time, teleprompter eyes, and enough hair dye to deluge AARP fall in perfect lockstep with filmdom’s annual backslapping. The ultimate tie-in? Jack Nicholson sits in the front row of both. Watch the music blow-out on HBO tomorrow. Read More | Comment »

Death Valley Nights 5:20PM Fri. May. 17, Raoul Hernandez

Jambalaya Festival Moves Downtown

Good news for rap dudes who don’t leaving their hood for shows: next Friday’s Jambalaya Festival scheduled for the Backyard has been moved downtown to the Austin Music Hall. Read More | Comment »

Check Yo' Self 4:30PM Fri. May. 17, Chase Hoffberger

Praise the Lloyd

While primarily a benefit for KLRU, our local PBS affiliate, and Austin City Limits, last night’s three-hour concert at ACL Live at the Moody Theater celebrated Austin music master Lloyd Maines. Read More | Comment »

Geezerville 12:47PM Fri. May. 17, Jim Caligiuri

El Valiente

Oh, San Antonio. You were rebuilding your rep for South Texas rock dominance – with corazon – until Pinata Protest crashed the fiesta. Armed with blistering “accordion-powered punk rock,” the quartet debuts its latest, El Valiente on S.A.’s Saustex Records, at Antone’s tonight. It’s a Tex-Mex triumph to redefine the Alamo City. Read More | Comment »

1, 2, Tres, Cuatro 4:20PM Thu. May. 16, Margaret Moser

God Fearing Texans Stop Steven Hotze

Music rarely excuses itself from politics. Partisan beliefs make their way into every style from country to hip-hop, and all the weird, gray places in between. And yet, rarely do politicians actually cross over into creating palatable music for John & Jane Q. Public. Read More | Comment »

La Vie en Rose 1:24PM Thu. May. 16, Abby Johnston

T for Texas, T for Tennessee

The New York Times once wrote that Nashville was like Austin’s cousin had it been raised by a stricter father. It’s a sentiment I regularly revisited as I traversed Music City last weekend. Read More | Comment »

Check Yo' Self 10:07AM Thu. May. 16, Chase Hoffberger

Summer Fun: Sweatin' It Out

July, 2009. I’d lived in Austin nearly two years. That first leg from Spoon’s three-night stand at Stubb’s hit so hard that I had to scalp a ticket to the third night. Read More | Comment »

Check Yo' Self 12:25PM Wed. May. 15, Chase Hoffberger

All Aboard the Grupo Fantasma Mothership

Wondering what the latest incarnation of Grupo Fantasma will look like now that founding guitarist Adrian Quesada has announced he’s left the brassy Latin big band? Aesthetically, at least, you can get your first take on Thursday. Read More | Comment »

Check Yo' Self 3:47PM Tue. May. 14, Chase Hoffberger

Thinking About Stephen Bruton

Margaret Moser’s cancer diagnosis gave me reason to throw what some called one of the best shows this town had ever seen this past Sunday at the Continental Club. It got me thinking about Stephen Bruton. Read More | Comment »

Next Up! 11:47AM Tue. May. 14, William Harries Graham

¡Pachanga Playback!

Riding my bike through East Austin towards Pachanga Fest on Friday, I spotted a teen in her quinceanera dress as soundtracked by Tejano music blaring from cars. The hood south of Cesar Chavez maintains a distinctly Latin feel, and Fiesta Gardens remains one of Austin’s most enchanting destinations. It all came alive Pachanga weekend. Read More | Comment »

Playback 2:00PM Mon. May. 13, Kevin Curtin

The Pachangón Begins!

Our coverage of the Pachanga Latino Music Festival in this week’s paper centers around Saturday’s 21-act bill, but the six-year-old festival offers a veritable feast of ways in which you can get down with this weekend’s fiesta. Read More | Comment »

Check Yo' Self 1:07PM Fri. May. 10, Chase Hoffberger

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