You’ve made it to Monday! If the weekend wasn’t reward enough for all you music lovers out there, here’s a freshly baked batch of local music news and major concert announcements to make the impending week easier to handle.
On the heels of releasing Panic Attack, its excellent sophomore album, Dallas garage-rock crew Clifffs, led by John Dufilho released a video for the crunchy, catchy “Manatee.” Starring Dufilho’s nephews, the black and white clip got the fancy premiere treatment over on The Big Takeover.
And speaking of high-profile premieres, recent weeks have welcomed Rolling Stone touting new efforts from some of this area’s greatest country talents. Joshua Ray Walker, a stellar singer-songwriter who also plays guitar for previous RS subjects Ottoman Turks, has a new video we should all be familiar with. Writer Joseph Hudak describes Walker’s “Voices” as a “gut punch of a ballad,” and we certainly agree. The crazy clip accompanying the song was directed by local filmmaker Josh David Jordan and is just as much fun to watch as the song is to listen to.
Looking for some insightfully written, perfectly played Americana? Us too! Jacob Furr has been one of the better folk-rock writers in North Texas for a while now, and his entire catalog is worthy of close inspection, but we’re especially excited for his upcoming EP, Return. Out on March 13, you can hear the urgent, blazing title track now.
Don’t wait too long to plan ahead for the Thin Line Festival in Denton. From March 25-29, you can catch documentary screenings for free, not to mention a few great live concerts as well. A music doc you must not miss is When It Breaks, which centers around musician Konrad Wert, better known as otherworldly one-man-band Possessed By Paul James, and his life as a touring musician who also works as a special education school teacher.
Before you lock up all of your weekend plans, there are plenty of great live concerts to think about hitting, close to home:
- In Plano, Love and War in Texas has yet another fine one-two punch of concert fun with Texas legend Marcia Ball on Friday night and young gun Chris Colston on Saturday night.
- Soulful outfit Prophets & Outlaws take the Hank’s Texas Grill stage on Friday, followed by another soulful dude, Zac Wilkerson on Saturday night.
- Lava Cantina is ready for you weekend warriors with Dallas’ favorite party band Emerald City on Friday and our best AC/DC cover band, Back in Black on Saturday night.
- Sunny Sweeney will bring her mix of heartfelt writing, outlaw swagger and Texas twang to the MCL Grand Theatre in Lewisville on Saturday night.
And while you have your calendars out, go ahead and make a mark on a few of these following dates from this week’s concert announcements.
Two of the biggest stars of the late ‘90s Latin Explosion will tour together, bringing Ricky Martin and Enrique Iglesias to the American Airlines Center on Sunday, Sept. 13.
For the first time in nearly 20 years, legendary English band The Hollies will storm the states, coming to the Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory on Wednesday, July 15. Don’t forget, Radiohead ripped off the melody of The Hollies biggest hit, “The Air That I Breathe” in their alt-rock radio staple “Creep”.
On Thursday, Aug. 6, one of the best of the current crop of southern rockers, Blackberry Smoke from Georgia, bring their Spirit of the South tour to the Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory.
It’s not the biggest announcement of the week, but it’s as cool and interesting of a show as any other on this list, regardless. On Thursday, May 7, critically acclaimed singer-songwriter Damien Jurado will perform at The Wild Detectives, the coolest bookstore-coffee house-bar Dallas has.
