One of the best times of my life, start to finish. I shot. He talked. “We” (meaning mostly he) edited. Janik=Genius on so many levels.

Celebrate the moments of your life with a hot cup of International Brand Coffee? Fergetabout it. Do the international thang live and in person with some of the bestest bands coming out of China and good ol’ Poland. My pal, Dave Dart, founder of Dart International, hipped me to some wicked awesome shows a’comin’ our way…

L.Stadt – “Great pop songs. Hang on a second! – Is this actually Pop? But what is the definition of Pop? If it’s melodic music which is easy on the ear, presented in an accessible, short format – then it can be described as Pop… Intentionally rough around the edges, reminiscent of a demo CD sound. Hats off to the band for this decision. On the L.Stadt album every song sounds different.”
- Debut album review, Don’t Panic We Are From Poland

Tonight, March 26
Fred’s Cafe in Fort Worth
Early show and Special Acoustic Set – 5 p.m.

Saturday, March 27
The Moon Bar in Fort Worth
9 p.m.

The Chinese Invasion Tour is gonna be off-da-hookity!

Sunday, March 28
The Double Wide
The line-up is below, just add in a little DJ Woodtronic and Wanz Dover to round out the evening’s festivities. Click here for more details, including how to score free tickets.

Wednesday, March 31
Hailey’s in Denton

Carsick Cars
“Sonic Youth and the Clean both released worthy albums this year, but these three Beijing kids in their early 20s took those bands’ classic guitar-drone sounds and made it pulse with the excitement of discovery.”
- David Malitz, “Lists: David Malitz’s top ten albums of 2009″, The Washington Post
From: Beijing, China
Genre: No Wave, Indie Rock
Touchstones: Sonic Youth, Jesus and Mary Chain, Suicide, Velvet Underground

P.K.14
“P.K. 14′s thrashing chords, dark bass lines and frenetic beats resonate with echoes of Sonic Youth, the Pixies, Fugazi and the New York Dolls. But the Beijing band’s charismatic vocalist, Yang Haisong, 34, says he takes his lead from songwriters such as Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs and a whole generation of protest musicians. Think of P.K. 14, in other words, as neither punk nor postpunk but postfolk.”
- Lara Day, “Asia’s Best Bands”, Time Magazine
From: Beijing, China
Genre: Chinese Rock, Post-Punk
Touchstones: Talking Heads, Television, Woodie Guthrie

AV Okubo
“Hong Kong experimental cinema, 80′s Kungfu movies, triad gangsters, Chinese and Japanese cartoons, Qian Xuesen and China’s early space program all collide together in AV Okubo’s sound to create a weird kaleidoscope of modern Chinese sensibilities.” AV Okubo’s debut album is produced by Martin Atkins.
- Maybe Mars
From: Beijing, China
Genre: New wave, experimental noise, disco punk
Touchstones: Ratatat, Battles, These Are Powers, Orange
Home page: http://maybemars.org/index.php/artists/av-okubo/

I’d kill to be able to shoot and edit like the folks at Lucky Rabbit Films. Hell, I’ll probably ask them if I can be their eldest intern (in the history of film) when I move to Austin in the coming years.

So, working on the calendar today, I noted that Deadman (one of my favorite bands EVER) are playing the Doublewide on Saturday night. While I’m spoken for the AllGood show with Dougie Burr and The Fox and the Bird, I’ll just have to cut out early to go see my beloved Steve Collins and band.

The above video is a 2-year old project that captures the band perfectly. It’s a gorgeous piece, rich with great videography and the perfect sounds of Deadman’s music.

Saturday, January 16th
AllGood Cafe: Doug Burr w/The Fox and the Bird
The Doublewide: Deadman

LaGrange: the opening night musical wrap up. Music courtesy of Slick 57

If you are lookin’ for me, I’m over here…

Lessee…full bar’n'music‘n’really wicked awesome artists with wares fer sale…I know where I’ll be on Saturday…

Trailblazin’ the Craft Scene Since 2007
Etsy Dallas, the original Dallas team and the first city team in Texas, is a cooperative craft collective of artists and designers living and working in Dallas who sell their wares on Etsy, the web’s premiere marketplace for all things hip and handmade. Etsy Dallas boasts talent from a range of mediums and crafts, and is independently run by its members with the blessing and loving support of Etsy.

Because of the determination of the original members, Etsy Dallas has become a force in the handmade movement, both locally and beyond. In the wake of Etsy Dallas’ inception in 2007, other Texas teams have formed including Etsy Austin, Alamo City Etsy, Etsy Fort Worth, Northeast Texas Etsy, Artisans of Houston and North Dallas Etsy. Two years later, Etsy Dallas continues to be the model as a leader in the art/craft scene.

Mission
This mission of Etsy Dallas is to promote the handmade movement, and to create an environment to buy and sell handmade goods in the Greater Dallas area.

Goals
~To promote each others’ goods by selling locally in the Greater Dallas area.
~To promote awareness of the handmade movement and indie lifestyle, with a focus on our Etsy shops.
~To act as a cooperative resource and support network for each others’ businesses.

History
Etsy Dallas was founded in September of 2007 by Stephanie Hindall of Tefi Designs and a handful of others (including co-leader Pamela Michelle) eager to spread the handmade movement across the metroplex. Today we are doing just that with two local craft shows that have garnered city-wide support and national credibility (learn more about the Bash HERE). Etsy Dallas has transformed itself over the years into a tight-knit collaborative group that supports each other’s handmade endeavors with love and good times.

Friday, November 13
Sons of Hermann
Experience a night of music and festivities in the name of looking deeper to fight lung cancer!
$30

7 p.m. – Doors Open/Silent Auction Begins
8 p.m. – Shoot Low Sheriff
9 p.m. – Dertybird
10 p.m. – Salim Nourallah

Look Deeper concert is being put on to raise money for the National Lung Cancer Partnership. The National Lung Cancer Partnership raises money for Lung Cancer research.

HOME? from Willie Baronet on Vimeo.

Willie Baronet and Hal Samples

Reid Robinson

Cash Samples

Sergio Garcia

Dylan Hollingsworth

Frank Campagna

Greg Metz

Mark Roberts

Richard Ross

Angus Wynne

Sarah Jane Semrad

Anne Bothwell

Mr. and Mini Crain

Randee Prez

Last night was quite pleasant. Kettle Art Gallery had an exquisite li’l shindig….above is a snippet of my gallery-going pleasure. Click here for more more more…

A few weeks back, like a bajillion artists submitted work to Frank Campagna over at Kettle Art Gallery. Frank, then, invited some of our local art aficionados and in-the-knows over to the gallery to whittle the submissions down to a mere 55. No easy task, I can assure you. Tonight these 55 works of art will be unveiled and you, my darlings, are invited.

Whassup:
Friday, November 6th
Kettle Art Gallery
The Judges:
Anne Bothwell – Director, KERA’s Art & Seek
Jason Janik – Photographer
Sarah Jane Semrad – Executive Director, La Reunion TX and President, Art Conspiracy
Lucia Simek – co-founder of Dallas’ arts and culture blog, Renegade Bus
Charles Dee Mitchell -Art Critic
The Artists:
Willhelmina Adams, David Alpuche, Sabrina Ashee, Julianne Agular,
Nathan Beach, Jonathan Brooks, Shari Caldwell, Rita Childress, Dan Colcer, Lauren Darrouzet, Oscar Duran,
Jonathan Fontenot, Essie P. Graham, Charles A. Gray, Violeta Gutierrez, Luke Harnden, Michael Haskins, Nary Huval, James Emory Bridges (Jimbeau), Jenice Johnson, Veronique Jonas, Natalia V. Jones, Jeff Kiec, Joseph Lambert, Ray LeBoeuf, Levi Leddy, Tom Leininger, Frank Lopez, Jeane McIntosh, William Messimer, Edward Montes, Carolyn Nelson, Jalon Nichols, Richard Patterson, Ramona and Dennis Placke, Rob Polivka, Pat Ramseur, Guy Reynolds, David Rodriquez, Clint Scism, Tyler Sharp, Diane Sikes, Cara Michelle Smith, Tammy Tholen, Andrew Tolentino, Susana Vasquez and Ross von Rosenberg
7 p.m. – Free