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Art&Seek, my favorite place to be…just launched an absolutely fabulous new site just in time for their 2-year anniversary. Alan Melson deserves the medal of A&S….Check it out every single day.

Two of my favorite humans doing what they do bestest…

The fabulous Belmont Hotel in Oak Cliff is host to the equally fabby KXT 91.7, “Barefoot at the Belmont” concert series. The Belmont continues its traditional poolside concert series featuring some of the best bands and musicians from North Texas, along with a breathtaking back-drop of the downtown Dallas skyline…reserve a room, wine, dine and take a dip in the Belmont pool…all the while experiencing the whole BFatB/KXT magnificence…you’ll thank me in the morning….prolly twice….

I gushed awhile back about the greatness that is Ryan Scheer and Lucky Rabbit Films. I fell in love with the whole bunch after watching (and watching and watching over and over again) their brilliant short film on Deadman.

I just found another great video (above) that Ryan and crew have done…a PSA..for the Austin-based SIMS Foundation…

The SIMS Foundation’s Mission is to provide access to and financial support for mental health and addiction recovery services for Austin-area musicians and their families. SIMS was founded in 1995 by the friends and family of Sims Ellison, a talented young Austin musician, after his battle with depression ended in suicide.

Austin is hailed as “The Live Music Capitol of the World” for good reason. With over 200 live music venues and internationally recognized music festivals such as SXSW and ACL, thousands of musicians make this city their home. Unfortunately, with the rising cost of living and increasing competition for jobs in the music business, many musicians find themselves struggling financially and emotionally.

Irregular hours, travel schedules, financial insecurity and proximity to alcohol and drugs can take their toll on musicians and their families, sometimes resulting in depression, anxiety, relationship problems, and alcohol and drug abuse. Professional musicians are often uninsured or underinsured and cannot always pay out of pocket for expensive counseling and addiction treatment. That’s why SIMS is here to help. SIMS serves more than 600 clients annually and provides over 5,000 units of service (defined as one counseling session or one day in recovery).

Leave it to Austin to provide such a wonderful organization directed towards musicians in need with little or no insurance.

Keep an eye on Lucky Rabbit Films. Every dang thing outta there is fabby, quite fabby.

Anna Thomas, Anna Thomas, Anna Thomas….that’s the name you need to know. She just turned 14, but possesses and old soul and an uncanny ability to write and perfom her music flawlessly.

Here are a couple of videos she’s put together. Check out my studio tour with Anna and her bandmate, Matt Gaskins over at Art&Seek.

Just another reason I freakin’ love my job…I get to hang wit’ people like Allan Hayslip. This dude is the real deal…I love him. He shall be mine….

Catch Allan and his rockin’ band, Bonedome at the Kessler Theater on April 8.

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/

This was my b-roll camera…didn’t mess with focus, just wanted extra sound. In fact, I just sat the camera down on the table and let it roll…just goes to show ya that even sitting on a table is a good seat at the the Kessler Theater!

Hands-down, Rawlins Gilliland is among my top favorite writers and commentators. I fell in love with him during KERA pledge drives, his voice and sense of humor made me want to pledge my first born. Please take a moment out of your busy day to listen to his latest contribution to KERA…you’ll thank me in the morning.

James Bland had a history of Dallas music photographs hung throughout the theater. DJ Mr. Rid aka Mark Ridlen was spinnin’ vinyl GREATNESS in the lobby bar…speaking of which, the joint was absolutely GORGEOUS!

Jason Carney put on one helluva slam poetry performance…you coulda heard a pin drop. Josh Alan Friedman was quite the star of the evening with a line to purchase his latest book, Black Cracker and a standing ovation for his perfect musical performance on stage.

I hit the road back to Richardson before Mark Growden performed, but Liles didn’t miss a beat with his trusty video camera.

Make plans to hit the Kessler Theater very soon and very often. It’s quite fabby.

Ed. Note: The above video was shot and edited for KERA’s Art&Seek.

…this is now!

Bonus cut…

It’s time…

Saturday, March 20
Doors at 6 p.m.
The Opening of the Kessler Theater
Featuring: DJ Mr. Rid (spinning) – Josh Alan Friedman’s Book signing Black Cracker – “A Photographic History of Music in Dallas” by wicked-awesome photographer James Bland – Performances by Mark Growden – Slam Poet Jason Carney – Josh Alan Friedman
Cost: It’s on the house, just bring booze money
Full bar

A couple of weeks back, Salim Nourallah invited me into his Pleasantry Lane Recording Studio for an “artist’s studio tour” for KERA’s Art&Seek. It was nearly 5-years ago that I did the same for Pegasus News. The studio has changed dramatically since then.

I was asked to obtain a copy of the Nourallah Brothers self-titled album, which will go into rotation on Gini Mascorro’s Texas Mix on 91.7 KXT…I uploaded the entire CD and its bonus CD to my laptop prior to handing it over to KXT. I’ve been listening all day and it’s really made me melancholy and wishful that the Nourallah brothers would put their differences aside and come back together to make another record. I think it could be quite brilliant and full of quirky and perhaps dramatic stories about the making of it.

Anyway, the above video was shot and produced by my dear friend Alex Kanakis. I was actually invited to sit in on the planning meeting for the video, but Alex took the ball and ran with it, and a lovely, thoughtful and wonderful video resulted.

Below is the latest studio tour I filmed for KERA/Art&Seek.

I dearly love Salim and his family. In fact, I’d say he’s in the top five of my top five favorite humans on earth. He’s also one of my very very very favorite singer-songwriters.

There’s a very cool intimate concert series that takes place at the Studio by the Lake. Salim will perform on April 3rd, alongside other local greats, Trey Johnson and Ronnie Fauss. It’s a not-to-miss-er…so don’t miss it.

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