Dallas Area Music

June 4, 2000 8:30 PM

Dallas Area Music is of personal interest to me, so I'm not sure if this makes a bad post. It's not my homepage but I'm an active member of the organization. With that cautionary warning, I did read the guidelines over and over and 1) most of you probably haven't seen this, 2) there IS interesting content, and 3) I'd like to hear discussion from others.. [more]
posted by ZachsMind (2 comments total)

And before I continue, please don't accept the stereotype of Dallas being some place where they raise horses and cattle. I'm not talking country music alone, though that's also here in abundance. There's a wild resurgence of hard rock and other genres as well, and even some groups which defy description.

I'd like to hear discussion not just of Dallas Area Music but the music in your neck of the woods, and if there's better places on the Web to find out about independent or small label bands. I start this post with Dallas cuz that's where I live and that's what I know, but if you're into the local scene in your area please log a few links in here below.

I know about MP3c, Riffage, and others but to be honest I'm looking for something more, well..

John Perry Barlow talks about a musician business and even a possible audience business which somehow will eventually supercede the established recording industry as it stands today. Maybe it will just change it a little bit, or a lot, or it may even make the middleman extinct.

And how does that happen? Will it? What do you think? And more importantly, what local bands do you listen to, in your neck of the woods? Perhaps the fact we can link directly to websites of cool bands.. maybe that alone helps to curb out the middleman?

I don't think I can link directly to my own place in here. That's kinda 'self-advertising' and it's not like I care about my personal hit count at my site, but it's frowned upon in the guidelines. However I recently made a list in there of really cool bands that I think others would dig. I guess I could list some of those on that list in here, to give you an idea what I'm talking about.

The Touch is a great band here in Texas that I go out and see whenever I can. Great performance. Kinda downndirty, no nonsense. They put everything into the craft of weaving sound you can feel into the air. The basic set up of drums, bass and lead guitar. A little dark and heavy, with thought provoking lyrics and well crafted songwriting. I listen to their CD a lot in the car.

Jevette, Kristy Kruger, GingerMack, Annagrey,
Stephani Fine, Leora Salo and Annie Benjamin are just a few examples of the explosion of talent in Texas from women performing various acoustic one-person shows, or in some cases they have transient bands or friends who step in to help them through a song or two on stage now and then. Jevette puts on some amazing Diva Showcases where she tries to get as many Texas female artists on the same stage in the same night. Really exciting. The genres range from folk to country to pop to jazz. Kruger can even rap which is pretty wild to experience live.

If you prefer a harsher sound, Pinkston sets the stage on fire when they crank up. Tarrytown hails from Denton and they also know how to put on a good loud show with some dissonance and surprises. Gropius is a thick soundscape that combines the standard percussion of a rock band with the surreal sound of violins and a lead vocalist who reminds me of Siouxsie and the banshees. There's some gothic influence in their sound, but they seem to attract not only college kids but also people their parents' age. It's kinda like going to a classical orchestra that's been given strong drugs. And seeing girls in leather corsets is an added bonus.

So that's a taste of Dallas. There's so much more but I doubt you read this far.

How do things sound in the bars and club venues down your street?
posted by ZachsMind at 8:59 PM on June 4, 2000

They moved it on me. Dallas Area Music is now over here with its own domain name and everthin. Not that it matters. I guess local music just doesn't interest people around here. I mean I know wherever you are you probably don't care about Dallas music unless you're in Dallas, but I was just curious what other people's local scenes looked and sounded like.
posted by ZachsMind at 6:12 AM on June 7, 2000