Cory Graves
Fort Worth Gets A Metal Fest, Mystery Skulls Learns Victoria's Secret and Reagan James Is Blue.
The calendar's officially flipped to March, which is better known as SXSW month around these parts. And rightly so, we suppose, because, aside from the handful of local bands heading down to Austin for this year's conference, it also signals the imminence of a handful of spillover events closer to home.
This month alone, 35 Denton will return to Denton after taking 2014 off, Spillover will go down once again in Dallas and South By So What will take over Grand Prairie.
Quickly, we have a couple of notes regarding two of those.
First up, Spillover this week announced The Coathangers as a late addition to its eighth annual throwdown. Also? Spillover artist Mystery Skulls track “Paralyzed” is featured in a new Victoria's Secret ad. Check it out below.
As for next weekend's 35 Denton proceedings: Perhaps not enough has been made of the fact that this year's fest will feature a reunion performance from defunct local outfit Layer Cake. The band's first set since last July will go down Saturday, March 14, at Rubber Gloves as part of the festival. On a similar, but totally unrelated front, Chomsky will play a reunion gig of its own on at Kessler Theater on April 3.
In other fest news, yet another new upstart music festival will be coming to Fort Worth this year. The first-ever Fort Worth Metal Fest will go down at The Rail Club this Memorial Day Weekend (May 22, 23 and 24), and for a first-year fest, the lineup is actually quite solid. Set to appear at the three-day fest are EYEHATEGOD, Warbeast, Goatwhore, Napalm Death and Nuclear Assault, which will be making its final Texas performance ever. Tickets to the fest start at $13 per day or $39 for a three-day pass. For more info, the rest of the lineup or to purchase tickets, head here.
Sticking on the festival tip: The Elm St. Music and Tattoo Festival will return for a third straight year, going down the weekend of November 11 through 15 — a span that, of course, includes a Friday the 13th. While bands playing the fest are TBD, a handful of world-renowned tattooers that'll be showing up for the thing have already been teased.
Then there's this year's Free Press Summer Fest — perhaps the most affordable non-local summer music fest for a Dallasite to attend, mind you — and how it announced its pretty rich lineup. Among the names are a handful of acts with some degree of local ties, including Sarah Jaffe, St. Vincent, Ben Kweller and The Riverboat Gamblers.
Moving on: Local SXSW representative Leon Bridges debuted his first-ever music video via The Fader. Per a write-up on that site, Bridges says the black-and-white clip for his song “Coming Home” is “basically my Instagram come to life — showing vignettes of a real relationship, me being caught up in the busy lane of life, but always longing to be with my loved one.” And though the singularly-named Rambo, the Fort Worth photographer responsible for nearly all the photos on Bridges' Instagram account, didn't direct the clip, she does portray his love interest in it. Watch the video below.
Similarly, Oil Boom recently premiered a new video of its own via the music blog of Los Angeles-based public radio station KCRW. In the clip for the band's 2014 track “Röckenröül,” which you can find below, the band finds itself addicted to cassette tapes like they were a back alley drug. Check it out.
Wrapping up the music video portion of this week's column is Denton's Def Rain, which just released the following clip for “Fear,” a cut from its 2014 self-titled debut LP. The video was directed by veteran North Texas musician and photographer Peter Salisbury. Here's that one.
Moving on: Oak Cliff native Ray Wylie Hubbard will soon release a new album, The Ruffian's Misfortune. Ahead of its release, he talked with Elmore Magazine about the album's first single, “Hey Mama, My Time Ain't Long”, calling the track “a folk rock anthem Jonathan Tyler and I wrote to be performed at the Rapture or Armageddon, whichever comes first … or in a south Texas biker bar during a DEA raid.” The track, it's worth pointing out, will also appear on Tyler's upcoming solo record, Holy Smokes, which is due out this summer.
Then there's Fort Worth “indie psych” outfit Jetta in the Ghost Tree, which premiered the first track from its forthcoming debut LP. That disc will be released via Idol Records in the coming weeks. Stream “Clandestine” below, and get a taste of what ex-Flickerstick frontman Brandin Lea's got up his sleeve these days.
Meanwhile, 16-year-old Reagan James released the first new cut we've heard from her since ending her run on the last season of The Voice. Simply called “Blue,” it's a well-delivered, supremely promising bit of soul pop that further proves she's got far more in her bag than the Blu Cantrell and Lorde covers that made her such a strong competitor on the series. Give it a listen.
Finally, here's a new tune called “Retaliator” from Eternal Champion, an epic, '80s-sounding fantasy metal band from Austin that features members of Power Trip and Iron Age. The full album will officially earn its release later this week via Remorse Records. Here's that one.
Elsewhere: War Party's got a new LP on the horizon called And The Queen Makes Three that's coming soon to cassette via its own Lo-Life Recordings imprint; likewise, Sir Silky announced a forthcoming new EP of his own and subsequently made his 2010 EP available for free download here.
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