Cory Graves
Leon Bridges Streams His Debut, Summer Cut Is As White As Ever and Deep Blue Something Still Exists.
Hope you're not sick of hearing about Leon Bridges yet, because a week out from the release of his major label debut, he's absolutely everywhere right now.
For one thing, that forthcoming full-length is currently streaming in full over at NPR, which is pretty exciting, even if a majority of the songs included have already been out there for consumption already in some form or another. Still, there's probably at least a few gems on there that you'll likely have never heard/haven't been beaten into the ground yet.
That's not to say tracks like “Coming Home” weren't totally stellar the first few thousand spins, but those listens, intentional or otherwise, just keep on coming these days — and now via an iPhone 6 ad, which you can watch below.
Adding to the hubbub is also yesterday's announcement that Bridges will headline Dallas' Majestic Theatre on November 14 in what's sure to be his most high-profile local gig to date. That news will probably make quite a few folks rather happy — namely the ones that didn't manage to score tickets to any of the crooner's three intimate local gigs this week. Thursday's Barefoot at the Belmont turn, we hear, sold out in a matter of seconds, and secondhand tickets to his two Scat Jazz Lounge shows this weekend are now going for several hundred dollars on sites like StubHub.
Another hot ticket announced yesterday is KXT 91.7-FM's fourth annual Summer Cut festival which, this year, will go down Saturday, August 29, at South Side Ballroom. The move away from Gexa Energy Pavilion where the event was held its first three years, though, is about the only real change for the so called “Happy Funtime” fest. Scottish outfit Belle and Sebastian, who haven't been through town in something like a decade, are a good get for the fest, we concede, but the lineup as a whole — much like the station's playlist — remains as tragically white as ever. Other pale acts announced thus far include the local and semi-local contingent of Sarah Jaffe, Israel Nash, Doug Burr, Repel the Robot, Jessie Frye, Calhoun and Catamaran.
Speaking of locally-focused radio stations: Fort Worth's would-be upstart hyper-local, low-powered radio station The Pirate has recently received its FCC approval. Meaning? All they've got to do now is raise a few thousand bucks to acquire a transmitter and really get the thing rolling. Last week, they launched a crowd-funding campaign to help do just that.
Moving on, we've received tons of new local releases that, who knows, you might just hear on one of those two aforementioned stations in the coming months. Take, for instance, the new summer jam from Delta Maze, which is making its premiere right here.
“Sweet Summertime,” which will officially earn its release at a single/video launch party this Saturday, June 20, at Crown and Harp, also features rap-rocker Mod Sun and will have little trouble transporting you back to the Corona and lime-filled summer of 2001. As for the rest of Delta Maze's debut, the Forever Manana EP? It'll earn its release on Friday, August 21, with a party of its own at the Cambridge Room. For now, check out “Sweet Summertime” below.
Less poppy is the new one from Denton lo-fi indie rock act Blessin', which released its Go EP this week and can be checked out below. Along with Dripping Wet's new EP, which we featured in this space last week, these albums make up the two sides of a new split cassette released earlier today via Dallas Distortion Music. You can order that here for $7.
Also new? A cut from Dallas emcee Curtis Mayz, whose “BYOB” single stands for “Bring Your Own Bullshit.” Says Mayz about meaning behind the track: “We all get to a point where life makes us wanna do some crazy shit just to get to a better place, whether it be mentally, emotionally, financially, whatever. And that's where I'm at with it right now. 'BYOB' is my escape route from that impulse.”
Meanwhile, over in the Fort, the brand new “sloppy, poppy” outfit ill smiths has been causing quite the stir since dropping a couple of new demos over the weekend. The band features a few familiar faces, like Elijah Wichryk, Jordan Kline, Chelsey Daulton and Rene Floyd. Check it out.
Then there's The Outfit, TX, which continues to hype its follow-up to 2013's Cognac/Four Corner Room double-LP with the freshly-dropped stripper anthem “Big Daddy.” It's the third track from the upcoming album we've featured in this column in recent weeks.
From the other side of the spectrum comes the latest single from sometimes Ronnie Fauss sideman Chris J Norwood. Featuring his wife Carrie, the new duet “How Am I Gonna Be Your Rock” is a heart-wrenching true story that details the aftermath of a miscarriage the couple experienced a year-and-a-half ago. Norwood also points out that Garth Brooks pedal steel player Steve McClure also appears on the track. Grab a tissue and check it out below.
Slightly more upbeat is the latest single from one of our favorite, budding young country artists, Fort Worth's Vincent Neil Emerson. Ahead of his full band debut, East Texas Blues, which is due out July 11, you can peep his new “7 Come 11” video below.
Sticking on the video front, the long-dormant Deep Blue Something has also got a new LP due out in July, as well as a summer tour on the books. Here's the comeback video for the band's new “All Make Believe Off” single. Check it out below. Who knows? You might kinda like it.
Finally, we'll leave you with a few quick-hitters:
• After 34 years with the venue, Billy Bob's entertainment director Robert Gallagher will begin transitioning out of the role and towards retirement. He's been with the club, in one capacity or another, since it opened its doors in 1981.
• The quiet-for-some-time-now These Machines Are Winning are gearing up for a strong return in late July/August, says the band's Dylan Silvers. In the downtime, he says, the band's recorded three new albums, two of which will be released at the same time in the coming months, and one of which will feature an unreleased song from True Widow.
• Also, the ever-prolific John Dufilho's got yet another new project in the works. This one's a neo-psych/baroque pop collaboration with Brandon Carr of The Earlies. Hear what they've been up to here.
• Lastly, Dandy Warhols frontman Courtney Taylor-Taylor is currently working on an album of remixes of The Orange's Sharing Vitamins album, which will be available to stream/download later this summer.
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