Cory GravesThis Week, Stevie Ray Vaughan Was Dallas' Pride And Joy.
Each week, we take a survey of the local music scene and try to determine which acts in town are really putting in work and seeing it pay off. Which bands have the most intriguing shows coming up? Which bands are getting the most press around town? Which bands have accomplished the most notable feats of late? Based off these criteria, our music writers submit a list to be weighted and compiled into a master list revealed each week in this here space. We like to think it's fairly revealing. Check out our previous Buzz Rankings here.
This Saturday, Oak Cliff-raised Texas blues legend Stevie Ray Vaughan will officially be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The recognition is a longtime coming for the much-lauded noodler, who passed away 25 years ago. At this weekend's star-studded induction ceremony, modern-day ax-slingers John Mayer and Gary Clark Jr. will pay homage to Vaughan, noodling along to his most famous bits of noodlery.
We also learned this week that Dallas may soon honor Vaughan, too, if and when it decides to build a memorial statue in his honor.
So, yeah, it's been a pretty big week for good ol' SRV. It's been enough, at least, to also earn him his first-ever trip to the top of our weekly, local music power rankings. Almost as good as that HoF nod, we'd say!
Long-dead bluesmen aside, sexism in the rock community was about the most talked-about issue in town this week. And on that front, it was Lower Dens mastermind Jana Hunter that penned the definitive piece on the subject for Cosmopolitan.
Other talked-about issues revolved around how city officials might help further the Dallas music scene. To that end, Sarah Jaffe, John Congleton, Play-N-Skillz and Bobby Patterson joined mayor Mike Rawlings on a discussion panel earlier this week to help tackle some of these issues, though we're still not sure what, if anything, was actually learned at that thing.
On the release front, new and/or recent albums helped earn Doug Burr, Jake Paleshic, The O's, Valise, Grades of Absolute Truth and Toy Gun earn their respective spots in this week's rankings. And, at the opposite end of that spectrum, breakup shows helped Vexed UK and Terminator 2 land their votes.
Elsewhere: Leon Bridges headlined last weekend's Art Ball; Ben Kweller's in town for a homecoming show, of sorts; Parallel Play helped put this weekend's Big Folkin' Fest together; and most everybody else is either playing Big Folkin' Fest and/or Record Store Day shindigs.
(Also receiving votes this week: Blank-Men, Bryan Simpson, Enertia McFly, Troy Cartwright, Moth Face, Vincent Neil Emerson, Old 97's, Goodnight Ned, The Whistles & The Bells, Bad Mountain, Wesley Geiger, Hares on the Mountain, Terminator 2, Eli Young Band, Ronnie Heart, Sad Cops, War Party, Vandoliers, The Hendersons, Sudie, Chucho, Jonas Martin, The Demigs, Shadows of Jets, Mga-Czar, Tunk, Buffalo Black, The Roomsounds, Salim Nourallah, Pageantry, Terrance Spectacle, Natural Anthem, Whiskey Folk Ramblers, iill, Kaela Sinclair.)
