Cory Graves
Next Year, Conan O’Brien’s Cutting Live Music From His TV Show. Here’s a List of Every North Texas-Tied Act That Has Been One Of His Musical Guests.
Between his three late-night talk shows, Conan O’Brien has racked up 25 years behind his big wooden desk. In that time, he’s invited countless musicians to perform on his program, from the No Doubts of the world making their very first televised appearances to the Bruce Springsteens looking to skew their demographic a tad younger.
He’s also given that nod to some 50 acts (give or take) with North Texas ties — and some more than once. Lisa Loeb, for instance, has been on the show a whopping five times, first appearing on the old Late Show in 1996 and as recently as this past September on Conan. Just behind her are Ben Kweller (four) and Rhett Miller (four; three with the Old 97’s and one solo), with Norah Jones and Pentatonix each having three appearances apiece. The list of North Texas-tied bands with two O’Brien-hosted late-night performances under their belts includes Tripping Daisy, Jack Ingram, Jimmie Vaughan, Elliot Smith and, as of last night, White Denim.
Come 2019, though, Conan’s ditching the music portion of his show in a move that’ll also see his format drop from an hour to 30 minutes.
Why do we bring this up? Because it’s entirely possible that last night’s White Denim performance might be the last time any music act with local ties appears on the show.
To mark the end of that era, we’ve gone back and attempted to catalog every time a local (or semi-local as it were) popped up on one of Conan’s shows.
1994
July 7: Tripping Daisy – “On The Ground.”
July 22: Jackopierce – “Late Shift.”
October 7: Jimmie Vaughan – “Don’t Cha Know.”
1995
July 31: Ronnie Dawson — “Monkey Beat City.”
September 8: Tripping Daisy – “Piranha.”
September 13: The Skastafarians — “Teenage Ghoul.”
September 29: Deep Blue Something – “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.”
1996
February 20: Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories – “Taffy.”
1997
January 10: Reverend Horton Heat — “Big Red Rocket of Love.”
1998
February 11: Salt-N-Pepa – “Gitty Up.”
March 4: Elliot Smith – “Miss Misery.”
May 6: Lisa Loeb & Dweezil Zappa – “Let’s Forget About It.“
July 7: Jimmie Vaughan – “Like a King.”
August 27: Dixie Chicks – “Wide Open Spaces.”
1999
May 11: Old 97’s – “Murder or a Heart Attack.”
2000
January 28: Jack Ingram – “Mustang Burn.”
April 21: Elliot Smith – “Son of Sam.”
2001
April 3: Old 97’s – “King of All the World.”
2002
March 15: The Reverend Horton Heat — “Galaxy 500.”
April 18: Ben Kweller – “Wasted and Ready.”
November 15: Rhett Miller – “Come Around.”
2003
November 5: The Polyphonic Spree – “Light and Day.”
2004
March 9: Norah Jones – “In the Morning.”
April 14: Ben Kweller – “The Rules.”
2006
April 25: Secret Machines – “Lightning Blue Eyes.”
September 21: Ben Kweller – “Sundress.”
2007
August 30: Eisley – “Invasion.”
2008
January 18: Lisa Loeb – “Snow Day.”
June 12: Forever the Sickest Kids – “Woah Oh! (Me vs Everyone).”
June 20: Alejandro Escovedo – “Chelsea Hotel ’78.”
2009
July 17: Demi Lovato – “Here We Go Again.”
August 14: Jack Ingram – “Barefoot and Crazy.”
December 15: Norah Jones – “Chasing Pirates.”
2012
January 16: St. Vincent – “Cheerleader.”
April 25: Ben Kweller – “Mean to Me.”
August 6: Norah Jones – “Miriam.”
2013
February 19: Lisa Loeb & Chad Gilbert – “No Fairy Tale.”
August 6: Steve Martin & Edie Brickell – “When You Get to Asheville.”
December 10: Pentatonix – “Hey Mama” / “Hit the Road Jack.”
2014
February 6: White Denim – “A Night in Dreams.”
April 2: Eli Young Band – “Dust.”
October 20: Pentatonix – “On My Way Home.”
2015
June 23: Ray Wylie Hubbard – “Stone Blind Horses.”
August 5: Leon Bridges – “Coming Home.”
2016
March 2: Parquet Courts – “Berlin Got Blurry.”
May 2: Pentatonix – “If I Ever Fall in Love.”
October 5: ZZ Top – “Sixteen Tons.”
2017
January 26: Cody Jinks – “I’m Not the Devil.”
March 14: Old 97’s – “Good With God.”
April 26: Nikki Lane w/ Jonathan Tyler – “Jackpot.”
September 28: Lisa Loeb – “Lullaby Girl.”
2018
August 23: White Denim – “It Might Get Dark.”