Cory Graves
Erykah Badu Will Jam On Thanksgiving Eve and Public Enemy Joins The Deep Ellum Block Party Ranks.
Every Wednesday for damn near a decade now, R.C. Williams and The Gritz has held a weekly jam session at The Prophet Bar.
And every Wednesday since launching our listings page over a year ago, now, we've included a blurb hinting that one of the big reasons for checking out this long-running weekly is the fact that you never know who might show up.
The implication there, of course, is that Erykah Badu, who has long had ties with Williams, her live band music director, may be there. And, to be fair, Ms. Badu does drop by unannounced to the Jam at least a couple times of year.
This Thanksgiving Eve, though, and in conjunction with the Jam's eighth anniversary party, Williams and Co. are taking all the guesswork out of it. That is to say, on Wednesday, November 26, Erykah will most definitely be at The Prophet Bar's Jam Session, where she'll perform along with The Gritz and DJ Jay Clipp. Early bird tickets are currently on sale here for $35.
Here's something else to look forward to: This week, the still-very-much-under-construction Deep Ellum venue The Bomb Factory announced a couple more shows its owners have already got lined up for next spring. Aside from that April 17 Sixx:A.M show we mentioned a few weeks back, they've now also added a May 3 show from '80s industrial metal legends Ministry and a May 5 offering from Finnish metal outfit Nightwish to the books. Tickets to the latter are currently on sale here, and tickets to the former go on sale this Saturday, November 8.
Another big announcement came late last week, when the inaugural Deep Ellum Block Party published its second crop of confirms. The bigger names from the announce include Public Enemy and Diarrhea Planet, who will join What Made Milwaukee Famous, Astronautalis, three cover bands, a few dozen local acts and a handful of Austin bands that are on the bill thus far. While that lot may or may not compel you to throw down $100 for a three-day pass to the April 2015 fest, organizers have promised there'll be “hundreds more” bands they've yet to announce, including “most of the larger touring bands and headliners.” Well, that's one way to do it, we suppose. Tickets to that one are currently on sale here .
Meanwhile, on The Voice, two more North Texans took their turns in the series' Battle Rounds segment of the show last night. While Mesquite-native Craig Wayne Boyd's rendition of Marshall Tucker Band's “Can't You See” didn't get the nod from his coach Gwen Stefani, he was subsequently stolen for the second time by his old coach Blake Shelton.
Then there was 15-year-old Burleson resident and fellow Team Blake competitor Reagan James, who kept things even more North Texas-y with her choice to sing Blu Cantrell's “Hit 'Em Up Style (Oops),” a song that not only mentions the Dallas-based Neiman Marcus, but was written by a guy named Dallas. Check it out.
With James' victory last night, that makes four North Texans among the 20 competitors in the show's final live rounds. That's 20 percent, you guys!
Other North Texans in the national spotlight this week include the members of Bedhead, whose five-LP reissues box set earns its release a week from today. Until then, the entire set can be found streaming via NPR's First Listen page.
There's plenty more new music to check out, though. And you can find it right here, without even leaving this page!
For instance, there's The Paychecks, which dropped its long-awaited debut on Halloween. After dropping the banjos, these four onetime members of 100 Damned Guns have been kicking around in this much-twangier version of its past self for three years or so now without a studio LP to its name. So this one is a long time coming. And what's especially interesting about the band's Honky Tonk Suicide debut is the fact that it was recorded by Mind Spiders main man Mark Ryan at his Cool Devices Studio. It's a welcome departure for the noted garage and punk rock producer, who flexed his muscle presiding over a disc that sounds every bit as convincingly old-school as current leader in that clubhouse, Sturgill Simpson. Check it out.
Also, here's your first taste of Young Ejecta's new mini-LP, The Planet, which earn its release January 27. The album's first single, which you can stream below, will no doubt sound familiar to those who were at this year's Gorilla vs Bear IV, where the duo previewed much of its new material.
And here's a brand new Denton band that should start making a blip on your radar: Young little d trio Sexual Jeremy, which also released its new one on Halloween. Check out the lead single, “Clown,” which features much of the same noisy guitars, bratty lyrics and complex rhythms of their brethren in Bukkake Moms.
The above track also features some of the same brand of aggressive, angular guitars that one might find in an old Paper Chase record. Which reminds us: Semi-reclusive producer John Congleton will make a rare live performance later this month while opening for Sarah Jaffe at Dan's Silverleaf on Sunday, November 23. Tickets to that one, which will most definitely sell out, are currently on sale here for just $15. Better snatch them up quick.
Finally this week, we can share the news that the Frisco-based NAMS music school has recently added a recording studio and record label arm to its facility called Noise Umbrella. The first project from the studio comes from 18-year-old student Anna Robyn Thomas, whose debut single “Going Down” was released October 14. You can find the promising indie-pop ditty below, and catch Thomas performing at a Noise Umbrella showcase at City Tavern on Saturday, November 15.
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