Cory Graves
Remembering Dimebag, Counting North Texas' Grammy Noms and Watching Sarah Jaffe Join Weezer.
It's been well-covered by now, but we'd be remiss not to mention the fact that yesterday was not only the 34th anniversary of John Lennon's murder, but the tenth anniversary of the tragic evening when Pantera guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott was brutally gunned down onstage while performing with his then-new band, Damageplan.
Even in a region that's produced some of the world's greatest guitarists (read: Stevie Ray Vaughan, T-Bone Walker, Freddie King, Mike Scaccia and so on), Dimebag was so clearly one of the best. The metal legend was just taken far too soon.
During a recent episode of wrestler/Fozzy frontman Chris Jericho's Talk is Jericho podcast, Abbott's brother and bandmate in both of the aforementioned projects, Vinnie Paul Abbott, says he's begun to find some peace in the situation, although it still manages to haunt him. Said Big Vin: “It was a really hardcore, tragic event — the guy wanted to kill me, too. Somehow I was lucky enough to escape that. I'm still here. I don't want to remember it; I don't want to think about it. It's hard. It's hard. But I've found peace. I will do everything and anything I can to carry on the legacy and the tradition that my brother always had.”
Things haven't even less easy for Ohio police officer James Niggemeyer , who killed gunman Nathan Gale, freed a hostage and saved several other lives in immediate aftermath of Dime's death. According to a piece in yesterday's Columbus Dispatch, Niggemeyer hasn't been a first-responder since the incident. After suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, Niggemeyer, who says he's still in counseling, first transferred to serve as a detective in the robbery section, but for the last three years has worked a non-police job for the city.
Needless to say, it's a tragic situation — one that many people will never fully recover from.
On a more positive note, the Grammy folks announced their 2015 nominations late last week. And, once again, those lists included several artists with North Texas ties.
Here's who earned Grammy love:
• Oak Cliff's Edie Brickell is nominated in the “Best American Roots Song” category for her Steve Martin collaboration, “Pretty Little One.”
• Lecrae pulled down a trio of nods, including “Best Rap Performance” for “All I Need is You,” “Best Gospel Performance/Song” for “Help,” and “Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song” for “Messengers.”
• Greenville's MercyMe earned a pair of nominations: “Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song” for “Shake,” and “Best Contemporary Christian Music Album” for Welcome to the New.
• Arlington a cappella sensation Pentatonix was nominated in the “Best Arrangement, Instrumental of A Cappella” category for “Daft Punk.”
• St. Vincent received a nod for “Best Alternative Music Album” for her widely adored self-titled record.
Check out the complete list of nominees here. There, you'll also find things like Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP 2, which is nominated in the “Best Rap Album” category, and also happens to feature some production courtesy of Dallas' SymbolycOne, and a vocal hook courtesy of our own Sarah Jaffe.
More recently, that local pairing combined yet again, this time seeing S1 remixing the title track from Jaffe's August-released Don't Disconnect. Check it out.
The ever-busy Jaffe also popped up at last weekend's How the Edge Stole Christmas show at Verizon Theatre, where she joined Weezer onstage, dutifully handling Bethany Cosentino's part on Everything Will Be Alright in the End duet, “Go Away.” Check out a brief Instagram video of the performance shot by Edge DJ Mark Schectman below.
Moving on, Vice recently offered up some further proof that Erykah Badu is the 6th most famous human Dallas has ever produced when the magazine filmed the Queen of Neo-Soul performing her seminal hit, “On and On,” in Japan. Peep it below.
Another video ripe for the checking out is Tony Q and Plain Jane Francis' new “Plastic Cars” clip which, you guessed it, you can find below.
Then there's Manuel Bazaldua, who after a year of writing solo acoustic punk music under the name Poison Culture, released his first full-length last month, and followed that up with his first live performance last week at Three Links. Somebody get this guy a backing band already. Or, y'know, just check out his record, below.
On a few related notes, you can stream Sans Soleil's new album here; you can check out a teaser cut from Pleasant Grove's upcoming spring 2015 release here; and you can find Final Club's new one streaming in full here. The Final Club album boasts one of the best local songs of 2014, by the way.
Also on the horizon is the debut album from recent Idol Records signees Jetta in the Ghost Tree (read: the new project from Flickerstick's Brandin Lea), which should come out sometime in March. Likewise, the first of several planned EPs that The Black Dotz will release in the coming months is set to debut tomorrow. Look for that one, here.
Elsewhere: A new Christmas comp featuring holiday tunes from Old 97's and Ronnie Fauss hit No. 1 on Amazon's Americana chart; Hot 93.3-FM bailed on its plans to roll with classic hip-hop through the holidays, flipping recently to a more contemporary Urban format; Grantland featured another long form piece on an area act, this time devoting 2,400 words to Bedhead; Pinkish Black signed to Relapse Records, which will release the band's upcoming third full-length, as well as the last Great Tyrant LP; and the Homegrown Music and Arts Festival announced that it will return for its sixth year on May 9.
Cover photo by April Ashford-Forsythe, via WIkiCommons Got a tip for White Noise? Email us!
