Cory Graves
The Heavy Metal Hall of Fame Continues Its Push and Plain Jane Francis Quietly Drops His 16th Video.
With just a little more than a single day left in 2014, we can't say we'll blame you if you've mentally checked out at this point. But get your mind back in the game at least a little: Your New Year's Eve ain't gonna plan itself.
And, despite our own predilection to coast into 2015, the truth is that the North Texas music scene rests for no one. Rather than settling comfortably into Christmas vacation mode this week, DFW musicians have been busy as ever.
For instance, just yesterday, Tony Q and Plain Jane Francis released an artsy new clip for the pair's “Silent Songs.” It probably shouldn't come as surprise, though; these guys have quietly released more than a dozen videos in the past eight months alone. Check out their latest effort below.
Just a couple days before, the similarly prolific Dustin Cavazos released the following clip for his “See You Again,” which was shot at Andy's Wash World in Oak Cliff on a 1989 Magnavox VHS Camera, presumably while the emcee was waiting for his clothes to dry.
Sticking with the video front, Grammy-nominated rapper Lecrae recently released a video for his “Say I Won't” track, as well. Interestingly enough, it also features VHS tapes and scenes shot in a laundromat.
Want more Dallas hip-hop to get excited about? The latest LP from V.A. tha Gray, the December 23-released Blunt Reality, is full of all kinds of '90s-sounding jams, from the sample of The Fresh Prince's “Summertime” in opening “Knowledge is Power” cut to the later track, “Other Side of the Rap Game,” which the emcee calls a continuation of Erykah Badu's 1997 single “Other Side of the Game.” He'll hold an official listening party for the thing on January 9 at Curtain Club. Or you can just bookmark the embed below an hold one of your own later today if you're feeling it.
Finally, here's a fresh remix take from Track Meet's AiR DJ on Rae Sremmurd's “No Type” — and just in time for you to drop at your own New Year's party tomorrow evening, no less. Get familiar.
A song that probably won't go over all that well at your NYE shindig, though, is the never-before-heard Dimebag Darrell song that Guitar World recently premiered to promote its upcoming all-Dimebag February issue. A bit of a departure from his metal roots, “Whiskey Road” is still sort of interesting in that it features the legendary shredder on every instrument and lead vocals. But that's about as far as we'll go in giving it the thumbs up.
We're guessing that local metal wizard Jerry Warden probably feels a bit differently about the track than we do, though. In a new interview with Death Metal Underground, the Warlock frontman is still pretty optimistic about his several-years-old plan to open the Heavy Metal Hall of Fame in Dimebag's old Arlington stomping grounds. Per this latest interview, he even says he thinks it could happen in 2015.
Speaking of 2015 openings: Dreamy Life Records will be moving to its third location since opening its doors in Fort Worth a few months ago. Per the indie record shop's Facebook page: “Rumors have been flying and we suppose we really ought to make an announcement by now. Looks like we've grown out of our new space already! We love the Machine Shop, but ultimately it's not suiting our needs so we are taking a step back to take the time to secure the Perfect Space. As with any new business, there are bumps in the road, but we truck on. Many plans for the future are currently under initial drafting by our Supreme Team of architects: a web store, new releases, more friendships with independent labels across the country, resources for local artists, partnerships with local establishments to keep this community Effing Spectacular. Stay tuned for updates: the 3rd incarnation of Dreamy Life will blow your mind!”
And with the roof of The Bomb Factory going up as we speak, 2015 already seems poised to be yet another action-filled one for the DFW music scene. You can bet, too, that we will be there once again to document all that goes down in the coming year.
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