Cory Graves
Billy Bob's Raises Its Jack White Funds, KXT Loses Its Program Director and Pyramids Returns.
Three months ago, Dallas radio legend Terry Dorsey retired from his post at KSCS-FM after 33 consecutive years on North Texas airwaves. This past Sunday, however, the beloved broadcaster died suddenly at his home in Peoria, Illinois. He was 66.
Per Dorsey's bio, he ranked among the exclusive club of folks that had received awards from each of the Country Music Association, Billboard and the Academy of Country Music organizations. Needless to say, his is a huge loss. Yesterday, Dorsey's co-host of 26 years, Mark “Hawkeye” Louis, country star Pat Green and others remembered the radio great during a special farewell show. He will be missed.
Another void on the local airwaves will crop up when KXT program director Mark Abuzzahab leaves his post at the end of the month. When he does, he'll become the program director of VuHaus, a website that'll catalog all the exclusive in-studio performances that bands turn in at public radio stations all over the country. It's something, anyway, that he's had plenty of experience with during his four-year tenure at KXT.
Meanwhile, KXT favorite Jack White has been top of mind around these parts ever since Billy Bob's launched a crowd-funding effort to bring the rocker to town. Earlier this week, the campaign reached its goal, selling 2,750 tickets at $50 a pop to a show that, technically speaking, doesn't exist yet. Now comes the hard part — actually convincing Mr. White to swing by the “World's Largest Honky-Tonk.”
Speaking of Billy Bob's: The venue announced this week that it'll host its own Fourth of July Picnic this year. That's notable because, for the past four years, the site has some help in this regard from some guy named Willie Nelson, who used it to host his long-running annual picnic. So, no, Willie won't be at this one. But his buddy Merle Haggard will be playing this year's two-day fest, along with Ryan Bingham, Jerry Jeff Walker, Turnpike Troubadours, Hayes Carrll and others. Tickets will run $45 for one day, or $70 for a two-day general admission pass, and will go on sale here starting 10 .am. Friday.
Moving on, there's a ton of new release news, so we'll get right to it. First up is St. Vincent, who debuted a previously unheard track during the closing credits of Sunday's episode of Girls. While the track, called “Teenage Talk,” hasn't been officially released, here's A ripped version that popped up on Tumblr that everyone's been passing around.
Then, just this morning, Sudie premiered the much-anticipated video for her song “Heartattack” via Jezabel. That site quotes the 23-year-old Dallasite as saying what the clip is about in her own words: “The loss of innocence in the video is mostly about the loss of the innocence of the mind. I didn't want this to only be about in terms of sexuality, but more as a human being and what comes with growing up out of childhood into adulthood. For me, it was more about how the carefree and insouciant ideology and mental state of a child completely changes as you grow up and take on responsibilities.” Sudie's debut EP will be released April 7, but before that, you can check out said video below.
Another new clip comes from Hot Coffins. The live “Hall Acoustic Session” clip acts as the debut of a new track called, “New Enemies.” Frontman Tim Smith tells White Noise that a studio version of the track will be part of a new album that'll come out later this year. Here's that one.
Meanwhile, Pyramids will release its long-awaited A Northern Meadow LP (album art pictured above) next Tuesday, March 17 via Profound Lore. The long-time-coming sophomore effort from the heavy outfit is one local mystery man R Loren first mentioned to us back in 2012. An early stream of the new disc premiered in its entirety via Stereogum this week, and you can find it below.
We've also got a full album stream of the Denton-based outfit The Hope Trust. The band will perform a proper release for the album on Friday, March 27, at Dan's Silverleaf. Also, you can also catch them at the Greater Denton Arts Council this Friday as part of 35 Denton.
The also Denton-based Doug Burr premiered “White Night, Black Light,” the A-side of his rollicking new seven-inch via Diffuser. Physical copies of that three-track single are available starting today. They also serve as a teaser for Burr's next LP, Pale White Dove, which will earn its release April 7. That one will be available at an April 4 release show at Good Records in Dallas and again on April 24 at Dan's. In the meantime, you can hear the single below.
Then there's The Demigs, which recently held a release show for its own, 20-track double LP at Dan's. They premiered one of the album's tracks, “Melamine,” via Pop Matters. Find that one below.
Moving on, there's also a ton of good hip-hop coming out of late. Let's take a look at some of the more notable drops we've come across.
First up is Star Music, whose newly released track, “Fuck Wit Me” is more or less a primer on the artist, as he spends the verses listing out his accomplishments to date. Get familiar with that one below, before he opens for Prhyme next Tuesday, March 17, at Trees.
Then there's Bee Feral, whose debut EPeMCee Squares was produced by TDE's Tae Beast. More recently, he released a video for the EP's “The Fruit,” which the 21-year-old emcee says is about just being yourself, even if other folks think you're nerdy. It's not nearly as hokey as it sounds. See what we mean below.
Meanwhile, Cashmir released a new single called “Dangerous,” which “metaphorically talks about the pressures of dividing himself from the environment in which he grew up and his present state.” Check it out.
Also, Jay Luse released a new cut called “Vindicated.” The Blue, the Misfit-produced track also features a guest spot from Mick Jenkins. Here's that one.
Meanwhile, golden-voiced local rap veterans Tunk and Mga-Czar put out a new track this week called “All I Need,” which comes from Tunk's new No Defeat 1.5 album, and it's another increasingly impressive effort from these late bloomers. Check it out below.
Moving on to other new releases: Larry g(EE) released this week a new song last week called “Days Like This.” The track is the first single the performer's put out since 2011's Weekends EP, and it marks a pretty big departure from the retro soul vibe found on that debut disc. Says Larry about his new sound: “We are very excited about this single… we feel it is the truest representation of where we are moving musically.” See where he's currently headed below.
And, finally, with Record Store Day 2015 nigh upon us with its April 18 date, we thought we'd run down some of the locally-tied, limited edition specialty releases coming out that morning: Midlake will release Live in Denton, a new 12-inch live record that'll come with a DVD; Bedhead, meanwhile, will put out Live in Chicago, a new eight-song, live 12-inch; and Reverend Horton Heat will put out a pair of previously unreleased tracks caled “It's a Rave Up” and “Beer, Write This Song” on a 7-inch red vinyl.
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