White Noise.

St. Vincent Pairs Up With The DSO, The Outfit Dresses Well and Math Proves Leon Bridges' Hype.

You may recall the self-perpetuated narrative going around this time last year, in which Old 97's frontman Rhett Miller said he'd approached his band with two batches of songs, one made up of “really pretty or sad” songs, and the other that ultimately became the band's gloriously raunchy Most Messed Up LP. Well, turns out the pretty stuff didn't get tossed by the wayside completely: This morning, Miller released a stream of “Most in the Summertime,” the first single from his upcoming solo record, The Traveler.

“Where the 97's record was raw and raunchy, these songs needed a more delicate touch,” Miller told Rolling Stone today.

Providing the delicate backing touch here is the Portland-based bluegrass outfit, Black Prairie, which shares four of its members with The Decemberists. Then Peter Buck and Scott McCaughey of R.E.M. came along and provided some additional overdubs. The star-studded — and, yes, pretty — disc will be released May 12, and is available for pre-sale here. You can also stream “Most in the Summertime” below.

But that's not the only collaboration Miller's got on his horizon. That duet he co-wrote with Madison King last summer will earn its official release in the near future. And when it does, it'll be accompanied by a music video filmed on location at Twilite Lounge and other Deep Ellum locales.

Let's stick on the collaboration front for a bit., too: This morning, it was announced that Grammy-winning, hometown ax-slinger St. Vincent will perform with the musicians of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra at Strauss Square on Sunday, May 17, as part of the inaugural SOLUNA: International Music & Arts Festival.

“We are thrilled to welcome St. Vincent to SOLUNA and in performance with DSO musicians,” Dallas Symphony Orchestra president and CEO Jonathan Martin says via press release. “She continues to surprise and excite her fans with each new album, and she represents the future of music and art. It is this genre-bending, boundary-breaking creativity that embodies the spirit of SOLUNA, and we are proud to present her in Dallas in collaboration with the Center.”

Unlike most performances at Strauss Square, this one, we've been told, will not be BYOB. Nevertheless, tickets will go on sale here, starting April 2.

Yet another collaboration to keep an eye on? Former Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan, who recently spent his birthday holed up with GN'R guitarist Izzy Stradlin and Dallas drummer Taz Bentley in Josh Homme's studio, recording “a super kick-ass” track.

While McKagan told Blabbermouth the trio will probably get together again, he's not sure the recordings will ever see the light of day: “We just enjoy making music and enjoy each other's company,” he says. “We're allowed to do that.”

Moving on, we wrote a little piece yesterday about the manner in which Fort Worth's own Leon Bridges made SXSW 2015 his bitch. Most of the evidence we provided, though, was subjective — like the Billboard piece we cited that put forth that Bridges “won” the annual conference. Yesterday, however, a writer at The Daily Dot took things a step farther, recruiting some big data bigwigs to produce an algorithm to scientifically prove who the real “winner” of South By was. Lo and behold, it was Bridges again who was determined to be this year's biggest beneficiary.

Another person that took note of Bridges' greatness at SXSW was Mark “DJ Mark” Schectman, who mentioned in the inaugural broadcast of his new local-centric radio show on 1310-AM The Ticket that Leon was the best thing he saw in Austin this year. One week in, The Local Ticket is proving itself a valuable listen beyond just being a place to catch the latest jams from the likes of The Birds of Night, The Demigs, Mystery Skullsand Son of Stan. For instance? The first edition of Schectman's show included interviews with Sarah Jaffe and Toadies frontman Vaden Lewis, the latter of which offered up a trio of newsworthy tidbits. In case you missed it, here they are: 1) Dia de los Toadies will once again be held at Panther Island Pavilion this fall, 2) the Toadies will join Everclear's “Summerland” tour for a stretch this summer, and 3) the Toadies will add a second beer to its arsenal in the near future, with this one being a bock. Lewis wasn't able to reveal too many details about the new beer — nor was he willing to divulge its name — but, c'mon, how could they go with anything other than “Bockslider”?

Anyway, if you did miss the show, you can find all that in podcast form right here.

Elsewhere, Oak Cliff ex-pat Lil Twist currently finds himself with a warrant out for his arrest. He's facing up to 25 years behind bars, stemming from an alleged altercation with That's So Raven actor Kyle Massey and his brother Chris. According to TMZ, Twist was hanging out with the brothers at their Los Angeles apartment when he was asked to leave. Reportedly, the rapper later broke into the apartment with four other individuals, beat Chris with brass knuckles and stole his wallet and cellphone. He currently faces six charges, including “making criminal threats, burglary, grand theft, battery and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon.”

In new release news, meanwhile, Bethan premiered a cover of The Zombies' “This Will Be Our Year” via DFW.com. You can stream the band's delicate re-imagining below.

Likewise, War Party unleashed a new song from its upcoming …And the Queen Makes Three EP, which earns its physical release on Cinco de Mayo. The tracks on the EP were recorded by Britt Robisheaux during the “Teenager on Drugs” sessions. The band will then follow up that EP with an as-yet-unnamed full-length recorded with Jordan Richardson back in December. For now, check out the band's new “slack metal” single “Nolo Mori” below.

Meanwhile, not only can you stream the new Lower Dens joint in its entirety via NPR right now, the band's sometimes-Dallas-based lead songwriter/singer Jana Hunter also goes track by track, explaining the meanings behind Escape From Evil's songs.

Other album releases to look out for on the horizon? Well: There's the new full-lengths from The Apehangars, which will be celebrated with a release show this Friday, March 27, at The Boiled Owl; there's the new EP from Son of Swan, which comes out Thursday, March 26, at Three Links; and and there's the next LP from The Birds of Night, which will be celebrated Saturday, April 25 at Three Links.

Elsewhere: The Outfit, TX was featured in a new Noisey column about how rappers are starting to dress like '80s rock stars; recently ousted FrontRow editor Christopher Mosley landed the digital editor position at FD Luxe; and Buffalo Black will deliver a lecture at El Centro College on Thursday, May 7, as part of the school's new hip-hop course.

Cover photo of The Outfit, TX. Got a tip for White Noise? Email us!