LaGrange, Texas says 'good riddance' to Houston reporter whom they believe responsible for the closing of the infamous Chicken Ranch (aka Best Little Whorehouse in Texas) Austin ranks 13th among office building sales in the US, with transactions totaling $1.44 billion in the first half of 2007 alone Fire Department officials believe the fire at a Dollar General in North Austin was arson The Feds discover another massive marijuana field near Dallas Elsewhere in......

Whether you think of it as a test run for SXSW, a belated Christmas present to local music fans, or an excuse to drink for seven days straight, Emo's Free Week kicks off today with a schedule of acts that reads like a who's-who of local punk, indie, and rock. As the showcases are all without cover, we'd recommend getting there early. Emo's Free Week January 2-8 603 Red River Tuesday, January 2 Inside:......

THURSDAY [7] music • Chicken Ranch Records, Obsolete Industries, Hold Fast, and 086 Studio present their Third Annual Christmas Shindig with The Ugly Beats, Automusik at Longbranch Inn ($5 or bring a new toy for Blue Santa, 8pm) music • Atomic Bitchwax, Pearls & Brass, Dixie Witch, The Flood at Emo's music • The Big Fix, O:A, Hellapeno at Stubb's music • Earl Greyhound, The Early Tapes, The Paper South at The Mohawk music......

If you're walking down Red River tonight and feel a slight tremor in the pavement, don't wig out. To the best of our knowledge, Austin doesn't sit on an active fault line. The more likely explanation is the tectonic upheaval that will be caused by the four bands playing Creepout 2006 at Beerland. Lean on a Chevy and steady yourself friend, then get your ass inside. Local label Chicken Ranch Records is in the......

This Thursday, as part of their ongoing "Best of the AFF" series, the Austin Film Festival and Chicken Ranch Records are screening "Stomp! Shout! Scream!," the beach-party-rock-and-roll-monster-movie by Jay Edwards, the guy behind Aqua Teen Hunger Force. They're billing it as a beach party screening extravaganza, replete with a beach party-themed menu and a bunch of sweet prizes and giveaways. Chicken Ranch records will be on hand to celebrate the release of the film's......

Nashville country singer Willie Heath Neal was, in his young adulthood, part of a punk rock troupe during a few years spent traipsing around Asia with the Navy. Born in the backseat of a Georgia state trooper's car, Neal inherited his mother's dream of having a career in music, and after returning to the states in his early twenties decided to return to the country and honky tonk that had informed much of his......

Mixing together everything from hokum blues, gypsy swing, bass walkin' ragtime, vaudeville theatrics, and more, Austin's White Ghost Shivers are one of our cherished local institutions who simply defy categorization. Hailed as last year's "Best None The Above Bands" by the Chronicle and SXSW, the Shivers this week released their latest album, Everyone's Got Em, what their label Chicken Ranch Records describes as "a smorgasbord of Cab Calloway, circus sideshow, KISS, cabaret, Hee Haw and......

Chicken Ranch Records extends Free Week at Emo's another night this evening, with a showcase featuring White Ghost Shivers, Willie Heath Neal, and John Schooley and His One Man Band. A choice except from Schooley's bio: Into this musical vacuum Schooley entered, first trying to put together a hot-jazz combo along the lines of the then-popular Django Reinhart. Schooley was unable to find suitable musicians, and also couldn’t really play very well, so that......

M O N D A Y [ 9 ] [film/music] End of an Ear Presents "Shield Around the K," which "profiles the birth and growth of influential Olympia-based punk rock DIY record label K Records," at The Drafthouse Downtown (9:45pm) [info] [film] Super Happy Fun Monkeybash DX Gaiden (Vol. 2) at The Drafthouse Downtown (7pm) [info] [art] Check out the new gallery exhibit, Liz Ward's Aqueous, at Women and Their Work (All Day) [info] [music]......

Chicken Ranch Records, Obsolete Industries, Hold Fast, and 086 Studio present their Second Annual Christmas Shindig, Thursday, December 15 at Longbranch Inn from 8 PM- midnight (or beyond). There will be food served and a cash bar, and, perhaps, if you are nice, a jolly old fat man in a red suit will pay a visit. Please arrive early to guarantee admission (and food), as this event will hit capacity early. Entertainment by: John......

Austin's own Independence Brewing Company, purveyors of local handcrafted beers - we're partial to their Bootlegger Brown Ale, and we usually don't even care for beer - are celebrating their first anniversary this Saturday with a massive shindig at their brewery. From 1-6, come check out Barrelhouse Dogs and local label Chicken Ranch Records artists Willie Heath Neal and The White Ghost Shivers, while downing endless quantities of their fresh brews - right from......