Next week, Merle Haggard, undoubtedly one of country music's great legends will take the stage at the Paramount Theater downtown. Haggard's backstory is the kind that inspires, well, good country songs. Raised in a no-frills Great Depression-era household in Bakersfield, he found himself in and out of trouble as a young man, eventually landing in prison. At San Quinton. It was there that he watched Johnny Cash perform (three times), and decided to focus on his songwriting pipe dream. He earned his diploma and performed with the prison band for years before his release in 1960, which he has described as being "One of the loneliest feelings I've ever had." Luckily for him, his incredible voice and visionary approach to country music, which incorporated electric telecasters and revolutionized the country rebel image, earned him 38 #1 hits, several Grammys and Country Music Awards, Hall of Fame honors and an official pardon for past crimes from Ronald Reagan. ...

Saturday night at Stubb's will likely be awfully warm (the forecast shows around 90 degrees), but it's worth braving the August heat for this strong of a bill. For reasons unknown to us, Rufus Wainwright and Neko Case are both playing at Stubb's, a venue that either performer could likely play on their own. Rufus Wainwright is the moody, theatrical brother in the musical Wainwright clan, which includes father Loudon Wainwright III, sister Martha,......

Tonight, Alamo Music Mondays presents Michael Mabbott's 2005 country rock mockumentary The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico. The films stars Matt Murphy, best known for his Canadian indie-rock bands The Superfriendz and The Flashing Lights. The film features appearances by country music superstars like Merle Haggard and Kris Kristofferson, as well as Canadian country favorites like Ronnie Hawkins and Blue Rodeo (and CBC TV personality George Stroumboulopoulos). The film had its Austin premiere......

Now that we're in mid-January, club bookings for winter and spring shows are beginning to emerge. While much internet browsing has already been done looking for the SXSW 2007 lineup, there are also plenty of great touring shows dropping in outside of those dates (thankfully). New shows from The Roots, Explosions In The Sky, Midlake, and a Willie Nelson/Merle Haggard double bill top the new additions, but there is plenty here for all musical......

Well, I posted the last of my guest previews last night, and I want to once again thank John, JD, Jeff, Chris and Becky for helping me out this year. Together they wrote 28 previews for me, and I wouldn't have been able to finish the site without their help. Well... it's not actually finished left, I have six previews left to write. While I work on those, here's an additional set of previews......

Bob Dylan - Modern Times (Columbia): From the opening notes of Modern Times, you can't help but feel that Dylan has been strongly influenced by his recent tours with Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard. 'Spirit On The Water' and 'When The Deal Goes Down' each sound like Stardust-era Willie, while several other numbers channel vintage blues stomps and rockabilly in the vein of Haggard's 'Workin' Man Blues' with surprising freshness. The operative word for......

Sale information on wristbands for SXSW will be announced by the Austin Chronicle in this Thursday's issue -- we'll have it posted here as soon as we find out! Arab Strap - The Last Romance Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I Am Not Asylum Street Spankers - Pussycat: Bootleg Series V.2 Bela Fleck & the Flecktones - The Hidden Land Billy Bragg - Box Set V.1 Billy Bragg -......