Today In Music News: 50 Cent Mocks Kanye, Daft Punk Loves Obama

Your daily dose of national hip-hop news for Wednesday, January 21, 2009… Hip-hop beefs are nothing new–they’ve been around for years. But it seems that 50 Cent has now taken to creating controversies as his promotional tool. He still seems to think that Kanye West is his adversary for some reason,…

Doug Burr To Tour Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas With Son Volt

Just got word from Lance Yocom at Spune Productions that Denton’s own Doug Burr has been tapped to open up for Jay Farrar’s Uncle Tupelo offshoot, Son Volt, on a five-day, five-city swing in February that will take Burr and the alt-country legends to Houston, Austin, Denton, Oklahoma City and…

You Can Blame Barney For The Area Tween Star Glut.

Or so one can glean from the Associated Press piece, datelined in Carrollton, that ran in the Morning News and in countless other outlets this past weekend. (No big deal, but we’ve already covered this ground, AP! Only, well, not so gushingly…) This piece, which compares Barney to The Mickey…

The New York Times Runs An Obituary On Clint Ballard, Jr.

The New York Times has an obituary today on Clint Ballard, Jr., who died on December 23. 2008.Ballard, a longtime Dallas and Denton resident, wrote a number of hit songs, including Linda Ronstadt’s No. 1 hit single, “You’re No Good.” His death comes two and a half years after he…

Angela Morley Dead At 84

Morley didn’t pen the Dallas theme–that was this guy–but the transexual composer and conductor (born Wally Scott) did receive an Emmy nomination for scoring a few Dallas episodes, says this Variety obituary…

Wanna Have Dinner With Ben Kweller?

It’s cool if you do–the Greenville native is quite willing to join you, actually. Pre-order his new Changing Horses disc, and, in addition to getting some autographed merch just for doing so, you’ll also be entered into a competition where you could either earn more free merch or, potentially, a…

Parade Of Flesh Announces South By South Flesh Lineup

John Iskander, the man behind Parade of Flesh booking (The Lounge on Elm Street, Club Dada, Pastime Tavern), has announced the lineup for his inaugural South by South Flesh show, which will take place at The Lounge on Sunday, March 22–or, y’know, the day after SXSW ends in Austin. And…

Strange Boys Get Stoned

The Strange Boys got a little bit of love from Rolling Stone this week, though the small blurb mentions only Austin, neglecting to point out the band’s Dallas origins. Writes Austin Scaggs in Smoking Section: “They are four kids from Texas who will blow you away with their Sixties garage-rock-revival…

Rescue Signals Signs Record Deal, Releases New Video

Local rock band Rescue Signals has just signed an album deal with Rock Ridge Music and plans on releasing an album in late April. The record will be the band’s debut full-length and will be called Indecisions. And Rescue Signals has already completed a video for the album’s first single,…

How Dallas Singer-Songwriters Can Make It Big, According To CNN.com

The answer: Move to San Diego, work in retail.Or so is the only real moral I glean from this Q&A on CNN.com today with singer-songwriter Erin McCarley (pictured right; credit: Reid Rolls), who gets the star treatment here because McCarley, a Dallas native, recently had her song “Pitter-Pat” featured on…