Here's the only "kicker" we've found, and it makes perfect sense. If you nominate someone, you have to go with them to the casting call. So, make certain the person you're nominating knows that you're doing this with love. Also, your nominee should have a few really good stories about their own kitchen mishaps and foibles. All potential contestants need to bring a dish which they have made, two photographs (of themselves) and a completed entry form. Entry forms can be found HERE.

Worst Cooks in America Casting Call
Sunday, March 21st from 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Magnolia Hotel
1100 Texas Avenue
Question? E-Mail HERE

Pink on Pink
by bill barfield

As part of a class project the photographer of this photo was asked to take portraits of random people on the street.

As part of the job here at Houstonist, we are asked to pull random photos from the Flickr Photo Pool.

These two things couldn't go together any better.

Tunes
Prairie Cadets went into Dead City Sound and recorded some demos, that you can listen to on their Bandcamp.

Freddie Ghonerea & The Gunz album Hipster Blood is now available via Bandcamp. The band says their singer is in jail, and all sales of the album will go towards getting him freed.

Weird Party's first show, at The Mink, was a blast. Now here this: two songs, Sarah Palin and Pale Brunette on Bandcamp.

Wayside Drive posted the latest single from their album, The Other Side.

Sparklehorse's Mark Linkous committed suicide last week, and Spain Colored Orange's Gilbert Alfaro couldn't sleep, so he covered one of Linkous' songs: It's A Wonderful Life.

Marshall, aka Warbler PL, is once again a Houstonian, and has posted a demo of a new track: Worthy Of The Finest.

Wild Moccasins will be heading out on tour, come April 1st, and leaked a track from their new album to the Houston Press. Skin Collision Past.

DJ Sun whipped up some tracks for GigaCrate, pre-SXSW. Jams.

Cavernous' debut, Certain Angles, is up for streaming on Bandcamp, and will be released via a show at Mango's on March 27th.

Videos
Here's Andrew Karnavas recording his song Stranger at Sugar Hill Studios.

We realize they're part of a marketing effort, but these Backseat Jukebox videos from Houston's Ford Fiesta team of Mark Austin & Amber Rousell are nice ways to show off some of our local musicians. Watch Fat Tony's What I'm Bout and Buxton's Boy of 9.

Here's The Council performing Overtime at Dean's.

And here's an official video for hasHBrown's track, The Baptism.

News, etc.
Hey, check this out - Jeremy from Space City Rock has his own recap going again. That lets us breathe a sigh of relief. If we have missed something, he's most likely got the news.

Finnegan appears to have posted lyrics to some new songs. Here's hoping we get to hear them soon.

The lineup for KTRU's annual outdoor show surfaced. Ian Wells also informed us that they're working on Vol. 2 of the KTRU live compilation, and that this one will be a double disc album.

Arthur Yoria released a live EP that was recorded at Rudyard's.

Team Science has released The Swellers LP, My Everest on vinyl.

Alkari's music will be featured in the background of some local commercials that you might see if you're watching a Rockets or Aeros game.

Horders self-titled cassette is now available, and is limited to 100 copies.

Former Houstonians John Hunter & Ashlyn Davis were in town this weekend and played a two person Inoculist set. They informed us that they'll have an LP out really soon on Heart Break Beat Records and will be going out on tour with Jana Hunter's new band Lower Dens and will likely stop in town come June/July.

The Last Place You Look is now searching for a new drummer after Andy's announcement that he will leave the band after their April shows.

You can now snag yourself a t-shirt from The Watermarks.

That Wiggins 7" we've mentioned before? You can now get a hold of it through Needless Records.

Otenki has begun a blog about their upcoming album that they are currently writing.

As the Space City Rock showlist says, 'Welcome to Hell.' We don't even have a word to accurately describe the plethora of music that will hit Houston this week. Actually, plethora is pretty good, but it doesn't really do justice to the devastating avalanche of live shows that will sweep across our landscape over the next seven days. Don't get us wrong, Houstonist loves the SXSW fallout - it brings us many bands that otherwise would never set foot in the state, much less our fair city [e.g. the all-Aussie lineup at the Mink on Tuesday]. We'll try to give some details where we can, but know that the default option for the week will be Super Happy Fun Land's Overflow Fest [note each show is $8, or you can shell out $25 and hit any show through March 24th].

There's been a lot of buzz surrounding Thee Oh Sees, so we'll be heading to Mango's tonight to watch them. Also on the bill are Houstonist-approved punkers The Energy, whom we love to watch. Our friends Glasnost will be bringing their dance-y, electro rock to Boondocks as well, and that show will cost nothing. We fully approve of Frank Freeman's folky tunes at Avant Garden, to boot.

Tuesday features that lineup from Down Under at The Mink - and is Little Steven approved [yes, that Little Steven]. Our plan is to stop into Cactus Music for a beverage and The Chevelles, but the night's heavy schedule will be superseded by Japanther at Notsuoh. It certainly doesn't hurt that Muhammid Ali is playing the show, either. We'll vouch for Jukebox the Ghost's poppy indie rock [at House of Blues], Great Hopes soundscapes & Wall With One Side's maximalist drones [Khon's], and what appears to be newly formed heavyweights Omotai's first show [White Swan].

We'll cap off our week on Wednesday with a heavy-hitting lineup at Rudyard's, featuring James Husband [Of Montreal], Unwed Sailor, and locals Wild Moccasins [seriously - what a show]. Houstonist plans to pre-game at Cactus again, for Chuck Prophet's instore [whoa]. If you're feeling noisier tonight, Black Congress will be at Mango's, and if you're of the thrifty mindset then head over to Walter's for a free show with Lazlo and friends [and cheap drinks]. Remember, Wednesday is St. Patrick's Day, so beware of all those amateurs on the road and drive safe. We like our readers to make it home intact.

Full onslaught calendar is after the jump.

Monday, March 15th
Chase Hamblin, Tyagaraja, Frank Freeman at Avant Garden
Glasnost, French Horn Rebellion at Boondocks
Guystorm, Abominable Futuro, Light Pollution, Shellshag, Street Eaters, Las Charades, Bird by Bird at Super Happy Fun Land
Hugo at Cactus Music [5:30 pm]
Jookabox, The Pomegranates at The Mink
Peelander-Z, Math the Band, Halo Stereo, Newmatic at Fitzgerald's
Thee Oh Sees, Golden Triangle, The Baths, The Energy at Mango's

Tuesday, March 16th
Bobby Bare Jr., David Vandervelde, Teresa Kolo at Rudyard's
Cassette Kids, The Chevelles, City Riots, Grand Atlantic, Darren Hanlon, Sherlock's Daughter, Travis Caudle at The Mink
The Chevelles at Cactus Music [5:30 pm]
Cymbals Eat Guitars, Bear In Heaven at Mango's
Dark Castle, Bowel, Nibiru, Omotai at White Swan
Japanther, Muhammid Ali, Legsweeper, Mittens on Strings at Notsuoh
Maldita Vecindad, Los Skarnales, Huecco at House of Blues
Many Mansions, Great Hopes, JD Emmanuel & Wall With One Side at Khon's
Miss Tess & The Bon Ton Parade at Mucky Duck
Rogue Wave, Avi Buffalo, JBM at Warehouse Live
Shining Path, East Of The Wall, Rezarekt, Goes Cube, The Octagon, The Extraordinaires, Ryat, Robbie Hazen & The Riot, Alanna Fugate, Busman's Holiday, Cristian Subirà, Anamieke Quinn at Super Happy Fun Land
Stephaniesĭd, Cozyblankets at Bohemeo's
Soft Legs, Oh Clementine!, Eric Todd at Avant Garden
Tally Hall, Jukebox The Ghost at House of Blues [Bronze Peacock]
Tombs, Graves of Valor, Injurious Physical Violence, The Nephilim Terror at Walter's
Torche, Nebula, Venomous Maximus at Wired Live
Witness The Fall, Days Before, Sugarball at Jet Lounge

Wednesday, March 17th
Black Congress, This Moment in Black History, Sun God, Sexy Crimes at Mango's
Blaggards, Allen Oldies Band, The Mighty Orq at Continental Club
BT, Glint at House of Blues
Chuck Prophet at Cactus Music [5:30 pm]
Chuck Prophet at Under The Volcano
Dead Confederate, Churchill at Warehouse Live [Green Room]
Felix Cartel, Damon Allen, Grrrl Parts, Go Go Garcia at The Mink
Lazlo, The On Fires, Finnegan, Frank Freeman, Michael Coffeman, David Lascoe at Walter's
Letters to Voltron, Ramey O' Brien & the Blarney Stoners, Wiggins and Rizk at Fitzgerald's
Maud In Cahoots, The Zut Alors, Born Empty, Blissed Out, At Versaris, Holy Liars, Vio/Miré, Liz Isenberg, Aa, The Birthday Suits at Super Happy Fun Land
Mayer Hawthorne & The County, Nikki Jean, Andrew Green at Warehouse Live [Studio]
The Wave Pictures, Slow Club at The Orange Show
Wild Moccasins, James Husband, Unwed Sailor, Common Loon at Rudyard's

Photos: Chuck Prophet, Thee Oh Sees

pastor torta
by Erika Ray

Sometimes you just want a good torta. A torta is a Mexican sandwich served on a bolillo bun and usually contains some form of meat, tomato, lettuce, cheese, sour cream and avocado. There are many variations of the torta including veggie ones. If you've never tried one, treat yourself one day!

• Torontoist investigated some onomatopoeias ("OUCH!" "THUNK!" "OOF!" "YIPE!") painted along a road, pointing to potential hazards for cyclists.
• Gothamist had its fill of salt-related news: There was "salty" Eric Massa's resignation and "snorkeling" allegations and then a NY lawmaker's proposal to ban salt.
• Bostonist spent the week pondering local challenges to Obama's health care reform from both the right and the left.
• Seattlest went behind the scenes of much-lauded local pizza place Delancey.
• Chicagoist began a new series in their ongoing look at the battle to bring another Wal-Mart to the city, this time exploring what it's like to work at the store.
• Shanghaiist found a cafe advertisement for Starf*cks.
• LAist couldn't apply the brakes to the comments section on this post about a San Diego man's runaway Prius.
• Phillyist co-editor Jenn DiSanto and staff writer Leigh Simpson represented Philly at the Disney Princess Half Marathon ... and made it to the finish line.
• SFist waited in line to visit the SF Underground Market.
• Houstonist pondered the addition of two minor league baseball teams within its metroplex.

For starters, let's look at the process. Despite what Field of Dreams has taught us, if you build it, they won't necessarily come. Attracting a minor league franchise is more complicated than simply building a stadium; that's why both Sugar Land and Montgomery County have contracted with sports development agencies which act as comprehensive project managers, working on the stadium, regulatory hurdles, and negotiations with existing leagues. Montgomery County is working with Ventura Sports Group, which has single A teams in El Paso and Grand Prairie. The Sugar Land team would likely be part of the AA Texas League, which includes teams in Midland, San Antonio, Tulsa, and the Astros' own AA affiliate in Corpus Christi.

The Texas League brings us to a crucial question: whither the Astros? With current AAA affiliate Round Rock likely to jump ship to the Rangers (they're owned by Rangers president Nolan Ryan) when their contract with the Astros expires in 2011, the Astros will be without a top-level affiliate, though all the players at Round Rock would remain in their employ. They could promote Corpus to AAA, but then they'd need a AA team. Would they consider Sugar Land to be that team? Early indications say that Drayton McLane is hesitant to pair up with a team that could sap ticket sales for the big club, but the Braves and Rangers have shown that you can have a minor league affiliate in the same metroplex as the major league club without ill effects.

The decision to affiliate with a big league club is not a given, either. Both minor league teams could be completely independent of major league teams, allowing their players to sign free agent contracts with big league clubs as opportunities arise. The Rangers' Frisco affiliate was once independent like this, and the New York teams have an independent team playing games in their Brooklyn backyard, too.

But now the important question: what to call these teams? Minor league teams are famous for their more laid back attitude and sense of humor (hell, Bill Murray owns multiple teams around the country. Really.), so what of Sugar Land and MoCo? A few suggestions:

For Sugar Land

• The Imperials: Based on the city's history with one of America's favorite products. The logo, of course, would be a Chrysler Imperial.


• The Diabetics: Since that's what sugar does to you, dummy. The logo would be a cartoon Wilford Brimley swinging a Pixie Stick baseball bat. Bonus slogan: You can try to diascore, but you'll never diabeatus!

For Montgomery County:

• The Burns. I mean, duh. (thanks to Frank Freeman for this suggestion) Bitter rivals of Ralph Wiggum's team.


• The Park-And-Rides. Since the team's stadium would be located on 59 north of Kingwood, that's the only way anyone from inside the Beltway (nevermind the Loop) is getting there.

We also considered the Sugar Land Suburbans and the Humble Silent H's, but those were too silly.

Both teams would probably start playing games in 2012 at the earliest. A lot can happen between now and then, including Drayton changing his mind about affiliation, and Dan Patrick-types freaking out about investing taxpayer money into a project that would bring in huge amounts of business and tax revenue. We'll stay on top of this story as it develops; in the meantime, offer your suggestions for team names and which team you'd actually go see.

photo: flickr user slightclutter

FotoFest 2010
Hardy & Nance Street Studios
902 Hardy St @ Nance
In the heart of downtown
Friday: 5:00 p.m. - Midnight
Saturday: 12:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
FREE

Friday, March 12

Art Palace: Elaine Bradford, Margarita Cabrera, Ali Fitzegerald, Jessica Halonen, Lauren Kelley, and Bari Ziperstein, Ladies First, 6-8pm
CTRL Gallery: Anders Oinonen's Sundogs and Philip Vanderhyden's New Paintings, 6-8pm
DiverseWorks: Allison Hunter's Zoosphere and Kelly Richardson's flickerlounge: Twilight Avenger, 6-8pm
Houston Center for Photography: Anthony Goicolea's Related, RE: groups from W.M. Hunt's Collection Blind Pirate, and Beatrix Reinhardt's Members Only - America, 6-8pm
BOX 13 Artspace: Panta Rei, Kia Neill's Boulder, Emily Link's From the Forge, Ryan Lauderdale's HEADSPACE, Michael Brims's Ink, 7-9:30pm
FotoFest Headquarters Gallery: FOTOFEST presents Whatever was Splendid, 8pm-12am
Inman Annex: FOTOFEST presents Medianation, 6-8pm
Inman Gallery: Demetrius Oliver's Albedo, 6-8pm
Lawndale Art Center: Dan Havel and Chuck Ivy's Dirty Secrets from the Cataract Cinema, Caroline Gore's site: interventions, observations, & simulations, Jonathan C. Leach & Ariane Roesch's Tip Toe, and Anne Allen's Laureate, 6:30-8:30pm
McWhorter Gallery: Go Photo, 7-9pm
Rienzi: Spring House and Garden Days, 11am-5pm
The Temporary Space: Martin Zet's Self-Accusation and Julia Cotti-Piccinelli's White Noise, 7-10pm

Saturday, March 13

Aurora Picture Show: Menil Community Arts Festival Open House, Video Salon & Punta y Raya Film Festival, 11am-4pm
The Joannex: Dis, Dat, Deez, Doz, Deux, 6-10pm
Darke Gallery: David A. Brown's Trying to find my way..., 5-8pm
De Santos Gallery: James H. Evans and Sara Sudhoff, 5:30pm
Domy Books: Eileen Maxson's Orphans of Failure, 7-9pm
John Cleary Gallery: Mauro Fiorese's U.Ph.O (Unidentified Photographic Subjects), 7-9pm
McClain Gallery: Jeff Shore and Jon Fisher's Cliff Hanger, 6-8pm
Rienzi: Spring House and Garden Days, 11am-5pm
Rudolph Blume Fine Art | ArtScan Gallery: Mary How Hawkins's An Investigation of Function and Space, 6-8pm
Station Museum: Suha Shoman, Charif Benhelima's Welcome to Belgium, Santiago Forero, Martin Zet's Saluto Romano, Ed Wilson, and Elliot Wolfson, 7-10pm
Texas Gallery: Jacinda Russell & Nancy Douthey's 3 Weeks, 6 Earthworks, 1 Portable Studio and ALL That Lies in Between, 5-7pm
Winter Street Studios: Second Saturday Open Studios, 2-5pm
Xnihilo Gallery: The Stations of the Cross, 2010 and Carol Hayman's Child Soldiers in the Fashion War, 7-10pm

Sunday, March 14

Colton & Farb Gallery: Frank Rodick's Labyrinth of Desire, 12-2pm
Rienzi: Spring House and Garden Days, 1-5pm

--
Photo: flickr user groovehouse

Houston Sky
by Fried Rice Renegade

Sit back, relax and allow this gorgeous sky shot to take you into the weekend.

H-Town Rock: I am sitting in <InsertNameHere>'s practice space in Galena Park. Go ahead and introduce yourselves.
Art: I'm Arthur, I play bass and do some vocals.
Oscar: My name is Oscar Flores, I play lead guitar, and some vocals.
Ray: Ray Acevedo, I am lead vocalist and rhythm guitar.
Jebus: Jesus Acevedo, also known as Jebus, and I play drums. And I don't sing, that's why I play drums.

HTR: So how long have you guys been together as a band, at this point?
Jebus: It's a bit of a long story - we can give you the Cliffs Notes version. [Ray, Oscar and I] started playing together when we were still in high school. People got girlfriends, people got into fights, and so we kinda split apart. [Ray] started a new band, which was <InsertNameHere> and he got two members who are no longer with the band. At this time, both Oscar and I were still playing drums and bass, and Arthur was playing guitar on his own. When the opportunity came to get a bass player, Ray found Art, and he convinced Art to play bass.
Art: I came in as a guitar player.
Ray: The power of MySpace - we found Arthur Atkins - dun da dun!
Art: We practiced a few times, and Ray & I had a talk, and he was like, "Uh, we kinda need a bass player. It sounds empty with just two guitars and drums." I ended up getting a bass.
Oscar: Ended up being freaking good at it...
Art: After that our drummer left, for dumb reasons that we don't need to talk about, but we needed a drummer so we got Oscar. And then we were like, "Man, we should get you to play guitar." We got a lead guitarist and then we still didn't have a drummer. So we found Jebus again, who's Ray's cousin.
Ray: He wasn't supposed to join the band originally. He was just filling in, helping us out.
HTR: And you can't get rid of him now, right?
Ray: He eats my food now...
Jebus: It's almost like it's destiny. [Ray, Oscar & I] started together, and now we're back together, and just picked up a bassist.

HTR: You guys have a record release coming up on Saturday. Who's playing that with you?
Art: Low Frequency - a band out of League City, and also The Failed Attempt, who is a band out of Houston. Low Frequency is kind of pop-punk, and Failed Attempt is ska, old-school.

HTR: That's Saturday night at Bohemeo's?
Jebus: Bohemeo's. Be there at 7 pm.
HTR: How much does it cost?
Jebus: 10 dollar cover charge.
Art: But, you get the CD.
Oscar: So it's the show, and the CD for ten bucks.

HTR: The album is called Tuesdays And Thursdays Off. Where did the name come from? That reminds me of college, but in college I always tried to get Fridays off.
Ray: Basically, we were trying to figure out what days we could get off from work to be able to practice, and it ended up being Tuesday & Thursday. It just kinda stuck. What's weird is that this week, the week of the show, we actually didn't practice on Tuesday or Thursday.
HTR: So you're off Tuesday/Thursday this week...
Jebus: Literally off this week. That's how dedicated we are to the album.
Oscar: Honestly it feels weird.

HTR: You guys have a pretty throwback pop-punk sound. It reminds of a lot of mid/late nineties stuff. Where would you say your influences lie?
Ray: I don't know... in the beginning I used to be really into metal. I think it was VH1's Insomniac, and Green Day came on, and I just fell in love with pop punk. I went out and started looking for a lot more. So when I started playing guitar that was what I knew. It came out how it comes out, and that was pop punk. We like to have fun, and it comes out in the music - high energy, makes you feel good.
Jebus: The core is always pop punk, but we touch on many different genres.
Oscar: A little taste of everything.
Ray: We just say it's INH punk.
Art: I think that's why our name works - it's Insert Name Here. We're pop punk, but we touch on everything else, so you can call it what you want. At the heart, it's pop punk.

HTR: How did the name develop?
Ray: Honestly, it was back in the day. We sat around trying to think of a name.
Jebus: I was here actually - I wasn't even in the band.
Ray: We came up with a bunch of ridiculous names. My girlfriend at the time suggested it, and we moved on but wound up coming back to it. Our bassist at the time said, "I don't know, Insert Name Here kinda sounded awesome. We decided "it's that for now until we find something else" and it just stuck.
HTR: It's recognizable.
Oscar: People seem to catch on to the name.
Art: And of course the brackets.

HTR: Who came up with that idea?
Art: I think we were in the car trying to come up with t-shirt ideas. I thought we should have a guy standing there with his brackets up, and we could tell people "Put your brackets up!" and send us a photo.
Ray: It's worked, we've gotten a bunch of photos.
Oscar: It's actually very exciting to get a photo of someone that you don't know, throwing their brackets up.
Jebus: So send us a picture: insertnameheretx[at]gmail[dot]com.

HTR: Do you guys have other songs? Have you started working on new material already?
Ray: Yeah, definitely. I have a bunch of recordings.
Art: Ray's always writing. He's always coming in, "I got these lyrics, check 'em out..."
Ray: I have a bunch of recordings - a piece here, a chorus there.
Art: I think we have four songs ready, and like 89 clips.
Jebus: Usually, Ray will bring in a clip and we start to work on it. Everybody throws their two cents in and it builds from there.

HTR: Are you guys gonna get to go out on tour at all?
Art: We're still booking dates right now; we're trying to wait until school's out to try to plan that. We're playing a show at A&M in April.
HTR: Yeah, I saw you're getting radio play up there [on KANM].
Jebus: We're doing an acoustic show on Riot Hour [a KANM program] and then we're playing a show at the campus.
Ray: You can see the interview. It's on April 16th - they'll interview us first and then allow us to play an acoustic set.
HTR: That's cool.
Jebus: We have plans to play more out of town dates, on the weekends.
Ray: One thing we're going to try is at least one [show] in Houston, Dallas, Corpus, San Antonio, Austin every month. We want to try to build something here in Texas.
Jebus: We can't forget about Houston, though. We had kinda stopped playing shows like two years ago, when we went into the studio. I think we've played four or five shows since then.

HTR: So you're anxious to get out and play some more.
Jebus: Yeah, we live for being on stage.
Oscar: Come check out a show and see the energy. It's a good time.

HTR: Do you guys have a favorite memory from the Houston scene?
Ray: I've got one. It was the first time Oscar jumped off the kick drum - he didn't tell anyone, and I swear I thought he was going to land on me. I turned around and he was in the air, and it freaked me out.
Jebus: It was at Super Happy Fun Land - he jumped off and we all were shocked.
Oscar: It felt like slow motion. It was pretty wild.
Art: Two things stick out for me. One was that same show - my bass got stolen like a week before that show. Deer Park police got it back for me eventually. So I'm playing on my girlfriend's mom's bass - I had to borrow it to play the show. In the middle of Groundhog's Day, where it breaks down and it's just bass, as soon as it comes to that part, my freaking [amp] head dies. Another one was at Fitzgerald's, after we got done playing. We call Oscar Shorty But Yummy because chicks are always like, "what's up Oscar?"
Oscar: Oh god...
Art: So this chick walks up, and we're packing our stuff up. She starts talking to him, and the chick licks Oscar's hand.
Ray: "Oh, I gotta go, it was nice meeting you..." and she shook his hand, and then grabbed it and just licks it.
Jebus: One of mine - we got to play Fitz upstairs. Just being up there, we felt like we belonged - like we made it.
Art: Yeah, I've watched so many bands play there, thinking One day we'll play there.

HTR: Do you guys have anybody in town that you think people should really pay attention to, music-wise?
Art: Mechanical Boy, The Last Place You Look. Wayside Drive.
Ray: Nothing More. They're from San Antonio.
Jebus: One that I liked, that broke up, was The Jane Frequency. In Alvin there's this band called Candid. They're young, like 16 & 17, but they show a lot of promise.
Art: Low Frequency, too.

HTR: What's one thing you want everyone to know about <InsertNameHere>?
Ray: Man. Well, we're dead serious. We won't let you guys down, if you come see us. We work really really hard, and we're in it for the long haul.
Art: We're fun guys - and we try to express that with you, but we don't mess around. We're not here to waste your ten bucks that you paid to see a show.
Jebus: We just want people to have fun, when you hear us. Tap your foot, shake your head, shake your booty, whatever. You can talk to us after the show, we're friendly guys & we know about movies, music, comics, video games, we know about everything.
Art: We're geniuses... [everyone laughs]
HTR: <InsertNameHere> Knows Everything.
Art: That's a good tagline.
HTR: I want royalties on that one. Just kidding.

HTR: You guys have anything else you want to add?
Art: We just launched our website, inhpunk.com. Anything you want to know [about us] is up there, and if it's not let us know.
Jebus: We're on Twitter [@inhpunk].
Ray: Check out the site, and remember that the show is Saturday night.

HTR: Thanks for sitting down with us, guys.

Houstonist had a chance to catch up with Sandy Ewen, Houston's own prepared guitar virtuosa and member of both groups featured tonight. For the past several years, Ewen has been making a name for herself in Houston and Austin (where she attended UT) as a skilled free-improvisation performer and as a member of the critically-acclaimed Weird Weeds. Now back in Houston, she has been spearheading new projects and organizing events, including her own "February Fest" birthday party which brought together over a dozen diverse local acts.

She began performing with YET (Y. E. Torres) after a similar Sound Exchange show a year ago. When her set had ended, she was showing off the various techniques and materials she uses on her guitar when YET, who was in the audience, began to dance in response to the sounds. They have been working on their duo act ever since and are now working with videographer Chris Nelson to expand the scope of their sonic/visual interplay. It is the video aspect which is going to be pushing them forward this spring, as they enter film festivals (watch an early cut of their submission here) and begin to use multiple cameras and screens to fill up larger spaces with projections feeding back the live performance on stage. Houstonist is keeping their eye open for a possible event in May at Frenetic Theater.

Strawberry Watermelon, who will be going on first tonight, was originally called Girl Band for a reason. It wasn't so much a name as a definition. Realizing that most of her socializing was done through music, and that most of the musical scenes she was involved with were more-or-less male-dominated, Ewen decided to make a change. An all-girl band would allow not only ample opportunity for the creative women of Houston to become closer, but for the women themselves to grow and create an aesthetic of their own. This past August, the thought became a reality and the group has featured a revolving roster of the Houston arts community. There are two rules to Girl Band: you have to be a girl and everyone has to sing. Their pieces are a mix of composition and improvisation that achieve a rich, beautiful, and often haunting texture as the ensemble of various instruments and voices swell in and out. Tonight, which is only their second live performance since coming together, the roster will include: Megan Easely, Sandy Ewen, Anna Maria Garza, Melanie Jamison, Erin Joyce, Rose Lange, and Ruthie Langston. They will also be performing in Austin on April 4 under the name Lemon Lime (formerly Strawberry Watermelon).

Come out and see what this city's women are up to.

--
Photo: flickr user yetorres

History Lesson (condensed version):

The first St. Patrick's Day Parade was held in the 1880's in "Irish Town", specifically near St. Patrick's Church on Harrisburg. The original route ended at Market Square (where the pubs were) and in particular, at Dick Dowling's "Bank of Bacchus" bar. The Parade went on hiatus, or sabbatical with World War I and continued through the Great Depression and World War II. Once Glen McCarthy, local oilman, erected The Shamrock Hotel in the 1940's - it was "on" and The Shamrock became a center of Irish culture and the Parade was back, (yet another grand Houston landmark, felled by the wrecking ball). Houston has held a St. Patrick's Day Parade on 50 occasions, of record - Saturday's is the 51st. For the full history of the parade, the wonderful people who have kept it going and past Grand Marshalls, please click this link.

The Grand Marshalls

This year's Grand Marshall's are the Carr Brothers. David, Billy and Michael Carr are Irish-American Native Houstonian's who have a family history of giving to the community. Their family has been dedicated to helping the down-trodden, supporting the Irish community and raising monies for the following efforts:

Committee Ten, which worked to bring Protestant and Catholic children from Ireland to live in Texas.
Family Time Crisis Center
The Irish Society
The St. Patrick's Day Parade
The McBride Principal
The Irish Stew Cook-Off
St. Patrick's Open Golf Tournament

The Carr Brother's owned Mama Hattie's Hamburger Restaurant and Irish Pub (named after their great-grandmother) and can been found around and about playing bones and bodhrans at most Irish music events. They have provided meeting space for the Ancient Order of Hibernians and practice space for Paul Tynan's Irish Dancers and are members of the 100 Club supporting the St. Patrick's Day Parade and the Irish Society. These gentlemen have dedicated themselves to perpetuating peace in Northern Ireland and fostering Irish heritage here at home.

This year's parade is also dedicated to the memory of "Bold" Michael Davitt, Arthur Gordon Mason and Tammy Long McQuillen.

Tonight, the Irish Queen will be selected at Griff's on Roseland at 7:00 p.m., swing on by!

Watch Great Day Houston on Friday morning - it's all Irish with interviews, music and Irish dancers!

Spring 2010 Thursday Evening Sip and See at Bayou Bend
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
1 Westcott Street
5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
$10 Adults
$8.50 Senior adults (65+), and college students with ID
$5 Children (10-17)
MFAH Members receive a $2.00 discount per admission.
Info Phone: 713-639-7750

David Gray & Phosphorescent
Verizon Wireless Theater
520 Texas Avenue
Ticket Prices: $49.70-$55.00
All ages.
Info Phone: (713) 230-1600
Click the link below for a sample new release from Phosphorescent (new album out 5/25/10)
It's Hard To Be Humble (When You're From Alabama)

People, Spaces & Places
Community Artist's Collective
1413 Holman near La Branch
713.523.1616
Free: Opening Reception tonight from 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

Wanna Get Away?: St. Blaggard's Day tonight at 10:00 p.m.
O'Bannon's Tap House
103 Boyett Street
College Station (just a lil drive down 290 and 6 and poof, ya there)
979.846.9214
You know, St. Blaggard's Day has got to be like St. Paddy's with an adrenaline high, just saying.

Well, the big party up north on 290 starts this weekend, which means Houston is about to be flooded with more music at which you could shake said proverbial stick. Seriously, there's an overabundance of bands in Houston, starting tonight and flowing for a good two weeks. So get out there and see some music!

We'll start out by hitting up the free in-store tonight at [wait for it] Sound Exchange! We love a good SoundEx show, because we can walk across the street to grab our choice of 40s/MD 2020/sixer of beer/tallboys and come enjoy the show. Plus, there are no less than six, count 'em, SIX girls performing. Also highly recommended is George Thorogood & The Destroyers at House of Blues.

Tomorrow we're pretty torn - Hell City Kings are issuing forth a new 7" at Mango's, and they've got Austin heavyweights White Rhino in tow. We imagine we'll probably pop into the Caddywhompus show at The Green Hour [speakeasy? Don't mind if we do] to catch them and sIngs and maybe finally see Somosuno, and then stop at Mango's afterwards. Also notable: Xiu Xiu is in town Friday night.

Saturday has a couple more releases - drops their pop-punk album, Tuesdays and Thursdays Off at Bohemeo's, and Poor Dumb Bastards will be showing off a new CD at Rudyard's. There's a benefit for Willow at Walter's - we're not sure what for, exactly, but chances are pretty good that if you've been to a hardcore/metal show in this town in the past decade Willow & his company HateTank productions have been involved. We'll hit up Bob Schneider at Mucky Duck, but not until we've made sure to stop by Cactus Music at 1 pm to see News On The March and down a Saint Arnold's brew or two. [Ed. Note: We've learned that the benefit is to help allay funeral expenses for Willow's father - definitely a worthy cause]

Even Sunday is heavy this week: Dick Dale is at House of Blues! Not to be missed is the latest installment in the Resonant Interval series at The Husk, featuring Chicago's CJ Boyd. We took a listen to Bears of Blue River, who'll be at The Mink, and it's some darn good indie folk that is worth checking out. Houstonist plans to hit up that house show at 3910 Driscoll to see our newest addition, Mr. David A. Feil, performing under the name Golden Arrow Holy Face. After all, we'd be ashamed to not support our own.

Full, epic-level calendar available after the jump.

Thursday, March 11th
2 Dollar Sound at Warehouse Live
David Gray at Verizon Wireless Theater
Dead End Cowboys, DollyRockers, Johnny Falstaff at Röcbar
Erase The Virus, The Razorblade Dolls, Synthetic Fiend, Zero Giant, The Hectic at Numbers
George Thorogood & The Destroyers, Moreland & Arbuckle at House of Blues
Hapa Maui at Mucky Duck
Jody Seabody & The Whirls, Jungle Noise, A Better Hope Foundation, XPPR5-9, The Mint at Super Happy Fun Land
Loveable Old James at Bohemeo's
Sandy Ewen & Y.E.T., Strawberry Watermelon at Sound Exchange [8 pm]
Silent Civilian, Blind Witness, Years of Red Skies, All The Way to the Bank, Kill The Theory at Walter's
Sleeperstar at House of Blues [Bronze Peacock]
Soria, 3 Kisses, Jus Coz, Tameka Handy, A Room in The Body at Jet Lounge
Thunderado at Continental Club

Friday, March 12th
Attack! Attack!, Breathe Carolina, I See Stars, Asking Alexandria, Bury Tomorrow at Wired Live
Blowfly, Beloved Binge, Midtown Dickens, Joe Firstman at Super Happy Fun Land
Caddywhompus, sIngs, Somosuno at The Green Hour [next to Last Concert Cafe, 9 pm]
Crossing Togo at Last Concert Cafe
Hell City Kings [7" Release], White Rhino, Shit City High, The Wrong Ones at Mango's
I-45, Automorrow, Vocal Polluter, The Crisis at Rudyard's
L.A. Guns at Röcbar
Los Diablos, Obscuridad Social at Bohemeo's
Megafauna at Avant Garden
Misery Index, Kill the Client, Severence, IPV at Walter's
Nathan Hamilton at Anderson Fair
Romallice, Grizzly, Assess the Assailant at Fitzgerald's
Todd Snider at Mucky Duck
Tower of Power at House of Blues
Twisted Confessions, Backslash, Agony Within, Axion, Skeptical, Altriad, A.F.T.I., Let's Hang Jackson, Din Chaos, Witness To The Fallen at The Mink
The Umbrella Man, Mr. Lewis & the Funeral Five at Continental Club
Xiu Xiu, Noveller at Warehouse Live

Saturday, March 13th
3 Kisses, Tragedy, Days Before, Heavystoned, Abide at Jet Lounge
Benefit for Willow featuring Iron Age, Bitter End, Power Trip, Pride Kills, The Weight of Respect, Golden Axe, Killer Ape, Roots of Exile, One Against Many, Hardside at Walter's
Best Fwends, Fat Tony, Balls Deep, Zombie Sentinal at Mango's
Bob Schneider at Mucky Duck
Carrie Rodriguez at NiaMoves
Citizen Cope, Gin at House of Blues
Delo, Kane, Union, Hollywood Floss, Thurogood at Warehouse Live [Studio]
Deux Frupis, Redbox Harbour, Norcio, The Botanist at Fitzgerald's [downstairs]
Eric Taylor at Anderson Fair
Evolucid, My Milky Way Arms, Icarus Himself Grey Market, Dinosaur Feathers, Bamboo Shoots, Parallax at Super Happy Fun Land
Guitar Shorty at Cactus Music [5:00 pm]
Guitar Shorty at Big Easy Social
Hank III & Assjack, Kyle Turley, Lynda K at Wired Live
Ian Moore, The Small Sounds at Continental Club
Insert Name Here [CD Release], The Failed Attempt, Low Frequency at Bohemeo's
News On The March at Cactus Music [1 pm]
Otenki, Necrofaith, Blood Rooted, Clovis, Skeptikal, Inner Image, Metalloyd, Black Queen Speaks, Failure To Notice at Warehouse Live
Pepper Lane, Pot Belly at Last Concert Cafe
Poor Dumb Bastards [CD Release], Donkey Punch, Shit City High at Rudyard's
Ray Prim, Denitia Odigie at Avant Garden
Tea Leaf Green, Rob Drabkin at House of Blues [Bronze Peacock]
Unearth, Stick To Your Guns, Veil Of Maya, The Ghost Inside, Carnifex at Wired Live [The Channel]

Sunday, March 14th
The Bears of Blue River at The Mink
Dick Dale at House of Blues
Hatred Surge, The Endless Blockage, Richard Ramirez, War Master, Concrete Violin at Walter's
I Heart Lung, Rare Grooves, CJ Boyd at The Husk
Inoculist, Golden Arrow Holy Face, Wols at 3910 Driscoll [9 pm]
Joe Pug, Horse Feathers, Davie Graves at Mango's
New Familiars, Gift Horse, Spells, Wizzard Sleeve, Girls at Dawn, Floating Action, Predator, State & Madison, The Heyday, Cavashawn at Super Happy Fun Land
The Umbrella Man at Discovery Green [3 pm]
The Wow, H.I.S.D., Michele Thibeaux, D.Rose, Consice Kilgore, Radio Galaxy at Warehouse Live [Studio]

Photos: Hell City Kings, Cory Schultz [Caddywhompus]

Volume IV

Featherface - Wow, this is definitely not what we expected to hear from one of the members of 10th Gräde Cütie when he announced his other band. Featherface is making some catchy indie rock that we're digging. There's some early/mid-nineties blending with mid-2000s going on here, and it's pretty good. Other sites: Bandcamp, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, YouTube.

Weird Party - Whoa. This band just exploded out of the ether with their debut show at The Mink last week. It's some well executed punk, with a sloppy feel but extremely focused. They leapt forth like a juggernaut at the show - as they should have, considering their pedigree of members of Fatal Flying Guiloteens, Welfare Mothers, Muhammid Ali, etc. We were lucky enough to catch one of the demos, and we cannot stop listening to it, despite the fact that it is the same two songs over and over in our car. Other sites: Bandcamp, Facebook, MySpace.

Forests - This band is creating instrumental soundscapes similar to, but not derivative of, the now-famous Austin act Explosions In The Sky. To simply say they are "Houston's version" wouldn't do them justice - there's more of an edge to these tunes, and the general tone is different - think big ambient swells like those featured in The Appleseed Cast. Just trust us when we say it's pretty good.

Josiah Gabriel - There's always an awkward feeling when a friend says, "Hey, you should come to my show" - if it's bad you're never sure what to do or say in return. We were pleasantly surprised to catch our friend Noah, who performs under the name Josiah Gabriel, at The Husk last week, and it was fantastic. His electronic layering of beats, sounds, and samples, complete with occasional vocals, is built very well. The songs up now are old tracks made to back up live tracks, so make sure you see him in person to get a real impression.

InsertNameHere - These four fellas from the east side of town are making throwback pop punk that'll knock you back to 1998. They've got an album coming out this Saturday, and we interviewed them this week - look for it tomorrow. Other sites: MySpace, Purevolume, SoundCloud, Twitter, YouTube.

From the vault

The Energy - Speaking of sloppy-style, well-assembled punk with a prodigious pedigree and a glasses-wearing frontman, allow us to touch on The Energy. We were at their debut show as well, last summer. It's freaking good, and we [again, man we're getting good at this] managed to snag one of their now-extinct demos. Fear not, they'll have a full length coming out soon on Team Science Records. For now, give the tracks on MySpace a listen, and catch them live on Monday the 15th at Mango's, where they'll be opening for Thee Oh Sees.

Photos: Jordan Graber [Weird Party], Forests

tacos de trompo
by Erika Ray

Just like Mom used to make...

FotoFest 2010 - Light & Vision 2: 40 Years of Photography at the Rice Media Center
Free and open to the public.
Monday through Friday
11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Closed Saturday and Sunday
Opening Reception: 03/12/10 - 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Beginning Hip-Hop Class (Wednesdays)
Houston Dance Factory
5711 Hillcroft Ste D-3
Only $11/class or $40/month
Info Phone: 832.275.9680
This class is held every Wednesday through September 1, 2010

carnivore
by schemacoma

The consumer monster awaits your next shopping adventure!

On The Fly - Low Res
by KaleidoscopePhotos

The Northern Harrier also known as the Hen Harrier (Circus cyaneus) is a hawk that is commonly found on open grassland and marshes. The Northern Harrier finds food by flying slow and low just above the tall grasses looking for small prey. A curious fact about these birds is that unlike other species the male and female of the species have strikingly different appearances. The male has a white underside with a light gray back and the female is a mottled brown.

This particular bird was photographed on Sargent Beach in Matagorda County.

Whoa! Houstonist knows that the calendar is about to spike over the next weekend and remain strong, but we weren't expecting this sparsity before us. Ah, well - we'll make do, because there's always some music worth seeing in this town.

We'll start out by visiting Boondocks tonight - we don't know Brandon West & The Black Hats, but those fellas in Tha Fucking Transmissions put on a pretty big show. Definitely pop in [it's free!] if you've never taken in a performance.

Tomorrow we think we'll finally be visiting The Hustlers Brass Band at the Big Top, unless something else delays us. Has anyone started a pool on whether we'll catch them before Abe Vigoda dies?

There's a benefit at Super Happy Fun Land on Wednesday, but we don't know much else about it besides the lineup. Houstonist is always down to support a good cause, so you may find us there. The odds are real good that we'll wind up at Mango's before the night is over, as well.

Monday, March 8th
The Cor-Tet at Avant Garden
Tha Fucking Transmissions, Brandon West & The Black Hats at Boondocks
The Octanes, Glover Gill at Continental Club

Tuesday, March 9th
Edhochuli at Super Happy Fun Land
The Hustlers Brass Band at Charlie's Big Top
Milkdrive at Mucky Duck
The Umbrella Man at Continental Club

Wednesday, March 10th
Days n' Daze, Marissa Sendejas, Joe Ray, Andrew Hoskins, U Not I, Comatose & Half-Retarded, Josh Raught, Atom Assassin, Dead Rabbits at Super Happy Fun Land
Patrice Pike at Mucky Duck
Peter & James at Charlie's Big Top
Robert Ellis & The Boys at Mango's
Whiskey Boat, Aubrey Slackey at Continental Club

Photo: Tha Fucking Transmissions MySpace