June Little d After Dark 2012 by Denton Media Company

OPENING SHOT

Carl Finch of Brave Combo at Danâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Silverleaf during an April 21 benefit show for Selwyn College Preparatory School. Photo by Ed Steele

Little d After Dark

June 2012

C O V E R S T O RY JUNE 2012 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 10

With a slightly grizzled beard, tweed flat cap, wool vest and an undeniably intense gaze from behind his wire-rimmed glasses, it’s easy to believe that George Neal is the author of a paper on medieval manuscripts titled “Image, Polemic, and Salvation: Modes of Manifestation in the Morgan Beatus.” And when he leaps onto a picnic table behind Dan’s Silverleaf, Neal also looks every bit the leader of Denton’s most boisterous folk-punk band, Hares on the Mountain. Story by Dave Sims

F E AT U R E S this one goes to 11 Unrill and Ritchy Flo have some demons to work out. The Denton duo’s third album, The (Shock) Therapy Sessions, was the exorcist they recruited to invite the beasts in their brains to an epic wrestling match. By the final track, good and evil are huffing and puffing in their neutral corners.

radio for hep cats and kittens Jake Laughlin said he never set out to create an online radio station streaming Denton music. In fact, DentonRadio.com started out as a tease to get young Christians and seekers at the University of North Texas into Laughlin’s weekly ministry.

THE ELEMENTS opening shot

good dates

editor’s note

2 Publisher Bill Patterson Managing Editor Dawn Cobb

940-566-6879 | dcobb@dentonrc.com

the alchemist Bloody perfect pairing: liquor and the undead.

try this at home Push your pedals to the wall.

Photo by David Minton

work the room Rubber

Gloves Rehearsal Studios and La Meme Gallery.

the buzz Caffeine, jams and food. >>

18-19

cbreeding@dentonrc.com

Advertising Director Sandra Hammond 940-566-6820 shammond@dentonrc.com

flavor junkie A tomato tart fit for summer entertaining.

Features Editor Lucinda Breeding 940-566-6877

Advertising Manager Shawn Reneau 940-566-6843 sreneau@dentonrc.com

Classified Display Julie Hammond 940-566-6819 jhammond@dentonrc.com

Contributing Writers Cody Robinson, Dave Sims, Alyssa Jarrell Photographers Al Key, Barron Ludlum, David Minton, Chris Newby, Ed Steele Designer Rachel McReynolds On the cover Photo by David Minton

The contents of this free publication are copyrighted by Denton Publishing Co., 2012, a subsidiary of A. H. Belo Corp. (www.ahbelo.com, NYSE symbol: AHC), with all rights reserved. Reproduction or use, without permission, of editorial or graphic content in any manner is prohibited. Little d After Dark is published monthly by Denton Publishing Co., 314 E. Hickory St.

have your people call our people

to submit an event for little d’s calendar, e-mail littledcalendar@gmail.com

FRIDAY

JUNE 2012 MUSIC at Denton venues

SUNDAY 3

Luke Wade, noon. Free. Love Shack. J.D. Monson, 6 p.m. Free. Love Shack. Jose Aponte and Caribe Club, 7 p.m. Free. Sweetwater Grill & Tavern. Kat Edmonson, 8:30 p.m. $15-$20. The Kessler. Knock Out, How’s My Driving?, Sally Majestic, Vatican Press, 8 p.m. $7$11. Lola’s.

MONDAY 4

Xeno & Oaklander, Corporate Park, Vulgar Fashion, 9 p.m. $7-$9. Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios.

WEDNESDAY

TUESDAY 5

Marshall Smith and Brazz, 7 p.m. Free. Sweetwater Grill & Tavern. Mister Joe & Friends, Le Not Quite So Hot Klub du Denton, 8 p.m. Free. Banter.

Charlie Shafter, 5 p.m. Free. Dan’s Silverleaf. Best Coast, Jeff the Brotherhood, Mind Spiders, 7 p.m. $17. Granada Theater. Morris McCann, 8 p.m. Free. Love Shack. Bow Wow, 8 p.m. $32.50$35. Palladium Ballroom. Wes Cors, T.A., Swagga P, Karma Jonze, Goat, 8:30 p.m. Free. J&J’s Pizza. Luke Wade and No Civilians, 10 p.m. $8-$12. Lola’s. Austin Allsup, 10:30 p.m. $12. Billy Bob’s.

Alex Cannon, Uver, Josh Sinai, 6-10 p.m. Free. Banter. Ben Smith, 8 p.m. Free. Love Shack. The Stone River Boys, Greezy Wheels, J.P. Harris and the Tough Choices, 8 p.m. $10. Dan’s Silverleaf. Municipal Waste, Black Tusk, 8 p.m. $13-$15. Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios. Whiskey Folk Ramblers, Old Snack, the Treelines, Effinays, 9 p.m. $5-$7. Hailey’s Club.

The Flatlanders, 7 p.m. $30-$50. Granada Theater. All My Sons, 7:30 p.m. $10-$20. Campus Theatre. Oso Closo, Ryan Thomas Becker and Last Joke, BoomBachs, 9 p.m. $10-$12. Hailey’s Club. Wild Tribe, Uzala, Garuda, Pallbearer, 10 p.m. $8-$12. Lola’s. Like Bridges We Burn, Werewolf Therewolf, the Gypsy Bravado, 10 p.m. Abbey Underground.

Moral Deformity, 7 p.m. Andy’s Bar. Cornell Hurd and Friends, 7 p.m. $10. Dan’s Silverleaf. Jackopierce, Ryan Edgar, 7 p.m. $32-$51. Granada Theater. All My Sons, 7:30 p.m. $10-$20. Campus Theatre. Greg Schroeder, 8 p.m. Love Shack. Twitchy, Infidelix, Hail, My Kickdrum Heart, Renaissance Red, the Shelbi Vinyl, 9 p.m. $5-$7. Hailey’s Club.

MUSIC elsewhere

STAGE & SCREEN

County Rexford, 7 p.m. Free. Abbey Inn Restaurant & Pub. Santigold, Charli XCX, 8 p.m. $25-$37.50. House of Blues. Kolton Moore, 8 p.m. The Basement Bar. Toubab Krewe, 8 p.m. $15. Dada. Tom Loris and the Reverberation, Stormy Durant, Louie Garcia, 9 p.m. Free-$5. Hailey’s Club.

SATURDAY

THURSDAY 7

Drew Kennedy, 6 p.m. Free. Love Shack. The Head & the Heart, the Moondoggies, Husky, 7 p.m. $20. Granada Theater. Turnpike Troubadours, Will Hoge, 8 p.m. Rockin’ Rodeo. Yacht, 8 p.m. $13$15. Dada. Sons of Fathers, 9 p.m. Dan’s Silverleaf. Drater, Quoth the Raven, A Tragic Fake, 9 p.m. $5-$10. Hailey’s Club. Little Barie, the Boxing Lesson, 10 p.m. $8$12. Lola’s.

10 All My Sons, 2 p.m. $10-

11 Nautical Almanac, Filth,

12 Whitnye Raquel, Freebie

13 Devouring Plague, Equals,

14 The Atom Age, 7 p.m.

15 All My Sons, 7:30 p.m. $10-

16 Band of Heathens, 7 p.m.

17 All My Sons, 2 p.m. $10-

19 Drew Phelps and Clint

20 County Rexford, 7 p.m.

21 Link Chalon, 6 p.m. Free.

22 Roger Creager, William

23 The Killdares, the O’s,

28 James Hinkle, 6 p.m. Free.

29 Jonathan Tyler & the

30 The Gourds, Gary Myrick,

$20. Campus Theatre. Chris Watson, 6 p.m. Free. Love Shack. George Porter Jr., 7 p.m. $16-$25. Granada Theater. The Temper Trap, Crocodiles, 8 p.m. $25-$30. House of Blues.

$20. Campus Theatre. Le Not Quite So Hot Klub du Denton, 7 p.m. Free. Sweetwater Grill & Tavern.

9 p.m. $5-$7. Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios.

International Sushi Day: June 18

Kings, 8 p.m. The Basement Bar. Sweetwater Jazz Quartet, 7 p.m. Free. Sweetwater Grill & Tavern.

Strong, 7 p.m. Free. Sweetwater Grill & Tavern.

Father’s Day

7 p.m. Andy’s Bar. Earl Bates, 7 p.m. Free. Abbey Inn Restaurant & Pub. The Spring Standards, Spooky Folk, 9 p.m. $7. Dan’s Silverleaf. Bobby Jealousy, Shivery Shakes, Pharaohs, 9 p.m. $5-$7. Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios.

Free. Abbey Inn Restaurant & Pub. Afrojack, 7:30 p.m. $35$40. Palladium Ballroom. The Cult, Against Me!, the Icarus Line, 8 p.m. $27.50$49.50. House of Blues. Couote, Doug Funnie, Spectral the Pusher, Comanche, 9 p.m. Free-$5. Hailey’s Club.

Andy’s Bar. Exit 380, Oil Boom, 8 p.m. The Basement Bar. TV Girl, Spook Easy, Blackstone Rangers, 8 p.m. $8. Dada. 1945, 9 p.m. $5-$10. Hailey’s Club. Canvas Waiting, Little Brave, 10 p.m. $8-$12. Lola’s.

Banter. MoonFace, Siinai, 9 p.m. $12-$14. Dada. Chris Holt and Chad Stockslager, 9 p.m. $7. Dan’s Silverleaf. Waxeater, Geistheistler, Girlfight, Cerulean Giallo, 9 p.m. $3-$5. Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios. Soundings, Iori, For Tomorrow May Fall, 9 p.m. Hailey’s Club.

$20. Campus Theatre. Seryn, Beau Jennings & the Tigers, 8 p.m. $15-$25. The Kessler. Bone Doggie & the Hickory Street Hellraisers, Matthew Grisgsby & the Merry Monsters, Vagabond, My Kickdrum Heart, 9 p.m. $5$7. Hailey’s Club. Band on a Wire, 10 p.m. Banter. TV Girl, Peopleodian, Goldilocks & the Rock, 10 p.m. $7-$10. Dan’s Silverleaf.

Clark Green, Merrol Ray & the Regulators, 7 p.m. $15$24. Granada Theater. Loudon Wainwright III, Kristy Kruger, 8:30 p.m. $25-$37.50. The Kessler. Possessed by Paul James, Delaney Davidson, 9 p.m. $10. Dan’s Silverleaf. Mark McKinney, 10:30 p.m. $12. Billy Bob’s.

$15-$29. Granada Theater. All My Sons, 7:30 p.m. $10-$20. Campus Theatre. Foxtrot Uniform, 8 p.m. Free. Love Shack. Red Fang, 8 p.m. $10-$12. Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios. Toadies, 8 p.m. $30. Palladium Ballroom. Nervous Curtains, Eyes Wings and Other Things, Ice Eater, 10 p.m. $8-$12. Lola’s. Ronnie Milsap, 10:30 p.m. $12-$28. Billy Bob’s.

7 p.m. $16-$29. Granada Theater. Carolyn Wonderland, Betty Soo, 8:30 p.m. $15-$22.50. The Kessler. Future, Pusha T, Young Nation, 9 p.m. $32.50. Palladium Ballroom. Rick Springfield, 10:30 p.m. $15-$35. Billy Bob’s.

Summer Solstice

26 Bonduris Quartet, 7 p.m. Free. Sweetwater Grill & Tavern.

27 Earl Bates, 7 p.m. Free.

Abbey Inn Restaurant & Pub. Black Breath, Martyrdod, Burning Love, Enabler, Power Trip, Wild Tribe, 7 p.m. $10-$15. Dada.

Carpenter Ant Awareness Week: June 24-30

Little d After Dark

Love Shack. Nada Surf, Waters, Air Review, 7 p.m. $16. Granada Theater. Foxtrot Uniform, 8 p.m. Free. Love Shack. The Stolen Season, Hospital Party, 9 p.m. $5-$10. Hailey’s Club.

Northern Lights, the Orbans, Quaker City Night Hawks, 7 p.m. $15-$24. Granada Theater. Beer Gnomes, the Tony Cliftons, Polish Cops, 9 p.m. Andy’s Bar. Akkolyte, Pinkish Black, Ascites, Terminator 2, 9 p.m. $5-$7. Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios. James McMurtry, 10 p.m. $15-$20. Dan’s Silverleaf.

8:30 p.m. $20-$30. The Kessler. Jefferson Colby, Satans of Soft Rock, El Cento, 9 p.m. $8-$10. Lola’s. Merle Haggard, 10:30 p.m. $15-$35. Billy Bob’s.

June 2012

In memoriam

remember the last time I talked to Pops Carter. It was Sept. 12, 2001, and the hours before we met at Dan’s Bar on Elm Street were the most memorable of my career. I tried to prepare for my interview with one of Denton’s most significant musicians. Blues legend Pops had lived in Jim Crow America. He’d lived with the corrosive truth of racial discrimination, but wasn’t embittered by it. When I showed up on the evening of the interview, Pops was dressed to the nines. He had rings on nearly every finger and a hat on his head. “Hey there, baaaaaaaaby!” Pops was a shameless flirt. Pops talked about his life, his itchy feet, His hankering for the road and how much he didn’t like Houston. He talked about the blues, and how the music rose up in him like a sensory memory — a thing that had a scent, a texture and a whole mess of colors. All this came alive when Pops sang. Albert King’s “As the Years Go By” was a burnished, golden song, carrying the soulful regret of Keats’ “Ode to Autumn” to the last note. “I Feel Good” was a scarlet storm of joy. Pops Carter died April 22 at the age of 92. He left us with memories of his scratchy voice on his high notes, his gaptoothed grin and the ruffles on his sleeve. He died nearly a pauper, but his friends

He talked about the blues, and how the music rose up in him like a sensory memory — a thing that had a scent, a texture and a whole mess of colors. All this came alive when Pops sang.

FINALLY!

have created two ways to help. Buy a digital copy of Pops’ album Live! 91st Birthday at popscarter.bandcamp.com. Memorial checks to help Pops’ family meet his funeral expenses can be made out to “Tom Pops Carter Memorial Fund” and delivered to the downtown location of Wells Fargo at 101 S. Locust St.

A REAL DEAL

NO JOKE man that’s good AUTHENTIC

— Lucinda Breeding

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visit facebook.com/littledtx and localspinblog.dentonrc.com.

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June 2012

Little d After Dark

bloody mary

by rachel mcreynolds and lucinda breeding

The drink 3 large stalks celery from the heart, including leaves, plus extra for serving 36 ounces tomato juice 2 teaspoons prepared horseradish 1 teaspoon grated yellow onion 1 lemon, juiced 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 1/2 teaspoon celery salt 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 12 dashes hot sauce, or to taste 1 1/2 cups vodka Cut the celery in large dice, including the leaves, and puree in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Process until finely minced. In a large pitcher, combine the rest of the ingredients except the vodka. With the food processor running, pour 1/4 of the tomato juice mixture into the food processor through the feed tube. Then pour the contents of the food processor into the pitcher with the remaining tomato juice mixture. Add the vodka and chill. Serve in tall glasses over ice with a stick of celery. Makes 6 drinks. — recipe via FoodNetwork.com Vampires — or vampyres, for the purists and 1,000-yearold undead among us — are sweeping the nation. Next to dystopian love triangles involving some combination of hunger, games and/or zombies, vampires are the big storytelling trope of the last 10 years. Must be something about blood, right? All packed with iron and whatnot. But for those of us who aren’t vitamin deficient, the idea’s also oddly romantic, the eternally young pulled between good and evil, between life and death. Plus, capes are hot. Don’t deny it. Just ask Abraham Lincoln, right? What? The June 22 release of the inexplicable novel-turned-film Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter cries out for a themed drink. How can it fail? Presidential history, capes and liquor — comb the catacombs high and low for a better combination of movie ideas; you won’t find it. Pair this movie with a nice, chill bloody Mary, and everybody wins. Except the vampyres. And possibly the historians.

The tunes While you’re sipping, listen to these bands: the Virgin Wolves (this Denton band offers up swaggering, famished rock that’s unapologetically carnal), Ashley Cromeens (a local singer whose contralto caterwaul could wake the dead and make them dance), My Bloody Valentine (an obvious choice, this group is refined and cool on the surface, but very, very hot and bothered underneath).

Photo by David Minton

Little d After Dark

June 2012

but please don’t sue me

by cody robinson

Wah-wah walls Velcro-heavy project keeps guitar pedals underfoot only when you need them

hen you’re working in a small space, organization and accessibility are crucial. As I slowly tame the jungle of wires and equipment that is my home studio, I am often completely blind to the most obvious answer. In this particular case, I was trying to find a way to store my guitar pedals in a manner that kept them from being trampled underfoot (get it? ’cause ... never mind) in a room with very little storage space, but I needed them handy in case I wanted to use them for a recording session. While roaming the expansive aisles of nifty plastic storage solutions at our local behemoth superstore, inspiration came from my lovely wife as we passed the sewing section. Velcro. Why didn’t I think of that? I’ve already used Velcro to secure the pedals I use in a live setting to a single board for easy transport and setup — why couldn’t I do the same for home storage? So began the easiest build I’ve ever done. CODY ROBINSON is the production director at the Denton Record-Chronicle as well as a local musician. He’s never met a power tool he couldn’t use or a warranty he couldn’t void. His email address is cbrobinson@dentonrc.com.

Materials

Directions

1-by-4-inch scrap (length depends on how many pedals you have) 1 roll of 5-by-2-foot industrial-strength Velcro (self-sticking) Stapler/staples 2 screws and 2 drywall anchors 2 drill bits (size can vary, one the size of the screws and one the size of the anchors) Drill/driver Paint (your choice of color) Scissors Masking tape Level

1. Paint the 1-by-4-inch board (mine is 4 1/2 feet long, since I have more to hang; length depends on how many pedals — or other equipment — you want to hang). Once the paint dries, add a 2-inch strip of adhesive-backed Velcro down the center. For mine, I cut the Velcro so it wrapped around the top and bottom of the board by about 2 inches, which adds strength and stability. Staple the ends of the Velcro to the board. I have also found that using the looped (or “fluffy”) side of the Velcro on the board and the hooked (stiff) part on the pedals makes for easier removal. 2. Once the board is covered, cut strips of the hooked side of the Velcro into 2- to 4-inch lengths, depending on the size of the pedal you’re working with. Stick pieces to the bottom of your pedals. 3. To mount the board to the wall, start by covering the first few inches of each end of the board with masking tape (to keep sawdust from getting stuck in the Velcro). Use a drill bit about the same size as your mounting screws to drill a hole in each end, centered in the board and at least 1/2 inch from the end. After drilling the holes, remove the masking tape. Place the screws in the holes with at least some of the pointy end poking out of the back side of the board. 4. Decide where you would like to hang your new pedal rack (this is where the level comes in handy). Once you’ve found the perfect position, press it against

The force is strong with this one

June 2012

Little d After Dark

Continued on 9 7

xegesis

by lucinda breeding

Track for track: The (Shock) Therapy Sessions

INTRO

Photo by Al Key

Shock value

PUT ME IN YOUR MOUTH

Xegesis’ new album plugs into artists’ heads

nrill and Ritchy Flo have some demons to work out. The Denton duo’s third album, The (Shock) Therapy Sessions, was the exorcist they recruited to invite the beasts in their brains to an epic wrestling match. By the final track, good and evil are huffing and puffing in their neutral corners. Unrill — alter ego of Scott McBride — said the hip-hop artists really thought they’d finished with the theme of shock. The beats-and-rhymes team emerged onto the North Texas scene in 2008 with Future Shock, followed by 2010’s Aftershock. “We were going to get away from the shock theme, but we ended up going back to it,” Unrill said. “Hey, this is our shock therapy — music.” 8

Why review the requisite introduction to a hip-hop album? Because Ritchy Flo found and used part of an interview with a woman with severe depression. The woman (called “Mary” in a video up on YouTube) mumbles about her psychosis in the depth of suicidal depression: “I realized I was the devil .../I realized I’d probably never loved anything.” Turned into an eerie moan via AutoTune, we’re ushered into a record that examines the artist’s trials with melancholy, runaway libido and the realization that superstition can’t always save us from a life that can deliver sorrow and joy in unequal measure.

Ritchy Flo — stage name of Ritchy Flores — isn’t too fussed about the return of shock to their work. “We call this our three-quel,” he said. “This is a lot darker than our first two albums.” True enough. Flo and Unrill are in their early 20s, the time when the culture expects young men to put the things of childhood away and bow to the American dream, with those familiar mile markers of the corporate job-with-benefits-package, marriage and children. Instead, Flo and Unrill are working ho-hum jobs (Flo can list the annoyances of the service industry) to fund their first love: versemaking. (Shock) Therapy, which dropped the last weekend of April, is rife with rhymes about young men working out adulthood. We want our men to be masculine — macho, even — without being bullies. We want them to be team players and leaders,

innovators and developers, cheerleaders and critical thinkers. “So You Call This Love” is a grown-up open letter to the narrator’s true love, a woman in full bloom physically, but immature morally and indiscriminate sexually. The song doesn’t try to mask the grief and anger of being played, and here, Xegesis doesn’t pretend not to be susceptible to sexual and emotional obsession. The album reaches its apex, in terms of maturity, is “You Can Keep the Happy Shit,” Xegesis’ jaded sign-off. The world is complicated, following your dreams is painful and conflict is inevitable. The only time everyone gets a trophy is in T-ball, and Xegesis left those leagues a long time ago. There’s some regression, too. Female eyes probably roll during “What Would You Do,” a no-holds-barred song about the artists’ libido and lack of a brain censor

Little d After Dark

It’s a three-minute invitation to do something that should be pretty obvious. It’s nasty as hell — but, dammit, it’s catchy, too. This is the sort of song that gets Bill O’Reilly’s intestines in a double knot, the essence of feminists’ love-hate relationship with hip-hop. As pornorific as this song is, the beats are crazy good, and the energy of the song is in the primal party zone.

AWAKENING The album needs this track after “Put Me in Your Mouth.” In precise rhyme, Xegesis gets real about, well, stuff. The beat slows down to that vrooming motion of a road-tripping car. “They say life’s a bitch/Yeah, she’s a bitch but I love her/Even though my mama’s sick and I hardly see my youngest brother.” Then: “Lost the only girl I ever loved and that’s the truth/or maybe it’s my pride because she’s [expletive] someone new/that too says she love him/but I know what that means/It means I was too late and she’s onto new things.” The song is rife with self-awareness and a consciousness of the daily grind. On later tracks, illicit substances are praised for helping the grind wear them down a little less.

Continued on 9 June 2012

xegesis

Continued

Continued from 7 >> from 8 >>

when they’ve just added alcohol. Sure, there’s some winking from Flo and Unrill in the song, be we get the picture. “We Can Do Anything” is a college-age man’s treatise. Any sexual stunt or scenario — whether ridiculous, funny or downright absurd — is negotiable for the woman who want to ride long term with these two. And we’re even talking about dressing up as a clown, folks. The guys of Xegesis took their time with (Shock) Therapy. Unrill said it was an eight-month project. “We’re slow,” Flo said. “A lot of rappers work fast. I mean, you have five guys in a room and everyone is like, ‘We’re gonna do a song,’ and it’s done. We have a different process. We never put out our first recording of anything.” The duo’s process usually consists of Flo making a lot of beats — say, 30 — then bringing them to Unrill. Together, they braid verses into the beats and tinker, sometimes obsessively, with the sounds. The duo plans obsessively, too, so that the recording process goes off without, or nearly without, a hitch. If artistic differences emerge, the longtime friends have a fail-safe method of resolution. “Whoever has the most smart-ass remark wins,” Flo said. The process took a little longer than usual with (Shock) Therapy, thanks to a lack of technical know-how. “We had to use a program we’d never used before,” Flo said. “I like that we’re resourceful. If you give us something to work with, we’re going to do something.” (Shock) Therapy has the duo eating its words on one piece of music tech in particular: Auto-Tune. “We’re the first people to dog on anything that’s popular with music, and we have bitched about Auto-Tune,” Unrill said. “Auto-Tune was created for Xegesis,” Flo said. “I loved it. ... Our music is melodicbased. We’re not Michael Buble here, but melody is what leads to everything else we do in our music, and it was really awesome to experiment with Auto-Tune. I couldn’t stop messing with it.” Unrill said the popular software didn’t subordinate the rest of the work. Instead, the guys backed off and only used it where the music seemed to call for it. And given the album’s recurring theme of shock therapy, having a voice suddenly fuzz out of focus in fact makes sense. Shock therapy in the real world is rich with dualities, something Xegesis took advantage of. Some in the mental health community believe electroconvulsive therapy — a controlled method of inflicting brain damage — is the only medicine for a small population for people crippled by clinical depresJune 2012

the wall, making sure to apply pressure over each screw to mark its position in the wall. Set the pedal rack aside. 5. With a drill bit just slightly smaller than the drywall anchors, drill a hole where each screw left a mark on the wall. Insert drywall anchors, then align the screws in the pedal rack with their corresponding anchors and tighten them by hand. Since that was so easy, here are a few ideas if you’re the type to go overboard:

Take it one step further ... Attach a small locker crate or cigar box at the bottom of the board to hold extra batteries, patch cables or power supplies.

While roaming the expansive aisles of nifty plastic storage solutions at our local behemoth superstore, inspiration came from my lovely wife as we passed the sewing section. Velcro. Unrill, left, and Ritchy Flo. Courtesy photo

sion. Turn up the dial, and shock therapy (of a sort) has killed the condemned. Xegesis refers to both — the artists’ habit of getting stuck in their heads as well as the willful, defiant behavior that sets them against society. For Ritchy Flo, propriety isn’t the top priority. Expression is. And like a lot of rappers, offensive terms are code for something else. When he started rapping as a 12-year-old, Flo performed for his family. Now, he raps, rhymes and makes beats for himself and for listeners who might find Xegesis a flag bearer for their inner thoughts and questions. And when they finish a project, any critics have to line up behind the artists themselves. “We’re really hard on ourselves,” Unrill

said. “I think that’ll always be the case for us, even if we get a million followers on Twitter.” Flo agreed. “We have to make music that is good enough for us,” he said. “If we can get more shows, if we can keep moving forward, then we’re living up to what we want for Xegesis.” The album is available for $7 at xegesis.bandcamp.com. LUCINDA BREEDING can be reached by calling 940-566-6877 or sending an e-mail to cbreeding@dentonrc.com.

Little d After Dark

... or to the next level While the pedals are attached to the wall, connect them together and hook them up to your guitar rig. Practice your ninja skills as you switch them on and off while playing. (Suggested by bandmate Paddy Flynn)

Obvious bonus project Find an old briefcase and cut a piece of 1/2-inch plywood that will fit comfortably inside of it. Cover the plywood with strips of Velcro just like you did on the pedal rack. Attach your pedals to the board and connect them to one another using 1/4inch patch cables, arranging them as you would on stage — and you’ve got an instant pedal board with carrying case.

Photo by David Minton

Little d After Dark

June 2012

hares on the mountain

by dave sims

ith a slightly grizzled beard, tweed flat cap, wool vest and an undeniably intense gaze from behind his wire-rimmed

glasses, it’s easy to believe that George Neal is the author of a paper on medieval manuscripts titled “Image, Polemic, and Salvation: Modes of Manifestation in the Morgan Beatus.” And when he leaps onto a picnic table behind Dan’s Silverleaf, belting out a raucous anthem about death and God (or the absence thereof) in a frazzled, weather-beaten voice that sounds as if it undergoes weekly treatments of steel wool and gravel gargling, Neal also looks every bit the leader of Denton’s most boisterous folk-punk band, Hares on the Mountain. But if you catch him on the way out of Jupiter House on the Denton Square, you might find that what he really wants to talk about is the history of progressive rock. Such diverse talents and rangy imagination have made Neal a noted polymath in these parts. Long one of Denton’s most respected songwriters and bandleaders, he was the force behind the groups Little Grizzly and the Slow Burners. Since earning his master’s degree from UNT, he’s also become an art history teacher, with a focus on sacred art from the Middle Ages. All of these interests appear to have collided in Hares on the Mountain, a collective of some of the most well-traveled musicians in the North Texas area, most of whom seem to have simply inserted themselves into the group over time. They were drawn in by Neal’s compelling amalgamation of traditional folk music and original ballads, and to be part of a full-throated singalong live show that is slowly becoming one of the must-see weekly events in Denton County and beyond. Sitting outside at a picnic table with the whole band in front of Rooster’s Roadhouse, two doors down from their home base at Dan’s, Neal insists that, unlike his previous projects, Hares’ very existence is more or less an accident. Begun as a small four-track project at the behest of Slow Burners guitarist Ryan Thomas Becker, the band virtually willed itself into existence. “It wasn’t planned,” he says. “There was nothing devised in the band, it just happened.” With Becker in place on guitar, bassist Tony Ferraro, drummer Justin Collins, violinist Petra Kelly and man-

dolinist Cory Coleman slowly assembled, one gig to the next, and eventually Neal found himself surrounded by a range of instrumentalists and vocalists that provided a voice for characters and styles that Neal never had before. He finally had a palette as wide as his imagination. Kelley says she wasn’t entirely sure Neal would even remember inviting her to rehearsal. “I told George if he ever needed a violinist, I’d love to. And then George was like, yeah definitely, come play,” she

the band after its first record was mixed. “The record was done and George asked me, ‘Would you play on this release party?’ and I said yes,” Collins says. “And then I didn’t show up to the release party, because I had booked a recording gig.” “Ha!” Neal says with a laugh. “He missed the first show, I’d forgotten about that.” These accidental memberships were fortuitous for Neal, who started handing out lead vocal assignments for songs and folk arrangements he’d been working on, but didn’t want to sing himself. “The original group of songs [was] sort of this motley group of traditionals, original tunes I had been kicking around for years,” he says. “It’s a real hodge-podge of songwriting.” All the members of Hares now share lead vocal duties. Hares started playing low-key Sunday night gigs at Dan’s, and pretty quickly realized that the songs lend themselves to a pub atmosphere, turning traditionals like “Thorneymoor Woods,” into — for lack of a better term — big, loud drinking songs. And to the band’s surprise, audiences loved it, and started singing along. It is now a Dan’s weekly event. Hares is not your father’s folk band. The Hares themselves seem to actually suffer a bit from “folk fatigue.” “You gotta put together a folk band with a couple of people who hate folk music,” Collins says. “Right,” Becker agrees. “And completely ruin it!” Under Neal’s careful curation, the Hares’ songbook does an effective job of bridging the gap between British and Appalachian folk traditions, with a huge dose of the Pogues thrown in. It’s a potent combination, with a driving, punk-by-way-of-Memphis backbeat and a rambling collection of murder ballads, skeptical anthems and gentle odes to the Virgin Mary. “I intended them to be singalong songs,” Neal says, “but the intention was not ever to put them into a singalong

Sitting outside at a picnic table with the whole band in front of Rooster’s Roadhouse, two doors down from their home base at Dan’s, Neal insists that, unlike his previous projects, Hares’ very existence is more or less an accident. Begun as a small four-track project at the behest of Slow Burners guitarist Ryan Thomas Becker, the band virtually willed itself into existence.

says. “And then I showed up at practice and I felt so awkward since he drunkenly invited me to join the band and I’m there the next day.” Coleman tells a similar story. “I just brought my mandolin, played on the side of the stage, and moved a little closer and eventually just ended up on stage,” he says, “And they were like, ‘Hey buddy!’” Drummer/multi-instrumentalist Collins wandered into Little d After Dark

environment, which was stupid of me not to realize.” Neal certainly realizes it now, and conducts Hares shows with the charisma and showmanship of a seasoned carnival barker, or some kind of punk-rock Elmer Gantry. “It requires a certain mindset going into a Hares show: ‘I’m going to a pub singalong,’” he says. >>

Continued on 16 June 2012

rubber gloves rehearsal studios and la meme gallery

by lucinda breeding

Love for the local dive bar Rubber Gloves celebrates 15th year of hosting music worth losing an ear to

light blue plastic specimen cup sits on a black box mounted to a wooden post behind the bar at Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios. A rare 7-inch album by Japanese trio Boris is propped up behind that blue cup, signed by each of the artists. Inside that blue cup is a ragged chunk of bar owner Josh Baish’s ear lobe, bitten off in a fight in Marfa. “It’s totally gross,” Baish said. “But it’s connected to this whole story of my favorite band in the world.” When you open the English translation of the Japanese lyrics from that 7inch record, you’ll see a reference to the very chunk of earlobe rescued from a parking lot by one of the musicians of Boris. Baish came by the scuffed floors, tobacco-stained fliers and down-at-heel booths that line the walls of Rubber Gloves honestly. “I always tell people the club is called Rubber Gloves because it used to be a porn studio,” Baish said. “They always go, ‘Really?’ and I let ’em believe it for a minute before I’m like, ‘No.’” The venue, located literally on the other side of the tracks, was opened by Jason and Memory Wortham as a rehearsal space. Local musicians could lease the studios and practice for shows or jam and try out new material for upcoming recordings. Baish was putting in hours that would prepare him to one day make Rubber Gloves his own. “I’d bartended at Rick’s on Fry Street five years,” Baish said. “I came over here one night and I just saw all this potential. There wasn’t anything on this side of town. It was all [on] Fry Street.” The potential Baish saw was in the atmosphere and in the no-frills, torn-atthe-seams building, which now houses an equally no-frills art gallery — Meme Gallery. “I like dive bars and I like live music,” Baish said. “Now, when you’re talking about Meme Gallery, I never thought about doing something like that, but it’s >>

June 2012

Continued on 17

Photos by Lucinda Breeding

RUBBER GLOVES REHEARSAL STUDIOS AND LA MEME GALLERY 411 E. Sycamore St. Hours: 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. on live music nights; 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. on DJ nights. Gallery hours: 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. on exhibit nights. rubberglovesdentontx.com. lamemegallery.com. Little d After Dark

dentonradio.com

by lucinda breeding

No dial needed Upstart Internet radio station plays all Denton, all the time

ake Laughlin said he never set out to create an online radio station streaming Denton music. In fact, DentonRadio.com started out as a tease to get young Christians and seekers at the University of North Texas into Laughlin’s weekly ministry. “I had this club ministry,” Laughlin said. “I mean, we’d talk about Jesus and stuff like that. But I needed a way to get people in the door.” At UNT, music is king, and Laughlin knew anything he started up needed to incorporate it somehow. He said he didn’t intend to present only Christian music, but a mix of secular and Christian acts. “Here’s the thing, though,” Laughlin

TURN UP THE RADIO With Hares on the Mountain; Mi Son, Mi Son, Mi Son; Spooky Folk; Bone Doggie and the Hickory Street Hellraisers. 6 to 10 p.m. June 24 at Dan’s Silverleaf, 103 Industrial St. Cover to be announced.

DOGGIE TIME Hosted by Bone Doggie. 8 p.m. Tuesdays at DentonRadio.com.

said. “I never got anyone to perform who I didn’t think was amazing. Every single person or band I booked was amazingly talented.” Laughlin said his eyes were opened — and fast — to the pool of raw talent and >>

Continued on 18

Jake Laughlin. DRC file photo

Little d After Dark

June 2012

summer tomato tart

by alyssa jarrell

Courtesy photos/Chris Newby

Jewels of summer Childhood memories of fresh-picked crop inspire simple seasonal tart

hen I was a kid, my parents grew these big, beautiful tomatoes in the backyard. They’d be brought in after turning bright red, and I’d eat them like most people eat apples. I loved taking that first giant bite while the flesh of the tomato was still hot from the sun. I didn’t want or need salt or pepper — the fresh, homegrown tomato was fine on its own. In fact, I still favor tomatoes over most June 2012

other fruits and veggies — and I have an array of favorite recipes that call for them. The great thing about tomatoes is that when they are in their prime, they really don’t need much help. Slice them up with a little salt and pepper and they make a great side dish. Pair them with mozzarella cheese and basil and you have yourself a caprese salad. Place slices on toasted sourdough and top with a poached egg and you have one of my favorite breakfasts. And that’s really the point, isn’t it? The freshest food speaks for itself and doesn’t really need a lot of help to make it delicious.

Tomatoes do just that. They make meals simple and easy; they don’t need us to do the work for them. Summertime entertaining should be simple, stress-free and not so intensive that we break into more of a sweat than we’re already in. So I give you a superbly simple and incredibly tasty tomato tart. Use that abundance of heirloom and local tomatoes that may have come in your community-supported agriculture box or from the Denton Community Market. Use any and all varieties of those tomatoes you can. More variety means more fun flavors.

Little d After Dark

I encourage you to serve this with arugula tossed in balsamic vinegar, olive oil and a generous handful of fresh Parmesan cheese. Serve on the side — or if you’re feeling adventurous, right on top of the hot tart. ALYSSA JARRELL is an adventurer in the kitchen who enjoys giving her culinary creations to family and friends. Her website is thepinkantler.com. >>

Continued on 17 15

Continued from 12 >> It’s a role that suits Neal just fine. “George is like the station programmer,” Collins says. “If Hares was a radio station, George is like the guy in charge of choosing the tunes.” But as the audiences grow and the gigs start piling up, the Hares don’t want to break the fun-times-spell by starting to take things too seriously. Mainly, they just want to keep playing together and enjoy the moment. Not that they wouldn’t like to see things take off. Neal is setting up gigs for this fall and next spring, and word is starting to get around about Hares’ live chemistry — they just got invited to an Irish festival in Milwaukee. But if you ask them what the

Hares started playing low-key Sunday night gigs at Dan’s, and pretty quickly realized that the songs lend themselves to a pub atmosphere. goals for the band are, they laugh and goad each other like siblings, and agree that simply playing these tunes in a band they love is enough. “It didn’t even start as a band,” Neal says. “It’s just turned into a really good time. If we can make that good time bigger and longer, then awesome. If not, we’re still having a good time.” “Yeah,” Kelly chimes in. “Let’s not ruin the relationship by getting married.” DAVE SIMS is a former contributing editor of Paste Magazine and current freelance music writer and musician. He lives and works in Denton.

Photo by David Minton

Little d After Dark

June 2012

Continued from 13 >> turned out really well.” James “Shep” Shepard, general manager of Rubber Gloves for the last six years, said Meme Gallery (also known as La Meme Gallery) had its roots in a practice from his younger days. “When I was real young, if I had a friend who couldn’t pay rent, I’d give ’em $200 for rent, but then we’d have a party and they’d have to put their art up on the walls. That was the bargain,” Shep said. “It worked out well.” Shep said he’d been scratching his head over how to make more money from the empty space that is now Meme. The 2,000-square-foot room with white walls, a ceiling of metal gridwork that opens into open ductwork and cement floor used to be the bar office, Baish said. When he and Shep moved the office to a smaller interior room, the space was vacant. The neon lights are off during shows, with improvised track lighting — binder clips affix cheap bulbin-metal reflectors to the ceiling. And during the Dead Week Print Show, artwork was mounted to the wall in a manner that might scandalize public and commercial gallerists: mini binder clips gripped the unframed prints, with office supply push pins attaching them to the wall. Think of it as the un-gallery. The bar isn’t licensed to sell, serve or even allow alcohol in the adjoining space. Shep said members of Pan Ector Industries, a Denton-born and -bred screen-printing business, approached the club about using the space as a gallery. “It just worked out,” Shep said. “The openings and the shows are one night only. The artists get exposure for their work and people pay $1 cover to Rubber Gloves to get in. You can’t drink or smoke in the gallery, so we don’t violate our license with the [Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission] and the artists get a place where a lot of people can see their work.” Should the gallery patrons get thirsty, they can go next door and open a tab. Most of the gallery shows coincide with a full night of live music or DJ music, so art lovers can end their cultural experience with an auditory one. June 2012

In the gallery’s early days, Baish and Shep contacted Meme Gallery in Cambridge, Mass., to tell owners that they’d started a tiny art space called La Meme, or Meme Gallery for short. (For the uninitiated, a “meme” is element of pop culture that’s been satirized and spread online.) “If you look it up on Facebook, our space says La Meme, but the folks in Cambridge were really, really cool about it. They didn’t have any problem with us using the same name,” Baish said. Initially, Pan Ector coordinated shows. Shep does the booking in the gallery now, often with the help of Nevada Hill. Baish said the upstairs rehearsal studios, the bar, stage and gallery are all part of a simple plan: to keep the taps flowing, the music playing and Denton’s arts buffs sated with everything from death metal to folk music and art. In the process, Baish said he gets to discover new bands, meet rising stars and reconnect with his musical heroes. He isn’t in the business to get rich. He said musicians often seek him out after a set to thank him for how they were treated — that they were paid and, if a contract calls for it, fed. Baish recalled the night Boris — that Japanese noise-rock trio — sold out the club. “That was huge for me,” he said. “The tickets were $15 and they sold out before the day of the show. They brought their daughter, and we were able to have a friend baby-sit and act as a translator. I

Continued from 15 >>

Alyssa’ s tomato tart 1 package frozen puff pastry (you can also make your own from scratch if you prefer) 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced 2 tablespoons olive oil 1/2 cup shredded fontina cheese 4 to 5 large tomatoes of your choice (I used 1 beefsteak, 2 green and 2 small heirloom) Salt and freshly ground pepper 1/2 cup feta cheese Slice tomatoes, place on folded paper towels, and let stand 30 minutes. Press refrigerated puff pastry dough on the bottom and up the sides of a round 9inch tart pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 9 minutes or until the piecrust is lightly browned. Set aside. (The crust may puff up. If so, just press the center back down and let cool.) In a small saucepan, warm the olive oil and garlic over medium heat until fragrant, 4 to 5 minutes. Pour the oil and garlic over the tart crust. Sprinkle the fontina cheese over the garlic and oil. Arrange tomato slices on the tart, allowing them to overlap. Season with the salt and pepper. Sprinkle the feta cheese over the tomatoes and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until the tart is lightly browned. Serve with arugula salad on the side, and maybe some fresh Italian sodas.

remember I sent them a note telling them how awesome it was to have them at my bar. Like five minutes later, I got an e-mail saying the show here was the best one of the tour.” Rubber Gloves just celebrated 15 years of hosting live music, DJ dance nights and a well-stocked bar. Baish said it hasn’t been a smooth road. Years ago he announced plans to relocate the club

when it looked like the Denton County Transportation Authority might turn the spot into a parking lot, but that didn’t happen. Then there are the trials of running a small business and the fact that running one in a college town means there are long stretches when the cash register is alarmingly empty. But despite the obstacles, Baish and Shep plan to keep on keeping on. “We’re not going to change our focus,” Baish said. “As long as I can keep this going, we’re going to be a neighborhood dive bar that hosts great music. I don’t see any reason to change direction.” LUCINDA BREEDING can be reached by calling 940566-6877 or sending an e-mail to cbreeding@ dentonrc.com.

The crowd at a Terminator 2 show at Rubber Gloves in March. The Dallas Morning News/Eve Edelheit

Little d After Dark

where to find

music,

caffeine and

for more listings, visit wimgo.com

Bell Ave.

Congress

Oakland

Austin

Egan

Parkway Pearl McKinney

Bolivar

Oak

Hickory

Mulberry

Bell Ave.

Locust

Austin

Elm

Carroll Blvd.

food/drink in denton

dentonradio.com

Continued from 14 >>

Around downtown THE ABBEY INN RESTAURANT & PUB 101 W. Hickory St. 940-566-5483. THE ABBEY UNDERGROUND 100 W. Walnut St. 940-565-5478. facebook.com/ theabbeyunderground ANDAMAN THAI RESTAURANT 221 E. Hickory St. 940-591-8790. andamanthairestaurant.com ANDY’S BAR 122 N. Locust St. 940565-5400. reverbnation.com/venue/andysbar BANTER 219 W. Oak St. 940-5651638. dentonbanter.com BETH MARIE’S OLD-FASHIONED ICE CREAM AND SODA FOUNTAIN 117 W. Hickory St. 940-384-1818. (second location at Unicorn Lake, 2900 Wind River Lane) bethmaries.com BURGUESA BURGER 214 E. Hickory St. 940-442-6113. burguesa.com CASA GALAVIZ 508 S. Elm St. 940-3872675. CELLAR 22 219 E. Hickory St. 940-4350149. thecellar22.com CRAZY HORSE SALOON 508 S. Elm St. 940-591-0586. THE CHESTNUT TREE 107 W. Hickory St. 940-591-9475. chestnuttearoom. com THE CUPBOARD 200 W. Congress St. 940-387-5386. cupboardnaturalfoods.com DAN’S SILVERLEAF 103 Industrial St. 940-320-2000. danssilverleaf.com DENTON SQUARE DONUTS 208 W Oak St. 940-220-9447. dentonsquaredonuts. com EL CHAPARRAL GRILLE 324 E. McKinney St., Suite 102. 940-243-1313. EL GUAPO’S 419 S. Elm St. 940-5665575. elguapos.com THE GREENHOUSE 600 N. Locust St. 940-484-1349. greenhouserestaurant denton.com HAILEY’S CLUB 122 W. Mulberry St. 940-323-1160. haileysclub.com HANNAH’S OFF THE SQUARE 111 W. Mulberry St. 940-566-1110. J&J’S PIZZA 118 W. Oak St. 940-3827769. jandjpizzadenton.com JUPITER HOUSE 106 N. Locust St. 940-387-7100. jupiterhousecoffee.net KEIICHI SUSHI 500 N. Elm St. 940-3827505. THE LABB 218 W. Oak St. 940-2934240. thelabbdenton.com LA MEXICANA 619 S. Locust St. 940483-8019. LOCO CAFE 603 N. Locust St. 940387-1413. locodenton.com THE LOOPHOLE 119 W. Hickory St. 940-565-0770. loopholepub.com LOVE SHACK 115 E. Hickory St. 940442-6834. loveburgershack.com MAD WORLD RECORDS 115 W. Hickory St. 940-591-3001.

Sycamore

Staff graphic

MELLOW MUSHROOM 217 E. Hickory St. 940-323-1100. mellowmushroom.com MI CASITA 110 N. Carroll Blvd. 940-8911932. (Mi Casita Express at 905 W. University Drive) NV CUPCAKES 118 E. McKinney St. 817-229-3031. nvcupcakes.com OAK STREET DRAFTHOUSE 308 E. Oak St. 940-395-1950. RAMEN REPUBLIC 210 E. Hickory St. 940-387-3757. ramenrepublic.biz RAVELIN BAKERY 416 S. Elm St. 940-382-8561. ROOSTER’S ROADHOUSE 113 Industrial St. 940-382-4227. roostersroadhouse.com RUBBER GLOVES REHEARSAL STUDIOS 411 E. Sycamore St. 940-3877781. rubberglovesdentontx.com SEVEN MILE CAFE 311 W. Congress St. 940-808-0200. sevenmilecafe.com SIAM OFF THE SQUARE 209 W. Hickory St., Suite 104. 940-382-5118. siamoffthesquare.com SWEETWATER GRILL & TAVERN 115 S. Elm St. 940-484-2888. VERONICA’S CAFE 803 E. McKinney St. 940-565-9809. VIGNE 222 W. Hickory St., Suite 103. 940566-1010. WEINBERGER’S DELI 311 E. Hickory St., Suite 110. 940-566-5900. weinbergers denton.com WINE SQUARED 110 W. Oak St. 940384-9463. winetimeswine.com YOGURT FUSION 209 W. Hickory St. 940-597-6367. yofusion.com ZERA COFFEE CO. 420 E. McKinney St., Suite 106. 940-239-8002.

Greater Denton BAGHERI’S 1125 E. University Drive, Suite A. 940-382-4442. BOCHY’S BISTRO 2430 I-35E, Suite 136. 940-387-3354. bochys.com

Blvd. 940-382-7070. cafeduluxe.com CAFE CHINA 2900 Wind River Lane, Suite 130. 940-320-8888. CAFE GARIBALDI 1813 N. Elm St. 940591-1131. cafegaribaldi.com CHINATOWN CAFE 2317 W. University Drive. 940-382-8797. FREEBIRDS WORLD BURRITO 2700 W. University Drive. 940-565-5400. freebirds. com GOLDEN CHINA 717 I-35E, Suite 100. 940-566-5588. GREEN ZATAR 609 Sunset St. 940-3832051. internationalfoodofdenton.com I LOVE SUSHI 917 Sunset St. 940-8916060. ilovesushidenton.com JUPITER HOUSE EUROPA 503 W. University Drive. 940-566-2891. jupiterhouse coffee.net LA MILPA MEXICAN RESTAURANT 820 S. I-35E, Suite 101. 940-382-8470. LUIGI’S PIZZA ITALIAN RESTAURANT 2317 W. University Drive. 940-591-1988. MAZATLAN MEXICAN RESTAURANT 1928 N. Ruddell St. 940566-1718. METZLER’S BAR-B-Q 628 Londonderry Lane. 940-591-1652. MR. FROSTY 1002 Fort Worth Drive. 940-387-5449. NEW YORK SUB-WAY 305 W. University Drive. 940-566-1823. POURHOUSE SPORTS GRILL 3350 Unicorn Lake Blvd. 940-484-7455. ROCKY’S SPORTS BAR 2000 W. University Drive. 940-382-6090. ROYAL EAST 1622A W. University Drive. 940-383-7633. ROMAN’S PIZZA 3001 N. Elm St., Suite 200. 940-566-3000. romanspizzadenton.com RT’S NEIGHBORHOOD BAR 1100 Dallas Drive, Suite 124. 940-381-2277. THE SMOKEHOUSE 1123 Fort Worth Drive. 940-566-3073. smokehousedentontx. com SUKHOTHAI II RESTAURANT 1502 W. Hickory St. 940-382-2888. SWEET BASIL THAI BISTRO 1800 S. Loop 288, Suite 224. 940-484-6080. thesweetbasil.com SWEET Y CAFE 511 Robertson St. 940323-2301. sweet-y-cafe.com THAI OCHA 1509 Malone St. 940-5666018. II CHARLIES BAR & GRILL 809 Sunset St. 940-891-1100. YUMMY’S GREEK RESTAURANT 210 W. University Drive. 940-383-2441.

BURGER TIME MACHINE 301 W. University Drive. 940-384-1133. CAFE DU LUXE 3101 Unicorn Lake

Little d After Dark

drive among Denton’s musicians. He started befriending the musicians who performed, and pretty soon, he saw just how hungry they were for exposure. “These are musicians who are struggling to promote their work,” he said. “These are folks who are desperate to get people out to their shows. I don’t know if people understand what musicians go through. They hear ‘no, no, no’ all the time. ... I wanted to be the guy who said ‘yes’ to them.” Laughlin said it wasn’t long before he started thinking of an all-Denton-all-thetime radio station, well, all the time. But without startup money or an available frequency on the FM band — Dallas-Fort Worth’s band is so busy that the Federal Communications Commission won’t license any new stations — he had to look at online radio, Laughlin said. Bone Doggie, a sort of fixture in the Denton music scene and maestro of Bone Doggie and the Hickory Street Hellraisers, got involved when he met Laughlin. “This is really grass-roots,” he said. “It’s almost like going back to the 1960s and ’70s, when people who were into music made things happen themselves.” Bone Doggie draws the most listeners for the station during his weekly show, when he interviews local musicians, plays local music and even spreads a little gossip and announces music “classifieds.” Bone Doggie is a well-known Denton personality. He’s run the Thursday night open-mic sessions at Banter for years. He said Laughlin is right about musicians hearing “no.” The persistent door-slamming has probably played a part in independent music, with bands and solo acts writing, performing, booking, recording and mixing their own music. Better to have a merch table at your shows, the conventional wisdom goes, than schlep your act across the country hoping to score even a humble record deal. “I’ve been beating my head against the wall out here for years just trying to get Bone Doggie and the Hickory Street Hellraisers out there,” he said. “It’s hard as hell to get people just to listen to you, man.” At a recent jam session celebrating the station’s first anniversary, Laughlin announced developments for the station. Bored in Denton, a newly minted UNT student group that will book shows on campus and promote UNT musicians, has volunteered to be the campus outreach for DentonRadio.com. >>

Continued on 19 June 2012

where to find

music,

caffeine and

food/drink in denton

Continued from 18 >>

Congress

Scripture

W. Oak

Carroll Blvd.

North Texas Blvd.

Bonnie Brae

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS

Elm

W. Hickory

dentonradio.com

35W N

35E

Eagle Drive Staff graphic

Around UNT ART SIX COFFEE HOUSE 424 Bryan St. 940-484-2786. facebook.com/art sixcoffeehouse BAWARCHI BIRYANI POINT 909 Ave. C. 940-898-8889. BIG MIKE’S COFFEE HOUSE 1306 W. Hickory St. 940-383-7478. bigmikescoffee shop.com BULGOGI HOUSE 408 North Texas Blvd. 940-382-8060. CENTRAL GRILL 1005 Ave. C. 940-3239464. COOL BEANS 1210 W. Hickory St. 940-382-7025. facebook.com/coolbeans dentontx CROOKED CRUST 101 Ave. A. 940565-5999. CUPS AND CREPES 309 Fry St. 940387-1696. EL PARIENTE 2532 Louise St. 940-3801208. FERA’S 1407 W. Oak St. 940-382-9577. FRY STREET PUBLIC HOUSE 125 Ave. A. 940-323-9800. publichousedenton.com FRY STREET TAVERN 121 Ave. A. 940-383-2337. THE GARAGE 113 Ave. A. 940-383-

0045. thedentongarage.com KATZ’S HAMBURGERS 901-A Ave. C. 940-442-6200. LUCKY LOU’S 1207 W. Hickory St. 940484-5550. luckylousdenton.com MR. CHOPSTICKS 1633 Scripture St. 940-382-5437. NARANJA CAFE 906 Ave. C. Suite 100. 940-483-0800. NEW YORK SUB-HUB 906 Ave. C. 940383-3213. OLD HOUSE BBQ 1007 Ave. C. 940383-3536. ORIENTAL GARDEN RESTAURANT 114 Ave. B. 940-387-3317. RASOI, THE INDIAN KITCHEN 1002 Ave. C. 940-566-6125. dentonindianfood.com RIPROCKS 1211 W. Hickory St. 940-382 3231. ROCKIN’ RODEO 1009 Ave. C. 940565-6611. rockinrodeodenton.com SUKHOTHAI II RESTAURANT 1502 W. Hickory St. 940-382-2888. SUSHI CAFE 1401 W. Oak St. 940-3801030. TJ’S PIZZA WINGS & THINGS 420 S. Carroll Blvd., Suite 102. 940-383-3333.

Music here, there and everywhere else The Abbey Underground 100 W. Walnut St. 940-565-5478. Andy’s Bar 122 N. Locust St. 940-565-5400. Art Six Coffee House 424 Bryan St. 940-484-2786. Banter 219 W. Oak St. 940-565-1638. Cafe Du Luxe 3101 Unicorn Lake Blvd. 940-382-7070. Cool Beans 1210 W. Hickory St. 940-382-7025. Crazy Horse Saloon 508 S. Elm St. 940-591-0586. Dan’s Silverleaf 103 Industrial St. 940-320-2000. Frilly’s Seafood Bayou Kitchen 1925 Denison St. 940-2432126.

Fry Street Public House 125 Ave. A. 940-323-9800. Fry Street Tavern 121 Ave. A. 940-383-2337. The Garage 113 Ave. A. 940-383-0045. The Greenhouse 600 N. Locust St. 940-484-1349. Hailey’s Club 122 W. Mulberry St. 940-323-1160. J&J’s Pizza 118 W. Oak St. 940-382-7769. The LABB 218 W. Oak St. 940-293-4240. Love Shack 115 E. Hickory St. 940-442-6834. Mable Peabody’s Beauty Parlor and Chainsaw Repair 1125 E. University Drive, Suite 107. 940-566-9910. Mad World Records 115 W. Hickory St. 940-591-3001.

June 2012

Rockin’ Rodeo 1009 Ave. C. 940-565-6611. Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios 411 E. Sycamore St. 940387-7781.

Sweetwater Grill & Tavern 115 S. Elm St. 940-484-2888. UNT College of Music music.unt.edu UNT Dance and Theatre danceandtheatre.unt.edu UNT on the Square untonthesquare.unt.edu Winspear Performance Hall, Murchison Performing Arts Center thempac.com Texas Woman’s University Theatre twu.edu/drama Dada, Dallas dadadallas.com Granada Theater, Dallas granadatheater.com House of Blues, Dallas houseofblues.com/dallas Kessler Theater, Dallas thekessler.org Palladium Ballroom, Dallas thepalladiumballroom.com The Basement Bar, Fort Worth basementbarstockyards.com Billy Bob’s Texas, Fort Worth billybobstexas.com Lola’s, Fort Worth lolasfortworth.com

“There are so many kids on campus who say they’re bored,” said Kelsey Henry, the group’s president. “This will be a way for students to get a taste of the local music scene without having to leave campus. And it’s something for them to do.” Stephanie Clausen, publicist for Bored in Denton, said she thinks local music stops at the edges of UNT’s campus because of assumptions. “I think a lot of people don’t even try to find out if they can do a show on campus because they think there are going to be a lot of rules they’ll have to keep track of. We can be a liaison between the artists and the students. We can almost act as an agency for the musicians. They help us get the show booked, and we’ll promote it,” Clausen said. Though the group will officially launch its activities in the fall, Henry and Clausen said they anticipate booking shows at the Lyceum in the student union, and at the Clark Grill, an eatery in a campus residence hall. Another group, Square 205, will tweak the station’s website, giving it a facelift and making it so musicians can load their own show dates onto the site, announce upcoming releases and meet people who want to be fans. Laughlin’s announcement included plans for a page on the website to be available for local businesses to share coupons and promotions. Music fans should also expect Bone Doggie to have his own page, a page dedicated to artist and band profiles, a calendar of events, and forms for bands and artists to download and fill out so that DentonRadio.com can play their music without violating federal laws. Denton Square Donuts is developing a smartphone app so people can listen from their phones. Grey Tone Productions, a local recording studio, will offer $25 for a live recording of one song; $100 for a full EP; and $150 for a fully mastered, five-song EP to musicians who are on

Little d After Dark

DentonRadio.com. Laughlin said he joins Bone Doggie each Thursday night at the open-mic sessions at Banter. “I sit right here in the back with my forms so that anyone who wants to get their music on DentonRadio.com can fill the forms out and give them to me, right here,” he said. The way to get on the station is simple: Appeal to Laughlin’s and Bone Doggie’s tastes and sense of musicality. “Nine times out of 10, Bone Doggie is going to approach you and ask if you want to get your music on the Web. But, yeah, if I like your music, you’re getting on the air,” Laughlin said. “It’s nice to have Bone Doggie involved, too, because if I like something, but I’m not sure about it, I let him hear it. And if we both like it, you’re on.” The success of the station — which already has local music playing 24 hours a day — depends on the business model, and how well it serves both musicians and music fans. “The question I had to ask,” Laughlin said, “was what makes us different from

Bone Doggie, a sort of fixture in the Denton music scene, got involved when he met Laughlin. “This is really grass-roots,” he said. “It’s almost like going back to the 1960s and ’70s, when people who were into music made things happen themselves.” Pandora? And the answer is community. It’s not just good music, because I can get good music anywhere, anytime. I fell in love with the people who are making the music. I envision DentonRadio.com being this community where the fans can get to know the artists. “People are going to love on you with DentonRadio.com.” LUCINDA BREEDING can be reached by calling 940-566-6877 or sending an e-mail to cbreeding@dentonrc.com.

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Little d After Dark

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