Music Matters

This Week in Music: Imagine your Texas Dream Fest + Ringo Starr and other top concerts

It’s a dream scenario. In reality, it’s proof that Texas music is as diverse and great as it’s ever been.

Texas Monthly recently released its issue devoted to the Texas music industry, featuring contemporary blues artist Gary Clark Jr. and neo-soul singer Leon Bridges on the cover. Inside, the magazine offered up a faux-concert poster for an event called the TX Dream Fest, featuring three days of music acts, all from Texas, compiled by two of the state’s top promoters, Houston’s Mark Austin of the Convoy Group and Graham Williams of Margin Walker Presents.

Day One is headed by Beyoncé, Leon Bridges, and Solange, Day Two sees George Strait and Norah Jones co-headlining, with Day 3 closed out by country powerhouses Willie Nelson and Dixie Chicks. The most surprising thing is how strong the roster is throughout and makes for an amazing what if. Most importantly, it shows just how vital Texas music scene is in the state and beyond.

Have a look for yourself (scroll down to No. 8 on the list of “30 Things You Need To Know About Texas Music.”

Meanwhile, Houston continues its hot streak of attracting some of the biggest names and events in music with another eclectic line-up of great shows.

Friday, October 27
If any children were born of groupies from a Highwaymen tour back in the 80s, Chris Stapleton would be an eligible candidate to be the love child of either Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, and Johnny Cash. A singer who eschews the look and sound of new country, Stapleton has made it big on the back of old Nashville sounds, mixed with Mississippi Blues and a voice that will fill the entire Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. He’ll be joined by country legend Marty Stuart and opener Brent Cobb. Tickets start at $44 plus fees but advanced tickets look like they are limited. Gates open at 7 pm.

Noisy indie-rock New Jersey band Screaming Females will bring their high octane riffs and punk energy to the White Oak Music Hall. The trio, fronted by the dynamically voiced singer/guitarist Marissa Paternoster has made noise on the alt-rock scene, especially for their latest, 2015’s Rose Mountain. Street Eaters open. Tickets are $11 in advance. Show starts at 8 pm.

Saturday, October 28 and Sunday, October 29
Houston has always had a reputation for being kind to rave kids, attracting the best DJs in the world as far back as the mid-to-late '90s — anyone remember the amazing shows at Houston Arena? Ravers will get their fix as another edition of the Something Wicked festival takes over the Sam Houston Race Park in a sea of glitter and glow sticks this weekend. This year’s fest, H-town’s biggest annual EDM party, features a who’s-who in the electronic production world, including Tiesto, Zeds Dead, Marshmello (who just dropped a track with Selena Gomez) and many more. Tickets start at $169.95 for a two-day pass, $104.95 for a single day pass.

Sunday, October 29
Lo-fi So-Cal indie-rockers Wavves will hit Numbers Sunday, co-headlining with fellow California indie-rockers Joyce Manor. Wavves, other than being famous for band leader Nathan Williams’ girlfriend Bethany Consentino of Best Coast, has made a name for critically acclaimed, just below the mainstream alternative rock that incorporates sweet melodies atop distorted, feedback drenched guitars. The band is touring behind the well received 2017 album You’re Welcome. French Vanilla opens. Tickets are $20 in advance plus fees. Doors at 7 pm.

If you ever thought Mumford and Sons needed more hip-hop verses or that Twenty One Pilots needed more banjo, Nashville alternative radio favorites Judah and the Lion bring their folk-inflected hip-hop rock mish-mash and hit song, “Take It All Back 2.0,” to White Oak Music Hall. This type of music is all over the place right now, so if you want to bear witness to the current zeitgeist, don’t miss this show. Tickets start at $22. Doors at 7 pm.

Monday, November 1
Eccentric and deeply artistic electronic meets jazz meets hip-hop producer Flying Lotus brings his dark and moody soundscapes to the House of Blues. Favored by audiophiles not in love with just one genre, the relative to jazz great John Coltrane has worked with a wide array of luminaries, including Snoop Dogg, Herbie Hancock and Kendrick Lamar. He’s a genius behind the sound boards, which parlays into a head-tripping live experience. Tickets start at $27. Show starts at 8 p.m.

Thursday, November 2
Ringo Starr remains one of the most underrated drummers in rock history. That’s what happens when you’re in the Beatles with John, Paul and George. See proof of this statement when Ringo and His All Starr Band perform at Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land. To his credit, Starr hasn’t rested on his royalties from his early work, instead putting together a respectable recording and touring career over the last 45-plus years since the demise of the biggest band in the history of music. Tickets start at $49.50. Show starts at 8 pm.

Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band performs at the Smart Financial Center at Sugarland Thursday, November 2.

Photo courtesy of Ringo Starr/Facebook

Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band performs at the Smart Financial Center at Sugarland Thursday, November 2.

concerts music festivals

super duper

Quirky Houston DJ drops genre-blending mix CD inspired by video games

Photo by Dustee Torres

DJ Squincy Jones

If you’re the type of person who has dubstep, Southern hip-hop, and Koji Kondo’s iconic “Ground Theme” from Super Mario Bros. in your streaming-music library, then Squincy Jones has created the perfect playlist for you..

Photo by Dustee Torres

DJ Squincy Jones

Super Nintendub is the name of the mix where the Houston-born-and-bred DJ mashes up all those aforementioned music genres. A capella bars from Houston heavyweights (Megan Thee Stallion, Paul Wall) and other Dirty South MCs (Three 6 Mafia, 8Ball & MJG) gets laid over grooves from underground dubstep artists (Numa Crew, Blay Vision, Hamdi). But we also get music from various Nintendo (Castlevania III, Ninja Gaiden) and Super Nintendo (Super Mario World, Final Fantasy VI) games. Jones also throws in audio samples from commercials and gaming-heavy movies like WarGames, The Wizard, and the Adam Sandler-produced Grandma’s Boy.

Needless to say, Jones has always been a gamer. He’s had his run of game systems: NES, SNES, Sega Genesis, even the old-school Atari 2600. He recalls his days blowing the dust out of such cartridges as Contra, Double Dragon, and Duck Hunt. In the past, Jones has released a series of mashup mixes – titled Blend Pack – with cover art that resembles/salutes classic video games.

“I'm a huge fan of all the eight-bit and 16-bit stuff,” says Jones (government name: Shane Rector), 41. “I play a lot of the new games, or I have played a lot of the new games, but not as much anymore. You know, being a parent and having a full-time job – you don't really have time for video games anymore.”

Super Nintendub is a sequel to Nintendub, a dubstep mix he played during a party way back in 2008. “I added some a capellas, [like] a Bun B a capella,” he recalls. “I had some other Dirty South tunes from the time. I layered them because they're at the same tempo as dubstep. Another friend that does music gave me a folder of Nintendo songs. So, I just randomly layered it on top and kinda slowed down the Nintendo music, and it sounded cool as hell to me.”

The mix picked up fans overseas when he dropped it online. “I've always wanted to make a follow-up to it because I got so much good feedback,” he remembers. “People from all over were writing about it."

Jones decided to release Super on compact disc, sold in rectangular keep cases – packaging that’s very familiar to gamers – with double-sided artwork also by Jones. (A digital link is available upon request to those who buy the CD.) While the limited-edition disc is available for purchase on Jones’s Bandcamp page, the CD mix shouldn’t be confused with the Super mix that’s currently playing on the page.

“I wanted to have them in the mix as well,” he says. “But I'm not entirely, you know, confident with my production skills. So, I just kinda had it on the side to go along with the release of this mix.”

Since releasing Super in September, Jones says he’s gotten good feedback from those who’ve bought a copy. “Because it looks like a video game,” he says, “a lot of people are like, ‘Oh, cool! Is it an actual game or an actual DVD or whatnot?’ But it's always hit or miss because some people are like, ‘Oh, man, I don't have a CD player’ or "Wow, you actually printed a CD,’ because everything's, you know, digital.”

He’s looking into playing a big-screen version of Super, where videos of the rap songs are spliced in with video-game footage and other retro clips, somewhere around here. “I was thinking like either a movie theater or somebody mentioned Aurora Picture Show, or maybe Wonky Power, to do like a viewing or showing or whatever – kind of have a party for it.”

Even though Jones enjoys merging gaming and music – his dual obsessions – he still prefers to be known as more than a video-game DJ. A veteran of the Houston DJ scene for a quarter of a century, he continues to do gigs like his upcoming monthly residency at Eight Row Flint.

“I do open-format DJing,” he says. “I've done raves and dubstep parties. I've played on the radio. I've played at Mid Main, where it’s a mainstream crowd. In this day and age, everybody has their branding or whatnot. I just love video games, so I just kind of take that as my branding, I guess.”

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