The adventures and various works of a photographer, road tripper, former patron of the local arts, aspiring app developer, and late night coffee drinker and conversationalist.
This is the first installment in a series of posts exploring locations of former DFW musical landmarks
Jimmy's Lil' Rockhouse
The original 1986 flyer
The story begins in April of this year, when I stumbled across a copy of an old hand drawn flyer while browsing some listings on eBay. The bands being advertised were ones I'd never heard of, as was the venue listed for the performance, but I recognized the included "Z Nites" logo as that of a long defunct radio network that was on the air during my middle and high school days. Upon closer examination of the embedded (also hand drawn) map to the venue, one "Jimmy's Lil' Rokhouse," I recognized the names of several streets and was able to discern that the area being pictured was in Arlington, between Dallas and Fort Worth and literally down the street from the University of Texas at Arlington, my alma mater from 1998-2000. The dates given on the flyer suggested a year of 1986, based on when those particular dates and Friday and Saturday nights would line up. Where exactly was this Jimmy's Lil' Rockhouse, and what was it today? I decided I wanted to find out.
The 1980s and '90s were arguably the heyday of local, home grown music in North Texas. On the west side of the DFW metroplex, the 1980s bore witness to the birth of the local metal scene in Arlington and Fort Worth, and, on the east side, the solidification of the rock/punk/pop scenes in Dallas, all of which led directly to the national prominence of the area in mid to late 1990s radio and culture. "Ghosts of DFW music history" is an ongoing blog series in which I visit the former locations of DFW area music venues and record labels of days past, showing them as they are today and putting each into the context of its time. Each entry will feature a bit of historical background, an up to date photo of each location as it is today, and period flyers, photos, and/or memorabilia. As this series progresses, direct links to each of the planned posts will be added below. Once the entire series has been posted, this page will be retooled to serve as an official table of contents. Please enjoy the installments and feel free to comment if you remember or were a part of those days!
Silver Dollar sign photo reproduced from Rockulapresents YouTube video upload, used per terms of Creative Commons Attribution license. Original footage taken by Laurel and/or Dee Wilson of Dallas Music Videos.
I've acquired a good number of autographed albums over the years, many from having purchased directly from the artist and having them signed, and some as incredibly lucky finds while shopping secondhand. These are some of the more notable ones.
The Best of LaVern Baker
Bought at Half Price Books in 2021
I bought the disc for the music, casual fan that I am. I paid no attention to the writing scribbled across the front until a day later when I actually took a good look at it, realizing to my surprise that it appeared to be an autograph. After researching and comparing my specimen with examples of her signature found online, it does appear that this one is legit.
Continue reading "Autographed albums"
In November 2010, I put out a CD. Well, kind of - it wasn't exactly a commercial release, and the sound quality wasn't anything to write home about... and it wasn't even of my own work. A twenty track compilation of eighteen open mic performances bookended by introductory and closing remarks by my creative partner Alex Pogosov, it was put out to promote the open mic we had been running together since May of that year.
Continue reading "Remembering the Live at Lost Art Open Mic CD"
Maybe it's happened to you. There's an artist or a song you really like, you come across it on a compilation CD somewhere, excitedly buy the disc, and eagerly pop it into your CD player... only to find that the songs you thought you bought were in fact shadily marketed re-recordings and not the original hits!
I bought the disc for the music, casual fan that I am. I paid no attention to the writing scribbled across the front until a day later when I actually took a good look at it, realizing to my surprise that it appeared to be an autograph. After researching and comparing my specimen with examples of her signature found online, it does appear that this one is legit.
