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| Shelby Lynne |
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The Wakarusa Winter Classic is a traveling battle of the bands, spanning 17 cities in the Midwest and South. Six groups play Dallas' competition tonight at 2826 Arnetic, and votes from the crowd ultimately decide the winner. Winning bands earn a spot on Wakarusa's lineup, which features Avett Brothers, Fitz & the Tantrums, RJD2 and more. 
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Here is your formal introduction to Friday night's bill. Let's get ready to rumble!
We the Sea Lions (The Outsider)
This quintet calls Fort Worth home, and they've cultivated a dedicated fan base and earned a recurring spot on the stage at The Grotto. 2011's pop-rock debut EP, For Now, produced by Stuart Sikes, paves the way for their debut LP.
Goodnight Ned (The Sleeper)
Founded by a guy in Denton with a couch and a guy who slept on that couch, Goodnight Ned has since added a violin, bass and drums, progressing from folk to gritty blues and rock and roll.
With news this week of Bruce Springsteen's upcoming album, Wrecking Ball, as well as a U.S. tour that will find him 'round Austin way for SXSW, we asked our resident old-days expert what he thought about the Boss' new stuff. 
What do you think of the new Springsteen single, "We Take Care of Our Own"?
First of all, good morning everyone. I'm fairly upset about this. Clearly, we are long from the days of "Mansion on the Hill." After a first listen, I whispered to myself, "Calm down, lad, you've just heard the one song." The heavy producing really sent me down the rabbit hole! It was like Phil Spector's ghost shit his signature cascading wall of sound all over the track. Producer Ron Aniello, you can leave the rhythmic claps and children's choir to Guster, which you also produced. Congratulations on your success, Ron, and for the work you did on Lifehouse. Geez.
One more thing: the writing.The line, "Where's the promise from sea to shining sea" sounded more like a contagiously bad line from U2's "Miracle Drug." "Freedom has a scent /Like the top of a new born baby's head." Ugh.
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For nearly three decades, singer/guitarist Anders Osborne has called The Big Easy home and the city's musical heritage has had a profound impact on Osborne's music. Funky and inventive, his blues are inspired by both John Lee Hooker and Doctor John, full of impressive solos and carefree spirit that goes well beyond fiery fretwork. 
Speaking from the tour bus in anticipation of tonight's performance at the South Side Music Hall, Osborne spoke about his adopted home and why he likes playing in Dallas.
As if there wasn't enough going on that first week of March, Henry Rollins will roll into UNT's Murchison Performing Arts Center on Saturday, March 3. And as he often does so well, Rollins will be speaking about music, art and beyond. Check out the video for his thoughts on the current state of music.
2011 was an interesting year for Paul Meany, frontman for the indie rock quartet MuteMath. Not only did the band turn into a trio with the departure of guitarist Greg Hill, but Meany decided it was time for other changes as well. When work began on the band's most recent effort, Odd Soul, it was decided the remaining trio would lock themselves into a home studio and not emerge until the entire project was finished. None of the material would be road tested, as was the band's modus operandi.
Odd Soul also found Meany collaborating on lyrics for the first time ever. The resulting songs have a much more brotherly feel, more direct and less tense that what came before. Speaking from his home in New Orleans and in anticipation of MuteMath's performance Saturday night at the House of Blues, Meany spoke about the making of the band's most recent album and how they dealt with the loss of a key member.
In another feat of synergy, 35 Denton's latest fest tie-in comes spilling out of the back of an 18-wheeler. Think of duo Legsweeper's cover of Bun B's "My Block" as a preview for the two festival acts, but also a literal celebration of 35 Denton's new headquarters on the corner of Locust and McKinney, complete with crowdsurfing, shotgunning and two ladies spraying each other with 40s. God bless America.
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With a title like Improvised Silence, Fort Worth's Hentai Improvising Orchestra is essentially bringing a blank canvas to The Cellar this Sunday, the first in a series of last Sunday of the month shows at the Fort Worth club, which will also feature Darrin Kobetich on sitar and Giri Akkaraju on percussion. What to expect? Well...
"I don't know what to expect on any of the Improvised Silence nights," HIO's Terry Horn sums up. "It all depends on how each of the performers feels that night. Hopefully, people will leave having experienced something both out of their comfort zone and something interesting. [Sunday] will have a more Eastern feel with the addition of sitar and Indian hand percussion but each event will be different."
Indeed, the next four months feature artists who are all just one degree off from each other, and Horn says the nature of the event will stay fluid enough to accommodate any situation. "If we can't find musicians who want to sit in, then it will just be an evening of HIO. We're also trying to find filmmakers, poets and dancers of like mind that would be willing to participate. I've hosted these before but this time it's going to be a bit different. We hope these events/performances are similar to what the Nihilist Spasm Band has been doing for decades up in Canada."
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