Where is the Houston music scene?

Where is the Houston music scene?

The Houston music scene is doing well only with underground hip-hop. The city is too spread out to have an indie scene that matters. Hip-hop thrives amongst the urban, where everything in the city happens and accumulates. Who wants to drive to Humble or Tomball to see a mediocre band play in the middle of nowhere? Keeping it in the city, keeps the urban appeal that most music scenes thrive on.

Do we blame the poor music scene on the commute and gas prices, or on the fact that people in Houston are not passionate enough about live music because there isn't much music here to be passionate about? We all know that radio airplay is basically the same 10 songs rotated on a 6 month basis. How do we spread the word about amazing bands that don't get radio airplay or huge Live Nation promotions?

Basically, Houston has horrible promoters and not enough quality talent to bring in the masses. When there are amazing bands in Houston, no one knows about it. I have seen many legendary and talented bands in Houston that didn't even have close to a full house such as The Circle Jerks, Peter Murphy, and Saul Williams. The Houston Press has pretentious and boring writers that want to sound cool, but give no real facts. Also, local bands are too lazy to even promote themselves, besides throwing up a few myspace bulletins. If you aren't already in their network, then learning about them is going to be a difficult task.

Houston venues are okay. There are plenty of them and they shouldn't be a problem unless the venues can't promote their own shows. Street Teams are small because there aren't many amazing acts coming through to the city, thus who wants to put forth the effort to promote a show they wouldn't attend themselves? There is such a diverse population in Houston, that reaching them means having to know where they are hanging out or what they are reading for their information. When it comes down to it, word of mouth is probably the best form of promoting, which brings us to the cliques.

The fighting amongst various genres or groups of musicians/scenesters is ridiculous and puts people in a hostile situation. It's not about the music, but about social standards. If someone has a personal agenda against the DJ, they won't attend the gig where there are other performers. If the music scene is to grow, we are to be supportive of the whole scene and not have a vendetta because someone hurt your ego. Get over it. Love the fact that music is art and self-expression. Respect that expression, whether you agree with the artist on a personal level or not.


We can point fingers and blame this or that about how the music scene in Houston is barely in existence, or we can do something about it as a community.

Go to gigs.
Make friends, not enemies.
Be yourself and have a good time.
Support local talent.
Don't be a douche.

Bands to check out:
Paris Falls
Wild Moccosins
Peekaboo Theory
Deus Machina
Satin Hooks
Studemont Project
Karina Nistal

All from Houston.