Round Up Saloon is #1

Props to Advocate Magazine for realizing what we’ve all known for quite a while. This month, they ranked the top gay country and western bars throughout the nation and while two of them are here in Texas, Dallas took the top spot. The Round Up Saloon was named the number one C&W bar in the U.S. Pretty sweet, huh?

Here is Advocate’s lowdown:

1. THE ROUND UP SALOON, DALLAS 
The best country bar in the nation, hands down, the Round Up is all you can ask for in a C&W bar. Hot cowgirls and cowboys swirl the floor of this country-western dance delight nightly. Karaoke stars in the Victorian Parlor Bar. Shots hit the spot at the rowdy Tequila Bar. Six bars with different characters attract a hot crowd of local good ol’ boys and girls.

And in the number three spot was Houston’s Brazos River Bottom. We like that spot too but props to Big D for serving up the country right.

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Not yet done end of year lists – Queer Music Heritage plays JD’s Best of 2008 show

J.D. Doyle, who hosts the Queer Music Heritage radio show out of Houston, sent out an e-mail reminding us of his Best of the Year episode with a slew of songs from albums that made his list. “Yes, this is a look back at 2008, showcasing my favorite albums of the year, obviously a very subjective presentation (Ed. note – when aren’t they?), somehow and painfully narrowing it down to just 14 albums,” Doyle wrote on his site. And he’s the man to do it. Showcasing queer music 12 months a year, it’s not hard to say, Doyle could be one of the most knowledgeable queer music experts of our time right now.

Click here for a transcript of the show and pics of some of the highlighted musicians. He gave us his playlist that came from each album as well. Download or stream the show anytime. It’ a good thing.

Playlist:
Gaye Adegbalola – Queer Blues
Jennifer O’Connor – Here With Me
Phil Putnam – Here to Stay
Melissa Etheridge – Light a Light
Bare the Musical – You and I
Heiskell – The Chubby Guy Song
Melange Lavonne – Gay Bash
Jay Brannan – Housewife
Eric Himan – Protest Song
Scott Free – Free
Mike Rickard – Natural
Matt Fishel – When Boy Meets Boy
Jake Walden – For Someone
Sam Harris – He Is
Lori Michaels – Meet Me at the Partay

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Picks of Mint – Protest Edition

OK, there are a few things to hit up this weekend both here and in New York. And prolly a couple of other places as well.

Of course, tomorrow night is Secret Agent Gay Bingo over at the Rose Room. We should be there. Especially to see cutie reporter Steve Noviello host the evening with Fox 4 colleague Megan Henderson, co-host of Good Day. I just hope they don’t get a Jim Walker pulled on them. Plus, Secret Agent Gay Bingo so gets us in the mood for the new James Bond movie coming out today. If you haven’t already, get your tickets here or just pay at the door.

Also on Saturday there’s a little small thing called the Prop 8 Protest going on tomorrow @ City Hall. Told you a bit about it here. And if you want the protesting to continue. a second protest @ First Baptist Dallas will be held on Sunday at 10 a.m. Check it:

On the lighter side and for some of you, more importantly, tonight over @ Mickey’s it will be Madonna-rama with Madge music playing all night and ticket giveaways to her show in Houston. Get into the groove to win the hottest ticket in town. Or in H-Town at least.

Tomorrow night the Lollipop Shoppe presents their Quinn-Tessential Mod party at the Quinn Bar over in Oak Cliff. The Lollipops are always fun and smashing. And this time, it’s no cover. NO! COVER! Even if it’s just for a few minutes, you have to experience the sheer delight of a Shoppe Party. Plus, DJ Captain Groovy will be giving away CDs. They are an aural adventure to behold.

Whew! And that’s probably not even the half of what’s going on this weekend. But that might put you over. Happy protesting!

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Houston Pride Band reschedules Fall concert

The peeps of the Houston Pride Band are safe for one more day due to rescheduling their Fall show Godzilla Eats the Houston Pride Band to Friday, November 14 at 8 p.m. They will be taking on the giant monster while at the same time working for charity. That’s some major multi-tasking. The concert will benefit the Lesbian Health Initiative which not surprisingly promotes women’s health in the LGBT community. So bravo to both HPB and LHI for what they do for H-Town.

The band says this about the concert:

For their Fall concert, the Houston Pride Band will take on the King of the Monsters as he mambos, tangos and ravages his way through the Las Vegas Strip in Eric Whitacre’s symphonic dramedy “Godzilla Eats Las Vegas!” This outlandish piece is just one of the many musical selections to be performed during the band’s upcoming Fall concert which highlights the theme of diversity and explore the many facets of the world in their 2008-2009 season: Beyond Fences: Music without Borders.

The concert will be at Resurrection MCC, 2025 W. 11th Street with tickets at only a mere 10 bucks. To order tickets or for more information call 713-862-9491 or visit their site linked above.

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Check out Houston radio show Queer Music Heritage

I think I may have found one of the best radio shows ever over at Queer Voices on KPFT 90.1 in Houston. I hate finding out about it now after it’s been around for quite a while but perhaps better late than never and now we got lots of catching up to do.

Go right now to Queer Music Heritage‘s Web site and listen to this month’s show featuring Gaye Adegbalola and Scott Free. Or just click on this link. The most amazing song opens the cast and it is utterly refreshing to hear about the GLBTQ perspective from the blues side of music thanks to Adegbalola. Free is on the edgier punk-folk side of the music spectrum but his style can vary to even include hip-hop and dance. But the show is priceless to listen to and host JD Doyle does an outstanding job of letting the artists speak and letting us into their musical worlds.

But it’s not just this month’s show, it’s the importance of the show itself. Doyle describes it as “both a radio show and a website, and the goal of both is to preserve and share the music of our culture, because I just don’t think gay & lesbian music of the past should be forgotten. I also believe our music culture is a visual and an audial experience, so I try to share the images of this music…photos of the artists and recordings, and to pack in as much information as possible, while still trying to entertain.” How amazing is that? And go look at the archives of all that he has profiled throughout the years. Even I didn’t think that there was this much GLBTQ musical history.

So, props to JD for a great show this month but for also giving us the music lesson we all need. He’s totally going in the “HERO” column. And mark your calendar for his next show.

-Rich Lopez

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