We feature the best new and emerging music from around the United States.
There’s something quietly astonishing about realizing that Close as a Star is already Salim Nourallah’s second solo album of 2026. Not surprising—just astonishing. Salim has long since outgrown the usual rhythms of release and retreat. He creates the way some people breathe: continuously, instinctively, generously. And if this year has taught us anything, it’s that there’s still more coming.…
I’ll never write for Rolling Stone. I lack the sonic language required for in-depth analysis: why this record is good and why that record isn’t. I return again and again to the same comparison because it fits—how can I describe the concept of love, or the color blue? We are all floating through existence, hoping […]
Here his voice almost cracks. Don’t be afraid, he begs. Come back to the living. Come back to life. There’s time as long as there is breath. There is still time.
I owe so many words. I owe words to entire tours from last year that never went commemorated, to things that only happened weeks ago. But right now, I’m thinking about my weekend. A year ago—almost exactly—I started talking to Jesse Daniel Edwards about coming to my town. Time passed as it did. He toured […]
The concert was a true celebration of beautiful, live music. Showcased were the talents of respected Dallas musical icons: Rahim Quazi and Salim Nourallah with his new band, the Philistines. It was a night to remember for years to come. Sons of Hermann Hall proved once again to be the perfect venue for a night […]
This is serious Bucket List stuff. I have dreamed of introducing these two gentlemen for almost 6 years now: *Dallas, TX* – Fans of raw, authentic music are in for a treat as singer-songwriter Jimmy Newquist prepares to perform an intimate concert at Galactic HQ, a unique listening room with a limited capacity of just […]
Then God said, “Let there be light.” And there was light. God saw that the light was good. genesis 1: 3-4 In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move. Douglas Adams, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy “My precious sense […]
Join the author on a journey of self-discovery as she attends the Buttercup Pajama Party & Creative Retreat in Comfort, TX. Through thought-provoking conversations, creative sharing, and stuffed animal companions, she confronts her feelings of being an "also ran" in the creative world. With humor and honesty, she navigates the challenges of balancing practicality and artistic expression, ultimately finding…
“You never forget your first.” There’s a reason for that. We waste our best love on our first… a relationship doomed by its very definition to failure. Like the first time doing many things, we don’t know enough to be afraid. My philosophy regarding first love, or at least the first love that results in […]
I am absolutely delighted to bring you a taste of my introduction to JDE from last November at Salim’s listening room, Galactic Headquarters. In attendance that night was another person, Jon aka Orbit Carver, who also fell under Jesse’s musical spell… and much to my delight and luck, he was armed with a camera and […]
The thing about plans is: they necessitate optimism. You have to assume the world will keep turning for long enough to get to the plans in… The Future. Three months ago, I went, “We should see the Pool Kids”… in Ohio! Somehow it made sense to fly 1200 miles to see them on a Thursday […]
It’s cool, dark, quiet. Finally. We’re at our final hotel. My husband is sleeping. I’m behind again. I knew I would be. I didn’t manage to capture most of what happened on the road 6 months ago. Here we are again. There is something to be said for living these moments though and not necessarily […]
Standing in front of the Lonesome Rose honky tonk in San Antonio, I am keenly reminded of what it was *not* when I last stood here. When last here it was January. It was not 95 degrees. I’m starting to sweat. I gravitate to available outdoor seating: a row of what appears to be old […]
Sweet, aching sadness. Bitter, snarling anger. Gentle piano notes being smashed to a frantic crescendo. Screeching guitar. Whispering. Insidious. Jesse Daniel Edwards could curate the soundtrack to the chemically drenched sock hop I endeavor to conjure on my depression-mandated Ketamine trips. My first impression of him was Little Steven (I only know about Little Steven […]
