This weekend, I had a chance to meet Pikahsso, Picnic, and Tahiti for the first time at the I Got Soul Music Conference.  The fellas invited my wife and I to catch their appearance out at the Apple store in North Park mall. We were able to head across the Trinity to check them out.  Good lookin' out to PPT and Alan Cohen from Pegasus News/Texas Gigs on the Apple gig, that was cool.   DSB:  What was it like to perform at South by Southwest?   PIK: My God that was like performing in Heaven without being dead.  Big ups to my boy Matt Sonzala who writes for Ozone, XXL, Murder Dog, Houston So Real, Source and alot of other magazines for booking me in 2006 and for booking PPT in 2007.  That dude is the one who not only made that happen for me and PPT but for alot of other groups in DFW like Verbal Seed, Money Waters, Thesis, Bavu Blakes, Hydroponic Soundsystem, and more.   Also big ups to Edward Hall of Urbansouth.us for making it happen @ The SXSW this year. That was one of the best shows I have ever done as a ...

Say it ain't so.  I mean I'm watching the game and I see what's happening, yet somehow my mind is having a hard time grasping the concept that the hometown team is down 3-1.  And to make it worse, they're down to Nellie and the G State Warriors. Everyone keeps saying the Mavs are a 67 win team who should impose their will on the Warriors.  To that I say that none of those 67 wins came against Golden State, so it really doesn't matter in this series.  If the Mavs sweep the #8 seed in the season series, they're a 70 win team and we're sweeping the Clippers right now.  But tonight, Josh Howard comes out as if he's the only Maverick who wants to win.  He scored 20 in the 1st half to single-handedly keep the Mavericks in the game.  But then he let someone else borrow his jersey in the second half, because #5 only had 2 points after halftime. Jerry Stackhouse had a great 3rd quarter on his way to leading the team in scoring with 24 points.  But he also led the team in turnovers, leading my mom to ask "is he passing the ...

WFAA News 8 discovered a mapping error that has led to Billy Joe Ratcliff being eliminated from the District 7 Dallas City Council race.   See full story here .  According to the News 8 story, Everglade Road serves as a dividing line between Districts 4 & 7. On the south side of the street is District 4, and the north side is District 7. Ratcliff's house is on the south side. It is too late for his name to be taken off of the ballot for the May 12 election.

George Bush dancing and playing bongos You really can't make this stuff up.

                                     Since I stumbled across the "I Got Soul" Dallas Soul Music Conference a few weeks ago, I've been back and forth on whether or not I'd be able to make it to the Black Forest for the actual event.  Then when I found out that PPT would be performing, the decision became an easy one.   PPT is the hottest group in Dallas that no one knows about.  I was turned on to the group by Texas Gigs and Dallas Progress last fall, but the local hip hop trio has come on strong this year.  Their performance at the SXSW (South by Southwest) has only added to their local legend and broadened their loyal following.  Pikahsso, the lyricist of the group was gracious enough to give me an interview before their Soul Conference set.  Hang on, this one's pretty wild!   Check out Pikahsso's MySpace Page for a sample of PPT's musical stylings.    Dallas South Blog:  How did PPT come into existence?   Pikahsso: PPT came into existence because I did a song called VERB ...

Scott Henson from Grits For Breakfast has a nice post detailing misuse of power by Texas prosecutors.  In his article, Scott has a quote from Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins.  Watkins says of previous days in Dallas justice,  "if you sent someone to jail who was possibly innocent, it was a badge of honor." Read the entire post here.

Mayoral candidate Sam Coats' campaign folks have really been blasting out the press releases lately.  There are a couple that have be directed at District 3 Councilman and mayoral hopeful Ed Oakley.  Take a look at the following information from the Coats camp. April 25 - Coats Calls on Oakley to Explain Trinity Conflict April 23 - Coats Questions Oakley's Gentrification Plans There is a third release of interest titled Coats Backs Trinity Vote Referendum from April 17. 

This weekend, Neo Soul Cafe is hosting the Dallas Soul Music Conference at the Black Forest Theatre.  The event is scheduled for April 27-29, with Erykah Badu serving as host of a concert that will be held on Saturday night. Neo Soul Cafe founders Frances Jaye and Velisa Crayton plan to bring together independent artists, promoters, media entities, as well as established artists from across the country.  The conference will serve to educate independent artists in the areas of exposure, distribution, and promotion of their music during various panel and forum discussions. The Dallas Soul Music Conference will also give back to the community with a donation to the Dallas non-profit organization, B.L.I.N.D. (Beautiful Love Incorporated Nonprofit Development), which was founded by Ms. Badu in an effort to revitalize South Dallas.  Proceeds will be dedicated to support B.L.I.N.D.'s "Community Beyond" project. Scheduled to perform at Saturday Night's Boho Soul Music Meltdown are Fertile Ground, Choklate, and Darrien Brockington.  Local Hip Hop trio P.P.T. is on tap to appear at the conference on Saturday afternoon.  According to PPT member Pikahsso's MySpace Page the group will go on at 3:00 p.m.  As a matter of fact, check back this ...

Mary Madewell of The Paris News has an article recounting the events of a town hall meeting held at Paris, Texas' New Salem Missionary Baptist Church (click link here to see Ms. Madewell's article).  At the meeting Shaquanda Cotton spoke about her stay at a Texas Youth Commission facility in Brownwood.  During her talk, Ms. Cotton made an appeal to the youth saying “We need to stop fighting against each other and take a look at the things that are going on around us and stand up for ourselves.” She also urged here peers not to "...let anybody tell you that you can’t be anything, because I have been told that many times.” Also at the meeting were Dallas leaders Minister Jeffery Muhammad of Muhammad Mosque No. 48; Rev. Charles Stoval, who is leading the Millions More Movement here, and Casey Thomas, President of the Dallas Branch of the NAACP.  It's good to see the follow-up efforts being made regarding the youth of Paris, Texas.

Here's a comment from Ben Murphy who was  in the audience for Donnie Ray Albert's performance of Felix Mendelson's Elijah at Temple Emmanuel in Dallas. The strongest overall performance of the evening came from Donnie Ray Albert in the title role of Elijah.  Just as Elijah was known for being Israel's greatest and most dramatic prophet, Donnie Ray Albert's performance was the greatest and most dramatic in this concert.  Mr. Albert truly has the voice of a prophet and he wasted no time establishing himself as one of opera's leading concert artist. Donnie Ray has a spectacular voice and possesses great stage presence.  I truly enjoyed the concert and look forward to my next opportunity to see Mr. Albert perform. Thanks Ben