13 January 22 - 28, 2026 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents “Somehow, it’s as clean as it is distorted,” Holt says. “She’s channeling the ’70s post- punk approaches of Andy Partridge and Richard Lloyd, or even Glen Reynolds’ spastic playing in Chomsky, another North Texas guitar band I could rave on and on about, into something incredibly modern, but without being annoyingly modern-sounding.” Before blowing the doors off the North Texas music scene over the last few years, J. Isaiah Evans went under the radar for quite a while. He was the kind of guy other musi- cians appreciated, but one that audiences needed to catch up on. His projects, such as The 40 Acre Mule and J. Isaiah Evans and the Boss Tweed, have brought back the gritty blues twang that gave birth to rock ’n’ roll. His sound is the kind that makes you wonder if Bo Diddley joined ZZ Top. “Freddie King was about the best to ever do it. From the first bar of ‘Going Down,’ you just feel like the baddest cat on the block,” Evans tells us. “And that’s what he was. Technically, his tone came from a Gibson ES-345 in front of a Fender Quad Reverb amp, but his sound was all him … all Dallas swagger. ’Til this very day, I want to be Fred- die King when I grow up.” Nick Earl not only lays down a dreamy gui- tar that threads through the sonic tapestry known as The Polyphonic Spree, but he also continues the legacy of Tripping Daisy, picking up where lead guitarist Wes Berggren left off when he died in 1999. Having to both honor Berggren’s iconic sound and still stand out as his own unique player, Earl understands the importance of tone in a band’s narrative. “I don’t like comparing people because ev- erybody brings something different to the ta- ble, [but] if I have to pick, I’d say my bud, Phill Aelony,” Earl says. “He’s moved back up to Minneapolis, where he’s from. But he was the guitar player in The Funky Knuckles. ... Phill has always had a really unique approach. He can blisteringly shred, but usually tries not to, and he can play solo guitar like nobody’s busi- ness … like three parts at once, all very sepa- rate, but complementary.” Jess Garland is not only a great guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, but she’s also the founder of a nonprofit organization that provides free music education and concerts to North Texans who wouldn’t normally have access to them. Her passion is helping musicians find their own place in music, in- cluding the Dallas guitar player who comes to her mind first. “Cookie McGee is a Dallas-born blues powerhouse whose SG Gibson delivers crispy punches and bendy wails, channeling the lin- eage of Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Freddie King,” Garland says. “A left-handed, Hendrix- style player, her sound feels like a Texas time machine — ancestral, gritty and felt deep in your chest. Through Swan Strings, we uplift artists like McGee to ensure this blues legacy is seen, heard and passed on to the next gen- eration of young women in Dallas – in our Girls Rock Dallas summer program and our new initiative and award-winning film, Be- hind the Strings: Amplifying Black Feminism in Guitar Culture.” ON STANDS FEBRUARY 26 Kaleidoscope SCAN FOR ADVERTISING INFORMATION Arts, Culture and Events Guide
