Denton’s music scene continues to be a driving force in independent music. With the talented students who flock to the area and its supportive community, the city’s nightlife passtime just keeps getting better.
Denton’s live-music scene is sort of like that terrific little restaurant that only you and a couple of close friends know about. The restaurant’s always crowded, but it’s packed with familiar faces—folks who love the place but are reluctant to spread the news about it; they want to keep it for themselves.
Like it or not, Dentonites, the word on the area’s thriving music scene has leaked out. Blame it on the touring bands that love to play here. Blame it on the local bands that hype their hometown when they’re on the road. Blame it on onetime Denton musicians who have moved onward and upward, but who still champion the city whenever someone puts a mic near their mouth. Hello, Norah Jones.
“I loved it there, it was a great time for me,” Jones, a former student at the University of North Texas, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram during her last tour. “Everyone was just so supportive there, no matter what kind of music you played, whether it was jazz, rock, or whatever. It’s a good atmosphere for musicians.”
Denton has a few more superstars in its corner, including current pop rockers Bowling for Soup, who were nominated for a Grammy, as well as Eagles singer Don Henley and the late Roy Orbison, both of whom attended UNT.
Denton was also home base for some almost-famous groups like the hard-hitting country-rock group Slobberbone (some of the members of whom have formed the like-minded band The Drams) and Centro-matic, a cryptic-folk group led by onetime Dentonite Will Johnson. Centro-matic, along with its offshoot South San Gabriel, now operate out of Austin, where Johnson moved.
Local-music lovers also have fond memories of the “school of noise” triplets: Brutal Juice, Caulk, and Baboon, three punk groups that made a lot of noise, locally and nationally, in the ’90s. After signing to a major label, and releasing a terrific record that sold zilch, Brutal Juice disbanded. Caulk wasn’t far behind. Baboon is still active, but is now based in Dallas.
Also in the ’90s, you couldn’t walk down Fry Street without stumbling over a space-rock band like Thorazine Dream or Mazinga Phaser.
More recently, the town has spawned the indie-rock band Midlake, which, thanks to the success of its debut album, The Trials of Van Occupanther, has toured Europe and Australia. The band also recently appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, backing pal Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips.
And then, of course, there’s everybody’s favorite Denton band, the impossibly eclectic Brave Combo, a Grammy-winning “nuclear polka” ensemble.
In a way, Brave Combo perfectly epitomizes Denton’s music scene: It offers something for music listeners of all likings.
Dan’s Silverleaf, a local institution for live acts, offers warm and fuzzy country, folk, and rock acts in a sepia-toned atmosphere. It’s the library of Denton music venues, where you’ll get a “Shhhhhh” if you’re blabbing too loudly when an act’s performing.
If you want to be noisy, head to Andy’s Basement Bar & Grill, where local and regional rock groups such as Chemistry Set, Little Big Horn, and Centralia hold court, or to Cool Beans, a bar and grill that hosts bands of all genres. You can be as rambunctious as the law allows on Cool Beans’ outdoor deck.
To get a good taste of college-kid life, hit the R Bar, where local rock and alternative-country bands play to seas of hoisted beers, high fives, and ball caps.
And for those whose tastes lean more toward underground rock, Denton has two clubs from which to choose: Hailey’s and Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios.
Rubber Gloves, unfortunately for Denton, will soon be departing. In January, owner Josh Baish announced the club will move to Dallas. Rubber Gloves’ current home will likely be turned into a rail-station parking lot, according to the Denton Record Chronicle, to accommodate commuters hopping aboard the city’s soon-to-be-constructed railway system.
During its 10-year tenure, Rubber Gloves has hosted shows by nationally known indie-rock bands, including Dirty Three, Modest Mouse, Hot Snakes, and Death Cab for Cutie.
That will hardly mean indie-rock bands will now steer clear of Denton. Hailey’s has, and will continue to, book touring and local underground rock bands, carrying on the tradition of Rubber Gloves and its predecessor, The Argo.
Change has always been a staple of Denton’s live-music scene. But through all the changing of nightclub names and locations, openings and closings, the music community has not only survived, but continued to prosper. And how could it not, with UNT’s nationally respected music school, home to several jazz ensembles, churning out one grad after another? Today’s students could be, after all, tomorrow’s Norah Joneses.
“There’s an incredible pool of talent here, thanks to those music school students,” says Dan Mojica, the owner of Dan’s Silverleaf. “There will always be a need for places for those students to play. And those people tell other people about how cool it is here, and that’s how word has spread about what a great place Denton is for live music. In my opinion, I think it always will be.”
by malcolm mayhew