North Texas’ top bandwagon stories of 2009

Things all the scenester French hens know about already, but I only learned to appreciate this year.

Keeping up with Fort Worth, Dallas, and Denton music is beyond a full-time job. Even after five years going to shows, listening to albums, and hanging out on the scene, things still fall through the cracks from time to time. Here's a list of things we should have known about before this year that would likely be worth discovering (if you don't know about them either). Better late than never!

Rather than make a boring, long list of the best stories from 2009, we'll serenade you. No one remembers the correct words to the 12 Days of Christmas anyhow, so go with it. Cue drunken Santas.

On the 12th day of Christmas, PegNewsers gave to me:

12-drum list of albums
11 songs sung sweetly
10 film flops
9 (minus four) live shows
8 tasty tidbits
Several movie moments
6 (or so) cinema splices
FIVE VIDEOS!
4-ever great artists
3 fangirl favorites
2 restaurant reviews
And a blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. (That's you.)

Sarah Jaffe

The world at large is catching on to the grace of Denton songbird, Sarah Jaffe. I ran across Even Born Again at Good Records early this year, and I still listen on a regular basis.

Slobberbone

When I started working for Pegasus, my focus on Denton's scene was stretched thin to include coverage of Dallas and Fort Worth. Slobberbone is an excellent example of a band that everyone in Dallas seemed to know well but hadn't breached Denton's jazz cave. Luckily, I caught Slobberbone at the Granada earlier this year, and I've had "Gimme Back My Dog" stuck in my head ever since.

Mingo Fishtrap

As the story goes, we'd heard the name a thousand times (and gotten lost at the intersection), but had somehow managed to inadvertently never actually listen to the music. Throw some Mingo Fishtrap on your playlist, and you'll find more great Denton funk.

BONUS: Fort Worth

I am enamored of Fort Worth. Before Pegasus, I had no idea of the underground jazz scene, or of burgeoning Dark Americana act, Telegraph Canyon. Since then, I have taken to haunting beautiful downtown to catch shows at Scat or grab a sidecar at The Usual. The culture of Cow Town is friendly and easy-going. I've never been so happy to hang out in a saloon.