Houston acts have been busy during quarantine

Many musicians used the down time to make new music.

Houston musician Michael Haaga

Photo: Courtesy

With so many music venues shut down right now, Houston musicians are stuck at home like the rest of us. That downtime has sparked a boom in one-offs, singles and covers that they have been putting out, often for free. Here’s a very abbreviated list of some of the tunes you can find from local performers.

The Quarantiners, ‘Morphine’

Some people started whole new bands during the pandemic. Abby Cadabra, Chris Goodwin and Ryan Adam Wells formed the appropriately named Quarantiners to record some country tunes while stuck at home (one of which is, of course, titled “Stuck in Quarantine”). My favorite of their released works so far on Bandcamp is “Morphine,” a grim ode to drug abuse and the coming end of the world. Like most of the plague singles, it’s channeling the fear and ache of the times we live in, and that makes it quite cathartic.

Illegal Wiretaps, ‘Memoirs From Inside a Noose’

One of Houston’s best noise acts won’t let something like a plague stop them. “Memoirs” is just the latest in a string of excellent, disturbing EPs, easily meshing grating awfulness with sublime ambiance in mood to match our current time of crisis. You can also check out the band’s 48-minute aural interpretation of the conversion of St. Paul on Bandcamp. Perfect sounds for driving the empty plague streets at night.

Deep Cuts, ‘Chemicals’

Continuing the dismal mood, here’s a new single about losing your mind. Lead singer Chase Harris wrote this slow jam after a severe mental breakdown and recovery in a basement in California. It’s actually a fairly happy, almost dance-y song, despite its origins, with a hopeful message to us all in a breakdown.

Robin Kirby, ‘Blue Dream’

The idea that Robin Kirby is not firmly planted somewhere on a stage in Houston right now is weird. The gravelly voiced blues master never lets fate get her down, though, and she put out a whole new album during the quarantine. Be sure to check out “Garage Mahal,” an incredible track that mixes her down-home style with an infectious piano to become something transcendent.

Michael Haaga, ‘If I Let it Go’

Michael Haaga has been recording a lot of music during the quarantine, but so far, only one track has made it out into the world on YouTube. He maintains his gleeful grimness on this haunting acoustic track while tackling concepts like loss and religion. It honestly sounds like a lost Doors B-side, and the weird incidental sounds of a dog barking in the back of the recording before the introduction of an air-raid siren only make it more compelling.

All Black Eyes, ‘Views From Space’

But if what you want is something that isn’t focused entirely on how depressing everything is, then check out the new EP from All Black Eyes. The work is a masterwork of club and electronica music that captures decades of history and progress in the genre within minutes. Invigorating and exciting, with just a touch of acid, it’s nice to hear someone right now producing tracks assuming we’ll some day dance again.

Lauren Miller, ‘Blinded By the Lights’

My hands down favorite local open-mic singer, Lauren Miller, hasn’t put out much music in the past decade, but trapped at home with her talented guitar-playing husband Jim Cahoon, she’s been belting out a string of incredible covers that never fail to put a smile on my face. The best of these is her tackling The Weeknd’s hit single, but her repertoire is wide open across many genres. Hopefully, reaching an audience desperate for music right now will compel her to do a bit more recording in the future. Until then, she, like the rest of these Houston musicians, is just trying to keep us humming along in troubled times.

Jef Rouner is a Houston-based writer.

  • Jef Rouner