- Daddy-O
The blues may have had a baby called rock ’n’ roll, but there was a white-trash hepcat in the lineage called rockabilly. It was a rhythm-mad variant of country music sharing commonality with urban blues — namely booze, snazzy cars, and women with moral flexibility. Modern-day rockabilly was represented by the Cramps (gnarly) and the Stray Cats (slick). Then came Reverend Horton Heat. The right reverend (a.k.a. Jim Heath) was relatively in-between, not as cartoony as the Cramps and more raw ‘n’ sizzling than the Stray Cats. Since 1985, Reverend Horton Heat has been making the world safe for un-PC good times, a heavy backbeat, hot guitar licks, and Texas pride. His latest album, Laughin’ & Cryin’, finds the Rev. tipping his hat to old-school country (“Little Bit of Everything in Texas”) and resting his tonsils with class (the snazzy instrumental “Spacewalk”). Heath and his bandmates still got it, and you can share it at 7 p.m. at the Beachland Ballroom. Split Lip Rayfield and Cracker open. Tickets: $26.50 advance, $27 day of show. —Mark Keresman
Review the show at clevescene.com/concertscene