Jesuit
alum John Lomax, music editor at Houston Press
By
Andy Kahn
Magis staff writer
In today’s
world, music critics sometimes are seen as the harsh overlords
of hip, whose whim can make or break an artist. One local
critic, however, breaks this mold, becoming more of a scene
benefactor, or a facilitator of relationships among musicians.
John Lomax, Jesuit Class of ’88, is that critic. Mr.
Lomax is music editor for the Houston Press, the largest independent
paper in the Houston area. As editor and one of the primary
writers on the Press staff, Mr. Lomax usually writes a feature
story, an op/ed column “Racket” and a few concert
previews or CD reviews per weekly issue.
Mr. Lomax was “born into” his interest in music.
His musical family history goes back to his great-grandfather.
Born on the Chisholm Trail, his great-grandfather wrote down
the songs the cowboys sang at night while he was trying to
sleep. After failing twice to get these songs published, he
eventually succeeded, even having the intro to his book written
by Teddy Roosevelt. He then became a folklorist and traveled
America, taking down songs of all sorts. Mr. Lomax’s
father was a music journalist who, among other things, was
an editor of the Space City News, the forerunner to the Press.
He was also music director at the Pacifica Radio Affiliate
in Houston (KPFT) and manager/producer to such artists as
Steve Earl and Townes Van Zandt. Growing up among such a musical
group, one could not help but be attracted to the business.
John Lomax was born on March 18, 1970, in Austin, Texas. He
moved back and forth between Nashville, where his grandparents
lived, and Houston, finally settling in Houston during high
school. He graduated from Jesuit in the class of ’88
after playing baseball, running track and playing football,
making varsity squad from sophomore year on.
Although Mr. Lomax attended U.T., Belmont College and U. of
H., he never received a degree. He gave up college to travel
in Europe, where he met his wife. They moved back to Houston
in 1997. He started freelancing for the Press in 2000 and
took over as editor in March of 2001, making him the Press’s
longest standing music editor to date.
As editor, Mr. Lomax is involved in the Houston music scene
by necessity. He has to be in order to be able to write about
the different goings-on about town. He sees the Houston scene
as many other Houstonians do, as having both good and bad
points. It is good because of its size. “There are about
twelve [different scenes], actually: Zydeco, blues (both black
and white), indie, around three different punk scenes, and
six or seven Hispanic scenes.”
While a diverse musical structure might seem ideal, it ends
up being its own downside. “Everyone sticks to their
own scene,” Mr. Lomax says. He is “completely
astonished at how many musicians don’t know about other
musicians they play down the street from on a regular basis.
Everyone stays inside their own scenes. It’s almost
cliquish, like high school parties,” Mr. Lomax adds.
The size of the live music scene here, coupled with the size
of the city, is also a problem. Clubs are spread out to an
extent that “you can’t park your car somewhere
and go see a couple of different shows without moving it,”
adds Mr. Lomax. While not every town can have it’s own
Sixth Street, it would be nice if Houston could have a place
where people could bar-hop and see a few different shows a
night, because having to find parking at every different club
one goes to gets tiring (and sometimes expensive), making
patrons less apt to want to go see shows.
Mr. Lomax sees his role in the music scene in this way. Quite
contrary to some people’s perception of modern music
critics, he sees himself “directing people to the good
stuff rather than slamming the bad stuff.” In addition,
behind the scenes he tries to introduce musicians to their
peers.
He sees a lot of positive changes in the local scene. Whereas
a few years ago many clubs shut their doors for good, Houston
recently has experienced an actual net gain of venues. He
also sees more of a “culture of going to shows,”
stemming partly from a greater abundance of all-age shows
rather than shows restricted to those age twenty-one and up.
As a critic, Mr. Lomax faces criticism himself as a result
of his writing. “It hurts, but you get used to it,”
he says. “You have to develop a thick skin.” In
one of the best descriptions of criticism I have heard, Mr.
Lomax reflected, “If you please all the people all the
time, you’re not pleasing anyone.”
Maybe some students here at Jesuit could take an idea from
Mr. Lomax and go catch a local show or two to help keep the
Houston music scene alive and diverse (and heck, maybe a bit
more unified too).
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