Hear and Now

The H-Town music scene, Third Coast hotbed of hip-hop and longtime outpost of outlaw country cool, is increasingly influential and, like the city itself, diverse. Meet the rising stars of the most fascinating tune town in America today.

Julie Soefer
Portrait

Editors’ Note: CityBook’s fourth annual musicians portfolio hits next week! This is how the tradition began, at White Oak Music Hall, back in 2017.


Shot on location at White Oak Music Hall in the Heights

Text by Evan W. Black and Daniel Renfrow, with Chris Becker

Styling Support by Molly Jodeit

Makeup by Jennifer Aronson

Women’s Hair by Travis Player and Brandy Perez for Tease Color & Style Bar

Men’s Hair by Destiny Sebreth for Estilo Salon and Spa

Photography Assistance by Dylan Aguilar

Listen to the artists featured in the May issue:

Born and raised in Angola, singer VIVALDA DULA, along with her classical guitarist husband Marcelo Robert, relocated from Luanda to Houston in 2012. In Houston, Dula recorded two albums of her percussion-heavy, Africa-inspired music, 2013’s Insanidade Mental and 2015’s Africa. A dynamic live act, with a griot’s gift for storytelling, Dula often sings her socially conscious lyrics in Kimbundu, a language banned from her country’s schools before the Angolan Civil War. Fittingly, Dula — who boasts an effervescent personality and impossibly glowing skin — just performed at the Global Issues Summit in Sugar Land. The new mom to an eight-month-old girl is currently recording an album with Grammy-winning producer Emilio D. Miller.
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