Song of the Day: Recent Episodes

KUT & KUTX Studios

The KUTX team looks high and low for songs and artists that should be on your radar.

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Long before Shakey Graves was filling theaters around the world, Alejandro Rose-Garcia was finding his footing at Austin’s Hole in the Wall, where an early happy-hour residency helped shape the artist he would become. More than a decade later, that connection remains.

In 2026, Shakey brought his annual Shakey Graves Day celebration back to the Hole in the Wall, and for this episode of The Hole Story, he returns with another piece of his origin story: a nearly century-old Gibson archtop he describes as haunted. Recorded just a few days ahead of release of his album Fondness, Etc, Shakey performs new songs and old songs and shares the story of the guitar, its mysterious pull, and the role he believes it played in helping him write some of the songs that first defined Shakey Graves.

The post Shakey Graves: “When the Love Was New” [The Hole Story] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

The past is coming up from behind on the debut single from Louisville, Kentucky synth trio Modiste. The 80’s-inspired group employs exclusively analog and digital vintage instruments and toys to invoke a true pastiche of your favorite smokey 80’s underground music with just a whisper of the modern age. Think Jane Leo meets Kate Bush and Depeche Mode.

Modiste’s debut album Nothing More Than A Machine is out now.

The post Modiste: “Breaking My Own Heart” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Paige Plaisance is carving out her own lane with a sound she coins “Swampytonkin’.” Raised on a farm near the muddy banks of the Mississippi River, the Austin-based singer-songwriter and pianist is back with her highly anticipated second full-length album, Swampwater.

Recorded at Austin’s famed Finishing School and produced by Jonathan Tyler, Swampwater further establishes Plaisance as a masterful, unflinching songwriter. The album is a raw collection of songs born from personal experiences—navigating love, loss, heartbreak, and grief, before ultimately heading to the honky-tonk to sing the blues away.

Musically, Swampwater forges a bold new era while highlighting her commanding vocals and signature piano playing. Plaisance dives deep into a soulful, blues-drenched territory—introducing grit, horns, and slide guitar—while staying fiercely true to the classic Texas country foundation of pedal steel and fiddle. Backed by her band, The Yeah You Right Boys, the record is a powerful evolution, perfectly capsulized in the new single “Waiting.”

Swampwater is out September 4th with an album release show September 5th at Antone’s with Monica Valli.

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Coming from the Los Angeles Music scene, the LA duo “BLUUM” (with two Us) is blossoming with some quality 90s inspired alternative music. This track wants to bring it back to when rock ruled the world. The pair produced this song alongside their debut self titled album from their LA apartments. Who knows? Maybe this could be their big break!

The post BLUUM: “Tough Break, Kid” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Looking to fill your Thursdays this August? Austin sardonic power-pop group Magic Rockers of Texas are holding down this month’s residency spot at one of our favorite venues: the Hole In the Wall. They’re kicking it off tonight with guests Slomo Drags and Quinn Decker and the LLC.

We’re throwing it back to their latest set from Studio 1A, perfoming this one one from 2025’s Gorging On American Fare.

The post Magic Rockers of Texas: “Where Did My Life Go” [Live In Studio 1A] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Ruben Ramos, known to many as “El Gato Negro,” was not born in Austin, but his work over the last seven decades has earned him a sculpture in the city among other greats like Willie Nelson and Stevie Ray Vaughan. His work with Los Super Seven, a group featuring Freddy Fender, Joe Ely, Flaco Jimenez, and many others, earned Ramos a Grammy Award in 1999. He added another Grammy to his collection in 2009 with The Mexican Revolution.

His new album, Los Días de Calor, is produced by Austin mainstay Carrie Rodriguez, who is heavily featured on the album and performed alongside him last month in Studio 1A.

The post Ruben Ramos + Carrie Rodriguez : “Ay Me Duele” [Live In Studio 1A] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

2026 has been a big year for New York’s Jesse Malin. The East Village icon released his memoir Almost Grown: A New York Memoir in April, and the run of his autobiographical concert-theatre production Silver Manhattan was extended this spring at New York’s Bowery Palace. The production partially discusses his relationship with friend and D Generation bandmate DJ Howie Pyro, who passed away in 2022. This tribute continues in the song “Hollywood Forever,” an upbeat, classic British-rock track charmingly commemorating Pyro’s legend and his prodigious impact on Malin’s life.

The post Jesse Malin: “Hollywood Forever” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Nourishing, gritty, wood-smoked, and road-worn are all words that have been appropriately (and lovingly) used to describe the Americana songwriting of Illinois’s David Quinn. The upcoming album Down & Dirty was written purely for the joy of the game, and boy does it show. Quinn sticks to his compelling and illustrative storytelling with licks and hooks that are groovy, boot-scootin’, and just downright fun. And that goes for every track on this upcoming album of high-energy country bangers.

Down & Dirty is out August 28th.

The post David Quinn: “Long Time Gone” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Austin alt-country sweetheart’s Next of Kin are back with their first new song (and dare I say, bona fide bop) since the release of last year’s Homemaker EP. “Dimestore Jesus” starts fully blossomed with their signature harmonies for a “beautifully honest track about carrying the burden of the savior complex: the tendency to pour everything into fixing someone else while neglecting their own healing.” In a time when new country music often seems either painfully one note or certifiably cringe, Next of Kin continue to be a breath of fresh air, never compromising on vulnerability or afraid to explore some of the darkest experiences of relatability. Next on the horizon? A set at this year’s Lollapalooza Fest in Chicago.

Next of Kin plays the Neon Rodeo Friday, August 21st at ACL Live.

The post Next of Kin: “Dimestore Jesus” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Austins Alex Hartley’s “I Believe“ was born from one of life’s hardest moments, written after a crisis during his and his wife’s IVF journey. The song reflects the strength it takes to stand beside someone you love through uncertainty, pairing heartfelt lyrics with warm Americana instrumentation that never overshadows the emotion. It’s an honest reminder that hope can endure, even when it’s put to the test.

The post Alex Hartley: “I Believe” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

A native Texan with a tri-coastal career spanning Austin, Los Angeles, and New York, Quentin has appeared at major festivals including Austin City Limits Music Festival and SXSW while earning a reputation for fearless live performances and genre-defying songwriting. Dubbed a “genre-hopping hustler” by the Austin Chronicle, they have evolved from their glam-rock roots with indie band The Past Lives, arriving at the expansive, emotionally charged sound heard on their debut album, TOMGIRL.

The post Quentin: “Peanut Butter Cigarettes” [Live In Studio 1A] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Austin electronic duo Warm Sound (who you’ve heard on KUTX) are back with “Better Days,” the title track to their upcoming third album out this fall. Lush and groovy, the new song is more ambient than their trip-hop roots, marking a new, more ethereal, meditative sound from the duo, “pairing intricate production with an equally complex emotional architecture” for an album vulnerably exploring inner-discord in the search of, well, better days.

Better Days is out October 16th.

The post Warm Sound: “Better Days” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

The new single from Austin’s Stalefish marries two of my favorite things: 90’s indie rock with a story about an underdog, which, admittedly, is really the thesis of 90’s indie rock. “Superstar” is our first taste of the group’s new polished sound (but like a Matador Records sort of polished), and the group says it best: “Pavement-esque guitars, beefy drums, 80s style synths, and gang vocals.”

The post Stalefish: “Superstar” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

I hope you get tangled in the tendrils of this next group. Ivy Mine is a diy indie/alternative band based in Austin Texas. This Track off the upcoming album Keep the Chaos Close brings sparkling vocals and snarling guitars

The post Ivy Mine: “500 Days” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Austin-based artist Tvlormvde blends house, pop, and R&B on “Heat Wave,” a standout from the new EP Sometimes on Wednesday. Built around classic house grooves, live instrumentation, and an infectious hook, the track sticks with you long after it’s over. With another Texas summer in full swing, “Heat Wave” is a fitting soundtrack for the season.

The post Tvlormvde: “Heat Wave” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

KUTX’s June 2026 Artist of the Month, Touch Girl Apple Blossom, crafts songs that hit straight at the most tender part of your heart. The band’s new album, Graceful, is a collection of jangly, nostalgic pop songs that feel lived-in and intimate. The group is heading out on a Midwest tour next week that includes a stop at Jack White’s Nashville venue Blue Room, and before they hit the road, they stopped by Studio 1A to wrap us up in the warmth and woo, and here’s your free download to be your carry-along musical wubby.

The post Touch Girl Apple Blossom: “The Springtime Reminds Me Of…” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Woody Russell’s “Cross This River, Take Up This Fight” settles into a steady, rootsy groove, with warm acoustic textures and vocals that feel both weathered and inviting. It’s the kind of song that lets the arrangement breathe, giving every lyric room to land while building a quiet sense of momentum.

The post Woody Russel: “Cross That River, Take Up This Fight” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Austin band Wild Heaven premiered their debut single on Song of the Day two years ago. Now, they’re back with a brand-new single with the familiar raucous, post-punk energy that we love. “Dust in the Night Sky,” an upbeat single that lands between post-punk, shoegaze, and neo-psych rock, chronicles mischievous all-night adventures with a wink and a smile. Lead singer Laura Blewitt confides her late-night misdeeds over a fluttering drumline and an energetic guitar line that foreshadows the rising sun.

Freshly returned from tour with The Midnight Papers, this is Wild Heaven with “Dust in the Night Sky.”

The post Wild Heaven: “Dust in the Night Sky” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Ryan Wen put it best: Kurt Vile is like Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and Neil Young with Stephen Malkmus as the head. The blues-meets-slacker rock musician’s tenth studio album, Philadelphia’s Been Good To Me, is his “bringin it home to Philly” album, largely recorded in his home studio there and his first release following the death of longtime collaborator and former Swirlies bandmate Rob Laakso. The tour stops in Austin tonight with demented indie rockers Being Dead opening. To celebrate, we’re opening up the Studio 1A vault with his gem recorded back in 2016.

The post Kurt Vile: “Pretty Pimpin'” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

We’ve gotten really acquainted with Dallas hip-hop group Cure for Paranoia this year, and their meteoric rise has been a joy to be a part of and to watch from the sidelines. The winners of the 2026 NPR Tiny Desk Contest hit their Austin tour stop a couple of weeks ago, making a pit stop in Studio 1A before their show. Cure for Paranoia returns to Austin twice this fall: playing MeadowFest 2026 on August 29th at Radio/East with Cimafunk, Quentin, and others; and again for weekend one of ACL Fest.

The post Cure for Paranoia: “The Artshow” [Live In Studio 1A] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Slow Pulp has a way of making introspective songs feel inviting, and “Better Man” is no exception. Soft guitars and Emily Massey’s understated vocal give the track room to breathe, capturing the complicated feeling of wanting to grow while still figuring things out.

The song comes from an album that leans into subtlety, favoring mood and texture over big moments. It’s the kind of record that rewards repeat listens, with “Better Man” standing out as one of its quietest and most memorable moments.

Catch them at Emo’s November 6th

The post Slow Pulp: “Better Man” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

In the midst of a nearly year-long tour, Austin indie-Americana breakouts Briscoe have released “The Heart of Texas.” The song commemorates the anniversary of the horrific Kerr County floods that devastated entire communities and families and resulted in the deaths of around 60 people, including children. The song is what I would call “cinematic Americana,” deeply beautiful and powerful as an instrumental on its own. It’s a heartfelt tribute to the immense support and sense of community that rallied around the disaster, perfectly articulated in the line, “Two thirds the state, half the world, and all my living kin helped the Heart of Texas start to beat again.”

A portion of the music sales of “Heart of Texas” will be donated to the Kerr County Flood Relief Fund.

The post Briscoe: “The Heart of Texas” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

David G. Smith shines a light on an often-overlooked piece of American history with “Hero Street,” a moving tribute to the eight Mexican American soldiers from one small Illinois neighborhood who gave their lives in service. Anchored by understated acoustic guitar, heartbeat-like drums, and mournful steel guitar, the song honors both the sacrifice of these young men and the resilient community that raised them. It’s a powerful reminder that some of the most important stories are the ones still waiting to be heard.

The post David G. Smith: “Hero Street” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

During the oppressive heat of the summer, it’s easy to long for a breeze – and today’s song, “Rungs of Love” by Jenny Gillespie Mason, feels like one. In this single from In the Safety of the Light, Mason’s debut solo album, the Northern Californian artist croons about finding love and focus in a chaotic world. With whiffs of cosmic folk, ambient music, and alternative, “Rungs of Love” feels like the soft fabric of your clothes rustling against your skin in the wind.

The post Jenny Gillespie Mason: “Rungs of Love” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

The new album from Rhode Island indie-folk group Deer Tick, Coin-O-Matic, is a slice-of-life of the group’s hometown of Providence, which serves as our main character, with an album of vignettes that stitch together to illustrate the town’s “once-speedy past” and the gallery of characters wherein.

But the town also has secrets.

On “Mary Singletary,” we get Stefon-levels of everything: interfaith relationships, alcoholic priests, altar boys, and teenage lust, to name a few. As singer John McCauley puts it, “It’s a kind of spicy, paranoid teenage love song about premarital sex with a partner of another faith, and good old-fashioned Catholic guilt.”

Coin-O-Matic is out now on ATO Records. Deer Tick plays Scoot Inn Friday, October 16th.

The post Deer Tick: “Mary Singletary” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Austin’s Sweet Limb blends alt-R&B, hip-hop, soulful grooves, and lo-fi textures into music that feels both intimate and expansive. Led by Chris Robinson, the project pairs emotional vulnerability with head-nodding production.

Sweet Limb performs tonight at The Drop-In, opening for Jackie Venson.

The post Sweet Limb: “Dopamine” [Live In Studio 1A] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Austin’s Restos turn close calls and near misses into an indie-rock anthem on “No Cigar.” With jangly guitars, a driving rhythm, and just the right amount of grit, the track captures the feeling of chasing something that’s always a little out of reach—and having a good time anyway.

The post Restos: “No Cigar appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

It gives me such joy to see Daisy O’Connor returning to the studio and the stage. The Austin-based, genre-fluid singer-songwriter took an unexpectedly long break from gigging and songwriting, feeling the block and burnout from relentless touring. Then, on a trip to New York City, the Concrete Jungle worked its magic, and inspiration struck. “LIRR” is a far cry from a love letter to the city; it’s dark and authentic, with the role of the city performed by a ghostly, melodic, white noise veneer, illustrating an all-too-familiar story for those who have taken a brave, big city-sized gamble on themselves.

The post Daisy O’Connor: “LIRR” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

For KindKeith, love is collective and nonlinear. The new album On Love, the Austintie not only meditates on the answer to their own question of “What does love mean to you?” but they brought in a multitude of collaborators to reverberate the fluid, complex, and multi-faceted relationship we all have with love. And it’s all wrapped-up in a lush, smooth, funk-dotted R&B cocoon. KindKeith stopped by Studio 1A earlier this week ahead of their performance at the Drop-In and their show tonight at Mohawk with Big Bill, J’Cuzzi, and haha Laughing. The show is a benefit for DAWA and supported by KUTX.

The post KindKeith: “I Wanna Buy A Home With You” [Live In Studio 1A] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

KUTX May 2026 Artist of the Month, EddieAngel, finds himself at the forefront of a new wave of R&B artists reshaping the sound of alternative soul in Austin and beyond. Fronted by singer-songwriter and seasoned vocalist Angel Estrada, the project has steadily built momentum through emotionally grounded lyricism and a growing local fanbase. Alongside him, the band consists of core members Marc Rene on guitar, Enrico De Cesare Leite on bass, Seth Sevilla on keys, and James Navarro on drums. They performed live in our Studio 1A on May 22, 2026.

Following the international streaming success of his 2025 release “Holding On” with Tobias Lund, EddieAngel brings forth a new chapter with the CHICANO BLUES EP. Its lead single, “PAYASO,” led to an official SXSW debut, plus support from the legendary Grupo Fantasma, positioning Estrada as a rising voice fueled by deeply personal penmanship, all thoughtfully rooted in the Mexican experience as a native Austinite.

EddieAngel celebrates the release of Chicano Blues tonight at 29th Street Ballroom.

The post EddieAngel: “PAYASO” [Live In Studio 1A] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Austin artist Quentin celebrates identity, self-acceptance, and the city that helped shape them on the upbeat new single “Lucy in Disguise.” Inspired by the iconic South Congress costume shop, the song pairs bright indie-pop energy with a sense of nostalgia, while the self-directed video turns Austin into a dreamlike backdrop where memory, transformation, and home collide.

The post QUENTIN: “LUCY IN DISGUISE” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Austin’s most musical intergalactic cult and former Artist of the Month are back with their third annual Grandmaster Gala at the State Theatre this Saturday. Their sound defies both space and time, so it’s fitting that we’re rewinding it back to their Studio 1A session from February, where they performed tracks off of their second album, Grandmaster II. Disco, funk, red hats and giant glasses, these worshippers of the Grandmaster, also known as Zealots, know how to practice what they preach.

Grandmaster II is out now.

The post Grandmaster: “Feel It Coming” [Live In Studio 1A] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

If you’ve ever been curious about what the love child of dream pop and Americana would sound like, Kristin Diable has the answer. The New Orleans singer-songwriter’s new album Impossible Things is her boldest to date, enhancing her Americana background with swelling textures and cinematic depth, like a current you’ve entrusted to be your guide. According to Diable, the album is a body of work about resilience, mystery, healing, and rebirth. Sonically and emotioanlly, it exists in the liminal space we find ourselves navigating as we rebuild, whether we were broken by outside forces or by our own necessary design.

Impossible Things is out now on Speakeasy Records.

The post Kristin Diable: “One Man On the Road” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

It’s been nearly seven years since post-rock/emo band American Football released LP3, but it wasn’t meant to be. Writing the new album hit its first snag in 2020, with the band finding it veritably impossible to write and collaborate effectively over Zoom. Cracks were becoming insurmountable.

Then the group saw the fallout and departure of drummer Steve Lamos (who returned a couple of years later), while singer/guitarist Mike Kinsella faced the truth of his alcoholism, infidelity, divorce, and marriage to his affair partner. From there, the tone and approach to the new album shifted, reflecting the controversies and dark reality that had set in, perfectly summarized in the opening lyrics to the jangle-infused “Wake Her Up,”: “I have a morbid fascination of trauma that I can’t mend.”

American Football returns to Austin for Levitation, playing Stubb’s on Thursday, September 10th. LP4 is out now on Polyvinyl Record Co.

The post American Football: “Wake Her Up” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Austin’s Cast Iron Shoes song “Little Bird” is written around themes of borders and escape. It carries a sense of longing and resilience that feels deeply personal. Inspired in part by growing up in a trailer without electricity or running water, the song turns hardship into something hopeful, pairing vivid storytelling with a warm, wandering spirit.

Catch them live at White Horse on June 26 at 8 PM.

The post Cast Iron Shoes: “Little Bird” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

The work of Milan-based cinematic funk group Calibro 35 has traveled stateside before, via samples by Jay-Z and Dr. Dre. But their latest project – a soundtrack for the 2025 documentary Ellroy vs. LA – offers a view of one of America’s most well-known cities through a noir lens. In Riots, their latest single, a mysterious intro gives way to a funky guitar groove and a driving beat, setting the stage for something new hiding in the shadows.

The post Calibro 35: “Riots” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Macabre, baroque, drastic. So goes the debut album from Brooklyn’s Bella Litsa, but it’s also been at her core since she began playing the piano at six years old, finding an affinity for minor chords and rewriting pieces from songbooks to make them reflect darker, deeper tones. Paired with a spectral-like, operatic voice and inspiration from NYC’s abrasive nature, we get her debut album Drasticism.

The haunting hues of “Angelica” finds its power in the negative space, leaving room for the darkness to seep in organically against its baroque pop backdrop.

The post Bella Litsa: “Angelica” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Austin-based garage rock band Day Friend lean into something more expansive on “Street Light,” blending their psychedelic punk roots with a growing pull toward indie rock and alternative textures. The track marks a clear genre shift while keeping the loose, lived-in energy that defines their sound.“Street Light” centers on that tipping point where responsibility starts to collide with being a night owl in the local scene. Written from the perspective of a scenester deciding between going out or staying in for sleep, the song follows that choice as it unfolds.

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I heard your Riot Grrrl bone was itching. Allow me. CorMae has everything I love: women with guitars and a heap of snarled attitude. And you may be wondering why they aren’t part of this summer’s Hot Summer Nights line-up. My friend, they will be on the road opening for of Montreal! But, before they head off, they’re celebrating the release of Everything is so Great! tomorrow night at 13th Floor. And I imagine you’re supposed to say that album title with Homer Simpson-style split eyes; the way they look when you exclaim “TRAMBOPOLINE!”.

The post CorMae: “ADHD” [Live In Studio 1A] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Sadie Fine blends indie pop and dream pop into something that feels both intimate and cinematic with “Just Drive.” The production is soft and atmospheric, creating a late-night feeling that perfectly matches the song’s emotional weight. Lyrically, it captures the need to escape your own thoughts for a while — not necessarily to find answers, but simply to keep moving. Her vocals feel understated and vulnerable, which makes the song hit even harder. It’s the kind of track that feels made for quiet night drives and moments of reflection.

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Self love and Afro-carribean beats – what else could you want from a summer anthem? Sierra Velez, a newcomer to the Austin scene originally from New York, is dedicated to transport listeners to a tropical getaway. This song is sure to make you feel much closer to the ocean rather than the rivers and lakes that we’re used to.

The post Sierra Velez: “Lovin’ On Me” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Following their 2021 EP and some breadcrumbed singles, Austin indie-folk duo Deer Fellow are releasing their debut full-length album Hues on May 29th. But it hasn’t just been music released into the void. In the last five years, the duo have been Sonic Guild grantees, SXSW official artists, and, most recently, members Matt Salois and Alyssa Kelly have gotten married.

The album’s title track was inspired by the soft, hypnotic shifting color mechanics of the 2016 puzzle game Hue. Delicate yet deep, the song’s reflective nature is cinematically underscored by Kelly’s violin bed layered with Salois’s catchy riff that perfectly captures the process of a guitarist who does their best thinking while plucking.

Deer Fellow’s album release show is Saturday, May 30th at Hole In the Wall with Magnolia Kids and Sophie Seng.

The post Deer Fellow: “Hues” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Primo the Alien and CHROMETONGUE bring the cool girl energy on their new release “Cool Girl” — a perfect mix of polished and slightly chaotic. Huge synths, slick production, and the kind of energy that makes you want to drive a little too fast at night. It feels icy while still being fun, and every part of it sounds intentional. This is the type of track that was made to be played loud.

The post CHROMETONGUE ft. Primo the Alien: “Cool Girl” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Many horror stories become our favorite laughbale memories thanks to the gift of time, and Austin alt-rock pop group BOO85 (boo-eighty-five) articulate this well in their new single “Funny Story,” where the mantra is “sit with it, laugh at it, relinquish it.” Emphasized with layered, catchy pop-rock hooks, Go-Go’s -like vocals and harmonies and enough cheekiness to rectify bucal-fat-removal regret, this one has “song of the summer” potential for those newly healed or needing that “aha” moment to relaize that you’ve fully moved on.

BOO85 have a single release show this Thursday at Valhalla on Red River and another show Saturday, June 6th at Radio South.

The post BOO85: “Funny Story” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Picture this: you’re crusing around Barton Springs listening to your favorite radio station wink wink, and the fuzzy pulse and twinkly synth sparkles of Muse’s “Starlight” flood your car. Suddenly, inspiration strikes. So goes the story for Emilie Basez, one-half of Austin world-folk duo Her Mana. Like a long-term relationship response to the original’s falling in love energy, this beautifully transformed version is down tempo with space to breathe, trading anthemic for the power of the duo’s delicate harmonies and the heart-racing oxytocin bump for tenderness and intimacy.

The post Her Mana: “Starlight” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Austin-based Lani Thomison, aka Street Peach, is fresh off an Ari Lennox after-show at Stubbs and returning to Song of the Day with her latest single, Cloud 12. Produced by Chris Beale of Magna Carta, this song muses on the soaring highs of a romantic relationship in her unique alt-R&B style. With a warm guitar and a hypnotic drum pattern, “Cloud 12” is sure to make you feel like a celestial being.

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It’s been a minute since we’ve heard from Danny Malone. Following a bit of a hibernation period, the Austin-based singer-songwriter (and former Sonic Guild grant recipient) had a prolific songwriting year in 2025, penning over 60 songs. As he puts it, his inspiration was “a long battle between my ego and my spirit, and the spirit finally started to win again.” “Leaves” is a rumination taking us back to Malone’s teenage years, reflecting on the now rose-tinted messiness and “what could have been” of those first loves whose memories still creep in from the rafters regardless of how much time has passed.

Danny Malone celebrates this new crop of songs with a three-night run at Hyde Park Theater with Charlie Roadman starting this Sunday, May 17th.

The post Danny Malone: “Leaves” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Dark, broody, and effusing forest witch energy, LA’s Lola Bates lays it all out on the table in her debut album Love and Power. A deeply intricate and intimate exploration of keeping the scales of being and sharing yourself in balance, Bates strikes piano keys like plucking heart strings, emphasized by her lush vocal harmonies to craft something passionate and cinematic, masterfully balancing fresh and timeless.

Love and Power is out today.

The post Lola Bates: “Madonna Gold” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

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Mexico City’s Son Rompe Pera, widely considered to be part of the impetus behind the cumbia-punk movement, have spread that gospel across 20 countries since 2019 (including a set at our SXSW Scholz Garten show in 2023 and a stop by Studio 1A last year). The group is currently on tour (their show last weekend at Brushy Street Commons was chingón as all get out) teasing songs from their upcoming album out later this summer, produced here in Austin at Adrian Quesada’s Electric Deluxe Studios. The new single “Reptilo” takes us back to a classic era of nostalgic futurism and paranoia: the 1950’s and the reptilian conspiracy theory. Were those old B-movies just jokes? Son Rompe Pera explores.

The post Son Rompe Pera: “Reptilo” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

KUTX’s Artist of the Month Program is powered by Austin FC

Raised in Mexico and newly transplanted to Austin, brothers Ricardo and Christian Rodríguez craft songs that feel like sonic mirages—equal parts groove, grit, and atmosphere. Their music lives at the intersection of distortion and introspection, where hypnotic riffs, heavy rhythms, and emotionally charged melodies build immersive landscapes that demand to be felt as much as heard.

At the core of Gran Moreno is a deep commitment to storytelling through sound. Their upcoming album is a conceptual two-part release: Side A: El Sol and Side B: La Luna. Each side represents a different emotional plane—El Sol radiates urgency, energy, and clarity, while La Luna leans into shadow, mystery, and reflection. The first release, El Sol, captures the band at full intensity, delivering a vivid, unfiltered introduction to their evolving identity.

On stage, Gran Moreno transforms their sound into a full-body experience. Their live shows blend sonic power with visual depth, pulling audiences into a shared trance that feels both personal and communal. As they continue to shape their universe with bold creativity and a fierce independent spirit, Gran Moreno isn’t just making music—they’re building a world of their own.

The post Gran Moreno: “Aztlán” [Live In Studio 1A] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Whether you’re on a dopamine detox or you’re getting your dopamine hit from visiting this website right now, Austin-based Sweet Limb’s latest single is for you. Over a sultry instrumental with twinkling accents and a thudding 808, Sweet Limb founder Chris Robinson offers to help you boost your dopamine – wink, wink.

Sweet Limb releases their sophomore LP, Axis, on Friday, May 1. To celebrate, they’ll be performing at their album release party at Batch Beer and Kolaches off Manor Road on Friday at 9:30 pm.

The post Sweet Limb: “Dopamine” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

It’s fuzzy, it’s doomy, and it’s relentless. The new single from Austin “doom-woppers” Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol keeps in stride with the group’s brand of metal-meets-melodic hard rock, giving you a two-and-a-half-minute riff bomb of what’s in store for their upcoming album Ca$h Grab, out later this year. The band is out headlining a packed six-week tour before returning to Austin for Big Dumb Fest IV on Saturday, May 30th at Mohawk. This year’s line-up includes American Sharks, Palefade, Transit Method, Waterworld, Buzz Electro, and Sodomy Cop.

The post Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol: “Peaches” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

The new single from Ausitn power-pop outfit Mean Jolene has it all: beautifully harmonized gang vocals with a 1960’s shimmer, 90’s female rock guitar hooks and grit, and an earnest look at the double-edged sword of escapism: a necessity for self-preservation pocked with a compulsion towards innocent complacency. And there’s something about the energy of this song that gives it a mermaid-like quality; it’s hard to articulate, but easy to feel.

Mean Jolene has a single release show for “Private Plane” tonight at the Hole In the Wall with Gummy Fang and Andrew Cashen & the Disciples of Creation.

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Cumbia meets Afro-indigenous rhythms in this one-off from Mexican-American artist and activist Xiuhtezcatl and duo Reyna Tropical. Debuted last month at Vive Latino, one of Latin America’s biggest music festivals, the song “bridges the worlds of Indigenous wisdom, diaspora, community, Queer Love and Afro Mexico and the unity and pathways that these bridges are establishing and promoting.”

“Camino” is out now.

The post Reyna Tropical & Xiuhtezcatl: “Camino” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Austin’s Club Coma are back, this time with more tricks in their bag and an added touch of fuzzy sweetness, adding Lani Thomison AKA Street Peach to their club mix. The new, absolute banger “You Can Take My Spirit” sees the quartet extending the fazers into experimental territory, adding a little crunch to the beat, and maneuvering towards a sound you want to hear spilling out of the clubs on W 4th Street. Walk away from Slack and Outlook and give yourself a midday, full volume dance break.

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Billie Marten is an English singer-songwriter known for her delicate folk sound, warm finger-picked guitar, and quietly powerful songwriting. In 2025 she released her fifth studio album, Dog Eared, on Fiction Records, expanding her signature folk style with richer arrangements. Marten’s music blends elements of folk, indie, and jazz-tinged pop, creating an intimate and timeless atmosphere. She stopped by Studio 1A during her recent tour stop in Austin with cozy, intimate acoustic set.

The post Billie Marten: “Feeling” [Live In Studio 1A] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

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Have you ever needed a dance break in the middle of a Tuesday afternoon? Today’s Song of the Day, “Floor Siren,” transports listeners to the dance floor no matter what day or time it is. New York-based artist I’MMORTAL builds an experimental, deconstructed club sound – similar to contemporaries such as COBRAH and Shygirl – to create a hypnotic dance tune to get you moving no matter where you are or what you’re doing.

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Born and raised in Austin and now based in L.A. (after a stint in Brooklyn), Eyelid Kid is back with more of that smooth, bedroom pop bop action. Produced by Flora and Fawna’s Mason Ables, “What Happened” is cozy and laid back with a midtempo pulse of drum machine momentum and affixed with lots of synthy shimmer that culminates into an atmospheric, Postal Service-like interlude. Once again, Paul Grant gives us another song perfect for your “daily, going about life” soundtrack and especially perfect for this rainy Austin week.

Watch Eyelid Kid’s 2019 Studio 1A session here.

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Formed in 2010, Ratboys began as a humble duo by Notre Dame Freshman Julia Steiner and Dave Sagan. By 2017, they’d become a fully-fledged four-piece, relocated to Chicago, and were opening for acts like Soccer Mommy and Diet Cig with heaps of critical praise to line their nest (I assume all ratboys build little nests for themselves. My ratboy husband certainly does). Jump to today, and the band is headlining their own full US tour in support of their sixth album Singin’ To An Empty Chair. They brought their infectious indie rock energy to Studio 1A during their stop in Austin, and we’re thrilled to give you an exclusive free download from that session today.

The post Ratboys: “What’s Right?” [Live In Studio 1A] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

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Kerrville, TX native Jake Ames grew-up saturated in the local folk scene, garnering influence from his local DJ father and the town’s famous annual folk festival. Notions of these folk and psych influences flow through his own music, in his solo sets and his band The Stacks. Ames has a Tuesday night residency at the Hole In the Wall stacked with solo sets from some of the city’s finest. This upcoming Tuesday, he’s joined by Being Dead’s Cody Dosier, Gus Baldwin, and David Rawlinson, another member of Gus Baldwin & the Sketch and the newly formed Commercial Breaks.

The post The Stacks: “Dope Demise” [Live In Studio 1A] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

On-and-off again metal-punk trio American Sharks are back once again with another slew of tracks that might be considered abrasive if they weren’t also so darn catchy. They’re about to embark on a full US tour with Austin power group Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol in support of the Sharks’ new album Not Dead Yet, their first in six years. On the upcoming album, they’ve brought in a slew of guest soloists to augment and punctuate their raw power and scuzz-leaden bite including GWAR’s Mike Derks, Kyle Shutt of the Sword, and Zach Blair of Rise Against, the first two being groups American Sharks have toured with in the past. The album’s title track packs a helluva wallop in under two minutes, giving you that midday bump you need without the 4PM crashout.

Not Dead Yet is out April 17th.

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“Flight” by Jess Helios and The Crew began as a song about revolution, but grew into something more personal, tapping into inner truth and rising to a higher state of mind. It offers a glimpse into their unreleased album Apollo 95, a cinematic, genre-blending journey through grief, love, and the full spectrum of human emotion, where every track brings something different. After debuting the project live and taking it across Texas, they return to Austin on April 9th at Hotel Vegas.

The post Jess Helios and the Crew: “Flight” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

After spending 2025 rising from humble five-piece to a staple of the Central Texas bluegrass scene, Austin’s Valley Flower are back with the new single “Mountain Don’t Care,” a song true to their special blend of folk, bluegrass, and country. A bit more traditional than last year’s, “Run Buddy,” “Mountain Don’t Care,” a brooding track postualting on the harrowing power of man vs. nature, sounds like an award-winning theme song for a generational family drama set in the Cumberland Gap where the song’s inspiration (and some of the band’s members) hail.

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Bannaner Man was born in the Cavendish Islands in the rarely explored Citric Sea. After splitting for Corpus Christi, he found himself in Austin, busking on 6th Street before playing bass for Austin notables Magna Carda and Los Coast. After becoming a Dad, Bananner Man took pity on put-upon parents forced to listen to emetic, saccharine songs made to delight children and inch parents towards the nearest cliff. The result is akin to The Bug Club collabing on early Gorillaz songs: lyrics that are silly and fun but clever set to chill, earwormy electronic beats.

Bananner Man opens Rock the Park tonight, and not only do the songs pair well with peanut butter and toast, but also with the lo-fi bedroom pop beats of tonight’s headliner, Dorio.

Rock the Park is sponsored by Dell Children’s Medical Center, a part of Ascension Seton.

The post Bananner Man: “Banana Lands” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Pianist and singer Lene moved to Austin back in 2023, already having seen musical success in Europe: having been a contestant on X Factor: Italia and performing at festivals in Italy and Portugal. She left Italy for love, but a move across the world leads to a shift in identity, and her lush song “I Wanna Be Your Lover” “reflects that mix of excitement and displacement, where you’re building something new while still feeling tied to where you came from. The result is smooth, sultry, a little vintage, and a hell of a bop.

Like A Stranger is out tomorrow, March 27th.

The post Lene: “I Wanna Be Your Lover” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

There’s something about every song by Austin’s Dorio that’s just sweet, sticky, and timeless. It simultaneously takes me to a certain sunny side of the 90’s; my old, cozy, West Campus apartment; and some of the best new music I’ve been listening to all year. It’s also something none of us around here can stop listening to. The soft, bubbly melodies get punctuated with equally soft and bouncy vocals, all wrapped-up in a lo-fi blanket to give it that “anywhere, anytime” feeling.

Dorio kicks off Rock the Park Spring 2026 this Friday, so we’re revisting their Studio 1A from last summer to get you in a bubbly, live music good mood! Rock the Park is spondored by Dell Children’s Medical Center, a part of Ascension Seton.

The post Dorio: “Plastic Heart” [Live In Studio 1A] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

The feeling of being perpetually confined by your own thoughts is ugly and burdensome. When we root for ourselves and finally find ourselves on the other side of the chrysalis, life is colorful once again, and the feeling of mentally reentering and contributing to the world in a meaningful way is unparalled. This sentiment echoes through the new single from Omaha’s Maria Taylor.

Founding member of early 00’s dream pop duo Azure Ray and now fittingly on Conor Oberst’s Million Stars Records label, her upcoming solo album Story’s End is imbued with deep storytelling chronicling her journey from loss to solace. “Never Thought I’d Feel New” beautifully blends Taylor’s light, understated vocals with a pulsing undercurrent that crescendos into full joy and freedom, going from dreamy reflection to reveling reawakening.

The post Maria Taylor: “Never Thought I’d Feel New” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

The story behind Dallas hip-hop trio Cure for Paranoia is a tender one. Born during a “doomsday roadtrip” following a mental health diagnosis by frontman Cameron McCloud that later found more fuel following the death of McCloud’s mother, grief has been turned into motivation, one McCloud used to rap every day and put it on social media, gaining tens of thousands of followers in one year. That’s led to Cure for Paranoia sharing bills with George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic, Nas, Ludacirs, and Leon Bridges.

The trio shared this and other stories with us at Scholz Garten between getting the crowd dancing with their coy bars paired with groovy, funky hooks.

Audio recorded by Jake Perlman and mixed by Rene Chavez

The post Cure for Paranoia: [Live At Scholz Garten] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

The quick rise of UK alt-indie rockers Adult Leisure have garnered them attention in a myriad of magazines, support from BBC Radio 6, two songs featuring John Waugh of the 1975, and a tour across the UK and Europe, New York, and, finally, more than a half dozen shows at this year’s SXSW. That last leg started with us at Scholz Garten where they blew the roof off the end of our first day. You’ve heard us playing their song “Kiss Me Like You Miss Her,” so we’re gonna switch it up with a different boogie for today’s Song of the Day.

The post Adult Leisure: “Borderline” [Live At Scholz Garten] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Another SXSW, another rousing success at Scholz Garten. And all this week, we’re sharing some of our favorite performances with free downloads just for you!

Austin’s Quentin is as much of a visual artist as they are a performer. And we experienced that in a big way on Thursday. I was in the booth at the station making some behind-the-scenes magic happen, and I had this set TURNED UP Spinal Tap style. Powerful, evocative, and anthemic as hell, this performance was a formidable way to kick off our three-day stint down at Scholz Garten.

The post Quentin: [Live At Scholz Garten] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

KUTX’s coverage of SXSW is powered by Rivian and presented by Uber Eats

Austin’s Anastasia Hera has been blending her brand of rap and R&B for almost fifteen years. In addition to releasing her own solo work, leading her group Anastasia and the Heroes, and putting her mark on various other projects, she’s also the founder of CAKE (Creativity, Abundance, Knowledge, Education), a non-profit empowering and educating women pursuing music careers.

Her deft lyrics, sultry vocals, and smooth, earwormy beats led her to becoming our February 2025 Artist of the Month. And tonight she’ll be performing at SXSBreaks at Lefty’s Brick Bar.

The post Anastasia Hera: “Ambitions” [Live In Studio 1A] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Sonic ingenuity with ruffles imbued with love is the thesis of Austin indie duo Deer Fellow. Blending sonic loops and synth-sibilities with violin intimacy, they set a romantic mood that can’t help but creep in from the background. Newly married, Matt Salois and Alyssa Kelly are well into their season of love, beautifully illustrated through their latest single “Fool For You.” As the duo puts it, “the song is an old-fashioned style of love song, a nod to the Great American Songbook with a modern twist, blending bedroom pop with indie soul.”

Deer Fellow are playing a charity event on Monday, March 16th at Wolfhouse ATX on E. Cesar Chavez raising awareness for type 1 diabetes, pancreatic cancer, and the Whipple Warriors. They also have an early show on Saturday, March 28th at Batch on Manor Rd.

The post Deer Fellow: “Fool For You” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Austin’s Social Dissonance is pushing the boundaries of genre-bending with their new track “This Is Hell.” With the combination of metal, alt-rock, and punk, we are left with a gritty and explosive track that thrives on distortion, raw energy, and an unrelenting pace.“This Is Hell” marks the first release featuring the band’s new frontwoman, Lucy Garner. The double single is out now as they head out for their first Texas tour.

The post Social Dissonance: “This is Hell” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

One of the fastest ways to know that you’re changed is how those around you change. Austin-based pop Francene Rouelle, tackles this in her latest single, “september bby,” a brief, punchy dance tune reminiscent of hyperpop phenoms 100 gecs. Speaking to an unnamed character about her upgraded hair and wardrobe, she drives home the most important change of all – a more self-assured, confident persona.

The post Francene Rouelle: “september bby” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

L.A. six-piece the Sophs are true chameleons. Whether they’re throwing in some twang on a college party bop, going full pop-punk nostalgia, or, in the case, of “House,” painting a Shirley Jackson-like story of a man living in a hovel built from and on bones, surrounded by ethereal remnants of past occupants and adding more metaphorical ghosts through a series of amorous escapades. Despite being a comparatively more laid-back track than what the group has released thus far, their affinity for catchiness despite the approach remains.

The Sophs’ US and European tour hits SXSW hard in support of their debut album Gold Star. You can find their full schedule here.

Gold Star is out March 13th.

The post The Sophs: “House” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Austin dark pop trio Glass Mansions, known for their lush, electronic leaden, pop-driven rhythms, are back with their most emotional and close-to-the-chest song to date. Following the sudden loss of both of her parents and disenchanted with the notion that you’ll always get to create “the next thing,” frontwoman Jayna Doyle asks herself, “what would I say, what would I deliver, how would I represent myself as an artist if I had one last song to write?” “Sunsetting” is the anthemic answer.

In the intimate new music video, also directed by Doyle, it’s all in her eyes, largely filmed with the camera held steady and focused in a close-up before Doyle emerges from a pool of water, symbolizing liberation and rebirth.

Glass Mansions play the Art Decade Creatives SXSW Showcase Friday 3/13 @ 13th Floor with Grocery Bag, MUGGER, Lola Tried, and Subpar Snatch. You can hear a full preview of the event tomorrow night at 6PM on My KUTX.

The post Glass Mansions: “Sunsetting” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

The Hole Story is a new series from KUTX. Taped live on the front stage of Hole in the Wall – we’ve invited artists to not just perform, but also share the inspiration, meaning, or backstory behind each one.

Opened in 1974, Hole in the Wall is one of Austin’s most legendary dive bars. It’s a launchpad for generations of Texas songwriters. It also happens to be right across the street from the KUTX Studios.

Season one features stories and sets from Shinyribs, Paige Renée Berry (Half Dream), Jonathan Terrell, Grace Sorensen, Hayes Carll, Carrie Fussell (BRUCE, Calliope Musicals), and Alex Maas (The Black Angels). Watch more episodes on the KUTX YouTube Channel here.

For the final episode of this season’s The Hole Story, we welcome Alex Maas – the voice behind The Black Angels, and one of the original founders of Austin Psych Fest (alongside Rob Fitzpatrick, and Oswald James, and Black Angels guitarist – Christian Bland).

In this set from Hole in the Wall, Alex shares the personal stories behind the songs he brought to our stage – including a new piece written with help from his young son and the presence of his newborn daughter. It’s a glimpse into how becoming a parent has influenced his songwriting in unexpected and tender ways.

With The Black Angels preparing to celebrate 20 years of their debut album Passover by performing it front-to-back at Austin Psych Fest on May 9, this episode arrives at the perfect moment to revisit the roots, inspirations, and evolution of Alex’s songwriting.

The post Alex Maas: “Honey Bee” [The Hole Story] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Austin garage-punk darlings Grocery Bag are back baby! Ahead of their shows as official SXSW 2026 artists, today they release “Stop Calling Me Out,” a song that hits you in the face with the group’s signature garage-psych brashness, but this time a little more melody has been added to the cauldron, one slightly reminiscent of 90’s Green Day hooks. Like a hellish heralding, it sidesteps to give way for Bella Martinez’s cavernous vocals to ascend from the underworld to get to the point: stop calling me out, man! I’m just doing the dang!

Grocery Bag SXSW shows:
Saturday, March 14 @ 13th Floor
Tuesday, March 17 @ Zilker Brewing

The post Grocery Bag: “Stop Calling Me Out” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Austin’s Magna Carda’s new single “Digging you more” has a smooth, intentional ease — blending soulful R&B textures with hip-hop in a way that feels intimate without being overstated. There’s a warm, atmospheric quality to the production that creates space rather than filling it. Ahead of their upcoming album ininnoutcheamind, out March 10th, Magna Carda re-visits their roots – crafting compositions with live instrumentation influenced by their jazz inspirations, giving life to a sonic style that truly captures the influences and sounds in their minds to amalgamate into a unique soundscape with no compromises.

The post Magna Carda: “Digging You More” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

The Hole Story is a new series from KUTX. Taped live on the front stage of Hole in the Wall – we’ve invited artists to not just perform, but also share the inspiration, meaning, or backstory behind each one.

Opened in 1974, Hole in the Wall is one of Austin’s most legendary dive bars. It continues to be a launchpad for generations of Texas songwriters — from Blaze Foley and Doug Sahm to Spoon, Shakey Graves, and Gary Clark Jr. It also happens to be right across the street from the KUT/X Studios.

Raised in rural East Texas, Carrie Fussell learned early that imagination could be a survival skill. For more than a decade, she applied that instinct into the Austin psychedelic folk collective Calliope Musicals.

When that chapter closed, she stepped away from performing.

Then came a midnight reset.

Invited by Jon Dee Graham to join his long-running Wednesday residency at the Continental Club, Carrie took the late-night slot and started again. In those after-hours sets, BRUCE emerged, along with the songs that would become Must Love Teeth. It’s a stretch, Carrie said, “saved her life.”

The Hole Story airs tonight at 10PM. More from the Hole Story here.

The post Carrie Fussell: “Cherry” [The Hole Story] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Austin’s Quentin is as much of a visual artist as they are a performer. Ahead of the release of their upcoming album TOMGIRL, Quentin has released the music video for the gut-spilling “Hello Denial,” an anthemic art pop tune, smooth, groovy, and a little sultry before being punctuated with slightly fuzzed-out guitar chords, fueled by an electrically charged night that sent Quentin straight to their collaborator kinderr’s studio. As Quentin puts it, “sometimes when people aren’t honest about their sexual identity, they end up hurting people along the way.” The stunning video is another celebration of Quentin’s MO: creating spaces where power, identity, and honesty coexist with vigor.

TOMGIRL is out this spring.

The post Quentin: “Hello Denial” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

We all know and love Austin’s Money Chicha. The Grupo Fantasma offshoot centers their boogie in the Peruvian psychedelic Cumbia style known as Chicha, and you can get your Chicha on tomorrow night at C-Boy’s, and we’re getting you in the weekend mood at lunch time courtesy of this one from our archives. The group plays at 10PM.

The post Money Chicha: “Galgos” [Live In Studio 1A] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Descending from the Galacian Web once again to spoil us with their presence and intergalactic teachings is Austin’s Grandmaster, and I think if we put Golden Dawn Arkestra and Grandmaster in a room together, we’d almost have an OG episode of Star Trek. Funk energy with a vintage flair is the group’s MO, and their latest trip to Studio 1A to share new songs from their second album Grandmaster II adds a little bit of disco to the mix. Maybe transmissions from Earth to the Galacian Web don’t take as long as we think.

Grandmaster II is out now.

The post Grandmaster: “Feel It Coming” [Live In Studio 1A] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

From the depths of the Tel-Aviv music scene emerges The Takeoff with their electrifying new single, “Life Is a Rumor.” The track channels the swagger of ’80s rock while blending it with a moody, new wave–tinged blues grit. As a trio, they deliver explosive guitar work layered over commanding, high-impact vocals, creating a sound that feels both nostalgic and immediate.

The post The Takeoff: “Life is a Rumor” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

The Hole Story is a new series from KUTX. Taped live on the front stage of Hole in the Wall – we’ve invited artists to not just perform, but also share the inspiration, meaning, or backstory behind each one. Opened in 1974, Hole in the Wall is one of Austin’s most legendary dive bars. It continues to be a launchpad for generations of Texas songwriters — from Blaze Foley and Doug Sahm to Spoon, Shakey Graves, and Gary Clark Jr. It also happens to be right across the street from the KUT/X Studios.

Our latest installment of the Hole Story finds us in a full-circle moment. 25 years after moving to Austin, and after spending years in Nashville and New York City, Hayes Carll announced his return to Austin on the heels of his tenth album, We’re Only Human. Known for his folk-leaning songs permeated with poetry and steeped in humor, Carll shared many stories last August at the Hole In the Wall, and we thought we’d leave one in for ya. Listen below as Hayes shares a little bit about his songwriting process, specifically for the violin-forward tune “High.”

The post Hayes Carll: “Live” [The Hole Story] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Written by Tiara Allen

On the heels of Valentine’s Day, Dallas’s Paul Schalda has a question: “Can You See Yourself With Me?” Schalda brightly croons the titular lyrics, inviting his love interest to join him on this funny journey of love over a slightly glitched-out version of the reggae-leaning original, remixed by Silver Skylarks. Inspectah Deck hops on the bridge with an earnest, heartfelt message to his love, quipping, “Who else knows I like my eggs sunny side up and jam on the toast?” With the upbeat instrumentation and optimistic lyrics, this song offers a rare peek into the lighter side of the pursuit of romance.

The post Paul Schalda feat. Inspectah Deck: “Can You See Yourself With Me” (Silver Skylarks Remix) appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Charming noodling with bright hooks, introspective lyrics, and joyful energy exude from Ausitn’s Redbud, Fronted by Katie Claghorn, the indie pop group has been around since Claghorn picked-up a guitar during the pandemic, and they’ve played on nearly every Austin stage since they hit the ground running: touring the country and being one more than one SXSW lineup. They brought their infectious energy to Studio 1A in 2023 ahead of their debut EP release, so we’re earthing this from our archives ahead of their show tonight at Radio/East with Lyla George, Noa Jamir, and Whalerider.

The post Redbud: “Soul Work” [Recorded Live In Studio 1A] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Jobi Riccio is a Nashville indie Americana artist, but with her new single “Buzzkill,” she leans into a more punk style, rock-forward sound. This shift mirrors her angsty, introspective lyrics, which capture what it’s like to navigate your twenties and the emotional phases that define those years.

As someone in my mid-twenties, I find this song articulates a widely shared but often unspoken feeling: that growing up isn’t linear or easy. It’s a time of trial and error, constant change, and searching for identity, often without seeing immediate progress.

Toward the end of the track, Riccio offers reassurance that we don’t have to be just one thing. We’re allowed to evolve, experiment, and exist in flux, as long as we stay true to ourselves.

The post Jobi Riccio: “Buzzkill” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

he Hole Story is a new series from KUTX. Taped live on the little front stage of Hole in the Wall – we’ve invited artists to not just perform, but also share the inspiration, meaning, or backstory behind each one. Opened in 1974, Hole in the Wall is one of Austin’s most legendary dive bars. It continues to be launchpad for generations of Texas songwriters — from Blaze Foley and Doug Sahm to Spoon, Shakey Graves, and Gary Clark Jr. It also happens to be right across the street from the KUT/X Studios.

Much ado is made about the changing Austin live music scene, but its impact is felt in its younger class of musicians – including R&B/soul songstress, Grace Sorenson. Born and raised here in Austin, Sorenson credits the city’s live music scene for her focus on overall craftsmanship in her work rather than chasing flashy or trendy instrumentation. In the final song of her episode of The Hole Story, Sorenson demonstrates this approach in a stripped-down version of “Cologne,” a song she quips is a “KUTX fave.” Even with just a guitar and a vocal, “Cologne”‘s message about that empowered feeling of getting ready to go out, whether you’re getting ready for a morning at church or a night out at the club, carries through loud and clear.

You can hear the “hole” episode tonight on KUTX at 10 o’clock.

Born and raised in the Austin area, Grace Sorensen is an R&B singer/songwriter whose work often lives in richly produced, collaborative spaces.

Releasing music since 2020 – Collaborations and featured vocals with BLK ODYSSY and Magna Carda, and an EP release, landed her a spot at ACL Fest in 2023.

In February of 2025, the debut album, Blueprint, marked a major step forward. A month later, with a five piece band in tow, Grace delivered a stellar performance at KUTX’s early morning broadcast during SXSW.

For this episode of The Hole Story – we wanted to hear these songs at their core – in a way that lets the lyrics and vocals come forward. With her longtime guitarist, Matt Muehling, Grace joined us at Hole in the Wall during her reign as KUTX Artist of the Month in August of 2025.

The post Grace Sorenson: “Cologne” (The Hole Story) appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Our July 2025 Artist of the Month J’cuuzi hit the ground running with their frenetic debut EP Big Machine. Refusing to rest on their laurels, the duo is pushing the envelope with their new single “Advance/Decline,” sonically detailing the perseverance we sometimes struggle to manifest, but we do anyway, somehow, because we, especially women, have to for survival. Gorge Bones channels her full vocal power while Trey Razzledazzle goes full Dust Brothers-meets-Bjork on the band’s heaviest song yet.

“Advance/Decline” is out now.

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As January closes, we’re shining the spotlight once more on our Artist of the Month Annabelle Chairlegs. Fronted by Linsday Mackin, the band returns after a brief hiatus with new members Nolan Potter, Simone Maresh, and Nick Coretti. And the new album Waking Up is produced by psych rock powerhouse Ty Segall. As gritty and earwormy as ever, the band stopped by Studio 1A with their raucous, infectious energy ahead of their album release show Friday, February 13th at Mohawk.

The post Annabelle Chairlegs: “Shoo Fly” [Live In Studio 1A] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Austin artist Katherion is proving she has what it takes to stand out with “Bad for Me,” a track from her debut album EROS. This softly haunting indie-pop song explores the tension of being in a relationship you know isn’t good for you. By focusing on feeling rather than specificity, the lyrics invite listeners to engage with the song through multiple lenses, reflecting both everyday human relationships and our connection to the divine. Katherion taps into a higher vibration when creating her music, encouraging it to be understood on both a micro and macro level. This idea is personified through her airy, textured ethereal sound while still grounded with its pop structure.

Katherion plays a show this Friday at the Cactus Cafe. The EROS listening party is February 7th @ BLK Vinyl.

The post Katherion: “Bad for Me” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Support for KUTX’s Love Austin Music Month coverage comes from Eldorado Cafe, embracing a community of folks who believe sharing food and music feeds the soul.

Austin-based indie dance, post-punk duo Almost Heaven is having a strong start to 2026. After a C3-produced Free Week performance at Stubb’s, the pair recently released “oscillation,” ahead of their EP release on January 30.

“Oscillation” will remind listeners of the 2010s era of indie electronica, drawing inspiration from Crystal Castles and Daft Punk alike, and it’s impossible not tap your toes to the upbeat drum patterns. But with its plush synth instrumentation, the song also has a dreamier side. The duo, comprised of West Texan Stefan Barraza & Austin-native drummer Jaelyn Valero, revealed that the track was written during a late night of traveling, and while listening, one can almost imagine a wide, dark sky and a never-ending road whirring under your wheels.

Raucous cheers and whistling at the beginning and end of the track, along with percussive vocals throughout, harken to the dance floor, but this upbeat track does just as well on a playlist for a late-night drive to a destination hundreds of miles away.

The post Almost Heaven: “oscillation” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Support for KUTX’s Love Austin Music Month coverage comes from Eldorado Cafe, embracing a community of folks who believe sharing food and music feeds the soul.

It’s not difficult to compare the economic turbulence of 2026 to 2009 – and Marlei, a Houston-born, Austin-based pop/R&B artist, thinks of that time often. In 2009, Marlei was a fresh-faced postgraduate, and she remembers that time of her life as a simpler, carefree period, despite the loneliness and stress of the era, in her upbeat, confessional song, “2009.”

With sinuous vocals and bouncy trap beats, she paints her 23-year-old self with a compassionate brush, contrasting her quarter-life anxiety and depression with her youthful optimism and ambition. With rich details of biking around town and watching TV late at night, “2009” is sure to remind you of the time of your life when your opportunities are only rivaled by the weight of the world on your shoulders.

The post Marlei: “2009” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Support for KUTX’s Love Austin Music Month coverage comes from Eldorado Cafe, embracing a community of folks who believe sharing food and music feeds the soul.

Indulge in the dreamy, shoegazy splendor of Austin’s Keepsake. All the players are here: lush guitar hooks, head-bopping basslines, and smooth, ethereal vocals. On “Appalachian Trail,” you’re dropped right into the score of the journey. Curiosity, wanderlust, adventure, and tranquility in nature blend in harmony underscored w, perfect for you cottagecore cuties.

After playing shows on many of Austin’s stages, the quartet is gearing up for their first tour later this year in support of their debut self-titled EP that came out in December.

The post Keepsake: “Appalachian Trail” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

I’ve said it before, but Austin quartet Russell Taine Jr. is about as cozy Austin as it gets. The kind of band you hear pouring out of a dark bar you might not have otherwise noticed. It sounds like that welcoming, sticky-sweet dive bar aroma.

Their new EP Ghost (out last month) is “shaped by an idea from French philosopher Henri Bergson that every moment we live is colored by every moment we’ve lived before.” Everything is everything and the landscape our lives changes with every lived experience. This philosophy is front and center on their single “Strangers,” layering this philosophy into the fabric of their southern rock meets 90’s indie inspired sound.

Russell Taine Jr. has an EP release show tonight at Captain Quack’s Soundspace on Menchaca Rd.

The post Russell Taine Jr.: “Strangers” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Support for KUTX’s Love Austin Music Month coverage comes from Eldorado Cafe, embracing a community of folks who believe sharing food and music feeds the soul.

While one taste may be in the name, the latest from Austin’s Sweet Limb is savory and brimming with umami. Historically, Sweet Limb founder Chris Robinson has performed with a band, but his new EP The Pastel Noise is all him, venturing into more experimental sounds and introspective lyrics, making the new direction more than a metaphorical artistic manifestation.

On “Who’s This,” Robinson takes a look in the mirror and proudly pontificates on his new, self-confident stride while reflecting on the journey that brought him there. Proving you don’t need density to be deep, these two-and-a-half minutes wrapped in a minimalist yet head-bopping groove are a sweet mantra you can use during your own regularly scheduled reflecting glass time.

Sweet Limb plays KUTX’s Free Week show tomorrow, January 9th at Stubb’s Indoors at 9:45PM.

The post Sweet Limb: “Who’s This” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Support for KUTX’s Love Austin Music Month coverage comes from Eldorado Cafe, embracing a community of folks who believe sharing food and music feeds the soul.

Good Looks! You know Good Looks. Our May 2022 Artist of the Month was fairly quiet throughout 2025, but they’re kicking off the new year in perfect Austin fashion with a Free Week Show this Saturday at Mohawk right before the Bright Light Social Hour, almost like a metaphorical torch passing between eras of Austin indie darlings. And sure, they sound fantastic on the radio, but their live show will consume you. The line-up rounds out with Parker Woodland and Hayden Butler.

The post Good Looks: “Vaughn” [Live In Studio 1A] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Support for KUTX’s Love Austin Music Month coverage comes from Eldorado Cafe, embracing a community of folks who believe sharing food and music feeds the soul.

I like to say that Free Week is a time for exploration, moving on feeling, looking to be pulled in by sound and locked into place. And if you’re looking for something totally off the wall that you’ll spend the rest of the year trying to describe to your friends, look no further than haha Laughing. The experimental noise rap group duo of Jay Dilick and Aby Oviedo blends hardcore, rap, free-jazz, electronic, and other elements, creating sublime shambolic chaos. It’s like a stone soup of sound, to be understood only through experience, as they nourish the ~~villagers~~ their audience.

haha Laughing plays a Free Week show this Saturday at Chess Club with Night Ritualz, Die Mart, and more!

The post haha laughing: Pulled Apart By Horses appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Support for KUTX’s Love Austin Music Month coverage comes from Eldorado Cafe, embracing a community of folks who believe sharing food and music feeds the soul.

It’s Free Week, baby! Time to see your favorite groups you haven’t seen in a while, check out bands you haven’t seen but perhaps have heard on your favorite radio station, and the perfect opportunity to bounce around and discover your next favorite Austin artist. And Song of the Day is celebrating all week long.

Our January 2023 Artist of the Month Je’Texas is steeped in nostalgia. Specifically, the shimmery, hazy days of following jam bands around the country, blending a bit into the old cosmic cowboy days of Austin past. They subvert being wholly nostalgic with a balancing act of grit, tempo changes, and off-the-wall moments that keep you on your toes. After taking a break from the studio, the trio released their 2nd album Suit Yourself back in October, but we’re throwing back even farther, revisting an old favorite from their 2019 debut album, performed live in Studio 1A.

The post Je’Texas: “California Sun” [Live In Studio 1A] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

KUTX’s Artist of the Month Program is powered by PNC Bank.

Fresh off her debut full-length BLUEPRINT, Austin R&B/soul singer (and our August Artist of the Month) Grace Sorensen has made it abundantly clear she is a force to be reckoned with. Well before her debut LP dropped, Sorensen had become an integral part of Austin’s R&B and rap scenes — including a guest appearance on BLK ODYSSY’s debut album, BLK VINTAGE, and a single featuring Austin rap group Magna Carda for some guest verses. She’s also been an official SXSW artist, performed at ACL Festival, AND opened for Diana Ross.

Today we’re sharing another preview of our new series The Hole Story. Think of it as MTV: Unplugged, but Austin. Short, stripped-down story-driven solo sets by some of our favorite Austin musicians performed on The Hole In the Wall’s famous front stage. And starting January 16th, we’ll be sharing new installments every week online, on-air, and right here with Song of the Day. Sorensen’s full episode will premiere on February 6th.

The post Grace Sorensen: “Cologne” [Live At the Hole In the Wall] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

KUTX’s Artist of the Month program is powered by PNC Bank.

Texas band Chaparelle harkens back to a golden era of country with modern lyrics. What started as a mind-meld between Zella Day and Jesse Woods in 2023 not only evolved into a match on its way towards matrimony, but also into a trio, originally working with Beau Bedford in a producer role before he became part of the band full time. And it’s the magic among the three that puts Chaparelle on-track to be in the same discussions as Paul Cauthen, Leon Bridges, and Orville Peck (all artists Beauford has done production for).

The melodies, storytelling, and twangy vocals of Day and Woods set the group solidly in the modern era of golden country, and that power will be on full display this New Year’s Eve at Auditorium Shores with the Head & the Heart, The Point., and Tameca Jones. The show is free, all ages, and open to the public.

The post Chaparelle: “Devil’s Music” [Live In Studio 1A] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

KUTX’s Artist of the Month program is powered by PNC Bank.

Our October Artist of the Month. Teethe was formed up in the DIY music enclave of Denton, all students of the University of North Texas. Now, with streaming numbers on their side, a move to Austin, and a European and east coast tour under their belt, the quartet is champing at the bit to keep their incisors sharp and their momentum growing.

While their debut album was an amalgamation of their individual songs synthesized together, their new album Magic of the Sale is wholly Teethe: a little no-wave; a little dark, dream pop; and a bit of that classic Denton DIY energy.

The post Teethe: “Holy Water” [Live In Studio 1A] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

For over a decade, the windows in the KUTX booth and the front of the Hole In the Wall have gazed at each other from across the street. Generations of musicians and music lovers have storied memories of the 51-year-old venue, whether you were there to see Townes Van Zandt’s regular performances or Lucinda Williams get her start, spotted icons like Courtney Love and Dave Grohl, or witnessed Yard Act’s first show in the U.S..

So it would make sense that two iconic Austin music institutions would finally converge. Over the last few months, we’ve invited our Concert Club members to be part of a new tradition, a series we’re calling The Hole Story. Think of it as MTV: Unplugged, but Austin. Short, stripped-down story-driven solo sets by some of our favorite Austin musicians performed on Hole In the Wall’s famous front stage.

And now, we’re sharing these sets with you, kicking it off with our May Artist of the Month Half Dream. A regular on the Hole In the Wall calendar, Half Dream’s Paige Renee Berry performed a plugged-in solo set, showcasing her lofty, haunting vocals and bare-it-all-while-sometimes-taking-no-prisoners songwriting prowess.

The post Half Dream: “Fly” [Recorded Live at the Hole In the Wall] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

It’s been six years since we’ve had a full Jay Som album, but Melanie Duterte has remained ambient. She kicked-off the early 2020’s as one half of the side project Bachelor alongside Palehound (El Kempner); produced music for Lucy Dacus, Jeff Tweedy, and Hatchie; and worked as both a producer and live band member of one of the biggest supergroups of the decade so far, boygenius.

Turning the lens back on herself, Duterte, as Jay Som, released Belong back in October. It’s a confluence of her years behind the board and as a musician, absorbing the processes of the songwriters around her in the interim years. A bit grittier, more reflective, and with a pop-punk edge of tension, it’s a marked growth for Duterte. She brought the full band to Studio 1A last week ahead of her show at Brushy Street Commons.

The post Jay Som: “What You Need” [Live In Studio 1A] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Today, we’re thrilled to highlight our July Artist of the Month, J’cuuzi. The Austin-by-way-of Atlanta punk duo, made up of Gorge Bones and Trey Razeldazl, have an insatiable appetite for the stage and pushing the boundaries of how they use it. They released their debut EP, SLUDGEcontent, in July, with their style that they’ve dubbed “pop-vantgarde.”

They brought their brand of indulgence with a live performance of “Fame By Death” in Studio 1A ahead of their July release, and we’re bringing it back to warm up the winter months!

If you want to see them command the stage live, they’ll be performing at the Holiday Hootenanny at Radio/East this weekend, alongside Shannon & The Clams, tUnE-yArDs, Rubblebucket, and many more. Learn more and get your tickets here.

The post J’cuuzi: Fame by Death [Live in Studio 1A] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Rhys Woodruff has been a sterling songwriter throughout his adult life, with the single caveat that he has had very little interest in singing his own songs. Sure, his oscillations between art punk and post punk have led to some of the coolest songs heard in Austin clubs for years, but it took more than a tad of cajoling for him to take the mic into his own hand. His fellow bandmates in the trio Borzoi played a little friendly hardball (you know how guys show love and support of each other), and now with his own group Variety, Woodruff is reaping the benefits of getting out of your own way and embracing the full monty.

Variety’s debut album, Subtropical, is Woodruff turning inward and tying precious, intimate details and broad strokes of his life to parts of Texas’s natural beauty. The manifestation of this conduit is an album that, on its head, is an interesting, if not sometimes meditative, listen, but also an invitation to his soul. And as the band name implies, this has been the start of something new, but not necessarily static. What comes next is sure to be just as enticing, regardless of the pivot.

Variety plays arguably the biggest show of their career to date this Saturday at Radio/East for the annual Holiday Hootenany, sharing the stage with Shannon & the Clams, tUnE-yArDs, Rubblebucket, and a swath of local gems.

The post Variety: “Subtropical” [Live In Studio 1A] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Austin R&B and hip-hop artist Anastasia Hera is busy lady. This year alone, she released her album Way Outside; played our Scholz Garten show during SXSW; and her deft lyrics, sultry vocals, and smooth, earwormy beats led her to become our February Artist of the Month. All while running her non-profit CAKE (Creativity, Abundance, Knowledge, Education), a non-profit empowering and educating women pursuing music careers.

To pair nicely with the cloudy wintery weather outside, we’re revisiting her Studio 1A from February to cuddle with you all cozy like.

The post Anastasia Hera: “Ambitions” [Live In Studio 1A] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Austin quartet Grocery Bag had a banger year, being handpicked to open for Osees and Frankie & the Witch Fingers and a stellar, dare I say breakout set at Levitation. That show put them in the crosshairs of Australian psych-rock group Psychedlic Porn Crumpets, who they will be supporting for a whopping 22 dates on their tour next April and May. A true superfecta of a year. Let’s just hope they remember lil’ ol’ us as their ascension undoubtedly kicks into an even higher gear in 2026.

Their final single of 2025 “Watching TV” throws a grunge wrench into their garage/psych sound, teasing a Nirvana and Veruca Salt pastiche at the beginning before deftly circumventing it by wrapping it up in a bit of no wave and, of course, their own signature blend that always includes a whisper of pop catchiness. It’s a compelling texture for the group, but if you prefer paper to plastic, make sure this heavy boy is double-bagged.

The post Grocery Bag: “Watching TV” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

To say Next of Kin have had a successful year would be an understatement. After almost two years of anticipation, our April Artist of the Month released their debut Ep Homemaker in May, punctuated by two sold-out shows at the Continental Club. Since then, they’ve made their ACL Fest debut, modeled for Austin FC’s Live from ATX capsule collection, and were invited to dig through the archives of Texas Monthly.

Next of Kin is rounding out their triumphant year with a New Year’s Eve show at Antone’s joined by Nane, TC Superstar, and Quentin Aspire, presented by KUTX.

The post Next of Kin: “Jekyll & Hyde” [Live in Studio 1A] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Every December, we celebrate the year’s class of 11 Artists of the Month by filling your airwaves, throwing back to Studio 1A’s and My KUTX DJ sets, and giving the year a proper Austin music sendoff. We’ll also be revisiting some of the Studio 1A songs here on Song of the Day, which means you get another chance to grab a free download of these live tracks.

We’re kicking off December with our March Artist of the Month Gus Baldwin & the Sketch, who released their debut album, The Sketch, at the beginning of 2025. After playing shows with Frankie & the Witch Fingers and Hinds during SXSW, the quartet hit the road twice, including their November stint opening for Mississippi band Bass Drum of Death on the southwest and west coast leg of their tour and frontman Gus Baldwin releasing his debut solo album in October.

Ahead of their next show next Saturday, December 13th at Chess Club, we’re revisiting their raucous, high-octane Studio 1A session.

The post Gus Baldwin & The Sketch: “Itch” (Live in Studio 1A) appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

f you’ve been in Austin for any amount of time, and especially if you’ve called Austin home for a decade or few, you’re no doubt familiar with the #9 Orchestra, a group of musicians from a myriad of backgrounds who come together at least once a year to perform the songs of the Beatles and John Lennon. For Beatlemaniacs of any generation, it’s a night of beauty and celebration.

Now celebrating their 35th year, the group, led by veteran musician and East Austin Recording co-owner Stephen Doster, has “come together” in the studio to record Doster’s new song “Goodness,” a tender and emotionally gripping love song keeping in the orchestra’s tradition and mission statement, recorded and mixed at EAR and appropriately mastered at Abbey Road Studios in London.

The #9 Orchestra performs this Saturday, November 29th at 3Ten ACL Live.

The post Stephen Doster w/ the #9 Orchestra: “Goodness” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Growing up in the Netherlands, Judy Blank fostered an early love for classic American cinema. She’s married that love with her stamp of DIY-indie eclecticism, sometimes leaning more Americana (something she honed during her brief time as a Nashvillian) and sometimes dreamy indie-pop, but always poetic, seemingly effortless, and marked with that signature Dutch wit and brutal honesty. Now calling Austin home, Judy Blank is our November KUTX Artist of the Month, and she stopped by Studio 1A to perform songs from her new album Big Mood and was joined by fellow Austinite and SUSTO frontman Justin Osbourne on “Cosmic Kids.”

KUTX’s Artist of the Month program is powered by PNC Bank.

The post Judy Blank: “Cosmic Kids” (ft. SUSTO) appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Singer-songwriter Matthew Payne‘s poetic Americana is salt of the Earth, evocative of both his Dripping Springs upbringing and nearly two decades as an English and creative writing teacher here in Austin. And with a stage roster that includes Hole In the Wall, Saxon Pub, and the Cactus Cafe, he truly is Austin Americana timelessness personified.

On “Down In the Valley,” Payne seems like he’s sat down at a bar after hours on the road, regaling barflies with an overture of the epic of where he’s been. We get the highlights, but we also know one question will lead to a shower of tales, and his impassioned storytelling, punctuated with a driving, honky tonk rhythm, makes us want to ask the bartender for another boilermaker for ourselves and one for our new friend.

The post Matthew Payne: “Down In the Valley” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

While one taste may be in the name, the latest from Austin’s Sweet Limb is savory and brimming with umami. Historically, Sweet Limb founder Chris Robinson has performed with a band, but his new EP The Pastel Noise is all him, venturing into more experimental sounds and introspective lyrics, making the new direction more than a metaphorical artistic manifestation.

On “Who’s This,” Robinson takes a look in the mirror and proudly pontificates on his new, self-confident stride while reflecting on the journey that brought him there. Proving you don’t need density to be deep, these two-and-a-half minutes wrapped in a minimalist yet head-bopping groove are a sweet mantra you can use during your own regularly scheduled reflecting glass time.

The Pastel Noise EP is out today.

The post Sweet Limb: “Who’s This” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Oakland underground music veteran Rob Good has been hard at work with his jangly, power pop trio The Goods, blending shimmery British Invasion-style energy with a bit of 90’s indie pop flair to create something simultaneously nostalgic and new.

The follow-up to their 2023 debut EP is the full album Don’t Spoil the Fun. The album kicks off with “April Fools,” a time warp of a song reminiscent of Big Star and the La’s kissed with just enough 21st-century “Je ne sais quoi” to make you double-check the release date. As the temperature in Austin still wants to pretend it’s between spring and summer, Don’t Spoil the Fun is perfectly timely and a great addition to your unexpected fall pool parties.

Don’t Spoil the Fun is out now on Dandy Boy Records.

The post The Goods: “April Fools” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Last time we checked in with L.A.’s Tess Clare, we were talking about wanting more and the restlessness of sitting still for too long. Now, we’re reveling in anemoia, a feeling of nostalgia for a time or place we’ve never experienced ourselves. Like elder Gen Z-ers yearning for that night in 1991 when Nickelodeon premiered Rugrats, Ren & Stimpy, and Doug…or Millennials wishing we could have been there for the MTV heyday. Or Woodstock!

Tess Clare takes this notion to an earnest level, ruminating on a portrait acting like a portal. A woman in the forest “holding her ring to the flame.” And we’re lost in the portrait with her, ushered through the experience courtesy of Clare’s eerie, dark pop coiled around her poetic storytelling and a haunting tour de force of her vocal range. Ladies, we’re going into the forest, and what happens there will forever be known only to us.

The post Tess Clare: “Anemoia” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Nashville shimmer pop trio Moody Joody are ushering in a new era of music for themselves and heeding he neverending call of “WE WANT MORE ANTHEMS!!” Or…dancethems if you wanna be cute. Lead vocalists Kaitie Forbes and Kayla Hall along with producer Andrew Pacheco have been working with Grammy-winning Scott Harris (Shawn Mendes, Dua Lipa, Justin Beiber) on their upcoming album of dancethems, some of which were part of their thrilling, raucous set at ACL Fest just over a month ago.

Not only did they stop by our backstage tent to perform the new single, they’ve afforded us the opportunity for you to get a free download of the album version in all its full, studio glitz and glory. Helmed by a bass groove punctuated by Forbes and Hall’s seductive syncopated lyrics and dotted with other shimmery elements, it’s tailor-made to throw on the next time you’re with your girl gang, getting pumped for that big interview, or just getting silly at home.

“OOPS!” is out now. See their ACL Fest backstage performance at KUTX.org.

The post Moody Joody: “OOPS!” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Across three decades, Born Ruffians have been a pivotal part of the Toronto music scene. And in that time, music has changed, artists have come and gone, leaving their various marks, and while many artists look around and see themselves surrounded by new generations and fall back, the Canadian quartet has marched forward, always pushing for new sonic explorations rather than defaulting to the nostalgic safety net.

“Athena” is a rumination on the Goddess of War operating within the deep, dark recesses of social media and the internet at large while rocking a dance-yearning, poppy synth melody and a kinetic bass groove sitting just behind center stage. Their ninth album Beauty’s Pride is a testament to the group’s fortitude, maintaining their affinity for groovy indie rock earworms but effortlessly sounding fresh, bucking the criticism of “more of the same” and fostering new audiences almost twenty years later.

Beauty’s Pride is out now on Yep Roc Records.

The post Born Ruffians: “Athena” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Up-and-coming Spanish alt pop artist Vizzconde made his debut earlier this year with the instrumental dance single “Portents.” He’s followed that up with “Camaleón,” an upbeat song that draws inspiration from medieval times and his Galician roots. The song begins with a gentle piano intro, but with electronic vocal stylings, a driving beat, and a choral background, the song quickly builds to a hair-raising drop.

Camaleón is out now. Check out the music video here.

The post Vizzconde: “Camaleón” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

New Zealand-born, New York-based Dion Lunadon, former bassist of Brooklyn post-punk band A Place to Bury Strangers, has released his latest single “Gold Standard Love” via a limited edition 7″ flexi disc inside the fall issue of the illustrious CREEMmagazine. 100 flexi’s inside 100 copies. Whoa. This crunchy, post-punk romp carries that signature NYC early 00’s rock revival sound, and part of that concoction is timelessness. A little Jonathan FireEater, a little Pretty Hate Machine*, and simultaneously fresh, the only downside is Lunadon not bringing this high-voltage sound to Austin on this current tour. But I’m putting that energy into the ether and in nabbing one of the lucky 100 copies.

The post Dion Lunadon: “Gold Standard Love” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

After a year or so of releasing individual dance-pop candies, Austin’s Jane Leo released their sophomore album Creature of Destruction in September. One of the tracks on the album is “Goldmine,” a slightly more subdued song from the art-pop duo, but still dripping with energy and that funky “Imma dance here in my own little circle, in my own little world” energy. Bouncy, sexy, and more vintage than much of what we’ve heard in the past, “Goldmine” is a cheeky reminder that even if you go to Jane Leo show to dance with one foot in the future, they’ve got plenty of tricks up their sleeve to subvert expectations without losing an ounce of their allure.

Jane Leo stopped by Studio 1A to perform songs from Creature of Destruction ahead of their show tonight at Empire Control Room with New Constellations.

The post Jane Leo: “Goldmine” [Live In Studio 1A] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Perfect for the chilling temperatures is the latest from Austin world-folk duo Her Mana. Emilie Basez and Kate Robberson return with their latest single “Suena,” a slow, tender tune made for slow dances with long, locked gazes. Produced by Jim Eno and featuring the Ibiza String Ensemble to brighten the thoughtfully equipped negative space in the song and to elevate Basez and Robberson’s angelic voices, the new single is a delicate breadcrumb of new music leading to their show at the Paramount on Sunday, November 16th.

The post Her Mana: “Suena” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

It’s the last day of October, so it’s time for one final spooky toast to our October Artist of the Month. Teethe was formed up in the DIY music enclave of Denton, all students of the University of North Texas. Now, with streaming numbers on their side, a move to Austin, and a European and east coast tour filling out the rest of their year, the quartet is champing at the bit to keep their incisors sharp and their momentum growing.

While their debut album was an amalgamation of their individual songs synthesized together, their new album Magic of the Sale is wholly Teethe: a little no-wave; a little dark, dream pop; and a bit of that classic Denton DIY energy. Our Artists of the Month stopped by Studio 1A to perform songs from the new album, out now.

Read more about Teethe here.

The post Teethe: “Holy Water” [Live In Studio 1A] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

For years now, we’ve been in a bit of a cuffing season with former KUTX Artist of the Month Skateland‘s synth-driven dream pop that’s as delectable and ethereal as the roller rink of his stage name origins. It’s cozy, groovy, and hypnotic all at the same time. After years of breadcrumbing us singles, he’s releasing his debut album Heavenly Bodies, and he’s celebrating the album release tonight at 3Ten ACL Live with Holy Wire and Somebody Somewhere before climbing out of the covers and from under the warm, soft lights and kicking off a 10-day tour next month.

The post Skateland: “Wednesday, Baby!” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Born and raised in Brownsville, TX, new Austinite Michael Arizmendi recently graduated from the esteemed Berklee College of Music in Boston. Principally a trumpeter, Arizmendi studied music production and songwriting, and he blends those skills with a passion for exploring and synthesizing different genres. His debut single “Dependence” blends sultry jazz and hip-hop showcasing both Arizmendi’s years as a jazz musician with his budding career as a lyricist and songwriter, journeying down the road paved by Digable Planets, The Roots, and a bit o’ Paul’s Boutique.

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Yesterday, I watched a video of a guy unsuccessfully attempting to get a beached dolphin back into the ocean, and as luck would have it, today I get to write about a song from a dolphin’s POV. And a louche little devil they are. “Eep Eep” is the appropriately named title and single from the Austin quintet The John-Pauls’ new album, out today. While most of the album features the group’s brand of Texas post-punk, the single is a feisty, punk one-off. That dolphin has an agenda, or at least a lot of one type of feeling. Largely recorded live at Matt Gerhard’s (Spoon, !!!, Parquet Courts) studio in Lockhart, the group’s raw energy and notion for noisy descension is beautifully captured.

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I’m not sure there’s a better way to say you’re basically a space punk band than to name yourselves MoonKill, and, hey, that’s exactly what this Austin quartet has done. But it’s not like floating-in-space post punk; it’s more like if the Thunderdome had a Tatooine location. They’ve been busy back in the studio working on their sophomore album (due out next spring), and in the meantime you can catch their high octane, power chord-forward energy this Thursday at Valhalla. Time your upstairs pit stop at Marinara Miracles appropriately.

“Full Stop” appears on 2024’s MoonKill.

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ACL Fest may be but a flicker in your rearview mirror at this point, but our ACL Fest content is still poppin’ fresh. LA’s Claire Chicha is Spill Tab, a lo-fi alt pop project focused on incorporating rhythms from across time and the globe and nestling them warmly in her dulcet, mezzo soprano jazz vocals. Not surprising considering someone of French-Korean origins, born in Thailand and raised across three continents. Chicha’s humble beginnings as an industry intern have led to her own center stage success, being called one of SXSW 2022’s “buzziest artists” by The Fader. Singing in both English and French, Spill Tab is an amalgamation of all of Chicha’s cultural influences, truly lived.

Chicha stopped by the KUTX tent to perform “Hold Me,” a jazzy piece of cocktail hour perfection, with Chicha’s honey-jazz vocals tucked in a groovy bossa nova shuffle.

The post Spill Tab: “Hold Me” [Backstage at ACL Fest] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

They’re back, baby! After a several-year hiatus, the Aussie-meets-Austin rock group Go Fever returns to retake Austin by storm. Known for putting out banger after absolute banger, their “vibrant jungle print, but in rock music” brand with earwormy hooks and lyrics that warrant an English-class close read have been profoundly missed across Austin’s stages.

With a little warm-up reunion a couple of months ago, courtesy of the DIY, underground music champion For Spite Creative, Go Fever plays an official reunion show tonight at Radio/East with Matthew Logan Vasquez and Magic Rockers of Texas. And as we gear up for what we hope is a new era for Go Fever, we’re taking a step back in time to their Artist of the Month Studio 1A session from 2021.

The post Go Fever: “Amagosa” [Live in Studio 1A] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

From cellos and pianos to guitars and drums. So goes the story for classically trained musicians (and sisters) Kenzie and Laila Crowe, and together the duo are Girl Tones, a project set on unlocking the secrets of the universe to discover what it is to become more than mere sentient beings. The nascent indie rock duo have toured with Silversun Pickups and fellow Kentuckians Cage the Elephant while having their first releases produced by Cage guitarist Brad Schultz.

Girl Tones popped by the KUTX tent last weekend during ACL Fest to perform a stripped-down, but still energetic version of a song you’re no doubt familiar with from the KUTX airwaves.

The post Girl Tones: “Blame” [Backstage At ACL Fest] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Austin duo Briscoe made their musical imprint back in 2023 with their coming-of-age in the Texas Hill Country debut West of It All. Now having toured extensively (“from Canada to Cancun”), their latest album Heat of July is a different type of coming-of-age output for the folk-rock duo, literally written on the road largely without any instruments within arm’s reach and steeped in metaphors of growth that happen with expanded horizons: larger arrangements, bigger harmonies, and waxing poetic on their stint with highways being the only constant. The roster on Heat of July is expanded too, wrangling in musicians from groups like Bon Iver, Houndmouth, and Hiss Golden Messenger.

Briscoe popped by our tent backstage at ACL Fest to perform “Saving Grace,” a love letter from the road sweetly extolling the strength and validation from your person back home who keeps you going through those low and lonely times on tour.

Briscoe kicks off their coast-to-coast US tour this Friday with a free show this Friday at Central Machine Works with Montclaire.

The post Briscoe: “Saving Grace” [Backstage at ACL Fest] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Houston’s Aaron Page is a rising star. The R&B artist recently released his debut EP Before I Go, a meditation on vulnerability and conversations that lead to life’s great romantic pivots, for better, worse, or just more confusing. He stopped by our tent backstage at ACL Fest to perform his viral hit “Lord Knows,” a smooth, sultry inner monologue from Page on a classic tale: see a lady at a club, run through your lines and execute, hit it off, and leave together.

Check out all of ACL content here.

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Lush melodies, decadent fashions, and a good hang to boot. L.A.’s Lucius is no stranger to the KUTX airwaves or Studio 1A, and we always get excited with antici….pation. And they delivered. Not only did they stop by to hypnotize us with a deeply lovely performance of “Mad Love,” a song from the group’s eponymously named album about the raw and tender moments the group’s members have encountered in the last couple of years: setting down roots, creating families, and finding home, but co-lead vocalists Jess Wolfe and Holly Laesing stuck around to answer our burning questions about all of those stellar costumes.

Lucius performs this Sunday at ACL Fest at 3:30 on the Beatbox stage.

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We’re smack between ACL weekends, rolling out all kinds of nifty gifties for you from social media content to amazing performance photos to videos and free downloads of our backstage performances. Today, we take a look back at one of our favorites with an artist you can see live next week. Austin’s Luna Luna is the solo project of Kavvi, a Colombian-American artist seamlessly blending his Spanish and English roots for an infectious blend of nostalgia-tinted Latin soul with a modern indie-pop flair. The former KUTX Artist of the Month performs at 3Ten at ACL Live next Thursday, October 16th.

The post Luna Luna: “Call Me Up” [Backstage at ACL Fest 2022] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

For the last five years, UK duo the Heavy Heavy have been dancing through our airwaves with their retro-inspired brand of indie rock, injecting modern hooks and riffs with harmonies that sound positively Woodstock. We played several songs from the duo’s 2024 album One of A Kind, and they stopped backstage at ACL Fest to hang with us and perform a stripped-down version of “Happiness,” one that landed on our Favorite Songs of 2024 list, that will have you asking if this was recorded at a festival in Austin today or Newport a few decades ago.

The post The Heavy Heavy: “Happiness” [Backstage at ACL Fest] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

A.G. Schiano is Clover County, an Athens, Georgia-based project that was largely chiseled and polished on the road while touring with acts like Lord Huron and Shakey Graves. Going through your twenties is like encountering constant change with a seemingly endless number of metamorphoses as you really cement who you are and what you’re all about. The result here is her debut album Finer Things, a sonic coming-of-age scrapbook brimming with reflection, love, and a collection of notions and mementos.

Schiano brought Clover County’s blend of classic country, indie pop, and Americana (which she’s cleverly branded “bootgaze”) to the KUTX tent backstage at ACL Fest last weekend to perform “Sweetest,” a poem deep with the metaphor that if love is like baking, in this case, one is the delicate, imperative sugar and the other is the naive chef, still learning how to treat and work with their most important ingredient.

The post Clover County: “Sweetest” [Backstage at ACL Fest] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Band plays SXSW, the right person catches their set, and the big ball starts rolling. And while that treasured dream has largely been lost to obscurity, merely existing in the whispered annals of Live Music Capitol lore, Austin’s the Animeros are smack in the throes of living it. Their blend of Colombian, Mexican, and West Texas influences weaves a sonic tapestry blending boleros, psychedelia, and cumbia. Their SXSW set last year put them in the crosshairs of one Dan Auerbach, who produced the group’s debut single “Gózalo” that came out in August. A cover of “Gózalo Mulata” by Texas Latin soul artist Esteban “Steve” Jordan (AKA the Jimi Hendrix of the accordion), the trio married Jordan’s raw, emotive energy to their own psych-funk edge.

The Animeros swung by our tent backstage at ACL Fest last weekend to perform “Gózalo.” Find the video at KUTX.org.

The post The Animeros: “Gózalo” [Backstage at ACL Fest] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

It’s Friday, I think five planets are still in retrograde, so let’s all take a breath and let out a big ol’ “GOT DANG!” And now let’s get to the real danged thing. Stacey McCann leads the Austin blues-funk group SOB & the Dangs (and the SOB is for StaceOnBass thank you very much!). McCann’s voice was made for the blues, full of raw emotion belting from a place of a life lived. They’ve got a new EP on the way, and today we’re thrilled to share “I Don’t Mind,” a tune that takes a break from the booty shaking for an honest self-check-in and not throwing away the past, but concluding “it is what it is, and for myself, I can only look forward.”

The post SOB & the Dangs: “I Don’t Mind” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

For ten years, London’s Warmduscher have been tantalizing audiences with their raucous brand of post-punk, weaving throbbing guitar melodies with elaborate stories about ridiculous run-ins with characters of all stripes. It’s like getting a dive bar soundtrack to the best stories you’ve heard from your favorite regular. Despite ten years and five albums under their belt, the quintet has never lost its dirty debonair attitude, and that was manifested for our Studio 1A audience last Thursday ahead of their Levitation show at 13th Floor that night. Even better, they blessed us with this classic from 2019’s Tainted Lunch.

Find the full Studio 1A video at KUTX.org.

The post Warmduscher: “Midnight Dipper” [Live In Studio 1A] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Kelly Willis has been a stalwart of Austin’s country and Americana scene for decades, so it’s no surprise to find her on Grey DeLisle’s new project: IT’S ALL HER FAULT: A TRIBUTE TO CINDY WALKER. For the compilation, Willis chose the 1955 tune “I Don’t Care,” written by Walker and Webb Pierce, that spent 12 weeks at the top of the Country and Western charts and later became a hit again for Ricky Skaggs in 1982, the first version of the song Willis heard. Inspired by Willis’s personal memory of performing the song with her husband and brother-in-law at a family wedding (celebrating Bruce and Charlie Robinson’s sister and the band’s longtime bass player), Willis’s take on this country swing classic strikes a particularly romantic and tender chord, like her buttery, twangy vocals always do.

IT’S ALL HER FAULT: A TRIBUTE TO CINDY WALKER is out October 10th. Kelly Willis plays a birthday bash show tomorrow night, October 2nd, at the 04 Center with BETTYSOO.

The post Kelly Willis: “I Don’t Care” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Despite the name, Austin’s the Lonesome Heroes have been releasing music and playing shows for a whopping 21 years. To mark the occasion, they’re gifting their audience with a bit of their live faire with Live & Lonesome at the Purple Bee, a collection of songs recorded at the hybrid recording studio and live concert streaming venue Purple Bee Studios, located in Volente, TX.

In this live recording, 21 years of songwriting together and cohesion on stage are front and center with country blues strings dancing through a bed that two-steps between Americana and a crescendo building to a big, jubulent finish. “Sunshine Come” will have you turning your living room into a dance floor, so boot-up, grab a partner, and get ready to cut a rug.

Find the video for “Sunshine Come” at KUTX.org.

The post The Lonesome Heroes: “Sunshine Come” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

It’s been a minute since we checked-in with Austin surf-psych outfit Annabelle Chairlegs. And honestly, “Candy Apple Red,” is still living in my head rent-free five years later. Now the group (fronted by Lindsay Mackin) is back after a three-year hiatus, and what better way to come back than with an album produced by Ty Segall?

“Ice Cream on the Beach” flaunts a poppier side to Mackin. Like a throwback to Caroline Rose’s Loner era, there’s a subtle edge cutting through the sun-kissed, lofty synths and Mackin’s mesmerizing vocals. Newly signed to Austin’s TODO records, the Ty Segall-produced album comes out next year, marrying an exploration of sounds to her signature shoulder-bouncing, surf-tinged hooks.

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Beyond being a musician, S.G. Goodman is an educator. Truly, how many of us knew about the old Appalachian tradition of planting by the moon? Using moon phases and their gravitational pull to determine what crops to plant when (beans, peas, and eggplant during the second quarter, if you were wondering).

But the moon’s power has also been tied to births and “otherwise unexplainable circumstances and actions.” Even more fitting that the Kentucky-born country-flecked indie rocker has tied this all together in her new album Planting By the Signs. An album about love, loss, reconciliation, and all of the inner turmoil that sometimes spills out into the real world in between, S.G. Goodman continues to wax poetic, and with this crop of songs getting praise from NPR, Pitchfork, and the New York Times, it’s clear the soil of her songwriting is nutrient-dense, and we’ve only begun to till it.

Goodman stopped by Studio 1A last week to perform songs from Planting By the Signs.

The post S.G. Goodman: “I’m In Love” [Live In Studio 1A] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

“There ain’t no honky tonks in Philadelphia,” laments Jessica Pyrdsa AKA Datura. The latest single from the Lockhart-based artist’s upcoming album, Saint Cecilia, takes a pivot from her piano-driven, jazz-meets-art-pop sound for this equally cinematic, blues-leaden country hall slow dance that feels like a waltz in all but time signature.

Here, her skills as a composer are on full display, as her own vocals play like an off-stage narrator, letting woebegone, country-blues strings dance around the dusty floor behind heavy crimson curtains, reeling in homesickness and reveling in the memory of times spent in those old, sticky-floor honky tonks.

Saint Cecilia comes out this Friday, September 26th. Her album release show is tomorrow, September 25th at C-Boy’s Heart & Soul joined by plenty of special guests.

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Austin native Elijah Delgado has been releasing his self-proclaimed indie rock lullabies since 2021. In that time, he’s performed with national acts like Sister Hazel and Dayglow and has appeared at Old Settler’s Music Fest and Utopiafest. And today, he’s got a HAAM Day set for your downtime lunchtime listening.

“Hide + Seek” showcases Delgado’s continued progression in songwriting. While there’s no lullaby here, there’s still that cozy, bedroom indie heart, backed with country rock chords and a dusty vibe to give it a great Texas patina. A song about being honest with yourself when you know you’re off or simply falling behind, taking inventory, and using that information to do better and get back on track.

Elijah Delgado plays a HAAM Day set at the Austin Visitor Center today at 1:30PM.

The post Elijah Delgado: “Hide + Seek” [HAAM Day Re-Heat] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Austin’s Parker Woodland are back with potentially their rawest song yet, and certainly my favorite one to date. Standing firmly in their vintage pop-punk sound comes “Get Me to the Show,” a punchy tune packed with earwormy hooks and raw, female-led energy fueled by Erin Walters’s signature vocals pivoting between pop harmonies and Sleater-Kinney-like attitude .

Akin to the Waitresses doing the theme song to Square Pegs, this song sounds like a cool band decided to write a TV sitcom theme about a budding, cool girl music nerd. She doesn’t want to be in the band; she just always knows about them first and wants everyone to listen to them. She’s no gatekeeper!

Upcoming Parker Woodland shows:
9/19 Joan Jett’s B-Day Bash at Meanwhile Brewing Co., 7:30pm
9/21 Austin Peace & Justice Fest, 12 noon-7pm at Princeton Palace
9/23 HAAM Day showcase, The ABGB at 6pm (w/ Nakia and Nik Parr)
9/30 Continental Club (Austin, TX) tour homecoming & “Get Me to the Show” single release, 6:30pm

The post Parker Woodland: “Get Me to the Show” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

It’s Weird Wednesday, and I aim to keep it that way. And what better to stay on theme than to revisit a recent favorite of mine from Studio 1A?

Tear Dungeon is truly to be seen. Between the uniform of all-white street clothes paired with leather gimp masks and the perpetual question, “what will hit me first? The music or the blood?” the magnitude and spectacle of the group speaks for itself. It’s just an added bonus that their thrash-punk sound hits just as hard.

Tear Dungeon stopped by Studio 1A to initiate our audience with a couple of old fan favorites and their new song “Kill for Health,” an unreleased track from their upcoming album on Austin’s TODO records (deets TBA).

The post Tear Dungeon: “Kill For Health” [Live In Studio 1A] RE-RUN appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

All musical motifs of the Lone Star State converge in Austin’s West Texas Exiles. The quartet, made up of members hailing from El Paso, Amarillo, and Lubbock, draws inspiration from all squares of the Texas music quilt, from Willie to Buddy and everyone in between.

Their debut full-length album 8000 Days came out last Friday, and it’s already made an impression on the Americana album and singles charts. From the album is “Division,” a song that on its head is about marital woes, splitting-up your things once it’s finally over, and the raw bouquet of feelings that drove it to that point. It’s also a perfect metaphor for the members of West Texas Exiles’s own members: coming to Austin to start a new chapter and escape the “nothing for me here” burdens of home.

The dustiness around the bass and drums are given polished gimmers of hope with Colin Gilmore’s plucky mandolin and the classic country crooning of guest vocalist and Austin Americana stalwart Kelly Willis to play against the band’s own co-vocalist Marco Guitierrez.

West Texas Exiles have a Waterloo Records next Thursday, September 18th at 7PM.

The post West Texas Exiles: “Division” (ft. Kelly Willis) appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Jacksonville, Florida’s Yuno is DIY-defined. The self-taught musician and producer has been fine-tuning his brand of indie-pop mixed with reggae, hip-hop and skate culture influences to boot for some time, and that perfect mix of luck and talent caught the eye of Shabazz Palace member and Sub Pop rep Ishmael Butler, and the rest is, quite literally, Sub Pop history.

Yuno’s debut album Blest takes his DIY vision to full realization, elevating his flair for the dramatic with cinematic arrangements to match his sharp songwriting. Yuno stopped by Studio 1A last week to “Blest” us with his fully formed vision.

Blest is out now on Sub Pop Records. You can watch the Studio 1A at KUTX.org.

The post Yuno: “Blest” [LIVE IN STUDIO 1A] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

After several amuse-bouches of singles, Austin’s Lola Tried are ready to let us feast. OG members Lauren Burton and Ray Garza are joined by newcomers Gianni Sarmiento and Austin Norman for the group’s third EP, out this Friday.

Perfect for your workout (or rageout) playlist is “Hot Shot Barbie.” She’s got her foot on the gas, turbo engaged, and the only thing that can stop her? Life has yet to answer that question. But she’s got that Robert Baratheon energy, and she’s yet to find her boar. Once again, Lola Tried presents a master class in what they know best: loud-as-hell rock.

Lola Tried has an EP release show Friday, September 12th at Empire Cotrol Room with Quiet Company and Subpar Snatch.

The post Lola Tried: “Hot Shot Barbie” [PREMIERE] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

As the not-so-great Kyle Cooke once said, “Summer should be fun.” And to remind you that summer doesn’t end until September 22nd is the latest single from Brooklyn’s Noods. The ironically fully-clothed quartet returns with their sophomore album I Never Dream About You next month, and today they release its debut single “Slip Up.”

True to the group’s playful nature and affinity for muted pastels, this sunny-with-an-attitude indie rock tune represents the album’s lucid dream state, blurring the lines of dreams and reality to explore whether who we want to be is living-up to how we’re living in the real. To our true benefit or to our delusional detriment? We’ll find out next month.

I Never Dream About You is out October 3rd. Check out the music video for “Slip Up” at KUTX.org.

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No longer in her ingenue phase, Mexico’s Silvana Estrada has maintained her wunderkind rise. With her birdsong voice and her signature Venezuelan cuatro guitar as a vessel to carry her stories of love, grief, and growth.

Ahead of her newly announced international tour and album, Vendrán Suaves Lluvias, out in October, Estrada’s released “Dime,” a deceptively lovely song about post-breakup wild rage, that point where you only feel like your time was wasted, and everything was a lie. Was it really? Who cares? We’re mad now.

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Well howdy! Happy Labor Day! The weather may or may not be participating in our final romp of summertime, but Austin’s Grackles are here to make the day sunny despite Mother Nature.

What began as a side project made up of touring and studio musicians for A-list artists such as the Chicks and Paul Simon and a GRAMMY winner has now produced two albums of sawdust hall bangers to keep your dirt kickers moving. From their sophomore album Grackles Deux: The Grackling, the plague gives us “There Will Be Time,” a twangy, kinetic, fiddle-led romp to get you dancing, whether you’re spending Labor Day at the pool or at home working on that honey-do list.

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At this point, Adrian Quesada is a man who needs no introduction. With a musical curiosity rivaling Beck, project to project, he conjures up albums thoughtfully marrying tradition or inspiration to Quesada.

On both iterations of the Boleros Psicodélicos albums, Quesada explores the centuries-old, Cuban-rooted tradition of the Bolero, beautiful, dramatic love songs deep with passion and steeped with stories of love unrequited, forsaken, and everlasting. As part of his latest Studio 1A performance, he brought in a fellow Grammy winner: the renowned Puerto Rican bolero songstress iLe to perform “Bravo,” a beautiful piece to the ear, but a biting, award-winning telenovela take-down monologue to ignite your soul.

Boleros Psicodélicos II is out now on ATO Records. You can see the Studio 1A video at KUTX.org.

The post Adrian Quesada: “Bravo (ft. iLe)” [Live In Studio 1A] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Song of the Day has returned from vacation, and I can’t think of a better way to come back than with my favorite dance-pop group this city has to offer. We’ve been following the rise of Jane Leo since its origins, and since the last time we checked in with the duo, they supported indie group Cannons on what was Jane Leo’s first national tour; played a ton of music fests; and their single “Wow” landed in ads for both Google Pixel and Michael Kors.

Over the last year or so, they’ve breadcrumbed a few bangers, many leading to the release of their sophomore album Creature of Destruction, out September 19th. “Goldmine” is our last nugget before the album, and while it may be among the more subdued songs Jane Leo has released, it is still dripping with energy and that funky “Imma dance here in my own little circle, in my own little world” energy. Bouncy, sexy, and more vintage than much of what we’ve heard in the past, “Goldmine” is a cheeky reminder that even if you go to Jane Leo show to dance with one foot in the future, they’ve got plenty of tricks up their sleeve to subvert expectations without losing an ounce of their allure.

Jane Leo is hitting the road with indie duo New Constellations. That tour lands at Empire Control Room on Thursday, November 6th, and Jane Leo will return to Studio 1A on Thursday, September 11th.

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Team Trust call themselves art rock, which is somewhat fitting, but if we want to be specific, I’d call them quirk-punk. The Austin trio sounds a bit like Being Dead and your cool, Gen-X brother’s punk demos he recorded at home the summer before they wound-up on tour with Black Flag, opting for a rotisserie of raucous harmony, melting breakdowns, and swaths of minimal instrumentation with syncopated lyrics that sound like they were recorded in a tin can. It’s excellence in weird.

Team Trust releases “Wuggis” today ahead of their debut album Treat Box out later this year. You can see Team Trust at Mohawk tonight with Fifi Knifefight, Modernform, and Skratz.

The post Team Trust: “Wuggis” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Austin’s Russell Taine, Jr. blends indie rock with an Austin and Texas twist. It’s indie music powered by chords and melodies that you imagine being played at dusk in your cool friend’s backyard with a chain link fence and an oak tree in the background. It sounds like Hole In the Wall.

Their latest single “Sidewinder” is both a perfect metaphor for that illustration and a perfect lead-in to their upcoming Ghosts EP. Like the album, “Sidewinder” is about disconnect and things slipping away…or side-slithering away. Lamenting the loss of the “Piscies Queen,” we’re right alongside Taine as he grapples with what went wrong, his current state, and the leaden question of what to do with those feelings and where to go next.

“Sidewinder” is out now. The Ghosts EP is out in November. You can see Russell Taine, Jr. Thursday, September 4th at Hole In the Wall with Small Engine Fire.

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Andrew Chasen. With the Disciples of Creation, he takes you to church. With A Giant Dog, he takes you church. Sweet Spirit makes you want to dance the night away, and Tear Dungeon drags you to the basement, ties you to the St. Andrew’s Cross, and says flogging and bastinado are for the faint of heart. But that’s what you paid for, isn’ it? You even pre-selected “emerald green silk” on the rope menu.

Tear Dungeon is truly to be seen. Between the uniform of all-white street clothes paired with leather gimp masks and the perpetual question, “what will hit me first? The music or the blood?” the magnitude and spectacle of the group speaks for itself. It’s just an added bonus that their thrash-punk sound hits just as hard.

Tear Dungeon stopped by Studio 1A to initiate our audience with a couple of old fan favorites and their new song “Kill for Health,” an unreleased track from their upcoming album on Austin’s TODO records (deets TBA).

The post Tear Dungeon: “Kill For Health” [Live In Studio 1A] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Jack Greenwood’s new single is dance music for sad lads. On “Four Walls,” a song about feeling trapped, the Austin-by-way-of-Wisconsin singer and producer presents a fantastical escape, evoking the moodier side of the 80s synth. The opposing dichotomy works well here; what begins with sunny textures and a fun, melodic bass spirals into a manic descent right alongside Greenwood’s lyrics. But the spiraling is still a groove machine, taking the mania to its brink before its dizzying, synthy fizzling out. Yes, it will have you dancing with tears in your eyes.

Jack Greenwood performs with Clarence James at Stubb’s Indoors this Saturday and Antone’s Sunday, August 17th, with Clarence James and Chief Cleopatra.

The Who Told You EP is out in October.

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Bay Area singer-songwriter Mae Powell‘s debut album on Karma Chief Records, Making Room for the Light, serves up a West-coast brand of vintage, pastel-colored, jazz-meets-indie-pop beauty akin to Atlanta’s Faye Webster. Her latest single “Contact High” has origins in conversations with Powell’s elderly neighbor about a song with the spirit of being high socially, but not outrightly about weed. A soundtrack to the get-together. Jazzy, groovy, and effortless, Powell does this faithfully, taking a step back in time to the days of sunken living rooms and flitting about in kaftans while you sip from that new exotic tiki drink that’s been all the rave.

“Contact High” is out now. Making Room for the Light is out August 15th.

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Despite having a name that sounds like it belongs to a member of the Cramps, Austin’s Celestine Gravely‘s brand of rock is more attuned to the likes of Patti Smith and PJ Harvey, balancing the sounds of those eras and the power of their vocals with her own stamp of songwriting. You’ve got it all here: raw vocals that go from lilt to loaded, powerful guitar riffs, and lots of fun tempo changes to keep you on your toes.

“Kill the Heather” pulls together all of Gravely’s inspirations, employing lots of starts and stops, mood changes, and the perfect touch of Riot Girrrl attitude.

Celestine Gravely plays tonight with her full trio at Valhalla with Flounce, Shared Walls, and Bad Acid.

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Austin’s Allyse crafts R&B-infused pop charms to pair with her sometimes self-empowered and sometimes vulnerable songwriting. The military brat fuses all of the cultural touchstones experienced throughout her childhood, her most sensitive song to date. “Lesson” is about just that, specifically lessons around relationships. How to not hurt others, how to be strong when you’re hurt, and more specifically, how to handle it when you’re spiraling and, in her words, wondering if you’re inadvertently going to wind up being someone else’s cautionary tale. Despite the song’s weight, Allyse deftly stays true to her “every song feels like Friday” vibes.

Allyse plays this Saturday at Center Stage on Parmer Lane off Dessau Rd.

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If you were going to try to stuff the new album from New York trio Hide and Shine into a box, it could only be a bento. The different sonic compartments, ranging from sunny indie rock to fuzzy post-punk to more meditative, goth-tinged post-punk, with the themes of metamorphosis and humbled ego pulling the meal together, under the careful mixing of Faith No More producer Matt Wallace. “Can’t Wait to Catch Fire” is a sunny, existential track, ironically catchy in that particular 90’s, tongue-in-cheek sort of way, keeping in line with the group’s new-vintage sound.

“Can’t Wait to Catch Fire” is on The Red Core, out now.

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Kileen-based rapper LYNN has bars for days and enough butter in her emotive, croony tunes to get Kerbey Lane through an Easter weekend brunch shift. By the time her debut EP Middle of Madness came out last year, she’d already added opening slots for CupcakKe and Three 6 Mafia’s DJ Paul, and the album landed her an official artist spot during SXSW in 2024.

Her latest single “Slow Dreamz” is another rap banger. The snap-clap beat lays a great bed, but LYNN’s cadence sounds like elevated slam poetry, providing her own momentum to her cooly-delivered fast bars without a toe out of time.

Lynn brings this energy to Stubb’s Indoors tonight for KUTX’s Summer Jam, a free show part of Hot Summer Nights.

And you can see LYNN tonight at Stubb’s Indoors for KUTX’s Summer Jam, a free show part of Hot Summer Nights. The show starts at 8:30 with a DJ set by Confucius Jones, and performances by Tommy Francisco, Chaketa B, and Maya Sampleton.

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All month long, we’ve had the pleasure of familiarizing you with one of Austin’s most ostentatious acts, J’Cuuzi. The dance punk duo of Gorge Bones and Trey Razeldazl have an insatiable appetite for the stage and pushing the boundaries of how they use it to their. Watching the faces of new audiences as they take the group in is part of the fun.

They brought their brand of indulgence to Studio 1A last week ahead of the release of their debut EP Sludge Content, out tomorrow, and their EP release show Saturday night at Mohawk — a free show part of Hot Summer Nights. You can watch the full Studio 1A video as well as the video for “Fame By Death” at KUTX.org.

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Austin’s Noah Faulkner, known on stage as Pedal Steel Noah, has garnered a global fanbase by harnessing the Gen-Z power of social media to share his novel pedal steel covers of music of all genres from all decades. This keen sense and talent have earned him fans like Jonny Marr, members of Duran Duran, Frank Black, Neko Case and more. He’s opened for Modest Mouse and the Polyphonic Spree in addition to his own band’s full tours. And he’s caught the attention of the New York Times, who profiled Faulkner last August, the same month the 17-year-old virtuoso made his debut at the Grand Olde Opry. Yes, 17-years-old.

One of my favorite covers of Noah’s is his take on the Tears for Fears classic “Head Over Heels.” The pedal steel primordially steps in for the cascading keys, immediately becoming fit for a twirl around the dance hall. If you never thought Tears for Fears could make you want to listen to George Strait, prepare to stand corrected.

Pedal Steel Noah joins Elijah Delgado, Jo Alice, Kate Heron, Pocket Sounds, and a special headlining guest for Austin Loves Y’all: a benefit show for Central Texas Flood Recovery at Scholz Garten this Sunday starting at noon.

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There’s something about every song by Austin’s Dorio, the duo of Chad Doriocourt and Rachel Rascoe, that’s just sweet, sticky, and timeless. It simultaneously takes me to a certain sunny side of the 90’s; my old, cozy, West Campus apartment; and some of the best new music I’ve been listening to all year. It’s also something none of around here can stop listening to. The soft, bubbly melodies get punctuated with equally soft and bouncy vocals, all wrapped-up in a lo-fi blanket to give it that “anywhere, anytime” feeling.

Dorio stopped by Studio 1A last week to share songs from the new album Super Love 3. You can watch the full Studio 1A session at KUTX.org.

The post Dorio: “Plastic Heart” [Live In Studio 1A] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Austin pianist Andrew Vineski is the embodiment of modern vintage and self-confidence. Many artists these days will tell you their sound is inspired by a bunch of obscure musicians, or that they’re modernizing an existing sound. But I like a good subversion, and in the current state of new music, owning a love for the classics is a breath of fresh air.

Vineski revels in the sounds of the Beatles and Radiohead, the widely different piano stylings of Billy Joel and Keane, and, like the classically trained pianist he is, Rachmaninoff. On his new single “Today,” he brings in some strings to deepen the beautiful melancholy the song possesses, written about Vineski losing his father to cancer when he was 13. That said, this deeply moving tune has a soft-glowing candle in the corner: the sentiment that being gone from this plane doesn’t mean there won’t be a rendezvous on the next.

The Andrew Vineski Trio plays each weekend at Cheer’s Shot Bar all summer long.

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“Big, bouncy, and fat.” That’s how BBC Radio 6 Music’s Craig Charles describes the Bristol-based funk duo the Allergies. Formed by DJ Moneyshot and Rackabeat, the pair have celebrated hit after hit– and not just singles, but full albums — an especially impressive feat in the streaming era. Not to be confused with neo-soul and funk, the duo employs their beatmaking skills to deliver a truly modern funk and soul sound, rich with loops, samples, and all manner of magic you also find on KUTX on Soundfounder.

Hot off their widely acclaimed 2024 album Freak the Speaker and having one of their songs appear in a season two episode of Severence comes “So Real,” a more melodramatic, emotional track, using bellowing jazz vocals to cut over their classic brand of funk-forward hip-hop beats, filling out a transcendent digital-meets-vintage experience a little remimenscent of Pink Floyd’s “The Great Gig In the Sky.”

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New York’s Nikkiesha McLeod has been running parts of the city the last few years between drumming in bands; formerly hosting and co-producing the BIPOC, queer musician-centered podcast When We See Each Other; and being a published author. Their story, however, goes back to Trinidad & Tobago, to a ten-year-old child joining their local steelpan orchestra.

The steelpan remains McLeod’s instrument of choice, and their ability to collaborate with a wide breadth of musicians and create unique music surrounding the steelpan is on full display on their new song “Rush,” out today to celebrate Non-Binary People’s Day. Taking us on a jazz-fused Caribbean journey, the instrumentation, aside from the horns, was all recorded live in a single room. Coming in at just a minute and 58 seconds, “Rush” is a brilliant microdose of McLeod’s affinity for flair and flourish.

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Austin’s McKenna Michels is just it. The singer-songwriter, who daylights as a childhood abuse and trauma advocate, has been featured on local television, has been asked to open for several global artists on their European tours, and she gets to hear her own music over the speakers when she’s shopping. And to peep her style, you know this girl is down to talk some Sir Gawain and The Wife of Bath. McKenna, can we please get a beer together?

Her music embodies the spirit of “full,” as showcased in her latest single “Never Satisfied.” There is no negative space, but there’s also no wasted space. Every layer is exciting and deserves an isolated listen, but the magic of all of the pieces fitting together is her amber-shaded jazz vocals. But don’t be fooled by the overwhelming joy — Michels is speaking earnestly from her heart about one of the most universal feelings we don’t like to be honest about: insecurity.

Michels brings her stage energy to her fans across the globe tomorrow at her birthday day show at the Pershing. The show starts at noon and will be livestreamed worldwide.

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When it comes to Mobley’s career, what started as writing smart R&B pop bops has grown into full concept albums revolving around racism, technology, and our future, composing cautionary tales warning of a regressing society and the darkest parts of science fiction decaying into neither predictive science nor fiction.

Mobley’s new album We Do Not Fear Ruins continues the story of Jacob Creedmoor, the protagonist at the center of Mobley’s 2022 EP Cry Havoc!, but 300 years in the future.

As the last proper song on the album, “Yesterday’s Another Day” brings us to Creedmoor overcoming his struggles in the current time and redirecting his mission. Our protagonist finds a beautiful metaphor for the post-apocalyptic ruin he’s surrounded by. Ruin can mean recalibration and change. And Mobley punctuates this with an apropos bop that dances between R&B and psych pop.

Mobley stopped by Studio 1A recently to share songs from We Do Not Fear Ruins. You can watch the full Studio 1A set at KUTX.org.

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Brooklyn’s Maiya Blaney is all range, baby. And that’s one word to pretty much sum her up entirely. Her interests, talents, and general state of being are always kinetic and well-rounded. On her new album A Room With A Door That Closes, she showcases not only her love for so many genres and sounds, but her affinity to produce solid music in all of those styles.

She calls the album “a love letter to her blue,” a state she describes as, “a kinetic, intense, and dark energy that needs to be expressed as soon as it is felt.” And boy does she. I mean, we’re talking about melding 1960’s soul into drum and bass sat next to a song radioactive with punk energy. It’s a wild ride to match literally every mood.

On “Recognize Me,” we’re slapped with an intentional dissonance of pop vocals matched with an increasingly fuzzy guitar wall. Before the first verse, the song has already felt its feelings, crecendoing before taking a big pitfall, seemingly taking Blaney’s voice with it before it erupts, and the energies have melded into one.

A Room With A Door That Closes is out now.

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Happy Hot Dog and Fireworks Day! Whether you’re staying home and having fun or enjoying one of the city’s myriad of events, you might need something to wavy-baby dance to. Austin’s Katherion has been hitting stages between Austin and Houston for the last three years leading up to her debut album EROS, out later this year. The Walker-Lukens produced album explores the various stages of romantic relationships, all wrapped-up in the soft textures of Katherion’s dreamy alt-indie sound and light, lofty vocals.

“Dance” employs a bouncy bossa nova beat to personify the emotional dance relationships can put us through, especially if your head and your heart are at odds. Despite the song’s inner-turmoil, Katherion surrounds it wither her bubbly, sun-drenched guitar that makes you feel like your in a warmly-lit room with dozens of colorful silks hanging from the ceiling. And that bossa nova beat gives you the right groove to lean on your toes and enjoy your own little dance space.

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A collaboration between Okkervil River and the Antlers, two of the poetic indie bands of our time, both in sound and word, is one that seems so perfect you can almost see photos of Will Sheff, Peter Silberman, and Michael Lerner cutely cropped together like a fan zine-style shipping board.

Last year this music nerd head canon manifested, and the groups came together for a collaborative tour where Lerner and Silberman did an Antlers set, Sheff and bassist Julian Cubillos did a set as Okkervil River, and the night ended with a set by the full quartet, performing songs from both repertoires.

Each show was recorded, and last month they released the appropriately titled Band Together, a showcase of their favorite takes from the tour’s full sets. To mark the occasion, they recaptured that collaborative magic once again, this time in the cozy annals of KUTX’s Studio 1A. “Lost Coastlines” is an Okkervil River track, taking us back to 2008’s The Stand-Ins.

Band Together is out now. You can see the full Studio 1A session at KUTX.org.

The post Okkervil River & The Antlers: “Lost Coastlines” [Live In Studio 1A] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Being a sound designer doesn’t often mean you’re looking to use your own music, or even that you’re a musician at all. Sound designers are the folks who choose the right song to elevate scenes and make you feel a certain type of way in a TV show or the person who finds the right bit of background music to make your ad pop. In any case, you’re like a music scientist and detective in one — sourcing the right materials and experimenting until you find the solution to the mood and tone equation.

Native Austinite Keihl Phillips is seeking to buck a part of this trend with his own self-titled music project. Though the project began as a way to beef up his profile on the sound design side, Phillips caught the bug, and earlier this spring, he released A Mixed Bouquet, a synthesis and love letter of all of Austin’s music genres in one thoughtfully produced package. “Iced Green Tea” takes us down the more electronic and house veins of the city, providing a chill, pulsing groove perfect for a nighttime drive around the city and your Fourth of July playlist.

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Belgian/Canadian duo GHOSTWOMAN are all about finding freedom in a reckless space. On the upcoming album Welcome to the Civilized World, they take this notion head-on and put it center stage.

The album was recorded on an old tape recorder using old instruments. The recording space was a home they didn’t bother to treat for sound, and the lyrics came long after the songs, which the duo let flow through them without any pesky overthinking. What they’ve created is something organic that oscillates around different sounds all tied together by the aforementioned conditions and nostalgic inspiration.

The album’s debut single “Alive” takes on a vintage country rock sound, not quite like the Byrds, and not quite like Whiskeytown, but something that takes you to both of those places simultaneously.

Welcome to the Civilized World is out September 5th on Full Time Hobby and Dine Alone Records.

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So, you’re a runner looking for a playlist. Maybe you do a quick Spotify or Tidal search, hit the one that matches your personal taste the most, or just hit play on the first one that pops up. Maybe you go an extra step to ask a friend or consult a subreddit. Maybe. Eventually, you cobble together a perfectly timed playlist. But what if, what if you just fully composed your own?

That notion struck Finnish DJ, musician, and music curator Aleksi Pahkala, better known as Local Al. Despite being a lifelong athlete, he was forced into a position where running became a necessary method of exercise and movement – not an option he would have ever chosen for himself. But Pahkala seized the opportunity and took his previous relationships with music and musicianship to another space. Putting breakbeat structures and what he deems a subtempo (a state, not a tempo, something that moves with you) for an electronic experience fit for your spiritual and physical cardiovascular health.

His debut album Subtempo Studieds: Run Now, Understand Later is made to accompany you on your run, not necessarily dictate it. Think of it as an album for running, not exercising. And each element has been put to the test foot-to-ground by Pahkala, tying together music and biology.

Subtempo Studieds: Run Now, Understand Later is out now.

The post Local Al: “Hold Me – Pidän (mä pidän)” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Even if the name Tamir Kalifa is new to you, his projects certainly are not. A member of both the orchestral-indie collective Mother Falcon and its alter ego rowdy party band Sip Sip, Kalifa’s part of two of Austin’s biggest “moment bands” of the 2010’s.

A photojournalist who splits his time between Austin and Berlin, Kalifa marries his storytelling talents on Witness, a nine-song album with each track visually represented by a set of photographs. On “Jackie’s Rock,” Kalifa gingerly pays tribute to nine-year-old Jackie Cazares, one of the victims of the Robb Elementary shooting in Uvalde in May of 2022 whose family Kalifa has grown to know in particular. The song is a beautiful demonstration of combining delicate and powerful, and here’s where Kalifa pulls out some of the Mother Falcon magic, using strings to be sun-soaked and lovely without being outwardly cheerful or disingenuous.

Witness comes out this fall.

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It’s the last week of Pride Month, and we’ve got one more great profile for you, and this one gets a little teaser.

Ramesh Srivastava spent the 00’s enchanting audiences with the catchy indie-pop group Voxtrot, a group Ramesh started after high school and moving to Europe. He brought Voxtrot back home to Texas, making them one of Austin’s most prominent bands of the 2000’s.

Part of what prompted Ramesh’s move to Glasgow was the need to seek community compared to the loneliness of being a queer half-Indian boy in Texas. After Voxtrot broke-up win 2010, some of those same demons came full circle, creating an identity crisis surrounding his queerness, religion, and culture. His innerwork through that process is encased in his upcoming solo album Search for Freedom & God, a work dealing with everything from existentialism, spirituality, love and heartbreak, and the pursuit of purpose.

Ramesh stopped by Studio 1A recently to preview some songs from the upcoming album, fully acutalized with the help of award-winning Austin string quartet Invoke. You can see the full Studio 1A at KUTX.org.

The post Ramesh w/ Invoke: “Broadway” [RECORDED LIVE IN STUDIO 1A] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

South Texas rockers West of Rome are here to dislodge the kernel from your craw and even offer you a spittoon so you can get that novel, satisfying “ting.” The band is made-up of childhood friends who, in the absolute tumult leading up to and including the pandemic, decided to finally come together creatively to carve out their own little slice of happiness and maybe try to make a little bit of sense of the mishegoss.

And while their alt-country-for-the-dance-hall sound does make for a perfect night in your mud kickers, the songwriting digs as deep as their energy whirrs. In “Movement In Your Picture,” the lead single off the group’s debut album Keep It Fly In the Negative Zone, singer Kevin Higgenbotham pontificates on life’s unanswered questions and windows of opportunity that were never opened past the curtains.

West of Rome brings a night freewheeling fun to the Continental Club tomorrow night for a long-awaited album release show with Warren Hood.

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For about a decade, Austin power pop group Magic Rockers of Texas have been certifiable Austin Music Darlings, going through long periods of performing across town, sometimes as often as three times a week. And that’s just meeting demand.

On their new album Gorging On American Fair, Magic Rockers serve-up a more decadent version of their usual fare, in large part due to the addition of powerhouse guitarist Will Grover, freeing Campo to focus even more on his penchant for punchy, sardonic songs that make “miserable bastard” seem almost aspirational and his adept propensity for songwriting and composition. Bassist Chris Kues brings in his pedal steel to add the right touch of honky-tonk to a couple of great bar anthems, and as a drummer should, McGarrity Stanley is deftly able to hold the chaos together and throw himself in.

While Magic Rockers of Texas albums are always stellar, anyone in the know knows the real magic is in their live performance. And if you don’t know, welcome in.

Magic Rockers of Texas open for David Ramirez tonight at CBoys.

The post Magic Rockers of Texas: “Where Did My Life Go?” [Live In Studio 1A] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Wet Hot Austin Summer is here, baby! And while we’re out all over town putting on free shows like The Drop-In and Music Under the Star, we’re here to splash some new tunes onto your summer playlist.

Members of Austin punk band Miss Guilty met in a rockabilly project over a decade ago and in 2015, they reformed into Miss Guilty, an ear-wormy punk band full of female-laced adrenaline. Six years after their debut EP Busted, the group returns with Calling Your Bluff, a punchy 6-song output bursting with Halloween-levels of ear candy without the red dye 40. Maybe a little…for the danger.

On “Not the One,” we get snarl-lipped attitude twisting the “f***-right-off” narrative into a sarcasm-leaden anthem embellished with squacky sax runs a la X-Ray Specks. So put on your Poly Styrene braces and get ready for this one, endorsed by KUTX’s Wet Hot Austin Summer.

Playing their EP release show this Sunday at Knomad over on Corona Dr., this is Austin’s Miss Guilty with “Not the One.”

Calling Your Bluff is out today. Miss Guilty plays an EP release show Sunday at Knomad Bar with Tiny Specks and Tan Mala.

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Our April 2025 Artist of the Month was Next of Kin, the country trio, made up of Lili Hickman, Madison Baker, and Caelin bring a breath of fresh country energy to the Austin music scene they’ve been part of individually for years.

In that time, the three fell in love with each other’s music, and each pair within the trio became fast friends. In 2024, Next of Kin released their debut single “Jekyll & Hyde,” to high praise and frequent airplay, portraying the same magic that brought together the Highwomen and Dolly, Linda, and Emmylou. From there, the path was set for the next year and a half leading up to their EP Homemaker, which came out last month with two successful shows at the Contintental Club and a recent announcement that Next of Kin will be performing at ACL Fest this fall.

You can see the full Studio 1A at KUTX.org where you can also find their My KUTX episode, and artist profiles on Lili and Madison. You can see Next of Kin at Cheer Up Charlie’s on Friday, June 20th.

The post Next of Kin: “Jekyll & Hyde” [Live in Studio 1A] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Like the sun finally coming out from the clouds after five days of relentless summer thunderstorms, comes the new album from Detroit indie pop duo JR JR. On Back to the Land, it’s all in the name. After spending time letting their bubbly, direct indie hooks take side stage for some more experimental endeavors, here, the duo marry the two philosophies.

Like your sibling who came back from college, still the same person you love to fight with, but now with an added layer of sophistication and maturity. Back to the Land‘s title track opens with a delicate, folksy guitar melody hearkening back to the charm of 2011’s It’s A Corporate World. The album’s pervasive theme of reconnection and renewal builds up before throwing back the curtains on a shimmery, sythn-driven chorus.

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Today we feature duality. Duality in name, sound, and time. Austin’s Joy Baldwin has been releasing music under the name Steel Gemini for the past several years, an electropop project that grabs your ear with punchy, tinny drumbeats shimmery synths, and pulls you in with Baldwin’s powerful, yet unexpected, jazz-meets-country vocals.

On her upcoming debut album Legendery, Baldwin offers a reimagining of seminal 80’s Austin band The Reivers’s 1985 debut album Translate Slowly, transforming their original 80’s jangle-pop sound into a darker, 2020’s electropop dream with plenty of synth lines and drum beats winking back to the album’s original era. The love and tender affection Baldwin has for this album, which she credits as probably the reason she came to Austin in the first place, pours through the album’s brilliant execution, serving you a great groove now, and a classic Austin sound to dig into later.

“Sound and the Fury” is out now; Legendery comes out this summer.

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When you’re an Austinite, words like Brownout and Superfónicos paint a very clear, distinct picture. Not only in sound, but in community and philosophy.

A distillation of this comes from Superfónicos co-founder Jamie Ospina’s debut solo album The Vessel, a collection of songs of resilience, community, and storytelling blending sonic influences from Africa and Latin America to illustrate the rich, interwoven histories and common ground between them. Together with an eclectic flock of other Austin musicians, the album is tied together under the dutiful production guide of Grammy-winning Producer and Austin music cornerstone Beto Martinez.

The Vessel’s live recording approach highlights the organic symbiosis among the musicians speaking truth to The Vessel’s thesis, laid out in the title track. Here, Ospina joins forces with Kalu James and the members of HER MANA to celebrate the endurance of African culture as the rest of the album explores all of the sounds that can be traced back to Africa as their genesis.

The Vessel is out tomorrow with a release show at the Continental Club.

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On Tanika Charles’s new album Reasons To Stay, pain becomes soulful beauty and vulnerability takes center stage. More than five years after her album The Gumption, the Toronto soul singer returns with her most intimate album to date. On Reasons To Stay, she goes deep on her family history in terms of the stages of grief, exhuming skeletons representing the people who were supposed to love and protect, but failed her instead and exercising her own demons preventing Charles from reaching self-love and and accepting that she, as herself, is enough.

These harrowing themes and dark roots are explored through Charles’s bright, distinctive, harmony-stacked soul music that has earned her Juno Award nominations and a longlist nod on the Polaris Prize List. On “Talk to Me Nice,” Tanika ruminates on the human need for unconditional kindness, closeness, and acceptance from certain figures in your life in a way that translates “talk to me nice” to simply “please love me.”

Reasons to Stay is out now Record Kicks.

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Old 97’s bassist Murry Hammond grew-up in Boyd, TX, a rural town outside of Ft. Worth whose population reached a staggering 1,400 residents in 2020. Growing up surrounded by wide open spaces is a metaphor for Hammond’s intrepid curiosity of the world, not only geographically, but for the people who populate it.

These themes have made their way from his lived experience into the characters illustrated in his music. Following the success of his debut solo album in 2022, Hammond got together with musical soulmates Annie Crawford, Faith Shippey, and Richard Hewitt and created a prodigious body of work yielding two albums of Hammond’s signature deeply illustrative songs and introducing strings, vintage organs, and Mellotrons for the first time.

The first album is Trail Songs of the Deep, a title that has a little bit of Hammond in every word. “Take This Heart And Lock It Up” finds us whistling out on the trail, far between pockets of civilization but in good spirits, taking in the scenery and passing the long hours with the posse sharing good songs and heavy stories. It’s a veritable example of what Old 97’s bandmate Rhett Miller calls, “the perfect distillation of [Hammond’s] grand vision.”

Trail Songs of the Deep is out July 11th on Fluff and Gravy Records.

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For three decades, Eric Hilton and his groundbreaking electronic duo Thievery Corporation have been household names considered required listening for new electronic fans and general music enthusiasts alike.

Their signature downtempo blend of dub, bossa nova, lounge, and club music finds its way in Hilton’s solo work as well. On his new compilation-like album Midnight Ragas, Hilton brings a wide breadth of moods, voices, languages, and tempos to create an album that seems entirely collaborative. On “Beautiful Moment” Hilton welcomes new collaborators The Infinite Daisy Chains with vocalist Kristina Westernik-Dandridge’s rich, sultry vocals akin to Austin-based Thievery Corporation collaborator LouLou Ghelichkhani.

“Beautiful Moment” glides through cloudy, city streets on a lilt of fog, creeping, mysterious, and alluring. But simultaneously, it’s peaceful and sultry. And all of Hilton’s special little notes and tricks bring the song inward, making it feel like an intentional soundtrack for that specific setting and moment, and it’s just for you.

Eric Hilton’s album Midnight Ragas is out June 20th, and Thievery Corporation plays Stubb’s on Saturday, June 28th.

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L.A. native Sydney Raneé is a tour de force. In the decade she’s been releasing music, her songs have been heard in several Lifetime movies and TV shows, including Tyler Perry’s Sistas, the Dynasty reboot, and MTV’s the Real World. She’s performed at the Daytime Emmys and has even garnered regular airplay in the UK.

Her new EP Main Girl is an energy-fueled display of her bubbly brand of retro pop and R&B. On the album’s title track, Raneé uses a deliberate drum machine sound and a polished pop hook to transport us back to the 80s– a top choice for any choreographed dance or roller skate routine then or now.

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Sometimes we need to revel in the melancholy to understand it and pick ourselves up, and sometimes we have to combat darkness with warm sunshine, finding growth and therapy in a catchy earworm. Such is the case for L.A. producer Jordan Topf AKA Windser, who mulls over and emotes on his mix of sadness and boredom in his new track “These Days,” a hooky, early Two Door Cinema Club-esque indie pop groove to lift you back up.

Topf is joined by a gaggle of impressive musicians on “These Days,” including but not limited to members of Phoebe Bridgers, Mt. Joy, and Father John Misty’s bands to fully actualize this song to get you hyped for Winder’s debut album out tomorrow.

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Austin’s Britny Lobas is a pop rock powerhouse. Originally a member of the pop rock group Corbella, Lobas broke out on her own. But her volume of output is the opposite of her volume of talent and vocal power, preserving her song coins like the Four of Pentacles and methodically doling out one banger after another, leaving fans in a regular stasis of antici…pation.

The Cleveland, Ohio native releases her new single “You Can Have It” this Friday. While this song leans more on the soul side of her sensibilities, her edge is not dulled, giving Amy Winehouse energy on a track about not throwing down with green-eyed monsters, but dropping them instead. They’re no good!

Lobas celebrates the release of “You Can Have It” this Saturday at Empire Control Room with Glass Mansions and Raycheal Winters

The post Britny Lobas: “You Can Have It” [PREMIERE] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Austin duo Felt Out (FKA “Emme” for you fellow 2010’s Austin music scenesters) mesmerize and catch audiences off-guard with their signature blend of kitchen-sink alt-pop — no sound or notion is off-the-table, one song can be metallic and the next quite earthy, with maybe a guitar as a shared element. But the infinitely-instrumentalist duo are adept at using whatever element they reach for, tying them all together into a melodic bow, or at least a purposely semi-melodic bow with an alluring groove.

The latest single from Felt Out is “Fruit Cart,” inspired by singer Sowyma Somanath’s recent trip to India. Sung almost entirely in the South Asian language of Tamil, “Fruit Cart’s” electronic disposition creates a provocative dichotomy to a song about digging for the roots of desire.

Felt Out plays an AAPI Heritage Month show at Antone’s on May 22nd co-produced by Eastern Soul Productions.

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Nashville’s Sophie Allison has been releasing music as Soccer Mommy for almost a decade. Historically her albums are story-based outputs and we, the listener, are invited to have a sit and listen. Her latest album Evergreen however is simply a collection of great songs with some really great little surprises.

“Abigail” is about the purple-haired, flute-playing, amethyst loving character in the beloved cult indie game Stardew Valley. An ode to one of the game’s most popular characters, the song’s 90’s bedroom pop shimmer hearkens back to Soccer Mommy’s classic 90’s alternative sound that would certainly have anyone, especially our titular character, accepting her mermaid pendant.

And last week, Soccer Mommy announced Evergreen (Stripped), a six-song EP of acoustic versions of some of the tracks from the 2024 album, including Abigail, out June 6th.

Soccer Mommy stopped by Studio 1A for the third time earlier this month ahead of her show at Radio East to perform songs from Evergreen. See the entire session below

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Songwriter and instrumentalist David Alvarez walks among the echelon of Austin musicians whose personal musical and production diversity has afforded them space in nearly every corner of the city’s music scene. Blackchyl, Sun June, and Dorio make up some of their repertoire, but now Alvarez has turned to focus on their own project, e. artifact.

e. artifact is a perfect brand of Alvarez’s style, a type of 90’s style IDM music refreshed for the old school lovers and newly presented for those yet uninitiated. While downtempo, the intricate layers play with your ear. You instantly know you like it, but it takes a few listens to pinpoint and articulate why.

“Rightly Timed” is the debut single from e. artifact, an apropos name for a song with shifting time signatures. The song has touches from other familiar Austin musicians, such as BLK ODYSSY flutist Paulo Santos and Dorio’s Chad Doriocourt. e. artifact celebrates the debut release tomorrow at Empire Control Room’s Razzfest with J. Soulja, Kassa Overall, Blackchyl, and more.

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Austin’s Cactus Lee could be described as merely a country artist, but to be truly accurate, it’s Texas country. Frontman Kevin Dehan, a lifelong fanatic and student of the Lone Star State’s tenured history of folk and country, has dedicated his music career to being a concrete contributor.

In late March, Cactus Lee released their self-titled album, the project’s sixth—an album delving into all of the classic themes the genre exhibits. The album’s opener “Rabbit” is a bright shuffle, jauntily dotted with accordion flares. A road tune detailing the journey of a traveling musician, Dehan sets the stage for the album’s upbeat, midtempo good time.

Cactus Lee plays a couple of shows this month to dare you to keep from clapping along. They play Community Garden on Cedar Avenue on Thursday, May 22nd and Buddy’s Place on Burnet on Saturday, May 24th.

Cactus Lee is out now.

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Atlanta indie rocker Becca Harvey AKA Girlpuppy has been through it, y’all. After getting off the break-up rollercoaster following a four-year relationship, she lays out her journey is an almost epistolary way, intimately detailing her process in a way that feels like she’s soundtracked her diary.

But there’s plenty of resilience in her album Sweetness as well, creating a tone of growth and power instead of anger and self-destruction. The track “I Just Do” chronicles a tumultuous relationship, emoting on the double-edged sword of lovesickness and allowing yourself to be repeatedly hurt by the person attached to that love. Better yet, it fits perfectly in the fold of Blondshell, Soccer Mommy, and Snail Mail.

Sweetness is out now.

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Despite only releasing music since 2019, Austin indie rock outfit Daily Worker seems to be taking a page from the Robert Pollard and King Gizzard book of prodigious releases. The group, helmed by Cotton Mather guitarist Harold Whit Williams, has released over a dozen album in just six years. Not surprising when you’re not only a musician, but a prolific poet and author.

By my count, their latest album marks the 15th installment in Daily Worker’s discography. Field Holler is a trove of lo-fi, jangly indie pop gems. And speaking of Robert Pollard, “Delmar Overload” is a Guided By Voices-inspired tune with packed with a buzzy-string laced hook a great, driving guitar solo, and plenty of 90’s indie nostalgia.

Daily Worker plays a free show this evening at six o’clock at Antone’s Record Shop on the Drag at 29th.

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Austin duo Pendulum Hearts take over stages with their blend of Western Swing and rockabilly, filled-out by a rotating cast of characters to round out the rhythm section and sprinkle in soloists. The beat of Pendulum Hearts comes from guitarist and vocalist Chase Risinger and fiddle player Tony Perez.

They’re sweat-inducing, boot-scooting live shows are a large part of the group’s trademark, and one they’ll be bringing to several stages this month behind the release of their new song “Cocaine Cowboy,” an imprudent romp about the fast times of a chosen lifestyle.

Pendulum Hearts plays Infamous Brewing off 620 this Saturday and Fareground Austin on 1st and Congress next Saturday, May 17th.

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UT Austin alums Andy Baxter and Andy Jahnke have been releasing music together as Penny & Sparrow for a decade. Revered for their poetic lyricism and ability to pull off acoustic gems and electronic meditations masterfully on the same album, Penny & Sparrow continue that tradition on their current album Lefty. An ambitious, twenty-song release weaving their most art-for-arts-sake sonic tapestry to date.

“Ketamine” is one of the group’s electronic outputs, featuring Grammy-nominated Houston rapper Tobe Nwigwe lending his baritone talk-rap skills over Penny & Sparrow’s laid back, slow-tempo groove.

Penny & Sparrow plays the Paramount tonight.

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Nashville indie folk artist Melanie MacLaren has garnered praise for her music all across americana outlets. In just three years, she’s released dozens of songs and several EP’s and live tracks. Her warm, effortless vocals tend to be just one of the many patterns running through her tapestry of many orchestrated layers. Not shying away, but simply being part of the fold.

“Get It Back” has a bit of a Lilith Fare flair, dancing somewhere between americana and indie alternative, punctuated by the duality of a steel guitar prominently featured in a song about a day spent spreading ashes and reminiscing about a loved one around New York City.

Melanie MacLaren plays tomorrow night at the Soundspace at Captain Quack’s on Menchaca Rd. with Hannah Aldridge.

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Dayton, Ohio’s M. Ross Perkins has an affinity for blending 60’s British Invasion music with the sounds of American pop standards with just enough of a contemporary veneer to let you know the sound is an homage to the time, not a hint to its release date.

His third album What’s the Matter, M Ross? Takes the introspective look the album title implies, making it his most existential and transcendental album to date. The album blends cosmic psych pop into the mix, sounding a bit like a Harry Nilsson-Gram Parsons-sometimes King Gizzard collaboration made for a nostalgic drive through Laurel Canyon.

What’s the Matter, M Ross? Is out May 2nd.

The post M. Ross Perkins: “Spiritual Kick” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Last year, Monophonics bandleader Kelly Finnigan released his second solo album A Lover Was Born, a stellar study in psychedelic soul extending cleanly from the classic Monophonics sound. A song that didn’t make it onto the album was “Keep Me In Mind,” a smooth soul bop featuring Chicago soul legend Renaldo Domino.

While most of the Monophonics and Finnigan’s solo discographies have a prominent neosoul sound, “Keep Me In Mind” is a cover of a 1967 tune by the New York duo Samson & Delilah and distinctly sounds like a love letter to the classic days of solid gold soul duos. The kind that may have wound-up on the soundtrack of an Olsen twins movie in the 90s.

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Austin psych-rock group Queen Serene was conceived during COVID when former Naked Tungs guitarist Sarah Ronen began writing her own music following the band’s dissolution, but soon realized she preferred creating in a group. Now the group is filled out with Charlie Cassells, Dave Pohly, and co-songwriter Galceran.

Queen Serene’s sophomore album 2 feels out the space rather than filling it like their straight-ahead psych rock debut album did. Leaning into thick-curtained, shoegazey layers, “In A Rut (I’m Stuck)” is a departure from the group’s collaborative songwriting, being one fully written by Galceran during his own COVID rut. But it’s the more cutting edge of shoegaze, providing a trippy, dissonant deluge to get you in the Psych Fest mood.

Queen Serene plays an Austin Psych Fest late night show tonight at 13th Floor opening for SUUNS.

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Welch trio The Bug Club have been continuing the traditions of garage rock since 2016. Short, punchy songs with humorous lyrics and catchy hooks bulk out the group’s discography, and under the freewheeling rollicking is an understated seriousness to their musicianship. Aside from the wild wall of sound that makes the trio sound like a group of six, there’s a metronomic tightness to their seemingly carefree illusion.

As wild as the energy of their studio sound is, to see the trio live is a total mind bender. The frenetic energy of their songs is matched by the kinetic energy ricocheting across the stage, infecting their audiences with their pinball machine vigor.

The Bug Club is currently on tour supporting both their current Sub Pop album On The Intricate Workings of the System and teasing the upcoming Very Human Features out this summer. Their Austin stop brought them to Studio 1A where they made our Friday afternoon feel like anything but a day at the office.

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Austin’s Larry Llodra has fronted a couple of Austin groups including noise rock band UVH. Llodra’s new project Roaring Sun is a hard turn from the hard, fuzzy songs of UVH, opting for a bristly, folk rock sound. The debut album Turn and Wave is melancholic and tender, raw and unflinching. The project was born after Llodra left the corporate 9-5 grind after a health scare for a cross-continental journey to get a hard reset on life and a renewed sense of direction.

“View So Blue” details Llodra’s first brush with lightness and optimism after seeking a fresh start, sitting on a flight heading towards the first leg of his journey, reveling in that first feeling of hope after bucking the burnout.

Turn and Wave is out today, and Roaring Sun’s FREE album release show is THIS SATURDAY, APRIL 26TH AT THE CACTUS CAFE with Jeff Gallagher.

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After over fifteen years of making and releasing music, Austin’s David Ramirez considered hanging up his music career, but he rescinded that notion following the outcry from his fans and a prolonged tenure of soul searching. After all, when raw emotion and critical self-reflection are consistent tenants of your music, sometimes that process can feel like it’s working against the goal of healing.

Four years after his album Backslider, Ramirez released All the Not So Gentle Reminders last month. The album reflects the time following the dissolution of his long-term relationship, whirring through several sounds and moods, sometimes crooney and emotive, sometimes raucous and freewheeling. You’re there on the journey with him.

Ramirez recently took off for a tour across the US and Europe, but before departing, he stopped by Studio 1A with the full band to perform songs from All the Not So Gentle Things. One of those tunes was “I Got People,” a piano ballad lamenting the inability to enjoy or appreciate the great people and opportunities surrounding you because the only person who isn’t around is the only one you want.

The post David Ramirez: “I Got People” [Live In Studio 1A] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Austin singer-songwriter Taylor Rae released her debut album Mad Twenties in 2021, a release that led to a 30-week stint on the Americana radio charts and opportunities to hit the road opening for bands like the Head and the Heart and Band of Heathens.

After a stretch of playing an average of 200 gigs a year, Rae went back in the studio and last week released The Void, an album that turns inward towards reflection rather than external commentary of forces around her. She teamed up with Grammy-winning producer Eric Krasno, who’s worked with groups like Lettuce and Tedeschi Trucks Band, to fully realize her sophomore album that plays with a lot of different genres, reflecting the growth and changes Rae bears throughout the record.

“Cologne” takes a blusier route as a song that began with simply a riff and a line. It’s about yearning in love and missing your partner, throwing on something that smells like them, and watching the clock tick until they can finally pick up the phone.

Playing the 04 Center this Wednesday, here’s Austin’s Taylor Rae with “Cologne.”

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Earlier this year, Austin’s Kirk Smith released “Julian,” a song about a perpetual miscreant making every bad decision and burning every bridge he crosses. While that version sported a bossa nova shuffle perfect for a dark lounge, he’s now paired with local producer Lars Goransson to remix “Julian” for a new crowd.

The remix takes a synth-driven direction, leaving but a trace of the bossa nova soul of the original and replacing it with chill club beat akin to the sounds of the late 80s and 90s. It’ll feel right at home on your dance playlist next to Ultravox and Robyn.

Kirk Smith celebrates the release of the new remix with a free show tonight at Celis Brewery joined by yesterday’s Song of the Day artist, TV Wonder.

The post Kirk Smith: “Julian” [New Moon Remix] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

L.A.’s DUCKWRTH has an adept knack for genre-bending around hip-hop, indie, and electronic music, massaging whatever effect he wants to achieve into his mold. His hip, danceable midtempo grooves have landed him the opening spot on two Billie Eilish tours, his music has been in shows like Insecure and Bel Air, and his song “Start A Riot” with Shaboozey was featured on the widely revered Spider Man: Into the Spider-Verse soundtrack.

DUCKWRTH’s third studio album American Fk Boy is a thoughtfully plotted story that unfolds like a book. Broken down into literal chapters, the voices of notable actors like LaKeith Stanfield give interstitial narration throughout DUCKWRTH’s bear-all odyssey juggling multiple romantic interests, generational trauma, his own self-inflicted patterns leading to toxic relationships. Towards the end, DUCKWRTH describes his ego death necessary to grow, reflect, and move on with a promise to do better.

“Toxic Romantic” kicks off the album with a brilliant display of DUCKWRTH’s groovy midtempo, multi-hyphenate style, punctuating the chaos we’ve been dropped into with a garbled guitar riff and DUCKWRTH calling his pathetic self out with a distorted delivery of the cliché “It’s not you, it’s me. I promise.”

American FcK Boy is out now on Them Hellas/The Blind Youth*.

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Brian D’Addario and his brother Michael came onto our radar back in 2016 as the duo the Lemon Twigs and their debut album Do Hollywood, a throwback splash of 60’s and 70’s rock and pop akin to the Beatles and the Beach Boys.

Now after five Lemon Twigs albums, Brian D’Addario has released his debut solo album Till the Morning, featuring his brother Michael as co-producer, harmonize, and lending co-lead vocals on a couple of tracks.

Till the Morning is an extension of the early prog rock, melodic folk, and such historically released by the Lemon Twigs, but on this album, Brian got to go even deeper into his influences by working with LA poet Stephen Kalinich, who co-wrote songs like “Little Bird” and “Be Still” for the Beach Boys 1968 album Friends.

The title track from Till the Morning is a fun, upbeat nostalgia trip about finding a tantric escape from the endless whirring of dread in your brain, rolling through classic tales and fables and wondering, “are we doomed to repeat? Have we already?” Right now, that doesn’t matter. Those intrusive thoughts can wait til the morning.

Till the Morning is out now on Headstack Records.

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Austin’s Jeremiah Jackson has been shaking-up the traditional sounds of the Austin music scene for the last several years with his self-signed “Glam Daddy Blues.” Donned in one of his signature capes of many lengths and many textiles typically matched with street clothes underneath, before the band strikes a chord, you already know you’re in for a ride.

The latest single from Jeremiah Jackson finds him once again joining forces with drummer Mikey Uptmore and bassist/producer Dylan Fischer. If you appreciate the glam of Bowie, the kinetic on-stage presence of Jimi Hendrix, and the songwriting passion of Led Zeppelin, you’re in the right place. “I Believe In You” is an anthem driven by power-pop chords and Tenacious D attitude, hearkening back to a simpler time of rock n roll.

Jeremiah Jackson celebrates the release of the new single this Sunday at Hotel Vegas with Paper Sister and Powdered Wig Machine.

The post Jeremiah Jackson: “I Believe In You” [PREMIERE] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Danny Lee Blackwell has been performing under the moniker Night Beats since 2009, but there’s an argument that he could just as well be called “The Distiller.”

Night Beats has a reputation for concocting. Blackwell can make a country song sound like a trip through the desert with Hunter S. Thompson. He can turn a blues riff into a full-on mind melting haze. Much like Beck, each release is a surprise of inspirations, but it all gets distilled in a way that is distinctly Night Beats.

The latest from Night Beats is “Behind the Green Door,” a sexy, shuffling, down-tempo tune packed with groovy, blues-psych textures, and the signature Night Beats haze.

Tomorrow Night Beats releases the 7” of “Behind the Green Door” backed with a remix of the song by Rah John, an artist Blackwell stumbled upon while hanging out on the island of Koh Kham Yai in the Gulf of Thailand.

“Behind the Green Door” is out now on all streaming platforms, and the 7” is out tomorrow.

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Mobley’s career has been a fun, transformative one over the last decade. You heard that right, we’ve been talking about and championing Mobley for almost ten years. What started as writing smart R&B pop bops has grown into full concept albums revolving around racism, technology, and our future, composing cautionary tales warning of a regressing society and the darkest parts of Science-Fiction decaying into neither predictive science nor fiction.

Mobley’s upcoming album We Do Not Fear Ruins continues the story of Jacob Creedmoor, the protagonist at the center of Mobley’s 2022 EP Cry Havoc!. This time, we’re 300 years in the future, and our hero has woken up in a post-apocalyptic America, realizing that everyone he’s known and loved is long gone and his legacy seemingly lost to time. Grief and solitude set in.

As the last proper song on the album, “Yesterday’s Another Day” brings us to Creedmoor overcoming his struggles in the current time and redirecting his mission. Our protagonist finds a beautiful metaphor for the post-apocalyptic ruin he’s surrounded by. Ruin can mean recalibration and change. And Mobley punctuates this with an apropos bop that dances between R&B and psych pop.

The song is accompanied by a video made to look like an early-80’s variety show (the era our hero was frozen in in between albums) and was even shot on a 1981 Sony Trinicon for full, unfiltered authenticity.

The post Mobley: “Yesterday’s Another Day” [PREMIERE] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Austin’s Ley Line has been celebrated for their beautiful songs that encapsulate the Earth and its connection to the musical traditions of blues and folk as well as Brazil, West Africa, and Latin America. Songs that celebrate older, more traditional genres with a delicate soul that always feels grounded in nature. Whether it’s the song’s style, instrumentation, or both, the brand of Ley Line’s music is always transports you to serenity.

The new single from the group is “Flores,” one of the quartet’s most stripped-down songs to date. But the powerful essence of Ley Line remains strong. It’s beautiful and meditative, and the birds chirping in the background flesh out the tranquil spirit of the song.

“Flores” marks the official return of Ley Line to the stage after a couple of years of working on other projects, living life, and writing new music. Their first show back is this Saturday at Rosette on 39th and Avenue B, celebrating the release of “Flores.”

“Flores” is out this Friday, April 11th.

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Austin’s Paige Renee Berry has had music at the center of their life since before they could talk. The Knoxville, Tennessee native began writing their own music in college, and when they moved to Austin in 2015, Berry co-founded the folk duo The Rosaries. In 2018 Berry started taking their own solo music head-on but quickly fleshed out their vision with a full rock band and renamed the project Half Dream. Since 2018, the group has released an EP and full-length, toured the East Coast, and been an official SXSW artist.

Today, Half Dream releases their new single “Fly,” a song true to their brand of rock music with lyrics about growth, trauma, and the state of the world around us. But, also true to their brand, there’s no wallowing or doubling down — there’s always a sense of therapy and hope, as fallible as we may be along the way. “Fly” in particular, has a slight country step to its groove like a little nod to where their love of music all began.

Half Dream plays tonight at Hole in the Wall with Great Howl and Hallo.

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Texas band Chaparelle harkens back to a golden era of country with modern lyrics. What started as a mind-meld between Zella Day and Jesse Woods in 2023 not only evolved into a match on its way towards matrimony, but also into a trio, originally working with Beau Bedford in a producer role before he became part of the band full time. And it’s the magic among the three that puts Chaparelle on-track to be in the same discussions as Paul Cauthen, Leon Bridges, and Orville Peck (all artists Beauford has done production for).

The melodies, storytelling, and twangy vocals of Day and Woods set the group solidly in the modern era of golden country, and that power was on full display this past SXSW both out at Luck Reunion and our own show at Scholz Garten.

Now the trio is set to release their debut album Western Pleasure on April 18th, and they’re embarking on a 39-date tour across the country in support. Austin is the second stop on the tour, playing Scoot Inn tomorrow night with Sydney Quiseng and Angel White.

The post Chaparelle: “Playing Diamonds, Cashing Checks” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

They say the SXSW trifecta is free food and drinks, seeing one of your favorite bands (current or past) and discovering your next beloved band. I hit that trifecta this year, and it is my absolute pleasure to bring you my new obsession.

Atlanta’s CDSM (short for Celebrity Death Slot Machine) are a rag tag collective possessed by the ghost of Alan Vega and the living spirit of Can, fusing freakish synth-heavy post-punk with dance punk and a touch of goth in a refreshingly atypical manner. Many of their songs sound they fall down a wormhole into a different dimension partway through, while the guitars take a backseat to the crazed, workhorse synths. To top it off, a well-placed growling saxophone makes many a guest appearance.

All the members of CDSM are kinetic on their instruments, rotating duties between every song, but it seems the one constant rule is at least three people need to be on synths at any given time. It’s brilliantly executed controlled chaos. Being part of the CDSM chaos while packed in the small front room of Tweedy’s on a Sunday afternoon, you look around and think, “this is why I leave the house.”

Convertible Hearse is out May 23rd.

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We’re already in April. Q1 is gone but not forgotten. And as a final sendoff to the first part of the year, we’re throwing down with our March Artist of the Month, Gus Baldwin & The Sketch, one more time.

The quartet had an affirming SXSW, playing big shows at 29th Street Ballroom with Christian Bland & the Revelators and Frankie & the Witch Fingers and Hotel Vegas with Madrid’s Hinds. Those shows were ramping up towards their quick tour kicking-off this week. But before leaving town, they stopped by Studio 1A to bring their live, infectious garage rock energy to our concert club members and airwaves. So let’s give it up once more for our March Artist of the Month!

You can see Gus Baldwin & the Sketch at Mohawk on Monday, April 21st.

The post Gus Baldwin & The Sketch: “Itch” (Live in Studio 1A) appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Fun’s not just for Friday anymore. Mondays need need fun too. Maybe even more than Friday…or Wednesday. And your dose of Monday dopamine comes from Austin’s Tiny Specks. Members Vanessa Gonzalez, Nikki Preciado, and Brian Cox have been members of many bands of many sounds over the years, but when the three came together, a beautiful synthesis occurred, and what they’ve manifested is some self-coined space-punk-pop.

The trio’s debut EP First Contact, recorded with Matt Parmenter at Ice Cream Factory Studios, showcases their creative egalitarian approach to song writing, allowing each member’s own brand to be stamped on and woven into the clever, chuckle-inducing fabric the group has woven.

“Danger Oso,” is, in fact, a fun quick tune about a dangerous bear. Un oso peligroso. It’s pithy garage rock at its best. And they pack a lot into this quick romp, oscillating between straightahead punk energy to moments of almost psychedelic tranquility with babbling water overlayed with drippy surf chords. Even Garfield would crack a smile on a Monday for this song.

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Bassist and singer Anastasia Wright has long been a part of the Austin music tradition of being part of about a dozen bands you’ve seen and heard of. Hong Kong Wigs, Tyler Jordan and the Negative Space, Black Basements, and the B-52’s cover band Mock Lobster. Additionally, she’s been running her own vegan catering and personal chef business Temptress Meals for years.

Now, Wright’s turned her sights toward her latest solo project, Soft Bones. Pooling together wonderful artists like Big Bill drummer Jeff Olson and Wright’s own husband Joe Olmstead. While Anastasia is an extraordinary bassist, her vocals are siren-like and showstopping. Both instruments are put front and center on the new EP Return Your Experience.

There’s a lot of air and space throughout the EP, but it’s not stripped down; it’s an essential and well-executed layer to the sound. Truly, it’s gothic beauty. On “Let the Sun In,” her bassline sets the dark tone before her vocals come in like a mysterious draft from an old, castle tower window. Soon, the windstorm picks up, and you’re enraptured in her vocal gusts. And yes, this would perfectly soundtrack your next tarot reading.

Along with the release of Return Your Experience is a bittersweet departure. Anastasia gifts Austin this EP as she moves on to new pastures and new projects. But, not without a proper sendoff in the form of a release show tonight at Radio East.

You can see Soft Bones’ EP release show and farewell to Austin tonight at Radio East with Alex Riegelman and Feeling Small.

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Athens, Georgia. A fertile ground for breeding world famous bands like the B-52’s, R.E.M., of Montreal, and Drive-By Truckers. Now, humbly moving their own way up the ranks is hey, nothing. The emo-folk duo, originally from Atlanta, are, for better, or worse, writing music that is much more raw and reflective than what you’d expect from a pair of 19-year-olds. But when life comes at you too early, too fast, and too hard, music can be an excellent form of therapy, conversation, and community.

Like a lot of folks to have grown-up too fast, humor is another form of therapy, and Tyler Mabry and Harlow Phillips are adept at folding that humor into their lyrics and on-and-off stage charm.

“Barn nursery” is about the stages of grief. We’re taken through the narrator’s journey, not only through lyrics, but through the emotional states of the music itself. The tempo in particular stands out, as the beat is kept perfectly in time to the natural rhythm of rumination while the vocals take center stage.

hey, nothing plays 3Ten tomorrow night.

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Over the last several years, Kenneth Frost has made his mark in the Austin underground scene with his band the Cuckoos, a group that blends classic rock sentiments with neo-psych and club beat attitude and punctuation. Now Frost is stepping into a new project, a six-piece outfit called Blush Fantasy. Blush Fantasy is like a fresh look back in time. The beats dance somewhere between the disco floor and 80’s clubs (much like Chromeo) until the power chords cut into to plant you a bit more in the 80’s, but now you’re in an entirely different club, still dancing, but not asking too many questions. You’re here for the ride! It’s a true celebration of all of Frost’s favorite influences. Even his vocals are like David-Bowie-meets-Michael Hutchence.

“Dreamboat” features Hey Cowboy’s Sydney Harding-Sloan joining Frost on the mic, setting the scene and creating an ethereal, fog-machine like mysticism. She is the mysterious dreamboat, and she will be seen and celebrated.

You can see Blush Fantasy tomorrow night, March 27th at Hotel Vegas, and this Saturday, March 29th on the indoor stage at Mohawk.

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Austin’s Julian Neel grew-up in Lubbock surrounded at home by the music of artists like Joe Ely and the Flatlanders. Then he spent the last half of the 2010’s on the road with Molly Burch touring the US and Europe. All the while, he was fronting his own band, and he released his debut album Call the Mountain in 2020.

After years of getting his music thirst quenched, Neel filled his cup with the vines of entrepreneurship co-managing the popular Austin wine bar Lolo. But, two cups can be filled at the same time, and Neel has never stopped writing. What musician can?

Neel is back with the heavyweight-studded EP Gallery Show. Members of Chaparelle, Voxtrot and Tele Novella along with members of Weyes Blood, Devandra Banhart, and Tim Heidecker’s bands fill out the record. Neel at the lead takes us through a series of vignettes spanning a motely cast of characters and situations in a small, non-descript Texas town. Each story is given its due time as the EP maintains a leisurely pace, not dallying, but appreciating and exploring.

The characters exist somewhere between the Lynchian and Tarantino spheres, illustrating a place and time that seemingly only perfectly exists within itself, and we’re being treated to a peek inside.

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Austin’s Nick Garza is Texas music personified. The 13th-generation singer-songwriter uses his baritone voice to add an extra layer of salve to his beautifully-crafted songs that embody not only Western music, but plenty of notes and nods to various Texas-centered genres like Tejano. He’s even collaborated Texas with music stalwarts like Augie Meyers and Los Texamaniacs. And it’s not just Austin who’s locked-in on Garza’s inevitable rise as the singer-songwriter has garnered praise from music critics and lovers all over the state.

Garza’s latest EP Silver to Hold is a three-song release that includes Colter Wall’s harmonica player Jake Dillon Groves on the title track, joining the rest of Nick Garza’s Get Along. “Silver to Hold” is a slow, rich waltz that perseverates on lessons learned and the advice that follows. And Garza’s vocals alone will keep you transfixed and heeding.

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The last day of Spring Break deserves a real party, doesn’t it? Well, Chinese American Bear has the honey pot for just that.

Classically trained Anne Tong immigrated from China with her family when she was around six years old, and after moving around several states in vastly different parts of the country, the family settled in Spokane, Washington. Concurrently, Bryce Barsten’s Spokane-based family were part of the global “llama boom” of the 90’s that hit the US specifically in the Pacific Northwest. These two singular life experiences eventually brought them together in matrimony and music.

Chinese American Bear, simply, is wonderfully weird. Mixing the bubbly, whimsical nature of Chinese pop culture with more off-the-wall Western sensibilities of groups like Deerhoof or even a melodic Animal Collective to bring a bright, fun, bicultural party to the stage. And it’s a party we’re all invited to.

At their Scholz Garten performance, we learned the Chinese words and process for making dim sum and we got a reminder to not take ourselves too seriously, to let loose, and just feel fuzzy.

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Happy first day of spring! With sunny skies in the 70s and school out, let’s put an extra spring in that step.

Mexico City’s Los Eclipses are a cosmic duo. Blending many Latin music influences with singer Eva De Marce’s Franco background, a lot of their music feels like it’s created a rare new space in music: airy, psychedelic, French-Pop inspired music with bilingual lyrics and Latin roots. Like the cosmic distance between the lunar and solar eclipses, Los Eclipses encompasses all they are.

“Elodie” is a French-language tune wherein the speaker is lionizing the artist Elodie’s complex personality, talents, and burdens. A tortured artist on the brink. Feeling alone and misunderstood, the speaker is there to console Elodie, saying “Je veux embrasser tes blessures,” I want to kiss your wounds.

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It’s Wednesday, baby, and we are halfway through our week of celebrating some of our favorite performances from last week’s KUTX Live at Scholz Garten, where over 2,000 music fans local and visiting came and celebrated with us.

“Contigo Quiero Todo” or “I Want Everything With You,” is one of Edgar Alejandro’s many captivating love songs. The L.A. musician by way of Guadalajara, Mexico was born into a family of mariachis, started composing his own music at thirteen, and now at twenty-three, his blend of mariachi, bossa nova, salsa, and other Latin music genres is being shared virally on platforms like TikTok and streamed over 100,000 times a month on Spotify.

And while that would be exciting for any emerging artist, these stats are doubly affirming to Alejandro’s mission to bring mariachi to the mainstream outside of Latin America. He brought this mission to Scholz Garten where he had an audience of hundreds positively captivated.

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As we continue our week-long celebration of our week at Scholz Garten where we raised over $20k for the Central Texas Food Bank, we turn our ears north and south to King Cruff. Raised in Jamaica, based in Montreal, and being Bob Marley’s grandson, Solomon Markey-Spence AKA King Cruff, furthers the family legacy with his own style.

Blending everything from afrobeat to dancehall reggae, and contemporary pop, Cruff’s music and stage performance is an adrenaline rush straight to the soul. With all of that together, King Cruff calls himself in one word, “punky,” unable to be put in a box. It’s even in his name, as “cruff” is a Jamaican term for unambitious. The off-kilter dichotomy in the name represents the off-kilter dichotomy of his style. And it’s a damn party.

Cruff took the Scholz stage Wednesday morning at the tender hour of 10 AM, and this one-man show transported our audience to sleepy bopping to full-on boogieing. And now, we bring that boogie to you.

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Last week, the SXSW storm rolled in, and KUTX was part of the rolling thunder over part of downtown. 16 artists took the Scholz Garten stage across four days, and one of the standouts was Cork, Ireland’s Cardinals. While the band tends to dance around calling themselves post-punk, they do set themselves apart from their Ireland and UK post-punk contemporaries like Yard Act and Fontaines DC (who’s lead singer Grian Chatten calls Cardinals his favorite new band).

Cardinals oscillates between loud, animated guitar riffs and quieter, more vulnerable ruminations. And despite having released just one EP and a handful of singles, their dynamic sound is well-established. They brought that dynamism to the stage at Scholz Garten last week. In fact, this entire week of Song of the Day is dedicated to last week’s performances. So, here’s a St. Paddy’s Day gift from us to you.

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Austin native Elijah Delgado has been releasing his self-proclaimed indie rock lullabies since 2021. Since then, he’s performed with national acts like Sister Hazel and Dayglow and performed at Old Settler’s Music Fest and Utopiafest.

Since the release of his debut EP in 2021, Delgado has been sprinkling his audience with a few singles, now leading up to his second EP Moonboy, out this June. The EP’s first single “Hide + Seek,” showcases Delgado’s continued graduation in songwriting. A song about being honest with yourself when you know you’re off or simply falling behind, taking inventory, and using that information to do better and get back on track.

Playing tomorrow afternoon at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, here’s Austin’s Elijah Delgado with “Hide + Seek.”

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Raucous, infectious, and powerhouse are all words used to describe Real Sickies. Not much of a surprise coming from the band Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong has deemed his “favorite Canadian punk band.”

The Edmonton-based band has been known for years for their relentless touring schedules and sublimely noisy sound comparable to everyone from Buzzcocks and Devo to Ramones and even a little bit of vocal inspiration from Led Zeppelin. Then you throw-in physical styling akin to the Cramps, and buddy, we’re rolling.

The group’s fifth album, Under A Plastic Bag, comes out this Friday, illustrating a new stride for Real Sickies. They’ve added more complex, experimental textures to their fun, pop-punk sound that’s already perfectly portioned for a head-bopping pick-me-up any day, any time.

“Should’ve Seen It Coming,” out now, is on Under A Plastic Bag, out March 14th on Stomp Records.

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The last time we checked-in with Wes Denzel, he was re-releasing his 2023 H-Town love letter Last Night In Houston. And during that time, he was already working on his next record. The San Antonio-based rapper, songwriter, and self-taught producer has spent the last couple of years working on Sorry About Last Night, a five-song EP set for release next month.

The EP finds Denzel furthering his mastery of beatmaking and production and polishing his storytelling skills. Each song has a distinct mood, but true to Denzel’s established style, his vocals are laid back and cool while the mellow beats keep the momentum. “Juice” is a chill mediation on loving and admiring exceptional ladies with fine taste. Suggested pairings include a glass of Veuve and a drippy Van Cleef Alhambra piece.

Sorry About Last Night is out April 4th.

Wes Denzel takes the SXSBreaks stage tomorrow night at 7:30 at Lefty’s Brick Bar on East 6th.

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Austin’s CLUB COMA are electrifying. Ebbing between dark electro -pop, high-octane rock, and a little bit of funk (sometimes all in the same song), the trio brings the party to the stage. And when you know the members come from Austin groups Ume, Boyfrndz, and Stiletto Feels, your eyes unfocus just enough to see the whole magic eye image.

After working with Spoon’s Jim Eno in the production seat for their debut album in 2023, their upcoming sophomore album receives the touch of Danny Reisch, who mixed the song around evacuations from the L.A. wildfires in January.

“Sunshine” is the full tamale when it comes to the moods of CLUB COMA: after a grand swell of an industrial opening, the floor opens on what you think is going to be a dark dance track, then boom, fuzzy guitar riffs spring into action, giving way to a high-energy solo before the songs backs down into a slick, funky bass solo. As the energy oscillates, your ear stays engaged, looking for the next trick or pivot.

“Sunshine” is the title track off CLUB COMA’s new album, out this summer.

Club Coma SXSW shows:
– Monday, March 10 – Empire (Music/Tech Mashup Party) @ 6:15PM — ENTER TO WIN ENTRY
– Monday, March 10 – Hotel Vegas @ 8:45PM (Free Entry)
– Thursday, March 13 – Chess Club (Nine Mile Touring Showcase) @ 4PM (Free entry)

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Redbud started as a passion (and let’s be real, therapy) project for Katie Claghorn during the pandemic. Following the release of the group’s debut EP Long Night in 2023, Redbud has been blossoming. At this point, it’s becoming increasingly harder to find people who haven’t heard of Redbud.

The group returns with their follow-up album All Chorus next month, and they’ve been kind enough to give us a little taste. Specifically, they’ve given us a pink pear. The new song shows the indie pop group’s growth and graduated cohesion amongst themselves. “Pink Pear” shows experiments in new directions for Redbud, adding more intricate layers and an edge to their sound. But the slightly blurred, catchy hooks and Claghorn’s ethereal voice remain at the center.

And the band remains booked and busy. Redbud has five shows next week during SXSW, the first one being next Tuesday afternoon far away from the SXSW crowds at Double Trouble on North Loop.

“Pink Pear” is out now. All Chorus is out April 25th.

Redbud Upcoming Shows:
Tues 3/11 @ Double Trouble (103 N Loop Blvd E)
Thurs 3/13 @ Love, Tito’s (215 Lavaca St.)
Sat 3/15 @ Inn Cahoots (1221 E 6th St.)
Sun 3/16 @ The Long Time (5707 Dunlap Rd N)

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When you go through a break-up the traditional thing to do is to pull in, find solace in your platonic relationships, and try new things. Very new things. Like, perhaps, uprooting yourself clear across the country to make your next album.

Magic City Hippies follow tradition with their new album Enemies. In the three years since the group’s Water Your Garden release, each member has experienced the loss of a significant romantic relationship, and they’ve poured that energy into their latest album that among other things, saw the Miami trio head west for L.A..

“Little Bit of Love” highlights the group’s study in staying true to their Miami-inspired funk roots while having fun with wild production experimentation and songwriting that beats close to the heart. Together, the energy creates a sense of persevering, not merely existing; introspective songs about hard feelings don’t have to be downers. Especially in our darkest times, we sometimes need something relatable, but upbeat. And to seal it all together, they’ve brought in longtime Vulfpeck collaborator Antwuan Stanley.

“Little Bit Of Love” is on Enemies, out now. You can see Magic City Hippies tomorrow night at Stubb’s with fellow Miami band Mustard Service (Austin’s the Capitol plays aftershow indoors).

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Austin’s J’cuuzi are about as avantgarde as you can get. Or as I like to call them pop-vantgarde. They’re too electronic to be post-punk, too post-punk to be considered electronic, and a hair too melodic to be straight noise rock. But it’s hot, wild, and maybe a little dangerous, like a jacuzzi.

Their live shows match their songwriting: performing on a stage made to look like a scantily clad apartment filled with its members strutting outrageous, matching homemade costumes that could be described as sideshow couture. All the while, their insatiable high-octane energy locks you in.

“How 2 Get Everything You’ve Always Wanted 4 Free (Forever)” is a raucous, metallic beat-driven tune, growling against the woes of late stage capitalism and their solutions to it and your teetering happiness.

“How 2 Get Everything You’ve Always Wanted 4 Free (Forever)” is out now.

The post J’cuuzi: “How 2 Get Everything You’ve Always Wanted 4 Free (Forever)”[PREMIERE] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

If you’ve been paying attention to KUTX the last few years, you’re aware that we have a number of podcasts. One of them is Song Confessional, an effort led by Walker Lukens and Zac Catanzaro where they collect anonymous, wild stories or “confessions” from people then have a musician write a song about the confession.

Sometimes Walker and Zac will select a confession and put out an open call to their listeners to submit a song. This is the winner from their latest contest.

Austin songwriter Brittany Banowsky penned “Two Sunglass Town” a downtempo indie pop tune based on a confession about moving to a small town and days later winding-up on the front page of the newspaper for evading cops on a motorcycle for not wearing the proper eye gear. The kicker: the family had just moved there after his father had accepted a job as a dean at the town college.

You can find the full archive of Song Confessional episodes here. And you can make your own confession in the booth next week during KUTX Live at Scholz Garten.

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When a project is born from a mutual love of PJ Harvey, you know I’m all in. Pink Must began with this love shared from half a country away, but once Mari Maurice Rubio and Lynn Avery, better known as More Eaze and Iceblink respectively, were both located in Brooklyn, it was game on.

As Avery’s moniker insinuates, the duo have crafted an album with several 90’s genre-bending elements. It’s a lot like PJ Harvey wrote songs with one of the decade’s premier trip-hop groups like Massive Attack or Portishead. But then they sometimes throw-in things like strings against a vocoder, again, subverting every expectation, even as you think you’re catching on.

Post-punk and trip-hop blend beautifully on the album’s first track “Morphe Sun.” Instead of a melodic earworm, you get a solid beat keeping center on a laid-back song that waxes and wanes between different tempos and pockets of sounds for your ear to swing between.

“Morphe Sun,” from Pink Must, out now.

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The Ohio duo Illiterate Light have been making music together for a decade: starting from humble pastoral beginnings making music while working on a farm in the Shenandoah Valle, to their latest album Arches, which saw the band splitting time between Ohio and Hollywood’s Sunset Sound, a room formerly graced by Bob Dylan and Paul McCartney with producer Joe Chiccarelli, who totes the Strokes and Beck on his CV.

In the six years since their debut album, Illiterate Light has only continued to make music that fits their headspace, whether that takes the form of something more psychedelic or garage rock. And Arches is their most live-feeling album to date, infusing the studio with the raucous, chaotic energy brought to their shows by their fans. It’s truly a love letter to them.

That energy can be experienced tonight in person at Mohawk on Red River with Philadelphia’s Caioga.

The post Illiterate Light: “Payphone” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Born in Houston, partially raised in Plano, and now an Austin resident, Marlei Dismuke has been writing and performing music since she started piano lessons at age five. Writing songs for her brothers turned into composing music for family musicals complete with choreography, and eventually truly honing her craft in high school and college, performing everything from jazz to pop to opera.

Dismuke’s myriad of musical interests pour through her songs that sometimes leans a little pop and others a little R&B, but there’s little bits of all of her talent baked in. “Fantasy” is a sultry bi-curious anthem, celebrating the female figure while being caught-up in that all-too-relatable moment of, “what do I do with these feelings?”.

“Fantasy” is out now.

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Austin’s Anastasia Hera has been blending her brand of rap and R&B for almost fifteen years. In addition to releasing her own solo work, leading her group Anastasia and the Heroes, and putting her mark on various other projects, she’s also the founder of CAKE (Creativity, Abundance, Knowledge, Education), a non-profit empowering and educating women pursuing music careers.

Her deft lyrics, sultry vocals, and smooth, earwormy beats have led her to becoming our February Artist of the Month. And, just announced today, she’s part of our line-up for KUTX Live at Scholz Garten during SXSW next month.

As our Artist of the Month, she recently stopped by our Studio 1A to share songs from her latest album Way Outside. And now, you get a taste of what’s to come on the stage at Scholz.

“Ambitions” is on Way Outside, out now.

The post Anastasia Hera: “Ambitions” (Live in Studio 1A) appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Austin’s Sam Hernandez has always seen life through a different prism. Colors, textures, and the planes of reality are subjective and mere suggestions. Influenced by the bubbly music of the 50s and 60s as well as an early penchant for Jim Henson and his muppets, Hernandez writes lovely songs to capture a familiar but not quite tangible plane of existence with the band Wabi Sabi and the Sweet Littles.

As the lore behind Wabi Sabi and the Sweet Littles goes, the band was born from a clever, inspirational gnome Hernandez met on a casual walk to the grocery store. Speaking on the tenants of the ancient Asian aesthetic and philosophy of wabi sabi, relating that art can be incomplete and impermanent. And in that way, Hernandez found freedom.

“Nile Walk” is a fun retro-pop tune full of little, weird gifts, like a flute bringing a flair of whimsy and animal sounds for that altered- Henson-like full effect. It’s weird, it’s fun, it’s joyful, exactly as intended.

“Nile Walk” is the debut track from Wabi Sabi and the Sweet Littles, out now.

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Austin’s Donnel McLohon, founder of the storytelling blog the Austin Bluebonnet, has it down when it comes to great singer-songwriter tunes knotched-up with soft, catchy hooks, but on his debut EP You Were Adored, he held some space to push his boundaries, write on pure instinct, and let the music flow.

That track is “Serenata,” sprung from the vision of “Al Green meets mariachi.” The inspirations shine through with the mariachi instrumentation and groove matched with the smoothed out, slowed-down energy you’d expect from Green. The song never stands still, rather it feels like the song has a life of its own, going where it needs, savoring the moment, and taking its time to feel itself, and in doing so, it feels effortless.

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When I think of Jane Ellen Bryant, the first thing that comes to mind is her vocal tool box. She’s not just a great singer; the control she has over her voice and the tricks she’s able to do with it are show stopping. She’s shows off this mastery in both the dance pop duo Jane Leo and her own solo work.

After the rousing success of Jane Leo, Bryant has returned to her solo work, but she’s brought in partner Daniel Leopold (the other half of Jane Leo) to fully actualize the next chapter of her music. Pivoting from her country pop style to a brooding singer-songwriter tone, “My Corner of the World” is a slow, reflective exercise stemming from her Saturn’s return, that lovely thing that happens around your late twenties where everything you’ve been running from or have known comes to a head and you, hopefully, go through a growth and ego death period where you redefine what’s important in your life, who you are, and who you want to be. I mean, Gwen Stefani wrote an entire No Doubt album about this.

“My Corner of the World” is out now.

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Since the early 90’s, years before the Hold Steady was a twinkle in his eye, Craig Finn has been laying down his legacy. Now over 20 albums deep into his discography, he’s set to release his 6th solo album Always Been this April.

Finn calls Always Been his most narrative album to date, dropping into the protagonist’s life during a trying time: seeking a livelihood as a clergy man despite his lack of faith and his rise and fall in the process. It could almost be the sequel to MJ Lenderman’s Manning Fireworks.

“People of Substance” is the lead single from the upcoming album, both produced by Adam Granduciel of the War on Drugs and backed by the band taking-up the session position. It drops us in at the journey’s beginning, writing to a former lover about taking inventory of his life, making peace and taking accountability, and alluding to what’s to come.

“People of Substance” is from Always Been, out April 4th.

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From the hockey rink of the University of Utah to the mean streets of New York City comes Persona 749. After being inspired through music heard at college parties, Landon Langenbrunner and Che Landikusic started writing music, but without real direction, they were making music from a place of fun, playing around in the sandbox until something stuck. What came out of that experimentation is a fun quintet blending rock and new wave for a full-party band experience.

“Stereo Girl” is dancy tune that bumps around the ring with varying degrees of energy: when you think chaos is about to erupt, Persona 749 brings it back to center with a catchy hook…or a cowbell. And I’d reckon they’ve come full circle, now being the band on every college party playlist.

“Stereo Girl” is from the upcoming album JOCK ROCK, out February 28th.

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New Orleans’s Maddy Kirgo writes music not only akin to the eclectic, all-embracing attitude of the Big Easy, but also to the sounds currently pouring out of its venues, or in her case, the buskers on the corner. To that end, her sounds simultaneously evokes the California country rock sounds of the nudie suit era and the contemporary indie art pop sounds of artists like Weyes Blood or Faye Webster. And nearly seven years since her last release, she dropped Shadow On My Light late last year.

“Spare” is the first track on Shadow On My Light, opening the album’s theme of finding joy and just feeling good. Her soprano voice floats around her mellow, sun-soaked melody, setting the mood for the next half hour.

Maddy Kirgo performs this Friday at Hole in the Wall with Austin’s Fishplate and Dallas’s Brody Price.

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We all know that when an artist is featured on a song, it’s likely that they recorded it remote and sent the track to the main artist. But how does it work when you’re a quartet and only 2 of y’all live in the same place?

To ask the members of Austin experimental psych band MIEN, it’s a lot of time, patience, and enthusiastic participation. Alex Maas of Black Angels fame leads MIEN alongside Golden Dawn Arkestra’s Rob Kidd here in Austin while the group’s other members, John Mark Lapham and Rishi Dhir call Abilene and Montreal home respectively. And what started as a fun recording project on the side became a fully realized band after their debut song “Black Habit” proved to us and them that there are still many unturned stones in the psych realm, sparking the tank and turning gasoline into energy.

Now back with their sophomore album MIIEN, that’s M-I-I-E-N, out this April, the band came together in person for a Studio 1A before they hit the road for a UK tour this spring.

The post MIEN: “Evil People” (Live In Studio 1A) appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

L.A.’s Kowloon is truly a one-man operation. Songwriting? Him. Instrumentation? Him. Recording, production? Yep, all Kowloon.

Backed by a full library of effects and music gadgets from various eras, Kowloon released a string of singles last year, demonstrating his affinity for the darkwave sounds of the 80s a la the Cure and Bronski Beat. Ahead of his sophomore album out later this year, Kowloon has gifted us “Heart Begins With You,” a song that leans more towards current indie pop than a fresh take on the past, like a laid back TC Superstar. But that relatable bleeding heart power runs through. And despite the song’s overall laidback energy, no part is simple or just there to check a box. And remember, it’s all him.

“Heart Begins With You” is out now.

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Even a piping hot bowl of tokontsu ramen can’t fully shake-off today’s bone chill, but maybe the headspace of partying on a yacht in Mallorca can.

Austin native Tommy Francisco hit the scene in 2020 with “Fever,” giving him an international audience and proving his ability to blend his Latin and Indigenous backgrounds into a brand of R&B and pop that speaks to the general human experience.

After charting at #2 on the R&B iTunes charts in 2024 with this EP In My Feelings, he’s back with V.I.P., and he’s put us on this list.

“Tommy’s Groove,” is a smooth, lively romp of yacht R&B. Like a collab between Chromeo and Michael McDonald. But don’t worry, Tommy’s Groove is lactose intolerant: no cheese, all linen-suit boogie.

“Tommy’s Groove” is from V.I.P., out now.

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Auckland, New Zealand’s Callum Mower, known as Serebii, has always focused on pushing forward. Forward musically, forward personally, and now, forward into naked vulnerability.

Serebii’s upcoming album Dime finds Mower at his most vulnerable. Historically, Mower has relied on his mastery of instruments and production with others, namely fellow New Zealander Arjuna Oakes, but he’s approached this album with deep introspection to produce something breaming with self-expression with his own vocals front and center.

That challenge and exposure have suited him well: it’s neo-soul with a capital S-O-U-L. Not only is Dime Serebii’s most realized and moving album yet, but he’s made it into one, unified, statement. Tracks are mere suggestions. So, let’s catch one of those stops.

“Verrans Corner” is on Dime, out March 28th on Innovative Leisure.

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Austin duo Slept All Day may be new on the scene, but don’t sleep on them. Together, the two create moving soundscapes a la Bonobo and Washed Out. And they use their vocals as an element of the scape instead of its driving force. And despite the electronic instrumentation and vocal effects, the music is very terrestrial, like pairing psilocybin with a sunset seen from an oceanside cliff.

Slept All Day recently crowdfunded enough money to take their music east to play stages across Japan (in fact, they’re leaving on a jet plane today!). But they’ve left us with a parting gift, a song from their debut album Learning How to Sink.

“Asteria” is on Learning How to Sink, out now.

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Welcome! Today’s theme is vision and reimagining. After spending a childhood in Salt Lake City, Hunter Preuger moved to Austin to sow oats with his project Middle Sattre. The project quickly expanded into a six-piece…and then an eight-piece, and a year after the release of their debut album Tendencies, the experimental folk outfit returned to the studio a full octet deep to revisit the group’s song “Corrupted.”

This isn’t some half-baked reimagining where you just throw in an extra string part and call it a day. This is a full-blown rebirth of the song, and from the first note, you hear the differences. The heartbeat is still there, and it’s a brilliant practice in taking something that was perfectly solid and making it absolutely transcendent. And it’s that right kind of Mother Falcon and Elliott Smith energy that makes for a perfect chilly, cozy Monday.

“Corrupted (Uncorrupted)” is out now.

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I’ve heard your week’s woes, I know it’s been one, so Aunt Tay is here to deliver a little Friday elixir to shift you into weekend mode as you get ready to burn rubber in the parking garage.

Austin’s Death Palmz is another project from Exotic Frutica, and if you’re familiar with the punk band, know you’re in for three things: volume, energy, and moshing. French subverts some of that energy into Death Palmz, a dark, synth wave project specifically reminiscent of two of the genre’s stalwarts: Nine Inch Nails and Suicide. Oh yeah, you’re really excited now.

“I Love 2 Hate 2 Love You” is the precise antidote to a week of the rat race by diverting that festered frustration into a dopamine deluge of energy. Will it make you feel like you’re in one of those movies that simultaneously takes place in a dirty, smoky 80s goth clubs and be 100 years in the future? Yes, so buckle in.

“IL2H2LU” is on the Death Palmz EP, out today on Mr. Pink Records. You can see Death Palmz at their very first live show tonight at Chess Club with Holy Wire, Gleaming, and Past Model.

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Austin singer-songwriter Scott Collins has been ever-evolving in both songwriting and sound and now he’s started leaning in more to letting himself define his sound, branching out and seeing what feels right.

His 9th EP And All This Happened serves on the title’s promise: it’s all happening. But the early 00’s indie sound is still driving the bus. Recorded once again with Frenchie Smith at the Bubble, Collins brought the whole band into the studio this time, allowing Scott to focus on being Scott. And the song “Apophenia” is a brilliant summation of his effort: finding connections in things that seem or end up being totally unrelated.

“Apophenia” is on And All This Happened, out March 7th. You can see Scott Collins this Saturday at Guero’s on South Congress and Friday, February 14th @ the Aloft hotel off 183 and Lakeline Blvd.

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Who said that energy and introspection can’t co-exist? It wasn’t me. And it certainly wasn’t Small Engine Fire. The new Austin band is made up of members of Lola Tried and Quiet Company, and together they create something a little nostalgic, like taking a ride out to Wilco with your Grandaddy. Small Engine Fire throws your ear for a fun loop by having traditional rock instrumentation and sound guided by an almost theremin-like synth melody. It’s like purple neon arrows guiding you around a Midwestern City.

Small Engine Fire follows their breadcrumb trail of singles with Better By Now, an EP that really showcases the band’s controlled pairing of thoughtfully paced introspective lyrics with an energy that keeps the train on track.

“Good Old Days” is from the debut Better By Now EP, out now. You can celebrate the EP release tomorrow night at the Hole in the Wall with Hex Girlfriend and TV’s Goodtimes.

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We love a side project, don’t we? Especially when ace collaborations are involved. For a couple of years, Ley Line’s Emilie Basez and Kate Robberson have been creating music as a Her Mana, honing an even earthier and more ethereal sound with the same incredible complex guitar noodling, harmonies, and wide range of world instruments that lead us right back to, well, the ley line.

“Oh This Moment” is the latest from the duo, beautifully blending terrestrial and the modern age into something almost impossible to describe, so let’s hear its magic instead.

You’ve got several chances to catch Her Mana this month: at their Thursday night residency at the Pershing all month long and a special performance at the Blanton Museum of Art this Saturday.

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After many years of winning the hearts and ears of Austin music lovers both as a solo artist and as a member of the psych outfit Acid Carousel, Gus Baldwin’s name has been in the mouths of bookers and promoters for years, and more recently, he formed Gus Baldwin & the Sketch. And while it still has the tight, catchy hooks of Acid Carousel, the Sketch hangs out in the garage: it’s fuzzy, bold, and full of adrenaline.

Their debut album The Sketch came out last Friday, and while you’ve been hearing their garage rock song “Luxury Television” on the KUTX airwaves, today’s Song of the Day leans a bit more on the power pop side, hitting more like a harder Hot Hot Heat tune than Ty Segall.

“She’s Gone (Arigato)” is just pure fun and adrenaline. It’s punchy, danceable, and it might take you back to the iPod commercials of the mid 00’s. Truly the only bad thing about the song is that it ends. And as highly anticipated as this album has been, the wait was worth it; the sketches were turned in because they were ready; not because it was 11:30.

“(She’s Gone) Arigato” is on The Sketch, out now. You can see Gus Baldwin & The Sketch before they take the album on the road on Thursday February 20th at 29th St. Ballroom with Grocery Bag, Blank Hellscape, and Guiding Light.

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Winnepeg’s Glassreel is a masterclass on the hard-to-nail trifecta of layers, technique, and breathing space. Nothing is simple, but everything is effortless. Following their 2022 debut Lustre, the group returns with “Myself Instead,” a song that shows the further fine-tuning, cohesion, and boldness the quartet has been building on.

While the Belle & Sebastian and Mazzy Star inspirations remain, “Myself Included,” indicates an upcoming album where those nods will be in mere glimpses because, honey, Glassreel is now staring into the looking glass; it’s all them. And it’s very exciting.

“Myself Included” is out today.

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If Mama tried to steer you right, Lola Tried is here to steer you wrong. So very, very wrong. Known for masterfully blending the emo hooks of teenage Millennial yore with garage and power-pop sensibilities, the group has always been like the adult charcuterie board to pop-punk’s Lunchable.

After nearly a decade under those influences, Lola Tried comes back with “Degrader,” a raw departure from slick hooks and curled-lip lyrics. In fact, the curl has widened into something purely guttural, and the corner of Lauren Burton’s mouth is leaking venom-laced blood. And trust me, she’s not looking for a handkerchief.

This evolution of Lola Tried is as dark in tone as it is clear in direction. They’ve shimmied right over the awkward stage partly due to founding members Burton and Ray Garza bringing Gianni Sarimento and Austin Norman into the fold to fully actualize this new sound. The subject matter of “Degrader” is dark and regrettably relatable. It’s brave and powerful; two things that have always been part of the Lola Tried DNA.

“Degrader” is from Lola Tried’s upcoming EP, out later this year. You can celebrate the song’s release tonight at Chess Club with Stella and the Very Messed and Housewarming.

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Rolling into Austin like a quiet, yet alluring fog from the Midwest and Appalachia is Valley Flower, a groovy bluegrass quintet that brilliantly weaves in those regional influences to offer something a little different to the stalwart, homegrown scene here in Austin. And 2024 was very fertile for Valley Flower. They opened for several national bluegrass/folks acts, held a residency at Sagebrush, played festivals, and had songs featured on some of Spotify and BMI’s most coveted playlists.

“Run Buddy” finds the string band putting a little alt-country veneer on their bluegrass soul, and it suits them well. The self-produced EP shows the band is a true ensemble: every layer is distinct and each instrument has a voice.

“Run Buddy” is from their self-titled EP, out tomorrow. You can see Valley Flower at their EP release show this Friday at Sam’s Town Point.

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I know you’re already fantasizing about your first road trip of 2025, so here’s a new add for that tried and true playlist.

Austin’s Yahtzee Brown takes a myriad of inspirations to create his own brand and generation of country-psych, or what I prefer to call Cosmic Country. And while the songs of Townes Van Zandt and Gram Parsons bring us back, Yahtzee Browns moves the narrative forward in time, writing songs that speak to a generation who thought “born post-9/11” defined them…until the pandemic happened to rock their formative years. Freshman year of college on ZOOM from what should now be your old bedroom? No gracias.

“Take It Back,” gives us a peek into Yahtzee Brown’s inner monologue, perseverating on a relationship that’s run its course. And isn’t that something we all inevitably do when we have nothing but ourselves and the road?

“Take It Back” is from the album You Got This, out now.

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As Love Austin Music Months enters the home stretch, let’s visit a recent Studio 1A from an old friend. Skateland played our Free Week Show in 2023, and the next month he was our Artist of the Month ahead of his debut EP New Wave Revivial. In the almost two years since, he’s played SXSW each year, made an impression on the LA music scene, enjoyed attention from national publications, and opened for Foster the People last October for ACL Nights. And all the while, he’s been a PhD candidate here at UT. I know, right?

Skateland returned to Studio 1A earlier this month to perform songs from his sophomore EP Joyce Howell, How Are You? And I’ll say this: he’s really mastered how to bring the bedroom sound to a full crowd. He brings his behavioral psychology expertise to “Postcards,” a reflection on screen-focused bad habits as experienced and empathized by the general human condition.

Joyce Howell, How Are You? is out now.

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Kirk Smith has been kicking around Austin and our airwaves for some time, and last Friday he released “Julian.” “Julian” opens with a melancholy, bossa nova shuffle, setting the stage for a worried heart. But it’s not love, it’s sadness for someone you watched from afar decades ago. Lamenting the tale of a John Bender or Daniel Desario-type, seemingly addicted to making every wrong decision with the rest of the world only seeing a lost cause, or as Smith deems it, a “Golden Fool.” But the reality is this is a person who has fallen through the cracks and deemed defective before they could drive a car.

The story in the present day brings us up-to-speed with the titular Julian, a barfly regularly being swatted out of establishments and now perpetually on the road, never easy to nail down. It’s a beautiful ballad that pairs well with a chilled glass of Zevondel.

“Julian” is on In Waves, out now.

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The imagery of rebirth and change in winter might be the only thing you remember from your Robert Frost lesson in English class, so let’s go back to school and compose a short essay on the significance of featuring this song during this season. Just kidding.

Austin’s Futon Blonde have spent the last decade making fun, indie-pop tunes with tight, catchy hooks, but now, a change is in the air. The quartet is taking a darker turn, leaning more into the post-punk, dark alternative space. And it’s working. But fear not, the hooks are still there. They might just be giving you a little pit shove instead of snuggling up against you.

Here’s a hint of what’s to come.

You can see Futon Blonde at a show Saturday, February 1st with Lonesome Ranch at Drinks Backyard in Southeast Austin.

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Returning after their debut album in 2021 and a sprinkling of singles in the meantime, Austin’s Yes Sir No Sir are back with This Is Going to Last Forever, recorded at Austin’s Chicken Ranch Studios and polished by Kevin Butler of Austin’s Test Tube Audio. Now, the album doesn’t come out until Friday, but they’ve been kind enough to let us give you a little preview.

This Is Going to Last Forever rides the roller coaster of life’s most important and emotional tenants, but there’s one that takes a step into a fictional space somewhat akin to Beastie Boys “Paul Revere”: its about the band robbing a bank.

Kevin Brinkkoeter’s baritone speak-singing really puts a trademark here, especially given the song’s storytelling nature. The intersection between 80s darkwave, a more modern attitude, and a recurring guitar effect that gives the heist its highway bandit appeal perks your ears and keeps you guessing for the song’s next direction. So hop in baby, we’re going to yell “stick em up and let two fly.”

“Spiritus Heist” is on This Is Going to Last Forever, out Friday.

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It’s cold, man! I hope you’re hunkered down with your comfort food of choice because this song is serving fireside umami. Austin quintet Cast of Thousands released their EP Useful People earlier this month, and weather like today, where you may be bending your ear a little closer to the radio, calls for a little fun puzzle for your ear to follow.

While the band’s influence stems all across the college and garage rock genres, “Serpo,” serves big Pavement and Built to Spill vibes. And that endorsement is golden in my book. Max Venderver’s nimble fingers are effortlessly working overtime on this bright, earworm melody, but the ensemble moves together; every layer is distinct. And while the heart of the song has an undeniable 90s college rock influence (not a complaint), the harmonies and vocals make it fresh and uniquely their own. It could inspire Stephen Malkmus to reach out to the Heavy Heavy, or hey, why not these guys.

“Serpo” is from the Useful People EP, out now.

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As Love Austin Music Month marches on, I’d like to revisit one of my favorite Studio 1A sessions from 2024 and celebrate a new victory. Geto Gala, the rockstar hip-hop duo of Jake Lloyd and Deezie Brown were our November 2024 Artist of the Month, and they headlined our Free Week Show a few weeks ago at Stubb’s Indoors. Hot of the release of Major League at the end of last year, they were part of the 2024 Sonic Guild class and were awarded $10,000 this past Saturday at the 11th Annual Sonic Guild Ball. Which means big things are coming next.

To celebrate this huge victory for one of our favorite artists at KUTX, and to show you what you’re missing in case you haven’t yet seen Geto Gala live, here’s one from their November Studio 1A Session.

Geto Gala plays a SIMS Foundation benefit show Saturday, February 9th at Antone’s with NOLO and Semihelix.

The post Geto Gala: “Homerun Derby” (Live In Studio 1A) appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

There’s a slight, but unlikely chance you haven’t been turned-on yet to the Austin country trio Next of Kin, but you’re certainly familiar with the work of its members: Lili Hickman, Madison Baker, and Caelin. As impressive as these three are in their own right, together they are transcendent. It’s not just the gut-stirring, deeply relatable songwriting or the great hooks, it’s the harmonies and synchronicity. Oh my God is it the harmonies and synchronicity. They truly have the same magic that brought together the Highwomen and Dolly, Linda, and Emmylou. Next of Kin is that for their generation.

“Mean Streak” is the trio’s 2nd single. All three members trade-off on ruminations about really wanting to be mad about something or someone, but doggone it, you just can’t. So you’re just mad at yourself instead.

“Mean Streak” is out today.

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We’re halfway through Love Austin Music Month, so let’s check-in. How have you shown your love for Austin music so far? If you’re feeling behind, fear not, here are two opportunities to get your live music fix pronto.

Austin power trio Parker Woodland have never shied away from expressing their discontent with the world, sometimes incorporating church chorus-inspired harmonies to drive home that things like faith and disappointment aren’t mutually exclusive.

But their latest single is a far darker feat than the trio’s archives. The well of patience is gone as are the days of politely appealing through simple humanity. The die is cast, and the reckoning demands answers and change.

you see Parker Woodland twice this week: tonight at their Hotel Vegas residency show at 6PM with trio Brian, and this Saturday night at the 11th Annual Sonic Guild Ball at the Long Center.

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Hip-hop, like any genre, can serve many purposes: not only can it grip your soul with stories of regular people trying to make a living in their country that’s been institutionally designed to work against them, but it can also grip your soul in a soft way, with a mantra: a meditation on a promise. And it’ll make you feel real good.

Austin quartet Sweet Limb brings hip-hop back to its core: talented creatives who realize they’re at their best when creating together. Blending inspirations from your favorite poetic 90s hip-hop groups to Stevie Wonder, “Good For You” is almost like a prayer. A steamy, sensual proclamation to just be good to your beloved. The piano melody really falls in line with the rest of the rhythm section, driving the backbeat while Chris Robinson’s smooth vocals lay out for you the acts of service that come with his love. Trust me, you’ll be directing the music video shot-for-shot in your head during this beauty.

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Time to dust off the ol’ Audiosurf game from your college days and get ready for your newest beat-driven meditation. Brother’s Franklin and Graham Pittman are Orca Dork, an Austin-based experimental instrumental duo who have spent the last ten years working on their debut, hip-hop inspired album Experiments With Found Objects. And yes, it can take a decade to properly pull-off an all-samples album: just ask the Avalanches.

“Sleepy Pilot” has a gorgeous, shimmery flow to its foundation, dotted with slightly distorted vocal clips from early film and television. Like the title implies, the song glides you across the astral plane at a moving-yet-meditative pace, so you can just sit back, engage the autopilot, and let it happen.

“Sleepy Pilot” is from Orca Dork’s debut album Experiments With Found Objects, out now.

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Who says psych-rock can’t come with badass near rock-opera harmonies? Austin’s DAYEATER certainly doesn’t. And throw in some power pop? Honey we are off to the stratosphere courtesy of an 80s He-Man cartoon-style music video.

Jesse Lee fronts the trio, pulling off riffs that give two handed-players a run for their money. Lee’s power on the axe and mic is matched by rhythm section Chris Brockett and Tom Jackson. It’s a tour de force that ebbs between full adrenaline and hellish harmonies.

Hello, Disney’s Hollywood Studios? Aerosmith can take a break. We’ve got a new theme song for the Rock n Roller Coaster.

You can celebrate the release this Thursday night at Vinyl Beauty Bar on E. Cesar Chavez.

The post DAYEATER: “Between the Otherside” [PREMIERE] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

The ladies of Ley Line are back, baby, and they’re looking forward to bringing us a string of reunion shows this April. To get us excited, they’ve announced their Live at the Pershing EP (out later this month) and gifted us “Agua Do Mar,” their take on the Brazilian folk song “Memorias do Mar,” an ode to sailors that as Ley Line’s Kate Robberson puts it “represents the constancy of memories amid the turbulence of life.” A perfect tune to represent the quartet coming back together.

A long-standing favorite of Ley Line’s live shows, “Agua Do Mar” starts slow while Emilie Basez’s nimble guitar fingers create intrigue. The song builds layer-by-layer with a direct trend to the building energy that leads to a groovy, folksy romp that I believe even the Brazilian sailors of yore would deem a bop. And stand-up bassist Madeleine Froncek’s solo is the icing on the cake. It’s a true showcase of everything you love about the quartet: harmonies, hip-swaying grooves, and transportation to another part of the world.

The post Ley Line: “Agua Do Mar” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Austin-bred songwriter and guitarist Nilsa grew-up in the throws of the local punk and metal scenes, but Nilsa, like the rest of us, contains multitudes, so she’s brought in rhythm section Jesse Maciack and JJ Pereira to become Nilsa No One, blending the rawness from her nurturing with her haunting vocals and emotive contemplations that come naturally.

In “Lucid Dream,” she speaks to her personal struggle between trying to maintain the bigger picture and just living her life and finding the peace and harmony between the two planes, a constant struggle a lot of us relate to. She’s cracked what I like to call our Significant Insignificance. And when Nilsa’s joined by her own harmonies, you feel that moment of revelation right there with her, somewhere deep in a dark, covenly forest.

“Lucid Dream” is on the Cracks In the Pavement EP, out now. Check out their EP release show this Saturday at Hole in the Wall.

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Austin beatmaker Blake Schmidt has released a string of instrumental mixtapes under the moniker Schmiddy for the last three years, all the while working towards something more comprehensive. Schmiddy’s background in composing for short films in college for grades to composing hip-hop tracks for fun has led him to last Friday: the release of Schmiddy’s debut album Lightning In A Bottle. The album is not only a showcase of Schmiddy’s brand of beatmaking and production, but of his talent for sourcing and matching the right vocal talent for each track and creating something true to his background: cinematic.

“Nebula” features Nairobi-based artist Andyah as vocalist and co-writer. Her vocals are light but rich, working in tandem to the movement of Schmiddy’s groove. Think of a camera slowly panning down a bolt of layered red velvet with an intoxicating fire burning in the background. And it’s that right kind of spicy that makes you want to sensually slow dance, even if just to yourself in the mirror.

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Okonski is another beautiful project born from the Durand Jones & Indications house with pianist Steve Okonski at the helm with support from fellow Indications Aaron Frazer and Michael Montgomery on drums and bass. Together the trio takes all of the jazz elements of Durand Jones & the Indications and puts them front and center, letting the songs take as little or as much structure as he (or perhaps the keys themselves?) please. After nearly two years, Okonski returns to us like a wanderer returning to their village, wiser, more lived, and with Homer-level volumes of tales.

The new single from Okonski’s upcoming sophomore album Entrance Music evokes Willie’s arrangement of Irving Berlin’s “Blue Skies.” It’s laid back, beautiful, and effortless. And with a small, solid melody paired with the rhythm section as an anchor, Okonski is free to play and flourish around it, briefly returning to home base before taking off yet again like another chapter of the wanderer’s tale.

The post Okonski: “October” [PREMIERE] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Well, well, well…we’ve arrived at the last Song of the Day before our brief winter break. But it’s not just the final feature of 2024; it’s also a poignant conclusion to my regular tenure. Yep, after seven long years and 1,725 of these, it’s time for me to step down from Song of the Day and set my sights on some other things here at KUTX. So although you won’t have to suffer through my ad nauseam alliterations and predictable puns nearly as much moving forward, rest assured that Song of the Day will remain alive and well as a carefully-curated resource for musical discovery.

In that spirit, we’re wrapping up this year with just one more premiere. And from a real man about town, no less. Historically Wyatt Corder‘s been known as the frontman of Big Wy’s Brass Band, a horn section member of The Watters and Flyjack, and a trusty trumpet-for-hire heard on recordings from KUTX heavy rotation artists like BLK ODYSSY, Abhi the Nomad, and CAPYAC. But we gotta give Wy special kudos for kicking two more of his eponymous projects up a notch recently. See, back in September Corder helped corral the first single from Allisen & The Wy’s Guys onto streaming. And this weekend Wy concretes another COVID-era creation of his with Kid_Wy‘s debut studio offering.

It’d be irreverent to call Kid_Wy anything less than an Austin supergroup; keyboardist KindKeith, Mamalarky drummer Dylan Hill, Nané bassist Scott McIntyre, and sax extraordinaire Renuka Jayasinghe support their fearless leader in pursuit of a psych-rock style they’ve dubbed “sunshine pop”. Ready to bundle up in this weather? Kid_Wy gets cozy with a single release show 8PM tomorrow night at Hole in the Wall alongside Batooter and Mockjaw. As for the tune itself, “See About Me” is nothin’ but good vibes from the get-go and all the way through four and a half minutes of nuanced psychedelia. It radiates against a crystal clear mix (I love the way the xylophone, synth, and keys float on top of a traditional rock trio arrangement), adept instrumental interplay, and a soulful chord progression that’s coquettish, sentimental, and mellow as hell. Safe to say we’re seeing good things in Kid_Wy’s future.

As for yours truly – Jack Anderson? Guess we’ll just have to wait and…see about me.

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After spending twelve straight hours in an international airport, I can authoritatively say that we could use a few more new Christmas originals to give all those timeless classics a much needed rest. Seriously. You can rework “Holly Jolly Christmas” into reggae, Western swing, or house, but it doesn’t change the fact that at some point in the repetition, those melodies cross the threshold from charming familiarity to mentally degrading.

And who better to help tip the scales than Sloppy Scales? Tomorrow the Atlanta-based satirist shares his debut full-length This Machine Mocks Fascists: The Sloppy Scales Songbook, a nine-tune collection that clowns the nation’s far-right. Through infusions of Latin, blues rock, and countrypolitan formulas (on top of the obvious Woody Guthrie folk influence both lyrically and sonically) this society-scathing LP is better suited for Arthur Fleck than for Paggliacci.

So if you need some satire to spike your Yuletide spirit and spruce up your seasonal playlist, brings gifts of gospel, calypso, and soul to the manger with “Sweet Baby Jesus” – a brassy, percussion-driven, and hook-heavy slice of vapid midcentury spirituality.

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A lot of intergenerational discourse about age and beauty got brought up because of The Substance this year. Ya know, out with the old and in with the new by rule of sex appeal. And the way some of these fresh-faced artists skyrocket to half a billion streams seemingly overnight based on Tik Tok clout…it’s hard to shake the preconception that even the music industry is a young gals’ game. But you don’t even need a sense of sight to recognize meaningful songwriting and a keen ear, both of which naturally develop over a lifetime of formative experiences.

You can see where this is going, but rest assured, we’re respectfully shying away from the words “old” and “older” as best we can. Because like haulin’ out a holiday basket of assorted, exceptionally-aged fine wine, this Thursday the 04 Center hosts Merry & Bright: Wavemakers Holiday Concert and Market supporting women over 40 in the music industry that boasts a lineup of Lurleen Ladd, Suzanna Choffel, Wendy Colonna, and today’s spotlight Erin Ivey for an evening of guaranteed great music.

Concerning Erin, it’s been well over a decade since dropping her robust solo debut The 11th Floor. But she’s kept that infectious indie folk infatuation well-fed with the recent release of “Christmas on the Southern Plains” to stuff your yuletide stocking, not to mention her sixth full-length Souvenir from mid-November still piping hot. Created in the aftermath of a cancer diagnosis and a Christmastime surgery, the record’s deceptively simple; the fairly straightforward arrangements almost make light of Ivey’s impressive vocal performances (post-op ability aside) and champion the album’s theme of perseverance in a tastefully subtle way.

In that vein, all ten tracks are “awesome” in the original sense of the word, so check out the LP in its entirety. Or just jump to the proof we point to now: the penultimate memento off Souvenir, “I’m in Awe” that not only sounds like Erin Ivey hasn’t missed a step post-health-complications but indeed that she’s stepped up her game on the whole.

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Post-punk and shoegaze are both sure things when it comes to instant moodmakers. But when paired with chilly weather, overcast skies, and everyone in long sleeve fashion better fit for Portland or Seattle…yeah it definitely hits differently. And if you’re itching for that brisk mix of nippy napes, visible breath and a feast of fuzz for your ears this week, we’ve got good news.

There’s a new sibling in town: Paper Sister. Inspired by Pumpkins, PJ Harvey, Pixies, and a plethora of other ’90s alternative darlings, this Austin four-piece contextualizes those decade-defining influences against a idiosyncratic backdrop of latticed guitar layering and effects-engulfed vocals for their own reimagining of the Lollapalooza ’94 sound. And though as of this publication, we only have one studio single from the quartet, it’s enough to prove that Paper Sister’s setting themselves up to be a formidable act rather than flimsy one.

Fortunately though, Paper Sister is promising the release of more singles across the upcoming Winter season going into next year. So while you could just stay at home and patiently await the next pressing from Paper Sister, you could also see their latest set live at a show 10PM tomorrow night at Hotel Vegas opening for The Distraits at 10:45 and Silver Hour at 11:30 and another one this Saturday at Knomad. Need the fuzz right now?

Well, since your mind may still be scrambled from the weekend, go ahead and put it into prime post-punk shoegaze shape with the beautifully-bleak downtempo mid-fi magic of “Brain Drain”, a three-minute distorted drone that gives us a great glimpse of our footwear while we bob along and obey the beat with an occasional sway of arms.

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Everyone’s unfurling their year in review and from what we’ve seen so far, the past twelve months have been pretty productive across the Live Music Capital! Case in point: Austin’s Barbara Klavin, AKA Barb. We’ve brought up Barb a couple times already, so you might already know the lowdown. But since it’s been a bit since we touched base, we’ll catch you up the big year that Barb’s had.

Not long after the release of her debut EP Vintage Love last September, Barb hit a few impressive milestones for someone who’s still an up-and-comer; she played The Drop In at The Long Center, played a festival out in sunny San Diego, and completed her very first tour. And on top of those live accomplishments (plus a promising 2025 that includes a New Year kickoff January 23rd at Hotel Vegas and an opening slot for Max Frost at Scoot Inn in March), Barb padded out Vintage Love and her 2023 introductory singles with another split trinity of studio tunes.

Building on the already sunny sounds of July’s “Just Say So” and August’s “Lately”, this morning’s “beside you (so boring!)” is alt-pop perfection plain and simple, punctuated by Klavin’s inspiring vocal performance, punchy-and-percussion-driven production, and as always, six-string licks that just absolutely rip.

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In a lot of ways, Texas is a top tier U.S. state. There’s great food. H-E-B. Beautiful parks with a variety of landscapes and wildlife. H-E-B again. That distinct Southern hospitality you don’t notice until you’re gone. But even if someone’s lived in the Lone Star State their whole life, being a Texas resident in 2024 has literally become unsafe for some. Ya know, the whole metaphor of Austin as the “blueberry in the tomato soup”. So especially post-election, plenty of progressives have piped up that their time to leave Texas (if not the US on the whole) is now.

We’ll get back to that in a moment. Because even though the Turkey Trot’s now a full week behind us, today we’re talking about rrunnerrss. We won’t shy from labeling rrunnerrss as a supergroup, considering that founding songwriter-composer Michael Zapruder (who sports an impressive resume on his own) rounds out this quintet with Austin veterans that have backed Adrian Quesada, Roky Erickson, Polyphonic Spree, Bill Callahan, White Denim and beyond. And together they’ve led a genre-melding marathon of North African Desert Rock, psych, and freestyle guitar since 2021.

So although Zapruder left is currently living in California due to Texas’s draconian policies, that transition didn’t put a damper on the band’s creative passions; Zapruder still slides back into Austin for live shows (including as part of triple single release show 8PM tonight at the Mohawk alongside an acoustic performance from Parker Woodland and Booher) and coordinated the recording of rrunnerrss’s debut self-titled album. Sonically, rrunnerrss covers a 5K of musical territory while thematically reflecting sentiments of self-exile, adversity, and advocacy across nine tunes. And those themes are perhaps most outspoken on the LP’s latest lead single that dropped this morning, “Get Me Out Of Here”, a somber, slow, and sweet piece of acoustic folk rock that almost recalls the poignant magic of Paul Simon’s early solo stuff.

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That early-’00s indie punk rock sound shaped by heavyweights like Arctic Monkeys and The Strokes is still pretty dang popular. Just listen to some of the most-streamed rock artists these days and you can clearly hear the reverence. That said, it’s not too often that those newer acts actually invite nuance into their originals; it’s all kind of the same ole formula from twenty years ago. It’s a shame, because there’s a ton of potential there. And given that we’re nearly a full generation removed from the style’s origins, we’re optimistic that there’ll be some fresh takes in the near future.

Now there is a group here in Austin that shows promise for those explorations: Souls Extolled. Born out of a desire to imbue indie rock with ska, punk, and psychedelia, this power trio’s refined their own distinct version of indie punk over the past half decade and three full-lengths. But even by the band’s standards, their brand still hasn’t quite been perfected yet.

That all changes with the release of Souls Extolled’s semi-eponymous fourth LP soulsex, out January 2nd. With the help of producer Chris “Frenchie” Smith, Souls Extolled pushes past their usual comfort zone to revisit their roots in an indie-avant-garde lens and cuts out any fat to expose the group’s core energy, making this record the best representation of their unique character to date. And for those in need of some millennium-era nostalgia that glistens against modern light, get in gear for soulsex with the album’s final lead single “Gold“.

Sporting an arrangement that refuses to grow stale between its anthemic stop-and-start bookends, “Gold” sheds the too-cool-for-school attitude of Arctic Monkeys and The Strokes in favor of authentic and invigorating alt-punk passion. So go ahead. Be judgmental. Because we all know it kicks some serious ass.

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It’s #GivingTuesday and pretty much anyone who’s a non-profit is crawling out of the woodwork and trying to stir up some financial love. And of course as a community supported public radio, we could always use a bit of help. That said, the nice thing about tossing KUTX a couple bucks is that you’re also helping our mission of providing a public platform for Austin’s finest and rising, who (especially if you’re sick of us at KUTX asking all the time) could definitely do with an extra dollar or two in the Holiday season.

SEE: songwriter-guitarist-multi-instrumentalist dan levine. If you get into a one-on-one chat with dan, you might classify him as pretty soft spoken. But that’s not from a lack of interesting things to say or complex sentiments to express; it’s just that when levine’s not teaching geography or sustainability studies here at UT, he typically lets his six-string do most of the talking – be it with The Infinites, Exercise, or his all-lowercase eponymous solo project.

And boy did dan put in the work on his latest solo release and debut instrumental full-length a-frame fantasies that just dropped last Friday. Between its masterfully looped-and-layered electric guitar arrangements and sturdy post-punk/indie framework, this LP really does feel like a symmetrical piece of aural architecture. Plus it proves that not every a-frame fantasy needs to be a hazy memory of late night Whataburger or a surreal premonition in an ominous Swedish commune.

Bouncing off the latter though, these dozen dreamy originals (which chronicle levine’s midsummer retreat to a Nova Scotia cabin) do capture that transcedentalist sense of isolation and of boundless, uninterrupted space. But after a successful cassette release show at Chess Club this past Saturday that cleaned out levine’s supply of tapes, there are plenty of digital copies of a-frame fantasies right there on dan’s bandcamp. So if you’re feeling generous, maybe channel the spirit of #GivingTuesday into paying for a-frame fantasies – because it genuinely is a piece of introspective art best enjoyed uninterrupted in full.

Only got time for one and can’t zone out too hard at work? Get comfy, press play on a-frame fantasies‘ abbreviated title track, and quickly find out what images, emotions, and meditations this big gift inspires. All we’ll say for now is this. Well done, dan. Well done.

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Thanksgiving and Black Friday are behind us and Cyber Monday is here. And in terms of the latter two, most of the shopping does happen online these days. But if you did pop into a store or two since last Thursday, you’ll agree: if it wasn’t already by the moment Halloween ended, Christmas music is king for the next three weeks. So as much as we crave some quality Klezmer, we gotta hop on the Yuletide bandwagon and toss y’all a few fresh seasonal originals to stuff your stocking.

And there’s not really a better way to kick off that holiday spirit than with The Grapes & Friends. The genre-spanning Austin supergroup septet has become a cherished live Christmas staple over the past decade and a half, and for the last ten of those years The Grapes & Friends have only enriched that reputation with a release regimen of one new tune each December. One glance at today’s date tells you all you need to know; The Grapes & Friends have officially entered Holiday mode.

Yes, ahead of their 12th annual Christmas Extravaganza at Hole in the Wall this Saturday, The Grapes & Friends have gotten into a clinch with their inner Grinch on “Christmas With My Baby”. With a big cheerful opening (that sports sleigh-bells from the jump), there’s a surface level similarity to what you’d hear on those dime-a-dozen corporate major-key inoffensive Christmas rock playlists. But by the time you get to the first chorus it’s like hearing St. Nick up on the housetop; Christmas is real, and there’s some real soul, passion, and ingenuity to The Grapes & Friends’ songwriting, even if the lyrical protagonist of this latest one is somewhat of a soured, romantic Scrooge. And especially if you’re spending the upcoming holidays solo, you won’t feel so alone with this Huey Lewis-inspired piece of seasonal solidarity that glistens with killer production, outstanding performances, and an arrangement that only a Grinch could scoff at.

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Thanksgiving’s behind us and Christmas is on the way, so ’tis the season for white elephant gift exchanges, right? And depending on you or your family’s level of southern drawl, if someone’s ever suggested “white elephant?” as the next activity, they may have inadvertently uttered today’s feature. Because unless it’s a drift-caught quip to “don’t think about Elephants”, an oblivious retort to “let’s talk about the elephant in the room”, or just a moment when you’re simply looking the wrong direction at the wildlife refuge, it’s rare to hear “What Elephant?” uttered unprompted.

What Elephant? Well, the question is the answer. Punctuation mark perpetually in tow, What Elephant? is a two-member multi-instrumental mammoth based out of Pennsylvania. And although the duo only got started in 2024, it’s been a big year. Yeah, they’ve already wrapped their collective trunk around two full-lengths and an EP on top of a handful of A/B-side singles that’ve trickled in tandem since September.

Yes, it’s a lot to catch up with. But you could easily make a white elephant game out of those eight alternative-autumnal tunes; give each of ’em a spin, snag the ones you want for your personal playlist, and don’t fret about prying ears stealing your picks, because there’s plenty to go around. And just like that Thanksgiving spread, each song has a distinct flavor that’s great on its own, but adds up to one hell of a tasty plate when enjoyed back to back.

So dig in beginning with one of two latest offerings from What Elephant?, “Made Up Words”, which transcends the languages of alternative, folk, psych, and indie rock for a sound that’s somewhere in between Paul Simon, Road to Roen-era Supergrass, and Animal Collective.

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You know what they say: you can take the woman out of Texas but you can never take Texas out of the woman. It’s a bit of a moot point, considering the Lone Star State sure ain’t a shining beacon of women’s rights, and that sets natives up to become ex-pats. Still, it’s a sentiment that rings true…especially in the world of music.

Like, look at singer-guitarist Amy Boone. Back at the turn of the millennium, Amy was a real boon to the Austin scene thanks to her work with The Damnations. These days though Amy’s up in Portland as frontwoman of retro country-soul quintet The Delines, sporting a twangy southern charm that’s inseparable from her vocal performances – and a perfect fit for the rhythm-and-songwriting team of prominent Richmond Fontaine veterans. But after a dozen years together and loads of lyrics that dwell on downfalls, The Delines are setting themselves up for a more optimistic outlook in 2025.

And that’s through their fifth full-length, Mr. Luck & Ms. Doom, dropping next Valentine’s Day. On top of the usual Americana-folk infusions found in their sound, Luck & Doom takes a noticeably upbeat and soulful approach to the protagonists of these eleven women-driven narratives – a welcome change of pace to those who are sick of getting punched down on. And speaking of punches, since the Tyson-Paul matchup was such a disappointment, we’re thankful for the contender that is Luck & Doom‘s lead single, “Left Hook Like Frazier”.

Good vibes from the first guitar chord all throughout its conga-and-tambourine pulse, heart-mending horns, and evocative vocals, “Left Hook Like Frazier” will easily leave a couple marks on your face. Not with a broken jaw or a disfigured ear, but with a smile and an earworm.

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It’s T-minus 48 hours until prep for the big feast and other Thanksgiving festivities. And even though some always end up just getting some takeout, the Turkey Day hunger is munching on most Americans’ minds right about now. But if you’ve got your meal all planned out and are still in need of some soul food for your ears long after unfastening that belt, you’re in luck.

In other words, you can give thanks to Isak Thomas and The Stoop Boys – a healthy helping of handmade soul-funk from right here in Austin, seasoned with players from Nashville and L.A.. Despite their handle, The Stoop Boys are far from lower-tier, and they sure as hell don’t need to rely on busking to get by; since 2018 they’ve shown an insanely strong grip on grooves, reached the upper steps of Texas’ retro soul-funk scene, and cemented their status with a couple singles that’ve racked up streams in the multi-millions, not to mention an equally impressive cumulative metric.

So, through three EPs and the 2019 full-length Somewhere, Somehow, we’ve heard a lot from Isak Thomas and The Stoop Boys. But after doing the dang thang for more than half a decade now (and stepping up the production quality and songwriting formulas with each release), it’s not a bad idea for the band to re-introduce themselves, especially if you’re putting them in the same room as your folks for the first time.

Yes, after a five-single-streak that started in early September, Isak Thomas and co. drop The Stoop Boys this Friday. Now, the LP release show is already behind us, so if you’re stuck at home with the family or succumbing to couch lock, you don’t need to change your plans. On the other hand, if you need to get your metabolism back on track after all that stuffing and tryptophan, spinning The Stoop Boys straight through is a solid first step. Don’t believe us? Press play on The Stoop Boys‘ lead “Miss Strut” and see just how long you can stay still to this soft-spoken, super slick possessor that falls somewhere between Durand Jones & The Indications, Jungle, and “That Lady”-era Isley Brothers.

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Like it or not, we are in the home stretch for 2024. So don’t be too surprised when you start hearing everyone talk about their lofty New Year’s resolutions in the coming weeks. But if you yourself need some extra solidarity to help turn a new leaf and hit the ground running in 2025, we’ve got just the thing for you.

We’re talking about Austin’s Muzeke – the La Fayette-born-and-boiled singer-songwriter (and former Uncommon People frontman) that’s full of R&B, soul, rap, and alternative flavors. Beginning on a couple of collaborations with MILD Inconveniencé and continuing with another two pairs of solo tracks across last year and 2024, Muzeke’s mashup of melodic vocal lines and confessional lyrics always makes for a smooth (albeit, often poignant) listen.

So, while Muzeke will most likely spend part of this Thanksgiving week showing his usual gratitude to music as an expressive platform (duh; it’s right there in the moniker), we may bear witness to a slightly altered, more matured person on Muzeke’s debut EP next Spring. How do we know? Well, last Friday Muzeke shared his second single of the year (and the lead off the EP), “New Man”. Chronicling a recent big shift and closing a chapter of past romances, “New Man” also marks the introduction of a more determined individual whose unafraid to get a little aggressive. Not to mention, this Caribbean-inspired instant cuffing season classic might be the hottest ménage à trois of riddim, sensual electric guitar, and vocal seduction this side of the holiday season.

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If you stop to think about it, there are really only two typical climate observations from astute Austinites. 1: It’s too hot and the sun is literally cooking us alive. 2: It’s too cold and the sun needs to come back ASAP. Yeah, we’re a special kind of simple southerners in our own way. But with folks eager to fill up next week with Thanksgiving and the biological “winter coat” that always follows, there’s no better time to bring up Swimming With Bears.

Unless you were hoping for interspecies extracurricular activities, Swimming With Bears will not disappoint. Yeah, the Austin indie rock quartet’s got a pretty good thing going for ’em; just check out some of Swimming With Bears’ streaming numbers over the last decade. And although those studio recordings do provide that infectious, upbeat-and-soulful early-mid-2000s energy, Swimming With Bears is best enjoyed in person.

Haven’t done it yet? Catch a gig headlined by Swimming With Bears that kicks off 8PM tonight at Far Out Lounge alongside Noho and Ruthie Craft. Want to stay in and hibernate instead? Well you can get the experience of being the sole audience member of a private SWB performance with “Patient Disguise” – the band’s only single from 2024. So get your gloves off and your hands on the music video below, whether or not the weather’s got you gearing up to get Far Out or just huddling at home by the hearth embracing your inner Ursidae.

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Ever get stuck in between states of sleep? Ya know, that Inception-type trip where R.E.M. feels more like reality than when you actually rise? If so…far out, man. Us too. If not, we’ve got just the thing to try and replicate it: Cloud Companion.

Now, the term “collective” gets thrown around a little too often these days. But this Austin outfit embodies the spirit of an art collective in a true sense of the word; by curating multi-media magic complete with bubbles, puppets, and altars…not to mention the mascot-of-sorts, Bardo, a towering solar sorcerer that helps the band cast eerily-cheery spells onto their live audiences. That said, it’s not just a theatrical gimmick. Aside from practicing the ancient art of celestial ceremonies, this solo bedroom pop project turned stage-spanning act sonically fulfills that day dream sensation of finding your mind caught up in the clouds. And that’s earned Cloud Companion the opportunity to share stages with former KUTX Artists of the Month Big Bill, Grandmaster, and Pelvis Wrestley.

After the sun-kissed sounds of last September’s Ordinary Time (and this September’s ExtraOrdinary Time deluxe edition), Cloud Companion continues the sequence with their new EP Waking Up / Falling Asleep – out tomorrow and followed by a gig December 4th at Empire Control Room alongside Holy Wire. While shock rockers aim to churn out nightmare fuel, this Cloud Companion release more like a refinery of dream diesel. WU/FA aspires to explore a cascade of consciousness and a stirring of spirits. It adopts the Pink Floyd approach of bookended album closer/openers – perfect for repeat listens on either side of your sleep cycle. It embraces a twilight aesthetic for a lucid listening experience that soothing, stimulating, and anything but a bedtime bore. And whether intentional or not, this record definitely falls in line with the early evenings we’ve had as of late.

Lastly, we gotta give credit to Cloud Companion for CC’ing us on the EP’s last lead single a day early. Because “Who Took The Night Away” chimes its charm even before the first downbeat and steals your senses in a four-minute, oddly-meditative mantra that evokes that ’80s/’90s transition era of moody and surreal R&B. In other words, “Who Took the Night Away” isn’t restricted to mere earworm status; it may just evolve into a nocturnal thief that echoes through your subconscious delights.

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A lot of self-proclaimed go-getters take full responsibility for their actions and efficacy. The motivation and blueprints to make changes in their lives is always at hand. For others though? They’ve got no opposition to looking up at the sky, acknowledging that the universe’s inner workings are beyond control, and just hoping for help from any sort of higher power, be it the stars themselves, alien life, or what have you. But really with the latter option, we can’t even fault folks for allowing the chance of outside intervention to get unstuck from a bad rut.

All that said, things seem to be shaping up nicely for SKLOSS – the husband-and-wife duo of Austin singer-percussionist Karen Skloss and Glasgow singer-guitarist Sandy Carson. Between their backgrounds with Moving Panoramas and Iglomat, respectively, Skloss and Carson created this collaboration in woodside isolation in the midst of COVID. And as heard on their 2022 debut EP Voices Travel Through This, SKLOSS excels with White Stripes-type drum-and-guitar arrangements and overall some serious kickass energy with a huge sense of volume (both in terms of space and decibels).

This morning, SKLOSS opened up shop on their upcoming full-length The Pattern Speaks, due out next March. For this Charles Godfrey-produced eight-track, SKLOSS indulges in substantial psychedelia, post-metal drones, rhythms ripe for introspection, and that uncomplicated sense of rawness that brought us to SKLOSS in the first place. The announcement coincides with the LP’s lead single, title track, and music video plus a single release show 9PM tomorrow night for the And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead afterparty at 13th Floor alongside soundcult. And yeah, the cosmic SOS that is “The Pattern Speaks” is a heavy as hell banger of a sneak peek at what’s to come, just review the CCTV footage below.

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We end up saying this pretty much every pass around the sun, but it ends up proving true every time: 2024’s been a big year for Austin music. Lots of project premieres and lots of studio recordings debuting on streaming. And that includes acts that have only popped up in the past couple months.

A top-tier example: Rojenka – the recent team up of Nairobi singer-songwriter Lin Njoroge and Austin writer-producer Geoff Bradford. Between Bradford’s diverse, multi-national musical upbringing and Njoroge’s intrinsic understanding of Afrobeat and Afrohouse, Rojenka’s been a welcome world music addition to the local landscape. And with a release rate of one single per month, Rojenka’s already demonstrated a respectable drive and a strong sonic brand.

Well, following up the soulful rock of September’s “Fairy Tales” and the steamy reggaeton of October’s “Thanks For Asking”, Rojenka just ripped into their penultimate tune of the year and most Afrobeat-evocative original to date. Sporting all of our favorite Afrobeat accoutrements (a hypnotic rhythm section, Fela Kuti-style sax, and humanity-hopeful lyrics) on top of an impassioned vocal performance and ample electric guitar to give it that Texas rock twist, “Dang Girlfriend” is an extremely diggable delight – one that has us hooked for whatever Rojenka has to offer moving forward.

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Whether you’re an amateur astronomer, unapologetic astrologer, wannabe werewolf, or just love gazing at that big airborne pizza pie every once in a while, pretty much everyone can agree that there’s a certain magic to witnessing a full moon. And depending on how tethered you feel to Earth’s nightlight, as it cycles through phases, you might feel like you’re adopting new attitudes here and there as well.

At least that’s the case for Austin duo Warm Sound. Former romantic partners who’ve since preserved their relationship of creative collaboration as co-producers, Warm Sound has historically relished in a synth-saturated psychedelic style going back to their 2022 debut EP Terminus. But even on last June’s strictly instrumental sophomore record Empty Streets, Warm Sound’s shown a heavy predilection for downtempo drones.

On the appearance of last Friday’s supermoon, however, Warm Sound welcomed harmonized vocals back into the mix and upped the BPM for something with a little more chin-up character than we’re used to. Fittingly titled “Moons”, this tune is all about durability against hardship and taking time for yourself to properly get through trauma. Sonically? It hurdles through the cosmos with subtle arpeggios, spacey pads, highly-driven drum programming, and one hell of a ritardando that puts this glowing beauty to bed on the other side of the horizon.

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Everyone’s capable of “seeing the light”, whether it’s through newfound sobriety, bringing up the “bright side” post-crucifixion, or just waking up a little earlier in your daily routine. But of course, the lead up to those optimistic rays can take some serious time.

Take for instance Collin Mullins and his inspiring personal journey. A staple of the Austin live scene for over a decade now, this multi-instrumentalist/singer-songwriter/producer’s 2010s bragging rights include touring with Black Joe Lewis, tracking with Danny Reisch, landing on streaming platforms as a solo act, and securing an official SXSW showcase with his own outfit. As sweet as all that sounds, the real springboard for his solo career came during COVID, when Collin began mullin’ around the idea of putting his live performance and recording routines on hold to get clean and replace those problematic habits with writing and producing.

Fast forward to this year, where Mullins’ recovery is still going strong and the the music is flowing faster than it ever has before. In fact, with his self-produced debut full-length Sun City on the horizon, Collin Mullins has been enjoying a waterfall-style release regimen with Sun City‘s lead singles, a whopping seven of SC‘s dozen. Altogether they’ve shone light on Collin’s sonic diversity, ranging from turn-of-the-millennium alternative and modern indie pop to jazz, funk, and dad rock.

And even though the record finally drops next Friday, Collins was kind enough to give us one more early glimpse at Sun City with “Sunny Side”. A radiant joy from its first downbeat pairing of guitar and vocals all the way through minimalist drum grooves, cheery chord progressions, and deeply expressive, climactic electric solo, it’s tough to stifle a smile and not feel inspired while spinning “Sunny Side”. Not to mention, with a style that almost marries Mac DeMarco’s downtempo lackadaisical charm with Dayglow’s upbeat and heavily-processed polish, “Sunny Side” and its equally impressive counterparts have us scrambling to the Sun City album release in just one week.

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We’re just two weeks away from Thanksgiving and wouldn’t you know it, it’s finally starting to feel like Fall down here. You’d be hard pressed to find a Texan who doesn’t appreciate the drop in temps, but then again, the spirit of summertime is simply a year-round celebration for some folks. Folks like Austin’s Angela Greco.

When Greco’s not getting down and dirty as a professional gardener and garden designer, this certified green thumb’s got her hands full with the creative harvest that is Days of Summer, a folk-rock cornucopia whose sprouts first surfaced on streaming in May 2022. But the music’s not the garden variety of either folk or rock; though Greco does assume the traditional role of fronting guitarist-singer-songwriter, Days of Summer shines with the addition of flute, bass, and percussion in well-tended acoustic-electric crop patterns and cozy curations best categorized as “woodsy”.

Lately? Greco and co. have been in the weeds for Days of Summer’s sophomore album So Low, out next Valentine’s Day. And on the third of these new cultivations, “Need to Escape”, the Days of Summer crew are joined by Little Mazarn cellist Lindsey Verrill and Denton Audio Works guitarist Joey Cerda for a harmony-enhanced orchestral triumph. So even though the dog days far are behind us and the sun is setting earlier and earlier, you can get a dose of Days of Summer 8PM tomorrow night at Lockhart Arts & Craft alongside Tom’s Parents and Batty Jr.. Or if you just need a five-minute respite from the claustrophobia of cubicle life, sociopolitical distress, or just run-of-the-mill monotony, take a triple meter retreat of string noise, round-style vocals and elegant interval leaps with this slice of the extra soft ’70s that stands on the shoulders of Joni Mitchell and Sandy Denny.

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Itchin’ for a sentimental dish of Southern soul ahead of Thanksgiving? You’re in luck! We’ve got a member of Nashville country royalty gracing us with her presence in just a couple days.

Yes, we’re laying out a path of petals ahead of an upcoming appearance from Maggie Rose. It’s been a decade and a half since the Potomac-born singer-songwriter-guitarist first emerged as Maggie Durante and just shy of a dozen years since the debut LP that introduced her current handle. In that time, Rose has blossomed into one of Nashville’s finest, but her sound certainly isn’t restricted to country; Rose flourishes with pretty much any genre she touches, be it pop, R&B, funk, rock, folk, and beyond – a talent that’s earned her prominent placement on bills with Kelly Clarkson, Joan Jett, and Heart.

For her latest innovation (which has already scored a Grammy nomination for “Best Americana Album”), Maggie Rose commands a crossroad of soul and country, evoking the iconic ’70s-era Laurel Canyon sound on this April’s No One Gets Out Alive. In support of the LP, Maggie’s back on the road and touring these dozen new tunes across the US. So if you want to give Rose her flowers in person, stop by ACL Live at 3Ten 8PM this Friday to catch Maggie alongside opener India Ramey. And if you’re not familiar with the new record yet, go ahead and get started with the eponymous album opener. Because at a room-and-heart-filling five-and-a-half minutes that blooms with a wide dynamic range and an enormous orchestral arrangement, we’re betting “No One Gets Out Alive” from the full-length’s introduction without falling for what may be Maggie’s magnum opus.

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North Carolina’s been in the news a lot lately, and our hearts go out to everyone in Asheville who are rebuilding after Hurricane Helene. Anecdotally, we also know some folks who sought sanctuary in nearby Raleigh, and we’ve learned that Raleigh’s also a refuge for one couple’s killer electronic collaboration.

We’re talking about Waking April, the classically-trained high school romance-turned-savant synth-pop pair. The duo’s been dropping tunes as Waking April for nearly a full decade now, but it wasn’t until the pandemic era that they really proved their firm footing in the Phantogram/CHVRCHES/Sylvan Esso corner of things, negating pretty much everything we’ve presumed around the “stereotypical” Raleigh sound. And that’s a legacy that’s only grown fuller with the release of Waking April’s debut full-length Fear of Failure that came out at the top of the month.

Mastered by Beyoncé/Olivia Rodrigo engineer Levi Seitz and flourishing with all kinds of exciting sounds (both live and synthesized), Fear of Failure spells nothing but mainstream success in our minds for the future of Waking April. The entire record’s an enthralling new chapter for the two-piece that covers plenty of moody, alternative dreamscapes, so if you want to dive headfirst into it, check out the workout-ready drum-and-synth-driven aggression on the second of FoF‘s eleven: “Rules”.

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It’s finally starting to get chilly ’round these parts…at least at night. You know what that means: cuffing season is upon us. So if your slow jams playlist is starting to feel a bit stale, we’ve got great news for you.

Austin soul-funk nine-piece Honey Made just unfurled a sensual five-minute inferno – “Pass Me By”. Is it a departure from their historically uptempo sound? Undeniably. But does it also echo the hot-and-heavy energy of golden age quiet storm, not too far from Between the Sheets-era Isley Brothers? Absolutely.

Even if your evening plans don’t include staying in bed with your boo, you’re in luck too. Honey Made plays a free show 8PM tonight at Drinks Backyard. Either way, for those feeling like their world’s quickly spinning out of control, slow things down a notch or two on your way out of the workweek with this expertly crafted, violin spiced reminder to always love the one you’re with, something that’s sure to wrap you up like a warm, snug blanket throughout the upcoming winter.

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We’re getting to a point in time where, save for hardcore fans of the Rocky franchise, the general population remembers a certain name under only one context. And that was as one of Austin’s premiere ’60s-fied garage pop rock outfits. Ya know…Burgess Meredith.

Still though, it’s a name we haven’t heard in quite some time. A dozen years down the line from their debut EP Banana Moon and seven since their first full-length A Dimension of Sound (which was also the group’s last studio album to date), we’ve all but formally filed a missing persons report on Burgess Meredith. Heck, I personally have a very fond memory of catching Burgess Meredith at the Cactus Cafe somewhere in the mid-2010s and have since caught myself looking back every now and then wondering, “what ever happened to them?”

Well, it turns out Burgess Meredith is alive and well, and their grip on retro pop-garage rock romance is strong as it’s ever been. With a fresh lineup and a baker’s dozen new tunes mostly recorded at the height of social distancing, Burgess Meredith drops their long overdue comeback Person Hat tomorrow. Person Hat heralds the return of Burgess Meredith’s piano-driven arrangements and firm grasp on the baroque/chamber pop aspects of ’60s psychedelia plus Beach Boys-esque vocal unisons and harmonies – everything we’ve always loved about Burgess Meredith. But this time those elements are joined by the welcome orchestral additions of cello, clarinet, and horns plus a generous serving of vocoder, ultimately blurring the lines between Barrett-era Pink Floyd, late Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, and The Zombies.

If you haven’t seen Burgess Meredith live in concert yet, you absolutely have to check ’em out for the Person Hat record release show this Saturday at BLK Vinyl. If you’ve got somewhere else to be, turn on, tune in, and drop out to the album opener, “Nowhere”, because it’s sure to take you to a far out place with a lotta love in your heart and absolute magic in your ears.

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ACL Fest 2024 already feels like a distant memory. But there’s one more pop-up nugget that we absolutely need to share in the name of Austin music. And that’s on behalf of Midnight Navy, the project of singer-songwriter/saxophonist/producer Francisco Jose Rosales.

Though Rosales first landed on streaming in 2018 with three standalone singles, Midnight Navy really began attracting a fleet of listeners with the release of last April’s De Melón EP, a fruitful six-song exploration of psychedelia, bedroom pop, alt-R&B, Latin indie, and Chicano soul in both English and Spanish. And Midnight Navy’s placement in prominent Austin festivals speaks to the success of De Melón; while Rosales e la familia appeared at ACL Fest the first Friday afternoon on the Tito’s stage, they’ve also been confirmed as an official act for SXSW 2025.

The big news this month? The release of De Melón (Deluxe Edition), which features a new tune that was tracked at Adrian Quesada’s Electric Deluxe Recorders. The Deluxe Edition drops next Friday, right before Midnight Navy embarks on their inaugural Texas tour – four stops across the Lone Star State including a gig Wednesday, November 20th at Empire Control Room alongside La Doña. But back to ACL Fest…several of our pop-up performances that were notably acoustic, bare bones, and frankly quite different from their studio counterparts. However can’t say the same for Midnight Navy; with bongos and cajon, they brought a previously-unheard sense of intimacy to the boda-inspired bolero “Solo Tú” – complete with electric guitar, bass, and keys (not to mention Rosales’ impeccable sax and vocals) for an arrangement that oozes amor.

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It’s Election Day. If you haven’t voted yet, please try and make some time in your schedule to go do so; it’s your civic duty…and it’s kinda cool. At least feeling like you have some semblance of efficacy, that your voice can make a difference. In other words, if you still haven’t cast your ballot, today is not the day to let prospects of being a couch potato tempt you.

What we will jump on is the new single from Austin quartet Futon Blonde. Unlike every other futon that loses its firmness over a few years, Futon Blonde is still in great shape after a full decade together and not folding anytime soon. As a matter of fact, off their March five-track Multiplier, last Friday Futon Blonde dug a fresh one out of the cushions to announce their next EP Monsoon.

Between last night’s downpour and a day that might end up being the eye of a sociopolitical storm, we feel like the announcement for Monsoon couldn’t have come at a better time. Moment of kairos aside, Monsoon seems like a fitting title based on the heavier, darker (dare we say more exotic and Eastern-inspired) twisting rock sound that Futon Blonde explores on the record’s lead single “Drawing Again”. So if you feel imprisoned, like nothing you do makes a difference, or like you’ve just been dealt a shit hand recently, consider taking that frustration straight to the polls. And if you’ve already done so? Well…guess we’ll just have to ante up in anticipation of the Monsoon on the horizon.

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Demanding attention. Acting erratically. Stirring the pot just to start some shit. We’ve seen plenty of all that int the lead up to this election, but truth be told, for some people, that’s just part of their hardwired human nature.

At least that’s the inspiration for the latest single from Deer Fellow. This Austin duo’s coming up on nearly a full decade together, a duration throughout which we’ve broadly categorized their style as indie folk. However, just like you can never keep their namesake Cervidae in just one spot, Deer Fellow’s done a great job of branching out past their folk breeding grounds with ten point bucks of genre crossbreeding, primarily with pop, best exemplified by last April’s Unravel EP.

Based on that, and even this January’s “Closing Time”, we sort of feel caught in the headlights off Deer Fellow’s latest single that dropped last Friday. Yes, it’s still got those charming orchestral elements carefully nestled in rather than haphazardly slapped on the arrangement. But this time the sonic backdrop is a meadow of mellow psychedelia that we’ve never heard Deer Fellow graze before. Yeah, for a song called “Shock Value”, this one goes down super smoothly, with tons of reverb, far out vocal processing, woody snare rim clicks, soulful chord changes, harmonies galore, and of course, that gorgeous violin we look forward to in each Deer Fellow track.

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It’s a new month. It’s new music Friday. And there’s a fresh collaboration out that’ll really spice up your playlists. One that marks the welcome return of Cilantro Boombox.

See, the genre-bonding octet formally entered the Austin scene a dozen years back with their eponymous debut and followed it up a half decade later with their 2017 sophomore full-length Shine. And while Cilantro Boombox did keep our pandemic-addled brains sane with three singles in 2020, the latest pulse we felt from them on streaming was last June’s “Little Sign”. Well, just in time for the release of Geto Gala’s first-ever full-length, Cilantro Boombox has teamed up with one half of Geto Gala and our July 2022 Artist of the Month, Jake Lloyd for another spicy standalone.

Yes, just a week ahead of a gig next Friday at the Sahara Lounge alongside DJ Chorizo Funk and Geto Gala, Cilantro Boombox laced up their coriander kicks with some upbeat pop on the Jake Lloyd collabo “Best Shoes”. Like a finely diced blend of Pharrell’s “Happy” and Janelle Monae’s “Tightrope” garnishing a full plate of hand claps, slick funk rock grooves, G Funk-inspired analogue synth bends, and soulful horn refrains, “Best Shoes” is made easily accessible for those who haven’t fully acclimated to a Latin/Pan-African palate.

We don’t personally think cilantro tastes like soap…but this track is squeaky clean and eager to scrub the dance floor.

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Happy Halloween! We’re hittin’ this hallow-day with…Hans Gruber and the Die Hards?! Wait a minute, haven’t we already decreed that the iconic Bruce Willis/Alan Rickman action comedy is a Christmas staple? Well…whatever.

What we do know for sure is that this Austin five-piece has spent the past decade funneling their passions into all things punk, ska, crossover, and beyond into an all-year-round “trick and treat” creed of casual tomfoolery and unforgettable stage antics. And if you didn’t think Hans Gruber and the Die Hards were a perfect fit for Halloween, you haven’t been paying close enough attention; just look at the tracklist from their 2022 magnum opus With A Vengeance and shudder at song titles like “Blood on the Walls”, “Monster of Walgren Lake”, and “Nothing Like a Good Old Fashioned Witch Hunt”.

The latest from the quintet is their EP split with The Sensations Tokyo Two Step that dropped in early September, right around the same time HGDH celebrated their 10-year anniversary and kicked off the national tour that currently finds them on the Eastern Seaboard. Now, yes, Tokyo Two Step does contain a cover of that Halloween classic “I Put A Spell On You”. But if this election season giving you a sense of Act III freefall, almost like you’re plummeting forty stories straight into the media circus corralled around Nakatomi Plaza, you may just want to dig a hole into your brain and blast some horn-heavy hardcore. If that’s the case, then “Trepanation” is for you. Less of a headbanger and more of skull scraper, “Trepanation” is all over the goddamned place…in the best way possible. And even at just two minutes, it’s plenty enough to rile your spirits, get you wanting to don a costume (literally, emotionally, or what have you), and treat yourself to an intense Halloween in ghoulish rudeboy fashion.

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For a ton of creatives, Halloween is little more than an autumnal gimmick, an excuse to break from the regular programming and indulge in the creepy, macabre, or unnerving. For others though, the elements of Spooky Season might as well be part of the daily routine three hundred and sixty five days straight.

And you know who we’re talking about; goths, punks, metalheads, and any adjacent scenesters. Folks like the four freaks (we mean that endearingly) from Social Dissonance. Bred out of the pandemic, this quartet’s continued to make quakes across Austin as part of their ongoing citywide conquest. But while Social Dissonance’s Frankenstein style of punk, hard rock, metal, and alternative (plus, as you probably guessed from their name, plenty of socio-political commentary) is a sight best beheld in person and in concert, last September’s Choke EP proved that SD’s fully capable of translating their live riots into a high-energy stereo experience.

And Social Dissonance’s sole track of 2024, “Nightstalker”, is no exception. This five-minute monster mash covers a hell of a lot of sonic territory, starting off with hazy and bleak alt-rock before exploding into ghastly heavy metal that’s tailor-made for your next graveyard rave. Sinister whispers? Check. Instrumental breakdowns that’ll leave your neck sore? Check. And an explosive finish that lays these wicked ones to rest? That’s a big check.

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Everyone’s favorite holiday is rapidly descending upon us, and we’re commemorating the occasion by counting down to All Hallow’s Eve with some of the spookiest stuff the city’s had to offer over the past month or so. And we’ll start with Ben Brown, a decade-and-a-half veteran of the local scene who’s historically shared the spotlight with Austin acts The Savage Poor and No Show Ponies. This side of the pandemic though, the singer-songwriter/multi-instrumentalist/producer’s been plugging away at his eponymous solo project, pushing his bold baritone to the center of attention.

Following up 2021’s Sayonara Sorrow and last Summer’s King of Air, Ben Brown kicked off October with his third album Funky Dracula. Brown’s first full-length foray into seasonal curation, Funky Dracula positions itself as a “horror pop satire”, sinking its teeth into all kinds of subgenres and shadowy figures across nearly a dozen tracks. And we appreciate how well the minimalist drum programming and arrangement complements Ben’s far-from-sincere, in-character lyrical musings.

But that’s not to diminish Ben Brown’s status as an impressive performer; his guitar, synth, and vocals collectively invigorate the energy necessary to resurrect that iconic camp of golden age Hammer Horror throughout Funky Dracula. Don’t believe us? Stir your most ghoulish spirits with one of the LP’s centerpieces, “Until the Dead Rise” and see how these tunes extend past mere novelty and enter the annals of legitimately catchy pop-rock Halloween anthems like “Werewolves of London” and “Dead Man’s Party”.

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It’s official. There’s another supergroup in town. And this kitten’s got claws!

We’re talking ameowt _cheetahcheetah_, a rising endeavor that features Live Music Capital veterans from A. Sinclair, BOOHER, Mean Jolene, and Other Vessels. _cheetahcheetah_ has spent this past summer gigging around town and showing off their brilliant spotted patterns of modern art rock, which sound sort of like a more hedonistic, less opiate-obsessed, Warhol-weary Velvet Underground. The quartet also recently confirmed that they’re not a beast just built for live gigs; _cheetahcheetah_ landed on their feet and roared onto digital streaming with the release of their debut studio single last Friday.

And we gotta say, that indoctrination into this big cat cult, “shanti b”, is about as “Bhagwan” as it gets. Brandishing the concise runtime, cheetah-speed time signature shifts, nuance of imperfectly human performance, and lackadaisical charm of Reed, Nico, and co., “shanti b” has our ears perked up, swishing our tail, and purring for more.

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When you’re going through the motions, relying on routine thought loops, and not taking “carpe diem” to heart, life can feel like it’s the same sh*t, different day…over and over again. But bless yourself with the small gift of variety every once in awhile, and you’ll soon find that you’re thriving rather than just surviving.

And Beth Lee definitely knows a thing or two about changing things up; especially through her chapter as Beth Lee & the Breakups, the Houston-honed, Austin-based singer-songwriter has historically harbored a country-friendly sound. But more recent outings have found lee adopting a fresher genre backdrop, leaning further away from her twangy roots and Americana comfort zone and embracing more pop-adjacent formulas that pair the principles of ’70s/’80s/’90s sass with hints of modern indie rock. And with Cat Power/Jack White/Loretta Lynn engineer Stuart Sikes handling recording duties and Chuck Prophet percussionist Vicente Rodriguez returning to the producer role, Lee (alongside some of her Breakups bandmates) takes it even further in that new direction on her next full-length Hardly Matters, out tomorrow.

Despite the title, Hardly Matters is an optimistic if not surreal outlook on life in the Live Music Capital, something else Lee knows quite a bit about, even after a recent string of gigs across West Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and AmericanaFest up in Nashville. But that’s all been building up to the Hardly Matters album release show 6PM Sunday night at the Skylark Lounge. So if you’re eager to shake things up this weekend with some heartfelt hometown honesty, let one of Hardly Matters‘ more uptempo additions get you looking forward to “Another Day”.

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If you’ve been itchin’ to catch some good ol’ fashioned Southern rock reminiscent of Sticky Fingers-era Stones or classic Lynyrd Skynyrd, but don’t feel like you’re getting what you need from the local scene, this weekend you’re in luck. And that’s because Stillwater, Oklahoma six-piece Southall‘s gonna be swinging through town.

Despite releasing records together for nearly a full decade now, it’s only been a couple years since the Read Southall Band adopted the abbreviated, mononymous handle we know ’em by today. Still, the sextet’s one of the strongest purveyors of the red dirt sound (which started in their home state) this generation has to offer. For most of this year, Southall’s been struttin’ the stuff off their eponymous full-length re-brand from last September across the country (and Western Europe) as part of the Get Busy Tour.

After several sporadic stops spread out over the Lone Star State, the Get Busy Tour finally brings Southall to Austin – 7:30PM this Friday at Scoot Inn. And because nothing in life is free, complement Scoot Inn’s cover charge by paying dues to Southall‘s centerpiece heavyweight “Scared Money”, a Skynyrd-esque testament to the pursuit of the almighty dollar and making an honest living – be it in the garage, working your farm, riding in a firetruck, or on the road playing tunes with your best buds.

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Feeling comfortable can quickly devolve into a dangerous game. One weekend you decide to kick back and relax with a six pack, then the next thing you know you’re stuck in a daily routine of gettin’ smashed and trashing your home. Yeah, substance abuse and addictive tendencies aside, that “recliner decline” is a slippery slope towards self-destruction that we all risk at some point or another.

And it’s not like it only happens to the chronically lazy. Naw, take Hayden Butler, who on top of singing and songwriting, keeps busy as a bookmaker, painter, photographer, and professional copywriter. The native Austinite’s portfolio paints the picture of a highly-driven individual who’s got the gumption to go places, and the release of Butler’s debut LP Hand of God this July only reinforces that sentiment.

Still though, Hayden’s only human, and the appeal of Lone Star-assisted hedonism can easily overcome any period of productivity. And that’s masterfully reflected in Hand of God‘s midpoint (and music video) “Old News”. So before getting off your ass to see Hayden Butler at The White Horse 10PM tomorrow night alongside Taylor Graves at 8PM and The Shiglers ’round midnight or next Thursday at 10 between Gilded Lows at 8 and Jonathan Terrell at 12, indulge in this double-wide southern rocker that treats Hayden like a Texas twist on The Wall or Citizen Kane. And if you can’t watch the wanton meltdown til the closing bell, might as well crank up “Old News” and let Butler’s simple-yet-sophisticated country twang struggle inspire you to maybe make a much-needed change in what could be problematic monotony.

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For a lot of industry folks who have “made it”, they’re more than happy to use their powers “for good” by helping to boost the profile of “the little guy”…to pretty much whoever’s willing to pay their fee. On the other hand, while Public Hi-Fi headmaster Jim Eno retains a well-deserved rate for most clients, his decades of experience have led to a keen observation; in the world of production, his peers rarely identify as women.

Whether you think of it as philogyny or affirmative action (just don’t call it a DEI endeavor), Project Traction (in its still-young run) has continued to provide strong opportunities for women looking to get some time behind the board in a producer/engineer role. And after the success of the inaugural Volume 1 ATX class of collaborations, Eno’s casting the net further North to tap into the Centennial State.

Yep, Project Traction’s Volume 2: Colorado compilation is chugging along and gearing up to release in full next year. As always, Eno’s there to chime in and give guidance as needed, but by and large, he’s letting these talented ladies have free reign in shaping their recording partners’ sound. The latest example? Fort Collins’ Co-Stanza finding middle ground with Ecuador’s Neoma with “Bet On Love”. In her very first outing producing someone else’s work, Neoma did an outstanding job of finding an ’80s-inspired niche for Co-Stanza’s emotional, breakup-imbued indie pop original, almost like The Cure cozied up to something a little more downtempo and acoustic. All in all? Nicely done and an impressive team effort.

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One of the more intriguing musical migrations as of late has been the blurring of lines between psych, Americana, and synth. Ya know, that hint of trippy in the twang. That splash of pop songwriting against a Southern backdrop. And between our geographical position and Austin’s ever-expanding melting pot status, we’ve witnessed it unfold firsthand.

For a recent example, look no further than Aaron Miller, the former frontman of ATX synth-pop trio Sphynx who’s currently best known by his solo handle Josie Lockhart. As heard on his 2021 debut Santa Rosa, Josie Lockhart’s a genuine innovator of the Cosmic Americana sound first familiarized ’round these parts by the likes of The Bright Light Social Hour, and the international impressions that followed show that interest isn’t regionally limited. What also arrived in Santa Rosa‘s immediate shadow was a retreat by Miller to Durango, Colorado to draft Josie Lockhart’s sophomore follow-up, What Golden Hues.

While those initial sketches maintained the auteur approach of Santa Rosa, the final version of What Golden Hues that we’ll hear next February is more of a full house; Miller recruited session players from both Austin and Nashville, plus Leon Bridges/Steve Earle engineer Steve Christensen and Wild Child/Modern Medicine producer Carey McGraw to elevate this second installation of Josie Lockhart’s discography. The result is a shimmering, contemporary twist on Miller’s heartland rock roots, as introduced by the LP’s lead single, “Every Kind of Light”.

In other words, by dusting off any tired antiquities of Americana and replacing them with a clean sheen of synth and psychedelia, “Every Kind of Light” locks in Josie Lockhart as the sonic cowboy destined to shake up expectations in 2025.

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Think we’re already finished talking about ACL Fest 2024? Don’t be a silly goose! Sure we’re quickly shifting gears to Halloween, Levitation Fest, Thanksgiving, and the Winter Holidays, but we do have one more piece of ACL awesomeness ahead of that Fall gauntlet.

So let’s take a gander at Geese. Almost a decade removed from their fledgling days, Geese and their distinct crossbreed of indie artcore post-punk rock still haven’t run afoul of stagnation. And even as they hatch the next Geese release, this Brooklyn outfit’s still feeling the impact from their golden egg: the Summer 2023 concept album 3D Country, as well the 4D Country outtake offshoot and this June’s Alive & In Person EP. As for the forecast for the rest of this year, it’s about to be open season up in Geese’s BK HQ for the three-day GEESEFEST going down the first week of December.

A couple years after they joined us for our SXSW Studio 6A live broadcast, the cosmos aligned to reunite KUTX with Geese on the second Saturday of Austin City Limits. They turned the KUTX tent into an aural aviary with a trio treatment of the final feather off 4D Country, “Space Race”, during which percussionist Max Bassin relegated both hands to the cajon and one foot to a tambourine, which interestingly offers more of a convincing kit sound.

A deep cut? Perhaps. But a prime piece of Geese? Undoubtedly.

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It’s always super cool to see our KUTX Artists of the Month get some additional hometown love out at ACL Fest. Off the top of our head, this year we saw Kalu & The Electric Joint, promqueen, Chief Cleopatra, and West 22nd added to the lineup. On top of those, we were stoked to see our October 2023 Artist of the Month DAIISTAR get some well-deserved recognition in the stacked ACL schedule as well.

Considering the quartet only hit streaming last February, DAIISTAR is decidedly still in a dawning phase. But with the release of their debut full-length Good Time last September, the four-piece made their mellotron-tinged brand of noise-pop felt far across Austin and beyond. Between a pair of recent remixes, a standalone original that dropped right around SXSW, and a handful of appearances on the West Coast over the next couple of months, 2024’s been a busy year for DAIISTAR.

And that includes the Good Time they had opening up the Miller Lite Stage this past toasty Sunday at ACL. After which DAIISTAR took shelter from the sun, shades still donned, in the KUTX multi-media tent for an unconventional twist on their Good Time closer “Velvet Reality”. Alongside the Sonic Boom remix that came out in April, this low-volume rendition of “Velvet Reality” is a testament to the versatility of DAIISTAR’s songwriting and the absence of limits in the nuanced world of noise.

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For a lot of major artists, ACL Fest is just another tour stop. For up-and-comers, it’s the opportunity of a lifetime. But for those who overlap the brackets, the experience falls somewhere in between: somewhat routine, somewhat sentimental.

And we’re guessing Chance Peña lands in that final category. Depending on your age demographic, chances are you’ve already heard of Peña through one avenue or another. Nearly a decade back, Chance Peña caught widespread attention at the tender age of fifteen as a contestant on The Voice. These days, Peña pulls an impressive social media presence and colossal streaming numbers for someone in their mid-twenties.

Yeah, in between the release of his debut full-length Ever-Shifting, Continual Blossoming last month and his current headliner tour that’ll take him across Western Europe and Scandinavia, Chance Peña is pretty much on top of the world. However, we do feel like playing Austin City Limits the first Friday must have been a pretty big deal for a Tyler native, so kudos to the ACL coordinators for showing strong home state support for a young Texan on the up and up. And shoutout to Peña as well for paying that Lone Star love forward with a passionate pop-up performance of his ES,CB standout, “Blackbird”, recorded that same day.

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Another ACL is officially in the books, so we’re keeping those fest memories fresh by bringing y’all some more KUTX-clusive pop-up performances straight outta Zilker Park. And nothing says “Austin City Limits” quite like a band whose handle directly references their UT campus origins.

Yep, our October 2024 Artist of the Month (powered by PNC Bank) West 22nd was among those chosen to represent our city’s elite local acts across ACL’s weekend afternoons. The five-piece effused their carefree and upbeat indie rock flavors throughout the Tito’s Handmade Vodka stage during Sunday One and had no trouble getting hands waving across a multi-generational audience, which is a massive notch on the belt for any outfit still relatively in their infancy.

We’re guessing the fellas of West 22nd are riding high off the experience even now, considering it’s a big benchmark of success ahead of a show in Nashville next month and an album on the way in 2025. So it was a treat to get West 22nd back in the KUTX pop-up tent for a trio interpretation of *All The Way Home‘s EP ender “Road Trip”*. Because based on the strength of this stripped-down, acoustic session alone, it’s safe to say West 22nd is on their way to well-earned exposure far outside our fair city limits.

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Between the big Texas sky, the sprawling space of Zilker Park, all the dust that gets kicked up across the festival grounds and cowboy hats abound, ACL Fest sure can feel a bit like a rodeo right here within the city limits.

And heading back to the fest, Weekend Two of ACL 2024 certainly won’t be flipturn‘s first rodeo, that’s for sure. Following the recent announcement of their sophomore full-length Burnout Days (set to release next January) The Florida five-piece is back at ACL’s American Express stage at 2:45PM this Sunday for an hour-long set. And on top of that, flipturn’s also going to be playing at Scoot Inn tomorrow evening alongside openers Hotel Fiction.

But if those two options to flip your sht over flipturn’s formidable live set aren’t appealing to you quite yet, we’ll point to the pop-up duo rendition of Burnout Days‘ lead single “Rodeo Clown”* below. And while we’d never advocate illicit drug use to enhance music, this tune sure does remind us of our fun friend Molly and her ability to make any festival performance feel like you’re floating on cloud nine. Not to mention, with lyrics about wanting to escape from the reality of a reluctant performance, it’d be incredibly meta to watch “Rodeo Clown” played to a crowd of thousands.

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The second Friday of October is upon us, and Austin City Limits Music Fest is about to be in full effect once again. And in the interim that is this Thursday, we got a twofer for ya: a reflection on last weekend and a hint on what to expect for this next one.

So although it’s finally starting to feel a little more like Fall around here, there’s really no bad season to get behind The Beaches. These masters of fashion have been at it for a decade straight now, solidifying the soundtrack to a generation and proving proficiency (sans predictability) in the indie pop rock realm with each release. And after snagging the Juno Award for Breakthrough Group of the year in 2018 and the Juno Award for Rock Album of the Year in 2022, this past March the quartet scored another milestone in winning the Juno Awards for both Group of the Year and Rock Album of the Year.

The Beaches are back at it bringing a bit of The Six down to ATX twice over the next couple days with a completely sold out show 6:30PM tonight at Scoot Inn for Backline’s World Mental Health Day Event followed by a return to the T-Mobile stage 3:20PM this Saturday at ACL Fest, so you may want to give a single day pass a second consideration before The Beaches blow up even more. Because they’re only getting better, y’all. Like, looking back at last Saturday, the Ontario sisterhood rocked it (shades donned and sass intact) on their highest-charting single to date and the album opener off last September’s Blame My Ex, “Blame Brett”with a semi-acoustic rendition that undeniably takes on a new character while keeping the spiteful spark of its anthemic studio counterpart in place. Sorry, Brett; this one ain’t for you. But it sure does slam even with that sole egg shaker keeping the beat.

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Ask anyone about their favorite ACL Fest performance and there’s no telling what answers you’ll get. But we’re willing to wager that if you ask anyone below the age of thirty, “did you catch Chap-“, there’s a good chance your interviewee will enthusiastically finish your question with, “Chappell Roan?! She was awesome!” Yeah, there’s no doubt Chappell Roan’s among those leading the charge of younger fest attendees this year, but if you’re less in search of the Pink Pony Club and more keen on something to successfully serenade both you, your parents, and their hoss, there’s another “Chap” that was well worth checking out during Weekend One.

And that’s Chaparelle, the Southern supergroup of Zella Day, Jesse Woods, and prolific producer-composer-multi-instrumentalist Beau Bedford. Between the three? A lifetime of country music experience that, when combined, authentically encapsulates the classic midcentury sound that so many of us miss hearing on the airwaves. Based on the level of polish we’ve heard, we already see Chaparelle as a champion of twang made in and for the Lone Star State. And we’re bettin’ they’re gonna go a lot further than that after the release of their debut LP next Spring.

But in the world of country, (at least the real stuff that can’t be wrangled into Top 40 pop), high production values can only take a subpar performance so far…and Chaparelle sure ain’t a case of that. Because while the studio version of Chaparelle’s debut single from this June “Bleeding Hearts” recalls the iconic comfort of prime Patsy Cline recordings, the stripped-down acoustic-electric-vocal arrangement the trio treated us to last Friday at ACL is intimate, unadulterated talent. And like the title suggests, “Bleeding Hearts” isn’t a two-steppin’ barn-burner; it’s a surefire recipe for tears in your beer that’ll have you holding onto your Stetson for emotional support…lest you’ve got a requited love to corral.

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When it comes to exposure for international acts here in Austin, you typically think of SXSW. But time and time again, ACL Fest has shown great global flavors, even if the artists in question are quartered stateside.

A perfect example? Mon Rovîa. Songwriter Andrew Lowe was lucky enough to escape his moniker’s namesake in the midst of the Liberian Civil War, and given the Appalachian atmosphere of his current home base, Mon Rovîa’s forged a really fascinating fusion of Afro influences and American folk, shaking up whatever expectations you have surrounding the “Tennessee sound”. Since hitting streaming early on in the pandemic, that formula’s found a strong listenership that only grows with Mon Rovîa’s ongoing streak of about five-to-six singles a year, alongside the three-act EP progression that began with last Summer’s Act 1: The Wandering and culminated in this April’s Act 3: The Dying of Self.

As the BMI Stage’s inaugural act, Mon Rovîa (and his backing band) had the honor of expressing gratitude, championing peace, and setting a pensive mood for ACL’s first weekend with a slew of tunes. And that extended to a pop-up performance of “crooked the road.”, which still feels fresh after debuting just over a month ago. It’s gorgeous. It’s heartwarming. It’s the most tasteful pairing of ukulele and vocal harmonies you’ll hear all week.

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Heads up. Because our amazing multi-media team has been collecting so many great pop-up performances at ACL Fest, we’re gonna be sharing some of those with you over the next couple weeks. But before we dive in, we’d be remiss if we didn’t shine the spotlight on a fresh local release, no ACL tie-in necessary.

And that comes courtesy of Austin two-piece Allwax. Like plenty of other projects from the past half decade, Allwax was born out of the pandemic and the plethora of creative free time that initially came with it. Once they solidified their sleek shoegaze-slathered dream pop style, Allwax started off strong on streaming with five standalone singles in their mere first official year. And although the duo’s discography is still exclusively singles (which are now dropping about twice annually) Allwax’s sonic brand has remained crazy consistent without getting stale at all.

Case in point, ahead of an appearance later this month at The Mohawk on the 22nd opening for French Film, Allwax wheeled out their latest installation “Waves” last Friday. Less of an all day beach party banger and better suited for a coastal convertible cruise, “Waves” has the essential echoes of Summer we’ll need til Texas finally reaches Fall temperatures: a subdued-but-driving rhythm section, effects-drenched guitar, a refreshing sans-drums outro, and Besty Leidal’s reverb-soaked siren singing – all layered together so naturally you’d guess they were mixed together by the tides themselves.

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We’re barely a week into October, everyone’s spooky season decorations are going up, excuses to miss Thanksgiving are already stewing…and we’ve still got highs in the 90s here in Texas. Autumn is a bit ablaze. Just goes to show you that life’s a…Tish?

At least, Tish is a big part of life for one particular group of Austinites. What started out as a sweetheart deal between Ethan Ames and Erin Thelen a half decade back has since rounded out into a four-piece thanks to the addition of AJ Audain and Tyler Rusin. Needless to say Tish has influences galore across their personnel’s varied backgrounds, but we’ll go ahead and put them somewhere around the intersection of indie rock and soul pop.

And this year Tish is finally ready to dish out their efforts onto streaming with the release of their debut studio album early next month, corresponding with an LP release show on November 3rd at Hole in the Wall that’ll be joined by Cash Grab and Foxglove. If you’re trying to stay as far away from ACL this weekend but still want to get out, check out Tish for a single release show 6PM tomorrow night at Knomad alongside openers Tiny Specks at 4PM and Ivy Mine at 5PM. And if you’d prefer to stay a slave to the precious A/C without ever stepping foot outside, go ahead and set your senses aflame with the record’s lead offering “Burning Up”. Evoking the nostalgia of that ’90s tightrope of grunge, alternative, and pop (complete with guitar distortion and unconventional vocal harmonies), “Burning Up” torches with airtight instrumentation, clever section segues, and overall just a ton of heart that leaves us eager to hear more.

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Everyone benefits from the empowerment of self efficacy. And nobody wants to scrape by each day facing a sealed fate. Those truths must have at least subconsciously fueled the landmark success of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, which endures as a surprisingly hopeful narrative despite its status as a relentless “hard R” sci-fi action flick. But as we’ve hinted at, you don’t need to be Sarah Connor going up against Skynet to appreciate the importance of altering a timeline.

Heck, with their latest single even Ram Vela & the Easy Targets have revealed themselves as optimistic revisionists. Over more than half a decade purveying power pop and alternative rock, the Austin quartet’s rarely strayed from themes of modern disenfranchisement, tough truths, and reality-aware humor. So if you feel the “no fate but what we make” principle of T2, you’re gonna love “Life Is Rigged”, on speakers, headphones, or in person for the single release show 8PM tomorrow night at Chess Club following openers Flags at 7PM.

We could totally see “Life is Rigged” playing over the end credits of T2 in an alternate, carefree timeline where James Cameron grew up as a West Coast skater. But T2 tie-ins aside, “Life is Rigged” is rich with that late ’90s/early ’00s intersection of angst, disillusionment, and pop culture references, aided in no small part by killer performances from each of RV&ETs four players, especially those full chorus “HEY”s in the hook.

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As we noted yesterday, it shows real strength to unearth the passion of a certified classic by revitalizing it with a version well outside its initial genre. So we do have another cover today, but this one belongs much more to a contemporary catalogue. Which is frankly a great strategy for appealing to…shall we say…less adventurous listeners who fall in love with one streaming giant of a song, play it to death, and become curious to hear a different take on their favorite earworm.

That brings us to multi-instrumentalist-producer-singer-songwriter Lindsey Rose Black. Raised in Fort Worth and currently splitting time between LA and ATX, Black first caught our attention with her 2022 debut Subterra, an EP that showcased her Tex-ified art-pop-meets-indie-rock sound and delightfully down-to-earth attitude. Sure, Black’s discography’s been a bit lacking since then, yet rest assured, she’s got a ton of new original releases on the horizon throughout the rest of this year and extending into the next.

That said, Lindsey’s kicking off the streak with a sapphic spin on Troy Sivan’s smash hit “One Of Your Girls”. Just like how Aretha Franklin took Otis Redding’s “Respect” and flipped it into a endearing anthem of women’s empowerment, LRB’s version of “One Of Your Girls” is less a shallow lyrical gender swap and more a dream-pop powerhouse that’s perfect for Southern queers, especially the gay ladies. Preferences and orientation aside, anybody can appreciate the subversive positivity of this Texas-bred revisionist rendition, carried immensely by Lindsey’s calm-but-confident and thoroughly impressive pipes.

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No matter how much of an “instant classic” it may have been when it first dropped, after a half century of air play, most people feel like they’ve heard certain songs ad nauseam. That is until you hear a fresh take on it. And we’re not just talking about slapping some drums or a new verse on it and calling it a remix. No, we’re talking about someone from a different cultural background who, without ever having been bogged down by it the way we were, is able to breathe new life into tunes that’ve been around for more than half a century.

Enter Ramiro Pinheiro, a singer-guitarist-composer hailing out of São Paulo. Pinheiro calls Barcelona home these days, but as chamas of Brazilian tradition – be it jazz, bossa, or samba – still burn through his fingers and onto pretty much anything he touches, no matter the music’s origin. Case in point: his second collaborative single of the year “Moon River”.

Recorded alongside fellow Paulistano Rodrigo Balduino, this version of “Moon River” isn’t just a ripple off that mid-’60s flood of Western pop renditions in a bossa nova style. No, there’s intimate honesty to the raw recording of this Breakfast at Tiffany’s triumph that channels the delicate acoustic passion of Jobim or Gilberto, string squeaks, breaths, close quarters instrumentation, and all. And even without translating Johnny Mercer’s lyrics into Portuguese, Pinheiro’s accent alone enchants with an exotic charm, gracing this Henry Mancini mainstay with a new set of legs that’ll last another fifty years, at least.

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Whether it’s the inevitable return from a much-needed vacation, spying some inspiring light post-wrestling with depression, or just the routine changing of the guard between Sunday scaries and Monday blues, the addled and anxious of us can always appreciate an extra minute or two to block everything else out and just breathe.

But even if you’re cool as a cucumber all year round, we can’t recommend Breathing Space enough. Comprised of Maura Dooley and Emi Salinas, this Austin-via-Houston two-piece has been parsing out the finest elements of dreamy lo-fi for more than half a decade now. Breathing Space was a godsend when they first hit streaming just before the pandemic, and their modern, alternative meditations quickly became an essential part of our COVID routine thanks to a fairly routine single release schedule. And while the duo’s maintained that regimen, they’ve continued to push the boundaries of their sonics. Chiefly in terms of how upbeat can you turn it up with disco-funk elements until you kill the chill (think August’s “DREAMING’S EASY” and Fall 2022’s “GOT IT BAD”) and how mellow can you make things before it’s just plain bleak?

Especially with the latter, that line remains to be drawn in the sand. However, last Friday Breathing Space did blow us away with what may be their slickest production to date, “WASTING”. A relatively simple composition (characterized by a brief runtime, repeated lyrics, and barely more than a pair of chords to alternate between), this intersection of trip hop and alt-R&B expands a surprising amount on behalf of careful vocal layering, sultry saxophone, sneaky sampling, and beautiful bass work.

Lyrically? If you’ve been living on a throne of complacency and medication, these two queens may just put that reign on a platter and help you rejoice at the beheading of any bad habits or lingering shortcomings.

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Alt-country trio Next Of Kin is a new project out of Austin that is bringing cult country back to the local music scene with the premiere of their first-ever single, ‘Jekyll & Hyde’, coming out on streaming platforms today, September 27th. The trio of Caelin, Lili Hickman (of Flora and Fawna), and Madison Baker has been in the works since March 2023. What started as a fun collaboration session quickly became a serious project when they discovered just how unique their harmonies can be.

At the start of Next Of Kin, each member was also pursuing their independent projects and endeavors, leaving Next Of Kin as simply a way to decompress and make music with other respective musicians. Almost instantly, they discovered their different perspectives and genre backgrounds created a strong sound of alternative country with a hint of indie-folk twang. Despite this project being in its beginning stages, their ability to emotionalize storytelling has already gained them a loyal following across Austin, Texas.

Their press release describes their sound, as “as if The Chicks and Maggie Rogers had a brainchild.” With their eccentric lyricism and scarce mix of genres, Next Of Kin’s “Jeckly & Hyde” is a strong foundation for what tone this brand new project will set. Don’t miss the opportunity to hear ‘Jekyll & Hyde’ live tonight at Continental Club, and keep an ear out for ‘Next Of Kin’, because this is just the beginning.

As of today, ‘Jekyll & Hyde’ is officially out on all streaming platforms. Be sure to check out their show tonight at Continental Club! With a great lineup including Shannon McNally @9:30pm, Next of Kin @11pm, Buffalo Hunt @12:30am.

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Austin-based shoegaze duo ‘A Band Called Ma’ is back and better than ever with the premiere of their latest single ‘Walker’, coming out on streaming platforms on September 27th. The unique two-piece comprises Austin Barker and Domonic Sena, who have been making music together under the project ‘A Band Called Ma’ since the beginning of 2023.

They are known around the Austin-scene for bringing a unique perspective to their songs; drawing inspiration from physical surroundings. We see this firsthand in their 2023 single, “Mountaintop” which bridges the relationship between natural environments and self-identity. Nonetheless, they are known to connect the gap between actuality and nature, as their Spotify bio says, “The project is heavily inspired by the vast alien landscape of Big Bend.” With their metaphor-filled lyrics and unique music-making process, this new project is a force to be reckoned with.

Influenced by Alex G, Radiohead, and other Alternative-Rock icons, ‘Walker’ does a phenomenal job of honoring the important aspects of the genre while paving their own eccentric path. With divine harmonizing and a strong instrument presence, A Band Called Ma knows exactly what direction the new music is going in, and “Walker” is nothing short of inspiring.

Be sure to stream ‘Walker’ on 9/27 and don’t miss their single release show tonight (9/26) at Hotel Vegas! They will be on at 11, following Lookalike at 9:30, Hanover at 10:15, and Futon Blonde at 11:45.

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Austin-based singer-songwriter Suzanna Choffel brings relateable emotion and vibrant energy to her latest single, “Get Out,” off her upcoming album Bird By Bird. Known for her genre-blending sound and raw lyricism, Choffel uses this track to dive into the pressures of her modern life—parenthood, relationships, and career struggles—all while trying to maintain a sense of self.

But, “Get Out” doesn’t stray away from what Suzanna Choffel has always aimed to emulate. In fact, like any insightfully charged musician, her journey as an artist has always been tied to her personal life. Since her last album, Hello Goodbye, recorded while she was pregnant with her first daughter, Choffel’s experiences now as a mother of two have reshaped her perspective on songwriting. Balancing family, a music career, and hosting her own radio show on Sun Radio in Austin, she brings a matured yet still playful sound to Bird By Bird.

And often with big changes like these, sometimes a break from routine is needed. Knowing this, Choffel reached out to longtime collaborator Davíd Garza to help produce the record, who recruited a dynamic rhythm section featuring drummer Amy Wood and bassist Sebastian Steinberg, known for his work on Fiona Apple’sGRAMMY award-winning album, Fetch the Bolt Cutters. Not to mention, the album also features a dash of Austin with guest performances from local friends Adrian Quesada, Carrie Rodriguez, and Elias Haslanger.

The collaboration brings a driving, percussive intensity to “Get Out” while somehow still maintaining a graceful balance with her folksy highs and lows. To bring more of a personal touch to the album, Garza, who’s also a new father, suggested turning the song’s final chorus into more of a celebratory moment capturing the cathartic release that “Get Out” represents.

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When in Austin, you’re bound to run into some cross pollination among bands. For Austin-based duo, The Midnight Stroll, this is nothing short of the truth. Featuring the frontman of Ghostland Observatory, Aaron Behrens, and musical jack-of-all-trades, Jonas Wilson (Heartless Bastards, Urban Heat, Black Angels, and more), their latest and 3rd, upcoming single, “It Ain’t Worth a Dream”, explores the hardships of new beginnings through the eyes of an American immigrant wondering if the reality of it all is worth the cost of his dreams. What someone might not expect though is how the band expresses their sentiment through grungy shoegaze guitar hooks and Grouplove x AC/DC vocals.

After almost a decade since their second album Western Static, it’s clear to hear exactly where the duo is heading with their upcoming album, Humans Scheme and Headphones Dream, debuting next month. With a little touch of hair rock and dash of multi-track tape recorder effects, the duo’s sound sets them apart from local bands, including their other projects. But despite having to wait a bit longer for the full album, It Ain’t Worth A Dream makes its radio debut TODAY and will be available to listen to tomorrow.

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For a lot of people with contemporary tastes, exotica only equates to easy listening. Understandably so, since in the modern era it may strike first time listeners as muzak, elevator vapidity…jazz sans soul. But when you strip those biases and revisit the movement that began with the likes of Martin Denny and Les Baxter, you can better appreciate the transportive power of exotica. It’s right there in the name: “exotic”. So while coastal folks are flush with the everyday magic of an oceanside breeze, palm trees, and three hundred and sixty days of perfect weather, we’d argue that city slickers get the most value out of exotica.

At least it seems like that’s what first got Dallas-raised keyboardist-composer-arranger Frank LoCrasto craving something a bit more Bohemian to break out of the urban mindset, which lead to re-christening himself Kolumbo. Now based out of Brooklyn, Kolumbo introduced us to his tropical twists with his Summer 2022 debut Gung-Ho. It sure wasn’t easy wrangling about a dozen musicians together during the pandemic, but if exotica truly was easy, you’d hear a lot more of it, right?

Now, as summer makes way for the fall, LoCrasto proves once again that Kolumbo isn’t just a seasonal excursion. And that’s on behalf of Kolumbo’s sophomore followup Sandy Legs, out this Wednesday. Before we get to spin the LP in full, Kolumbo’s getting the symphonic jazz pop flirtations started with “Spin the Bottle”. Beachside vibes from its first downbeat, “Spin the Bottle” speaks an awful lot for an instrumental. So if you’re dreading this next work week and need a mental vacation wherever’s most convenient for you at the moment, kick off your shoes, close your eyes, imagine digging your toes into some beige grains, and shut everything else out while Kolumbo takes you on a midcentury style tropical tour.

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There’s probably a big chunk of Texas choosing not to think about the word “saints” after last weekend. But even Cowboys fans can agree that a quality chainsaw is a great way to start carving into the weekend. I mean, chainsaws have been a state pride since 1974, right?

So if you’re overdue for some Danish pop, dig into When Saints Go Machine. Throughout all their pop trials, the Copenhagen three-piece has kept from getting cornered in any one sub-style, be it classic club, hip-hop, or post-punk. But a dip into their discography quickly tips you off to one consistency; what these Danes have been doing for a decade and a half now is a strictly digital endeavor.

That in mind, this morning WSGM hit the world with somewhat of a surprise: the trio’s introductory experiment in acoustic equipment. Alongside “Trying”, which is a real trip of its own, “Chainsaw” comes off awfully organic compared with all the project’s prior outings. But somewhere between the liminal, strobing solitude of its visuals and the fresh perspective on WSGM’s secret formulas, it almost feels like a sin for Saints to have waited this long to “get real” with it.

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We don’t really put stock in the idea of “talent by association”. Sure, we’ve witnessed plenty of attempts to pivot from a successful group into a profitable solo offshoot. But if they didn’t have the spark to start with, they won’t have much to bargain with on their own. And on the ongoing collaborative level, when one player reaches a certain tier of talent, they rarely lower the bar in terms of the artists they surround themselves with, let alone their choice of creative clientele.

Now bear with us as we break down a bit of history here. Alabama Shakes hires Ben Tanner as a touring keyboardist. Tanner helps Alabama Shakes secure the 2018 Grammy for “Best American Roots Performance”. Then, just last year, Tanner does it again by snagging “Best Roots Gospel Album” for co-producing, engineering, and mixing Echoes of the South by Blind Boys of Alabama. In between it all, Ben continues to prove himself as not just a prized player, but a prolific producer with a musical Midas touch. So for Ben to bring an out-of-state group of relative-unknowns to his Muscle Shoals studio and bang out their debut? Sure says a lot, doesn’t it?

The group in question is The Jaws of Brooklyn, who as you might’ve guess are from…Washington?! Yes, we got our first feel for this Seattle septet from their aptly-titled Summer 2022 full-length The Shoals. And sure, while Tanner did put a proper polish on it, but a firm grasp on the classic garage-soul-rock sound (complete with ’60s-style girl group gusto) was clearly ingrained in J.O.B. from the get-go.

Now, following the fickle affair that is swapping out frontwomen, The Jaws of Brooklyn are back at it with Gretchen Lemon in the lead singer slot. And with Alabama Shakes acolytes Shannay Johnson and Karita Law also returning to Tanner’s auspicious Muscle Shoals recording space, The Jaws of Brooklyn have cranked out a dozen-plus new tunes, soon to be split across two EPs. The first one drops next April, (when J.O.B.’s stint at SXSW 2025 will still be fresh in memory), and we got a taste of that latest batch this morning with the record’s lead single, “Litebringer”.

By hinging on a hefty mix that’s instantly evocative of golden age Alabama Shakes, (snappy percussion, full house vocal harmonies, gritty garage guitar tones, and all) “Litebringer” has our mouth watering for what’s to come from The Jaws of Brooklyn, no matter what they sink their teeth into next.

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We’ve been gabbin’ a lot about the retro soul renaissance lately…so much so that y’all must be getting pretty sick of reading about it. But what comes after soul? That’s right. Funk. And boy oh boy do we gotta have that funk here in Central Texas.

So with our scopes still set on the Lone Star State, let’s talk Gypsy Mitchell. This Dallas-born singer-songwriter-guitarist-arranger’s had a jam packed journey over the years; he founded gospel funk outfit The Relatives when he was just seventeen, went on to provide six-string for blues legend Buddy Ace in the ’80s, and has played alongside the likes of Little Milton, Johnny Taylor, and Joe Simon. Safe to say, Mitchell’s got an impressive resumé.

These days your best bet to catch Mitchell in person is here in Austin haunting venues like Antone’s and C-Boy’s, but it’s only been within the past year that Gypsy’s shifted gears towards a solo career. Like a fine wine freshly cracked from a well-aged cask, Gypsy Mitchell dropped the introductory “Movin’ (Down the Highway)” last December and teamed up with Houston institution Paul Wall this January for “I’m Still Standing”, all ahead of his debut Love Is…Infinite, out October 25th, with a release show to follow November 15th at Antone’s alongside Egyptian Lover.

And the LP’s latest lead single “Drive By” is joined by a music video that shows a whole lotta love for Busty’s Bar & Jukebox, making it a must-view for motorheads who haven’t made that pilgrimage yet. Bold talk box toggles the ignition on this soul-funk-rocker, chock full of psychedelic lights, classic cars, grins, and tabletop performances. And in light of the video’s charmingly low-budget production, the tune itself is a rich testament to Gypsy Mitchell’s status as a class act as it cruises through bluesy grooves, gospel-style group vocals, virtuoso instrumental riffs (thanks in no small part to longtime collaborators Zach Ernst (guitar) and Matthew Strmiska (percussion) of Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears), and commanding vocals.

In other words, we sure as hell hope Gypsy doesn’t put things in park anytime soon.

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Outside of theater, choir’s typically stereotyped as the vehicle for churning out stars of the next generation. Which makes sense, since it gives you all the essentials to become a singing sensation: allowing harmony to become a natural instinct, blending your voice convincingly alongside others (even in chorus), and most importantly for future potential, maximizing those big solo moments.

So we don’t exactly need to digress when introducing y’all to Austin-based vocalist Inesse Chichou, better known by her mononym Inesse (and that’s “E-ness” for uninitiated). Inesse began climbing the creative ladder through choir, and following a pivotal performance at Carnegie Hall under choral legend John Rutter, broke that focus to recenter on her solo prospects. In that realm, Inesse’s full-bodied, effervescent, and inherently feminine style falls somewhere between Jazmine Sullivan and Alicia Keys, all the while differentiating her voice from the rest by leaning on the exotic, traditional, and often dark Arabic elements of her Moroccan upbringing.

And after her October 2023 debut, Inesse has been putting the work in for 2024; following up four luscious standalone singles, Inesse dropped her freshman collection It Was Good…While It Lasted just a couple weeks back. Revolving through six cylinders of seductive originals (each produced by a different collaborator), It Was Good…tears down the gate between turn-of-the-millennium megastars and modern era heavyweights for a thoroughly unrestricted R&B-soul experience. Yeah, even though Latin R&B is a Goliath of the industry right now, the acoustic guitar-coated EP ender “On My Way” is a little less Latin American and a lot more south of the Mediterranean. “On My Way” instills a certain sense of sultry urgency, all anchored by GRAHAM.‘s gripping beat that drips with swagger, co-writer Elijah Ford‘s cohesive contributions, and of course, Inesse’s immaculate vocal intervals.

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Scrolling through social media, watching ten-second clips of people’s little circus acts in the comfort of their own natural habitats…it can sometimes feel like a human zoo. So while we’ll never fully encourage those vapid grasps at short-term stardom, anything that detracts from the oversaturated landscape of bland masculinity in the entertainment sector’s worth the price of admission, right?

On that note, today we’re taking a gander at Female Gallery. The Austin-based four-piece sources their rock-meets-dance (dare we say indie-post-punk?) sound from the likes of Paramore and No Doubt all the way to Pink Floyd. But in terms of Female Gallery’s overall brand, the pairing of Queer identity with Latinx roots almost speaks louder than their literal influences.

And after starting off strong with two back-to-back introductory singles in Spring 2022, Female Gallery’s feel-good energy’s set to score the quartet a new force of fangirls with their upcoming debut EP Best Friends Together Forever, dropping just before Halloween ahead of a namesake tour next summer. As if to put a collective foot down proudly declaring their diversity against cis-heteronormativity, Female Gallery pulled the curtain on their latest, “Simon Says”, last Friday. An uptempo, reverb-washed original that effortlessly shifts gears throughout a sophisticated sequence, this four-and-a-half minute affair’s gonna make you forget all about following the leader and instead will get you fueled up to become BFTFs with Female Gallery six weeks from now.

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If you’ve seen Big Wy’s Brass Band, then you’re already hip to the spark that is multi-instrumentalist Wyatt Corder. Furthermore, you’re probably familiar with the fact that Wy’s got high standards for the folks he plays with; if he hand picks you as a performer, it’s a real privilege…especially when it comes to pulling off Amy Winehouse covers.

This is where singer Allisen Hinojosa comes in. Corder and Hinojosa first met as DJ colleagues at KVRX, shared interests in the vintage blues-soul section, got together in 2021 to jam a few times, and soon found success with their Amy Winehouse tribute Back to Black. Back to Black’s still alive and well, but the pair have also begun channeling their chemistry into an original project, aptly titled Allisen & The Wy’s Guys.

The two best bets for which venues you’ll catch Allisen & The Wy’s Guys? C-Boy’s Heart & Soul (where they play 6:30-8:30PM every Thursday this month) and the Continental Club, where they’re staging a two-night takeover. Tonight it’s Back to Black at 11:30PM after openers The Point at 10PM and tomorrow it’s Indoor Creature opening up at 10PM followed by Allisen & The Wy’s Guys at 11:30PM for a single release show.

And the single in question is nothing short of awesome. Absolutely embodying the airtight modern flavors of Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse, “Tell Me (Like A Man)” is yet another benchmark of Austin’s overall progression from the “boring blues” of decades past to the slick, seductive soulscape it is today.

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For well-established acts, keeping faithful to the formulas that first made ’em famous is often the key to longevity. We’re talking AC/DC, legacy acts that dare not alienate longtime fans by trying to fix what ain’t broke. But the big difference between AC/DC back then versus now is how frequently they put out new material. Yeah, for up-and-comers cranking out at least one studio album a year, staying in just one lane ain’t exactly a great strategy.

Like check out Rett Smith, who flexes the nexus between Austin and Nashville. His post-covid discography alone (of one release per year starting in 2020) speaks to Rett’s relentless work ethic. So with that impressive volume of work already under his belt in such a short time, weighing in on the steady shift towards “shoegaze-icana” isn’t necessarily a threat to Rett’s brand at all. No, we welcome the move for its variety, innovation, and evasion of letting Rett’s style get stale.

Sandwiched right in between a free Waterloo Records in-store performance 5PM today and a headliner show 9PM this Saturday at The Mohawk alongside Travesura, tomorrow we receive Rett Smith’s fifth, A Weighted Remorse, in its entirety. And to help give the LP its official green light, “Stop Signs” (and yet another abstract Super 8 music video that evokes the psychedelic side of “Old Austin”) ought to halt any RS haters dead in their tracks. Revving through tremendous dynamic range in just over two minutes, “Stop Signs” is the hard rock equivalent of alternating a souped up muscle car between peeling out and slamming on the brakes while commuting from a love making session to a late night dive bar gig. So just make sure you’re at least attempting to obey traffic laws when blasting Rett’s latest in your car stereo.

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Since the days of Thoreau, we’ve often romanticized the idea of a creativity-spurring wilderness retreat. That’s especially true of Justin Vernon’s illness-evoked cabin sanctuary that ended up being the backbone of Bon Iver’s 2007 debut. But the product in mind doesn’t always have to be so strictly transcendentalist (or even acoustic for that matter) for an “escape to nature” to yield quality results.

Cut to: Logan, Iowa, the stomping grounds of avid skater and ’90s rock connoisseur Michael “Boz” Bosworth. It sure seemed like Logan was the end all, be all location for Bosworth as he settled into a day job and family life…until he split from the routine and trekked out to an isolated cabin in McLouth, Kansas for some extended songwriting sessions. Just as Boz kindled the cabin’s sole source of heat – a wood stove – so did he stoke the flames of his first proper songs with primitive recordings.

A couple summers back, Boz moved down here to Austin and instantly fell in with the thriving music scene. After revisiting those early demos and recruiting a few like-minded musician friends to help flesh ’em out, Bosworth’s finally to share the cabin’s bounty under a new mononym: Mozworth. Mozworth is an amalgamation of Boz’s core interests: the independence so closely associated with skate culture and angsty energy shared by so many pre-millennium rockers…albeit textured by the mature lyrical reflections that could only come from civilization-removed meditations.

And the first polished piece from those cabin correspondences, “Postcard”, arrived in our collective mailbox today. Packaging everything we love about ’90s indie-alt-rock into a four-minute envelope, “Postcard” proudly puts Mozworth’s stamp on these nostalgic sounds, less of a “wish you were here” and more of a “can’t wait to show you more” ahead of his upcoming debut album.

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We’re starting to sound like a broken record over here…but the retro soul renaissance? Not only is it verifiable; it just keeps getting better and better. And one of the movement’s biggest players is back at it again.

We’re talking about Kelly Finnigan, the chief songwriter and class act frontman of psychedelic soul giants Monophonics who’s also found plenty of success on the solo tip. When you hear Kelly sing, you might assume that his pipes are his strongest skillset outside of piano. But even when he’s not behind the mic or the ivories, Finnigan’s become a prized producer and engineer for other soul outfits thanks to his careful flirtations with pretty much anything you could categorize as “classic R&B-soul”, including a deep understanding of old school mixing. Seriously, it’s almost unnecessary to liken Kelly’s compositions and arrangements to specific artists, since his expansive discography offers so much ’60s-and-’70s-inspired variety.

And although we were anticipating the instrumental version of 2022’s Sage Motel for the next installment of Kelly Finnigan’s incredibly consistent release schedule, this year we’re getting something completely fresh: A Lover Was Born, out October 18th. Kelly hasn’t missed yet, and we’re not expecting him to on this near-dozen batch of new tunes. Because where some of the most creative beatmakers have breathed new life into dusty sounds through sample flips, Kelly once again internalizes and rejuvenates those R&B-soul rarities that exist within and enhance said genres.

Hear for yourself on the LP’s second lead single, “Be Your Own Shelter”, and try not to imagine Isaac Hayes and co. nodding their heads in approval.

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Making memorable trip-hop’s not just a matter of slowing down breakbeats, and swapping out rap verses with some reggae-dub bass and exotic-sounding samples. No it’s a tricky tightrope that walks the thin line between sneaky and seductive, mellow and bangin’, and of course, hip-hop and psychedelia. And in our opinion, the tunes with women singers have shown a lot stronger of staying power.

In an ideal example of the “two heads are better than one” approach, dark dream pop singer-songwriter Damascan Daydreams recently teamed up with post-industrial multi-instrumentalist-producer Oddmanrush to create a sprawling, seventeen-minute exploration of that iconic ’90s style. Appropriately titled Archangel, these four originals capture that fall-from-grace vulnerability with a post-pearly gates perspective and ethereal-meets-sinister atmosphere.

In other words, it’s a awesome experience of flawed humanity best experienced front-to-back, or better yet, on-stage and in-person. So catch the pair performing later this fall on November 10th at Hotel Vegas and again on November 15th at DadaLab. And if you’re feeling a little gloomy going back into the workweek, let Archangel‘s sophomore song “People” put you in comparable, Portishead-esque spirits. A real achievement of minimalism, this downtempo trip-trop treat touts simple synth chord progressions, bare bones MIDI drum programming, and vocals that swerve between reverb-enriched and almost completely dry.

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You’ve heard the excuse before. Ya know, somebody spaces on a date, forgets to turn in an assignment, or otherwise just kind of has a minor misstep. What do they say after shrugging? “Sorry, man. Mercury must’ve been in retrograde.”

Sure, scapegoating the cosmos for your own shortcomings isn’t the most mature thing…but neither is naming your band BOO85. After kicking things off last Spring with their streaming debut “Just Friends”, this Austin-based all-girl alt-pop-rock project’s still jigglin’, gigglin’, and making great tunes through 2024. And today BOO85 rounds out the summer by completing the pair that began with this February’s “Heart“.

Coincidentally falling on another astrological Friday after last week’s “Like a Sagittarian Archer”, “Retrograde” sets the horoscope for your weekend with a headliner performance 9PM this Sunday at Sahara Lounge after openers Alexi 8Bit and Jay Wanderer. And this latest original racks up another bouncy bop to BOO85’s already-busty brand with carefree sonics like viscous vocals, a breakbeat-adjacent drum pattern, top-gear guitar and bass work, infectious effects, and sanity-demanding lyrics.

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Here at Song of the Day, we’ve observed a resurgence of classic-style soul in recent years, and reported plenty on it too. As a matter of fact, when Sir Woman’s Kelsey Wilson came by KUTX a couple months back, we had to ask the genre authority whether or not she’s picked up on a retro-soul renaissance. The verdict? A resounding “yes”.

So it totally checks out that one of Kelsey’s Wild Child chums, keyboardist-singer Micah Motenko, is savant of Motown mimicry himself. Well, we should say Micah and his namesake Austin-based quartet Motenko, who’ve been masterfully sourcing inspiration from soul’s golden era for nearly half a decade now. Between their eponymous debut early on in the pandemic and last November’s What You Want, Motenko’s scored some pretty respectable streaming numbers, a trend we expect to continue with yet another fall release – that of their third EP To Grow, out next month.

This extended play foray finds Motenko further embracing the magic of modern production: emphasizing digitally layered multi-instrumentalism on one track before stripping down to an intimate keyboard-vocal duet the next. But the one that takes the biggest advantage of Micah’s vintage variety is the embodiment of a beautiful exchange with his late mother, the EP’s lead single “Free Yourself”. Butter-smooth singing, sultry guitar chords, slick bass work, and air tight drumming make the verses enough to get you feeling emotional, and the addition of falsetto vocal harmonies, soaring orchestral swells, and well-placed pizzicato plucks propel “Free Yourself” to a wholly empowering experience without overstaying its welcome past three fleeting minutes.

And before hitting the road for a Wild Child tour a couple months from now, Motenko makes an appearance 10PM this Saturday at Far Out Lounge in between openers Égaux sells at 9PM and closers Uncle Roy & Spice at 11PM and again Thursday, September 19th at Antone’s alongside Toubab Krewe.

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For a lot of people, when you think of synth pop, you think “inorganic”. You think “artifice”. Which, to be fair, “synthesizer”, “synthetic”…we get it. But despite the constructed character of those modern mood makers, there’s plenty of potential for passion and authenticity in the synth pop sector.

So let’s get into the The Belle Sounds. This morning the five-piece indie-folk-rock family affair unfurled their fourth EP Oh Humanity – a six-song stretch of anthemic hooks, in-the-pocket vocal harmonies, and retro-inspired textures that tastefully recycle the best elements of ’80s pop. And if you want to rock out to the bops in person, catch The Belle Sounds at a double release show 8PM this Saturday at 3Ten ACL Live alongside Ray Prim and Suzanna Choffel.

Still not sold on the heart of this synth pop art? Let the EP opener and title track “Oh Humanity” convince you of otherwise. Because despite its lyrically bleak outlook, its a brief, upbeat piece of pop perfection (anchored by riling arpeggios, killer chords, and pleasant pads) that’ll make for an banging addition to your retro pop playlist.

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Blues is an almost stereotypical staple of the “old Austin” Sixth Street sound. But if you wanna break out of the city limits, let loose, feel unleashed and all that good stuff? Of all the notable places to split from the whole program and make the best of the blues, New Orleans always teeters at the top of the shortlist. So it makes sense that rising NOLA blues rocker Sonny Gullage graced his recently-unfurled debut full-length with the title Go Be Free.

Gullage’s journey began way back as a precocious twelve-year-old writing heartfelt reflections on the BP oil spill. And that ability to translate a complex sense of understanding into readily accessible blues is alive and well a little over a dozen years later as Gullage finally hits streaming. Sure, Sonny leans on fellow twenty-five-year-old Clarksdale guitarist Christone “Kingfish” Ingram for one of the LP’s heavyweights “Worried About the Young”, but aside from that Go Be Free is a fervent, self-fueled endeavor.

The twelve-track (produced by Grammy nom Tom Hambridge) navigates a tightrope of consistency and eclecticism that makes for forty-plus minutes of exceptional blues rock. And like any good blues, Go Be Free also reckons universal suffering with everyday ebullience, as heard on the album’s eponym “Go Be Free”. It rocks. It riles. It’s real as it gets. And we can’t wait to see what this keyboardist-singer has in store for us next.

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You ever notice a name pop up more and more in a music scene, almost nearing non-stop status, and wonder to yourself, “sure just one person can’t squeeze in the time and energy for all this”…only to find out it’s not a sole person after all, nor even the namesake of one of its members? It’s more common a phenomenon then you might expect. And given the big year they’ve had so far, we suspect it’s happened thoroughly for new listeners of a certain Austin three-piece.

So let’s have a lil powwow with Parker Woodland. Named after the local intersection of Parker Lane and Woodland Avenue, this indie-pop-meets-punk-rock trio’s been on top of things since sharing their debut EP The World’s on Fire (And We Still Fall in Love) in early 2021. Already a certified perseverant standout of the Live Music Capital, this September’s set to start off an extra special era for Parker Woodland, as they power through a packed show schedule surrounding their debut full-length, There’s No Such Thing as Time.

Yeah, there’s no time like this week to seek out Parker Woodland in person; they’ll be palling around a VIP vinyl listening party tomorrow, enjoying an in-store performance and record signing at Waterloo Records on Friday at 5, and tearing into a two-part album release show at the Mohawk, 8PM that same sold out evening and again 2PM the next afternoon for a matinee multi-member birthday celebration. Oh, and did we mention the City of Austin’s proclaiming September 12th as Parker Woodland Day next weekend?

The hype isn’t just real. It’s fully warranted and well-earned. But if you haven’t heard why yet…well it’s time to climb up and face the music with the LP’s second lead single (and lyric music video) “Ladder At Your Window”. Major Go-Go’s energy on this one and major kudos to Parker Woodland for propelling themselves this far and presumably well past what’s set to the be the first of many more milestones.

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We don’t want to alarm anybody…but today is the last day to submit considerations for the 2025 Grammy Awards. Congrats to everyone who made the deadline, good luck to those still watching the clock and waiting on the latest batch of masters, and condolences to anyone who plain spaced on the date.

Those in that first category find themselves in good company with David Rosenblad. Which makes sense, since David’s what you’d call “hip to the industry”; on top of his status as a longtime Austin mainstay multi-instrumentalist-singer-songwriter-producer, Rosenblad’s also an accomplished TV-film composer and sound designer, not to mention co-founder of Lotus Rose Healing Arts Center, and owner of both DRM: Sir Reel Sound and local studio Thirteenth Moon. And it’s through Thirteenth Moon (which doubles as a label) that David Rosenblad’s set to break a near-half-decade release hiatus with his next album The Sound and the Meaning.

But back to the Grammys…This morning David Rosenblad enhanced his chances with The Sound and the Meaning‘s first two lead singles: “Enough is Enough” and “Like a Sagittarian Archer”. On the latter, Rosenblad adds some healthy horns to the horoscope thanks to trumpeter Wyatt Corder of Big Wy’s Brass Band and Sir Woman for a truly lively effect. Yeah “Like a Sagittarian Archer” hits a bullseye with ’70s-esque energy reminiscent of Stealer’s Wheel and Harry Nilsson.

Grammy worthy? Without getting specific with categories, we’d like to think so.

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Feeling comfortable just in your own skin is a luxury we often take for granted. Sure, adjusting to a problematic puberty is a fairly common experience, as are life-altering eating habits even later on. But where a good chunk of population at least reaps the benefits of a cis-heteronormative construct, the trans community faces struggles even with a sense of belonging in their own skin, let alone within a still-regressive society.

With that in mind, shift your focus to Locuust. Errrr…actually YoursTruuly. Frankly it doesn’t matter, considering it’s the same person: Austin’s Xóchitl who goes by the aforementioned handles as a rapper and producer, respectively. These dynamic double double-U’s might sound familiar if you caught the Song of the Day spotlight on fellow local hip-hop provocateur Free Hamze a couple weeks back. At just shy of twenty, Xóchitl’s alter egos have already proven remarkable maturity, a saga that continues this weekend with their feature-laden debut full-length, Apparent Incoherence.

Apparent Incoherence is a relentless, risqué eleven-song swarm of poignant candor, crushing beats, clever wordplay and undoubtedly a creative A.I. we can all get behind. You can fall in love with the album live when Locuust and YoursTruuly simultaneously takes the stage 11PM tomorrow night at Hole in the Wall for the release show following openers (consisting entirely of Apparent Incoherence guests) CENSORED dialogue, Kardinal Bloo, Chucky Blk, and khxnid!. And on the LP’s sole “leak” “Acupuncture”, Locuust delivers a lyrical plague that grapples with gender dysphoria and body positivity over YoursTruuly’s Alchemist-esque instrumental, which when combined, provide a thoroughly therapeutic experience akin to the track’s title.

So in light of this week’s forecast, like Locuust says…don’t expect it to “rain in the summer”. But you can expect a downpour of multi-disciplinary talent from this young, unconventional up-and-comer as they enter mainstay status here in the Live Music Capital of the World and far beyond.

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As the birthplace of industry heavyweights like Spoon, indie rock is perhaps the most outspoken apex of the Austin soundscape. But depending on who you ask, indie is undoubtedly one of the safest, most inoffensive sonics rock has to offer, at least in the grand scheme of that genre’s mega-spectrum. But if you want something with a little tougher substance underneath the surface, rock ‘n’ roll that bleeds and induces bruises in the audience, there are some solid options right here in the city limits.

Like Ne’er-do-well. Although it started as the one-man endeavor of singer-guitarist Bryan Rolli, Ne’er-do-well’s leveled up into a fiery four-piece. These all-black fashioned rapscallions thrash around the avenues of arena rock and pop-punk for some truly kickass kinetics. Ne’er-do-well’s live shows are like a spate for your heart rate, something that’s been translated impressively well on their September 2022 debut EP Fun Days.

If you want to face the stage antics for yourself, slide by Ne’er-do-well’s single release show tomorrow night at Valhalla alongside Chancla Fight Club and Subpar Snatch. But if you just need a pop-punk pick-me-up to push you through the mid-week hump, fire up Ne’er-do-well’s third single of 2024, one that preserves the hand-drawn skeleton aesthetic of their visual artwork thus far and keeps the energy at its apogee through a three-minute sprint. Yeah, from its introductory drum fill through its rapid fire verses, melodic choruses, virtuoso solo riffs (both on lead guitar and lead vocals), breakneck midpoint bridge, and explosive finish, “I Want It All” almost sounds like Journey if they’d started at the turn-of-the-millennium instead of the early ’70s, albeit with a lot more of that Green Day-esque adrenaline.

So while Ne’er-do-well wants it all, damn if this new tune doesn’t leave us wanting more.

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We’ll level with y’all. Between Song of the Day and Austin Music Minute, we here at KUTX try our very best to get everybody caught up on new releases and local shows. But, the human beings in a bustling musical metropolis that we are, stuff does slip through the cracks. And especially for our out-of-state neighbors who don’t have regular shows here in town, a late shoutout’s better than nothing, right?

So it’s not like featuring Daniel Nunnelee dawned on us just now. Naw, for nearly a decade now, this Memphis-born Nashvillian’s carved a unique niche for himself in the highly competitive fields of folk and indie rock. When Nunnelee’s not out and about photosynthesizing new inspirations in nature, he’s reflecting, recording, and opening for the likes of Madi Diaz and Austin’s own Shakey Graves.

Nunnelee’s streaming numbers have always spoken for themselves, but between the viral explosion of early 2022’s “Pick and Choose” and the release of Daniel’s latest June, Baby a couple months back, it’s clear that Daniel’s ascended to a whole new level of accessible artistry. Now Nunnelee is currently committed to rounding out his national tour through the start of November, so here’s hoping that his recent 3Ten performance wasn’t the last time Daniel Nunnelee steps foot in our fair city limits (maybe a SXSW 2025 appearance? Fingers crossed.).

Again, though, we’re all about giving folks the flowers they’ve earned. And with that we gotta revisit June, Baby‘s second of ten tracks “Do You?”. It’s almost impossible not to crack a smile throughout the tune’s tree-climbing, forest-frolicking music video but the effect is just as impassioned on the audio alone, should you skip the visuals. And that’s on behalf of a beyond-bright arrangement and instrumental refrain, Daniel’s effervescent vocals that add textures like a beautiful hue of bark, and the perfectly flawed lyrical pairing of love-drunk wanderlust with reality-weary romance.

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As much as we admire an intricate arrangement and a progressive song structure, not every tune needs to tout itself as a pocket symphony. I mean, we’ve already got one “Bohemian Rhapsody”, right? So while house and hip-hop may spring to mind when thinking about repetition, there’s an intrinsic simplicity to other styles of songwriting – chiefly in the acoustic corner of things – that makes “one note” compositions truly compelling.

With that in mind, turn your attention to Nashville’s Anna May. Hailing out of Connecticut, this rising singer-guitarist-songwriter specializes in what she calls “alternative tragic Americana”, an unyielding take on the classic Western sound through intimate intersections of jazz and folk. But despite Anna May’s immersion in the healing powers of meditation, so far she’s refrained from recording anything close to what you’d call a raga in terms of runtime.

That is, until today. This morning Anna May rolled out her lengthiest original to date, “The Show”. At almost eight minutes, the duration might be daunting to those who haven’t already pressed “play”. But rest assured, once you fire up “The Show”, you’ll be fully engaged in the jam. Because not only does it showcase Anna May’s endurance, innovation, and country-adjacent charm on both vocals and six-string, but also the poetic, stream-of-consciousness, and scene-setting lyrics that makes old school blues so timeless.

A bit “one note”? Of course. But intriguing front to back? Absolutely.

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It’s New Music Friday. It’s time to pump some fresh life into your playlists so let’s get straight to it; there’s new stuff from an awesome Austinite and a Howdy Gals-presented release show this weekend to boot. Both of which you might’ve already caught wind of through yesterday’s Austin Music Minute.

Yep, it’s Madison Baker, the sultry songwriter who first cut their teeth with classic country and R&B covers in rural East Texas. For the past half-decade-plus, however, they’ve settled nice and naturally into Austin’s abundant indie-alt-pop atmosphere and earned a respectable following on streaming starting with 2019’s “Champagne Shine”. Outside of the solo front, it’s the beginning of a bold new era for this intimate mood-maker as they launch their “cult country” trio Next of Kin next month with the three-piece’s debut single.

And while Next of Kin ticks the box for Baker’s country background, their newest standalone is a real return to form in terms of their R&B upbringing. Instantly entering the ranks of wonderful “Wannabe”s right up there with Spice Girls, GloRilla, and Megan Thee Stallion, Madison Baker just shared “WANNABE” ahead of a single release show tomorrow night at Antone’s alongside our January 2023 Artist of the Month Skateland and The Past Lives. You’re gonna wanna be there, no doubt. Can’t make it? Well, you can still admire the intricate arrangement on “WANNABE”, one that inspires awe with all-too-relatable relationship turmoil, drum fills that hit you right in the feels, sophisticated chord changes, haunting vocal harmonies, and a ton of other nuances that make “WANNABE” a ripe candidate for repeat listens, well after you’ve already memorized the biting lyrics.

So the next time someone realtively-ill-suited behind the mic brags that they’re a sensational singer, you might wanna politely point to this one and say, “you’re just a Madison Baker wannabe”.

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Earlier this year we helped introduce the world to Austin’s TIGERS EYE and today we’re keeping the marble rolling with their latest. To recap, this Austin four-piece is the passion project of frontman Jeremy Baker, an ex-pat of California’s Cydeways and a recent transplant. TIGERS EYE only made their streaming debut this past March, but in the short time since, have earned their stripes when it comes to stalking the grounds of indie, psych, and surf, all of which capture the silky lustre of their namesake.

If you’re eager to get some Eastside action ahead of the weekend, catch TIGERS EYE 10:45PM tonight at Hotel Vegas alongside Jenny & the Jetts at 10PM, Daymares at 11:30PM, and Killer Kaya a quarter past midnight. The occasion? TE’s third official single as part of the band’s full unreleased eleven-track album, “All We Ever Know”. Between the tune’s anthemic lead guitar riff, verses that slink through the intersection of upbeat and mellow, and choruses so smooth it almost hurts, it’s gonna be tough to break contact with TIGERS EYE’s newest chuff.

And as for the show tonight? Go get ’em, tiger.

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You find an act in town. You fall in love with their music. You start making regular appearances at their shows. And then, sometimes seemingly out of the blue…they quit giggin’. Most of us have been there; it’s more or less a rite of passage for any dedicated scenester. But when that act does make that triumphant comeback? Boy, oh boy, how sweet it is.

So we have fantastic news for lovers of longtime Austin indie rock institution BOOHER: they’re back, babyyy! That’s right, after putting things on pause for both pandemic and personal purposes, the eponymous passion project of Michael Booher finally breaks a near-half-decade hiatus. And with some welcome new additions to boot; alongside guitarist Ben Lance, bassist Evan Crowley, drummer Keith Lough, and multi-instrumentalists Michael St. Clair and Brent Baldwin, this latest era of BOOHER invites A. Sinclair’s titular frontman Aaron Sinclair into the fold as a chief collaborator.

The BOOHER boys have been cookin’, and not just in the Texas heat, but with a handful of bold new tunes that feature both Michael and Aaron in the producer’s chair. They’ll be unfurling some of that fresh stuff 10:45PM this Saturday at Chess Club as part of a triple single release show , following Paul Stinson at 9PM, Intercom Heights at 9:45PM, and Dossey at 11:45PM. And the single in question, “All Out Of Ideas” (with its grungy gauge on dynamic range and a hypnotic lead guitar riff) proves that Michael B. et al. are clearly anything but. And between two more originals set to drop in October and December, respectively, plus an album aiming for streaming next Summer, it’s never been a better time to get behind BOOHER.

To any haters? We say “boo hoo”.

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Buenos Aires. Miami. Los Angeles. All three coastal (or with the latter at least coast-adjacent) metropolises that perfectly embody the breezy, night drive-friendly feel of synth-pop. But no matter where contributions to that style get made, once they’re unleashed, they enter the subconscious for world’s internal ’80s-inspired electronic score, whether you’re attempting to court a provocateur, on the lam from the law, or crushing it on the dance floor.

So with roots in Buenos Aires and Miami plus a current HQ in L.A., Magdalena Bay are some of the most qualified international ambassadors and arbiters of the synth-pop sound. For nearly a decade now, these hyper-stylized partners in crime, music, and romance have soared upward to become a mainstay soundtrack for younger generations. And it makes sense. The duo deeply understands the intricacies of proper pop songwriting and production, and have curated a delightfully DIY visual brand that’s clearly clicked with the Tik Tok crowd.

This Friday Magdalena Bay shares their sophomore full-length Imaginal Disk, ahead of the Imaginal Mystery Tour, which includes a stop at Scoot Inn on September 28th. The official website gives you a vivid idea of the vibe on Imaginal Disk (especially with the interactive roadmap and early-internet aesthetic), as does the music video for the LP’s second of three lead singles, “Image”. Because between effects-drenched Minogue-esque vocals, Moroder-reminiscent instrumental tones, and the overall insanely catchy combo of chords and melody, “Image” showcases one the slickest implementations of synth pop formulas this side of the millennium, even by Magdalena Bay’s standards.

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Over the past three weeks you’ve heard plenty about our August 2024 Artist of the Month Big Bill. But be honest…have you seen them live yet? Because despite the quality of their studio recordings, the real magic happens once Big Bill sets foot onstage to a packed house.

Fortunately for those who haven’t yet witnessed the madness firsthand, KUTX Presents Big Bill next Saturday at the Mohawk alongside fellow recent Artists of the Month Grandmaster and Superfónicos plus Cloud Companion. With a bill as big and eclectic as that, you’re gonna get your money’s worth if you stick around all night. But if those other acts don’t scratch a particular itch, and you’re still on the fence about paying the price of admission just to catch Big Bill at the Mohawk, we’ll let their latest offering do the talking for us.

And that’s on behalf of one hell of an accurate sneak peak: a live music video taken from a performance at the very same venue. Sure, Big Bill’s latest, Strawberry Seed, marks a new direction for the band, but there’s no denying the crowd-pleasing cacophonies of their earlier material. So the two-tune medley of “Hawk” / “Trick Everybody” (from 2022’s Public Freakout Compilation and 2017’s Stand By Your Bill, respectively) goes just as hard as the crusty, claustrophobic house shows of Big Bill’s salad days. With frequent cuts to the crowd, the audience engagement is palpable. And with stylistic choices like non-stop jump cuts (seriously, we don’t envy anyone transcribing this to a shot list), hyper grainy resolution, and extreme close-ups, these visuals feel like they came straight out of a late ’90s skate video. And see all those folks up front meshing in with the mosh? That could be you next Saturday…

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Folk music fosters some of the most wholesome creators. And when you look past the transplant apathy that’s rampant within our city limits, you’re usually reminded of that greater Lone Star State trait: kindness to strangers. So naturally, Texas folk musicians are some of the sweetest people you’ll ever meet.

Perfect example? Grace Roberson, who these days goes by the handle Gracky. The Corpus Christi-born Austinite’s got an authentic affection for entertaining audiences of all kinds; long before she was a regular performer at retirement homes, Roberson was an avid national anthem executant, college cover song curator, and talent show competitor, having even passed through an un-televised American Idol audition. With that many things in one woman’s wheelhouse (on top of a recent songwriting and recording routine), you might wonder, “when does she sleep?!” Well, today we may have gotten an answer.

This weekend Gracky releases her fifth studio single since her streaming debut late last Fall, marking her second original offering of the year. “Up All Night” is an affectionate four-minute piece of acoustic ecstasy, whether it’s paired with those 3AM caffeine beans or your new boo’s band jams. The emotional piano-guitar-vocal arrangement is just begging to be used during a dramatic end-of-Act-II montage, not to mention an endearing reminder that listening to Gracky’s velvety voice, even in small doses, is just as fulfilling as a forty-year relationship.

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Song quality is rarely measured in runtime; as long as it “hits”, there’s no need to wear out your welcome. Like for every “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” there’s a “Song 2” or a “Disciples”, right? Because when you’ve done everything you need to do to make a tune total, and as long as a quick dose of dopamine translates to the listener experience, there’s a real charm to wrapping your originals up into a neat little package. And that’s doubly true when the number of songs you’ve worked on enters the triple digits.

So it’s not a tangent to bring up drummer-gutiarist-singer-songwriter extraordinaire Josh Halpern, better known these days on the solo front as J Halp. Prior to embarking on this one-man endeavor right as the pandemic hit, Halpern had already entered the annals of Austin music legends thanks to his work with Still Corners, Bayonne, Shearwater, and of course as one half of 2010s local legends Marmalakes. When someone’s memorized as many songs as Halpern has, you might think they’ll end up sacrificing quality for quantity. But instead, this multi-disciplinary madman’s shown he can easily translate his godly endurance for jamming into recording room brevity, and sure as hell hasn’t let us down yet.

Well, hot off a performance with Voxtrot at Primavera Fest out in Barcelona, J Halp’s jumping in with his first solo single of 2024, “You Let Me Down”. Clocking in at just under one hundred seconds, “You Let Me Down” is an impressive psychedelic lesson in the less-is-more mindset, one that manages to squeeze in all-organic drum breaks that spill out killer fills, infectiously unhinged guitar, a hypnotic vocal refrain, and instrumental inserts that make the absolute most of their brief appearances. And since a shorter duration does demand more repeat listens, all we’ve left to say is, “well played, Halpern. Well played…”

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Fifty years down the line from its humble block party origins, we can officially classify hip-hop as a legacy genre. And although there are plenty of genre stalwarts who themselves are “over the hill” and still cranking out quality material, there’s no denying rap is a young man’s game. In terms of the latter, it’s especially impactful when the radical energy shared by so much youth gets even more invigorated over a fire beat.

With that, Free Hamze enters the frame. This Lebanese-born Austin-based rapper’s always relished in the exotic Eastern-meets-Western intersection made popular at the turn of the millennium by The Neptunes. And that ethnic-meets-urban international sound is alive and well on Free Hamze’s next record: FREETAPE 4: Renegade Rap – produced entirely by fellow Austinite YoursTruuly, who at just nineteen years old also makes a couple vocal contributions on FT4:RR under their handle Locuust.

Safe to say, it’s a combination that demands to be seen live. And we’re in luck with two opportunities leading up to the weekend; you can catch Hamze and YoursTruuly tomorrow night at DAWA HQ and again 7-9PM this Friday for the EP pop-up release show at the Airport Blvd location of Abe’s Smoke Shop. So to give you a taste of Renegade Rap, turn up the volume on “Two $idez”, which perfectly encapsulates The Alchemist-meets-Benny the Butcher energy of The Plugs I Met that permeates through all of FT4‘s six chambers, ’cause it’s the hardest thing you’ll hear all week.

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Between Elon Musk centering his SpaceX escapades in the Lone Star State and wearing a ten-gallon hat backwards…the dude is trying way too hard to be a “space cowboy”. But for those of us who’ve spent enough time here in Texas, at least those who’ve made acquaintances with a few certified cosmic countrymen, we know that’s bogus. Because from what we’ve witnessed, you don’t need an aeronautics degree nor be the world’s richest man to make a name for yourself as an intergalactic vaquero.

Case in point: Garrett T. Capps & NASA Country. For the better part of the past decade, the namesake chief commander of this San Antonio coalition’s shown an impressive flexibility across the nexus of Tex-Mex, but with NASA Country, it ain’t the “cosmic Americana” sound that so many city-slickin’ hipsters relish in; instead it’s what NASA Country calls “cowboy kraut” – a bit of that bold kraut rock mixed in with high octane southern rocket fuel with thrust support from far out grooves and homegrown folk.

The latest update from GTC mission control? Everyone is Everyone, out October 4th (appropriately on Spaceflight Records). Here we thought we’d heard the full “Shadows Trilogy” saga when People Are Beautiful dropped last September, but turns out the “prequel” has just been waiting for the pod bay doors to rotate and open. On Everyone is Everyone, Garrett T. Capps and NASA Country hurdles past any lingering star child infancy and climbs through the synth-acoustic constellations to new heights with the most adventurous route of “cowboy kraut” we’ve heard to date. And while Everyone is Everyone‘s lead single doesn’t formally launch until this Friday, most of us (particularly that poor pair of astronauts stuck in orbit right now) would kill for some of that Colorado climate right about now (maybe save for the hot springs). So if your dogs are already barking this early in the week, take a load off with “Ouray” – because at just over five minutes it makes for one hell of a smoke break soundtrack, whether you’re on a tour pit stop, taking a much-needed respite from work, baying at the moon, strumming a six-string, or gazing into a loved one’s eyes. Not much more needs to be said about this one other than “awoooooo”.

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Ah, Bossa Nova. That jazzy genre so emblematic of playful times na praia, sandy sensuality, intimate sunsets, and overall just good ol’ fashioned summer fun. But whereas in the ’60s Bossa was the genre every pop artist had to try their hands at, these days you rarely get the fresh stuff outside of Brazil. So when you do hear that distinct South American shuffle, no matter what category it’s camouflaged against, it inspires something extra special.

And speaking of “extra special”, let’s make our way back north of the equator to Marlei. Having only introduced herself to the masses in late 2021, the tides are still rising for Houston-born, Austin-based singer Marlei Dismuke. But even with only four singles to her mononymous handle, Marlei’s eclectic respect for all kinds of sounds, infectiously bubbly personality that instantly translates over her recordings, and engrossingly gorgeous vocals, Marlei’s hooked listeners not just in Austin, Dallas, and San Antonio, but way down in Santiago and Buenos Aires. Clearly she’s doing something right to engage international audiences…

Which brings us to Marlei’s latest. Like a pisces leading a full school towards an ocean of infatuation, “No Matter” casts an Ariana Grande-esque trap-pop net over that classic Bossa guitar rhythm for a modern masterpiece of musical migrations. Rain or shine, “No Matter” sounds good in any circumstance. And concerning Marlei’s laughter through a cautious affirmation of that last take at the song’s final sunset? Yeah, girl. “That was it”, for sure.

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Against the annual challenges of triple digit Texas temps, one AC reigns supreme above all the rest: air conditioning. Well…maybe also the alternating current that makes powering on fans and your Margaritaville possible. Our point is there’s another awesome contender for AC that’s also accessible all-year ’round. That of course is Austin country.

And we try not to take anyone in the Austin country circuit for granted, be they time-tested troubadours or recent up-and-comers like Torin Franklin. Torin’s a truer Texan than many of us city slickers could ever aspire to be, since he was born in Abilene before spending formative time in Corpus Christi and Houston, plus a more recent residence in Austin. Genre-wise Franklin first started off smitten by the folk purity of Bob Dylan and John Prine. But as a die-hard admirer of country heavyweights ranging from Ol’ Hank and Johnny Cash to Townes Van Zandt and Waylon Jennings, Franklin’s lately swapped out his acoustic six-string for a twangy electric and embraced a scorching southern sound on his debut album set to drop next year – For the Birds.

As of this publication, we only have one offering off For the Birds, but boy howdy is it a certified honky tonk two-stepper. Among Torin Franklin’s all-star in-studio accomplices for this record is Chase Risinger – which makes for a bit of serendipity since For the Birds‘ lead single and title track almost sounds like a companion piece to The Pendulum Hearts’ “Lost in Austin”. Yep, “For the Birds” is another lighthearted foray into the forbidden fruit of nightlife and neon that’s all-too-familiar for us here in the Live Music Capital of the World. To prime you for the weekend, we recommend getting sky high, cranking up “For the Birds” so till any flock in proximity chirps out, and pray this ain’t the day your favorite haunt finally pulls in your tab.

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When it comes to asking about major milestones like birthdays and anniversaries (whether it’s a piece of media, a pet, or a friend’s kid), sometimes the answer leaves you thinking, “it hasn’t been that long…has it?”. Well that’s exactly what went down when we recently realized that in 2024 Deer Tick is officially two decades old.

Yes, just like other early-mid-aught memories that feel like they just happened yesterday, we’re amazed that the passion project of these Providence rockers is nearly of legal drinking age. To clarify, we’re not saying anything like “ew these dudes are old and irrelevant now”. No. Quite the opposite. Instead, we’re pleasantly impressed with the endurance of these indie alt-Americana darlings and their ability to try out new formulas and engage changing audience tastes while maintaining much of their signature, twang-adjacent sound – particularly if you keep major musical migrations of the past twenty years in perspective.

And there’s ample evidence beyond Deer Tick’s big list of upcoming headliner tour dates. Just look at Contractual Obligations, album number nine that rolled out a little under a month back. Collating the eight absentees from last June’s Emotional Contracts, Contractual Obligations proves that for Deer Tick, even the stuff that initially ended up on the cutting room floor is worth well more releasing to the masses, and not just as shoddy demos. If you haven’t yet heard Contractual Obligations, we won’t hold you to it (at least not in a binding way). But we do insist you spin the album opener and lead single “Sacrosanct”. Because on top of the high probability it’ll entice you to enjoy the remainder of the record, the sheer quality of “Sacrosanct” makes us reflect on its title; Deer Tick, seemingly determined-as-ever, is simply too vital for the state of modern music to upend anytime soon.

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Bon Iver. Tame Impala. Bright Eyes. Despite not taking the eponymous route, all three started off as a single singer-songwriter’s efforts and have since expanded far beyond their individual founders. Because even if you’re the chief writer, some of the best ideas simply come from a fresh set of ears, right? Which reminds us of another not-so-solo act smack dab in the the Lone Star State: Music of 25.

Music of 25 is a manifestation of handpicked talent on behalf of former San Antonian/current Austinite Travis Pope. It’s been a decade since Music of 25’s humble origins of ad-hoc ideas scrawled onto cocktail napkins and receipts. But by opening up the project to a revolving door of killer players from Central and West Texas plus Southern Louisiana five years down the line, Music of 25’s matured elegantly with the indie rock energy that can only come from heartfelt, in-person collaboration.

So while yes, clearly these things take time, sometimes the wait between initial inspiration and final tracking is too painful to sustain. This takes us to Music of 25’s three-song EP, Messy, out tomorrow. And though a turnaround from the fledgling sketches of Spring 2022 to the NOLA-based trio recording sessions last fall might not sound all that accelerated, we applaud the release’s title for embodying that bit of a rush to capture greatness. Yet we must confess that the quality of content on Messy is anything but.

We’ll pop in the music video for Messy‘s centerpiece “GS Feels” when it formally rolls out tomorrow, but for now, get Messy this Monday with the EP opener “ME”. The honey-sweet arrangement oozes through sophisticated section changes, incredible instrumental interplay, and a highly dynamic hook, not to mention an extended jam-out bridge that tastefully breaks up the tune’s first half from its last. What more can we say other than that “ME” might be just for you.

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Pop culture references in lyrics. True, they’re most abundant in hip-hop where wordplay is king. But no matter what genre, and honestly no matter the overall song topic, hearing an interjection of media consumption really grounds things in reality. It’s candid. It’s unpretentious. It’s relatable.

Following that cold open, we find ourselves in good company with mr.kat. What started off as the solo sadgirl endeavor of singer-guitarist Kat De Leon has since evolved into a quartet, and more recently a three-piece. Considering mr.kat’s debut single only dropped back in 2022, the indie garage pop outfit’s decidedly still in their kitten phase. But in 2024 mr.kat has been cooking! Err…making biscuits.

After their debut EP I’ll Make It, I Always Do from January and March’s devilish standalone “Sandbox Love”, this morning mr.kat dragged “SAW III” onto streaming. This mid-fi masterpiece is bookended by some seriously sinister tape crackling and sprawling with audio verité (organic mouth clicks intact), but production techniques aside, “SAW III” is actually one of the sweetest things mr.kat’s ever released (in this case, more like freed from a cell). Because there’s no better way to beat the blues of unrequited love quite like some good old fashioned torture porn, right?

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Would you check out a Manhattan theatre troupe called “Broadway”? What about a local DJ named “Dirty Sixth”? Or a NOLA band who goes by “Bourbon Street”? While all those hypothetical examples may actually exist, today we’re keeping it south of Travis County with something in the same vein, albeit much more tasteful and mature.

So let’s make our way to Saint Mary’s Street – a project powered by up-and-coming singer-guitarist-songwriter Jake Roberts. Based on Roberts’ moniker, (which refers to a midtown entertainment mecca just a stone’s throw away from Austin), fellow Central Texans have probably already put two and two together that Saint Mary’s Street is from San Antonio. But don’t let any prior experiences on the Strip trip you up when it comes to initial expectations from Saint Mary’s Street, since the on-streaming iteration of SMS is barely two months old.

That’s right; between late May’s impressive introductory single “Already Yours” and the debut album from Saint Mary’s Street (States and Countryside, out September 4th), yesterday Roberts rolled out his sophomore offering (complete with a demo version and B-side counterpart) “Down in the Storm”. Less a literal testament to testy weather and more an emotionally raw response to racial tensions and gun violence, “Down in the Storm” not only showcases Roberts’ intrinsic vocal-and-instrumental talent but his knack for take-it-or-leave it lyrics – which you’ll surely appreciate whether you’re driving out of Greenville, stuck in office, or chilling at home for its sincere pondering of the state of the nation.

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Few instant pleasures compare with the in-person sight of a palm tree. And Arecaceae have become symbolic for everything from tropic and subtropic vacation spots to nature’s simple gifts and resilience against time and the elements. So we think the name’s a perfect fit for Los Angeles duo The Palms – down to their transportive sound, refreshing coastal flavors, and ability to stay relevant.

In other words, we’ve got no qualms with The Palms and we’d much rather bask in their shade than ever toss it their way. Yep, almost a full decade removed from their breakout hit “Push Off”, The Palms have maintained the mellow that made us fall for them in the first place. And they’ve continued to fan us with the same comfy caliber of retro-inspired rock throughout their post-COVID discography, most recently with the release of Wonderland in April.

This weekend The Palms breeze through Austin! Catch ’em at 3Ten this Friday alongside openers future.exboyfriend and make sure you’re an authentic enough attendee by familiarizing yourself with one of Wonderland‘s heavyweights, “Pretenders”. Because the blend of modern psych-pop influences crashing against chillwave-adjacent choices is truly the heart of Palms.

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“Black Sabbath” by Black Sabbath. “Bo Diddley” by Bo Diddley. “Motörhead” by Motörhead. Is there a way to introduce a new band’s brand better than by making your debut song title and project name one in the same?

Well, especially within the proving grounds of bluegrass – where instrumental choices are often near-identical and distinguishing act from act is usually a matter of vocal character – we think it’s a great strategy. And that brings us to Valley Flower. Given our place in the lush Hill Country, you might’ve already guessed that Valley Flower is based here in Austin. But that doesn’t subtract from some member’s out-of-Texas exposure and upbringings in states like Minnesota, North Carolina, and Virginia – worth mentioning since it’s clearly infused Valley Flower with some unique regional influences that help this quintet stand out in the fields of Central Texas bluegrass.

But it’s not like Valley Flower vilifies bluegrass as bland. Instead Valley Flower cross pollinates those iconic Appalachian sounds with the freshest petals of country, folk, and jam. And while gearing for a pair of shows in late August (The White Horse on the 21st and Sagebrush on the 24th), last week Valley Flower plucked out and presented its eponymous debut to the world, which quickly landed in the bouquet of Spotify’s New Grass playlist. And you can hear why. In its earliest moments, “Valley Flower” blooms with a twangy ritardando before launching into an ode for life outside the city limits. And though it may seem like the energy wilts after a hair over two minutes…that’s just the halfway mark. What follows is a classic upbeat string sound, no doubt. But in context of the full composition, it’s plenty enough passion, variety, and instrumental expertise to convince us to keep Valley Flower in our viewfinder leading up to their upcoming inaugural EP.

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Looking to cool off with something super tasty this summer? Austin locals are in luck with an opportunity to sate more than one sense in the same sitting!

And you can thank ALLYSE. for all that. A nomadic military brat and classically-trained singer, ALLYSE. turned ATX into her HQ seven years back, where she’s since lent her vocal and multi-instrumental talents to a pair of pop outfits plus former KUTX Artists of the Month Daniel Fears and promqueen. More recently though, ALLYSE. has spent the past year and a half cementing her solo status as a songwriter-producer in the high-demand pop-R&B sector, having blasted out Billboard-quality originals every few months beginning last January.

But as we mentioned before, ALLYSE.’s latest lists itself on the menu as a multi-sensory sensation. By that we mean at the single release party 4:30PM this Sunday at Jeni’s Ice Cream’s Triangle location, you can try ALLYSE.’s custom ice cream flavor “Sparkling Cherry Pie” while hearing her perform live. And since great taste isn’t limited to your tongue’s buds, and it’s near impossible to spoil an aural appetite, treat your ear’s sweet tooth to “Cherry On Top” – ALLYSE.’s sixth single that’d make Dua Lipa lick her lips and say, “delicious”. Because it’s got all the disco-funk retro-hip-pop sprinkles to make this summer an extra sugary one – each time it pops up on a new playlist.

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Yesterday we praised Queen Serene for their ability to pivot away from pigeonholing their own sound. So in that same sentiment of dodging predictability, today we’re calling on another Austinite who’s kept us guessing: Lizzie Karr.

With a range of inspirations that span from D’Angelo to Ani DiFranco, you can already tell from the get-go that Lizzie’s got a lot to offer in terms of widening sonic horizons. And now, a half decade out from Karr’s summer 2019 start and a mere year since last July’s In Real Life EP, this singer-songwriter’s finally earned some well deserved success that’s reflected in recent streaming numbers, especially last October’s “Bitter Lemon” and early March’s “Light On”.

But we prefaced all this by preparing you for a hard left turn, so here it is. Where late June’s “One Woman Army” corralled itself around Texas country soul, Lizzie Karr’s third single of the year “Honey” drips with turn-of-the-millennium nectar and buzzes around the same beehive of blues rock that gave The White Stripes so much grit. As a disdainful tale of a loud-mouthed attention-seeker, “Honey” sure does have some extra Machiavellian oomph against our current political backdrop. But it stays timeless, because just as folks like Honey will continue to spout the same lies over and over, there’ll always be people like the song’s namesake trying to stick out in society where you’d rather they just stick it somewhere out of sight.

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They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. But in an era where song options are limitless, song lengths are preferred shorter, and attention spans are especially acute, patience rarely proves a virtue for new listeners, which means strong first impressions are still worth fighting for.

On that note, this time around we’ll spare the detailed specifics of how Naked Tungs frontwoman Sarah Ronan ascended to sovereign status of yet another four-piece and instead cut straight to it; Queen Serene will make you question every expectation you have about Austin rock. Because as shown on the band’s eponymous debut eight-track from last Fall, Queen Serene serenades through all kinds of courts – from post-punk, grunge, and shoegaze to progressive time signature switch ups, noise, and even ambient piano-synth instrumental. Which, honestly if you were to make assumptions based on the group’s handle alone, really only that last isolated style might match your initial inclinations.

Queen Serene’s current quest? Perfecting the quartet’s second full-length, set to drop this October. Fortunately this weekend us peasants can score a quick listen to some of Queen Serene’s latest through their single release show 10:45PM on Sunday at Hotel Vegas alongside openers Variety at 10PM and closers Water Damage at 11:30 And particularly in a period where women in leadership roles and limited information rollout have both become hot topics in the headlines, we gotta appreciate this sophomore LP’s sole lead single, “Glowing”, for what it is and in all its majesty.

Eager screeches sporadically burst throughout this near-five-minute headbanger, whose distorted full-band riff is heavier than the Iron Throne ever could be. But in line with their penchant for subverting expectations, Queen Serene regally reshapes the mood of “Glowing” with a poppier verse chock full of pleasant vocal harmonies and strangled lead guitar. The lyric-less bridge-to-outro section is arguably the heftiest part of this heavyweight and sets things up nicely for an immediate re-listen.

But again, based on Queen Serene’s ability to keep us guessing, who knows where this post-hardcore spark will eventually lead us? One thing we’re sure of though; Queen Serene’s about to go medieval on our collective ass.

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Depending on your office’s dress code, you might’ve gotten a sarcastic compliment on your khaki business bottoms. Or maybe someone once gave you genuine praise on a sanguine series of work messages. If not, we’ve got a good reason for the phrase “sweet slacks” to enter your mind and exit your mouth.

And that’s on behalf of Austin four-piece Sweet Slacks, who first got together in 2018. The quartet started off strong with a pair of EPs in 2019, plus a third one the following Fall. That said, Sweet Slacks’ studio output has been relatively quiet on this side of the pandemic, that is, up until recently. See, over the past couple years, Sweet Slacks has really been busting their hump with a series of new singles, all of which pinch the band’s collective inseam and press out the creases for some of their best sounding releases to date.

As we zip up to Sweet Slacks’ upcoming full-length, today we officially hit the three quarters mark of this debut LP’s dozen with “Scratch Off”. Where late June’s “Stitches (1&2)” explored the melodic momentum of pop-punk and mid-July’s “Shine” showed the group’s grasp on sparkly shoegaze, “Scratch Off” is a lucky draw for indie rock purists who prefer a middle ground between those two predecessors. After one hell of an anthemic intro riff that goes on to evenly split this four-and-a-half-minute moseyin’, “Scratch Off” breathes easy with distinct dynamic shifts, where the lowered volume of its verses provides some nice variety its more ecstatic, explosive hooks.

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Poetry. Painting. Tailoring. And that’s all in one audacious Austinite’s regular wheelhouse, without even accounting for their live performance pursuits. Like…save some media forms for the rest of us, sheesh!

While there’s assuredly a ton of people out there who fit that bill, today we’re talking about Austin’s Isis Destiny, formerly Amira Isis Destiny. Since being introducted to guitar and lyrical expression in her mid-tweens, Destiny’s done a damn fine job of drawing others into her multi-disciplinary triumphs – be it dancing, DJing, or anything else to help put on an unforgettable show. On the original music side of things, Isis Destiny’s shown a deep understanding of everything from ’90s neo soul to golden age disco, and weaved those lessons into her own inspiring originals, as heard on last September’s Scorpio Rising EP. And apparently Isis’ inspiration is near endless, since just after returning from her first ever tour, she’s already hopping on something new: an alt-jazz-pop project that goes by The Lover Girls Collective.

Yet once again, that’s not all; Isis Destiny is also embarking on a once-a-month collaborative single release, starting with last weekend’s “R U Mine ?”. Before we hand that off though, we gotta give y’all the scoop on ID’s upcoming gigs: Monday, August 5th at Volstead Lounge as part of the Underground Voices all-girl open mic showcase, Saturday, August 10th at Cozy Canna’s 4th street grand opening, and Sunday, August 11th at Wanderlust Wine Co.’s Barton Springs location. Back to “R U Mine ?”…this shimmering specimen of electro-pop (created in tandem with fellow Central Texan Opera Mauv), flirty synths set the mood for highly refined verse vocals, four-to-the-floor drums, and restless bass. Altogether they swell up to and cool off from the UK garage-style vocal chops and snare shuffle of the tune’s minimalist titular hook in such a way that each chorus drop just seems to go harder and harder.

So go ahead and grab it below; it’s all yours.

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If you’re into Japanese cuisine, you know the fresh fish is the best: the nigiri, the good stuff. And while we wouldn’t recommend going so far from fresh that you end up with surströmming, you don’t gotta be a skater to know that there’s a real appeal going for Stalefish.

Faithful to their name, Stalefish stakes the bays of ’90s/’00s rock that’s defined so much of skating culture. But the Austin six-piece does manage to keep those now-antiquated trucks nice and shiny for modern listeners by reeling in the best catches of modern pop techniques, not to mention cycling between three lead singers. But despite making their mark on the local scene with the release of their debut LP Stalefish Does America, the Texas sextet’s facing some trouble sticking the landing altogether – at least in person.

See, one third of the outfit’s splitting from Austin in the near future. But that didn’t stop Stalefish from seizing the moment and making the most out of their physical proximity while it lasts. To that effect, they’re releasing their sophomore album It’s All Down Here From Hill on August 9th. And following up late June’s lead “The Conversation’s Over”, last weekend Stalefish gave us “Becoming the Square”. It’s got that feel good turn-of-the-millennium love right from the get-go, but with the subtle addition of auxiliary percussion and keys plus a psych-out false ending before the real big finish, “Becoming the Square” reminds us why Stalefish stands out in the sea of otherwise blah alt rock.

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It’s a twofer this Friday! We’ve got a brand new release alongside a weekend show recommendation. And both arrive on behalf of arya.

arya’s not just another dime a dozen bedroom pop Billie Eilish wannabe. No, this Belgrade-born bae is almost overqualified for saturated world of pop-hip-hop-R&B after a decade in Serbia playing classical piano she received a formal jazz degree here in Austin. Still, even in this decidedly contemporary endeavor, arya retains her status as a one woman show – having scored her first ACL Fest appearance and official ACL Late Night Show last Fall.

And speaking of last Fall, following up last October’s “LOVE ME”, today arya shares the second installment from her upcoming EP Insides – a six-song visual album and narrative set for release later this year. In the immediate forecast, arya’s got a free performance midnight tomorrow night at Empire Control Room as part of Hot Summer Nights, where she’ll certainly perform her latest pop-R&B banger, “USE ME”. We wouldn’t be surprised if we heard a sped up/nightcore version of this new one pop up on TikTok, but for us personally, we love the tune’s relaxed tempo. Because it gives plenty of space to breathe between richly textured drums, fat-as-hell synth bass, and arya’s incredible vocals that could end up making Ariana Grande sound more like GoT series finale Arya Stark in comparison.

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Nobody truly makes it “overnight”, right? Sure, with semi-recent innovations like home studios and TikTok the exposure pipeline is more greased than ever. But even then it’s not like the most skilled songsmith just pens something new, gets it tracked, and has an instant hit the very next day. No, you need years of experience, your share of stages to cut your teeth on, and with rare lo-fi exceptions, a high enough production value to put the hook in the masses.

So today we’re doing our part to help fuel the flames for Austin up-and-comer Jon Funnell. Jon’s Cedar Park upbringing was largely spent with his trusty six-string in tow, but only leaned into his songwriting predilection once he became a Red Raider. When the pandemic hit, it apparently gave Funnell little pause; Jon dropped his aptly-titled debut full-length Coming of Age that same and chased it with the following January’s “Late Night”, which has since acquired a quarter million streams on Spotify alone. Now, after six years of gigging around town, Jon Funnell’s teamed up once again with Victor Gaspar of Orb Recording Studios to produce his finest-polished piece of work to date.

For someone whose tastes were still developing when Demon Days first dropped, you can instantly hear the Gorillaz influence on Funnell’s latest single, “BREAKAWAY” that dropped earlier this week. Between water smooth synths, airtight drums, and Damon Albarn-esque vocals that recall an East Austin nighttime extravaganza that sandwich a super catchy chorus all in two-and-a-half minutes flat, yeah…”BREAKAWAY” may just end up being Jon Funnell’s breakout.

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If you fancy yourself as a rock and roll historian, there’s a high likelihood that you already know the name Jesse Malin. One of the earliest purveyors of the New York hardcore sound, Malin began mounting his place as a pop culture icon in the ’80s with Heart Attack before becoming a glam punk powerhouse in the ’90s as singer of D Generation. Malin went solo at the turn of the millennium and has since shared a stunning nine full-lengths.

But longterm success rarely comes without significant hurdles. Last May Malin suffered a stroke that left him paralyzed from the waist down. All things considered, Jesse’s doing okay; he’s gaining strength in his legs and on a daily regimen of physical therapy to get him back onstage doing what he loves the most. That’s of course a costly endeavor, so thankfully those who’ve felt Malin’s impact are giving back in a big way. And that’s through Silver Patron Saints: The Songs of Jesse Malin – out September 20th.

With all proceeds benefitting Jesse Malin’s Sweet Relief Fund, this loving tribute album pulled in heavy hitters like Bruce Springsteen, Lucinda Williams and Elvis Costello, Dinosaur Jr., Spoon, and so, so, so many more. Including some more modern acts who can dutifully introduce Malin’s immense work to the younger generations. By that we’re referring to industry darling Jack Antonoff’s indie pop project Bleachers, who brought a super fresh take to the Glitter in the Gutter cut “Prisoners of Paradise”.

So if “Prisoners of Paradise” captivates you and you want to help with Jesse Malin’s recovery, pre-order Silver Patron Saints on vinyl.

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Let’s say you get selected as a live band member for a certified star…when you’re also scoring for high profile streaming networks and constantly trying not stealing the spotlight as a session musician. Yeah. Chances are, you’re pretty good.

So let’s look at Caleb Veazey – reared here in Austin but now based out of Northeast Los Angeles. Caleb spent a couple years backing KUTX favorite Jess Williamson on vocals, guitar, bass, and synth and continues to receive praise from Jess for his strong songwriting. And on top of providing original scores for the likes of Netflix, Hulu, and Disney, early this year Veazey had the privilege of playing alongside jazz icon Bennie Maupin. As a gun-for-hire, that’s a rap sheet that speaks drastically to Veazey’s versatility and talent.

About a month and a half back, Caleb Veazey unveiled his sophomore full-length, Movie Stars & Politicians, an LP that leaps across modern jazz, indie, pop rock, and dare we say proto-punk. Yeah, aside from individual song similarities to Flaming Lips and Elliott Smith, “Teleprompter” channels the raucous, unrestrained aura of mid-late-’70s CBGB – somewhere between T. Rex, early Devo, Richard Hell, and New York Dolls. It’s unhinged. It’s awesome. And even if you don’t know the words after a few listens, you’ll definitely know your start cue to wig out when the guitar solo kicks in.

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You might’ve caught last Thursday’s Austin Music Minute on Lord Buffalo. But even if you did, it’s a record release worth shouting out again.

You see, this Austin quartet’s been grazing across in the psych-Americana range for a dozen years now – spanning from their 2012 eponymous EP, their 2017 eponymous full-length, and their early pandemic installation Tohu Wa Bohu. And if you couldn’t tell from that last listed entry, Lord Buffalo’s got a real way with words.

Well, true to LB’s latest LP title (which translates to “all at once”), Holus Bolus gives you a bit of everything – post-punk, psychedelia, blues, and of course, Americana – across seven songs mixed and mastered by Danny Reisch and Max Lorenzen, respectively. The record dropped last Friday, just a few hours after Lord Buffalo wrapped up a release show at 13th Floor. But now that Lord Buffalo’s on the road and building up a new herd of listeners on a month-long national tour, we don’t want their hometown fandom to go the way of the…well…do we? So it’s best to set aside the full thirty-eight minutes to appreciate Holus Bolus front to back and uninterrupted, starting with the album opener, title track (and music video), “Holus Bolus”. Walking on water, banging drums against barren landscapes, shredding fiddle in the thick of the woods, curious coyotes, and enigmatic prisms – each cresting across dunes of heavy desert rock? Yeah, “Holus Bolus” has it all.

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Self love. Loss. Disco balls. You’ll feel the freeing energy of all three across two neat little packages later this year.

We’re talkin’ about Austin’s secret soul weapon, Sir Woman. This week Sir Woman broke the news about an upcoming twin release – two full-lengths set to drop this fall – If It All Works Out and If It Doesn’t. The gemini finds Sir Woman in top shape, and marks the first time Kelsey Wilson‘s facilitated some full-band co-writes, ultimately the closest experience to emulating their live shows we’ve received to date. Speaking of live shows, Sir Woman performs this yin-yang across two nights at The Parish on Saturday, July 20th and Sunday, July 21st. And if you really want to do your homework ahead of those shows, check out an extensive interview with Sir Woman’s Kelsey Wilson from yours truly.

But let’s get to this new stuff. While the Burt Bacharach-style, ’60s-swing arrangement of “Who You Gonna Love” perfectly captures the carefree essence of If It All Works Out, its counterpart “Never Gonna Give Me Up” tackles the realist-optimist attitude of If It Doesn’t. A luscious groove from its first snare fill all the way through its tambourine-conga outro, the track’s titular vocal refrain is so damn easy on the ears. And with in-the-pocket vocal harmonies, progressive-soul intersections of piano and organ, plus some tasty breakdowns, Sir Woman’s sense of soul reaches the summit of jazzy classiness, and selective rejection’s never sounded so sexy.

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Ready for something brand new? We got you! Take our paw, lean back, crack a clam open on your belly, and float downstream with some fresh ATX talent.

Introducing Margo Scout. This the inaugural indie rock project of Austin singer-songwriter Rachel Pierron, who just graduated from UT. So sure, Pierron may still be young. But with Margo Scout’s basal offering, Rachel’s shown wisdom well beyond her years – not just in terms of songwriting expertise, but indeed deep understanding and authentic empathy.

So it’s with great pride that we premiere Pierron’s very first studio single, “Otters”. Taking inspiration from toxic relationships impaired by codependency, chemical addiction, and emotional instability, “Otters” aren’t so cute and cuddly in this all-too-human context. Liquid guitar riffs, distant shimmering keys, and babbling percussion patterns paddle perfectly alongside the drowning imagery of Pierron’s pained-yet-powerful vocals. And especially after the fragile piano-vocal duet outro of “Otters”, our hopes are about as high as they get for Margo Scout’s future musical prospects.

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Feeling the heat and humidity outside for just thirty seconds confirms it: we’re well past the season of birds and bees. Yet even as cicadas steal the atmospheric spotlight with that iconic, steamy soundscape of theirs, birdsongs never really go out of style – Cindy, ornithological vocalizations, or otherwise.

So let’s talk Passiflora. Having only released their debut EP eponymous last March, this Austin three-piece (who performs live as four with the addition of bass) is still only a nestling with a handful of tracks to their name. But their jazzy juxtapositions of neo-soul and alt-R&B (not to mention, all around just great hair) have made Passiflora into sensuous Central Texas vibe – one that we could easily see Erykah Badu getting behind.

And as we endure this summer’s early trials, Passiflora have teamed up with producer Rafi Rosenthal to incorporate something new into their aural aviary: synth. Passiflora’s resting up from last night’s release show at Community Garden, but their latest single, “Backyard Birds”, is only just now spreading its wings. And boy oh boy does it sure beat the raucous squawks of H-E-B Hancock’s ever-growing grackle plague. Over the course of this new tune’s four-and-a-half minutes, you might just dissociate enough to confuse the ground with the sky, thanks to subtle shifts from muffled MIDI programming to airtight physical drums, featherweight vocals (complete with some surprise processing), and guitar grooves that carry this musical migration all the way to the horizon.

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When you look past the vast sea of love lyrics out there, songs inspired by natural phenomena are just about the greatest equalizer across music’s history. And it makes sense; there’s something so primal and timeless about evoking the rumble of thunder, the whip of wind, or the roar of the ocean. Sure, you can point to jazz or blues as place for many a rainy day refrain, but if we’re talking about a truly bucolic bond to nature, even in modern digital times, folk really relishes in reflections on the weather – be it good or bad.

Yes there are plenty of youngsters who appreciate that longstanding tradition, but here in Austin we’re doubly lucky to have a two-and-a-half decade veteran who clearly “gets” what makes folk tick – Amy Annelle. Going back to 1999’s Which One’s You?, this singer-guitarist (who also once went by The Places) has made her largely-percussion-less, Muir-esque musings a delight to listen to, whether you’re in the midst of a midday picnic or a weekend-long hike through the nearest national park. On top of a provably popular take on Townes Van Zandt’s “Buckskin Stallion Blues”, Amy Annelle’s rightfully earned opportunities to work with folk legends Bill Callahan and Daniel Johnston, and corralled her own octet of handpicked Austin talent to help enhance her transportive originals – The Velvet Hand.

Fortunately in 2024 Amy finds herself on the other side of a long struggle with chronic illness. With her health back in good shape and the life lessons of those tough years under her belt, Amy’s eager to pay that array of recent experiences forward with The Toll, out August 2nd. With the help of The Devil Makes Three’s Cooper McBean on production, Neko Case engineer-producer Darryl Neudorf on mixing, and industry icon Greg Calbi handling the master, The Toll is a one dozen offering of fine-tuned folk that sounds as pristine on home stereo as it would strumming and humming in a dilapidated deep woods cabin. At the tail end of this month, Amy Annelle’s set to play The Toll in full for the album release show on Saturday, July 27th at Scottish Rite Theater alongside opener Creekbed Carter, benefitting Communities For Recovery. But now that that’s in the forecast, let’s get back to nature.

One of The Toll‘s two originals that engage with the gargantuan aura nature wields over us all, the LP’s third lead single “East Texas Son” arrives especially poignantly as Tropical Storm Beryl leaves millions of fellow Texans without power. From flowing rivers and raging hurricanes to hungry quicksand and breezy, burning thunder, the ominous lyrical precautions of “East Texas Son” are elegantly offset by an optimistic orchestral, acoustic arrangement, one that reminds us of the healing power of nature, even after a catastrophe. But it’s also the sound of a seasoned songsmith returning to form at the top of her game.

Is that thunder you hear? No. It’s our applause for Amy Annelle.

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Short attention spans and TikTok sensations. That’s one of the biggest pairings in modern media today. So you can’t really blame younger creators for taking the quantity-over-quality approach and just cranking out singles, essentially playing a numbers game for potential traction. But let’s be honest. You’d rather hear something from a patient perfectionist than an enthusiastic opportunist, right?

That brings us to Karima Santi. Santi’s spent her life developing into a prolific songwriter, but found herself at the tail end of her twenties with only one single on streaming to prove it, a revelation that she wasn’t getting any younger, and a desire to take action instead of wondering, “what if”. Ever since, this Nigerian-Austinite’s honed in on a relationship with stalwart producer Chris “Frenchie” Smith to further flesh out Santi’s very best and package them together as a cohesive formal introduction.

And that takes the form of Karima Santi’s debut EP, Queen of Regret, out September 13th. A six-song reckoning with the problematic perfectionism that’s prevented so many from hearing Santi’s talent, Queen of Regret is a measured acceptance of human flaw, intrinsic to the type of vulnerable indie rock Santi’s always excelled at. So while physically visiting the state itself doesn’t sound all that appealing in the midst of another summer heatwave, the EP’s latest lead single “Arizona” transports you to Queen‘s immense emotional landscape and earns its place among other great women indie rock compositions with location-based song titles, like Mitski’s “Valentine, Texas” and Maggie Rogers’ “Alaska”.

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Craving some musical soul food for this weekend? Treating yourself to some Foxglove ought to be a good fit!

Since 2022 this Austin six-piece has scattered their musical remedies through fields of funk, soul, and R&B alongside forays into indie and hard rock. And as heard on last October’s Ephemeral Daydreams EP, Foxglove forgoes the generic formulas in favor of authentic, moving passion pieces.

They’ll be taking the stage as part of the Happen Twice Showcase 8PM tomorrow night at Güero’s Taco Bar, where their handful of recorded tunes will be joined by Foxglove’s latest newcomer: “Sunday Highs”. There are a lot of moving parts to this single; how it starts sure ain’t how it ends. But the complex song structure of “Sunday Highs” alone speaks volumes to Foxglove’s versatility, not to mention how well each member’s talents play off one another in this sprawling five-minute emotional journey.

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Happy Fourth of July! As with every Independence Day, you know people are gonna be celebrating loudly, music blaring. If you’re set to watch fireworks from Lady Bird Lake, from experience we can expect a cacophony of sonics from the sea of individual bluetooth speakers. But by and large, across the Lone Star State, we’re foreseeing another July 4th full of country tunes. And while we recognize that country is often stereotyped as that blindly patriotic genre, that stance does overlook all the human nuance and contrasting aspects of American culture that songwriters have innovated with over the decades, no matter how ranch-ready their fashion may be.

So to commemorate our nation’s birthday, let’s crack open a couple cold ones with a handful of righteous DFW dudes – Counterfeit Cowboy. Despite their deceptive handle, these five fellas are actually pretty damn authentic in the Americana country corner of things, as heard in their still-limited discography that just kicked off this May. And we’ll CC y’all on Counterfeit Cowboy’s upcoming couple of live local shows – 8PM on Monday, July 29th at Hole in the Wall and again 8PM the following Monday, August 5th at Sagebrush.

But back to the big holiday. If egregious intake is in the cards for you, number one: enjoy responsibly. Number two: pair your favorite cooler pick with Counterfeit Cowboy’s second ever single that just dropped last week, “20 Beers”. Sure it’s a few shy of a full case but at just short of four minutes, “20 Beers” sates with a “Bad Baby”/Sarah Jaffe type chord progression and the soulful inclusion of wide vocal harmonies, bongos, and keys, all of which will make you want to sip united with your fellow statesmen rather than hog all the cans for yourself.

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What happens when you possess all the technical prowess to make a modern record and a newfound abundance of time, but you’ve never tried your hand at music? Best get crackin’, right?

At least that’s the backstory behind Austin producer Scott Osborn, better known by his creative alias The Brothers Burn. Sure, Scott’s already in his sixties, but that hasn’t stopped this retiree from swinging for the fences – with a personal goal to crank out this generation’s Speaking In Tongues, Wild Planet, or even Demon Days. And those big three give you a great sense of The Brothers Burn’s style, pop and funk with a little bit of a electro and lot of party appropriateness, which we’ve heard plenty of since The Brothers Burn’s Christmas 2020 debut.

But at his age, Osborn’s also got the wisdom to know not every song needs profound lyrical inspiration; you truly can just say “life sucks sometimes” and hit record. Case in point: The Brothers Burn’s latest single that hit the proverbial pavement this morning. Channeling that electronic adjacent, mid-late-’90s/early millennium aggression in the ilk of Korn, Linkin Park, or Limp Bizkit, “Stepped In Gum” is somewhere between a spiritual successor to “Break Stuff” and a cut track from the Blade II soundtrack.

So Scott, where’s the vampire rave at?

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Remember that expression “in the house” that was used to show enthusiasm about someone or something’s presence in close proximity? Yeah, you don’t really hear that one much anymore in the 2020s… But if you do want something that’s retro without sounding dated, deCasa is sheer delight.

Since 2019, deCasa’s Ricky Santiago-Cruz has incorporated his Puerto Rican upbringing into this Austin solo project with effusive flavors of funk, soul, hip-hop, and reggae for a breezy, inner-city-meets-remote-island vibe. On top of that, this Caribbean Cowboy’s the head honcho of his very own label, the emerging Rock Bottom Cartel. And with the added experience of playing alongside KUTX favorites Mobley and The Bright Light Social Hour, Santiago-Cruz has mastered the art of moving the crowd as deCasa.

Speaking of which, ahead of an open invite free house party on Saturday, July 20th (DM Ricky on Instagram for all the deets), last week deCasa rolled out a soulful, synth-y piece of daytime disco. So if you wanna start shit on the dance floor without breaking too much of a sweat, “INSTIGATOR” is short, sweet, and begging for rhythmic feet with a relaxed uptempo energy that doesn’t sacrifice the accessibility of its slick, Jamiroquai-esque grooves.

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Rhythm, melody, and chords. Those are what make the language of music universal. And that’s why even if we can only sing along phonetically, we still appreciate the beauty of a tune, no matter what tongue it’s in – no subtitles necessary.

So let’s talk Rulitos. The Chilean-American multi-instrumentalist-songwriter behind this curly-haired handle is Daniel Sanchez, who first earned local familiarity through his electric guitar work with Austin quintet Turtle Pond and original scores for dance productions and films. And no doubt those multifaceted experiences (especially aligning movement and emotion with music) have helped Sanchez’ strength on the solo front as Rulitos. Seriously, Rulitos soars with an atmospheric acoustic folk aura that makes him sound like the bilingual, Spanish-speaking love child of Nick Drake and Elliott Smith for a wholly transportive effect, and when you hear his recent recordings, you know we’re not exaggerating.

Speaking of such soft sensations, Rulitos’ introductory collection of cuatro canciones, EP 1, is out tomorrow. Rulitos will be taking these new numbers to stage for a free EP release show tomorrow at Vaquero Taquero alongside Fuvk, Sprig, and Cloud Companion and again Saturday evening at Coral Snake with Pam Reyes and Other Vessels. Ready to wrap your fingers around EP 1? Luckily the record’s lead single “Envuelto En Tus Uñas”, is the polar opposite of nails scraping on a chalkboard; minimalist MIDI drum patterns massage unhurried acoustic guitar arpeggios underneath ethereal layers of breathy vocals and a pseudo-orchestral climax to create a serene en Español scene that’ll leave you thinking, “que linda es” to say the least.

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If you want quality culture here in Texas, the surname Franklin has been shown to be a strong indicator. There’s BBQ pitmaster Aaron Franklin, The Suffers’ frontwoman Kam Franklin, and…native Austinite Sam Franklin.

This producer/engineer/songwriter’s been formally doing his solo thing since the mid twenty-teens, and if you check out his streaming numbers on Spotify alone, they’re far from shabby! Although his style is mainly anchored at the bay of indie pop rock, Franklin (with his fervent falsetto vocals, multi-instrumental mastery, and proven understanding of pristine mixing) actually has some dang good range; Franklin keeps his formulas fresh with elemental forays into trap, R&B, soul, and breakbeat.

But today Franklin returns to his forte of radio-ready indie rock with Sam’s latest standalone “Blanket”, that just as he describes is, “kinda like Weezer meets Dayglow”. At least we can hear it. It’s got that eponymous blue debut guitar distortion setting the mood, infectious lead refrains and lyrical vulnerabilities that give Rivers Cuomo a run for his money, and that emo-adjacent emotional weight that makes folks like Sloan Struble and Sam Franklin such accessible streaming darlings.

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What’s that old stereotype about the acting hubs of L.A. and New York? Oh right. Every server you meet is actually an actor who’s just waiting tables ’til they score that sweet screen time. Which is fairly different from music hubs like Austin, where success is less about streaming numbers and more about overcoming artist multiplicity to make yourself stick out amongst the crowd. Yeah, the dissonance between the “Live Music Capital of the World” and status as one of the most expensive places to live has pretty much guaranteed that if you’re not in a corporate role…there’s a fifty/fifty chance you’re also a musician in your free time. And if you can find a profession that matches your passion, more power to you.

Take people like JC Barrett. If you’ve attended any of the events from the recently-wrapped 2024 spring season of KUTX’s Rock the Park live series, you’ve heard Barrett and his fellow Werd Company engineers making our featured artists sound mighty fine out at Mueller. But outside The Werd Company (which, full disclosure DOES serve a sponsorship role for Song of the Day), Barrett applies that technical prowess and tremendous passion to his Austin project Painterly. Serving as chief producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Barrett’s already steered this indie pop three-piece through an enthusiastic introduction, culminating in Painterly’s debut EP from last April, What’s the Year?

Last Friday Painterly unfurled their latest single and music video “Ok/Alright”. As the stylized title implies, it’s somewhat of a two-parter with a bit of a left turn in its final minute. But don’t get thrown off by the “blah” aspect of the words themselves in the title. Because “Ok/Alright” is actually an awfully optimistic piece of indie pop, one that’s an actually an endearing testament to the comforting power of love and connection in the face of day-by-day medicated malaise.

So if the Monday blues have got you down, cheer up. It’ll be Ok. Alright?

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Yesterday was the summer solstice, not that you’d be able to tell with how grey and rainy it was. So to complement this week’s inclement weather, we’re getting a little foggy this Friday. And that’s on behalf of Fogwood.

Down to three members from the original four we heard on Fogwood’s eponymous 2022 debut, this Austin outfit lets their multi-instrumental imagination run loose with players alternating between guitar, keys, synth, mellotron, cello, and theremin. In doing so, Fogwood almost obscures who’s playing what and when, which is ultimately an ideal for their meditative, transformative, and free associative electronic instrumental arrangements.

Well, just in time for the summer solstice, Fogwood and the celestial elements aligned with the release of their sophomore full-length Inner Chambers yesterday. True to its title, Inner Chambers is a cavern-deep sonic experience that expands more than you may expect, albeit with no tight squeezes spoiling transitions between the seven intriguing tunes. They’re all great. They’re all weird. And they’ll all fill you with a feeling of awe. But we’ll give a special shoutout to Inner Chambers‘ centerpiece “The Mystic Valley” for its percussion-less, Philip Glass-esque arpeggios and atmospheric pads that almost sound like a cut track from the Koyaanisqatsi soundtrack.

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In the casual hookup community, even lovers with the highest body counts (especially those outside cis-hetero norms) might agree; it’s not size, shape, presence, or lack of specific anatomical features that make the biggest impression after the act. No, the quality of your “bits” may actually come second to a sense of enthusiasm when turning what could’ve been a vapid interaction into an unforgettable encounter. You know…”the motion of the ocean” and all that.

Sorry. We’re not trying to give anyone the ick. We just needed a little foreplay before introducing you to Subpar Snatch. First off, “Supbar Snatch” ain’t a bait-and-switch…like if a middle aged man named Richard were to go by “Mid Dick”; check their labian logo lest you misinterpret the band’s handle. Secondly, this Austin ménage à trois of mania and talent has managed to standout in the turbulent world of punk and garage shows which, whether in liminal concrete spaces or on sticky dive bar stages, are usually messy encounters full of technical missteps, sloppy techniques, hair getting caught in things, and performances so short they often climax before the crowd’s hardly half-cocked.

Haven’t slid into Subpar Snatch live in concert yet? Let ’em satisfy you this Pride Month with a gig next Wednesday at Still Austin Whiskey Co. for Gay Heat: Benefit for Equality Texas and a single and music video release show 11:30PM tomorrow night at Chess Club, with openers Sunspite at 10 and Bat Lips at 10:45, plus closers Hell Fury a quarter past midnight. And that new single, “Juicy Booty” is one of the trio’s most aggressive and accessible to date. With a pristine mix that preserves that in-garage gusto, a start-and-stop instrumental riff that’ll make you pull something in the pit, a half time bridge breakdown that edges towards a big finish, and individual intensities that layer together perfectly, “Juicy Booty” is a succulent, stimulating testament to what makes this three-piece anything but subpar…and why denying naughty song titles is plain asinine.

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Happy Juneteenth! While it’s now a national holiday, it’s always been a celebration here in Texas, where historically Black hubs like Houston were notified of the Emancipation Proclamation and the Civil War’s end later than the rest of the states.

And it’s Houston that gave us our July 2021 Artist of the Month Daniel Fears. We’ve already gushed about Daniel a ton, chiefly around his Frank Ocean-esque vocals, sophisticated sense of liquid R&B sonics, and seamless transitions between trombone and piano. These days Daniel’s a household name all on his own, but that couldn’t’ve happened without all his time spent as brass-for-hire in the neo-classical circuit.

That neo-classical element recently had a real full circle moment with the release of Close To Home a couple weeks back. Recorded live at KMFA’s Draylon Mason Music Studio, this six-song session presents Fears’ passionate compositions in an unforgettable orchestral way, one that simultaneously emphasizes Daniel’s individual talents as well as the importance of thorough, thoughtful arrangements. Well, just in time for Juneteenth, there’s a screening of If They Took Us Back (the score for which Daniel contributed to) alongside a special solo concert appearance 7PM tonight at The Paramount Stateside.

That said, if the high chance of thunderstorms has you considering couch lock for this evening, transport the Draylon Mason Music Studio to your living room stereo with the Close To Home cut of “Home”. Because everyone has the right to feel at home, no matter who they are.

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We’re right at Pride Month’s midpoint, so just as a refresher: no matter how you identify, be proud of yourself! At the same time, it’s worth acknowledging our place in a progressive city, a quarter century into the 21st, because not every Queer person’s been blessed with those privileges; more often than not, it’s a real struggle for acceptance that ends with the ostracized eventually splitting town.

Like, look at singer-songwriter-pianist Luke Smith. After spending time in Seattle with outfits like St. Yuma and Westmoreland, Smith has cemented himself within our city limits, where he (with the help of his backing trio) dropped his debut LP The World Is Such a Beautiful Place a month back. Not the biggest transition in terms of migrating between musical hubs, but growing up Queer in rural Oklahoma was obviously a much different story.

And as a matter of fact, that was the basis for Smith’s own fictional retelling of events, “Jimmy”. Wrapping up the The World…‘s first act, “Jimmy” maintains the LP’s mellow keyboard core and sense of cautious optimism against oppressive realities, in this case delivered from the perspective of an estranged sibling. It’s a poignant addition to an already-powerful album and a beautifully bleak interpretation of how much pain can come from a loss of belonging.

So remember, make others feel welcome around you. Otherwise you might end up making them leave. And there’s no need to put extra pain on anyone else’s plate in this perfectly flawed planet.

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In the world of singers, acting cutesy doesn’t necessarily negate sophistication. Like, we’ve seen a lot of success in going north of mere infantile novelty and co-opting that puppy love naivety in a way that’s accessible to all age groups. And while we can point to a major movement of such with jazz-pop hits from the ’40s through ’60s, it’s especially true post-Ariana Grande’s impact on our modern musical environment.

Just ask Alexi 8bit. This Austin multi-instrumentalist-producer just wrapped up last month with her sophomore EP Softy. Between Alexi’s pink dress, ribbons in hair, and oversized teddy bear on the album artwork and track titles like “Dreaming From My Childhood Bed”…yeah…there’s some extremely girly energy engulfing Softy on first glance. But past that surface level aesthetic, when you actually sit down and listen to this thing, it’s clear that no one other than a grown ass person could accomplish something so mature. I mean you can’t score an ongoing residency at Fairmont Austin’s Room 725 lounge without having ample class, right?

And you don’t have to identify any which way to be moved by Softy‘s five-song selection either. So before you celebrate Pride Month with Alexi and the full 8bit band on Sunday, June 30th at Cheer Up Charlie’s, kick back with the cool keys, expertly-executed vocals, bear-hug-big harmonies, and comforting lyrical company of the Norah Jones-esque “You Don’t Have to Be Alone Anymore”.

I’m not crying; you’re crying.

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Depending on who you ask – a coworker, a friend, or a family member – they’ll all have slightly different takes on your “character” based on previous interactions and observations. But what about those parts of our identities that never reach the surface? Those personality traits that stay buried deep within us?

Well, we won’t pretend to be experts on your psyche. But we will point to some folks who are fascinated with those covert personas. And that’s Molecular Steve. Don’t be fooled by the name; it’s not a solo act. Instead, what started off as a father-son endeavor has expanded into the Austin nine-piece it is today, full of close knit bonds compounded by a shared creative drive. This atomic family affair’s still in a fledgling phase, but you wouldn’t be able to tell just from the caliber of their existing material.

Following up last month’s introduction “Heavens to Betsy”, today Molecular Steve takes another small step towards their eponymous fourteen-track full-length, set for release July 19th. All about unearthing those beasts within, Molecular Steve‘s second lead single (and music video) “Wolfman” is a sonic silver bullet that pierces through bluesy layers of cosmic Americana and indie psychedelia.

Howl yeah, Steve. Put us down for a spot in the microscopic pack.

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Random acts of kindness: we can’t recommend ’em enough. Because it’s those little gestures you catch in the wild that help us make new connections (no matter how brief or passing), break past malaise and monotony, and recognize the world as a more compassionate place. And new connections are also a key component to what makes The Wild Kindness one of a kind.

We wouldn’t call The Wild Kindness’ frontman Mike Alexis a wunderkind, but we do give him kudos for evolving his former Bay Area solo act into the five-piece it is today by recruiting some of Austin’s finest, post-relocation. Now, a dozen years down the line from TWK’s debut Coming Down to the Ghost, this quintet’s cemented itself among the city’s chief chamber rock projects. No, it’s not like their compositions are contrapuntal, convoluted, or anything; it’s just the welcome inclusion of orchestral elements like strings, brass, and woodwings that really makes these jangly arrangements stand out in the artist-flooded field of indie rock.

Well, comin’ up in a couple days, The Wild Kindness has one heck of a weekend in store. They’re sharing The Blind Trust this Friday, followed by a free EP cassette release show 8PM this Saturday at Drinks Backyard alongside The Heavenly States and Great Howl. But you don’t have to put your faith in The Blind Trust strictly on our word. Because the album’s lead single that dropped last October, “No One Belongs Here More Than You”, is the coziest piece of melancholy to come out in a while. The two alternating chords and candid lyrics of its verses alone are enough to get us emotional immediately, but its the well rounded instrumentation (slow cello swells, rainy ride cymbals, rippin’ lead guitar, et al.) and uplifting dynamic range make “No One…” a true triumph of human acceptance.

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When you’ve spent decades making great records for other people, you’ve got all the tools to do it on your own, right? Yeah, although producers often get relegated to a “man behind the curtain” position for other artists’ critical success, at the end of the day they’re some of the strongest shapers of sound.

Take industry heavyweight producer-engineer-songwriter Mark Hallman, who’s been helping elevate albums for nearly half a century now. Mark’s best known for his work with Ani DiFranco, Eliza Gilkyson, and Carole King, the latter of which moved down here with him to Austin back in 1980. Since then Hallman’s been a standout in Austin’s already rich production roster, but with the exception of 2016’s “The Voyage“, he’s kept his own solo compositions largely cooped up.

At least he did until this past May, when Mark Hallman released his debut full-length Light Trick, seven tracks that capture Mark’s amalgamation of musical talents. The material may be recent, but the sound is exactly what you’d expect from Hallman’s late ’70s upbringing, folk rock formulas and all. So set some time aside to let Light Trick take you on an eclectic trek, starting with the LP opener “Bright Star”. Don’t stop shinin’ anytime soon, Mark.

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Since its advent at the turn of the millennium, the term “swag” has lent itself to plenty of manufactured personalities. We don’t hear “swag” much anymore, which is fine by us, since swagger ought to come naturally; it shouldn’t be too sophisticated.

You take one look at multi-instrumentalist Jared Mullins, who (in the best way possible) looks like a mix between Robert Plant and Big Lebowski‘s “The Dude”, and you know right away he’s a shining specimen of swagger. And appearances aside, Mullins’ project Holy Roller Baby – now half a decade strong – even refers to their spectrum-spelunking style of rock (heavy more often than not) as “primitive swagger”. HRB’s debut LP Frenzy was a ferocious feast that kept us pretty full for the pandemic’s first couple of years, but we sure were pleased to get a second round of standalone singles starting last March.

Well it turns out the Austin quartet’s already got another one in the can and ready to let loose in the coming months. They announced their next full-length Smile In Heaven (set for release August 23rd) last Friday with the record’s lead single “Speaking In Tongues”. We won’t recommend making out in the middle of train tracks for obvious safety concerns, but we will urge you to check out the Super 8 music video for “Speaking In Tongues”, since it’s such a powerful emotional accompaniment to what sounds like Holy Roller Baby’s Central Texas twist on Radiohead’s “Creep”, high contrast dynamics, unhurried grunge arrangement, impassioned vocal performance, and all. Rock on, Rollers. Rock on.

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Ah, Friday afternoon. A beautiful time to be a daily worker, at least in an era where weekends are the norm. And not just because of the standardized two days off. No, there’s also new music from Austin outfit Daily Worker.

The trio typically conjures a non-centrist, counter-capitalist aesthetic, down to their choice of band handle and favorite fonts. Though even if you don’t jive with their specific societal commentaries, the music itself – eclectic by all accounts but most often seeped in the psych-folk-rock made familiar by fronting singer-guitarist Harold Whit Williams other project Cotton Mather – doesn’t require much convincing to enjoy on its own.

It’s been nearly a full year since Daily Worker last recorded with KUTX favorite Chris “Frenchie” Smith at The Bubble, and we’re finally approaching the release of their upcoming EP MF Genius, dropping July 30th. Just from the production value alone, there’s clearly been a ton of loving care and consistent work put into MF Genius, which undeniably elevates Daily Worker’s historically lo-fi sound. And this morning we got the record’s centerpiece and second of five originals, “Street Cred”. Saturated in that turn-of-the-millennium alternative rock aura that Frenchie’s so efficient at fulfilling, “Street Cred” basks in the accessible simplicity that only a sub-three-minute track can offer, even with a rippin’ Robert Fripp-esque guitar solo fit for The Court prog-ing out its midpoint. You don’t gotta be smart to know this rocks.

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You might’ve caught wind of our own Michael Crockett’s retirement announcement, which means his Sunday evening program Global Grooves will grinding to a halt in just a few weeks. It’s a bittersweet end to an era, no doubt, but fortunately there are other potent purveyors of world music right here in the city limits.

Folks like Austin four-piece Atlas Maior, whose masterful melding of international influences with experimental jazz have made them one of the most truly unique acts in ATX over the last decade and a half, with a recent itinerary that speaks for itself. Hot off a month-long tour over in Morocco, Atlas Maior’s back in town and about to tear into the Deluxe Edition of last February’s EP Hadal.

Hadal Deluxe Edition marks Atlas Maior’s first physical vinyl release as a culmination of their past four years of flourishing, and they commemorate the moment tomorrow night with a two-performance live taping (8PM and 10PM, respectively) at one of the quartet’s favorite haunts, Monk’s Jazz Club. And it’s not just a matter of finally getting to hear Hadal on wax; Atlas Maior made sure to include a couple eclectic goodies in the package as well. Side B’s latter half pairs two non-Hadal remixes that both dropped in April 2021, the latter of which, “Jah Ali – Doctor Phono Remix”, exudes exactly the right kind of breezy Middle Eastern energy to keep our heads cool through what’s set to be a scorching summer.

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Progressive metal and drum n bass. Two high octane genres that we here at KUTX could be a lot better at curating. Just for today, though, we’re getting some local help from a whole new world of both styles.

We’re talking about Austin’s Bryn Terranova, who on top of her time as a graphic designer and a consistent cat foster parent, has also recently been making a name for herself as a pretty kickass vocalist-producer. Terranova introduced us to her complex, frenetic sound back in April with her debut streaming single “Lost in Echos” – a must-hear for any upbeat electronic enthusiast. In the month-plus since it dropped, “Lost in Echos” has kept our blood pumping and our heart rate at a healthy high, but Bryn Terranova’s newest really ratchets up the aggression by smelting some much appreciated metal into the mix.

With the help of Pulso Critico vocalist Natalia Nekare, Terranova’s sophomore installation “Fueled By Fate” is unfalteringly ferocious from front to back. Down to the choice of kick drum tones and pairing of saturated synths and distorted guitar, “Fueled By Fate” does a great job of blurring the lines between synthetic and organic, DnB and prog metal, and emotional and unhinged. Whether you’re speeding down the highway, flying through the gates of Valhalla, or just getting some work done, “Fueled By Fate” will put your gear into overdrive and keep your motor roaring whenever you need a double dose of sonic adrenaline.

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Despite the already-blistering temps down here in Texas, Summer doesn’t officially start for another couple weeks. And with exactly one month to go until Independence Day, Hot Dog Season is coming up quick too. But you can’t have hot dogs without ketchup, right?

Well, we’re set to have plenty of ketchup on deck over the summer thanks to our November 2018 Artist of the Month Zettajoule’s frontwoman Meggan Carney. These days Carney’s up north in New Jersey raising a family with her fellow Zettajouler Matt Sheffer. It’s a big life update and a gargantuan undertaking, but that hasn’t made Meggan forget about her musical roots. Nope, a full decade removed from her last EP BOMBZ AWAY, Meggan Carney’s finally back pursuing her passion in solo songwriting.

Perhaps inspired by her now-two-year-old son, and consequently any toddler’s favorite condiment, Meggan Carney will be sharing a sling of singles over the upcoming months that’ll be bottled together as The Ketchup Chronicles. The Ketchup Chronicles‘ first dab – aptly titled “Ketchup“ – came out a month back. “Ketchup” doesn’t attempt to be overly fancy in its phonics; instead it relishes in the lo-fi indie folk psychedelia that’s always made Meggan such a treat to listen to. But with production provided by Sheffer himself, “Ketchup” is a huge step up in sound from Meggan’s pre-existing discography, retro sensibilities aside. Seriously, “Ketchup” sounds like a long lost tape from the ’70s, that, just like ketchup packets, enjoys zero listed expiration date.

So what are you waiting for? Catch up with Carney and The Ketchup Chronicles before your plate gets too full.

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We rarely get to bask in the music of The Balkans, so there’s never a bad opportunity to toss the spotlight over to Romania. There’s a language barrier to the lyrics, no doubt, but the actual sounds are often familiar enough to make them plenty accessible to Westerners.

Case in point: om la lună, which translates to “man over the moon” in English. Over the past half decade this quartet’s proven themselves to be one of Bucharest’s best, thanks to their one-of-a-kind fusion of post-punk, indie rock, and synth pop. Still high off their live album Fazele Lunii from this past February, om la lună kept on the wing with the release of their latest single “Pescărușii zboară” last Friday.

With a title of “Seagulls Fly” for us English speakers, this tune and A Flock of Seagulls’ iconic ’80s style are absolutely birds of a feather. Everything about it, the driving drums, slick synth arpeggios, gargantuan guitar reverb, and impassioned vocals make for an exceptional driving playlist addition – whether you’re just headed to your local grocery store or trekking from the Danube Delta past the Carpathian Mountains.

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As one of the southernmost states to neighbor Latin America, it’s no big surprise that Texas is home to loads of great Latin music. But what really catches us off guard is the abundance of infectious Afrobeat energy right here in Austin. And if we put Latin Psych on the same spectrum as Afrobeat, you start to realize how many local acts get down on each others’ grooves.

Like Austin quartet lluvii. Say it with us: “U-V”. As heard on their debut EP Pacifico from last December, lluvii’s sound breezes through coastal south-of-the-border psychedelia, primal rainforest-ready percussion, and incredibly intriguing indie art rock, all anchored by the idiosyncratic soft siren vocals of frontwoman Carol Gonzalez. For some, that may be enough range to call it a day there and stick to established formulas moving forward. But for lluvii, the journey of genres has only just begun.

lluvii’s got a new EP on the way, produced by Grupo Fantasma/Caramelo Haze visionary Beto Martinez and set for release on August 2nd. The record’s lead offering, “Up All Night”, finds lluvii embarking on an ultra-vibrant, effervescent exploration of Afrobeat that features percussionist Victor Cruz from chicha-cumbia conquistadors Nemegata and keyboardist Anthony Farrell of old school R&B artisans Greyhounds. Even if you’re planning on checking out the single release show 9PM tonight at Cheer Up Charlie’s alongside Sexpop and Rococo Disco, it’ll be a challenge to sit still if you’re stuck in office after pressing play on this one. Because with unbreakable horn lines, un-ending auxiliary percussion, bold beat breakdowns, furious rhythms, buoyant bass work, intoxicating guitar chords, and Gonzalez’s mystic vocal presence, “Up All Night” will keep you going til dawn.

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Sometimes all you need to reignite a long dormant project is just revamping the name. Well…that and maybe a brush with death for good measure.

At least that’s what recently rekindled the creativity for Nashville four-piece Babe & The Crystals, who first started out a decade back under the handle Kid Freud. Kid Freud called it quits in 2018 and the pandemic rolled through soon after, as did a tornado that tested frontman Alex Tomkins’ limits. But with everybody ultimately okay and Kid Freud’s catalogue accruing impressive streaming numbers online, Tomkins’ latest batch of tunes proved too good to keep cooped up. And after the release of their existing material under the Kid Freud umbrella album this March, it was finally time to put that six-year hiatus to bed and re-solidify the fellas as Babe & The Crystals.

Based on how natural and rejuvenated Babe & The Crystals sounded on this month’s reintroduction “Forevereverever”, you’d have never guessed they spent so much time apart. And though that revival evoked the artsier side of indie rock (spoken word verse and crazy catchy hook included), Babe & The Crystals really shine on their millennium-enmeshed second installment, “The Way You Love Me”. If you made a dartboard of your favorite indie pop rock radio darlings from the late ’00s, “The Way You Love Me” hits the bullseye dead center between ’em all. Rock on, babe. Rock on.

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Pride Month kicks off in just a few days, and to help you celebrate in style, we’re swirling the colors with a rising Queer project. And that’s Lavender Scare, whose midcentury reference of a band handle alone tips you off to their championing of LGBTQ identities.

Chief songwriter Ruby Del Mar commands the quartet with high-octane vocals and riveting rhythm guitar, collectively creating what they call “slop pop punk”. And based on what we’ve heard from their upcoming debut Bites, that’s a pretty accurate classification; the power chord subdivisions and instrumental synchronization might not be perfectly precise at these breakneck tempos, but with pop-inspired chord sequences and radio-friendly runtimes, this four-track introduction almost sounds like Against Me! mixed with Yellowcard, all with a bit of a Queer Texas twist.

We’ll be able to sink our teeth into Bites when it hits streaming this Friday or in-person for the record release show 8PM next Thursday at 13th Floor alongside Shysters and Reality Refugee. But until then, embark on Lavender Scare’s snark with the EP’s lead, “I Hate Saturdays”, because like the anthem to a bizarro, weekend-loathing Garfield, this loneliness-engendered tune’s gonna leave you hungry for more.

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Lookin’ to rage this Memorial Day? Well we’ve got something that you might not’ve expected but’ll definitely do the trick.

And that’s in reference to Austin’s Cara Van Thorn, initially born from Donkey Island ex-pats Adam Donovan and Carrie Stephens who continue to spearhead what is now a six-person wagon train. Since Fall 2019, this whimsical, bristly cavalcade’s become a common sight in modern swing circles, but their penchant for upbeat prohibition-era Jazz has always been leveled out with starker styles of rock, specifically ’90s Alternative and ’80s Goth.

And boy did the latter sound steal the show on Cara Van Thorn’s latest single, “Rage”, that just swept through last Friday. Between a menacing theremin, some absolutely disgusting synth bass, simplistic-yet-sinister percussion, subtly tense horn chords, and ominous lyrics that effortless shift between first and second person (further enhanced by additional vocals from A Good Rogering’s Skunk Manhattan), “Rage” sounds like Frankenstein’s monster ripped the bolts out and unleashed all the emotions bottled up beneath to an unsuspecting village. In other words, Cara Van Thorn totally went beast mode on this one.

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If you mainly draw inspiration from older generations, after taking a lengthy break, you may find that the needle on your tastes has moved forward in time too. At least that’s what we’re seeing unfold with Austin project The Cuckoos.

Ostensibly the one-man band (who also operates as a four-piece) of flock leader/multi-instrumentalist/songwriter/producer Ken Frost, The Cuckoos have historically nestled around classic rock, psych, and funk. But after flying off in a near half-decade-long songwriting hiatus, The Cuckoos have recently come home to roost in the best way possible – with a touch of New Wave.

Ahead of their next record (produced by KUTX Favorite Chris “Frenchie” Smith), this morning The Cuckoos clocked in somewhere between Soft Cell and Depeche Mode with “Dirty Pictures”. “Dirty Pictures” goes face to face with the ’80s aesthetic with four-to-the-floor drums, raunchy guitar, salacious synth stabs, arousing lyrics with moody vocals, and a snapshot sound effect that’d make Duran Duran nod knowingly. A lot of producers might say “don’t go crazy” with a new sonic direction…but c’mon Ken…if you keep going cuckoo for the flashback stuff, you sure won’t rustle our feathers.

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Ever since we first caught sight of them in 2022, we’ve continued to make room for Grandma Mousey in our wheelhouse, even after their initial nest expanded from three members to five. Yeah, Granny M’s grown on us so much over the past couple of years, that we don’t mind ratting on their talent again at all.

Because between endeavorous concert stage props, Apollo program-era influences spanning from psych and classic rock to jazz, a humble refusal to take themselves too seriously, and an ongoing obsession with grasshoppers in their song titles (see the previous point), this Austin indie rock lab experiment feels like an anthropomorphic version of Fe, Fi, Fo, Fum, and Phooey, spacey tastes included. And coming off their third studio installment Couch Surfing from last October, they’ve stirred local show rodents into a modest following…at least enough to keep the Orkin man from shuttin’ ’em down.

Now, a half decade out of their hole, Grandma Mousey’s stickin’ their not-so-elderly indie rock whiskers into something that’s a little less Mothers of Inventions and a little more your grandma’s speed – Motown-inspired modern rock. And that’s on behalf of “When I’m Not There”, the lead single from Grandma Mousey’s upcoming EP Slime Community – out this Summer. Where Vanilla Fudge famously put a decelerated, painfully melodramatic twist on The Supremes, Grandma Mousey maintains the powerhouse harmonies, infectious hand claps, upbeat tempo, and major chord progressions of soul’s golden era, albeit into strange places of softly sweet, paradisal psychedelia thanks to some choice synth swells, liquid bass lines, and far out lead guitar.

In terms of Grandma Mousey’s gig next Friday at Anderson Mill Pub? We hope you’ll be there. To Grandmother’s mouse we go!

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Although we’re bound to find a silver lining eventually, when we take the time to really look at the world we live in – gross injustices, grievous atrocities, shared struggles and all – it can make staying inside super appealing. And for sonic creators, as long as the bleakness doesn’t make the music meek, the weight of societal commentary can say a lot about an artist’s maturation.

So let’s talk Austin Indoor Creature, who you may remember as our June 2021 Artist of the Month. Initially born from a stripped-down duo between singer-songwriter Caleb Fleischer and drummer-guitarist Travis Kitchen in the mid-2010s, Indoor Creature’s since evolved into one beast of a six-piece that breathes new life into their retro collection of influences. For any project who made it to this side of the pandemic, the outlook’s gotta be more optimistic. But as we mentioned before, harsh realities don’t just get hushed when the juices start flowing.

Marking their second standalone installation since 2021 full-length Living in Darkness, last Friday Indoor Creature embraced iniquity once again on “Cross The Line”. With a robust pop backbone and Fleischer’s vocals that evoke Thomas Mars, “Cross The Line” reminds us of the tragedy-spurred background behind Phoenix’s Ti Amo. But instead of gating the heck out their instrumentation and keeping the BPM far north of 90 (both straight out of Phoenix’s radio-friendly playbook), “Cross The Line” relishes in a spacious, stereo-spanning mix and a truly introspective tempo. And for an act that call themselves “Indoor Creature”, they’re sounding awfully human on “Cross The Line”, thanks to its jazzy dynamic range, soulful chord progressions, extended jammy outro, and of course, the socially-conscious lyrics.

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No matter how much success a young artist finds down the line, there’ll always be opportunities to pay respects to their predecessors and contemporaries. Whether it’s an early choice (Nick Cave & The Bad Seed’s Kicking Against the Pricks), a mid-career reset (Souxsie and the Banshees’ Through the Looking Glass), a later vocation salute (Bruce Springsteen’s We Shall Overcome), or the final chapter of a band’s studio discography (RATM’s Renegades), covers can make for a real triumph within a musician’s catalogue.

Among the Austinites with bright futures, bygone muses, and a legitimate respect for their musical elders? Our October 2016 KUTX Artist of the Month, Carson McHone ranks high. A decade removed from her debut Goodluck Man, collective millions of streams accrued for her originals, and current headquarters in Southern Ontario, Carson’s certainly manifested a fast track to international recognition. But despite that familiarity in the Folk-Americana-Country forum, McHone will still take prudent humility over foolhardy hubris any day, as made clear on her upcoming EP ODES, out July 19th.

Just like the title implies, ODES holds a handful of homages to some of McHone’s biggest influences from the ’60s and ’70s – including Conway Twitty, MC5, and Margo Guryan. And the EP announcement arrived this morning alongside the third of ODES‘ four covers and the EP’s lead single – Carson’s take on a Arthur Russell posthumous fan favorite with an already-rich history of cover versions from the likes of Glen Hansard and The Avett Brothers, and inherently feminine renditions on behalf of Jessie Baylin and Elizabeth Moen. But where Baylin approached “I Couldn’t Say It To Your Face” entrenched in folkadelia and Moen with eggshell delicacy, Carson’s evokes her trademark Southern warmth by swapping out the original organ for a pretty straightforward piano, all while maintaining the original’s tasteful breakdowns and painful farewells. And after watching the accompanying music video, we just can’t wait to watch Carson McHone perform this one in person…a little eye contact preferred.

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Save for those with seemingly disposable resources, often nonprofits get stuck in their original stomping grounds. So when a local endeavor expands enough to inspire, incorporate, and impact folks far beyond their initial reach, it’s cause for celebration.

That brings us back to Project Traction, spearheaded by our personal favorite philogynist audiophile – Spoon drummer/Public Hi Fi producer-engineer Jim Eno. Through Project Traction, female and gender-fluid musicians pair up, put fresh perspectives in the producer’s chair and find middle ground with all-women artists. And sure, Eno is present to provide technical expertise and a keen editorial ear during these sessions, but really, it’s the women who turn Project Traction into such magic. Sadly though, the depressing lack of women-on-women productions isn’t just limited to the creators of Central Texas.

Thankfully though, Project Traction’s already gained enough ground to grow past Austin’s city limits and all the way up to Colorado. And the forthcoming Project Traction: Volume Two kicks off today with a pairing of Producer Briana Harris (alto saxophonist of Greeley soul nonet The Burroughs) with Denver indie rock trio Barbara. Together alongside Eno, Briana and Baraba have mind melded the masterfully-mixed, super moody “For Good Measure”. It starts off as a pretty simple, straightforward indie rocker, but just past the halfway point, the dynamics shift, the arrangement gets more abstract, and the overall artistry goes off the wall all the way to its beautifully abrupt final chord. Well done, ladies. Well done.

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For us uncultured Americans, we tend to invent a caricature when we hear about a “French songstress”. Yes, we let our assumptions automatically paint a picture of a smoky nightclub against a traumatic war torn backdrop, a slender figure in haute couture wardrobe, cigarette in one hand, microphone in the other, and lyrics toutes en français. The reality, of course, is much more of a mixed bag; I mean c’mon…we’re talking about a massive nation with a century-plus of cross cultural influences here.

Enter: Stephanie Rodd. The Parisian-Londoner up-and-comer pardons herself past the stereotypical chanson midcentury chic of Edith Piaf or Juliette Gréco and instead slides towards the more contemporary energy of acts like Adele, Estelle, and the late Amy Winehouse. Based on what little we’ve heard so far, there’s no doubt that Rodd’s time in England has helped her find the right R&B-soul-pop soundscapes for her singing style that’s reminiscent of Jorja Smith.

And in 2024, as part of a rapid trajectory, Stephanie Rodd’s shooting for the moon with the release of her debut EP next month. Following her mid-February introduction “Worth It”, Rodd’s sophomore single “Stronger Than Ever” finds Stephanie sounding…well…just like the song title. It’s an intriguing, minimalist arrangement filled with passionate chord pads, seductive synth squeaks, carnal guitar, trap-type drums, and soul-warming subs – all anchoring a bold vocal mix of triplet rhythms and unconventional melodies.

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Back in the day, if you were to walk around downtown, you’d hear one predominant sound spilling out of at least every other 6th Street venue: blues rock. But as the landscape of the “Live Music Capital of the World” has evolved and diversified, frankly, so has the state of blues rock itself. And if we’re talking local aural ornithology, there’s a fine specimen that just chirped out something bold.

And that’s Wild Wren. Having only released their debut LP Love Deluge in March 2022, this quartet is still in their fledgling phase, no doubt. But through that nine-tune torrent, Wild Wren’s proven that they’re not just pigeonholed to the the traditional twelve-bar bore. Instead, those straight up jams soar across hard alternative textures and indie-inspired licks, essentially capturing a piece from that turn-of-the-millennium commercial radio backdrop and making it their own in a contemporary context.

And if there’s any producer here in Austin that understands the harder side of that indie-alternative spectrum, it’s Chris “Frenchie” Smith, whose ever-growing brag sheet includes work with Jet and The Darkness. Wild Wren recently linked up with Frenchie for their latest single, and surprise to know one, the result finds the four-piece’s already-fuzzy style fluttering to new, expertly-engineered heights. At a feather under four-and-a-half minutes, “I’M A BIRD” instantly reminds us of a time when acts like Audioslave and Foo Fighters dominated the airwaves, with slower and soulful blues-infused chord changes defining the verses while heavily-melodic motivation overtakes the hooks, including a masterful dynamic range reset midway through.

Ready to get on the wing with Wild Wren? Catch ’em live WTF Icehouse 8PM next Wednesday and again in a few weeks, 10:45PM on Friday, June 7th at Saxon Pub, ’cause those shows definitely aren’t just for the birds.

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For a lot of self-made bedroom producers, lo-fi isn’t just a creative choice; it’s a necessity. Yeah, not everyone has the technical prowess, access to equipment, or funding to match the pristine masters of their commercial radio contemporaries. But when lo-fi folks like that gain the resources to make the leap up, it’s hard to step back down.

Now let’s jump to multi-instrumentalist-producer Chris Galis, AKA Genuine Leather. Galis has spent a decade tanning Genuine Leather’s lo-fi synth-pop-rock sound, so when GL’s label-supported debut Genuine Pleasure dropped last November, the higher production value felt like a significant departure – even though the songwriting formulas were still intact.

Well, given their latest standalone, Genuine Leather’s clearly comfortable in their newfound high-fidelity factory…and we sure as hell aren’t complaining. “Getting Used to the Feel” maintains that Tame Impala quality we gushed about last June, but slows its roll and finds Galis’ vocals in a more spacious arrangement, which totally makes sense in the context of its immediate post-COVID “return to normalcy” penning. That said, the tempo is real treat for a mix as polished as this one, and there’s no way “Getting Used to the Feel” could carry that arena-filling energy in a lo-fi forum. But we’re sure it’ll translate onstage when Genuine Leather plays the single release show 8PM this Thursday at the Mohawk alongside Minivan Dad and Mr. Kat. As far as Genuine Leather headlining bills and dropping highly professional recordings? Better get used to it.

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If you’ve kept posted on Austin quartet Big Bill, you know they’re in somewhat of a post-pivot position. Yeah, after years of establishing their space in the oddball-deadpan-art-punk sector, Big Bill pulled off a risky switch to more of a ’90s-style indie rock sound with their Summer 2022 full-length Public Freakout Compilation. And while we’d never go so far as to call our bbs in B.B. “inoffensive”, the exploration of indie does add a sense of mass accessibility to Big Bill’s idiosyncratic, off-kilter aural antics and intoxicating melodies.

So given their ongoing path in that same direction, we’re already drooling over Big Bill’s upcoming third LP Strawberry Seed. See, in carving out a more “mature” niche in indie rock, Strawberry Seed actually seeks to emulate the childhood nostalgia of a kindergarten art project – less the acceptance of anxiety in adulthood and more the abstract incipience of early, blissfully unaware expression. In that pursuit of fuzzy warmth, Big Bill’s included backup singers, acoustic guitar, synthesizers, and piano to their traditionally straightforward punk arrangements.

We won’t be able to harvest the fruits of Strawberry Seed until it hits streaming June 14th, the same day Big Bill plays a free in-store performance 5PM at Waterloo Records. But if you want to get an early taste, Big Bill’s set to share some samples 9PM tonight at The Mohawk as part of a big bill that also includes Tied Up and Gustaf. And if you want to blow your mind with how much Big Bill’s sound has evolved, fire up “Emotions” – which is decidedly less like Suicide and more akin to The Black Keys trying to out-weird The Minutemen. It’ll leave you feeling a way for sure.

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Short-term shelter ain’t just part of a discreet routine for affairs and flings. Naw, as an integral piece to any touring musician’s itinerary, lodging has found a cozy place in the songwriter space, ranging from themes of post-breakup lifelessness (“Heartbreak Hotel”), raunchy encounters (“Chelsea Hotel #2”), and tour torpor (“Holiday Inn”) to whatever the hell “Hotel California” is about. That said, the humor intrinsic to a hotel setting (ya know…where depending on your chain preferences you might end up in near-identical rooms no matter your place in the nation) rarely shines through.

But if there’s one person who can appreciate the comic side of musician life (even in motel minutiae), it’s Austin’s Jomo Edwards of Jomo & The Possum Posse. Most folks know Jomo from his virally successful 2011 Guy on a Buffalo YouTube series. But Jomo’s not just a one-trick marsupial. And after three studio full-lengths, a live LP, and an EP of hip-hop covers, him and The Possum Posse certainly aren’t playing dead anytime soon either.

In fact, for their fourth studio offering Yesterday’s Coffee, they may have even stepped their game up by handing production duties over to Shinyribs’ Kevin Russell. So naturally, shortly after the album drops, Jomo & The Possum Posse open for Shinyribs themselves 8PM tomorrow at Radio East. And if you really want to curb that Jomo FOMO, catch The Possum Posse 5PM today for a free in-store performance at Waterloo Records. In the meantime, we’ll get you checked into “La Quinta”, which evokes the bleary-eyed elevator ride up that’s defined so many wind-downs – ideal for a Side A closer. And given its place in the ranks of treasured Texas staples spawned in San Antonio like H-E-B and Academy, it’d be no huge surprise if “La Quinta” scored The Possum Posse an ad placement on behalf of their corporate namesake.

Either way, with pizzicato plucks, six-string stabs, wailing organ, a bridge fit for a continental breakfast, and a chorus so catchy you’ll be singing it all the way to the front desk, “La Quinta”‘s earned Jomo et al. a complimentary stay in the Presidential Suite for sure.

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Summer’s just over a month away. And with the birds and the bees still bringing new life into Spring, it’s a great time to appreciate fresh acts. So let’s stick a dipper into one of the latest projects to come out of Austin, Honey Luck.

This Americana trio was born out of an auspicious meeting between Brian Pounds and Beth // James’ Jordan and Mikaela Burchill during a Kerrville songwriting competition. The buzz between them was too good to pass up and ever since a session at the Burchills place years later, they’ve stuck together as Honey Luck. Now technically, Honey Luck only made things official this past January. But like a nectar-encrusted horseshoe ringing the stake on the very first throw, Honey Luck’s already had a prosperous start to what’ll surely crystalize into a long-preserved career.

By that we mean Honey Luck’s landed a sweet residency 6PM each Monday in May at the Saxon Pub opening for Austin icon Bob Schneider and recruited six-time Grammy Winner Vance Powell of Chris Stapleton and Sturgill Simpson fame to produce their debut single. A viscous mix of vocal harmonies, heartfelt guitars, and Western fashion paired with a pseudo Super 8 music video that oozes with contagious laughter, sincere smiles, and joyous local performances, “Red Line” has given us our first taste of what’s to come from Honey Luck. And with more tunes already solidifying in their hive, we feel like Honey Luck’s good fortune’s still got a long way to go.

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If you’re a fan of that synth pop section of indie electronica in the ilk of Goldfrapp, Grimes, and CHVRCHES…there’s a relatively recent artist right here in town that’ll absolutely scratch that itch.

And that’s Steel Gemini, the Austin-based project of singer-songwriter-producer Joy Baldwin. Ever since her December 2022 debut, Baldwin’s been a real joy to listen to thanks to everything we mentioned last March. With a brand already as strong as her metal namesake and a standard of quality consistent enough to match, Steel Gemini’s standalones have left us patiently waiting for a fuller collection of tunes.

But that’s in no way meant to knock her sixth single “Only Freak” that just dropped last weekend. Its introductory four-bar coupling of sampled vocals and electric guitar almost misdirects you into thinking the rest’ll sound like The xx. But really, that’s more of an atmospheric backdrop throughout “Only Freak”‘s four minute runtime, where minimalist drum programming, massive bass synths, shimmering pads, and Baldwin’s featherweight vocals end up stealing the show. Safe to say, the only thing freaky about this is if it ended up being Steel Gemini’s sole output of the year.

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In an environment as dense and competitive as Americana, a unique set of lens can really help you stand out. But if that habitat appears even remotely unnatural to others, every little bit of local color improves your odds of surviving in the long run.

Meet Jana Mila. Mila’s Amsterdam upbringing was spent in the cross-cultural intersection of her family members’ individual passions: Brazilian, Big Band, and Indian. Ultimately though it was indie folk Americana that inspired the rising multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter to take her originals to local Dutch stages at the turn of the last decade. Fast forward to Summer 2022, when Mila moseyed over to Nashville for a songwriting excursion. The connections she made there led to a strong start to Mila’s studio discography with her introductory “When Times Get Rough”, which has already raked in millions of streams.

Turns out Jana Mila blends in so well with the Nashville aesthetic that you’d never guess she wasn’t a native. And that’s absolutely reflected on her ten-tune debut Chameleon. Tracked and produced at Todd Lombardo’s studio in the heart of Music City, USA, this introductory LP carefully camouflages Mila’s unique character against backdrops of West Coast Folk, ’70s rock, and Tennessee country. The announcement of Chameleon‘s August 30th release came last Tuesday alongside the arrival of its lead single, “Somebody New” – an honest reflection on a mid-relationship self-revelation. At just short of three minutes, “Somebody New” is a no-nonsense, straightforward piece of intimate storytelling and an ideal addition to your next breakup playlist, with one hell of an earworm hook.

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In most situations, if you got it, flaunt it. But in an industry that demands infinitely more from your ears than from your eyes, if the hottest person on the planet doesn’t have the pipes to match their looks, they probably don’t have a shot at succeeding as a singer.

So let’s talk newcomer Mikky Rib and her Austin outfit Mikky & The Doom. A quick stroll through the band’s Instagram instantly tips you off that sex appeal is core to their brand. But with a proven ability to parrot the timbres of Amy Winehouse, Stevie Nicks, Gwen Stefani, and Lana Del Rey (all of which influence her own unique sound) in an uncanny way, their eponymous frontwoman can’t be written off as just eye candy.

This year Mikky & The Doom have been following a roadmap to their debut studio EP Garbage, USA. Produced entirely by our April 2018 Artist of the Month Mobley, this introduction explores low-light garage rock, hook-driven indie, and sex-positive electro-pop while lyrically relishing in all kinds of societal litter. There’ll be a few stops on the way before the album’s May 17th release date, including two more lead singles, a show 8PM next Thursday at The 13th Floor Alongside Jeremiah Jackson and Scotty B and The Hive, and an appearance at Hot Luck Fest on May 24th. Given that growing population for Garbage, USA, you’re just three drum stick clicks away from the record’s title track, because it’s anything but trash. An anarchistic, pyromaniac anthem, the catchy-as-hell “Garbage, USA” sounds like The Strokes woke up with a little extra dissonance in their system, heavily-processed instrumentation, pop-informed production, radio-ready brevity and all.

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If this late Spring’s got your spirits shook up and you’re looking for some renewed motivation to tend to your garden (be it literal or figurative), we’ve got a DFW act that’ll make you go hard in the yard.

And that’s on behalf of singer-guitarist-keyboardist R. Hennessy, AKA “Henry O”, who’s been hitting the mark as Henry the Archer for nearly a decade and a half now. A consecutive two-time winner of Fort Worth Magazine‘s “Artist of the Year” distinction, this Fort Worth three-piece aims at the the broad genre target of alt-rock, perfect for groupings within surrounding styles. But that’s not to say Henry the Archer’s arrangements aren’t accurate or precise, since the trio’s clearly struck something strong to earn several streaming heavyweights.

This morning, marking Henry the Archer’s first record since 2017’s Zero Is a Number, their EP The Garden is finally ready to harvest. It’s a six-song plot blooming with indie-folk (“The Garden”), pop-punk (“One or Two”), brassy ska (“Sheep Song”), reggae (“Someone Beautiful”), and even a stripped-down keyboard-and-vocal duet (“People Make a Place”) – but ultimately all rooted in alt-rock. The album release show is next Saturday out in Arlington, but Henry the Archer does have a couple of shows here in town at the turn of the next month – 7:30PM on Friday, May 31st for a SoFar Sounds session and 8PM on Saturday, June 1st at ABGB alongside Mr. Kat. So fire up The Garden‘s bullseye of a lead single and EP opener “ViolinT”, which totally reminds us of millennium mainstream indie rock era, The Hives-style howling vocals and all.

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It’s the classic end to an encounter. You meet someone new. Sparks seemingly fly. You have fun for a night. But when you wake up ready to tell your new boo you’d like to see ’em again…they’re long gone. Hell, and in the modern era, that might all happen on just on an app alone. That’s all to say that in the dating world, whether intentions are casual or not, the one who cares the least holds the most power.

A sad truth for sure, but not exactly news to seasoned songwriters like Emily Shirley. On top of membership in both The Belle Sounds and Sister Golden Hair, Shirley’s solo discography dates back to 2010. Her vocal delivery may seem nonchalant, but between expert breath control (seriously, listen to some of those long tones), pitch perfect pipes, and learned lyricism, there’s obviously a ton of passion imbued in this Austinite. And with passion comes pursuit, right?

Well, it turns out Emily Shirley’s no stranger to the ol’ post-connection cease-and-desist in interaction either. Because you don’t need to be a paranormal investigator to have questions arise over the ghosts in our lives, be it self-doubt or just wanting a sense of closure. And that’s all reflected in Shirley’s brand new bittersweet single “Morning Light”, an amorous phantom of multi-tracked vocal harmonies, spectral electric lead guitar, and an almost-incorporeal arrangement. So before you decide to block contact with your latest fling, really get a handle on how the other side feels with “Morning Light”. And for all those who’ve been on the receiving end, this tune’s a perfect approach to taking heartbreak like a champ.

And don’t forget, Emily Shirley graces the airwaves in a solo set with our buds over at KOOP 91.7FM 3PM this Saturday on The Singer & The Song.

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Watch out, Golden Dawn Arkestra…there’s a new costumed collective in town, and they’re hunting for for fresh converts! But instead of frenetic Afro-inspired dance grooves, these fanatics have so far stuck to the slower side of ’70s-style jazz funk rock; think War whisked together with Steely Dan.

Not that you’d be able to tell from your first look at ’em. Yeah…between their cloaked, crowned, and ember-eyed namesake leader (thurible and staff ever at the ready) and ten black-suited, red-hatted, and white-gloved Zealots (eyes always redacted by clever lenses), Grandmaster is an great example of “appearances can be deceiving”. Creepy cult getups aside, in the sole year since their first performance, this eleven-piece has already indoctrinated an impressive sect of followers. And based on the caliber of those live stage-filling rituals, they won’t need much proselytizing to add a digit or two to their current numbers. Probably just a bigger place of worship.

Well right after winning an American Songwriter contest that re-united The Grandmaster with Bootsy Collins during SXSW, the cosmos smile once again ahead of Grandmaster’s Nolan Potter-produced self-titled debut. By that we mean they’ll be celebrating an album release show at The Paramount’s State Theatre 7PM this Saturday for The Grandmaster’s Gala, alongside openers Nolan Potter’s Nightmare Band and Dodo. With proceeds benefitting the SIMS Foundation, and a sophomore follow-up already foretold in The Grandmaster’s prophecies, this Gala’s a good opportunity to catch the band before their concerts demand venues with larger capacities.

To any who still resist temptation, we point to Grandmaster‘s second incantation “Castle Door”. Because with a goblet-sloshing groove, a palace-spanning chord progression, and a truly regal arrangement, “Castle Door” lowers the yacht rock drawbridge and raises the prog-funk portcullis to one hell of a good time.

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When a seasoned musician wades out of their genre comfort zone, you love to hear it. Because the technical expertise, jam stamina, and songwriting skills are already in place, but opening the gate to different inspirations and influences is always a welcome breath of fresh air.

So let’s talk Rod Gator, who – as you might’ve guessed from his stage surname – leans on his steamy Louisiana bayou upbringing for a swamp-swept sound. Gator’s kept us sated with his own stuff as recently as last September with the release of his LP Conqueror. Interestingly enough, that was also ’round about the same time Gator linked up with fellow Sagebrush door staffer Leo Lydon (lead guitarist/vocalist of Austin trio Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol) for a songwriting session. Sparks flew, heaviness ensued, and with the addition of Nico and Willie Jansen, the southern metal endeavor Trip Cigs was born.

Fast forward to a couple weeks back, when the quartet opened up the stable for Trip Cigs’ debut EP Hoss. Heavy without being excessively brutal, swampy without getting bogged down in sludge, this record’s got an incredibly thick consistency to it. And since it maintains that session energy so effectively, its best recommended to set aside fifteen minutes to appreciate the EP in full. Definitely take a deep breath before saddling up and dig into whatever stirrups you may have on hand, ’cause with minimal space between songs, and a bucking start to each of its six tracks right out the gate, this thing is a steed who needs no speed. If you’ve only got time for one quick ride, get a feel for Hoss with Trip Cigs’ very first foal, “Comeback Kid”.

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Lyrics are a fickle field. You can be wordy as hell, hoping that at least one line sticks in listener’s minds. Or, you could just loop the hell out of some barebones sentences – guaranteed to have a lot more hypnotic staying power through sheer repetition, especially in the realm of dance music.

Now let’s talk about Ben Fish, who operates here in Austin under a few different avenues: as a DJ, as frontman of his full band Viben & The Submersibles, and as the mononymous solo act Viben. Viben categorizes his stuff as “Scuba Funk”, a label that totally mirrors his liquid grooves, but doesn’t necessarily require a lot of deep diving in terms of lyrical accessibility. So while Viben’s sophisticated soundscapes have earned him a place on our local sonar since his start in 2018, his latest release proves that a more basic approach can be just as good.

Which reminds us of the great Pablo Picasso, who once said, “It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.” And that quote really resonates with the vibrant simplicity of Viben’s latest, “Pablo Picasso”. This super trendy, Euro-friendly piece of house chic translates Picasso’s genius brushstrokes into brilliantly swung drums, synth, rhythm guitar, and bass, while Viben’s vocals pine for an artistic ascent towards the tune’s namesake legendary status.

Will Viben one day become a celebrated painter? We don’t know. But will “Pablo Picasso” be remembered as an uncomplicated piece of genuine expression in Austin’s electronic oeuvre? No doubt.

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In terms of musical association, at least outside the world of film soundtracks, U.S. southwestern scenery often gets associated with country. But there’s a certain psychedelic quality to our regional deserts that we just love to see artists embrace.

Folks like Rett Smith, based here in Austin, but bred out of West Texas, so you know he appreciates all kinds of sandy, desolate miscellanea. Historically, Rett’s smithing has involved all things Americana blues. And while that’s certainly still his skillset, for his upcoming album A Weighted Remorse (out September 13th), Smith finds himself trudging through the dunes of shoegaze.

And the result is heavy as hell, almost bordering on sludge thanks to its subterranean six-string tone and massive drums. Alongside its music video, “Sunsets” feels less like hiking the Fort Davis trails and more like watching The Holy Mountain if it was shot on Super 8, ’70s abstract psychedelia and all. We’re getting major Black Angels vibes from this one, and we have a feeling that when Rett returns from his Western European tour, he’s gonna translate his travels into something else equally arid-inspired and aurally exciting.

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Any profession requires quotas…whether that’s how many tickets you write or how many kids pass your class. And when music is your source of income, the obvious metric to measure by is quantity of shows played. But as with any creative endeavor, there’s an opportunity to move the needle in many directions, which makes “success” a complicated thing to assess.

So let’s get a quick look at Ruel Thomas. The Native Austinite developed his guitar-vocals-and-harmonica style around folk-pop-rock icons like Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, and Paul Simon while still in Australia. When he moved back to the Live Music Capital about a half decade back, everything fell into place to become a certified full-timer. And Ruel Thomas has done just that, with thousands of gigs in the bag across the Lone Star State, the Tonight and Myself full-length from 2022, and last May’s Texas Castle EP.

You might’ve noticed that time spent onstage and on the road outweighs studio offerings by a country mile. But remember what we said about moving the needle in new directions? Yeah, in 2024, Ruel Thomas has vowed to drop a new single every two months, no small feat for someone who needs to wrangle a band for every recording. And last Friday that new series continued with “I Am Today”, which sounds somewhere between a decades-old yesterday and a fast-approaching tomorrow in terms of classic influences and modern mixing – thanks to Luna drummer/NYC Producer Lee Wall. At just a hair over three minutes, the ever-rolling rhythm section behind “I Am Today” dangles tomorrow’s horizon in the distance, while Ruel’s rich vocals and Americana guitar keep you right in the moment.

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The very nature of Americana is rooted in traditional music. But it also lies at the crossroads between folk, country, and rock. So if an Americana act decides to veer into new lanes, the choices are limited and somewhat predictable. And yet it’s still such a joy to hear an artist explore new sonic territory, no matter how established they may be.

Having said that, we’re happy to hear that Nashville’s Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors will be joining us in our neck of the woods later this week. That’s right, on the heels of their ninth full-length Strangers No More, the Americana connoisseurs kick off a month-long national tour right here in town. The Find Your People Tour fires off 7:30PM this Thursday at the Scoot Inn, and our newfound neighbors will be stopping by Central Texas again for the Kerrville Folk Festival late next month.

And since Austin is such a hard left turn from Holcomb et. al’s Nasvhille stomping ground, the band gave us an early listen to their latest shifting of gears. On “Suffering”, the grit is real, and the rock is Southern. It captures the rudest elements of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Molly Hatchet, and Marshall Tucker band, albeit with that one-of-a-kind Holcomb character. Safe to say that if Southern rock is your bag, “Suffering” is so good it hurts.

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When you have roommates, at least good ones you get along with, group activities naturally arise around the house. For most folks, it’s watching TV, recreational smoking and drinking, or maybe the occasional board game. For musicians, however, having a practice space within eyeshot of your bedroom door is too good of a scenario to pass up.

At least that’s the situation that producers Patrick Insull and Austin Pedersen find themselves in; they’ve spent the past three years patiently penning in their apartment on behalf of their Austin quintet Melotheory. And who has a better insight into both blooming and wilting romances then your roommate? Maybe that’s why the sad boi aesthetic shines so bright on their debut batch of indie-rock love songs, which are genre dalliances themselves, albeit with disco rhythms.

This morning, ahead of a FREE release show 7:30PM tonight at the Cactus Cafe, Melotheory rolled out their eponymous debut full-length. At thirty-six minutes and ten tracks melotheory is a journey best enjoyed front-to-back, no doubt. That said, we also get why Melotheory chose “Breathe” as the LP’s lead single. There’s a serious Thomas Mars quality to the vocals , which quickly draws comparisons to everyone’s favorite Versailles indie rock revolutionaries. But where Phoenix flourishes with pop radio-ready, heavily gated, conservatively contained choices, “Breathe” maximizes their mix with stereo-sprawling selections over crests and valleys of dynamic shifts. Well…we’ve said enough. Time to exhale out of the work week and let “Breathe” do its thing.

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We won’t say that successful collaborations should mandate a solo artist’s trajectory. But if something built together leaves people wanting more, it’s not a bad idea to get back together and sate those desires, right? Because what’s unachievable on the individual level often just needs to get catalyzed by some good collabo chemistry.

So let’s talk about two creators who we both like independently, but especially love to hear join forces. That’s Rhythm&Truth, the soul-pop-jazz-funk foray from Austin producer-songwriter-percussionist Daniel Anstandig and fellow up-and-comer Sakari, who specializes in stunning neo-soul vocals. Since both projects were born out of the early pandemic era, it naturally took a couple of years into each’s career to break out of their bubbles, find one another, and let the sparks fly. But boy did they ever on last November’s Midnight Vinyl, a passionate pastiche of after-hour radio atmosphere showcasing R&T’s robust arrangements and and Sakari’s sensational pipes.

Now, in between the final installment of Rhythm&Truth’s Time Travlr trilogy this July and Sakari’s last release a little over a month ago, the two buddied up once again to dial in yet another late night dedication. In the pair’s own words, “Bring It All Back” champions the importance of showing up in person and rekindling a sense of community post-COVID. And given how enormous the sense of space is on this song, we can’t help but heed that invitation; it’s like the soundscapers behind Cherelle, Chaka Khan, and Sade got together to reminisce over that mid-late ’80s heyday of women-driven R&B in a more modern spirit. Between all that and a truly hypnotic hook, “Bring It All Back” just earned a top spot on the playlist for any top down joyride in the coming summer months and beyond. Time to reunite with your ride-or-die and let ‘er rip…

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Unlike the legendary machines of Stax and Motown who relied on a ton of well oiled cogs to make any R&B singer into a star, these days the new blood has to do everything themselves, talent agent or not. And while not everyone can be Prince or D’Angelo in terms of multi-instrumental discipline, bringing something extra behind the mic, whatever it may be, really makes a rising singer stand out in the endless milky way of could-be R&B stars.

That puts us into orbit around Myia Thornton, songwriter-bassist-producer with Los Angeles ties but a current home base here in Austin. Beginning with her 2018 start date on streaming, she’s shown herself to be a spiritual pupil of Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, and Missy Elliott. Thornton’s clearly learned that everyone’s voice has its own unique character, even if the difference in timbre is more of a gradient than a completely different shade, and has accordingly made the most of her proficiency on bass guitar to attain that extra “it” factor.

But as with any R&B songstress, romantic turmoil can have a huge impact on lyrical inspiration and overall motivation. And once that comfort from a significant other’s gone, you just gotta get back to work and not take for granted what makes you intrinsically (and us as listeners) happy. So with her fourth release in just 2024 alone, Myia Thornton continues to break past the hiatus that’d been in place since her 2022 collaboration “Lexus”. Less of a tearjerker and more of a “how’d you get so ugly” piece of post-relationship clarity, Thornton’s self-produced “Never Good 4 Me” is about as bad as it gets. Arrangement-wise the sparseness of its verses is nothing short of genius, especially compared to the stereo-spanning lushness of its hooks, classy key chords, sexy MIDI strings, onion-layered vocals and all. Get it, Myia.

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When we last geeked out over Austin’s Felt Out, we broke down their foundation as that of auto-tune innovators on the cutting edge of alt-pop. And following the first anniversary of their second full-length Until I’m Light, that’s clearly still the case for these multi-instrumentalist-producers. They still sound like a next generation Imogen Heap. Their style still scratches that itch within the hyper-processed, accessible-yet-oddball alt-pop niche. And they’re still going strong in 2024.

Yep, after a year of silence for studio releases, Felt Out touched down from their natural habitat way up in the electro-aether last week, almost as if ushered in by the solar eclipse. On Friday they fired off “Know You (closer3.0)” – a Frankenstein re-assembly of leftover samples from their current streaming star – and “Crash Inside It” – which came alongside a minimalist music video. Unlike the polished, narrative-driven visual companion to “Closer”, “Crash Inside It”‘s counterpart lets a flickering frame rate and negative polarization do the storytelling, a return to their earlier aesthetic of amateur footage, analog grain, openness to interpretation, and all.

It’s certainly on brand for Felt Out, that’s for sure. And it’s got us eager to see and hear what they’ll come up with next. You feel us?

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When rappers claim to be “the best on the mic”, they’re talking about verbal skills, not their technical prowess with any specific equipment. Clearly that’s the case, since you’ll see those same people spend a whole set cupping the SM58 ’cause it turns out their mic technique actually sucks.

But in terms of intimate familiarity with spoken vocal performance, be it in the studio tracking voice overs, in the stadium making announcements, or onstage ripping up a show, few Central Texas figures rack up to the orator that is Ray Villarreal, better known as Tone Royal. Because between his home recording, sports work, and hip-hop side hustle there’s no such thing as an off-season for Tone. A slayer of sibilance and preventer of plosives, the San Antonio native also happens to have wealth in the ways of lyrical wordplay, as we’ve heard intermittently over the past decade.

On last Friday’s “Alone”, Tone Royal finds himself in good company with forlorn ’80s synths and a ’90s boom bap shuffle, not to mention Austin’s Daddy NAT gracing the hook with some sultry refrains. All in all, “Alone” would sound right at home in between Notorious B.I.G.’s “Juicy” and 2Pac’s “Only God Can Judge Me” thanks to those retro qualities, and yeah…Tone’s undying affinity for putting himself in front of the mic and unleashing the rhymes.

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Feliz sexta! Today we’re talking about Tagua Tagua, the passion project of São Paulo songwriter-producer Felipe Puperi. Now, Brazil is an enormous country, full of fervent creators; it takes a ton of traction to get towards the top. But in the seven years since Puperi launched off, Tagua Tagua’s become one of the nation’s most promising acts – heck I even Shazam’d one of their songs in the wild last September during my two-week stint in Recife.

So if you’re like me and want Brazilian music all the time, be it bossa nova, tropicalia, or samba, Puperi’s got some ótimo news. Following up an appearance here in Austin during SXSW, Tagua Tagua is set to share their next EP Todo Tempo on May 24th. Stepping away from the full-band rock arrangements of 2020’s Inteiro Metade and last year’s Tanto, the standouts of those albums have been translated into stripped down acoustic forms – neo-soul essence still intact.

The effect is reminiscent of classic midcentury icons like Jobim, Gilberto, and Bonfa, albeit with some 21st century polish, as heard on Todo Tempo‘s intimate lead reimagining “4AM (Acústico)”. Now that the weekend’s here, Tagua Tagua’s putting any late night insomnia to bed, and we’ve got todo o tempo do mundo…caipirinhas anyone?

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As our ever-evolving hip-hop scene steadily expands, so does the representation of nations, cultures, and identities from its contributors. And for some truly refreshing cross-cultural flavors that have made their way into the ATX hip-hop melting pot, look no further than Faaris.

Brought up in a Pakistani household right here in Austin, Faaris brings a perspective not often recognized here in Central Texas. In the short time since he’s been making a name for himself (dating back to just 2021), Faaris has shown a skillful strive for variety, as heard on his 2023 LP Change of Scenery. But his standalone singles are what have propelled Faaris’ collective streaming numbers into the millions.

And this weekend we’re getting what’ll probably turn into another streaming heavyweight. Almost picking up where Britney Spears’ “Toxic” left off (sans mainstream appropriation), “Taken Not Given” puts a more authentic voice over those South Asian strings and Drum and Bass-style beat. Besides being an absolute banger, the lyrical braggadocio of “Taken Not Given” grounds itself in a clarion call for the historically conservative creatives of India and Pakistan to get with a more progressive program. And at just shy of two minutes, “Taken Not Given” begs for several repeat listens, no matter what tribe you call your own.

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They say, “write what you know”. And in music, if you know something well enough to perfect its performance, that usually means you’ve absorbed the material enough to build upon it and make it your own.

So let’s talk about Austin’s Adam Sultan. Sultan started off a singer-guitarist in the ’90s with Poi Dog Pondering before moving onto Flying Saucers, Hollowbody, and Mistress Stephanie And Her Melodic Cat. Adam’s also collaborated with Graham Reynolds for Richard Linklater scores, not to mention ascended to multi-hyphenate status, splitting time as a podcast host, meditation teacher, theater player, photographer, storyteller, and even a perfumer.

But here’s the kicker. Adam Sultan is a bona fide master when it comes to the art of musical tribute; his ongoing work with Super Creeps and Magnifico has granted Adam an intimate perspective to the discographies of David Bowie and Queen, respectively. And since you don’t just play those golden oldies time and time again without soaking up some of the timbres and songwriting formulas, when Sultan puts his six-string and pen to work, that classic rock royalty oozes right out onto the record. That’s something you can quickly pick up on with Adam Sultan’s two recently released singles. Where last month’s “Hard to Kill” captures Bowie’s earlier baroque folk era, January’s “The Great Divide” dives right into that later, heavier, glam rock period. Crazy to think we’re hearing such retro-sounding stuff like this in 2024, so major kudos to the Sultan himself for keeping those styles alive.

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As an unabashed Pink Floyd fan, I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to firing up the Atmos mix of Animals on my home theater setup when the BluRay drops next month. Sure, the full record’s been etched in my memory forever now, but through the lens of the latest mix an full surround encoding, it’ll be like hearing it for the first time. And that’s a safe bet for most modern psych fans, right? Far out, effects-dense arrangements with a little bit of digital polish to make the mix pop more?

At least that’s what’s been doing it for us with Flicker Vertigo, the near decade-old project of multi-instrumentalist/producer/engineer Nathan Nicholson. Brought up in Melbourne and now based out of Bournemouth. this walking enpsychlopedia of ’60s sounds and techniques flashes between dream pop, shoegaze, house, and of course psych rock for a feverish experience. Flicker Vertigo’s full discography has been great to dissociate to, so as we approach the post-eclipse era, we’re greeted with the news of more meditations.

On June 14th Flicker Vertigo unfurls their sixth full-length Infinite Verve. And this morning we got the first dose of IV with “Midnight Fantasies Upon Prospect Hill”. Despite its mouthful of a title, there’s a pleasant simplicity to this cosmic cacophony as it strobes through a dizzying drone of delay-drenched vocals, like if Kevin Parker ditched the day disco of The Slow Rush in favor of an all-night lo-fi dance frenzy.

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You’ve heard it a million times before: a picture is worth a thousand words. But go ahead and try it out if you dare. Pick a picture and start verbalizing. Yeah…you’ll give up far before you get anywhere close to a four-digit word count. Music on the other hand? Each chord carries various connotations, which become more complex once in the context of a full progression. And for first time listeners, lyrics typically get eclipsed by the overall musical character. So when a picture inspires a piece of music, abstract beats verbose, because that pairing of art forms often has a more profound impact than words alone ever will.

Which brings us to Barry Stone, a real stalwart of Austin’s ’90s scene through his work with noise rockers johnboy and Desafinado. That legacy largely belongs to Stone alone. But the same can’t be said of the upcoming release from Stone’s indie folk trio Mountains in Stars. See, their debut album Watch the Years Gather interpolates century-old heirlooms from Stone’s great grandfather’s personal photography collection, (dating back to the early 1900s) for a new mixed media experience. From what we’ve seen so far, these skillfully-composed snapshots capture a bucolic equine atmosphere – which perfectly match the melancholy acoustic originals on this record.

More than a decade and a half after its initial recording, the full Watch the Years Gather package (40-page photo book and all) is finally being made available next Thursday thanks to a live music grant from the City of Austin Economic Development Department. You can get your hands on these temporally transportive documents straight from the source 4PM that same day at Northern-Southern Gallery as part of Fusebox Festival when Mountains in Stars performs alongside Knife in the Water pedal steel player Bill McCullough. And for early entry into this interpretative exhibit, sink your teeth into the soothing LP opener “Hazards of Loving Creatures”. Eerie, gorgeous, and otherworldly, it’s just the right kind of calm we could all use before a busy celestial weekend.

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As with any active artistic community, the Austin music scene has suffered its share of too-soon tragedies. And the passing of Daniel Sahad – the flamboyant frontman of Austin sextet Nané who left us in April ’22 – still feels especially fresh in our memory.

Thankfully Daniel’s legacy still lives on through his music, Nané’s remaining members, and the pair of recorded performances Nané gifted KUTX (as our January 2021 Artist of the Month who finally slid into Studio 1A later that December) that have since become treasured mementos and unbiased testaments to Sahad’s dearly missed talent. But also, this weekend marks the anniversary of April 7th as Nané Day, which was officially decreed by the city mere weeks before Daniel’s death.

So come help celebrate Sahad’s life on Nané Day 8:30PM this Sunday at Empire Garage featuring Nané with Quentin Arispe guesting on lead vocals, plus opener Jefferson Clay for a tribute concert and closing ceremony whose proceeds benefit the SIMS Foundation. If you can only attend in spirit, at least revisit the video of Nané’s December ’21 Studio 1A session below. Because the whole set captures Sahad’s nimble charisma, immense kindness, and tip-top vocal execution, particularly on the band’s biggest hit “Always On My Mind” – which, down to its title, beautifully embodies the enduring imprint of Daniel on his former bandmates and anyone else who ever felt his touch.

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Prayers for rain resonate all throughout the Lone Star State year-round…even in April with a once-in-a-lifetime solar eclipse on the horizon. So without wanting to entice a cosmically inconvenient drench, let’s dip our toes into The Watters.

This Americana soul love affair is teeing up to hit the two-decade mark, but the bond between husband and wife Daniel and Jenna Watters goes all the way back to grade school. After soaking up all that Los Angeles, Denver, and Nashville had to offer, the Sedona, Arizona pair eventually planted themselves here in Austin, where they’ve since gone on to play pretty much every venue within the city limits. And despite a rap sheet that includes opening for Michael McDonald and Devon Gilfillian, landing local grants and national songwriting awards, completing two full-lengths and an EP, and a recent leap into parenthood – The Watters aren’t slowing their flow anytime soon.

No, next Thursday The Watters roll out their third LP Duality, with a release show at Sagebrush 8PM that same evening with Tomar and the FCs and Rent Party. They’ll also be doing their thing out at Utopia 3PM this Saturday if you wanna catch the full band against a gorgeous natural backdrop. Either way, the new tunes off Duality are about to drop like April showers for just in time for a summer-ready, lake-lovin’ playlist. And like the rest of Duality, “Set to Cruise” makes for smooth sailing with channel-deep mixing and ocean-spanning arrangements that favor instrumental virtuosity and group momentum. So cop your captain’s hat, climb aboard, and don’t plan on disembarking anytime soon.

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Don’t you love those unexpected brushes with old chums during South By South West? Sure, for us native Austinites they feel less like chance encounters and more like the inevitable kismet of living in a metropolitan area as small and dense as ours. But there’s still nothing quite like finding an old friend return to their old stomping grounds in top form.

So imagine how it felt upon learning that Fabi Reyna – who we remember from our high school and college days playing in Code Rainbow, The Silver Series, and Patches – was going to come down from Portland for KUTX’s latest Scholz Garten live concert broadcast. Yes, the matriarch of She Shreds herself graced us with Reyna Tropical‘s presence right in between SPRINTS and Hinds back in mid-March. Frankly, Fabi was in high spirits, even after the tragic passing of fellow Reyna Tropical co-founder “Sumohair” Diaz in Fall 2022. But this contrast matches that of Malegría – the near-untranslatable emotion of “bad happiness” and twenty-track debut full-length that landed online last Friday, which has already raked in some impressive streaming numbers.

Well, in getting to Scholz by 10AM that SX Wednesday, la raza y la gente scored a sneak peek at Malegría, and not just the LP’s lead singles. No, they got a better-than-coffee, tastier-than-tequlia concierto brimming with Chicana charm, thanks to exhilarating, en-español renditions like that of “Sauvecito”. Heck, we don’t wanna jinx anything, but we do suspect this might go down as one of those “you had to be there before they blew up” pieces of pre-superstardom magic as Fabi makes her way across the nation with Portugal. The Man and Malegría makes its way across the globe.

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Search “reverend” on any streaming platform and you’ll see just how many clergy folk make the most out of their musical passion – and not just in the world of gospel. You’ve got Al Green, Gary Davis, hell we’ll even throw Horton Heat in there. Here in Austin? We don’t get on our knees and pray, because The Reverend Shawn Amos makes us want to get on the dance floor and slay.

Born in the Big Apple to a nightclub singer and a talent agent turned cookie mogul, Amos has been releasing records for nearly three decades – and as “The Reverend” for ten years now. Throughout, his sonic proselytizing through blues, soul, and roots has converted casual listeners into hardcore fans, made clear by Amos’ collective millions of streams. And following the release of last October’s “Revelation” and February’s “Back to the Beginning”, the good Reverend is getting settled into his next set of sermons.

That’s right, the anticipation for Soul Brother No. 1 (out May 3rd) has been building up for months now. The album stacks ten tracks – nine originals and a Sly Stone cover – which we only mention because the LP’s latest, “It’s All Gonna Change (For the Better)” boasts major Family Stone energy, wailing organ, wah guitar, brazen vocals, optimistic outlook and all. To best soak up this groove, we recommend checking out its succulent music video, one that captures that earthly essence of fluid transformation in a really fascinating and satisfying way.

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As Women’s History Month comes to a close this Sunday, we assure y’all that we’ll keep featuring the countless talented women of our fair city all year ’round. But March 2024 does end with a unique spectacle this weekend, thanks to a fierce feminine force who’s already left her historic mark on Austin’s steadily diversifying music scene.

And that’s Qi Dada, one half of the husband-and-wife hip-hop duo, Riders Against the Storm, one of KUTX’s very first Studio 1A guests and some of Austin’s most influential socially conscious creators. Following a track record of promoting Black and Brown women’s voices through RAS Day Fest (currently on hiatus) and Body Rock ATX (which has found new legs at Sahara Lounge), Qi Dada’s put something together just for the ladies…well…at least lineup-wise.

That’s right, audiences of all kinds are welcome to join Qi Dada and her handpicked crew for a live concert taping and post-show ceremony – Black Divas – 6:30-8:30PM this Saturday at Austin PBS. It’s all in the name of uplifting motherhood and maternal health, aiming to raise awareness around the rise of maternal death rates in Texas and beyond, so you know your cover fee is going towards a great cause and great music. And although we wish we could spin stuff from the whole roster of performers, we also don’t want to spoil the Black girl magic ahead of the actual event. So instead we’re bending the knee to Austin’s certified queen of the hustle with an oldie-but-goodie Qi Dada solo cut from RAS’ 2021 LP Flowers For the Living. Because with empowering triplet-ripplin’ lyrics and a sassy bass-heavy beat to match, “Black Girl Payday” is the alarm you need to keep from sleeping on Black Divas this Saturday.

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It’s well-known that we here at KUTX have a soft spot for Alejandro Escovedo – a love affair that’s lasted far longer than we’ve even been a station. So it’s our due diligence to let you know that Señor Escovedo does have a new record entitled Echo Dancing dropping this weekend. That said, we’re not just talkin’ up Al today.

No, we gotta jump in and tip our hat to Escovedo’s returning tour mate, Mr. James Mastro. A fellow pioneer in the early days of punk rock, this singer-songwriter/multi-instrumentalist/producer’s already had the privilege and pleasure to perform across the globe more times than we can count, including in the company of Patti Smith, Ian Hunter, Judy Collins, and Robert Plant. This year, Mastro’s been riding high off his latest LP Dawn of a New Error, which dropped the final week of February.

Over the next month-plus of national touring, Escovedo and Mastro will likely be playing some of these new tunes in front of a live audience for the very first time. So as the pair escape the clouds and thunderstorms dominating Austin’s forecast for the next fortnight, familiarize yourself with “The Face of the Sun” and all the other cuts off Dawn of a New Error and Echo Dancing with the shared tour kickoff 8PM this Friday at Antone’s.

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If you’re already planning out your weekend and want to offset the Sunday scaries with some fresh visuals, consider checking out a three-act bill that coincides with a music video premiere.

The ringleader behind the affair is Nakia, the mononymous grifter of Austin’s vibrant blues scene. With only two records to his name at the time, Nakia started off the 2010s strong as a semi-finalist on The Voice‘s inaugural season. That’s absolutely an accolade worth bragging about, but nothing compares with new content, right? Well, keeping pace with his already-robust post-pandemic output, Nakia’s got some new optics he’s about to drop under the spotlight.

This Sunday Nakia commemorates the music video release for last October’s “Thrill-O-Matic”, a tune that was actually penned right after The Voice‘s finale, demo files long lost to the aether before a recent recovery made it a reality. Doors are at 7PM, Junerise kicks it off at 7:15, Nakia does his thing at 8:15 (your only opportunity to see “Thrill-O-Matic” before it hits the internet on Monday morning) and our June 2023 Artist of the Month Pelvis Wrestley wraps it up a quarter past 9. Until then, vanquish any Tuesday blues with the soul-rockin’, Abbey Road-mastered, Dolby Atmos-mixed mechanics of this Nathaniel Rateliff-esque original.

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Few people are as effervescent about their passions than those from Florence. But we’re not talking about the tiny Texas town about half an hour north of here. No, we mean the Tuscan capital that gave us cultural heavyweights like Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, Gucci, Cavalli, and more.Well, in a testament to “you can take the woman out of Italy but you can’t take Italy out of the woman”, Austin multi-hyphenate Giulia Millanta‘s pace of polymath output raises her profile towards that of her legendary Florentine predecessors. She’s a professional chef and a published author. Yet Millanta still finds the time and energy to write and record original music – which doesn’t sound quite as impressive as it truly is until you factor in what all she’s working with: guitar, upright bass, ukulele, plus vocals with lyrics in English, Italian, Spanish, and French. Yeah…Giulia’s the real deal.And this year is set to be another fruitful one for Giulia Millanta’s big batch of crafts; she’s soon set to share a new Italian cookbook – Dinner with Giulia – Flavors, Songs and Stories of a Florentine Troubadour, not to mention her ninth solo full-length, Only Luna Knows on April 19th. And while yes, you can hire Millanta to cook, spin yarns, and sing songs right in your own home, you can also familiarize yourself with this indie folk innovator in some more open settings – 8:30PM this Saturday at The Purple Barn in Wimberley, 7PM next Thursday at Pecha Kucha, 6PM at Guero’s on Wednesday the 17th, and the Only Luna Knows LP release party 6PM on Saturday April 20th at Saxon Pub.So there you have it – a full course of Giulia Millanta concerts to choose from. Now treat yourself to one of Giulia’s three pieces of antipasta from the album. We recommend last Friday’s “I Dance My Way”, since it’s got that ristorante-ready arrangement of piano, electric guitar, double bass, percussion, and vocals – all for that extra zest of Texan + Tuscan twang. Mangia bene.

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The taste-ranging genre gastronomy of our latest Scholz Garten lineup alone made it one for the books. And that A.M. affair simply couldn’t have been complete without SPRINTS. Because…yeah, the pairing of a Dublin four-piece – garage grit, post-punk precociousness, and all – against a full KUTX crowd at one of Texas’ oldest venues was exactly what you’d expect: a pre-St. Paddy’s blast.

SPRINTS just made Letter to Self public this January, and the eclectic, confessional record has already reached millions of streams worldwide – no small feat for any up-and-comers’ big debut. But sudden success clearly hasn’t killed frontwoman Karla Chubb’s of-kilter candor, since she expertly steered her quartet through a mad dash of lyrical honesty and aural adrenaline. SPRINTS heads back to the UK next week, so fingers crossed when they’re planning their next tour, our KUTX-clusive live recording of their show closer, “Literary Mind” preserves the memory and inspires another Austin appearance some time in the future.

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We’re still recovering from the flood of foreign artists that turned our fair city (and Scholz Garten) into an international exhibition last week. And if that worldwide melting pot of genres is best embodied by any SXSW 2024 performer, multi-instrumentalist Ahmed Gallab definitely makes the short list.

Born in London, Gallab spent a chunk of his childhood in Sudan and the remaining rearing in Ohio. The Buckeye State’s rich punk culture rubbed off on Gallab, whose multi-faceted talents and one-of-a-kind musical perspective led to session work with the likes of Caribou, of Montreal, and Yeasayer. Through his solo focus Sinkane, Gallab was able to refine his kitchen sink of sounds, but a dozen years down the line from their debut record MARS, we haven’t heard a lot of new studio stuff from them on this side of the pandemic.

Well, with the release of Sinkane’s eighth LP We Belong on April 5th, we know exactly what we’ll be sinkin’ our teeth into next month. And that cross-genre sense of acceptance was strong when Sinkane wrapped up our the morning’s live lineup last Friday at Scholz Garten. A shining specimen of modern gospel soul spiced up with that idiosyncratic Sinkane twist, the new album’s second installment, “How Sweet Is Your Love” was a solid standout of their live set. Oh, how sweet it was…

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Shoutout to everyone who caught our Scholz Garten live series last week for SXSW, either in person or over the airwaves! But if you didn’t turn out or tune in, don’t fret; we’re taking the next few days to recap some key performances.

Starting off today with Brooklyn’s Kassa Overall. This Grammy nominee is about as expert as it gets when it comes to drumming, yet by stepping behind the mic or into the producer’s chair, Kassa’s not just sequestered to the rhythm section. After landing a real KO on last May’s ANIMALS LP, Kassa Overall came in hot last Thursday at Scholz with his sonic supercollider of jazz and hip-hop.

Starting off at 11AM, the set’s energy was a real pre-noon pick-me-up. Auxiliary percussion, keys, and pair of saxes rounded out these retro arrangements for some truly magical moments, like the band’s rendition of “Make My Way Back Home”. Let’s just hope that Kassa Overall makes their way back to Austin sooner rather than later.

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Just in the past year alone, there’s been an impressive (and welcome) rise of AAPI representation in Austin’s music scene, chiefly in the sector of R&B/pop/hip-hop. And we’re not just referring to promqueen, francene rouelle, or anyone else in that mHART roster.

No, we’re talking about ttt, pronounced “Triple-T”. Vocalist-songwriter Trung Tran was born in Vietnam and raised in Houston, where the city’s distinct hip-hop character found its way into Tran’s creative course. After soaking up the narrative strategies and verbal styles of heavyweights like Travis Scott, J. Cole, and Kendrick Lamar, Tran first stepped out as ttt at the turn of the pandemic with a few singles leading up to his debut EP See Me Walk that November. Since then he’s kept a steady pace of releases, including the 2021 mixtape Trungo x Chief Rafif and four standalone single collaborations from last year.

That’s all been building up to ttt’s sophomore EP The Line, dropping April 11th. The first lead, “Runaway” came out at the end of February, flaunting a best-of blend between Toro y Moi and Yung Bae. And today ttt’s given us an exclusive first listen to the record’s title track, “The Line”. A sparse, processed breakbeat sets the tempo and Spanish guitar sets the tone for ttt to sprint all the way to “The Line”‘s finish with melodic raps, sung ad-libs, and overall just a great sense of youthful, modern, and urban energy.

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We’re not really squealing on ourselves when admitting that we here at KUTX love yacht rock. And given our ties to the university, it’s also no secret that we like to shine the spotlight on UT alum. So today we’re giving y’all the best of both.

We’re talkin’ about singer-songwriter/guitarist Nick Teale, a former longhorn now based out of Louisville. Teale’s proven a steal in terms of widespread appeal, thanks to his zeal for everything from Jason Isbell and Sturgill Simpson to Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. That said Nick primarily refers to his sound as “indie jazz rock”, further informed and made unique by the sonic treks to Middle Eastern territory Teale began taking in grad school.

This year, Teale’s been putting together a new reel to follow up his 2022 debut Still in Limbo – Glitterfingers, out this summer. Just like the name suggests, Teale graces every genre on Glitterfingers‘ roster with his Midas touch of talent…and he got really steely for us Dan fans last Friday with the LP’s latest lead single, “Half Genius”. Unconventional Fagen-like vocal intervals, Becker-esque guitar work, unstoppable chord progressions, intricate arrangements and all, “Half Genius” is a no-brainer for any yacht rock playlist.

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When you operate all the way up until the witching hour, there’s no such thing as bad weather for sunglasses. So if you’re a degenerate lowlight reptile like us, we’ve got the perfect tint for you on the verge of severe thunderstorms this weekend.

We’re talking about Polarizado, the solo songwriting project of Austin producer/multi-instrumentalist Felix Bergman that dates back to 2018. Already a veteran of too many styles to list here, Bergman refers to his style as “Cult Americana”, obscuring all kinds of genre influences behind a thick film of Southern idiosyncrasies. And following a sole studio offering from last year, Bergman’s been busy lately, promising the release of “many singles” over the course of 2024.

Today, ahead of a single release show at Far Out Lounge on March 26th alongside Cobra Cats and The Discount Pills that promise came in like a clarion with “Pagan Love Call”. Like a sonic accompaniment to this Central Texas humidity, there’s no sacrificing the twang in this thang. So embrace the steam and put the remainder of your work week in a death roll, because “Pagan Love Call” is must-play for all kinds of weekend heathens.

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Punk is a young person’s game, no doubt. Because while the counterculture spirit, tattoos, and tinnitus stay ’til death, even punk rock pioneers eventually mellow out towards “refined tastes” once they get comfortable on the other side of the hill.

Case in point: Ian MacDougall of The Riverboat Gamblers fame, who first broadened his genre horizons with Broken Gold alongside fellow Gambler Patrick Lillard over a decade and a half back. The offshoot’s initial indie punk prospects shined on their 2011 debut LP Recovery Journal, and have only departed further from the signature RG sound since, most notably on last March’s Live at Paint by Numbers. Well after waiting long enough, Broken Gold’s finally giving us another full-length entry into their studio discography.

Wild Eyes (out May 3rd) strikes gold with mixing from Modest Mouse/White Stripes engineer Stuart Sikes and mastering from twenty-one-time Grammy winner Howie Weinberg, not to mention one hell of a guest appearance. We’re talking about “Bad Days“, a look back to when Riverboat Gamblers were operating full tilt on tour, almost like a generations-later continuation of Ramones’ “I Wanna Be Sedated”. It dropped last Friday and features vocals from KUTX favorite Alejandro Escovedo, who could certainly lean on his formative days with The Nuns for similar inspiration. So as Broken Gold shifts the fuzz pedal into overdrive for SXSW, catch ’em 10:15PM tomorrow night at Valhalla for the Chicken Ranch Records Party and 5:45PM on Sunday at Empire Control Room for Smartpunk House. They’ll both be good nights for sure.

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All-day unofficial hangs, boozy activations, and making new friends with your line neighbors are great and all…but for us the biggest joy of SXSW is that fast influx of international acts. Artists who might not ever consider the U.S. Southwest for their previous tours instead flood our city with tons of show options, which always makes staying in Austin this week well worth it.

So we gotta give a big shoutout to Elle Shimada, who, on top of juggling vocals, dance routines, turntables, and several instruments, also has her hands full with in-town appearances over the next few days. The Tokyo-born, Melbourne-based multi-hyphenate has been coming up quick in the Australian underground scene thanks to her infectious flirtations with drum n bass, nu jazz, R&B, electronic, and beyond, not to mention a bold Takashi Miike-esque aesthetic to her releases’ artwork and unwavering allegiance to the dancefloor. And since SXSW is so often a catalyst towards superstardom, this week may turn out to be one of those pivotal leg ups in terms of international exposure.

Elle Shimada plays 4:20PM tomorrow at Empire Control Room, Friday afternoon at Lucille (Australia House), 7:50PM Friday evening at Lefty’s Brick Bar, and wraps it up 8:30PM Saturday night at Shiner’s Saloon…plenty of opportunities to tap into Shimada’s unique pulse in-person. So while a proper introduction to Elle is the quick trip through her discography, Shimada does shimmer supremely on her latest single that dropped at the top of the month. Between sweeping synths, soaring guitar, and a rhythm section that cranks the chillwave vibe up a big notch, “RESOLUTE” is the perfect score for a super-stylized sci-fi crime romance epic, like if one of those massive Blade Runner holograms was swapped out with Shimada’s striking visage and shintai-ascending voice.

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It doesn’t matter whether or not lyrics are written before or after the instrumentation; there’s always room to build contrast between subject matter and sonic character. Like for each individual genuinely troubled by the texts of “Pumped Up Kicks” or “Semi-Charmed Life”, there’s a multitude more who just love what they’re hearing without second guessing the words or inspiration. Which proves you can appeal to the masses based on a great groove alone – without having to sacrifice any lyrical integrity.

That just about tees us up for the new one from Kev Bev. For more than a decade now, multi-instrumentalist/singer-songwriter Kevin Collins has helmed this eponymous Austin thirteen-piece, formerly known as Kev Bev and The Woodland Creatures. This hefty ensemble is about as festive as it gets, thanks to the bevy’s proclivity towards dance, loyalty to the jam (sans genre constraints), and especially their collective grasp of historical musicology.

But Kev Bev’s knowledge of history isn’t limited to sound alone. In fact, they’ve just reflected on the heavy lessons from a poignant chapter in our nation’s past: that of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. And this where the power of positivity comes into play. “History Books“ (the lead single and title track off KB’s next LP) confronts some tough stuff for sure, but balances the abysmal with killer brass, incredible rhythms, slick transitions, and easily accessible choreography, even if you’re in the library. The movement-inducing music video arrived just in time for International Women’s Day, not to mention a pop-up performance 5:45PM this Saturday at Austin City Hall for the Falasteen Street Museum and a record release show 8PM next Friday at ABGB alongside Bali Yaaah. So credit to Kev Bev, ’cause edutainment is rarely this infectious.

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Swapping out lead singers can be risky for established listener-ships, but shaking up your sound can also reap some serious rewards and keep fans on their toes in the best way possible. So while not every band can boast a membership as eclectically talented as that of Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd, or The Beatles, a little vocal variety does go a long way. And that’s where Austin quintet KONZI finds themselves today.

KONZI’s been kickin’ it since the start of the pandemic – always with the co-lead vocalists in mind – but only implemented that dream on streaming this morning. Rest assured, the ’90s alternative/turn-of-the-millennium indie style that we heard on KONZI’s eponymous debut last year is well preserved. But there’s no denying the newfound fire from singer Carly Jo Jackson on this new one off KONZI’s upcoming sophomore album.

For a truly proper introduction, face the full-band effect with the music video for “Red Velvet Room”. To say “Red Velvet Room” absolutely rips is a criminal understatement, thanks in no small part to Jackson’s firecracker performance. So if you need a quick rock caffeine pick-me-up, step into “Red Velvet Room” with the volume up to eleven.

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We haven’t even hit SXSW yet, but we’re already hearing hype for some freshly-minted, must-know Austin acts. And with another new arrival this morning, our ear drums feel especially touched by an angel.

We’re talking about a four-piece whose fast ascent to their current status requires a bit of quick history. It started off a couple years back as Saturnia Pavonia, the solo outlet for Austin guitarist-singer-songwriter Laura Delarosa. Despite three lifelong multi-instrumentalists (Laura’s lead guitarist husband Josh, drummer Eleanor Lindsey, and bassist Aja Pollock) entering the mix last summer and hurling a pumped up post-punk sound into the stratosphere with their first full band foray “Control”, Delarosa and her disciples have held onto the Saturnia Pavonia handle ever since…until today.

Say hello to Wild Heaven: new name, still untamed. This beastly blessing is plain paradise for that lawless, aggressive ’90s-evocative alt-rock – a real godsend in this hyper-polished era of pristine digital production. How do we know? Well, Wild Heaven just opened up the pearly gates on this iteration’s debut single, “What You’re Looking For”, which is exactly that if you’ve been huntin’ for some recent Riot Grrrl material. Power chords straight out the gate, lyrics dishing out ex hate, and feminine adrenaline all on one plate, “What You’re Looking For” is a dish best served loudly. Catch ’em in person 10PM this Saturday at Vaquero Taquero downtown or 1PM this Sunday at Buzz Mill!

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Over the past two months alone we’ve seen some pretty promising new names emerge from the Austin area, even if the artists behind the project have been in plain sight for some time.

Take for example longtime live scene veteran Ana Zae, whose prior solo iteration Liza Day (Rose) first popped up in August 2020 with six soulful self-recorded originals. Heavy on the multi-tracked vocal harmonies but angled towards acoustic authenticity, those tunes told us everything we needed to know about this mature music-maker; she had the stuff.

Fast forward to this February, when the singer-guitarist rolled out her rebrand as Ana Zae with two stellar singles. Thanks to Black Pumas collaborator Will Grantham engineering and producing the pair, Ana’s sound has undeniably leveled up from the humble, stripped-down home studio aesthetic of her antecedent. Between a previously unheard one (“Set Me Free”) and “Lifted” (lifted from her Liza Day debut Roses and Waves), this two-part reintroduction channels the waltzy rhythms and sultry chord changes of classic Patsy Cline through the lens of golden era grunge electric guitar, both of them teetering with triplets, love-hungry lyrics, and a set of pipes that put more than plenty to shame. And with a full album reportedly on the way from Ana Zae, our fandom stands to stay unfazed.

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Once you hit your third or fourth full-length, you’re established. By album seven or eight you’re a heavyweight. But when your discography reaches its teens, the list of contemporaries to compare to starts running thin…and that’s the position Scott H. Biram is about to enter.

With a catalogue reaching back to the turn of the millennium, this Austin singer-guitarist has officially been in the game for a quarter century, and two decades removed from a pivotal brush with death. Biram’s is the type of music that could really only stem from Texas, with a gratuitous amount of southern grit ingrained in his exploration of blues, punk rock, and beyond. And his streaming numbers are certainly nothing to scoff at.

Recently, rockin’ the Fu Manchu mustache, gold tooth, and all, Scott’s gotten caught up in recapturing the lo-fi charm of his earlier installations, a wager he’ll make good on with his thirteenth full-length The One & Only Scott H. Biram, out March 29th. Based on the record’s first three singles (including this morning’s “No Man’s Land“) we definitely feel greeted back to that grizzled territory like a musty junkyard mutt crawling back inside a rusty jalopy frame. The shitkickers will love it, but that doesn’t neglect the uncouth sophistication of these new, idiosyncratic compositions. Rock on, Scott. Rock on.

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No matter how talented an individual vocalist is, the addition of live instrumentation can really elevate a performance to the upper tier. Like can you imagine if Rage Against the Machine was just De La Rocha spitting over pre-recorded tracks with a DJ instead of their legendary full-band energy? Us neither.

So we’re not really going out on a limb when we say that Austin four-piece Sweet Limb has a pretty swell thing going for them. The project started off over a decade back as a solo outlet for singer/rapper Chris Robinson but really took off post-COVID when Sweet Limb branched out to include bass, drums, and keys. Thanks to Robinson’s seasoned Frank Ocean-esque verbal skills, killer grooves that fuse multiple styles, plus the intentionality of their arrangements and proven understanding of dynamics in live settings that’s gotta pull plenty of new listeners, Sweet Limb’s been getting some admirable streaming traction just from releases over the past couple months alone.

Well, just in time for a few unofficial SXSW appearances over the next week (this Sunday afternoon at LuxeArt Agency, next Monday at Coconut Club, and next Thursday at Full Circle Bar) Sweet Limb released their first full-length Thank You For Not Snitching last Friday. Clocking in at a hair under half an hour, Thank You For Not Snitching packs ten tracks of black talent you’ll wanna tell everyone about, made in collaboration with local scenesters like KUTX favorites Ben Buck, Breadcouch, and Norman BA$E, who lends his production chops to the LOW KEY EP holdover “Meditate”. Like an alternate Persona 5 composition recut to capture a jazzy, placid Austin aesthetic, “Meditate” is a great way to clear the mind going into another work week on the verge of South By.

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Austin may be a metropolis, but it’s still smack dab in the middle of Texas, football fanaticism, Western legends, vast landscapes, and all. There are a lot of artists who embody that Lone Star aesthetic, but today we’re tippin’ our hat to Scott Ballew.

After his initial acts as football star and filmmaker, this central Texas troubadour is now living middle age to the fullest as a songwriter. Scott’s quick to point to his documentary work with Terry Allen as a pivotal moment in his career, and sure, you can see similarities in just comparing album covers , like the cresting scenery of their respective debuts Juarez vs. Talking to Mountains or the minimalist interiors of Lubbock (On Everything) vs. Middle Age Crazy. But that said, there’s something especially cinematic-minded about his cosmic Americana compositions that he couldn’t have simply copped from Allen’s outlaw country repertoire.

And that Western aesthetic really comes to a head on Scott Ballew’s third LP, Rio Bravo, out March 29th. Down to its already iconic title (Cat Ballou would’ve been too on the nose, right?) Rio Bravo is shaping up to be a ten-scene saga of survival, less in the realm of gunfighter ballads and more so contemporary confessions, like if Ennio Morricone brought his timeless Spaghetti Western magic to a newly-unearthed Townes Van Zandt album. Ballew started saddling up for Rio Bravo last month with “Suicide Squeeze” and galloped further today with “Mutiny”. Safe to say we’ll spend this next month patiently awaiting the rest of the stragglers, whose full posse of songs could’ve only been made in Texas, plain and simple.

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It’s a total no-brainer. 2020 and quarantine conditions left countless with a bizarre bevy of time to reflect and be inspired, no matter how dire the world felt. And with a lot of those early-COVID-era compositions, the final products reached masses within the first year or two. But some of those existential episodes must’ve made others question what the rush even is, since some of those songs still won’t land in fan’s laps until they’re just right.

It makes sense that Portland’s Anna Tivel falls in the latter category, since she’d already established herself as a modern folk force between a handful of studio albums and a few million streams by the time lockdown came around. And yet COVID didn’t seem to slow down her output. That summer, Tivel tailed 2019’s The Question with a full LP all-acoustic re-imagining, Blue World in 2021, Outsiders in 2022, and Outsiders‘ own acoustic revisit last August. In contrast to Tivel’s pensive, unhurried musical character, it’s honestly crazy to think about how quickly Tivel was cranking ’em out without sacrificing quality.

But apparently, not even all that could fully capture what Anna Tivel penned in the pandemic. Just this past Tuesday Tivel announced her sixth full-length Living Thing, set for release the final day of May. Marking a decade milestone since her debut Before Machines and nearly a half decade since the initial lockdown days, Tivel really upped the ante on Living Thing by collaborating with Bon Iver/Field Report producer Shane Leonard to meticulously maximize each track over an intensive two-month session. The record’s lead single, “Disposable Camera”? Far from a throwaway. Its minimalist music video definitely deserves a few more eyes, and the accessibility of the lyrics make “Disposable Camera” feel like flipping through all-too-familiar snapshots of the recent past. In other words…it’ll click with you.

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We here at KUTX have kept a pulse on the local scene long and close enough to realize that we’re essentially tracking the progression of individual talents in real time. And though we’re admittedly quick to stick up for twenty-somethings who’ve bottled lightning for their debut releases, frankly there are very few youngsters that genuinely make us think “oh, they’re only gonna get better and better from here on out” each time we see them play live.

Think about The Peterson Brothers, who initially entertained us almost a full decade back when they made their first Studio 1A appearance as mere teens. Just as they did back then, Glenn, Jr. and Alex both continue to slay it on vocals, but their deft instrumentation on guitar and bass, respectively, always steals the show. Which totally tracks, considering up until 2020’s The Intro, The Peterson Brothers were primarily a live staple. So just when we began to fear that their mature emulsifications of blues, funk, soul, and jazz might’ve hit a limit, The Peterson Brothers have bested themselves yet again with their full-length Experience, out April 12th.

And since The Peterson Brothers have already shared a stage with The Roots, who better to help translate their live energy to the studio than Grammy-nominated Roots/Lauryn Hill/Mark Ronson producer Ray Angry? Mixed for ATMOS and mastered at Abbey Road Studios, the resulting Experience is exactly what it claims to be, an eight-track sonic excursion best enjoyed in surround sound. So while mid-January’s “Too Soon” teased that hyper-polished production value with echoes of The Brothers Johnson, yesterday’s “Family” sounds more like The Whispers rejuvenated their signature synth sound with organic sonics and some playful brass. It’s an embrace of everyone who’s supported them along the way, blood relations be damned, and holy moly does it make us feel like Experience will be TPB’s alma mater…at least until the next one.

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Over the past 40 years R&B’s only gotten more electronic, more reliant on post-production “studio magic”. And for the more recent half of that period, R&B’s also become so intertwined with hip-hop that the two genres are now almost inseparable. Thankfully, just like the recent retro-soul renaissance, there are still purveyors of real “rhythm & blues” who ascend past contemporary commercial trends and instead blend the best of classic and modern.

And that includes Austin acts like Autumn Cymone, who draws just as much from Prince and Erykah Badu as she does Betty Davis and Astrud Gilberto. But seemingly impervious to a bad hair day and ever equipped with her trusty six-string, a quick listen to this “Queen of the vibe”‘s catalogue tells you that she’s much more than just another Janelle Monáe wannabe. And in the half decade since the straightforward rock arrangement paired with R&B drums of Cymone’s debut single “Silence”, we’ve heard a really impressive progression into the nuanced songwriting and authentic acoustics she’s blessed us with this side of the pandemic.

This Thursday Autumn Cymone shares her EP …all my surprises, followed by a show 10PM Friday night at Busy Signal and what may very well be her final unofficial SXSW performance 5PM next Saturday at New Bloom. So as Autumn Cymone slides towards superstardom, try not to get hot and bothered by the new album’s latest lip-biter, “Slippery”. Between a voracious back-and-forth lyrical structure with James Barmore that catalyzes sexual chemistry and the infectious complexities of its overall arrangement, “Slippery” feels like a modernized Motown duet overflowing with hormones and rock overtones.

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It’s a new week and nearly a new month so might as well break into some new music, right? Today we have the privilege of premiering the first-ever studio single from a fresh outfit – Tigers Eye. Like their namesake quartz, this quartet has a more exotic appeal than many of Austin’s other musical marbles, thanks to their mining of indie, surf, and psych.

Tigers Eye’s spent the past year earning their stripes with a series of live performance videos, including several covers that tip us off to some of the band’s inspirations like Arc De Soleil, Velvet Underground, Jimi Hendrix, Allah-Las, and Khruangbin. And speaking of live performances, Tigers Eye plays their maiden single release show 8PM next Tuesday at Mohawk alongside Trace of Lime and Buzzard Company. So while we don’t have a concrete timeframe for when the group drops their debut full-length, we did just get our paws on the record’s first offering, “Goodbye Again”.

Clocking in at just under four minutes, “Goodbye Again” makes us ready to great spring and summer with a grin, thanks to an upbeat arrangement, driving rhythms, and super catchy melodies – all of which demand we keep a close eye on these cool cats moving forward.

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We’ve said it once and we’ll say it again: we’ve been loving the recent ride of this retro soul-funk renaissance, especially with so much dynamite coming right out of the central state area. And today a new name emerges within that ongoing saga of nostalgia: Silver Skylarks.

Fly like the birds, and slick like the cars, Silver Skylarks is the DFW duo comprised of songwriter Danny Balis and producer Jeff “Skin” Wade, born from early pandemic demos. Taking cues from the ’70s vinyl rarities that crate diggers crave, Balis and Wade have been steadily elevating those ten demos into Silver Skylarks’ debut LP The Number One Set and Sound – out May 3rd.

But the pair didn’t go it alone. Instead they called up some of the best session players they’ve met, plus a few superstars to really spice things up. On top of the mix that includes Large Professor, Robert Ellis, and The D.O.C., Silver Skylarks also tapped into some outstanding Austin talent; Uncle Roy & Spice, the Austin vocalists better known as US!, lends their pipes to the record’s Side A closer “Power Moves”, while Adrian Quesada commandeers the six-string. The result is a progressive groove that’d quickly catch Roy Ayers’ ear, complete with horn swells, Coffy-esque vocals, and an intoxicating breakbeat-indulging bridge, that all just scream to be played over some sassy vigilante’s intro credits.

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Once you get locked into a flock, life without group benefits sounds like a nightmare. And if you want to break away to steer your own migrations, you might just sacrifice a chunk of your following in the process. Not only that, there’s always the risk of ending up far from where you wanted.

Yet it sure seems like singer-songwriter Eric Baker (formerly of Tomar & the FCs and currently behind keys for Shinyribs) has found the right fit with Wrongbird, which he founded as a solo project more than half a decade back. Since Baker’s early 2018 debut Epitome of the Opposite, Wrongbird’s wings have spread into a core duo with producer-guitarist Michael Blake and eventually the quartet we know today. Wrongbird’s made all the right choices when it comes to what they weave into the nest: strings, horns, backup singers, and anything worth foraging from the ’60s-’70s golden age of art pop. But following their late 2018 EP Who Is Wrongbird?, the band went awfully quiet…up until their big return in 2023 with April’s “Mr. April” and November’s “Western Hero”, the latter of which has already become their most streamed single on Spotify.

Clearly Wrongbird’s not interested in letting their still-limited discography dry up, and as such, they’re leading us to an oasis of a new record at some point in 2024. And while there’s no official release date for that sophomore album as of yet, Wrongbird does have a single release show 6:30PM next Wednesday at Vinyl Beauty Bar with Allisen & Wy plus Lady Chops & the Goddamn Jam. And that latest lead single from LP feels like finally reaching a distant mirage, that instead of evaporating upon arrival, gleefully transforms into a full-blown Bourbon Street affair. Because by barreling together Three Stooges dialogue samples, speakeasy-approved horns, tipsy stride piano, trippy guitar, tumbling drums, and swaggering vocals, “Sons of the Desert” effortlessly encapsulates a prohibition-era sense of mischievousness. Just don’t get yourselves into too much trouble with this one, boys…

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Last May we took a gander at a real Good Woman, Austin-born-and-raised and now Dallas-based singer-songwriter Paige Hill, who shared her debut EP of the same name last year. Pious yet uninhibited, motherly without hovering, and faithful to her state but enticed by adventure, Hill embodies those personal complications often overlooked in the Americana-country-folk-rock realm.

She’s the type of artist who soaks up inspiration wherever she goes and from whoever she meets, so it’s no huge surprise that she’s settled on People & Places as the title for her upcoming first full-length. Chronicling ten tender years over the course of nearly as many tunes, People & Places is set to showcase a seasoned sense of wisdom that can only come from a modern Texas woman.

So as we move towards People & Places – out later this Spring – we join Paige Hill on the journey she took from her native Austin out to the California coast way back when. Aptly “Go West”, this lead single makes us want to get up and move, plain and simple. While its instrumental arrangement is pretty tight, Paige’s soulful, reverberating vocals round out the song’s sense of space like a cross-country snow globe. And with an expert sense of dynamics that tracks Hill’s heeding of westward advice, “Go West” will encourage you to take the leap and make the changes you’ve been meaning to do from its first full-band downbeat through its final, optimistic chord.

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Once we got used to their abrasive calls, Hitchockian congregations at HEB Hancock, and overall recklessness, we’ve actually enjoyed being in good graces with grackles. Sure, they’re a bit more obnoxious than, say, the blind salamander, but squawking, flash-flocking and all, grackles instantly evoke a Central Texas aesthetic.

And we can say much of the same about musical up-and-comers Grackles; being loud is in their nature, they flock as octet in concert, and the Americana-country feathers they shed bear distinct characteristics of the Lone Star State. If you didn’t know, this formation is led by drummer extraordinaire Jimmy Paxson, Ben Harper guitarist Jason Mozersky, Austin’s own Noah Lit, and Edie Brickell/Paul Simon Producer Kyle Crusham, and for the past few months we’ve been monitoring Grackles’ migration towards their eponymous debut album, which finally releases this Friday.

That star power extends all throughout Grackles‘ ten tracks, but especially on its guest features, including two with Texas icon Kat Edmonson and two with Lauren Harris, who appears with guitarist David Grissom and real-life Elwood Charlie Musselwhite, respectively. So as we approach the Grackles release show 8PM this Saturday at Pershing Hall alongside Passiflora, let Musselwhite’s mouth harp and Harris’ vocals treat you to some extra twang with the Grackles’ road trip-ready alternate history anthem that is the LP’s first single, “San Antone”.

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Bugs…they’re super weird! They’re everywhere, they’re ancient, their appearance is alien and for every beautiful-looking specimen there’s an equal and opposite that makes us feel icky. And if there’s anyone up to the massive task of adapting…bugs to an aural experience, it’s Golden Hornet, and not just because they have a bug in their name.

No, this Austin-based string-heavy endeavor spearheaded by Artistic Director Graham Reynolds has never really been bound by the rules of conventional composition; instead Golden Hornet stings with unbridled variety and adventurous arrangements, no matter what genres they’re crossbreeding with. And the latest from Golden Hornet finds Reynolds uniting with ex-Kronos Quartet cellist Jeffrey Zeigler and renowned percussionist Susie Ibarra to create INSECTUM, a nine-song collection as eclectic as the specimens they interpret.

INSECTUM is avant-garde down to a microscopic level, and far from the most accessible thing you’ll hear all year. So if you’ve been bit by the bizarre music bug, support our classical-curating colleagues and march on over to the Draylen Mason Music Studio 7PM this Thursday for KMFA’s Offbeat series. We guarantee it’ll be a life changing concert, and not in a nightmarish Kafka-esque way. Just crank up the volume, zone out, and lose your mind to INSECTUM‘s penultimate offering “Army Ants” and you’ll hear exactly what we mean.

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We often think of glass as fragile, delicate, a superficial separation from whatever’s on the other side. Yet glass can only come from an intensive process, and can be tempered to withstand extreme duress. And that latter association seems to speak a lot more to Copenhagen pair Lisbet Fritze and Louise Foo, better known as Glas.Both members of this Denmark duo started off in the early-to-mid-2010s pop noir outfit Giana Factory, before Fritze began providing vocals and guitar for electronic sensation Trentemøller while Foo joined forces with her sister to form the avant-garde pop project SØSTR. Now, ten years after Giana Factory’s final single, Foo and Fritze have reunited for the transparent display of alt-pop talent that is Glas.Glas shared their first single “Melting Point” last Fall, and followed it up with “Midnight Fay” in mid-January. And today, just a month away from their debut Trentemøller-produced full-length Kisses Like Feathers, Glas has graced us with “Hungry Moon”. Phasing between the opening guitar chords that sound like a bleaker, modern take on “Pictures of Matchstick Men”, pristinely-polished vocal harmonies that float above brilliantly spacious drums and cave-like keys, plus a climactic dive into distortion that tapers off into static, “Hungry Moon” will instantly sate any alt-pop appetite.

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When we last spoke of Wilson Marks, it was just before Mother’s Day, and in fact for his newly-released song “Mother’s Day”. And wouldn’t you know it, when Wilson Marks sparks our interests yet again…it’s the day after Valentine’s. So while we won’t beleaguer you with delusional theories on causation versus correlation concerning Wilson’s releases and U.S. holidays, we will give you the rundown on what Wilson’s been working on since we last caught up.Just as planned, Wilson Marks did share another release late last year, but it ended up being the stripped-down EP they previously alluded to, Won’t Fit In a Song, instead of the trio’s next full-length as anticipated. Rest assured though, Wilson et al are still working on that LP and are looking at a drop date some time this spring. In the meantime, Marks has been making the most of a Monday night four-band residency at Sagebrush, continuing on the 19th – 8PM to midnight with opener Aaron Huff alongside closers Alex Riegelman & Friends and Virginia Creeper.Marks is definitely gonna be in good company for the remainder of that in-city, four-performance residency, and yet today he painted a very different picture with the upcoming album’s second single, “Isolation Town”. Between its bluesy trot, (breezy drum brushes and all), a real horse gallop of a woodblock pattern, some cozy chorus effects on the guitar, warm bass, wistful whistling and an oddly daunting second-person lyrical perspective and vocal character that both remind us of Roger Waters, “Isolation Town” channels that brilliantly wonky kind of early Pink Floyd-era psychedelia that almost borders on exotica.

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There’s a crass type of middle school comedy that still elicits cackles far past its “prime”. And following the rich Texas tradition of juvenile band handles like Dicks and Butthole Surfers, the name choice behind BOO85 is a breasty testament the infectious fun from five bosom buddies…even though it is pronounced like a mid-decade spectral scare (“boo eighty-five”).

This all-women Austin outfit navigates the cleavage of rock between alternative and pop. And that titillating twist is perfectly pressed against BOO85’s penchant for swaying bass and guitar, well-rounded drums, and lascivious vocals. BOO85 first slipped out onto streaming right around this same time last year, followed by the Exposed EP that summer and their jangly rendition of “Santa Baby” for the holidays. Clearly, they’re not going tits up anytime soon.

And this Valentine’s Day, as the girls gear up for a March 15th show at Knomad Bar, BOO85 presents their strongest recording yet. The opening bars of their new single “Heart” instantly recall Pixies, but soon shape up into some dream pop shimmer on the hooks, a “how was this not made in the ’90s” bridge section, and an intrinsically feminine energy throughout. So while we hope BOO85’s taking the tunes seriously doesn’t cover up the group’s characteristic fun…”Heart” is seriously good.

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Valentine’s Day’s not just for the couples. No, there’s an extensive list of local events offering RSVPs to love fools, lonely hearts and relationship-skippers alike. Among that full house of options? Austin’s very own Free Hamze.

Originally enticed into the genre by the Arabic incorporations of Mos Def and Lupe Fiasco (and the early/mid-2000s sound they helped proliferate), this Lebanese-born rapper’s really been blazing up an electic reputation since releasing his debut record Green Alchemy back in Summer 2022. Aside from his sword-surpassing penmanship and complex flow cadences, Free Hamze’s also somewhat of a bleeding heart, having founded the pro bono endeavor Sahar Studios and begun developing a 40-acre sustainable desert community. And while music is unmistakably Free Hamze’s brightest guiding light, principles of relentless liberation, of (true to his handle) freedom in any form, definitely inform Free’s impressive drive, which continued last winter with FREETAPE 3: Survival of the Realest.

So if you’re already falling in love with the idea of feeling Free Hamze’s heat tomorrow night, make it a date and drop by Electric Lounge 7PM then – followed by Kizzy Zeniba at 8 and Space Goonz at 9. But if you’d rather stay home and feel too cool for this Hallmark holiday, sub out a bottle of prosecco with a fresh production from Sekko that came out last Friday, “nothing4granted“. Hazy guitar chords, sensually subtle drums, and laid back lyrical triplets steal the show on this new sentimental standalone, one that easily elevates Free Hamze over the cookie cutter “mumble rap” slurs of his contemporaries.

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Here in Austin, we like to make a big fuss over our Central Texas music icons, erecting statues and renaming streets in their honor. So while the respective likeness and namesake of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Willie Nelson have become local landmarks, in reality, our city limits have several legends just hiding in plain sight.

Like Tommy Taylor, whose deft drumming on Christopher Cross’ ’79 debut undeniably helped make it the timeless classic it is today. But that’s just scratching the surface; on top of a longtime spot in Eric Johnson’s band, Taylor’s played with the likes of SRV, Charlie Sexton, Jerry Jeff Walker, Shawn Colvin, Ray Benson and many more over what must be an incredibly fulfilling career. Turns out though that Tommy Taylor wasn’t too keen on just letting those records speak for themselves, since after several years of encouragement, he recently put his voice front and center of his own tunes.

Created in collaboration with fellow legend and multi-Grammy winner Michael Omartian, Across the Stars came out last September. Between Omartian’s top notch production techniques and Taylor’s well-seasoned sense of songwriting (fleshed out characters and all), Across the Stars is an astronomical entry for this pair of yacht rock royals. So don’t expect any tumbleweeds or crickets when the silence comes at the end of this nine-song journey, because even early pieces like the album opener “Ghost Town” just sound plain great. Since we’re guessing there’s a galaxy’s worth of other material under Taylor’s belt, here’s hoping Across the Stars won’t be a standalone in Tommy’s discography.

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Listening to Alesia Lani is like the first kiss from a longtime crush. Her music makes hearts skip beats and occupies thoughts long after it’s left. But even though Alesia Lani’s flirtations with R&B-Soul are strong enough to make a full standing room swoon, she’s got a bit of an introverted nature underneath the tunes. And despite a SoFar Sounds Valentine’s Day show 8PM next Wednesday for all the wannabe lovers, Lani just dropped an anthem of sorts for us wallflowers.

It comes ahead of her next album love like lofi, out March 8th. Based on the name, we’re expecting a little less production fidelity than what we heard on last October’s Self Titled, but based on the quality of content from that last LP, the caliber of songwriting and performance has still gotta be high. So with showers in the forecast, this morning Alesia Lani drew back the curtain on love like lofi with the record’s lead single, “homebody“, one that finds her teaming up with eclectic beatmaker FLOST8.

The pitter patter of precipitation trickles past the pane to prime “homebody” and its ode to the rainy day mentality. Order a pizza, sprawl out on the couch, roll up something nice, flick on the mood lighting, and snuggle with the cat. Because it’s not lazy. It’s just lowkey.

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In the eons since Prometheus’ divine theft, we’ve figured out that starting a fire from anything is better than completely starting from scratch, even if it’s a step up from a random damp spot to a ring of rock. It’s true; even if your last burn didn’t leave any charcoal, the ashes of the past can still kindle in new contexts. And that’s not just Camping 101. It also rings true for a local outfit.

And that’s Ash and the Endings, founded and fronted by namesake lead singer Ashton Chase alongside four embers…er…members. Ranging from quadruple digit sessions and concerts, to acting and penning theatre, to running a floral design company, each member’s background lends itself to Ash and the Endings’ eclectic style and ability to give old experiences new beginnings. Starting off with their eponymous Summer 2022 LP, this quintet’s continued to dust off nooks of psych rock, three-part harmonies and all, across their expansive alt-rock attic.

If you want to catch Ash et al live, they’ll be celebrating Valentine’s Day 8PM next Wednesday at Far Out Lounge with openers Betty Benedeadly at 7 and closers NSFWho at 9. And although their latest studio offering doesn’t officially drop until tomorrow, the band was gracious enough to pry back the spring and let us crawl into “Victor’s Trap”. A perfect preface to Valentine’s Day, this reflection on intrinsic attractiveness, dating apps, and sex appeal in commercial music will easily infiltrate any ’90s grunge playlist. It might not be as romantic as a Victor Hugo novel, but it kicks off with a stirring bass line, that gears you up for gritty guitar, impressive vocal intervals, obliterating drums, and one heck of a long tail after a rolling cadence of a bridge. Not a fan of Ash and the Endings yet? “Victor’s Trap” might just snatch you up.

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You know the expression “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade”? We’ve always though the phrase was a bit unfair to the citrus, because cultivation is actually a tedious process of temperature control, planting trees, pruning, and patiently waiting for seedlings to get big and yellow. Not only that, but once the batch is ripe and hardy, lemonade is just one of the many recipes that infuse those unique flavors.

So we’ve been kind of thinking about The Lemon Twigs with a similar outlook; ten years since the D’Addario bros started their high school pet project, The Lemon Twigs sound more mature than ever, and over that decade they’ve lent their style to dishes of baroque pop, art rock, glam, indie, and beyond. And especially in the last year or so, the boys have been busy! With the retro soft rock taste of last May’s Everything Harmony still fresh in our mouths, this morning The Lemon Twigs announced their sixth full-length A Dream Is All We Know – out May 3rd.

Yes, we were foolish enough to assume that early January’s “My Golden Years” was all the stand had to offer for now. Instead it’s just the first offering and album opener from this fresh, dozen-track bushel of pond-crossing ’60s sensibilities. Like swingin’ London squeezed the sweetest bits out of the Haight-Ashbury scene and vice versa, that well-aged jangle really pops on A Dream…‘s sophomore song, “They Don’t Know How To Fall In Place”, which, down to the grainy look and color processing of its music video, oozes that iconic 1960s counterculture aesthetic.

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It’s been a long time since Matt the Electrician made his last official house call. But although the days of his eponymous trade are behind us, Matt’s still got the spark to put a tap in our foot and a smile on our face each time he plays. In our ever-crowding, sometimes cocky live scene, Matt the Electrician really does humble the competition thanks to decades of astute observations and unpretentious performances, unplugged or otherwise. And with a discography as deep as his, comparing the output from his folk rock contemporaries to Matt the Electrician is almost like a drop in the ocean.

Speaking of which, Matt the Electrician just finished up his latest installation last Friday with his full-length The Ocean Knocked Me Down, a sixteen-track tidal wave of lighthearted fun and buoyant optimism that features some Austin favorites. Over the next couple weeks, this electrician will be workin’ on a regional circuit, with stops in Arkansas, Missouri, and Kansas before returning to Texas in March. Glancing at Matt the Electrician’s calendar, there’s a suspicious gap right where SXSW lands, but we do know for sure that he’ll have another Austin show on April 20th at The Rollins Theater.

Until then, if you’ve depleted your remaining surplus of holiday cheer, let The Ocean Knocked Me Down wash away that wintertime blues with charming originals like “Human Echo”. The second track in The Ocean…‘s new batch, “Human Echo” reverberates with skanky ukulele, unruffled trumpet riffs, big bear hugs of group vocals, tasteful key chords, and the jocund wisdom that whatever it will be…is whatever it will be.

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You never want to spread your style thin by dabbling with too many different sounds, especially when you’re starting out. We’re not saying you should oversimplify things when those bits of inspiration hit. If you can successfully finesse ’em in there without derailing your stylistic strengths, then more power to you. But a little consistency early on can do wonders for an artist’s reliability down the road.

That said, we really love what we’ve been hearing from Austin’s Baby the Band. Not to be confused with fellow Texas musicians Baby…the band. Considering core member Norrie Swofford, a veteran of Nolan Potter’s Nightmare Band who’s currently behind synth and keys for Dayglow, it makes sense that Baby the Band sort of sits in the middle; they scour off some of Dayglow’s pristine pop polish and reel in a bit of that absolute Nolan Potter madness. Baby the Band’s mellow wheelhouse of ethereal psych-pop-rock crafts with consistent timbres and mixing techniques, which made them a dream come true when they first appeared on streaming right after lockdown.

Far from a blemish on their legacy, Baby the Band gave us the new two-parter “Stain” / “Not Forever” just a couple weeks back. The former’s just as good as the latter, and the seamless flow between the two proves the pieces’ companionship. But we gotta give special credit to “Not Forever” for its execution of brevity without cutting the jam too short, wailing hard on a near-two-minute-long sax solo and never letting the energy drag. Either way, both’ll sound nifty if you’re trippin’! And both are aural euphoria at the press of “play”.

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Love at first sight has ignited countless fairy tales, both modern and classic. But as common as those instantaneous head-over-heels plunges are in day-to-day life, statistically speaking, “happy endings” are a lot less likely. And breakups sure do suck…but that’s why breakup songs go so hard, regardless of your relationship status.

This is where we call in Caelin, an Austin singer-songwriter who categorizes their sound as “dreamy emo country”, which, while accurate, excludes the elements of folk, R&B, indie Americana, and pop we heard on her debut record save me from me that dropped last May. This year, Caelin’s coming hot off some caught feelings…well…more like getting over an intense infatuation. And she’s set to expand on that timeless “loved and lost” outlook over the course of her sophomore EP Strangers In Love, out sometime around late Spring or early Summer.

For Strangers In Love, Caelin enlisted the production talent of KUTX favorite Walker Lukens as well as the Big Apple’s Ben Coleman to help this poignant post-mortem panoply of past memories and soul searching really pop. This morning Caelin released Strangers In Love‘s introduction, “Will I Ever Love Again”, ahead of a show 9PM tonight at Mohawk alongside Madison Baker, Barb, and a DJ set from Vonne. Just in time for the flurry of Valentine’s Day drivel that always floods the first half of February, this Lukens-produced lead single captures the enduring, existential pain of occupied thoughts over the one who got away for a wholly pensive effect…all without sounding pouty or puerile. Between an ethereal arrangement, lyrics that scour emotional scars, and one hell of a vocal performance, “Will I Ever Love Again” might bury you alive in heartbreak. So remember. The magic may be momentary. But the music and its empathic abilities last forever.

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It’s nifty how different sorts of sporty recreation mingle with specific subgenres of music; think surf, skate punk, or yacht rock. But since you can also just longboard down the access road, sippin’ Ocean Spray to some classic Fleetwood Mac without a care in the world, the rules clearly aren’t hard and fast. What’s most important is the meditation in motion, a flow state inspired by the movement of the music itself.

So even though roller skating may be most closely associated to disco (at least historically speaking), there’s an Austin outfit putting those trucks on a whole new set of wheels. That’s The Lonesome Heroes, who’ve endured the rinks of the local live scene (and far beyond) for nearly twenty years now, weaving between the best parts of indie, country, and Americana. Most recently, this veteran quintet scored another milestone with their sixth LP Seasons Change, which has already racked up some impressive streaming numbers in the short time since its November release.

And in line with frontman Rich Russell’s decision to open up the record’s writing process to a few Austin friends, these hometown heroes are lookin’ a little less lonesome in the album opener “Placebo Sun”‘s new music video…as a matter of fact they rounded up a whole roller posse to kick off their boots and strap on some skates! To fully soak up the authentic cosmic Americana radiance of “Placebo Sun”, you’ll have to keep The Lonesome Heroes company 10PM tonight at Hotel Vegas ahead of Alien Eyelid at 10:45, Shinglers at 11:30, and Automatic Weekend half past midnight, no paddling, skiing or interstellar travel required…maybe just a show-stealing, shot-bombing pooch.

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Just like the three wise monkeys, it can be enticing to turn a blind eye rather than than process a harsh reality. So even though switching on tunnel vision is probably your best bet when passing a bad roadside accident, it’s a lot tougher to avert your gaze from a “dumpster fire” at large. Because what you choose to observe directly affects both your wisdom and skepticism.

At least that’s the vibe we get from singer-songwriter-guitarist-producer Leila Sunier, who moved down here from her native New York not too long after dropping her 2020 sophomore Where Everything Is Perfect. A big fan of filled-out arrangements and compressor-contradicting dynamics, Sunier’s indie-pop-folk-alt-rock concoction has caught plenty of attention, including that of At the Drive-In producer Alex Newport and Austin’s own Ghostland Observatory, for whom she opened up last June.

Now that those flavors have ripened within Austin’s “blueberry in the tomato soup”, Leila Sunier’s set to hit high marks for self-reflection and social commentary on Too Big For Right Now, out this July. Ahead of a gig 10:30PM this Friday at Captain Quackenbush’s (with openers Taylor Kron at 8:30 and Howdy Cherry at 9:30), last weekend Leila shared the latest in a panoply of delicate-yet-purposeful folk forays off Too Big For Right Now, “All I Choose”. So if you typically try to cram multiple shows into the start of your weekend, maybe just stick with the obvious choice this time around. For right now, though, feast on the meditative roadside visuals of “All I Choose”, whose minimalist eggshell sonics swell into something much bigger than expected without becoming bombastic. It’s beautiful. It’s brilliant. And it’s a sure sign that Sunier will keep on soaring upward.

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Thanks to a nationwide renaissance, Chicano Soul’s been getting a lot of recent praise for its bridging of Mexican and American, of Spanish and English, in a way that blurs national and ethnic boundaries. And if we’re talking about musical movements in the same ilk, right down to its name, Tejano has to be be towards the top of that list.Of course, to authentically contribute to that sound, an artist has to have substantial experience on both sides of the border. Which brings us to Muchacho Sanchez. Sanchez split his early days between the L.A. metro and the majestic ranchos of Durango before spending a chunk of his twenties traveling across the country, soaking up every inspiring sight and unique sound in the process. Well, even though Sanchez settled down in Austin back in 2012, that nomadic drive is still alive and well in Muchacho’s music, as heard and seen in the backdrop of a trío of YouTube demos.This morning we received the debut studio single from Muchacho Sanchez, one that proves this young troubadour’s already shaping up to be a rad hombre. Recorded and produced by Charley Crockett/Sentimental Family Band collaborator Billy Horton, “First Mind” is a passionate primer paso empowered by Sanchez’ pure soul and road-wise experience. So if you’re craving some quality Tex-Mex but only have time for a quick two-step, turns Muchacho’s volume up to the max and let loose, because “First Mind” absolutely hits the spot in three minutes flat.

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When it comes to natural landmarks, Texas is absolutely teeming with them. From meteor craters and sinkholes to canyons, rivers, forests, mountain ranges, lakes, and caverns, our vast landscape offers a ton of variety to make up for those long car rides. And none of that Earth-born beauty could be conserved as well as it has been without the Texas Parks & Wildlife Foundation, who just celebrated the centennial of Texas State Parks last year.

If you missed it, TPWF recently teamed up with KUTX favorite Walker Lukens to produce Texas Wild, a collection of iconic Texas tunes performed by some of the Lone Star’s finest to commemorate that hundred-year legacy of astonishing state parks. That eleven-track vinyl packs a wallop on its own, no doubt, but because everything’s bigger when you’re here, the Texas Wild team just had to make some extra hay for this salute.

So, alongside the KUTX Multimedia Crew, Walker, The Bright Light Social Hour, Shakey Graves, and Jess Williamson took a field trip out to Longhorn Cavern State Park in Burnet to bask in the ancestral acoustics and primal reverb that only an eon-old limestone cave can provide. Their chamber-filling rendition of Daniel Johnston’s “True Love Will Find You In The End” can haunt any home stereo, but to fully immerse yourself in this one-of-a-kind space, you gotta check out the video. Because like witnessing all-star set of stalagmites suddenly come to life, with outward reverence for their surroundings and instruments at the ready, it’s a visual treat that plants you into a truly magical habitat, one you won’t want to leave when the music’s over.

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After naming them as our July 2022 Artist of the Month, we here at KUTX have gotten an awful lot of opportunities to gush about the Austin synth-goth gargantua that is Urban Heat. With a blacked-out sense of fashion and all the industrial analogue toys a bitter boy could want, Urban Heat instantly evokes an impossibly-slick sense of 1980s nihilism, perfectly primed for our pandemic era and an entire dejected generation. Of course, there’s still a ton of synth-pop beauty in the bass-and-beat-driven bleakness, as heard throughout Urban Heat’s 2022 album Wellness and the handful of singles they’ve shared since.

So, sure, the Wellness stalwart “Have You Ever” has climbed past millions of streams, but that success hasn’t slowed Urban Heat’s ascension to The Tower, out this summer. If we’d just heard this next record’s first lead single, “Like This”, we’d honestly expect much of the same from Wellness. Turns out though, that Wellness was just the foundation for The Tower, as made clear by the full-length’s second preview, “Sanitizer”.

Far from a sterile sound, “Sanitizer” oozes infectious electro elements like drastically-saturated bass tones, scalpel-sharp drums, and pitch wheel synth sirens that’ll elevate your heartbeat with what’s easily Urban Heat’s most aggressive original to date. Clearly, there’s no musical malpractice when it comes to these goth doctors…but the same can’t be said for the trio’s trauma team characters in the music video for “Sanitizer”. It’s gross. It’s hilarious. It’ll tear your heart right out. And you’d better believe Urban Heat turns the O.R. into a dance floor for their lucky pair of patients (dancers Larissa Dali and Quentin Arispe). So between Urban Heat kickoff of a tour in support of Twin Tribes tonight in Pomona and their return to Texas in early February, remember: a play of “Sanitizer” a day keeps bad music away.

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When an artist spends precious set time talking about a song’s inspiration, they’re sometimes met with the demand of “less talk, more rock”. Which is pretty unfair, because when your tunes are left up to interpretation, setting the stage for your lyrics is just as important as contextualizing an ajar journal entry.

So we gotta applaud the admirable candor of Mary Bryce, who, on top of keeping her Substack regularly updated, is also quite the accomplished poet, painter, and singer-songwriter, best known in the latter category among locals as a member of long-gone Austin outfit SMiiLE. Like the best of us, Mary seized the start of the pandemic to begin working on a new creative outlet – Alma Jette (alongside a solo album recorded straight to tape) before re-locating to Los Angeles with her then-partner/SMiiLE frontman Jake Miles. But that brief period between the LP’s affectionate origins and the present hasn’t been without tumult; just last year, Bryce’s long-term relationship with Miles ended shortly after the pair’s L.A. home burned down.

Fortunately, those circumstances haven’t left too sour a taste in Bryce’s mouth. At least not enough to scrap the whole project. Instead, like a phoenix, those ten intimate snapshots have taken on more, wiser nuance with Alma Jette’s debut full-length, I Found A Reason, out late April. And since Bryce now splits her time between LA and ATX, it’s definitely worth catching Alma Jette in town for a single release this Friday ’round midnight at Sagebrush after openers Sammy G at 9PM, Other Vessels at 10PM, and Harry & Emmy at 11PM. That single – “Demons” – cuts straight to the chase of its title in its first handful of seconds before an enchanting orchestral arrangement pushes emotions to the top. It’s almost like a just-discovered Joni Mitchell folk rock single at a thematic midpoint between Kacey Musgraves’ Golden Hour and Star-Crossed. Just don’t blame Bryce when the waterworks start flowing…

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We’re struggling to find the exact quote, so maybe we just imagined it, but we’re pretty sure Notorious B.I.G. said something along the lines of, “Ready to Die was 10% skill and 90% the chronic”, alluding to his lauded lyricism. And while we don’t advocate for substance use as a sole source of inspiration, we do appreciate how much a quick smoke session can convince a lyricist to get comfortable and let the beat play as long as it needs. Because when an un-rushed set of free-association bars have spent enough time in the oven, they often come out hotter and fresher than your run-of-the-mill one-take freestyle.

That brings us to Austin’s Breadcouch, who’s been baking his eccentric brand of alternative hip-hop/R&B since 2020. The multi-genre fusion of Breadcouch’s boundary-less beats really lends itself to the versatility of his vocals, which switch between rapping and singing for evenly-toasted slices of bedroom soul-pop, electronica, trap, boom bap, and even indie rock, all from the same, surprisingly-cohesive loaf. And although you could sample a few brief crumbs from Breadcouch’s expansive catalogue and label his style as “wordy” or “busy”, we respect the grains of brevity that Breadcouch brings to his hooks.

Case in point: a new tune featuring fellow Austin rapper-producer Ben Buck, “WAIT”. They’ll both be performing at Hole in the Wall tonight for the Speaker Bump Social, so smoke ’em if you got ’em, and let the hazy wordplay, sativa-scented samples, blunt-ready bass, and doja-derived drums of “WAIT” whisk you through this showery Wednesday.

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If you’ve been keeping tally of unique local releases just over the past month, you already know 2024’s shaping up to be a big year. And King Warbler is definitely among that elite subset of Austin specimens who always perk our ears up within the first couple notes of their distinct calls.

With chief songwriter/vocalist/piano-keyboardist Jack Van Norman ever steering the formation forward, the five-player flock recently took another interesting turn in the long migration from 2016’s Rosanky. A half decade removed from the distortion-heavy 2018 EP Wake Up Blonde, King Warbler’s maintains that elevated production level on their upcoming sophomore full-length, Texas Sky, albeit with an extra element of ’70s sass showing up to the party.

Texas Sky touches down this Friday, followed by an LP release show 9:30PM this Saturday at Captain Quackenbush’s Soundscape alongside Abram Shook at 8:30 and Batty Jr. at 10:30. And based on the pair of lead singles that got shared a couple weeks back, Texas Sky is looking like a horizon-filling collection of sounds. Such as the blue-eyed “Lifestyle”, which circles the docks of early yacht rock on feathers of Allen Toussaint and Elton John with a little crest of Leon Russell on top. With a drum shuffle we think Bernard Purdie’d approve of, jazz-adjacent piano chords that give off Steely feels, beautifully-busy, scale-spanning bass licks, some tasteful electric guitar soaring past every once in a while, and impressive vocal intervals to boot, “Lifestyle” is a graceful, mature, and warmly-welcomed addition to Love Austin Music Month.

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In the midst of this drizzly, nippy, and overall kind of crummy weather, we can’t really fault anyone maximizing their time under the covers. And on behalf of the bounty of additional body heat, everyone with a significant other, a temporary cuffing acquaintance, or just a fuzzy friend willing to curl up really ought to feel thankful. Because the alternative is feeling extra frigid right about now. Fortunately for those battling Old Man Winter solo, there’s a new homegrown anthem that’ll warm any bitter spirits right on up.

It comes from Austin indie rock quintet West 22nd, the five friends who only crept up onto streaming services last August with their debut EP All the Way Home. Despite their recent shared confrontations with adulthood and the less-than-picture-perfect realities of relationships that come with it, West 22nd still maintains an undeniably youthful energy in their originals – not necessarily what we’d call wise, but certainly not puerile either.

And they’ve hit the ground running in the new year, having played not too far from their namesake last weekend at The Ballroom and performing again this Friday at Mohawk Outdoors alongside Sounds by Moonbby and Polo Perks opening for Skaiwater. So while West 22nd’s English counterparts may scoff at us Texans shivering from a brief week of freezing, we’d like to think that fellow chilly mammals Arctic Monkeys may not have anything bad to say about “Sleeping Alone”, released last Friday. Emblematic of that iconic early-millennium indie rock renaissance, “Sleeping Alone” sticks it to The Strokes with a nuanced arrangement and considerably less reliance on studio magic. So if you find yourself tossing and turning, maybe missing that special someone, crank “Sleeping Alone” all the way up, delete that has-been from your contacts, and maybe even plan on meeting someone new this Friday at the Mohawk.

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When we prioritize praise, obviously the actual performer gets preferential treatment. So when listening to a final product, it can sometimes be easy to overlook the impact of a producer with a calculated vision, especially when they’re still in their salad days.

That brings us to Austin-based, Cambodian-born producer Wil Brookhart, best known by his creative handle waverly. On top of his idiosyncratic trap/pop/R&B sound, and helping catapult his bestie promqueen to local legend status last year, waverly’s also got a brand new retinue – his newly launched label mHart – which caters to Asian-American artists alongside a near-dozen-person all-minority/women team. That’s right; it turns out promqueen was just the initial proof of concept, because ahead of her anticipated sophomore szn two, she’s now joined by the second exciting addition to mHart’s already-promising, all-lowercase roster – francene rouelle.

Still in her early twenties and humbled by an agrarian upbringing, this first generation Filipina’s skipped past any nepotistic child TV star chapter (looking at you, Ariana Grande and Sabrina Carpenter) and straight into the auspicious arena of Asian Pop. And with backing from waverly’s cutesy-yet-sophisticated style of beats, francene rouelle hyper-effeminate fashion and coquettishly-confident vocals altogether gloss a strategically-girly image. In other words, while Ariana Grande grasps at straws, peddling too many versions of the same tired tune, a new Pop/R&B princess begins to seize the throne. So get ready to bend the knee when rouelle’s debut EP finally a fairytale drops April 19th, and charm your weekend with that record’s opening fable, “love wasn’t enough”.

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We love a good family band, but even with greats like CCR, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and the The Allman Brothers, breaking past biological boundaries has its own proven benefits. So although songwriter Brandon Borrego obviously holds a shatterproof tie to his brother Louis, we gotta give them credit for letting some “outside” voices in on their tunes.

And that’s on behalf of The Melos (“the mellows”), which began as the handle for Brandon’s Austin-based output. That was, until Spring 2022, when the Borrego brothers linked up with bassist Jacob Moore and drummer Dante Muñoz in a classic case of SXSW kismet. Sparks flew, bonds grew, and the new iteration of The Melos soon started building on top of the existing framework from the Borregos’ initial batch of originals. As heard on a pair of back-to-back tracks (released last July and August, respectively) The Melos maintain the Borregos’ fraternal formula of Eddie Money-meets-Bruce Springsteen with a modern pop twist, for – true to their name – some undeniably laidback indie rock.

That dulcet saga continues today with The Melos’ first single of the year and a show 11PM tonight at Swan Dive with openers Bovine at 10PM and closers Tealwaves at midnight. You’ll recognize some familiar threads on “I Don’t Wanna Be” – chiefly Brandon’s grizzled, straight-from-the-heart vocals and cinematic chord progressions that perfectly capture the working class strife of your average Joe. But thanks to some striking snare fills, moody guitar tones, unrestricted bass riffs, and a tastefully-brief bridge section that quickly cools things off before cranking ’em all the way back up, the only thing missing from “I Don’t Wanna Be” is a full stadium’s-worth of applause after the final chord. Sure as hell sounds like a stereo-spanning family affair to us, and an incredibly infectious one at that, and we can’t wait to hear what the boys crank out next.

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In the past half decade, we’ve witnessed some surprisingly progressive turns in the historically conservative field of folk and country music; be it Orville Peck eclipsing his contemporaries in the mainstream, a Tracy Chapman cover dominating charts, Kacey Musgraves’ ongoing expansion of the genre’s inclusiveness, or Lil Nas X making people debate what even constitutes a country tune. It’s beyond refreshing to watch these tides shift, and thankfully for us Austinites, it’s not just a national trend.

So while we can certainly point to Pelvis Wrestley’s Benjamin Violet as a force for the androgynous queer cowboy visual aesthetic, when it comes to clear-cut alt-country and folk music, we gotta give kudos to Creekbed Carter Hogan. See, in the short time since Hogan shared their debut 2021 Good St Riddance, we’ve seen huge leaps not just in terms of musical maturity, but indeed through major milestones like legally changing their name, having their uterus removed, and publishing their first book. And through this transition, CCH has created a powerful advantage that makes him stand out in the crowded world of Americana-country-folk, and that’s his unique vocal register, much higher than the majority of men but not necessarily feminine in character.

Well, following up last Spring’s Split EP, Creekbed Carter Hogan is taking things to the next level with their eponymous sophomore full-length Creekbed Carter, out March 22nd. Style-wise it maintains the same blunt, clever, and intrinsically queer twist on roots music we’ve come to adore. But strictly speaking to audio quality, it’s a huge step up from the CCH’s relatively lo-fi discography thus far, with glistening sonics that’ll fill a stereo just as well as it could the Grande Ole Opry. Based on what we’ve heard so far, we’re even willing to wager that Creekbed Carter could challenge Golden Hour when it comes to the finest mixes in acoustic music. So as these Texas temps slowly creep up, crawl into the Creekbed with Hogan for a single release show 8PM this Saturday at Radio/East alongside Large Brush Collection, Kind Keith, and Leila Sunier. Until then, show Hogan some love in the streambed by giving a spin to the record’s first offering, “If I Was”. Because at five-and-a-half minutes, bordered by the prettiest instrumental string arrangement we’ve heard all year (which includes Pelvis Wrestley’s Zach Wiggs on pedal steel and Little Mazarn’s Lindsey Verrill on bass), and joined by Large Brush Collection’s Nora Predey and Grabiela Torres in its climax, “If I Was” marks a melancholy beginning for trans folk’s next generation.

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Us Austinites love to brag about living in the “Live Music Capital of the World”. But that moniker’s not just a matter of venue multiplicity; no, there’s something about our city limits that not only creates a gravitational pull, but also dips newcomers right into a fast-acting melting pot.Case in point? Ethan Azarian, a Vermont-raised singer-songwriter-painter who moved down here in the late ’80s shortly before founding a quickly-beloved local institution, The Orange Mothers. Well, outside of the Mothers, Azarian’s also an accomplished solo folk/pop artist, and on top of raising Blue Cow Studios from the ground up and more recently spearheading the Songwriter’s Happy Hour at Hole in the Wall, two decades after the release of his solo introduction Captain of the Town, Ethan’s still going strong.As a matter of fact, just in time for this big freeze, Ethan Azarian’s offering up a much-welcomed change of scenery with his latest full-length Hawaii. Featuring not just the album artwork of Ethan’s son Francis but some really tasteful piano and organ as well, Hawaii is a gorgeous, sans-percussion folk family affair. And you can see the father-son chemistry live at a free show 7PM this Saturday at the Cactus Cafe with fellow Hawaii contributors Lindsey Verrill, Jeff Johnston, and special guest Amy Annelle. By then we’ll have warmed up just enough to want to get out, thanks in no small part to Hawaii‘s title track. Despite its beautifully-barren, wintry arrangement, the lyrics that carry “Hawaii” paint a transportive tropical portrait of volcanos, green waters, and enveloping island voices.

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From Scott Storch to Mike Dean, The Alchemist to Murda Beatz, and far too many more examples to list here, it’s clear that having a white producer doesn’t negate the impact of a strong black voice in hip-hop. Here in Austin we can point to Song of the Day favorite RuDi Devino, who’s spread his butter-smooth bars over Ruler Why’s beats in SubKulture Patriots, Bronze Whale’s backing tracks in 5-D, and the P. Sugz/Potion productions of CAPYAC.

But aside from a few solo installments, one of RuDi’s biggest roles recently has been as the vocal half of synth-and-sample-driven duo Retr0grade. True to their handle, Retr0grade isn’t strictly stuck in the old school; instead it’s more of an ever-moving, modern hearkening back to some iconic hip-hop heyday sounds. And when it comes to that combo of classic and contemporary, of synthesized and sampled, of instrumental and vocal, those who’ve stayed in the loop on local productions know damn well that BoomBaptist is a comparable curator.

Well, just in time for this chilly MLK Day, Retr0grade groove grower Tommy Fuego just laid down some much-appreciated heat with the piping-hot sample chops and hypnotic drum programming we’ve come to love from him. For the first verse of “No Hook, No Name” RuDi tackles the offense, defies Nazi flags, and ultimately aces the interview with a Common-evocative cadence before BoomBaptist blesses the second half with his own tabernacle of lyrical boasts. It might not be the most societally-minded song you’ll hear today, but we’d like to think Dr. King would agree that this brief, bangin’ snapshot of racial harmony rips heartily.

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On this second New Music Friday of 2024, we just gotta give a bow to some Austin pop rock royalty. We’re talkin’ about husband-and-wife songwriter-producers Joy and Bill Baldwin, best known by their collaboration King Air. After securing a legacy in marriage and parenthood, the Baldwins – both veterans of the ’90s local live scene – finally sat down and held court in what would become the pair’s kingdom – songwriting.

As with any parents in need of some quality quiet time, King Air initially crafts most of their tunes on the acoustic front. That said, over the past dozen years and four EPs they’ve churned out some really impressive guitar-vocal-and-drum-driven indie rock that incorporates the most appeasing breezes of ’80s college jangle, ’90s alternative, and turn-of-the-millennium post-punk-revival.

Well, next Friday King Air’s decreed to bless us peasants with their debut full-length, Natural High. We’ve already caught some of Natural High‘s buzz and fuzz from two lead singles released last year, both of which benefit from an ongoing relationship with Nada Surf/Moving Panoramas collaborator Louie Lino. So while we don’t know what’ll happen to the grid during next week’s big freeze, us subjects can at least expect a modicum of harmony under King Air’s two rulers based on the LP’s final lead single, “Power Ballads”. Electricity and cold weather aside, “Power Ballads” charges and warms with a hit-inspired hearth that evokes heavyweights without sounding derivative.

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An obvious understatement, but music’s taken some huge leaps in the past century-plus of sound recording. So while the simple lyrical structures and repetitive chord progressions of pioneers like Robert Johnson or Lead Belly may seem laughably basic to some nowadays, that’s only because we’ve become spoiled by one integral element – the groove. In the modern era, ranging from pop to hip-hop, rock, and beyond, lyrics and chords alone don’t cut it; you gotta put the hook in listeners with an infectious groove. And although one could argue that indie rock is one of the least groovy genres, the mere presence of a groove separates the best from the rest.

For examples of such right here in Austin, we can fall back on Futon Blonde. Initially framed around songwriter Janson Sommers, Futon Blonde’s since gone on to quadruple their groove capacity thanks to fellow songwriter-vocalists Mark Webb (lead guitar) and Ben ‘Beng’ Goodman (bass), not to mention drummer Steve Zamora. Now in their tenth year of the affair, Futon Blonde’s cushioned their groove-dominant formulas around funk, alternative, and psych rock over tours, EPs, and one full-length. And as they kick off a second decade together, the Futon’s converting once again – this time with streaks of 2010s R&B.

Bouncy bass lines, soulful vocals, smooth six-string, and a plethora of pulsating percussion choices permeate throughout Futon Blonde’s next EP Multiplier. It’s certainly a departure from last Spring’s Something That We’ve All Experienced Together Before, and even more so from 2019’s Uppercut, but based on the latest batch of tunes (mixed by Loma/Cross Record collaborator Dan Duszynski), we sure as hell aren’t complaining. So especially since it’s that time of year everyone turns a new leaf, instead of succumbing to couch lock, catch Futon Blonde 8PM tonight at Hotel Vegas for a single release show with openers Hex Boyfriend at 7PM. The new single in question? “Goodbye, Goodbye”, which, as you might’ve guessed from its title, was inspired by the end of a relationship. On top of some tasteful drum programming steaming up the background, sensual rhythm guitar cutting through like a butter knife, baby-makin’ bass, plus the usual gusto of luscious lead guitar and grounded percussion, Webb crushes vocals on this expansive original of his. In other words “Goodbye, Goodbye” bids farewell to that old fling and says “hello” to this new era of groove for Futon Blonde.

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The 1998 flick SLC Punk! entertained audiences with all kinds of counterculture cliques, and in doing so, they also exposed Utah’s more ingrained sociopolitical climate – that of Reagan-era republicans, yuppies, and the Mormon church. Whether or not the movie feels “authentic” to you, it’s not unreasonable to guess there’ve been plenty more who’ve felt oppressed in the SLC area since the turn of the millennium.

Take for instance singer-songwriter Hunter Prueger, who spent much of his life repressing his intrinsically gay identity under strict Mormon tutelage. Solo home recordings in Salt Lake City, borrowing from the DIY philosophies of noise music, provided Prueger with some much-needed solace. In 2022 Prueger’s project Middle Sattre (pronounced “sat-tree”) relocated to the so-called “blueberry in the tomato soup” here in Austin, Texas, and soon expanded into a six-piece, then eventually the experimental folk octet we know today. Unbound by obsolescent beliefs, this eight-piece continues to defy convention, even when it comes to how their instruments are played.

Middle Sattre embarked on their maiden tour last July, shared their first studio single “Pouring Water” in September, and followed that up with powerful pair of originals in November. All of this sets the stage of Middle Sattre’s debut album, Tendencies, out February 9th. At just shy of an hour long and sporting song titles like “I Once Felt Safe”, “Imperfect Hands”, and “Seven Years Since the Fall”, Tendencies is a deeply confessional saga of queer self-acceptance. That vulnerable, candid character glows throughout the record’s fourth lead single, “Hate Yourself to the Core”, releasing midnight tonight. Its lyrics chronicle Prueger’s deep-seated anguish, ideations of self-harm, and repeated depletions of self-esteem, and its gorgeous string sonics perfectly capture such shared experiences of disquiet. When combined, “Hate Yourself to the Core” sounds like a next generation Elliott Smith song that can comfort anyone who’s ever faced similar desperation.

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Last Fall when we shared our KUTX staff picks for Levitation Fest, I got a chance to gush about one of all-time favorite contemporary projects, Ghost Funk Orchestra. That slick, spectral sound clearly continues to haunt me, because I’ve got yet another chance to gawk at Ghost Funk Orchestra today.

For those who haven’t already been possessed, Ghost Funk Orchestra is the brainchild of NYC multi-instrumentalist/composer/arranger Seth Applebaum. Alongside Applebaum’s outstanding studio crew, Ghost Funk Orchestra raises a whole array of retro sounds back from their original decades-old resting places – exotica, psychedelia, jazz, surf rock – you name it. Well, just like the Apollo program, not long after the last LP, GFO’s already gearing up for their next mission – their fifth full-length, A Trip to the Moon, out February 23rd.

Inspired by the space age arrangements of Quincy Jones and Eddie Palmieri, this fifteen-stage instrumental, interstellar exploration may just rival George Méliès’ groundbreaking 1902 short of the same name in terms of outlandish style. The record’s lead single and title track of sorts, “To The Moon!” almost puts Tower of Power to shame with stereo-spanning, brilliantly-mixed brass that orbits Applebaum’s mission controlling, garage-style guitar. In other words, it doesn’t sound quite like Ghost Funk Orchestra’s completely ditched their dusty sheets for spiffy new spacesuits – and we love to hear it. Between its opening mosaic of authentic NASA transmissions and its descending reverse guitar solo that cues re-entry to our normal lives, we’re expecting A Trip to the Moon to hail in a new generation of “lost cosmonauts” with a one-of-a-kind astral listening experience.

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With Free Week behind us and SXSW still a way’s out, we’re officially filling up our radar with a ton of promising releases for 2024. And that of course includes a wealth of Austin talent.

For example, last weekend we got another glimpse at some new material from Austin’s Emily McLoud. An addict for the outdoors, a loving mother, attentive caregiver, and veteran of the local live scene for the past decade and a half, we prefer to think of McLoud’s surname less like “loud” and more like “cloud”, thanks to her airy vocals and delicate country-folk sensibilities. Emily’s solo career first emerged for many in the fall of 2022 with her debut EP Sugar Shine, and recently she’s been plugging away at its sophomore follow-up.

Well last Friday Emily McLoud picked up where last November’s “Caroline” left off with that latest record’s second lead single, “Nothing Ever Keeps”. An Americana treat throughout its four-minute runtime, “Nothing Ever Keeps” ushers in this new season of vulnerable songwriting for McLoud with gentle harmonies, a tastefully-light rhythm section, and personal lyrics that ain’t too proud to admit to the temporariness of it all.

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Nobody starts their night wanting to be that guy at the bar. But on top of the inevitable hangover, sometimes way too many drinks in a few too many places can make for a great story, even if your audience only reacts with schadenfreude.

Now, The Pendulum Hearts have always benefitted from a self-deprecating sense of lyrical humor that allows them to not take themselves too seriously. Which perfectly complements the Austin duo’s double shot cocktail of Western Swing and Honky Tonk, because come on…the music makes you want to two-step, not be bummed out by poignant confessions.

With that said, this morning The Pendulum Hearts regaled us with their latest bump on the noggin, “Lost in Austin”. Less of a cautionary tale and more of a carefree caricature, this post-bender yarn chronicles a progression from Hole in the Wall to White Horse and finally Far Out Lounge. We won’t spoil the specifics but let’s just say that stain on their pants ain’t what you’d expect. So if you’re eager to swing with The Pendulum Hearts at the next bar, catch ’em 7PM next Monday at Maggie Mae’s or 6PM next Wednesday at Love Supreme. First round’s on you, right?

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Just like a ragtag team of survivors, when you find the perfect pack for your project, playing without them is like taking an axe to the face. So sure, choir singer and solo veteran Nova Barton has strong enough chops to create and command attention all on her own, as heard on her 2021 debut Novaville. But despite maintaining her project Nova‘s eponymous/mononymous status, the backing band of UT buddies she recruited in support of Novaville was just too killer to keep out of the studio the second time around.

Now we dawn on NovApocalypse, Nova’s sophomore LP that’s set for release this April. With the full four-piece of friends in tow, Barton’s already restorative and poignant songwriting (no doubt informed by her music therapy studies) takes a meteoric ascent with wider-than-ever arrangements. And thematically, NovApocalypse is set to sound sort of like if Towns Van Zandt wrote The Road instead of Cormac McCarthy, crippling isolation, excessive blood spurts, rampant deception and all.

While the storm of NovApocalypse is still a few months out, Nova kicks off the cataclysm with a single release show 10:30pm this Saturday at Captain Quackenbush’s Soundscape following openers Hover at 8:30 and Boomershack at 9:30. That single? “Bird in the Hurricane”. Ideal HBO intro credit material from its first guitar strums, “Bird in the Hurricane” soars with pizzicato plucks, light treading percussion, serene string harmonies, grounded bass, atmospheric and Barton’s moody, multi-tracked vocals that collectively “carry the fire”, no matter how bleak the future may look.

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Happy New Year! We’re back from a break and eager for a full 2024’s worth of new tunes and recommendations. But if you’re still easing out of 2023 and aren’t quite ready to squeeze Free Week into your post-work schedule, there’s a low-key live gig that may interest you.

It comes on behalf of Psychic Seatbelt, the project of multi-instrumentalist/singer-songwriter Claire Hamilton, who first joined us in Studio 1A as part of Austin trio Queue Queue back in 2017 and has more recently provided bass for Thor and Friends plus Doom Dub. With Psychic Seatbelt, Thor Harris returns the favor to Hamilton by lending his talents on percussion and more, alongside Popper Burns’ Jake Lauterstein on co-composition duties, who also trades guitar responsibilities with Jon Sanchez. Together, the team made their debut with soft, dreamy dynamics on August 2021’s “Everything Comes for You”, following it up with last September’s witching-hour-ready anthem “330 AM”.

On the final day of last November, Psychic Seatbelt secured their discography for 2023 with the Hooky EP, a collection of five originals that’s truant from the overly-polished pop formulas of contemporary commercial radio. Instead, it taps into the off-kilter aural authenticity of Velvet Underground with delicate, minimalist arrangements without sounding too aloof. Buckle up for Psychic Seatbelt’s next gig 5PM this Saturday at Love Wheel Records and secure your self esteem in the New Year by reflecting on your inner bitch with the Hooky EP opener “Double Dare”.

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Here we are, y’all. It’s the final Song of the Day for 2023. We’ll be off starting tomorrow through New Year’s Day but picking up with some promising new music on Tuesday, January 2nd. With that piece of business out of the way, today we’re wrapping up the year with just one more premiere.

It comes courtesy of Austin songwriter Joseph Salazar, who on top of composing for short films and video games like the acclaimed Halo Infinite, has also carried his weight in the Live Music Capital with projects like Technicolor Hearts, The Cosmic Hour, Eternal Time & Space, and previous Song of the Day feature Dream 2 Dream. In a solo setting, Joseph Salazar’s proficiency on synthesizers, drum programming, and DAW production has been heard on the hypnotic instrumentals he’s sporadically shared since 2016. Listening through those selections, really hints at why Salazar’s style is a perfect fit for soundtracks; in light of an infinity-obsessed ethos that seeds rolling arrangements, Salazar’s chords and melodies remain unbusy without being idle; instead they provide plenty of space to occupy with thoughts, be they about blasting aliens, reflecting on life, or just making breakfast and preparing for your day.

Well with the clock quickly ticking away on 2023, this morning Joseph Salazar turned in his sole single of the year and first since last September’s “By This River”. While “The Main Sequence” sports the same kind of tones we’ve come to expect from Salazar, the inclusion of Megafauna guitarist Dani Neff and Dream 2 Dream bassist Mando Lopez really uplift it into a multi-chef-blessed baton-toss of winter recuperation. So let the kick drum complement your heartbeat, the bass replace your pulse, the synth’s mod wheel bend your senses, and the effects-swept guitar guide you through this climbing three-and-a-half-minute meditation.

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Even before the days of Vivaldi and Stravinsky, the seasons have settled into their own sets of characteristic sounds. And while Spring was the belle of the ball in the classical era, modern installments ranging like “Autumn Leaves” and War’s “Summer” have since helped to level the temporal playing field. Of course, with the help of the industry, Christmas music dominates corporate playlists and has become a staple of this “most wonderful time of the year”. And yet, for younger audiences, anthems like “Hot Girl Summer” and “Feels Like Summer” definitely show more staying power than Old Man Winter’s catalogue.

That about brings us to our June 2017 Artist of the Month Night Drive, the Central Texas synth-pop trio who stole our hearts once again with their August EP Position II. You see, a few months back, Night Drive teased out Position II with a sleek electronic original that managed to cool us down in what would become a historic heatwave. However, since the crew is so keen on opening up their stuff to re-interpretations (including a remix from multi-platinum selling producer Gigamesh), Night Drive themselves swapped in some snow tires on that single for an end-of-year re-tinker.

Succinctly labeled “Summerwaves (Winter Version)”, this edition enjoys a calmer sense of wanderlust thanks to spacious piano, piano (soft) drum programming, and horizon-spying synth arpeggios that make for a perfect piece of reflection and meditation that may just inspire a resolution or two.

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With each new innovative installation of SXSW, it’s easy to think the tech character of Austin is eclipsing that of “the Live Music Capital of the World”. But have faith! Aside from those international conferences and meet-and-greet mingles, South By’s still an essential institution for creatives on the prowl for new collaborators outside the local scene, e.g. Austin’s Graham Reynolds and Milan’s Marta Del Grandi.Graham’s a longtime piano-playing KUTX favorite, who, speaking of tech, wrote the score for Rick Linklater’s A Scanner Darkly, among a handful of others. And honestly, his extensive accomplishments in performance, production, theatre, dance, film, and television speak for themselves before you first spin his music. Then there’s Marta, a classically-trained singer who’s been coming up quick since 2021 and just released her debut full-length Selva at the tail-end of October.Well, in the time since this past March, Marta and Graham have made hay of their auspicious SXSW encounter with their still-fresh single “Linger In Silence”. Along with its Italian-language counterpart, “Linger In Silence” steals any need for commentary with serene strings, Reynolds’ idiosyncratic piano tones, and Del Grandi’s double-tracked unison vocals. By the tune’s halfway point, the expansive arrangement and cinematic dynamics step into the spotlight for a hell of a breakneck bridge before the alleviating final verse and chorus take you off guard from “Linger”‘s explosive finish that’ll leave you speechless.

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All kinds of projects experience peaks and valleys when it comes to periods of prominence. But for one percussionist in particular, the passion for putting his sticks in the mix has never gotten tied down by any one group’s momentum. And no, we’re actually not talking about John Speice IV.

Instead we’re taking this Monday to appreciate native Austinite drummer Josh Halpern, perhaps best known to millennials as co-founder/co-composer for indie duo Marmalakes. Although Marmalakes’ heyday is well behind us, Halpern’s held onto his status as a must-have, must-hear contributor thanks to his work with Shearwater, Bayonne, Still Corners, and…frankly far too many other Austin acts to chronicle here. That said, he, like many other multidisciplinary creatives at the onset of COVID, began investing time into a solo-producer-singer-songwriter endeavor – aptly eponymized as J Halp.

Halpern’s been busy this past year backing up Rob Leines, but with only a couple weeks left in 2023, managed to reach a complete handful of officially released solo singles this morning. “Alone Again” kicks off with the type of perfectly-in-the-pocket drumbeat that made Halpern such a maven in the first place. But the moment the high-pass filter switches off, the real star of J Halp – Josh’s unstrained, melancholic vocals – really start to shine. With some killer keys gluing the whole thing together, “Alone Again” sits somewhere in between David Bowie, Arcade Fire, and Gorillaz for a moody mix of old and new. Love you, Halpy; keep up the good work.

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As far as Song of the Day is concerned, it’s the final New Music Friday of 2023. We’re taking an eight-day break beginning next Friday and’ll be hitting the ground running strong in 2024 for Free Week. With that said, this New Music Friday packs in both an Austin artist and an album announcement.

We’re looking at Leti Garza, who’s already cemented her status as a Live Music Capital treasure since her 2017LP El Unico Para Mi and her 2021 EP Borderland. Leti’s ability to navigate all kinds of topics and genres in the local Latin space is near unparalleled, so imagine our excitement around this morning’s piece of news – Garza’s upcoming sophomore full-length Canciónes Sobre La Vida y La Muerte – guaranteed to include gallows humor, macabre musings, and optimism over the inevitable.

As hinted at by the record’s second lead single – the waltzy “Mi Amor (Español)” – Canciónes is set to break down the borders between folk, Latin jazz, pop, and new age, not to mention traditional and contemporary. Anchored by a charming orchestral arrangement, “Mi Amor” makes Garza sound like a Broadway star, almost like a curtain-pulling Act I opener for a musical that doesn’t exist yet. Leti…for the life of us, we love you to death, and we can’t wait for Canciónes‘ release in late January.

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Admirers of modern Texas soul-funk-R&B ought to already be well acquainted with Houston outfit The Suffers. And if you’re hip to that group, you’re also aware that part of what makes them so special is frontwoman Kam Franklin.

This powerhouse can make just about any subject matter sound groovy as hell, so as a performance artist, orator, and activist, it’s no surprise that Kam’s comfortable broaching some tough topics as well. Within her solo saga that really started picking up steam at the turn of the 2020s, Franklin’s recently tackled two notorious United States hate crimes, that of James Byrd, Jr. and Matthew Shepard on her aptly titled latest single “Byrd And Shepard”.

The weight and pain of all-too-real bigotry history doesn’t stop Franklin from soaring on “Byrd And Shepard”, in which a simple percussive pulse and tortured key-and-six-string pairings support Kam’s championing of checking facts and protecting poignant books that policymakers want to ban. Behold Kam Franklin as she joins the star-studded lineup that wraps up KUTX’s 10th Birthday Concert Series with Walker Lukens’ The Last Walt tomorrow night at The Paramount, and give “Byrd And Shepard” a few extra spins not only in the name of preserving our painful-yet-important past, but also because it’s a powerful ballad that could’ve been a Whitney Houston/Tina Turner-Highwaymen collaboration.

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Down here in the South we like to brag that “everything’s bigger in Texas”. And while that’s true for a lot of things, up in NYC they consistently keep their collectives nice and large.So it’s worth bringing up Brooklyn’s ISTA, who solidified their lineup as a seven-piece in early 2020 and have since sewn together the threads between psych, rock, funk, and punk. With each new single, ISTA’s world of whimsy Big Apple earworms have only dug deeper, and with the recent release of their eponymous full-length, they’ve been effortlessly amalgamated into an idiosyncratic introduction. This baker’s dozen of driving pedal-heavy, vocal-harmony heaven is an absolute hoot from front to back, but if you want to mainline a hedonistic sense of freedom, mid-workweek, well, just “Do What Feels Right”. Like a just-unearthed lost tape from Laugh-In‘s counterculture vault, the visuals for “Do What Feels Right” perfectly complement the track’s fluid and frenetic dedication to the love of fun. And based on that alone, we’ve got a good feeling that ISTA’s the type to keep any party going and push it right into its prime

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As time marches on, it’s so fascinating to notice which vintage words get assigned to which decades. For ’90s-early ’00s it’s “throwback. For ’60s-’70s it’s usually “retro”. But outside of “old school” one of our favorite labels is that most often tacked on to the 1980s, and that’s “flashback”. Which, especially for those awesomely-overproduced recordings of pop and rock, really does a great job of representing that in-your-face, cinematic, “you just had to be there” energy.Which brings us to Midnight Maniac. Made up of multi-instrumentalist-songwriters Jake Curtis Allard and Marshall Benson, this Austin duo has already dived headfirst into electronic-pop-laden hard rock. And sure, while they’ve certainly got the hair to match, the music alone sounds fresh out of an end-of-Cold War time capsule. And Midnight Maniac has big plans for 2024, so ahead of a full album and a nationwide tour, these two teamed up with Aerosmith/AC/DC collaborator Chris Athens to master their sweat-drenched debut single.Like a piece of sonic sleep paralysis, that’s just as impactful as it is brief, “I Heard It In A Nightmare” glistens from its first group vocals all the way through its final ass-kicking guitar chord. Whether you’re headbanging through your commute, or breaking out the brush microphone and air guitar at home, this debut single is a dark-yet-sparkling dream come true for processed hard rock hounds.

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Between Cotton Jones, Page France, and his eponymous Michael Nau & The Mighty Thread, Maryland’s Michael Nau‘s built up one hell of an indie rock reputation over his career. And as a family man fast approaching his forties, there’ve been some real waves of wisdom and maturity making appearances in his more recent music.

That’s not to call his earlier solo catalogue childish by any account; his 2016 single “Love Survive” has shown some serious staying power with nearly 50 million streams on Spotify alone, with several other album selects and standalones making millions of impressions in the interim between then and now as well. With that songwriting validation in tow and the best band of friends a man could ask for to back him up, Nau teamed up with The Killers/Lucy Dacus/Fruit Bats producer-engineer Adrien Olsen to create a new batch of tunes not too long ago.

Well after a disappearing overdub scare and two full-band sessions, Accompany finally came out last Friday. With a bit of psych-soul sophistication (robust arrangements and all) classing up the mix, these near-dozen newbies might just be Michael Nau’s modern masterpiece. It’s a swatch-swapping journey that deserves to be heard front to back, but if you just want a quick, colorful way to keep your beginning-of-work-week outlook positive, “Painting A Wall”, with its optimistic pedal steel and life-navigating lyrics, will put you in wonderful spirits.

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If you’re looking to get out of the house this evening and support some local music without just padding the band’s drink tab, we’ve got just the thing for you.

Consider this our official nod to nolo, an Austin alt-rock quartet whose four members first met up in rehab a half decade back. Don’t worry; the boys are all still sober. And as a matter of fact they’ve teamed up with Recovery Unplugged to create and host the Sober Sessions open mic series. So even though nolo’s put the hard stuff down, their energetic brand of rock is an intoxicating upper all on its own.

Lately nolo’s been working up their debut full-length, set for release next Spring. And this morning nolo served up the LP’s second lead single “Appetite” alongside a manic music video, silly string, strobe lights, white psych patient scrubs, and all. If you’re tired of shit stressing you out from this past work week, dance it all out with nolo 10:45PM tonight at our station’s neighbor Hole in the Wall. If you’d rather stay cooped up in your own resident looney bin, at least pump the fine-polished pop rock of “Appetite” again through your favorite pair of headphones or speakers.

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By nature, the id of a creative is often occupied by abstract fragments, waiting to be manifested. But sometimes the spark to bring something new to fruition only arrives with a change of scenery. And a recent case of such comes courtesy of Denmark’s Markus Artved.

An accomplished producer who’s lent his ear to Lukas Graham alongside several Scandinavian up-and-comers, Artved’s also been praised for his sound design and music composition in Denmark’s theater and play circuit. Those endeavors already embedded in his aura, last year Markus made what turned into a pilgrimage of sorts to the U.S., a trip that unlocked a previously-oppressed appetite in Artved.

Enter Honey Hideouts. Less a departure from his typical wheelhouse and more an extension of his intrinsic passion, this solo aspiration takes cues from ’60s-’70s psych-pop icons with a twist indie and jazz here and there. The inspiration became a reality after a recent respite from the hustle and bustle of Copenhagen at Artved’s remote family cottage out near the North Sea, and today we received the inaugural dip from Honey Hideouts’ jar.

The first comb from what’s set to be a fuller hive in 2024, “Goodbyes”, despite its farvel-bidding title, is a warm introduction to Honey Hideouts. At a steady tempo that feels like stirring around a gloopy pot, crystallized electric guitar, a viscous rhythm section, and Artved’s unhurried, mellifluous singing, “Goodbyes” is just sticky enough to keep buzzing in your head well after the tune’s deliciously abrupt ending.

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If you missed out on some quality family time during Thanksgiving, we’ve got some musical kin for you who’ll help clean out any leftovers. We’re talking about our dear Uncle Lucius, an Americana rock endeavor spearheaded by Kevin Galloway. A beloved Austin institution since their 2006 debut Something They Ain’t, the fellas actually considered putting Uncle L to bed back in 2018. But with millions of streams still showing support, especially 2012’s “Keep the Wolves Away” (which racked up hundreds of such, eventually reaching Gold status), Galloway and the gang realized this unofficial family affair still had plenty of fuel to stoke the flames.

So, almost a decade after their previous LP The Light, this Friday Uncle Lucius returns with Like It’s The Last One Left. True to its title, LITLOL packages ten new tracks that find Uncle Lucius in tip-top form, and would hypothetically make for a mighty fine farewell if the circumstances arose. But since we’re not banking on the boys calling it quits anytime soon, we don’t see this as a Hail Mary. Instead its a mighty fine amalgamation of seventeen-plus years of tour-proven excellence, with some reorganized roles and restructuring as a sextet.

Like It’s The Last One Left also went the inclusive route, inviting in collaborators like Reckless Kelly fiddler Cody Braun, who graces the album’s final lead single “All the Angelenos”. Speaking of other towns, Uncle Lucius heads over to Houston this weekend before performances in Dallas and Goliad later this month, which’ll bookend a gig at Austin City Limits Live at the Moody Theater 7PM on Saturday, December 30th. So put a positive spin on Austin’s ever-increasing population growth with “All the Angelenos”, because you really can’t get enough new folks to stop by and meet their new Uncle Lucius.

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We’ll never deny the merits of lyrical therapy. Then again, the staying power and worldwide accessibility of meditative genres like classical and jazz has little to do with curated words. And more often than not with that universality, comes positivity.

Cut to El Paso-born, Arlington-based songwriter-guitarist Gary Devlin. Sure, Gary’s got the makings of a great singer, as heard on his 2016 debut Pick Your Heart’s Desire, but he also appreciates the intrinsic power of letting his six-string do the talking for him. That’s no doubt thanks to Devlin’s upbringing in a golden age of rock composition, when Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Zeppelin, and the too-many-to-list rest were the standard for quality songwriting. The way he sees it? Why put a perimeter around genres when you can make your mission statement “feel good pop rock”?

Well, to get the ball rolling on his as-of-yet-untitled 2024 LP, last Friday Devlin imparted some of those lessons onto a sans-lyric love song. And because it’s inspired by that-most complicated emotions, this sprawling five-minute instrumental doesn’t really stick to one lane. Instead “Waves” weaves smooth acoustic guitar jazz with ’70s-inspired prog rock that doesn’t pause until a final cathartic repose.

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We’ve said it once and we’ll say it again; the retro-soul renaissance of the last 10-15 years has been one of the most refreshing trends to break into the mainstream. And it’s been especially intriguing to hear countries outside of the U.S. tackle that classic Motown/Stax sound with their own takes on those brassy, upbeat, vocal-driven formulas.

And of those who’ve represented Western Europe, few have done it quite as long as Amsterdam’s The Tibbs. Starting off with their cover-stuffed 2014 LP Cleaned Out, this septet’s spent the past decade-plus scoring millions of streams thanks to a tenacious work ethic and unwavering dedication to the iconic ’60s-’70s aesthetic, even down to their album artwork. In terms of American soul interpolations, The Tibbs don’t just make a pastiche of the classics; they mix in a timeless potpourri of garage grit, sophisticated jazz-funk, mid-century pop, and even a little bit of blues and ska to boot.

Well, with a respectable amount of records already under their belt, last Friday The Tibbs announced their third full-length, Keep It To Yourself, set for release late next month. At a dozen tunes, Keep It To Yourself is expected to at least go toe-to-toe with Fall 2020’s Another Shot Fired. Yet with that extra element of post-COVID compassion, and the invaluable few additional years of experience, Keep It To Yourself may turn out to be The Tibbs finest work to date. And based on the LP’s lead single, which came last Friday alongside the release announcement, we’re willing to take that bet straight to the bank. Because between the transparency of its music video (which shows off the seven-piece’s live chops), some unforgettably in-the-pocket horn lines, an undying rhythm section that effortlessly support keys and guitar, and of course Roxanne Hartog’s soon-to-be-iconic pipes, “Ain’t It Funny” can only make us laugh in terms of how friggin’ good it is.

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Apologies in advance to all the Scrooges out there, but the winter holidays are on our doorstep. So if you haven’t already, prepare for in-store speaker systems, radio spots, TV commercials, and hell even carolers to give us our annual fill of festive favorites. And while the Bing Crosbys and Brenda Lees of generations past still pack an iconic charm into this last month, we love that the novelty of “Christmas music” hasn’t negated the creation of holiday-inspired originals from modern artists of all backgrounds, like our February 2022 Artist of the Month Chief Cleopatra.Cleo combines soul, rock, gospel, hip-hop, funk, R&B, and more into a non-genre-denominational sound that perfectly complements this singer’s eccentric and often ornamental sense of fashion. She blew us away at the onset of COVID with her eponymous three-tune debut, and made an even more memorable impact last spring with her Walker Lukens-produced follow-up EP Luna. Chief Cleopatra also wowed us with the wide arrangement on this past March’s “Weekend Warrior”, yet it’s the piece of DSII-produced yuletide joy we found under our tree this morning that reassure us how special this Austin treasure is.So much so that we invited Chief Cleopatra and a backing sextet to cut an extended live edition of “December All Year“ in our very own Studio 1A. A mellow Christmas miracle from its first full-band downbeat through its closing keyboard quote of “Jingle Bells”, Chief Cleopatra makes Mrs. Claus seem more like Ellen Griswold with register-spanning vocals that have us second-guessing if there’s mistletoe above us.

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If the corporate powers that be haven’t already ushered in the official start of Christmastime, December 1st will certainly flip the switch. So might as well ignite the yule log early with some new, locally-sourced aural ornaments, starting today with Denise Murray.

Better known by her nickname Cinnamon, and by extension, her creative handle Cinnamontal, this Austinite’s a classically-trained, Berklee, Spain-educated bassoonist, producer-singer-songwriter who’s performed on Slovenia’s Eurovision, rubbed elbows in-studio with Grammy winners, achieved semifinalist status at Montreux Jazz Fest’s Jazz Voice Competition, and become host of The Music Executive podcast. So, it’s easy to see that Murray’s plate stays pretty full even outside of the Thanksgiving season.

That said, this past year Cinnamontal’s taken some real strides in establishing her solo act, having released her debut streaming single “Gold Star” in mid-June and following it up with late August’s “Be Like U”, both of which have introduced us to a powerful new voice in Austin R&B. And while there’s no point in trying to snatch Mariah’s crown when it comes to most beloved holiday R&B song, Cinnamontal and her bassoon James sure have put a saucy twist on the iconic “Little Drummer Boy” melody with a tune that wraps voluptuous vocals, hearth-warming woodwinds, head-bobbing beats, and gift-ready guitar into a neat little Christmas package. So put “P.R.P.P.P.” on your holiday playlist and try not to imagine St. Nick getting seduced by its slinky sonics, kissing mommy or not.

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In the era of the phonograph, when sound quality was essentially nonexistent, whatever got cut to the cylinder is whatever crackled out. Nowadays, there’s a huge divide in listener tastes when it comes to fidelity. On one side of the spectrum you’ve got audiophiles who demand nothing less than ultra-refined digital masters that make it sound like you just had an ear cleaning; on the other, there are the lo-fi aficionados who prefer a muddier analog sound over a pristine mix. And of course, there are folks smack dab in between who relish in a midway fidelity – which we’ll call mid-fi.

That’s not to say mid-fi is mediocre…far from it. It takes a certain sensibility to narrow down centrist sounds that please without being too pockmarked nor pristine, a talent imbued in Albuquerque duo Olivia Nowadays. The genre-defying pair’s first eccentric collection How to Be Okay With the Everyday dropped right before COVID, and since then, these self-proclaimed “basement boys” have only gotten bigger and bolder. This Friday they unfurl their sophomore full-length The Sky Doesn’t End At The Top Of The Page, featuring nearly a dozen new tunes that scratch that itch of oddball auditory stimulation with fascinating field recordings, admirable amounts of experimentation, and overall just awe-inspiring ambience.

We’ve already received five of the eleven puzzle pieces, and this morning, Olivia Nowadays helped us visualize the fuller picture with an album closer actually inspired by a move to Austin, “Damn This Is Real Bad”. But don’t take the title at face value. This sans-lyric transportive wonder starts off simply enough with unhurried synth arpeggios, resolves tranquilly with horizon-cresting orchestral plucks, and swells smack dab in the middle with lush vocal harmonies and pulsing percussion. Not much left to say other than, “Damn. This is real good.”

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First thing’s first. Parker Woodland isn’t a person; it’s a band. More accurately, it’s an Austin-based indie rock collective captained by activist/singer-songwriter Erin Walter. And although Walter, guitarist Andrew Solin, and drummer Keri Cinquina comprise the group’s core trio, Parker Woodland always welcomes a revolving cast of contributors both in-studio and on-stage for inclusive arrangements that complement the band’s hefty emotional weight. Between their placement at Rock the Park and as of last weekend, The Breakfast Boogie, clearly Parker Woodland’s earned their keep as a KUTX favorite and a can’t-miss curator of the Austin Music Experience in 2023.

As for next year, the gang’s been working towards the full-length follow-up to their February 2021 debut EP The World’s On Fire (And We Still Fall In Love). And as Parker Woodland passes the half decade mark of their run, we’re positive that this LP will leap off streaming services and warm hearts citywide. In the meantime, to wrap up this month, you can get a taste of the live portion with an all-ages, stage-filling affair 8PM this Thursday at The Mohawk with Sabrina Ellis and Sheverb. Sure, Live from Love Hill offers an honest representation of Parker Woodland’s in-concert chops, but obviously, the in-person experience is the real deal.

Fingers crossed we get a fuller preview of this new record, whose tunes like the Daniel Johnston folk-punk re-work “True Love Will Find You In The End” have already promised the inevitability of affection and adoration for listeners of any kind. To the naysaying loners, just try not to feel warm and fuzzy after pressing “play”, because this indie-folk fleur blossoms with gorgeous harmonies and optimistic orchestral flourishes before a final-minute sprint into punk-rock-inspired passion.

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For some creatives, dropping new tune is their sole bread and butter. For others, it’s just one more “could do” option within an already-busy schedule. But speaking to the latter, those folks who juggle a handful of demanding passions surely do deserve some leniency when it comes to big breaks between formal music releases.

Take a gander at Kirk Smith. Aside from his singer-songwriter status, Smith spends his time with sandlot baseball, remodeling houses, raising a family, instructing Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and oh yeah, being a published poet-playwright. Safe to say we can cut Kirk some slack for the decade-and-a-half interval between his 2003 debut Suddenly Bright Out and the singles that would go onto become his sophomore full-length Ithaca. That said, the record’s a true return to form, a compelling comeback for someone who clearly gives a crap about this craft, fifteen-year hiatus aside.

After Ithaca‘s arrival this past June, Kirk Smith has been wading back into the live scene and gigging when he can. So before you catch Kirk at ABGB just before Christmas, consider seeing a full band performance 7:30PM tomorrow night at Meanwhile Brewing Co. alongside Nathan Hamilton. After all, with offbeat originals that champion carefully-constrained dynamics like “This Debt”, you owe it Smith to show out and show some local love.

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Now that we’ve had ample time to metabolize our holiday meal, might as well move back to the normal programming with the final New Music Friday of November. And today we’re listening to Austin singer-guitarist-producer Joseph McCaffrey, who you might recognize as the cofounder of mid-aughts indie pop outfit Nightmare of You. It’s been a little over a decade since we last heard from NoY, and now that McCaffrey’s entered his 40s, he’s leaning into that middle aged call to cultivate.

That’s right, just last month McCaffrey formally introduced us to his new solo project Impasto Gardens, a visually inspired crossbreed of shoegaze, pop rock, and indie psych – tangled somewhere in between Ride, Slow Dive, Explosions in the Sky, The Stone Roses, and The Jesus and Mary Chain. Late last month, the first single for Impasto Garden’s upcoming eponymous debut, “Support Systems”, made for a great introduction to McCaffrey’s newfound style, and has already racked up 40,000 spins on Spotify alone. And today he takes those textured nuances even further with the LP’s second harvest ahead of its release next January.

As the eighth of Impasto Garden‘s near-dozen tracks, “Glass Dose” provides a pivotal beat to transition into the album’s final act. Spacey guitar subdivisions and a complex drum pattern instantly paint a picture in the initial moments of “Glass Dose”, and as the reverb soars, so does the sense of translucent psychedelia in this succinct yield that’s strong enough to stand on its own – complete with quick-pan piano, un-buriable bass lines, and vegetative vocals.

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SXSW, and by extension, the year-round Austin Music Experience as a whole, draws tons of international acts, eager to gain traction, to our fair city limits. And outside the live scene, our academic institutions also attract a ton of talent, and not just UT. No, it seems like ACC, in particular its Music Business program, serves as somewhat of a melting pot for artists ready to take their career to the next level.

At least, that’s exactly where Mumbai producer Trishant Bhatt (better known as The VYB Project) first linked up with Copenhagen singer-songwriter Tobias Lund. It didn’t take long for them to realize that Bhatt’s borderless production style and Lund’s soul-pop vocals could make for a colorful combo, and soon enough, they paired up and got to work. And just in time for the holiday, Lund and The VYB Project released the first fruit of their labor last Friday, in what we’re hoping will evolve into a cornucopia of collaborations.

Lund’s sultry pipes grace Bhatt’s crisp drums, evolving electronic arpeggios, easy-going guitar, and seductive synth chords on “Gradient” for a gliding piece of EDM and pop that’ll keep you warm throughout a full spectrum of upcoming winter weather.

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Forty years after its original run, it truly feels like a piece of the ’80s is back with an attitude. And no…not just in terms of inflation, world conflicts, or a war on drugs; it’s the music too. Sure, there’ve been countless contemporaries who’ve incorporated a retro aesthetic into their modern sound, but we’re talking more about stuff that makes it hard to distinguish when it actually came out.

Take for instance Autogramm. The Vancouver quartet (with members also hailing from Seattle and Chicago) just wheeled out their third full-length Music That Humans Can Play last Friday, and just glancing at the cover, you can tell exactly which decade they’re trying to fit in with. Hell, even the title touches on that lovable Gen X-era sarcastic apathy. Made in the wake of their 2021 sophomore No Rules, MTHCP was a pandemic-stricken re-evaluation of the group as a whole, and goddamn are we happy Autogramm decided to stick with the program and add guitarist Lars Von Seattle to their ranks. Just like their 20th century predecessors, Autogramm’s transformed from artsy punk into synth-driven new wave and power pop, which, as mentioned before, makes this new material hard to separate from the authentic ’80s OGs.

If you happen to be in Western Europe next March, you’ve got ample chances to catch Autogramm live. If not, we recommend spinning Music That Humans Can Play in its entirety, whether or not you’ve got an old-school speaker setup because at a hair over a half hour, Music That Humans Can Play – true to its title – is plenty accessible. Shoot, you could probably get away with slipping the full album into your favorite ’80s playlist and no one would second guess that it came out this year. And that’s thanks to its big and bold production – processed to kingdom come but bearing the same simplistic formulas of chart-toppers like The Cars and Gary Numan. So without much more than the actual release date to convince us this record isn’t a long lost relic, if you love the ’80s, you’ll “WannaBe” in close company with Autogramm’s latest.

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No matter how immense a musical talent is intrinsically, sometimes resetting your surroundings can be the biggest catalyst to moving on up. Like, look at singer-guitarist Karima Santi, who cut her teeth in jazz, folk, and punk groups on the other side of the decade up in the Raleigh-Durham area. Sure, those bands kept Karima busy, and yet at the same time, none of them managed to quite suit Santi’s specific niche of styles and tastes. So by the time she moved down here to Austin, COVID creeping up behind, Santi’d already begun zeroing in on solo songwriting, releasing her streaming debut “You in 3/4” that August.

Since then, Karima’s repertoire of indie rock originals has reached the hundreds, and her connections with local industry heavyweights has only expanded after recording at feel flow studio back in 2021. Case in point: Karima’s recently collaborated with a dream team of Austin talent plus Grammy-nominated producer/engineer Chris “Frenchie” Smith at The Bubble to give her Mazzy Star-meets-Cat Power compositions their best set of legs possible. On top of that, she just made her SoFar sounds debut on Veteran’s Day.

So while it’s easy enough to admire Karima Santi in this still-fledgling phase, we can also appreciate the anxiety that must come from starting fresh in a new town with a lifetime’s worth of tunes in tow. And following October’s “Underwater”, Santi speaks to that unease with her deceptively downtempo latest, “Space”. Its overlapping guitars and unwavering drums forge an acoustic-electric garrison around Santi’s emotional vocals for a four-minute masterpiece of moodiness.

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It’s Native American Heritage month, but hopefully we’re all hip to the fact that an “American Indian” is not the same thing as an Indian-American. That’s important because today we’re shining the spotlight on Avara Ellorie, best known by her mononym Avara.

Born in New York City and raised in Atlanta, Avara’s pilgrimage from one musical metropolis to another has led to her latest home base here in Austin. And it’s here that her journey as a songwriter and producer – one that began with a Taylor Swift record back in grade school – has really begun making impressions on listeners. With her Indian heritage front and center to her lyrical identity, Avara avoids any obvious Eastern instrumental influences in her arrangements, instead absorbing the best of modern Western R&B to create an accessible, lush brand of soundscapes – somewhere between Alina Baraz, Ariana Grande, and The Weeknd.

And 2023’s proven awfully auspicious for Avara, considering she’s dropped a handful of singles (whose aesthetic alternates between all caps and strictly lowercase) ahead of her debut EP – out next February. And today, just in time for the weekend, we received that inaugural EP’s final lead single “BABY BLUE BEAMER” – a rock-oriented R&B banger that lets off the gas pedal to coast through nearly three minutes of breathy falsetto, hypnotic vocal effects, glued-to-the-pavement percussion, and tire-screeching guitar – all for a cinematic getaway chase of pensive sensuality.

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You wouldn’t download a car would you? Heck yeah I would! That’s right, at least for my generation, internet piracy was a moral middle ground. Sure Lars Ulrich didn’t get the extra million he was hoping for, but in an era before streaming services became ubiquitous, the high seas were a great place for millennials to develop their musical tastes. And that’s more or less the origin story for Austin’s Kenton Mackay, who despite an upbringing smack dab in the middle of nowhere, was able to grab a guitar, put his ISP to work, and inundate himself in the likes of Nirvana, Radiohead, and Beck.

Once that baseline was under his belt, Mackay moved to our fair city limits and quickly caught onto mainstays like The Black Angels and Broncho, launching his own fuzz rock songwriting career not too long afterwards. Fast forward to this year, when Mackay and his backing band The Sensors have been working on their debut EP In Good Taste, an indie alt-pop-rock endeavor mix and mastered by the legendary Erik Wofford and set for release next Spring.

Mackay and the Sensors find a grunge-pop sweet spot on In Good Taste‘s second lead single “Royalty Free”, which finds Kenton’s robust baritone sarcastically begging for funds and recognition – almost a wink and nod to his early not-so-legal musical exposure. But that doesn’t mean you can’t support Kenton Mackay when he plays midnight next Saturday at Hotel Vegas for a single release show following Born Twins at 10 and Flags at 11. And at just under three minutes, who needs Limewire when you can just cue up “Royalty Free” on your favorite streamer, smash that “repeat” button, and let the numbers speak for themselves?

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With Thanksgiving right around the corner, we’re already salivating over all the fixings, dressings, and sauces that await us next week. But if you want something homegrown that’ll slather up your ear drums and keep you full ’til the proverbial turkey gobbles, serve yourself up some Honey Made.

The Austin-based nine-piece started oozing out of the jar at the turn of this past decade, and in 2020 alone put out not just their debut EP Couple Few but also their first full-length Brand New. Now, as with any horn-heavy stage-filling ensemble, Honey Made is best enjoyed in a live setting, so we can’t really blame them for taking their time in terms of subsequent studio releases. That said, this Friday Honey Made unfurls their sophomore EP Charge It To The Band Fund.

On top of an edit of last summer’s “Upstairs”, CITTBF totes six new tunes that attest to Honey Made’s impressive perseverance and undying efforts towards shaking rumps and sating the parched. As someone who used to play in a fifteen-piece, I can tell you that the band fund is all-too-real, and honestly a better bet for pooling towards the next big thing. So chip in as much as you can at the Charge It To The Band Fund EP release show 10PM Saturday night at the Skylark Lounge with openers The Reverent Few at 8PM. And if you want to get some mileage out of your stank face before settling in with your relatives, loved ones, or whomever you share Thanksgiving with, turn the volume all the way up, plow onto your couch, and get kickin’ with “FYC”. Whether or not you take your shoes off is up to you…

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For as many hurdles as it faces, Austin’s hip-hop/R&B scene only seems to keep getting stronger in recent years. And for the sake of variety, thankfully it’s not just macho monotone mumblers either; there’s been an influx of soul-informed female acts whose styles straddle between rapping and singing.

Among those to keep an ear out for is Noa Belillti, better known mononymously as NOA. Now, NOA’s been doing her thing here since 2011, but only dropped her debut EP In Your Dreams this past February. The Israeli-Moroccan’s since gone on to share a stage with KUTX favorite BLK ODYSSY at SXSW, compose and perform for Iram Reyes’ From Where I Stand, and continue to enjoy a residency at Half Step on Rainey Street every fourth Wednesday. It wouldn’t be fair to call NOA’s talent dynamite, because that would imply that a fuse that eventually fizzles, a big bang that begets silence. No, NOA and her pulchritudinous pipes are more like a never ending sequence of firecrackers, sparkling with sassy sensuality and popping with deservedly cocky confidence.

Just yesterday NOA stamped her hip-hop passport with an east-of-Java jet-setter that finds her once again teaming up with international producer CHRON!AC, (who lent their talents to the In Your Dreams closer “Call Me Up”). Eastern sensibilities surge throughout the instrumentation of “Ba Li“, building a tropical trap backdrop for NOA to absolutely go off. Between its bangin’ BPM and rapid-fire lyrical style switches, we’re wondering how much of “Ba Li” is NOA’s idea of self-empowered security versus the manifestation of an indulgent rager yet to happen.

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The full transcript of this episode of Song of the Day is available on the KUT & KUTX Studio website. The transcript is also available as subtitles or captions on some podcast apps.

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Despite their sonic dissimilarities, folk and punk have always shared focal points of dissent through scathing societal commentary and rallying behind the modern working class. Yes, for every Woody Guthrie there’s been an equal and opposite Wattie Buchan, but of course, there are also plenty of folk-punk poets that perforate the norm with their own outraged acoustic discourse.

Take for example Austin’s Ed Hamell, who’s been challenging establishments and offending the straight-laced since nineties as Hamell On Trial. Ever equipped with his ’37 Gibson acoustic, Hamell’s shared stages with everyone from The Pogues to Ani DiFranco, travelled hundreds of thousands of miles on tour, often with his son Detroit, and preserved his crass satire on seventeen studio albums.

The latest of which, Bring The Kids, comes out this Friday, alongside a record release show with fellow Austinite Giulia Millanta 8:30-11:30PM this Saturday at Captain Quackenbush’s Soundscape. New York producer Matt LaBozza helped escalate the phone recordings that formed the basis of Bring The Kids into the most beat-heavy, arrangement-drenched sound Hamell’s ever handled. That said, the album still rings true with Hamell On Trial’s DIY philosophy, hand-painted aesthetic, one-man energy, offbeat unapologetic humor and all. So have a laugh before Saturday with one of Bring the Kids four lead singles, starting with the latest (and dare we say loveliest) of which that features Brit troubadour Ruth Theodore, “Jelly”.

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When you’re surrounded by skyscrapers 24/7, it doesn’t take long to forget; here in Texas…we’ve got plenty of dry, cinematic wilderness. But for those of us who simply can’t squeeze in a road trip in every weekend? Our next best bet for a cinematic desert escape is some good ol’ fashioned Central Texas psychedelia.

That said, don’t let the genre label limit what to expect from Walkabouts, because true to their name, this Austin quartet doesn’t stick to just one corner. No, they chart an incredible amount of middle ground between dream pop and desert rock for live sets and albums blessed by psychedelic stream of consciousness. On top of that, this calculated hippie hermitage has already set a purposeful pace instead of ambling around like so many up-and-comer groups; in just over a year Walkabouts have evolved from playing frontman Sam Shaffer’s solo record Valley of the Living Water into the theatric four-man affair who just released their debut LP Bloomin’ Ocotillo last Tuesday.

Like lush lips on an arid shrub, wrapped up in the very fabric of the universe itself but never taking itself too seriously, Bloomin’ Ocotillo is a half-hour sonic journey, no doubt. But if you’re a psychonaut like me who loves the nuances of a live performance, drop out with Walkabouts 8:15PM tonight at Far Out Lounge in between CLTTR at 7 and Audio Sex Drive at 9:30. And especially if Election Day’s got you out of sorts, get in touch with your inner grunge with Western-ready wind gusts and the heavy-as-hell fuzz bluster that is “Sinner”.

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Aside from professional full-timers who can realistically sustain themselves with their craft, it’s easy to assume that musicians are putting all their extracurricular hours towards songwriting, recording, touring, and performing. But of course, musicians are as humans as the rest of us, and will take every bit of recreation they can get.

See: Shane Renfro, who’s floated all across Texas, from Grapeland to Marfa, and even to L.A. before settling back down in the Lone Star State. As the frontman behind our August 2019 Artist of the Month RF Shannon, Renfro’s spent a considerable amount of time here in Austin, but his home base is decidedly a stone’s throw away out in Lockhart. And it turns out that Renfro’s become somewhat of a slugger in recent times. Alongside his fellow Lockhart creatives, Shane Renfro co-founded the Lockhart Sandlot Baseball Club last year, who have since gone on to fundraise for community non-profits, volunteer for political rallies, and even ump local little league games. And yeah, unsurprisingly, between all the clean hits, beer-shotgunning tie breakers, and post-game pizza and BBQ, Lockhart Sandlot’s gone on to release some great collaborative records off the diamond.

Last Friday they knocked ten central Texas-bred tunes right out of the park with Sandlot Season One: Lockhart. If you manage to snag a copy of SSO:L on vinyl, you’ll notice that Renfro is first up to bat on both sides; following this May’s Red Swan in Palmetto, Side B starts off with a demo version of RF Shannon’s “Tangerine Marigold”, and the Side A welcomer “Come On Down” serves as Renfro’s solo streaming debut. Capturing that iconic Texas twang from its first downbeat, “Come On Down” is a grand slam of mellow sounds somewhere between Mac Demarco, T. Rex-era Marc Bolan, and classic country Americana.

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After an especially excruciating summer, the sound of strong winds this past week proved a symphony to our ears. Whether or not that cold front ushers in a full winter season, we’ve been blessed with a chilly aesthetic that’ll keep our spirits warm for months. Which brings us to a fresh Austin octet.

Founded and fronted by multi-instrumentalist/songwriter Matt Mossman, Great Howl captures the best of indie, folk, chamber pop, and rock into a specific kind of soft intensity, almost like if Arcade Fire started crashing with Neutral Milk Hotel and decided not to check out. Less of a caterwaul and more of a mighty bay, we’ve already heard the first instance of Great Howl’s clever dynamics on their first studio single “Meet Your Maker”, released back in September. That tune not only introduced us to the eight-piece’s unique style, but also set the stage for their upcoming debut EP of the same name.

Produced by SMiiLE frontman Jake Miles, Meet Your Maker hits streaming December 15th, with a release show the previous evening at Swan Dive with Sammy G and Dog Island. But if you want to enjoy the weather as it stands right now, your best bet is to catch Great Howl 8PM this Sunday at Coral Snake, alongside Sad Pajamas, Gummy Fang, and Divine Calypso. Either way, Meet Your Maker‘s gale of a sophomore single (which just blew in this morning) “Violent Wind” will blow out any pre-existing earworms with four minutes of carefully subdued orchestral vigor that escalates from a slight breeze of trebly riffs into tempestuous hooks and a real storm of an instrumental outro before settling down with a lulling piano chord. Don’t batten down the hatches; just turn up your headphones and set “Violent Wind” to “repeat”.

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Sophie Seng grew up in California studying jazz saxophone, classical piano, and voice. Now based in Austin, she’s putting all these skills together on her new EP, Precipice. She’ll debut the songs at Captain Quackenbush’s on Menchaca this Friday, alongside a string trio to help bring the songs alive. Then she hits the road with Sofar Sounds for a short tour. But first, check out this one—this is “Your Story” by Sophie Seng.

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TV’s Goodtimes is an Austin band named for, yes, the ‘70s sitcom ‘Good Times.’ They’ve got a new single out and they’re celebrating with a release show this Saturday at High Noon, playing alongside Trace of Lime and Shared Walls. In keeping with the band name, this song has a bit of a ‘70s vibe to it—here’s TV’s Goodtimes with ‘Cornered By’.

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The Sentimental Family Band is an Austin group that bonded over a love of classic country music, specifically the Bakersfield sound of Buck Owens and early Nashville country hits. They hold down a residency at Sam’s Town Point every Thursday at 8 pm, so you can get your two-step on tomorrow night. In the meantime, here’s a new single from the Sentimental Family Band called ‘Talking To Strangers.’

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We’ve got just one more ACL Pop-Up to share with you for Song of the Day, and this one comes with an exciting bit of news. It comes courtesy of indie-folk-rock singer Katy Kirby, who was raised just about an hour’s drive from Austin out in Spicewood before relocating to Nashville for college, and most recently, Brooklyn. Bouncing from one musical hub to another’s done wonders for Kirby’s artistic wisdom, as she’s definitely leveled up in the half decade since dropping her debut EP Juniper.

And the momentum’s been especially strong in the post-COVID era, considering Kirby just played both Sundays of ACL Fest on that big ol’ Miller Lite Stage. Those ACL gigs are bookended between two new singles – “Cubic Zirconia” from the tail end of August – and, just a few hours old, “Table”. The latter arrived this morning alongside an announcement for Katy Kirby’s sophomore full-length Blue Raspberry, set for release January 26th.

Based on the weight of her ACL appearances and “Table”, we’re expecting a generous batch of ripe originals for Blue Raspberry. But if you couldn’t make it out to Zilker and want a taste of the new LP, you can harvest its lead single “Cubic Zirconia” for the emotionally-authentic piece of soft rock that it is with Katy Kirby’s close knit backstage pop-up performance.

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We may already be knee deep in Levitation Fest, but that’s not stopping us from sharing just a couple more pieces of backstage magic from ACL Fest. And that cavalcade of unique performances continues today with Caramelo Haze.

This Grupo Fantasma/Brownout offshoot made a bold entrance last June with their debut full-length Noestasaqui, whose lead single “Window Seat” quickly became a KUTX airwave heavyweight. Based on the band’s membership, a baseline of Latin neo-soul is to be expected. But what separates Caramelo Haze from its predecessors is a stronger emphasis on synth sonics, rather than more traditional conjunto arrangements.

Noestasaqui not only scored the quartet an official SXSW spot (plus an appearance during our Scholz Garden live broadcast), but also a big break on that ambitious BMI Stage this past Sunday at ACL Fest. So after enjoying some elbow room atop BMI, the live five-piece managed to cram into KUTX’s pop-up space for a bit more personal of a performance; Caramelo Haze gave us a glimpse of a prettier tomorrow with their rendition of a José José 1969 classic, “Una Mañana”, which at the time, had barely been on streaming for a full day. Beauty may be in the ear of the beholder, but if you don’t like this one, frankly, you’re wrong.

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If you were out at ACL Fest this past weekend you might’ve caught Confucius and Fresh from The Breaks at the Bonus Tracks Stage. What were the fellas up to other than getting their buzz on at Zilker? Interviewing a real sultry-voiced stunner, that’s what.

Austin hip-hop/R&B vocalist Blakchyl‘s been building a hell of a brand for herself in the local scene and beyond since her debut EP On Paper in 2019. Alternating between singing and rapping with a beautifully-blunted voice (somewhat reminiscent of fellow Austinite Megz Kelli’s), Blakchyl’s only gotten better on this side of the 2020s. On top of that, Blakchyl’s eagerness to work with others and ability to adapt her eloquent verbal style to complement said guests has made for some super fruitful collaborations, most notably her duo with Nez Tha Villain, G.E.N.I.U.S.’s, eponymous 2022 LP.

This year’s been a big one for Blakchyl, considering she’s already shared two standalone singles, the Call Me Sometimes EP, and, just at the top of October, her full-length Better Than I Imagined. And yeah, as alluded to before, Blackchyl also brought her A-Game to ACL last weekend, playing at the Tito’s Handmade Vodka stage Saturday afternoon, sitting down with The Breaks‘ boys, and even squeezing in a pop-up performance of “Ja Morant” for our multi-media team. It’s pretty clear that Austin is Blackchyl’s court, so we’re hoping to see this poet of a point guard shoot for the MVP in the coming years.

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Well before Brenda Lee’s auspicious adolescence, breakout success for a teenage performers has shown up in many different forms. These days though, more often than not, social media seems like the most reliable platform for international exposure. For example, look at Iván Cornejo.

In true Zoomer fashion, Cornejo’s initial guitar training came from YouTube tutorials. But the intrinsic creativity and passion Cornejo possesses? That’s all natural. Building on a Spanish language, Regional-Mexican-meets-alt-rock style of songwriting that stems back to a middle school breakup, by the time Iván graduated high school, his 2021 single “Está Dañada” had gone viral on Tik-Tok and broken its way into the Billboard Hot 100. Thankfully that early traction didn’t get to this Riverside innovator’s head, and within the following year Cornejo’s sophomore LP Dañado had scored him several more high-charting positions.

In this mere third year of official activity, after getting signed to industry giant Interscope, Iván Cornejo’s sold out a nationwide tour, which included stops at the immense Miller Lite Stage both Sundays of ACL Fest. What wasn’t on that tour itinerary was an appearance at KUTX’s backstage tent that included a gorgeous quartet performance of Cornejo’s latest Hot 100 darling “Aquí Te Espero”. It’s an awe-inspiring example of how the emotional qualities of music can transcend language, because even if you don’t speak Spanish, “Aquí Te Espero” will leave you waiting here wanting more.

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For some ACL Fest attendees, especially on Day Two or Three after imbibing on Friday, making it out to Zilker Park to catch the first day’s first act is a little too inconvenient. But for the passionate performers bestowed with opening up this internationally acclaimed festival? To call it an honor is an egregious understatement.

Among them is classically-trained, Bachelor’s-in-Jazz-certified pianist-singer Arya, formerly based in Belgrade and now a noteworthy pro in the Austin music scene. After steppin’ into our city limits with her debut 2019 EP, Arya’s continued to introduce us to an array of pop-R&B originals à la carte. Which isn’t totally fair to say, considering each new release will eventually amount to their carefully crafted visual album Insides, out early next year.

Regardless, rocking their own iconic sense of fest fashion, complete with a freshly shaved head, Arya braved it straight past any anxiety for her premiere festival appearance right around noon on ACL’s massive T-Mobile Stage. Again, to call it a “big deal” doesn’t do this opportunity justice. So you can imagine by the time Arya arrived at the KUTX tent for a pop-up session, she was absolutely beaming. See and hear for yourself on Insides‘ latest that just dropped last Thursday, “Love Me”. Based on the merits of this beat-less arrangement (coupled with the banger retro-electronic synth sound of its studio version) we have a feeling Arya’s got a good shot at poppin’ off both on Tik-Tok and NPR Tiny Desk. Get it, girl!

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With a solar eclipse behind us and highs in the lower 70s for today, sure does seem like ACL Fest Weekend 2 ushered in the actual start of Fall here in Texas. But that’s no problem, because whatever the weather, Poolside is always in season.

These Los Angeles “daytime disco” godfathers have been keeping us cool for a little over a decade now, thanks to their idiosyncratic slowing of classic dance sounds into a breezy, undeniably modern, oft-emulated blend. As hard as it’ll ever be to top their 2012 breakout Pacific Standard Time, Poolside’s done an impressive job of keeping tides of nu-disco, synthpop, chillwave, and lounge flowing for consistent vibes without letting their creative waters stagnate.

As a matter of fact, Poolside’s been keeping pace with a lap lane of new singles this whole year ahead of their next LP Blame It All On Love, out this Friday. As this Bengal tiger of a banger ten-piece reveals itself, we’ve figured out that Poolside’s still got plenty of tricks in their trunks on top of their well-established formulas. Case in point, instead of a characteristic cruise-ready cannonball, Poolside showed off a bit more of a downbeat breaststroke when they stopped by the KUTX tent last Saturday on Blame It All On Love‘s lead single “Each Night”. For a record all about romance, “Each Night”‘s placement in the record’s third act is a much-appreciated breather to keep things from getting too hot and heavy.

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One of the best parts of live concerts? Often you get to hear new tunes before they hit streaming. And one of the best parts of being with KUTX is that sometimes those sneak peaks come in the form of intimate, one-of-a-kind performances. So yeah, even though the gates are open and ACL Fest Weekend Two is officially in full swing, you’d better believe we’re still rolling out our incredible Weekend One repertoire.

And today’s in-tent listen is especially timely. It comes courtesy of Costa Mesa’s Madison Cunningham, a folk-pop Americana rocker whose finally getting some great traction. As the daughter of a pastor, the first leg of Cunningham’s career was spent within the Christian community. But not too long after touring with Andrew Bird and earning a Grammy nomination for her 2019 secular sophomore LP Who Are You Now, Cunningham culled her worship debut Authenticity from streaming. While we can’t attribute that migration towards agnostic thinking to a sense of restrictions being lifted, we do recognize the boundaryless beauty of last year’s Revealer, which scored Cunningham a Grammy for Best Folk Album this February.

Safe to say momentum’s on Madison’s side right now, and fortunately for us, that whirlwind of talent’s still in town. Madison Cunningham plays 10PM tomorrow night at Scoot Inn before returning to ACL Fest 12:45PM this Sunday at the American Express stage – two great opportunities to see this ever-maturing muse in-person before she blows up even more. But if neither are in the cards for you, don’t fret; the pop-up rendition of Cunningham’s latest (whose studio counterpart just appeared on streaming mere hours ago) “Subtitles” is accessible whenever you’re ready. After three-and-a-half minutes you’ll agree that, “good god, the pipes on this woman are something else!”.

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The primal temptation of a basic beat coupled with the hypnotic power of repetition; that’s how electronic music entices all types of listeners. When an instrumental groove grabs you and won’t let go, layers-deep social commentary (whether or not you agree) might not get fully processed…at least while the bass is still bumpin’. We wouldn’t go so far as to call it intentionally deceptive, but we do feel like that dynamic makes dance especially attractive to dissenting poets who could use some pulse appeal and producers on the prowl for honest opinions. People like Belgium’s Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul. They’ve both got their own oblique auras that allowed them to slip into Soulwax’s purview, but once they teamed up they doubled down on the discourse. As heard on their debut LP Topical Dancer, Charlotte & Bolis are actually pretty brilliant when it comes to making poignant observations sound chic and fun. And after bringing that baker’s dozen to ACL Fest and turning the Tito’s Handmade Vodka Stage into a Topical Dancefloor, Charlotte & Bolis proved that they don’t need a big space to make heads bob. Like Tom Tom Club strutted into a time machine, set course for 2023, and stepped out adorned in avant-pop, Charlotte & Bolis brought the boisterous bass, infectious bleeps and bloops, vocal chops and all to the KUTX tent with “Making Sense Stop”. And thanks to our immaculate multi-media team, you can witness it first-hand in this exclusive NPR Music video.The post Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul: “Making Sense Stop” (ACL Fest Pop-Up) appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Especially in their respective genre’s salad days, too many garage rockers and punks alike have inadvertently honored the unofficial “live fast die young” creed. But in recent times, some of the elder statesmen seem to only be having more fun as they’ve matured. And we’re not just talking about Iggy Pop. No, for the sake of this argument, and without trying to come off as ageist, let’s look at those who were young punks themselves back in the ’80s.

Folks like the four veteran rockers behind Frogmouth. They may be well-seasoned players of the local scene and beyond, but Frogmouth itself as an institution is hardly out of the tadpole phase. That hasn’t stopped these rowdy polliwogs from padding out a middle ground between classic acts like Velvet Underground and The Replacements and fresher threads to Rancid and The Strokes, all for an amphibious ecosystem of grungy, power-alt-garage-indie-punk rock that never takes itself too seriously.

Frogmouth’s spent much of 2023 ribbiting singles out onto streaming, all ahead of their debut EP Humor Me, which finally drops this weekend. The quartet headlines an all-ages release show Saturday night at The Mohawk starting 8PM with openers Space Cushion, Dropped Out, and Ne’er-Do-Well. So if you’re feelin’ froggy, hop on out there. If you’re more of a home toad, you can at least defy titles by cranking “Not Listening” up to 11, because this near-four-minute dynamic leap across retro power temperaments will activate your inner angsty teen in the best, catchiest way possible.

The post Frogmouth: “Not Listening” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

We are back from ACL Fest 2023 Weekend One, and boy are we not returning empty-handed. That’s right, KUTX once again collected quite a few exclusive backstage performances that we can’t wait to share with the world…startin’ off strong with electro-funk tour de force Chromeo.

These Montreal multi-instrumentalists have been adding their polish to the genre for two decades now, with an exigent emergence at the start of the millennium that’s made them a household name for a whole generation. And by mingling retro-gold formulas against a modern pop backdrop, Chromeo’s created a flashy, flirty, and carefree character that’s earned them industry-wide collaborations and enormous crossover appeal.

Well, never a pair to be defined by genre terminology, next Valentine’s Day Chromeo boxes up their latest batch of synth-funk drizzled pop chocolate with Adult Contemporary. And as a matter of fact, last Saturday, before taking the Tito’s Handmade Vodka stage at ACL, Dave 1 and P-Thugg stopped by the KUTX tent, dressed to impress with AC‘s Prince-meets-Zapp lead single “Personal Effects”.

The post Chromeo: “Personal Effects” (ACL Fest Pop-Up) appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

In this era where dropping digitally exclusive albums is not only the most affordable option for artists but also the best strategy to reach the masses, it can be tough to justify a physical format. But for some multi-disciplinary creatives, commemorating a release in a tangible format only arrives once framed within a fuller picture; people like Austin polymath Blair Robbins. On top of being an insanely talented visual artist and passionate pro-musician activist, this singer-multi-instrumentalist poet/songwriter’s been sharing their art under the handle Ama for the past decade. As Robbins’ philosophies and aesthetic’s evolved over time, so has Ama’s sound and personnel; it started out as a quartet in 2014 but without the restriction of a fixed lineup, Blair allows Ama’s artistry to permeate whenever the inspiration strikes, a liberty that extends to their abstract paintings as well. Sonically, Ama’s caught adoration thanks to retro-alt-indie rock, as heard on their mid-2010s EPs Losing Less and Trilogy, but their magnum opus to date is decidedly the 2020 full-length Both/And, a nine-track that’s racked up tons of support on Bandcamp. Both/And never received a physical print, and that’ll still be the case at least for the foreseeable future. That said, ahead of their sophomore LP Mother, Ama commemorates the record with a zine release 10:30pm this Saturday at Captain Quackenbush’s Soundscape alongside openers Frozen Orange at 8:30 and Dwight Smith at 9:30. We’re sure this zine will gives us some more personal context on the emotionally erudite enigma that is Both/And, plus a complete package of everything Robbins’ been refining over time. So grab a copy in person, gift yourself a one-of-a-kind multimedia experience, and crack open Blair’s cranium with the Elliott Smith-meets-Alvvays-esque original “I See You See”. Because after its four-and-a-half minutes, you’ll see exactly why Blair’s a rising force to be reckoned with.The post Ama: “I See You See” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Lots of longtime local concertgoers are likely to remember Cruiserweight. Now Cruiserweight has shared new music as recently as 2021, but not long before that, a couple of its crew members split off and started something a bit more…messy. We’re talking about Dave Hawkins and Stella Maxwell, co-founders of Austin quintet Stella and the Very Messed.

After testing out a couple of stripped-down demos at the turn of the decade, Stella and the Very Messed got a jump on the impending pandemic in early 2020 with their debut nine-track as a five-piece On Fences. Sure, S.a.t.V.M. retain a lot of the straightforward pop-rock formulas, hook-ready melodies and all, of their predecessor, but Stella et. al are admittedly more risky when it comes to playing around with arrangements and placement of instruments. Even though they kept listeners engaged with a triplet of new tunes in mid-2021 (Marigold), Stella and the Very Messed reckoned with the all-too-real creative obstacle of parenthood last year and ultimately decided to tap the brakes.

Well Stella and the Very Messed are finally back, and apparently pretty keen on making the most of their latest batch. They joined forces with Test Tube Audio producer Kevin Butler as well as Paradise Lunch co-producers Adam Mason and Walker Lukens to elevate a pair of pop originals into the pantheon of 2023 Austin-originating stunners. Catch the full band next Saturday at Sunny’s Backyard for an Oktoberfest release show, get a glimpse into “Crystal Ball” when you can, and make some space in your wardrobe for a T-shirt or two as you cash in with “Merchandiser”. It’s got a deceptively gentle introduction, because once “Merchandiser” hits the 40-second mark, the five-piece fires on all cylinders with ’80s-style synth arpeggios and MIDI percussion, moody electric guitar chords, a serious strut of a bass groove, and, almost goes without saying, the frontwoman’s fierce, refreshingly human vocals.

The post Stella and the Very Messed: “Merchandiser” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

With some genres, as the sound evolves over time, the elder statesman typically stick to their age bracket. But that’s clearly not the case for funk. Yeah, as future funk takes listeners further and further into the electronic realm, the old guard don’t seem to have a problem mixing with the new blood. That brings us to Yung Bae. This prolific L.A.-via-Portland producer first gained momentum a decade back at the height of the vaporwave craze. While Japanese pop culture helped define the first leg of Yung Bae’s sample-heavy discography, since graduating from self-releasing to signing with a major label at the turn of 2020s, he’s adopted a preppy visual aesthetic that really complements a renewed emphasis on classic ‘disco-funk ’70s-’80s formulas underneath ice cold modern synth sonics. And of course, as Yung Bae’s reputation for greatness only grows, his list of collaborators does as well. That’s no secret to anyone who’s skimmed the track list of last March’s Groove Continental: Side A – which finds Yung Bae teaming up with the likes of Jon Batiste, Channel Tres, and more. Well, just like the international chain of hotels from the world of John Wick, Groove Continental: Side B features a rotating door of top-tier craftspeople including Tim Atlas, Mayer Hawthorne, and oh yeah…Nile Rodgers. Yung Bae drops GC:SB tomorrow, ahead of a DJ set 9PM Friday, November 3rd at Superstition. So put some Chic in your weekend with the incredible, generation-spanning chemistry on a future disco-funk anthem whose title almost serves as a spiritual successor to “Good Times”, “Awesome Ways”.The post Yung Bae: “Awesome Ways” (feat. Nile Rodgers) appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Back in 2013 the documentary 20 Feet from Stardom shed light on the often overlooked lives of backup singers. And since there’s strength in numbers when hitting harmonies alongside a fellow vocalist or two, it can still be easy for some to discount individual talent. So while there’ll always be perks to performing in a chorus, huge kudos to those who take their rightful place in the center stage spotlight.

Folks like native South Austinite (and T Bird and the Breaks original member) Sasha Ortiz, who spent the decade between 20 Feet and now in New York supporting soul royalty like Charles Bradley, Sharon Jones, and Lee Fields, not to mention The Kills, Carla Morrison and more. These days Ortiz calls L.A. her home, and it’s in that city of angels that Sasha’s finally ascended from must-have backup to main attraction.

Last Friday Sasha Ortiz unleashed her top-tier first solo installation Superblue, a four-track, dance-driven foray into cutting-edge R&B-soul. Superblue‘s sensual and exotic sound was realized with the help of rising producer-multi-instrumentalist Reef Boii and J Dilla/Blood Orange mastering engineer Dave Cooley, who together turned the album into an outstanding introduction for this not-so-newcomer. At just under seventeen minutes, there’s no real good reason to pass up Superblue, at least if you’ve been tracking the fascinating evolution of soul-R&B in the digital age. So start it off right with the EP opener “On Your Side”, whose UK-inspired liquid bass line, floating synth chords, and uncomplicated drum patterns pad a bed of forget-me-nots for Sasha Ortiz’s dynamic falsetto, all of which send this future superstar straight into the hyper-periwinkle stratosphere.

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By design, the world of hip-hop is full of braggadocious personalities. But even the most prolific boasters can get tripped up by a perfectionist approach. Take for instance Austin rapper-producer-brandmaker Eric Mikulak, better known by his creative handle Click-Clack. Back in the early 2010s, alongside his role as frontman for rap-rock outfit Karmatron, Click-Clack used to crank out tracks nonstop from his home studio, sometimes writing, producing, and recording up to three tunes from scratch in a night. And the scorpio that he is, there’d typically be a roisterous social media presence before and after each new single release. Of course, as the genre’s evolved over time, Mikulak’s only matured, and it’s safe to say that making hip-hop entirely on his own is no longer a challenge. So while the confidence is rightfully still there, Click-Clack’s shifted focus towards fine-tuned, full-length collaborations with a rolodex of producers from across the globe, and entrusted mixing-mastering duties to other industry pros. As a matter of fact, Click-Clack just shared his second LP of the year, Hypercritical, last Friday. At just shy of a dozen tunes, Hypercritical offers yet another candid look into Mikulak’s complicated mind, flaws, insecurities, and all. Seven of the eleven enroll at least two outside producers in a sprawling sonic tapestry draped behind Click-Clack’s idiosyncratic verbal formulas, including “Welcome To Texas”, which enlists olly and fr4ud for a two-minute chop-heavy chipmunk soul masterpiece.The post Click-Clack: “Welcome To Texas” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Finding time to perfect your craft as an adult can already be challenging enough. But becoming a husband and father of two? Talk about cutting down on your ability to monkey around in the studio. At least that’s the experience of Kelowna producer-songwriter Michael Niemann, better known by his creative handle Little Jungles. Little Jungles first crept out of the bush in 2011 with Wuts Goin Thru Yer Head, a debut that caught ears and earned acclaim thanks to Niemann’s electro-meets-shoegaze bedroom-style indie sound. Unfortunately in the aftermath, wut began going through Niemann’s head alongside the praise was enough pressure in place for a survival of the fittest mindset. But his amygdala didn’t fight or fly; it froze. The anxiety of achieving a worthy follow-up caused Little Jungles to overanalyze his originals, and as such, last summer’s I Would Kill For Some Sunlight LP came out with basically no promotion. Now that he’s a family man with shifted priorities, Niemann’s taken on a new approach; strike when the inspiration hits, knock out what you can whenever you can, and rather than give yourself the unlimited options to “fix it in post”, track it all to tape. And after six long years of careful home and vacant business recordings, we finally heard the proof of that concept just last Friday with LOOM. Like the title suggests, LOOM finds Little Jungle’s artistic vision once again naturally interlaced with the other threads of life, and the dedication to tape goes a long way. Hear for yourself with the jangling guitar riffs, unprocessed drum sounds, and delightfully lackadaisical vocal harmonies that are sure to lift your spirits, (no matter the reason or season) on “Happy In Our Winter”.The post Little Jungles: “Happy In Our Winter” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

It’s beyond satisfying to hear a homegrown Austin artist not just outside the local city limits, but in a piece of media that gets global reach. And while it may be impossible to top White Denim in the official Nintendo Switch trailer, we gotta give it up to Tribe Mafia for their recent induction into the world of film. Following a formidable debut in 2016, this Austin-based hip-hop/R&B duo’s dropped at least an EP’s worth of singles each year, save for an understandable lull between their March 2020 LP Teepee Gang and last Valentine’s Day’s “Sound of a Heartbreak”. But now, on the other side of the pandemic, Tribe Mafia’s once again in tip-top shape and sharing their gifts at an impressive rate. And it’s not just a matter of quantity over quality; no, these songs could only be sourced from two well-seasoned sonic shaman. And there’s proof in the pudding! One of Tribe Mafia’s latest and greatest found its way not only into the trailer for My Partner, but as an emotional centerpiece of this groundbreaking queer artistic accomplishment. So even if you haven’t seen My Partner yet, if you take a minute to sit black, close your eyes, and let the Erik Goca-featuring “Take Me” paint a picture behind your eyes, you’ll quickly pick up on its intrinsically provocative cinematic pop character, not unlike Swae Lee and Post Malone’s Spiderverse “Sunflower”.The post Tribe Mafia: “Take Me” (feat. Erik Goca) appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Here at KUTX and Song of the Day, we try to be as dutiful as we can in providing both an accurate representation of the Austin Music Experience and great tunes. But honestly, all talent aside, for some local artists we often have to dig around to find something that’s actually airwave worthy. Daniel Fears, on the other hand? He’s done a damn fine of delivering his fair share of bar-raising originals to Austin’s ever-growing musical accoutrements.

And that’s a big part of why we named him our July 2021 Artist of the Month, right around the release of his debut EP Canopy. Based on its towering soul-R&B-hip-hop caliber, Fears has understandably been flying high off of Canopy over the past couple years. Now that doesn’t mean downfall is in the cards for Daniel Fears anytime soon; no, the consistency of Fears’ artistic drive is still deafening to this day, even if his dynamics of choice are more subdued. Well, following a pair of standalones in 2022, and hot off a Mongolian tour providing brass for Gina Chavez’s band, Daniel Fears sets course clear of mediocrity once again with Enough.

As the title implies, Enough achieves an infectious equipoise of emotional vulnerability and seductive self-esteem thanks to Fears’ faultless falsetto, kaleidoscope of sonic influences, and recognizable calling card of production techniques. On Enough‘s lead single, “Say Something”, there are some clever threads ranging from D’Angelo, Sly Stone, Bobby Womack and even Musiqsoulchild in its final moments, none of which could’ve landed if not for Fears’ top tier backing band. Between a liquid guitar groove, spacious snaps, hypnotic bass, atmospheric keys, and of course, Daniel’s Frank Ocean-esque vocals, safe to assume “Say Something” may just leave you speechless.

The post Daniel Fears: “Say Something” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

What happens when you aggressive UK bass collides with testosterone-driven Bugandan percussion? Nothing quiet, that’s for sure. That specific combo of acoustic and electronic, of modern and traditional first came about with the formation of Nihiloxica half a decade back, when UK producers Spooky-J and pq linked up with Nilotika Cultural Ensemble members Isa, Sally, Prince, and Spyda in Uganda’s capital city of Kampala.

Owing their handle to a Nile river source in Kampala, Nihiloxica’s sound also captures a stream of consciousness between Bantu and English, and takes inspiration from the regressive attitudes and institutionalized discrimination that so often plague those cross-continental conversations. But as heard on Nihiloxica’s 2017 eponymous EP, its 2019 follow-up Biiri, and their 2020 debut full-length Kaloli, lyrics simply don’t channel that impassioned outrage as well as extreme electronic techniques and an undying drive of drums.

Early last year, Nihiloxica returned to their early Nyege Nyege Studio stomping grounds in Kampala to track their sophomore LP Source of Denial in a rigorous one-month period. The result is an absolutely insane instrumental excursion over eleven outrageous, genre-bending originals. Source of Denial brings an awful lot of bass to the bureaucracy and powerful percussion to UK foreign policy, and as hinted by their near-illegible album artwork, some really cool interjections of metal into Nihiloxica’s formulas. And while themes of racism, xenophobia, and international classism might escape surface-level listeners, that subtext is critical to Source of Denial‘s immense artistic statement. So before Source of Denial hits streaming on Friday, enter Nihiloxica’s next chapter of unconventional-but-necessary, mad scientist-level innovation and techno-entrancement on “Asidi”.

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If you remember Western Youth, then you’re familiar with Graham Weber. And if you know Graham Weber, you know he lays down great work wherever he may wander. A decade and a half into his solo discography, Weber launched Western Youth right here in Austin in the late twenty-teens and spearheaded their solo eponymous full-length. However, on the other side of the pandemic, that iteration of the Central Texas sextet’s since ridden off into the sunset. But save for one straggler, the cavalcade continues with their spiritual successor Restos in 2023. With Weber overseeing but not monopolizing this well-seasoned five-piece’s style, Restos retain much of the Americana-rock aura that defined their predecessor, albeit with a bit more of a modern kick. This Friday Restos drop their debut LP Ain’t Dead Yet and celebrate with a release show 11PM that same evening at Continental Club alongside opener Jaimee Harris at 10PM and closers The Irons half past midnight. As you’ll soon find out from the live performance, the tunes on Ain’t Dead Yet defy any potential decline in quality from Weber and his posse. Instead Restos channel the energy of an armadillo, bear, bison, gator, rooster all kickin’ in the barn together, pushing their primitive musical instincts to the limit and leaving the rest behind. So before Restos rear into their Thursday night residency at C-Boy’s each week from 6:30-8:30PM, take a little “Time” to appreciate Graham and the boys’ incredible progress over a handful of years in just under five minutes with one of the record’s latest early looks.The post Restos: “Time” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Song of the Day is finally back from a much-needed break! And as a token of appreciation for everyone’s patience in the interim, we’ve got some great new picks to catch y’all up on, one of which made an inaugural streaming appearance just last weekend.

We’re talking about Katherine Yuna, also known as Rion Reed, but best recognized by their stage name amalgamation Katherion. This Houston native with growing Austin exposure has been singing their whole life and penning tunes for the past decade, but didn’t unlock and realize their true form as Katherion until a semi-recent, life-changing experience in guided psychoactive therapy.

True to their handle (pronounced “Kath-e-Ryan”), this project provides a healthy balance of masculine and feminine, spiritual and emotional, and sonically speaking…indie and alt-rock. In fact, ahead of their upcoming debut album 33, Katherion teamed up with indie-alt-rock innovator and Song of the Day favorite Walker Lukens to co-produce the record’s lead single, “Roses and Daisies”. So before we’re blessed with the full bouquet of unbridled acceptance on 33 later this Fall, which’ll also include the sophomore single “Thank You” in about a month’s time, bask in the refreshing fragrance of “Roses and Daisies”, whose authentic aromas alternate between vulnerable solo verses and defiant double-tracked choruses. By the time you get across the bridge and into the final hook, you’ll better understand Katherion’s admirable mission of empathy, uplift, and humanity’s mutual bonds, no matter how you identify.

The post Katherion: “Roses and Daisies” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Although DJ Shadow turned trip-hop instrumentals into an American institution at the tail end of the ’90s, we can’t overlook the influence of pioneering English artists like Massive Attack, Portishead, and Sneaker Pimps earlier in the decade. Their unique placement of feminine falsettos over seductive, sample-and-synth-heavy soundscapes still inspires acts today, not just in the […]

The post Komorebi: “The Fall” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

We’re so over the moon from yesterday’s Lunar Gold premiere that we’re not ready to descend quite yet. So before touching down to the terrestrial for the weekend, let’s heed a far out beacon from Dallas duo Beekeeper Spaceman. The skeleton crew consists of guitarist-singer-songwriter Greg Brownderville and producer/multi-instrumentalist Spencer Kenney, who named themselves after […]

The post Beekeeper Spaceman: “Locusts and Honey” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Even though it’ll always be a nightly main attraction, the moon’s also been a hot topic thanks to recent international missions, both successes or failures. But of course, for every state-funded effort, there’s a private space venture in the hands of a billionaire. Which begs a question. Once corporations capitalize the moon, how much of […]

The post Lunar Gold: “Low Light” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Here in the Lone Star State, the authentic “tropical” experience is pretty much limited to South Padre Island, about a six-hour drive from our city limits. But despite Austin’s central location, when it comes to less land-locked sounds (chiefly reggae), we’re actually pretty lucky to have strong local institutions; The Flamingo Cantina’s remained a major […]

The post Lion Heights: “Cool & Easy” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

As a commemoration of factory personnel, harsh conditions, and tumultuous union strikes, Labor Day often loses its meaning for all the folks just enjoying a Monday off. But a century-plus later, we can still take a moment to appreciate some less-industrial aspects of life that often get taken for granted. For example keeping up a […]

The post Walker Lukens: “Man & Wife” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

The outrageous rawness of garage punk has always lent itself to gimmicks. But just because you incorporate a bit of stage antics into the routine doesn’t mean the music can’t carry weight on its own merit. Take for example The Dead Coats, forged by Lauren Warmer in Baltimore a decade back before moving to Austin in 2017. Once they re-tailored themselves into a quartet, The Dead Coats cranked out two fantastically-callous EPs towards the end of the 2010s. And just before the pandemic put a damper on the whole “Live Music Capital of the World” thing, The Dead Coats donned some oddly-prescient dress at Kickbutt Coffee – as nurses that transported Warmer’s living corpse onstage via bodybag. The following March The Dead Coats really caught ears with their debut full-length Big Wish, a record that earned them a sold out show at Empire, plus an Austin Music Award for “Best Rock Act” in 2022, and an induction into Austin Music Foundation’s 2023 Development Class. Since then we’ve just been counting the seconds until another new single; an era of anticipation that ended this morning. With the release of “Reach”, The Dead Coats kicks off the weekend 10PM tonight at The Far Out Lounge for the Virgo Zodiac Party. Doors are at 7, Shelly Webster starts it off at 8, followed by Moon Fuzz at 9, and Pinky Rings close it down at 11. But if Far Out Lounge is a just bit out of reach, you can still get riled up wherever you want in three minutes flat. An instant riot from its first guitar riff to its final chord sustain, “Reach” shrieks and shreds with a wailing vocal performance, pulsing power chords and bass accompaniment, gripping percussion fills, and a much-appreciated change of pace thanks to a half-time breakdown in its bridge. It’s the pinnacle of punk rock, plain and simple.The post The Dead Coats: “Reach” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

As a war wages in Ukraine, aspects of the military industrial complex are front and center in the news; with each international donation to the effort, headlines interject model names right into casual lexicon, so presumably the layperson now knows the difference between a Leopard 2 and an F-16. And while the four members of Mamahawk haven’t necessarily shown off that knowledge of hardware specifics, when it comes to combatting crappy music, they’re a major aggressor. After a modest immobilization with their 2015 self-titled debut, Mamahawk really brought the offensive to a brink on “Brain Invaderz!” an operation that earned them the rank of KUTX’s August 2018 Artist of the Month. Their sophomore six-track of the same name came in hot the following February, and this past April Mamahawk showed that they’re still on the wing with “Walk in the Fire”. Well the spacey rock squadron might as well’ve teamed up with Skunk Works, because their latest doesn’t just buzz the tower; it throttles up to the stratosphere for aural superiority. On “Fighter Jet”, Mamahawk cuts the afterburners and coasts at a slower tempo than we’ve heard from them recently. That said, “Fighter Jet” delivers an massive payload in just four minutes, thanks to a Tomahawk missile’s-worth of jazz-prog key chords, laser-accurate delayed-out electric guitar slides, long bass tones that capture that high-altitude hum, plus a canopy of crisp drums and clean vocals. Catch the full sortie midnight tomorrow night at Sagebrush along with openers Aubrey Hays at 11PM and Sammy G at 10. Til then, quit the habitual bitchin’, strap in, and set course for a relaxing Labor Day weekend.The post Mamahawk: “Fighter Jet” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

So hot right now! …poolside music videos that is. But also, yeah…patrolling the U.S. south this time of year almost makes you wish for a nuclear winter. So with mutually assured destruction still a bit too close for comfort, nuclear tourism seems like the next best thing. Yet we’re not predicting a windfall of Trinity testsite visitors post-Oppenheimer. No, we’re actually talking about Athens, Georgia garage punk rock quartet Nuclear Tourism. These dastardly slackers got started a half decade back with their debut album Scraping By and ever since, when they’re not getting stoned as a bone, bombing hills, or slurping up greasy slices, the four-piece is going full-power in their practice space, shredding through raw reflections of dissent and affection. And as Nuclear Tourism basks in the fallout of their eponymous sophomore record that dropped in February, they also cool off in a newly-issued music video for “Dad Brains”. Bridging timeless embodiments of angst and contextualizing The Graduate for the next generation of unmotivated miscreants, Nuclear Tourism channels Dustin Hoffman’s iconic despondency in the only way they know how; by slappin’ the “plastics” out of those patronizing paternal synapses and instead bonding over Marlboros, beers, and cannonballs. Making apathy look as flashy as it does nasty, “Dad Brains” begs for a drink-a-long lobotomy…just wait ’til you get home from work before diving in and putting ’em down.The post Nuclear Tourism: “Dad Brains” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Concerning attempts to beat the heat, we’re guessing all Texans are giving it their best shot right about now. And huge kudos to the creatives making content that at least invites a cool mindset, even if we’re physically still melting. In that vein, we especially appreciate Louisiana native Wendy Colonna for returning a favor to […]

The post Wendy Colonna: “Inspired” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

With the oppressive heat and an especially tantalizing 24-hour news cycle, it’s worth taking a moment or two to just breath. So while neither we nor the artists we curate can claim to be mindfulness experts, we feel like today’s feature is pretty fitting for anyone in need of a mindset shift. It comes courtesy […]

The post B.R. Lively: “Hope in My Heart” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Here at KUTX, we’ve never been shy about our love of Wild Child; hell I myself even played a show or two with ’em back in the day. But while lead singer Kelsey Wilson often steals the spotlight (and deservedly so), there’s no sense in denying the vast talent toted by each individual member. Among […]

The post Motenko: “Lifted” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

A lot of rising acts have made their way into the Austin pop culture lexicon since the pandemic started wrapping up. But one of the most memorable new names actually comes from two familiar favorites joining forces. We’re talking about our March 2023 Artist of the Month Jane Jane Leo, formed by Jane Ellen Bryant […]

The post Jane Leo: “Wow” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

For all the singer-songwriters who think they’re hot shit and want everyone to know it, there are just as many who’d prefer to lay low and essentially keep their craft to themselves. Among those who fall in the latter category? Guitarist-vocalist Jason Silverberg. See, Silverberg launched his solo-endeavor-turned-full-band project The Lennings in the mid-aughts right […]

The post The Lennings: “Secondhand” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

This past year our airwaves have been kind to Benjamin Violet (better known as Pelvis Wrestley) and S.L. Houser. We only mention that because this upcoming weekend, we’ll get a chance to hear an album with imprints from both, one that comes from Lizzy Lehman. This Austin-based singer/guitarist/synth player first popped up on streaming a […]

The post Lizzy Lehman: “Technicolor Love” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

The “dog days” of summer formally ended last Friday and fall doesn’t officially start until late September…so with consistent triple digit temps determined to become that weekly standard, I can’t be the only Austinite who’s stopped checking the ten-day forecast. But that doesn’t mean we can’t recognize this period typically associated with seasonal transition, which […]

The post Queen Serene: “Isengard” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Depending on who you talk to, friends of composers, performers, and producers often present them as “prolific”. Which makes sense. No one wants to admit to sedentary songwriting, right? But when you come across someone with a truly bountiful output, more often than not, they’re not bragging; they’re just dedicated craftspeople who love to create. […]

The post Alabaster DePlume: “Naked Like Water” (feat. Donna Thompson) appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

If you’ve kept a close pulse on the local circuit the past half decade, you’re probably already got SATALiGHTS on your radar. But even if you haven’t, the title of their 2017 debut Post-Bedroom Rock ought to tip you off to their genre preferences, at least historically. We say that because although this multi-national quartet’s […]

The post SATALiGHTS: “Sirenas” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

If this intense summer heat is starting to fry your synapses and your mind is in need of a holiday…but you don’t really have time on the calendar or money in the budget for proper R&R, there’s a broad sonic convoy right here in town that’ll take your brain places, for sure. We’re talking about […]

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If you’re a fan of Boyfrndz, Stiletto Feels, and Ume, chances are you’ll love CLUB COMA. Featuring seasoned veterans from all three, this Austin supergroup-of-sorts builds bops that hop around retro French flourishes, all things rock n roll, and experimental pop. An early recording of that killer combo piqued the interest of Spoon’s Jim Eno, […]

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Between everybody’s favorite TV goth girl and the beloved mid-workweek benchmark, the word “Wednesday” carries some pretty positive connotations. And even on “new music Friday”, every day of the week is Wednesday in one way or another for Houston-raised, Austin-based singer-guitarist Will Derden. See, this young up-and-comer’s been crafting his own unique style of indie […]

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Hearing a fresh artist find their footing is a real joy. And with the recent launch of her mononymous project Barb Austin singer-guitarist Barbara Klavin’s been havin’ us gabbin’ over each new single. Sure, there are some obvious sonic similarities between January’s “Liar” and March’s “Don’t Call”, but spinning last September’s “Small Talk” back-to-back with […]

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Although self-sufficient prodigies like Henry Invisible do a damn good job of filling out a fiery funk set entirely on their own, it’s tough for any one-person performance to go toe-to-toe with with a full funk ensemble. And fortunately for us, the “everything’s bigger in Texas” philosophy applies to several stage-sprawling acts right here in […]

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The vast majority of songwriters are…just…well…song writers. That is, their ability to convey emotion or tell a story is strictly restricted to lyric and melody. So while we won’t detract from those who navigate that task masterfully, we also gotta pay dues to the multidisciplinary folks who single-handedly offer a “fuller” package. Take Aiden Berglund […]

The dog days formally end this Friday, but each triple new digit forecast says otherwise. So while we approve of any and all forms of aestivation throughout this enduring inferno, we’re pretty blown away by all the projects that’ve premiered throughout this historic summer. One perfect example from right here in Austin? Tender Wolf. Founded […]

This past Monday we premiered something from Norwegian producer-arranger-composer Morten Martens, and his project Les Imprimés. Well, not even a full week later, we’ve got another new Scandinavian tune for you. But unlike Martens, this Nordic songwriter lives right here within the Austin City Limits. We’re referring to Tobias Lund, who moved here from Copenhagen […]

Since the release of their 2010 eponymous debut, whose tracks have racked up millions of streams, The Bright Light Social Hour has become a big part of Austin’s – and by extension – KUTX’s musical character. Even after all these years (and a lineup change that keeps the core duo of Jackie O’Brien and Curtis […]

The turn of the millennium was an outstanding time to be an adolescent developing their music tastes, for better or worse. And while it’s easy to look back at has-been fads like rap-rock and scoff, it’s just as easy to overlook one the coolest innovations of the late nineties/early aughts: dance-punk. Thankfully that playful angst […]

When a genre breaks out of its birthplace, it opens itself up internationally to interpreters and innovators of all kinds. So while we most closely associate the soul sound with Detroit and Memphis, especially amidst this blissful retro-soul resurgence, you can find fascinating takes on soul from corners of the globe you might not expect. […]

The days of flipping through the dictionary to help decide on a new band name are long gone, and not just due to digitization. No, even amidst exponential artist multiplicity, a good chunk of modern music makers have a penchant for near banal minimalism when it comes to titling their projects, even if it makes […]

Some of the most upbeat, major key arrangements in blues music can still back some of bleakest yarns, ranging all the way from heartache to institutionalized oppression. So even if the traditional scales and chord changes behind with this landmark genre may not appeal to everyone, its anguished lyrical standards will always present a primitive […]

For even some of the most talented, well-established artists, working with a new producer can really shed some divine light on sonics and take things to the next level. And there’s plenty of proof in today’s premiere from Marcus Morales. Both solo and alongside his backing band The Chorizo Grease All-Stars, this singer-guitarist has been […]

SXSW attracts musical acts and fans alike from all over. As a result, curated regional/national showcases usually get a pretty big draw, usually with at least a handful of locals in attendance. Yet beyond that week-long whirlwind of global sounds, us Austinites can easily take our year-round resident international acts for granted. Sure, we’ve got […]

Although his prevalence on our playlists isn’t exactly what it used to be, longtime KUTX listeners know that historically our airwaves were all about Alejandro Escovedo. Aside from his ongoing bromance with KUTX host Jody Denberg, this San Antonio native has continued to represent a Central Texas sound across Austin, Dallas, and beyond, leaving an idiosyncratic […]

This past week we’ve praised those with consistent release schedules. But today’s spotlight takes it to a whole other level. See, Alex Ward‘s not only the bassist for acclaimed Austin punk rock outfit Animals on TV. He’s also amassed tons of solo tunes over the past decade and a half. The first phase of Ward’s […]

You can’t beat the heat without keeping hydrated. So if you want to garnish your favorite sipper with some extra zest, grab a slice of FRSH LMN. This just-plucked project features a revitalizing of four Live Music Capital veterans, including the full backing band from funk-rock outfit The Dragon Berries and neo-soul singer Phon Soul. […]

The gift and curse of modern artist multiplicity is so immense that it’s nearly unfathomable. For listeners, it opens a Pandora’s box of choices to the point that we almost have to rely on streaming algorithms and pre-made playlists to find new sounds. And while artists themselves can still easily find musical role models to […]

With the constant allure of streaming numbers, pop music trends, and viral opportunities clouding contemporary release strategies, the loudest, most heavily-promoted voices are often the most inauthentic as well. Not so for Fort Worth-born, Austin-based singer-songwriter Natalie Price, whose unabashed passion for captive melodies and confessional lyrics only grew throughout a taciturn religious upbringing, where […]

When a songwriter relocates to a metropolitan music hub, they often do so with the hope that that their new surroundings will inspire a higher level of artistry, that the scene will spark something not yet uncovered. But the reality is that, with some rare exceptions, the passion, perspective, and potential that separate the best […]

With excessive heat warnings dominating forecasts here in the American Southwest and little to do about it other than stay inside or lather on sunscreen and bee line towards shade, there’s no harm in reframing our seasonal misery by listening in on lighter summer sounds coming from across the pond. Enter Dublin five-piece The Crayon […]

In 2018, when Texas native Kacey Musgraves released her landmark album Golden Hour she breathed new life into the term – one that typically describes those brief windows of sunrise and sunset that’s made for so many magic cinematic moments. But we’re willing to wager that “silver hour” is outside the bounds of most folks’ […]

There’s been a ton of new music trickling down the Live Music Capital’s trunk this summer, so fingers crossed that the laziness typically associated with these dog days doesn’t slow that flow down anytime soon. Because among that gradual deluge of easily-accessible inoffensive homegrown genres, there’s also some seriously thick high-octane shit oozing out of […]

Even if you don’t recognize the name Clarence Greenwood right off the bat, chances are his moniker Citizen Cope still rings a bell. This Memphis-born Texas Tech graduate first blew up in the D.C. scene at the turn of the millennium, exposing the world to Greenwood’s now-iconic self-produced style: soulful acoustic guitar chords, grizzled, confident […]

Remember our May 2022 Artist of the Month Good Looks? Well, despite a Bummer Year tour-skewing injury for lead guitarist Jake Ames – who’s also taken some time out to foster his other project The Stacks – this jangly four-piece is still going strong. Rumor has it the Austin quartet’s got a slew of new […]

Our ability not just to create, but to contextualize our expressions in a meaningful way is one of mankind’s greatest accomplishments and because of that, collections have remained attractive to consumers, manufacturers, and artists alike. But since streaming numbers became one of the most-sought out metrics, musicians have regressed from the full-length physical record model […]

Austin brands itself as the “Live Music Capital of the World” and for damn good reason; think about the thousands of players who fill our hundreds of event spaces over the course of any given month. But that artist multiplicity and venue ubiquity entirely within our city limits actually makes breaking out of the ATX […]

The number of different ways in which musicians were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic almost rivals the amount of virus variants we ended up uncovering. But broadly put, by April 2020, music makers faced a three-prong fork in the road: 1) reluctantly shelve their passion until an “all clear” eventually arrived, 2) maximize the sudden […]

It’s a fairly standard practice for future superstars to start off jockeying stools in dimly lit dives with the mere support of liquid courage and maybe a couple clapping barflies. Modern Americana icons like Tyler Childers and Sturgill Simpson sure wouldn’t be where they are today without those musty salad days. So now that they’ve […]

Creatives can find inspiration pretty much anywhere; naturally in the world of art, but also through the process of nurturing, be that in helping others brush up on their talents, or simply in bringing a piece flora to fruition. Well, just a stone’s throw away from Austin out in Round Rock, high school art teacher […]

Although Houston and Dallas are indisputably the hubs of such, car cruising culture is alive and thriving all over the Lone Star State. And while swangin’ looks best before dusk, these triple digit temps tormenting Texas have been making it tough to tempt daylight, even with top down. And especially if you’re less about “Tops […]

Among the many lessons we’ve learned from classic rock history, something that stands out against to current trends is the polarity of solo offshoots. Ozzy’s exit created flak within Black Sabbath’s massive fandom, David Lee Roth’s departure from Van Halen led to the havoc of Van Hagar, and Sting’s egress from The Police still hurts […]

If you’re a longtime lover of KUTX, then you know we couldn’t have made the trip of our first ten years without Lucinda Williams riding shotgun. Like car wheels on a gravel road, this Americana-country-folk-rock darling’s given our airwaves some extra Texas texture and, beginning with her 11th LP Where the Spirit Meets the Bone, […]

With only one week left in LGBTQ+ Pride Month, we gotta get in as much queer representation as possible. So on the verge of Pride in Local Music tomorrow afternoon and evening, today we’re highlighting one of Austin’s most eccentric musical personalities, Primo the Alien. Aside from recent strides like making their ACL Fest debut […]

While “Old Austin” is best embodied by Willie Nelson, Townes Van Zandt, and Armadillo World Headquarters, thankfully there are plenty of other old souls still permeating that “country hippie” aesthetic of decades past. Take for instance singer-guitarist Andrew Gerfers and his homegrown quintet Stone Wheels, who shared their first studio single back in 2015 and […]

This whole week is shaping up to be a trying triple-digit scorcher, a bold barge-in of that iconic Lone Star sun. But if you’re the type who prefers to keep their sights locked onto their sneakers rather than ever glance up at the horizon, we’ve got something that’ll stick your soles straight to the pavement. […]

Happy Juneteenth! Although Juneteenth has been recognized as a U.S. federal holiday for three years now, of course its roots lie here in Texas. So in the rich century-and-a-half tradition of spiritualism, resilience, and commemoration, today we’re celebrating Juneteenth with a North Texas gospel inspiration. Hailing from small town North Carolina and now based out […]

Here in the Live Music Capital of the World, we’re blessed to have an abundance of different genres, but truth be told, at the end of the day, rock is God in Austin, Texas. And while Austin does attract a vast rolodex of rockers, the city limits can also surprisingly shape previously non-rock sounds. Like, […]

Back in 2018, we started the year off strong with our January Artist of the Month Good Field. The Austin quartet, their enthralling third full-length Surface Tension, and their easy-going brand of slacker indie-Americana perfectly embodied the worry-free character of the “before times”. But since the start of COVID, Good Field’s been noticeably quiet. Maybe […]

When an actor gets their first big break out in L.A., most folks can quickly differentiate between the pretty faces and those with a burning creative core underneath. A dead giveaway for the latter? Other than a luminous performance that transcends the screen and leaves a lasting impact on the audience…maybe the most obvious tell […]

You might’ve seen recent headlines about Fort Hood changing their name to Fort Cavazos. Which, apolitically speaking, is fascinating because there was also an outfit right here in town under the same name who pulled pretty much the same move almost a decade back. But even before the Austin trio formerly known as Fort Hood […]

For die-hard Steely Dan fans such as myself, the name Bernard Purdie is instantly recognizable; he invented the Purdie shuffle! So for someone that so casually blew the perfectionist minds of Becker and Fagen with his rhythmic genius back in the late ’70s, Bernie’s bar for collaborating is obvious purdy high. Which brings us to […]

Our Saturday night specialty show The Breaks does a great job of highlighting Austin hip-hop. But naturally, stuff is bound to slip through the cracks, especially when it comes to events before broadcast. That brings us to Austin three-piece Black Sheep Optimists, who’ve been bending genre norms since the start of the pandemic. The trio […]

Historically, a native Austinite status set you on an accessible, auspicious trajectory towards making music. But of course, as tech culture eclipses the “weird” Live Music Capital character that Austin’s clung on to since the ’70s, it just doesn’t happen as much any more. So while simply being born within the city limits isn’t enough […]

The Nigeria-UK connection has given us some of the greatest musical talents of modern music; while Shirley Bassey and Sade became more of national symbols, legendary performers ranging from Seal to grime icons like Skepta and Dizzee Rascal alongside modern innovators like Little Simz, and Obongjayar have really upheld London’s reputation as an incomparable centerpiece […]

When the handle “Genuine Leather” first catches your eye, a number of potentials present themselves; like Genuine Leather could easily be the name of a Kiss-era glam metal outfit, a bunch of Ramones-esque punks, a Berghain-inspired Western European dance DJ, or even just a dusty posse of country cowboys. Well, consider those expectations subverted, ’cause […]

Ever since punk rock took off in the late ’70s, it’s expanded and matured into a ton of subgenres. Its kiddo pop-punk, on the other hand, is more like a Lost Boy from Neverland; it never grew up and that’s the way we like it. So when we look at the robust roster of pop-punk acts right here in our city limits, it fills us with a one-of-a-kind juvenile joy. Embodying that theme of youth is Austin quintet Dad’s Home. Although its five members had already cut their teeth in groups like Quiet Company, Kingsley, Cruiserweight, and Closet Drama, Dad’s Home didn’t kick off until last summer. Following the pavement-scuffed footsteps of their pop-punk forefathers, Dad’s Home dropped their delightfully-uncouth debut EP My Sitcom Life on New Year’s Eve, almost as a resolution to keep following their favorite genre’s fast and fun formulas. But since punk depends most on its live performance aspect, Dad’s Home riles up some more of that paternal testosterone with a show 9PM this Thursday at The Mohawk along with Bad Lives, Space Tan, and Midcard. The occasion? “Automatic Reply: No Thanks” – an emotional rollercoaster over perfect palm muting, superb group vocals, insane drum fills and a sense of instrumental unity which reminds us that being loud doesn’t signal a lack of taste.

Queen Bey’s court extends to the furthest reaches of the globe. But especially in her hometown of Houston, Beyoncé really is royalty. Her majesty’s legacy – in particular her role in the progression of R&B into trap-pop – continues to shine as a statewide piece of inspiration with its pinnacle smack dab in H-Town. And although she’s not necessarily taking a shot at Beyoncé’s crown, rising singer-songwriter Marlei could definitely feel at home in “Third Ward Trill”‘s inner circle. Marlei first emerged in Fall 2021 with her incendiary debut single “Burn”, instantly channelling Beyoncé’s regal confidence and sultry, soulful vocals. And today, just in time for rising Texas temps, Marlei’s cranked things way up on her sophomore offering. Embedded in the steamy essence of the Bayou City, “Sheesh” finds Marlei directly comparing herself to the Queen and Ariana Grande. Produced by Zayn/Mind of Mine magic ear XYZ, “Sheesh”‘ll have you saying its namesake thanks to Marlei’s lilting intervals, disciplined harmonies, and a sense of unbridled sassiness that might even make Sasha Fierce use her safe word.

Happy Pride Month! As an advocate, it’s beyond encouraging to hear so many openly Queer Austinites sharing their art, spreading the love, and scoring pretty good opportunities here in our fair city. In that respect, we’ve got a live show recommendation to kick off June in proper form. It comes on behalf of singer-producer KindKeith, who first emerged with their 2019 single “Veronica’s Mom”. KindKeith’s sound has since matured over the course of two EPs and one full-length, cementing a genre-fluid, drizzled-in-synth style that sits somewhere between Thundercat and SiR. Picking up where last summer’s DON’T TALK TO ME >:( left off, KindKeith recently teamed up with Austin’s 8bit_gf for kind of a sonic curveball compared with prior expectations. While 8bit_gf’s debut streaming single “4NG3L W 4 9UN” basks in between hyperpop and drum n bass and KindKeith’s last EP leans on laid back grooves, “EVERYTHING FALLS INTO PLACE“ cranks the beat repeat effect way up to carve a glitchy niche outside KindKeith’s trademark R&B. The pair celebrate with a release show tomorrow night at Swan Dive; 8bit_gf gets it started at 9:30 followed by Yonah B and EddieAngel before KindKeith wraps things up just after midnight. Til then, enjoy the start of June with a tune inspired by mutual early-twenties struggles with sexuality and gender identity. Between its unorthodox triplet percussion, 8bit_gf’s pitched up pipes and some extra glittery guitar that engorges before grinding the whole song to a halt, “EVERYTHING FALLS INTO PLACE” is a modern waltz of frustration, revelation, and acceptance.

As streaming numbers become one of the defining metrics for success, you see a lot of young up-and-comers try to cover their bases by cranking out singles. Longer-standing, well-established acts, however, know that the “quality over quantity” builds stronger staying power. Just look at NOLA-born indie-garage-pop duo Generationals, who first got started in 2008. With a decade and a half of experience and plenty of fans across the globe, they’re getting pretty close to reaching their namesake in terms of lifespan and impact. The pair’s fared well with a production technique of remotely collaborating – shaping songs one file share at a time – so in 2021 when Generationals went to track a new EP in Athens, Georgia straight to tape, it was already a trepidatious process. They listened back, weren’t thrilled with the results, and wisely went back to the drawing board. The result is Generationals’ sixth full-length, Heatherhead, out this Friday. The LP’s a real case study in looking inward, defining what makes a certain brand of music great, and taking care to make sure the end product is far beyond listener expectations. In a final effort to familiarize us with Heatherhead before it drops, Generationals graciously introduces us to “Strangers”. From its initial ear-perking staccato guitar and hazy vibrato synth, straight to its driving daytime disco bass line and breezy, effects-tanned falsetto vocals, “Strangers” tosses chillwave into a caipirinha and’ll serve the spirit of flirty summer fun up all year-round.

We all know that Austin’s far outgrown its once humble status as a cool college town. So with the current tech culture/Live Music Capital dichotomy, it’s no wonder we also often overlook institutions right in our own backyard. But we can’t forget about the Butler School of Music at UT Austin, which attracts, molds, and produces a ton of talent. For instance, there’s Austin folk quartet American Dreamer, who first met as grad students at Butler and began collaborating in the mid-2010s. With collective decades of formal training under their belt, this festival-proven four-piece builds on an already impressive ability to play off one another, leading to nuanced in-the-pocket arrangements that just keep getting better and better. Although their 2016 debut Restless Nights may have explored harder, more modern regions of Americana rock, 2018’s Go Where You Go and subsequent singles, ripe with themes of travel and nature, champion our continent’s rich roots music history. With American Dreamer’s upcoming third full-length, the songs steer further away from percussion than ever before, giving us some of the band’s most transportive and string-rich tunes to date, as already heard on 2023’s “Little Bird”, “Railway Bound for Mercy”, and “Heaven’s Child”. American Dreamer drops July 14th with a release show that same evening at the 04 Center and the record’s final lead single “Medicine Hat” (though lyrically pining over a missed loved one) will take you straight to the porch of a rustic Alberta cabin thanks to wanderlust-inspiring chords and a wilderness-thick dynamic range embedded in synchronous instrumental interplay and blossoming vocal harmonies.

When decades of dominos fall before some of your finest work, it’s hard not to feel like fate led you to this moment. Just look at Austin songwriter Camron Rushin, whose grandfather worked with Lefty Frizzell producer Jim Beck way back in the ’50s. Within Rushin’s generation, there’d been about a ten-year-long break between artistic projects, but once he started sharing sketches with multi-instrumentalists Todd Pruner and Jon Merz at the start of the pandemic, the foundation was laid for The Best Around. If you couldn’t guess from the trio’s handle or their cutout ransom note/collage visual aesthetic, they’re not brazenly boasting about their abilities; they’re more navigating life like triplet Daniel-sans perfecting their musical martial art one waxing tune at a time. In wearing belts of both performer and audience member, The Best Around show up to the ongoing competition that is our Live Music Capital with a diverse style of art-rock. Last Friday The Best Around rolled out their ninth studio single total and first of 2023, one that features harmony vocals from Emma Kate, percussion from Josh Halpern and mastering from Cacophony Recorders’ Erik Wofford. A melancholy masterpiece from its first downbeat through its pre-chorus falsetto and cosmic Americana instrumental bridge all the way to its concluding chord, “Lie to Me” might honestly be The Best Around’s very best to date.

While nepotism in Hollywood continues to give the questionably talented mainstream opportunities, it really doesn’t exist like that within the music industry. Like, if a performer’s truly not up to snuff, a familial claim to fame ultimately won’t get them all that far. Case in point, son of iconic rock ‘n’ roll photographer Bob Gruen, Kris Gruen, whose childhood exposure to turn-of-the-’80s NYC counterculture legends actually sent him on an impressive path of self-worth, one that eventually found him rubbing elbows with some of those same greats. Beginning with his 2007 debut Lullaby School, Kris Gruen has been bolstering his delicate brand of Americana and indie folk. Gruen’s momentum really took off between 2018’s Coast & Refuge and 2021’s Welcome Farewell; he’s since had the pleasure of touring internationally alongside KUTX favorites Chuck Prophet and Alejandro Escovedo. Now, Gruen is ushering in June with his sixth full-length In Bloom. Sure the LP features a cover of The Clash classic “Bankrobber” – a tasteful tie-in with Gruen’s star-charmed childhood, but the record also blossoms with some of his finest songwriting work to date. And ahead of In Bloom‘s release next Friday, Kris Gruen’s given us one more early look at what to expect; harvesting what started as a basic sketch penned by Mascott/Juicy frontwoman Kendall Jane Meade one idyllic LA afternoon, “Heaven On A Car Ride“ just pulled up. Along with its music video, “Heaven On A Car Ride” is an indie folk embrace like a sonic seatbelt, a soothing hug of harmony and soft acoustic strumming. Either way, shotgun seat’s all yours.

Polymaths aren’t inherently better at their preferred forms of media…but honestly, when you start to think of modern multi-disciplinary creatives like Brandy, Donald Glover or Lucy Liu…it certainly seems like splitting interest into multiple fields can have a big payoff.So let’s talk about Pennsylvania’s Liz Lehman. On top of being an accomplished queer activist and visual artist, Lehman lathes those passions and more together with their truly intriguing synth pop project The Scary Jokes. Less of an abrupt punch line and more of an ongoing engagement that haunts far beyond the final chord, The Scary Jokes enjoyed an auspicious three-record streak between 2014’s Bad At Math and 2019’s Burn Pygmalion!!!. As with the rest of the world, things slowed down when COVID began dominating headlines in 2020, but aside from their 2021 remix of 2016’s April Fools, The Scary Jokes are about to return with their first post-lockdown offering.Championing vintage synth tones and an abundance of analog originality, Retinal Bloom is ten tracks of deep-eared dilations. Faithful to the full-length’s title, these tunes will expand your view of what synth pop really is, with sonic combos that sound like classic video game soundtracks were able to authentically encode Lehman’s supra-human voice, plus a bit of delightfully drab German New Wave. Retinal Bloom drops tomorrow and The Scary Jokes graciously let us open this Pandora’s Box of bizarrely-catchy confessions with its penultimate track “Demons of Accident”. Between its purposeful vibrato-pervading timbres and deliberate reverb-drenched vocals, “Demons of Accident” takes us to an underwater level from which we don’t want to surface.

One of the biggest obstacles to a longstanding passion project is that when you get sidelined by the harsh realities of life, sometimes it’s too tough to keep creating. And amidst skyrocketing housing costs coupled with the deficit of live opportunities in the immediate aftermath of COVID, actively gigging with a band while living within Austin’s city limits simply isn’t the way it was ten years ago.

That brings us to Bourgeois Mystics, an art-funk hip-hop collective who first got together in 2014. Amplified by each individual opulent alter ego, this eclectic sextet has spent the past decade wowing crowds with high-energy, theatrical performances and upbeat originals that steer way clear of taking themselves seriously. Yet in 2023, splitting the bill six ways with some members already residing in satellite cities, the actuality of exorbitant rent prices and getting the gang together in one room is nowhere near as feasible as it used to be.

As such, Bourgeois Mystics have made the tough decision to go on indefinite hiatus. But as an Austin staple with as lively as theirs, of course they’re going out with a bang. This weekend Bourgeois Mystics release their second (and for now, final) full-length Gentrification of Planet Earth. While Gentrification finds the semi-fictional figures on 2017’s Eureka! now transformed into hideous Kafka-esque monsters and cartoonish song titles replaced with thematic, feature-laden fireballs, the zany energy that makes Bourgeois Mystics so great is well intact. The LP drops on Friday and Bourgeois Mystics commemorates the end of this era with a farewell show 9PM that same evening at The Parish with openers Lena Luca and Cilantro Boombox.

So while you plan out your pre-game for Gentrification of Planet Earth, dig into the album’s title track, one that sounds like Technotronic, !!!, and The B-52’s split a sack of high-grade salvia, downed some disco biscuits, and giggled their way into this fine-tuned piece of “funk-n-gunk” greatness. True to its name, “Gentrification” districts this three-and-a-half minute dance mania off into clearly defined individual sections for the funkiest piece of gerrymandering you’ll hear this year.

Whether or not it’s a frequency bias we picked up within the past few weeks, we’ve been loving this recent resurgence of retro soul. And for those who’ve been following that particular trend, you probably already know that Monophonics frontman Kelly Finnigan is a leading voice in this genre renaissance. Today, however, we’re not talking about Kelly’s pipes. Instead we’re letting Finnigan’s production skills shine alongside some fellow vintage soul savants.

Enter Reno four-piece The Sextones. What began as a mutual infatuation over ’60s-’70s soul and a clever fetishization of a family surname has, since the release of The Sextones’ 2017 debut Moonlight Vision, excelled exponentially. And while founding guitarist-vocalist Mark Sexton and bassist Alexander Korostinsky also moonlight an intrinsically-cinematic style through Whatitdo Archive Group, The Sextones instead adhere to a sextant of truly classic R&B-soul songwriting. In doing so The Sextones have earned the professional respect of Finnigan, and subsequently, the caress of his keen ear for their upcoming sophomore full-length.

That LP Love Can’t Be Borrowed drops September 29th, and each lead single (now half the album’s ten tracks) eases us closer to settling the debt and resetting a heritage for the next generations of retro-soul curators. Between the interpersonal simplicity of its title, call-and-response, unison-to-harmony vocal structure, razor sharp rhythm section, vibrant brass and beguiling ivory chords, “Without You” sounds just like an analog-tracked Stax standout or a Motown mainstay remastered for the modern era.

The power of lyrical impact can be timeless, but as great as words over melody can be, there’s a whole different appeal to sans-lyrical explorations. For example, when added onto styles like funk or soul, the genre modifier “cinematic” usually tips listeners off to a strictly instrumental experience, where the lack of lyrics not only allows extra space for meditation, but also opens up your imagination to fill in the blanks – be it with visuals, Rod Serling-esque internal monologue, or just abstract emotional reactions to exotic sounds.

A top notch purveyor of such is Austin’s Tina Piranha, whose eight-player appetite chomps out the rarest bits of ’60s soundtracks, Turkish psychedelia, Ethiopian jazz and beyond into accessible, bite-sized soul tracks. Last year Tina Piranha teamed up with Grammy winner Beto Martinez to record and mix the octet’s debut EP Komissar 13, the ultimate horn-heavy score for any wannabe jet-setting G Men with too many jazz cigarettes on hand. This year, in an effort to change up the sonic scenery, Tina Piranha’s joined forces with Quiet Company’s Matt Parmenter, who’s already ushered in four new singles within the past five months.

With that rapid of output, Tina Piranha’s definitely far from having their fill for 2023, so keep your ears peeled on your preferred streaming platform. ‘Til next month’s meal, go ahead and take “A Budding Interest in Treason”. Just don’t let your boss catch you working on your midcentury espionage spec script.

When a budding band is high off their own early momentum…at least not in an overt back-patting way or one in which they take themselves way too seriously…the grinning can get contagious. Take for example Austin three-piece Space Trayn, whose nuanced brand of ’70s-inspired funk-jazz-rock stations itself somewhere between Todd Rundgren and Steely Dan. Chiefly conducted by singer-guitarist Jerome Vivino, with Justin Murawski and Nané veteran Jordan Espinoza coupling behind, Space Trayn’s debut 2021 EP Not So Fast rode the rails of classic soul and soft yacht rock with four cars of genre bending tones.

On Space Trayn’s sophomore follow-up We Have Lyftoff (produced and mixed by Austin treasure Chris “Frenchie” Smith), the trio beams full steam ahead at an even higher octane; these five jet-fueled originals cross tracks of ’90s-alternative, psychedelia-drenched jams, turn of the millennium indie rock and even some Parliament-adjacent prog-disco, complete with some mind blowing solos just before the record grinds to a halt. We Have Lyftoff dropped at the tail end of April, but if you’re looking for a good time this evening, even after blasting the new Space Trayn at volume 11, you’re in luck. Space Trayn takes the stage at 10PM tonight at The 13th Floor, preceded by Elijah Delgado and followed by Upper Level Lows at 11PM and Polarizado at midnight. So in the spirit of these fun-lovin’ buds, come as you are and settle in for a great time. But if you wanna be extra, let Space Trayn doll you up before you drop out with the classic psych rock crimson of “Red Lipstick”.

As temps heat up across Texas, a sun-soaked lethargy is sure to overshadow any idealized productivity. And it seems like a lot of acts have recently been seizing the day by releasing their roadmaps for the rest of the year. So let’s go ahead and add a danceable data point to our early album detection system. It’s an open house from Austin alt-pop duo Glass Mansions, whose banging electronic beats and ardent vocals (courtesy of frontwoman Jayna Doyle) provide a clean contrast to the pair’s smoky, high octane live performances. The pair’s transparent passion balances out beautifully with their opaque take on opulent electro-pop, and visually, their synesthetic aesthetic is a glistening finish. But back to planning things out in advance…we’ve gotta give credit to Glass Mansions for their forethought in releasing a transitory piece that bridges the gap between last year’s “Standing O” and their upcoming 2023 EP. A gorgeous cacophony of color haunted by Doyle’s tortured, ghostly apparition, the music video for “Nearsighted” is definitely the best way to absorb Glass Mansions’ latest gift. Strictly on the sonic front, the industrially processed sub bass, reverb-drowned snaps, and sinister synth arpeggiator provide the perfect bed for Doyle to belt the hell out vocally.

Now that COVID-19’s no longer deemed a public health emergency, the fog of the past three years has begun to dissipate, and memories of the “before times” don’t seem so distant now. Like, remember when KUTX named Austin duo Flora & Fawna as our September 2019 Artist of the Month? We made a real airwave darling out of the pair’s debut single “Slow Burn” throughout the fall, but by the time Flora & Fawna was gearing up for their first official SXSW appearance, well, a little global pandemic stole their thunder. In the spirit of their handle, Flora & Fawna kept their creative ecosystem thriving by focusing efforts on a sophomore follow-up to their eponymous debut EP. That essence of growth despite a harsh environment couldn’t have been fostered as well as it has without the help of multi-instrumentalist-producer Misha Hercules, who’s worked with everyone from Kendrick Lamar and Jungle to Maggie Rogers and Steve Lacy. An ongoing work in progress under the veil of quarantine, Flora & Fawna balanced out their studio time with some impressive appearances – hitting some hometown milestones with both ACL and SXSW last year, not to mention supporting slots alongside Son Little, Thievery Corporation’s David Garza, and even Harry Styles. Well, finally, after all on-stage and in-studio flourishing, Flora & Fawna’s next EP is set to see the light of day in 2023. In light of its Halloween-evoking title, the record’s third lead single “Costume Party” just touched down with care-free summer-luvin’ goodness. It encapsulates taboos you only witness at such masquerades, like the one-of-a-kind kismet of catching Dracula swapping spit with Wonder Woman or a Squid Game security guard starting a drunken spat with Ted Lasso. Specifically, “Costume Party” relives a forbidden kiss with a past fling, and in doing so channels the flirty dirtiness of Charli XCX or Carly Rae Jepsen. So whether you use it to make amends with your own missteps, or just want something you can both blast with the top down and dance ’til your pores are drenched, “Costume Party” is ready for your RSVP.

With a keen ear and an ability to recognize and synthesize defining patterns, musicians can realistically recreate any style with a bit of fine-tuning, even if they’re across the globe from their sonic scene of choice. But to escalate regional emulation into innovation without tipping listeners off to your nationality? That takes a special breed.

So naturally, as a global hub for chart-topping pop, Sweden harbors plenty of creators that are well-versed in appetizing multicultural recipes. And while the boldest outputs (at least here in the states) can be traced to Max Martin, ABBA, Ace of Base, Yung Lean, Pete Björn and John, or the late great Avicii, we can’t overlook an extra tempting contemporary piece of Scandinavian taciturnity.

Harnessing a handle that perfectly channels their mysterious, secret-keeping character, Among Lynx and their style of North American roots rock sound like the perfect surrogate score for True Detective. The core duo of vocalist-guitarist-percussionist Eva-Mi Ringqvist and singer-harmonicist Elin Öberg first broke out in 2015 with Among Lynx’s eponymous debut EP and completed their evolution into a fully matured quintet with 2017’s Revolution and 2019’s Movement.

In a moment of kismet, last week I caught Ringvist and Öberg performing at Hole in the Wall ripping stripped-down renditions from the near-dozen set of dreary, desert-friendly originals off Among Lynx’s third full-length Once In A Blue Moon, which came out late February. Hole in the Wall proved to be an ideal environment for Among Lynx’s dusty, low-light drip; they were like a pair of semi-tamed hellcats effortlessly displaying their discipline for us Lone Star-fiending losers. All self deprecation aside, each phase of Blue Moon performed on the front stage really pounced on the Hole and Among Lynx’s proven cinematic potential. So if you’d like to turn your favorite dive bar into an awesomely melancholic acid Western, or just love Among Lynx’s mythically masterful take on America’s rustic roots, perhaps us Austinites can howl loud enough for the whole five-piece to return sometime after their ongoing tour back in Scandinavia. In the mean time, toss the telescope out and strap on the headphones for one of Blue Moon‘s brilliantly bleakest illuminations, “Lola Luna”.

Even though its initial ubiquity arrived in the late ’70s/early ’80s, synth-driven compositions, regardless of which decade they came from, continue to sound intrinsically futuristic. I mean down to the digital DNA underneath the instrument’s nuts and bolts, the synthesizer has always embodied a sci-fi aesthetic. Of course, nearly a half century down the line, even with astounding breakthroughs in MIDI technology, there’s a certain retro quality to pushing the synth front and center of arrangements, regardless of genre. As such, Austin’s synth scene is like a perpetual time machine, one that sends listeners back to the ’80s glory days of synth pop before hurdling them into the distant unknown. Within that crowd, we’re proud to have Mass Minor call our town home. Beginning with their 2020 debut LP Become Each Other, this trio’s top-graded a sense of timelessness through synth-pop, synth-wave, and electronic rock. They spent much of last year captivating crowds, including appearances at SXSW and supporting slots alongside our July 2022 Artist of the Month Urban Heat and Depeche Mode tribute project Strangelove. But in 2023, considering their rise amongst “uncertain times”, Mass Minor is set to beckon in the post-public health emergency era of COVID with a new piece of temporal exploration. For their upcoming sophomore full-length Mass Minor teamed up with Robert Plant/David Bowie producer Tim Palmer, with a release date set for later this year. Today Mass Minor emerges from their neon-bathed portal with the record’s lead single and their first studio since the turn of the decade. Kicking off with a Tron-ready arpeggiator, “Worthy” wheelies right past the competition with turbulent subdivisions, heroic vocals, and a whirlwind of a hook, which at just over three minutes, makes it an ideal choice for your next montage sequence, be it working out, working through personal stuff, or straight up saving the world. Is it f-ing not enough? Hell no. It’s beyond “Worthy”.

When it comes to songs about holidays (at least here in the U.S.), the most popular is of course Christmas, followed by Halloween, and perhaps…St. Patrick’s Day coming in at third? Either way, it’s a rarity to hear a “holiday” song that doesn’t lean into the Hallmark hokeyness.

But if there’s one thing that Wilson Marks does on any day of the calendar, it’s subvert expectations. On top of his life as an enthusiastic music educator and prolific sideman, this Austin singer-pianist-guitarist brought us two dozen genre-bending tunes through his first full-lengths, 2015’s What Was Made for Weathering and 2018’s Peregrine. By the time Wilson’s third dozen arrived in October 2020 with True Beauty Is in the Random, he’d established his own set of hallmarks: slick witticisms and lighthearted reflections on the flaws that unite us, instrumentation that’s carefully modified to capture a unique timbre, and an accessible style of pop that’s informed by folk and Crescent City jazz.

Marks and his backing band plan on releasing yet another full-length closer to the turn of Winter, padding out the inter-seasons with a more stripped-down EP. So with what may be your final reminder for Mother’s Day before the weekend, Wilson Marks shares one of his slinkiest singles to date. Rooted as always in true storytelling that doesn’t skimp on emotion, the simplicity and sincerity of “Mother’s Day” is shoe-in to mom’s heart, especially if she’s a fan of Graceland. And if you really want to wow her with a belated Mother’s Day date, consider taking her out to see Wilson Marks Trio live next Wednesday at the Elephant Room.

Compared with the political climate of our neighbors, Central Texas, and in particular, Austin, may seem like kind of a sect within the Lone Star State. And that’s not just a matter of being the “blueberry in the tomato soup”. It’s a reflection of our regional music styles as well. To an outsider, our ability to keep stately subgenres like Outlaw Country, Western Swing, and – right down to its name – Tex Mex – relatively contatined within our borders, kind of seems a little clique-y. That’s where multi-instrumentalist Felix Bergman comes in. See, before moving here from Oakland, Bergman bolstered his musical journey playing everything from guitar to keys and even trumpet across a ton of sounds – Latin jazz, glam rock, Blues, and hardcore punk to name a few. So after making his eastward migration, he quickly picked up on Texas’ location-tailored tastes, and wanted in immediately. With his project Polarizado, Bergman indoctrinates listeners into what he calls “Cult Americana” – solely outing himself as a non-native through earnest yet lighthearted observations only recognizable by “outsiders”. Later this year Polarizado follows up their 2018 eponymous EP with Welcome Back… due out August 3rd. Based on the record’s latest single, we’re looking forward to an indie-swamp-rock take on some of our not-so-treasured Texas customs, such TABC’s Bible belt tutelage on the short and sweet “Twin Liquor On Sunday”. Catch Polarizado ’round midnight next Friday at The 13th Floor alongside openers Elijah Delgado, Space Trayn, and Upper Level Lows, and fill a glass with your favorite beverage with this tune that sounds like a cocktail between CCR and Nick Waterhouse, albeit with some extra vocal grit.

As much as us at KUTX sing the praises of native Austinites, we’d never dream of detracting from their adjoining contemporaries who are essentially a stone’s throw outside our city limits. Take for example Austin born-and-raised singer Paige Hill, who’s currently headquartered in Dallas. As part of her steady ascent to statewide stardom, Paige partakes in a regular routine of entertaining her fellow Dallasites, characterized by all kinds of Central Texas ridges – Americana, country, blues, and soul.

Weekends off are largely a thing of the past for Paige; when Hill’s not crushing it with her outfit The Kitchen Section, she’s supporting Evan Boyer & The Remedy or contributing her pipes for more pious purposes at her neighborhood church. In keeping up with her fervently feminine counterparts, Paige Hill’s lyrical prominence lies in relating personal experiences of heartache, infatuation, brood pride, and comeback character arcs. And thankfully, alongside her willingness to offer up services as a vocal accompanist or co-writer for hire, Hill’s original works inspire listeners to dance through the damage, laugh through the tears, or cry out frustration when stuck in a rut.

That gendered sense of strength surrounds Paige Hill’s upcoming debut EP Good Woman, a five-song summit that embodies some of the most resilient female characteristics. This handful of tracks tackles ’70s-style country and classic soul on top of contemporary rock and blues for an Americana-anchored odyssey of well-intentioned, bricks-bouncing-off-bones toughness. So before Good Woman arrives, take a page out of Hill’s book by overlooking life’s more paltry remarks with the the one tune on the record not entirely penned by Paige herself. A collaboration between co-writer Guillermo Murillo and horn arranger Preston Lewis, the optimistic soul of “Sticks and Stones” (complete with sax and trumpet stabs, adroit organ and keyboard work, plus Paige’s powerhouse vocals atop it all) soars far above expectations for a newcomer like Paige within a succinct three-minute runtime.

As progressive as some parts of the US purport to be, it can be insanely easy to not fit within the cog-work of traditional Western values. And without access to proper support, that absence of belonging can tragically lead some “outcasts” to take drastic measures – destruction towards themselves or others. It’s a human condition, plain and simple. But the ability to recognize that placeless-ness and understand its origins (often by gesturing broadly at our increasingly complicated society) before allocating that uncertainty into a nuanced piece of art that perhaps makes others feel more accepted? That’s divine.

Dating back to its origins in the late-’70s days of Studio 54 disco domination, electronic music has consistently provided a safe haven for “alternative lifestyles”. Even if the performers themselves aren’t explicitly part of the counterculture, the innate desire to dance our troubles away on a welcoming dance floor has created a shared identity for lovers of all things four-to-the-floor. That about brings us to Moorhead, Minnesota songwriter Nina Grollman, better known by her stage name Softee.

When Softee relocated to Brooklyn just under a decade ago, her unapologetic queerness and undyingly creative personality began to make a lot more sense. Already primed to be a pop star, Softee made her studio debut with her August 2019 EP Slow Melt, and impressively kept the momentum with another batch of ten infectious tunes via Keep On the following year. Softee’s racked up some admirable streaming numbers since then, but she sure as hell hasn’t lost sight of her music’s empathetic potential for anyone losing sleep over rampant emotions.

With that, Softee is set to reemerge anew and stronger than ever with her sophomore full-length Natural. As seen in the macabre, medieval imagery of the various single artwork, Softee is picking up where Beyoncé’s Renaissance left off by axing regressive representation and re-establishing the dance floor as a harmless melting pot of all human behavior. In teaming up with Berlin’s Sweetbbyj, Natural is enhanced by an extra Eurodance aesthetic over which Softee goes hard. It’s like a mixtape of all the best electronic styles swirled together by Softee’s virtuosic vocal performance and sanguine synth work. Hear for yourself on Natural‘s latest offering “U + Me (WDYT)”, whose “Apache”-esque breakbeat, instant classic of a hook, and wah-drenched funk rhythm guitar all make the bed for Softee to uphold the prowess of pre-millenium electro-pop-R&B queens like Robyn or Janet Jackson. So…what do you think?

Even though it’s been five years since Charles Bradley left us, the sensation’s parting message still stands strong: that it’s never too late to break out and follow your dreams. Bradley’s experience is plenty inspiring on its own, but imagine having a bona fide genre legend tell you they remind you of themselves in their midcentury heyday.

That’s exactly what happened when church-taught, wedding-refined singer Bobby Harden was recruited into The Blues Brothers Band a little over a decade back. Harden’s passionate pipes quickly earned endorsements from Blues Brothers co-founders Steve Cropper, Lou Marini, Matt Murphy, and most notably – touring frontman and Stax superstar Eddie Floyd. These auspicious affirmations eventually enticed Harden to form his own outfit – Soul Purpose – a formative but relatively short-lived endeavor that passed on right around the same time that Charles Bradley did.

That’s not to say Harden’s spark died alongside Bradley; instead, with the help of veteran trumpeter/producer Billy Aukstik, Bradley’s backing group reformed behind Bobby Harden as The Soulful Saints. Between the band’s canonized handle and the passing of torches from Floyd and Bradley, the spiritual weight within Bobby Harden’s most recent chapter can’t be overstated. But rather than revert back to his developmental gospel days, Bobby Harden & The Soulful Saints are revitalizing the best of retro-soul.

This Friday Bobby Harden & The Soulful Saints release their debut full-length Bridge of Love, ten tracks that pave a soul expressway between urbane ballads, elegant ’70s-style pop, rudimentary R&B, and more. These originals would’ve been incredible had they been performed by Harden alone, but the Soulful Saints really bless this collection with seductive strings, heavy horns, buoyant backup vocals, and a bit of Latin-tinged rhythms to top it all off. Hear for yourself on Bridge of Love‘s latest lead single “One Tribe”, which channels the progressive psych-soul arrangements of early-mid-’70s Curtis Mayfield and The Temptations – almost like an equal-and-opposite companion piece to both “Freddie’s Dead” and “Ball of Confusion” – while retaining Harden’s idiosyncratic howl. From its initial snare taps straight to its final exclamation mark of a horn hit, we’re positive you’ll find more than “One Tribe” who’ll love this record.

Us at KUTX have never felt a need to shy away from our unabashed love of multi-national-inspired psych; a typical playlist of ours will usually pepper in some Adrian Quesada, Khruangbin, or Golden Dawn Arkestra, so today we’ve got great news for anyone with similar tastes.

It comes on behalf of Reno three-piece Whatitdo Archive Group, who shared their debut full-length The Black Stone Affair in April 2021. The tracks on The Black Stone Affair (like “Ethiopian Airlines”, “Last Train to Budapest”, and “Italian Love Triangle”) were fairly blunt about their international multiculturalism, almost like a spiritual successor to Duke Ellington’s The Far East Suite. Ultimately it was an outstanding first introduction to the vintage-soundtrack-ready jazz-adjacent instrumentals of this desert-dwelling trio, but with the release of their sophomore follow-up Palace Of A Thousand Sounds this morning, we can assure you that Whatitdo’s ascended into ciné-psych royalty.

Down to its song titles and mystifying artwork, the beautifully-bizarre aesthetic behind Palace Of A Thousand Sounds picks where Martin Denny’s mid-century exotica left off. This thirteen-tune sequence ditches specific locations in favor of abstract, otherworldly scenes, a choice that complements Whatitdo Archive Group’s stronger emphasis on psychedelia this time around. Of course, for the authentic old-school experience, you’d better grab one of the limited-supply vinyls for your collection while they still last. But if you’re stuck in work mode and can’t take the full forty-three-minute tour right now, you can still bask in the psychoactive galactic glory of Palace‘s second lead single, “Astral-Desia”. Like thick incense smoke obscuring a telescope’s lens “Astral-Desia”‘s regal groove offers a Bohemian soundscape that’s ideal for both narrative voiceover and psychotropic meditations, as does its dozen other Palace counterparts.

For as many people (especially bombastic media personalities) who’ve made a monkey of themselves in the COVID climate, we’d like to think that just as many, if not more, have done a lot of growing up instead. In the past three years we’ve seen a ton of such success stories, and today we’re commending the hurdle-topping turnaround of Josh Blair.

Even before the start of the pandemic, this New Hampshire singer-guitarist had already lost a friend to substance abuse and endured strains in his romantic relationship. When Blair began traveling the nation in a short bus at the height of lockdown conditions, he had plenty of time to reflect on his musical path leading up to this period of dejection; he’d been a punk drummer as a juvenile before graduating into bassist and guitarist for a hip-hop/psych/rockabilly outfit. But in this newfound, fragile mindset, Blair didn’t quite resonate with the overtly downtrodden discourse of many punk lyrics nor the slapdash style-over-substance approach of his subsequent cross-genre project. Instead Josh Blair turned to the matured wisdom of blue buckaroos like Townes Van Zandt and Hank Williams, and in doing so laid the groundwork for Modern Fools.

Rather than split the difference by going straight to cowpunk or psychobilly, Modern Fools embraces the timelessness of classic crybaby country as Blair’s first foray into bandleading and songwriting. Blair recruited longtime buds Justin Gregory and Jon Braught to record Modern Fools’ 2020 debut Seer – albeit completely separate due to COVID restrictions – and tomorrow, with the addition of Ian Galipeau, Modern Fools unfurls their formalization as a four-piece.

The quartet tracked their magnificent sophomore album Strange Offering together in Blair’s home studio, and that sense of unity really ratchets up the caliber of these forlorn originals. These ten gloomy cosmic country tunes arrive bright and early tomorrow, so be sure to set some time aside this weekend to appreciate Strange Offering in full. And if you want to open up the contemporary-tinged, vintage-inspired waterworks early, “Wasting” is where you wanna be. Like admiring the slow slip of sunlight into a distant horizon, “Wasting”‘s languid trot, softly-howled harmonies, stoic lyrics, sanguine song structure, and abrupt heartbreak of a final chord – all at just over five minutes – is by no means a misuse of your time.

With our ever-expanding skyline, congested traffic, and high urban density, living within Austin’s city limits can almost trick us into forgetting we’re in Texas. But a short drive out can quickly remind us of our immediate rustic surroundings – hill country, deserts, forests, lakes, caves, and more. So even in big metropolitan hubs like ours, the vastness and variety of the Lone Star State unsurprisingly inspires an abundance of nature-loving folk, cosmic Americana, and southern rock acts.

A quick glance at Austin outfit Altamaesa’s discography – The Long Ride Home (2016) and Idol Frontier (2019) – instantly tips you off to that specific sense of Southern wanderlust and bucolic storytelling. And maybe it’s that same spirit of adventure, coupled with his induction into Project ATX6’s Season Six lineup, that’s led fronting guitarist-vocalist Evan Charles to temporarily excuse himself from his chair at Altamesa’s high table and explore new opportunities as a solo artist.

In this endeavor, Evan Charles emerges as a reinvigorated raconteur, eager to lean into the timeless power of natural narratives with his upcoming debut album Between Two Worlds. Featuring titles like “Ask the Dust”, “Heavy Rains Back Home”, and “Horizon Line”, Between Two Worlds brings twelve trail tunes, countryside ballads, idyllic interludes, and miscellaneous ruminations into Mr. Pink Records’ Bastrop recording studio, with the full polished collection arriving later this summer. Evan Charles celebrates early with two local performances; a single release show 10PM this Friday at Hole in the Wall and again 8:30PM this Saturday at Continental Club for the Mr. Pink Showcase. If you can’t saddle up to either of those shows, open up the throttle with Evan on BTW‘s latest lead single, the briskly-whisked ranch-ready Americana yarn “Low Road Runnin'”. At just over three minutes, this fast-travelin’ track is a must-play for all types of settings: in your dust-rustlin’ truck, underneath those big and bright Texas stars, or just at home brewing your favorite morning roast.

Pop music is chock full of people flexing. Sure, it goes all the way back to the days of vaudeville, but especially in the 21st century, Billboard chart-toppers can’t seem to stop talking about how hot, rich, or tough they are. Such bold boasts are appealing to emulate amidst teenage angst, but as music lovers mature, they’ll realize that lyrical brags aren’t as impactful as they may seem at first, at least compared to forming a legitimate connection between performer and listener. That’s where Austin multi-instrumentalist Danny Golden comes in. In the near-ten years since he wrapped up his Bach-meets-bluegrass college thesis, Danny’s learned that the golden ticket to truly unique impressions is overlooking the frivolity of possessions and appearance and diving straight into the universal well of emotions. In that spirit, Danny Golden’s upcoming full-length Being There isn’t just a platform to work with John Mayer/Leon Bridges/Paul Cauthen producer Electrophunck or jam with contributors from Texas Gentlemen, Sir Woman, and Jon Batiste’s band; it’s a potent nine-tune exploration of human fragility created through a shared sense of time and space. True to its title, Being There‘s reflections on staying in the moment, of not looking too far back or forwards, lends itself to the LP’s sonic eclecticism, that while rooted in indie rock, features some out-there flavors that reflect the nuances of our feelings. Shortly after Being There drops on Friday, Danny Golden is set to spend the rest of the month on a national tour alongside KUTX favorite Matthew Logan Vasquez, where he’ll no doubt forge plenty of fervent bonds with listeners across the country. So like a sonic trust fall, step into your own personal Danny Golden therapy session with a four-minute testament to the magic of inherent human relation, “22 Tango”.

In today’s inclusive landscape of listener tastes, even the tiniest traces of crossover can lead to big impact craters later on. But for that to work, an artist had best select the strongest elements from a finite geography of genres rather than overpopulate their originals with way too many styles. That “quality over quantity” formula’s been followed by far too many to list out here, but we can say for sure that the recent roster includes Last Planet. It all started in 2018 when two Guitar Center co-workers, Cort Young and Albero Berul, broke out of the showroom and began bridging gaps across continents of genre and decade. Right around the time that Last Planet released their debut EP Petrichor in 2021, this Oakland outfit had evolved into a seasoned sextet, whose new emphasis on steamy female vocals finally codified their genre-melting core underneath a defined crust of soul/R&B-meets-modern rock. Last Planet’s undying dedication to Bayside-pleasing grooves has already given us two studio singles in 2023, last month’s “Whiskey Breath“, and March’s “Picture of Us“. But as the seasons change, so does the climate of Last Planet’s latest single. “Seaglass” instantly stands out against its two harder-rocking predecessors by taking a breezy neo-psych-soul approach to this hazy, four-minute, naturally-polished seduction. It’s like what Pink Floyd would’ve sounded like if they’d decided to record “Great Gig in the Sky” with Jill Scott instead, and at the turn of the millennium. Needless to say, if you’re not a stone’s throw away from a beach like Last Planet, “Seaglass” will instantly transport you to the stoned, care-free aesthetic of an oceanside outing, be it romantic or recreational.

When soon-to-be-newlyweds exchange vows, they’re typically talking in terms of for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, or in sickness and in health. But for more creatively-charged couples it goes without saying that there’s also a dedication to high-quality collaboration, through thick and thin.

Take for instance native Austinites Mac and B McNally, who’ve been inseparable since the mid-’90s. After nearly three decades together and countless individual hours performing with other groups, these unapologetic lovebirds have recently formalized their undying bond with a new musical project, Venus Loves Mars. So far they’ve maintained that exceptional standard of quality likely unspoken during their marital exchanges; in 2021 they recorded their first-ever single “The Score” with Chris “Frenchie” Smith at The Bubble, and this year they’ve teamed up with Grammy winner Beto Martinez at Leche House.

Martinez’ idiosyncratic contributions to Grupo Fantasma and Caramelo Haze lends a subtly cinematic Latin-psych flair to the power couple’s still-evolving classic-soul-meets-garage-rock style, which we’ll hopefully hear more of on VLM’s upcoming debut seven-song EP. #VLM4EVER is set for release this July, a new music video is in the works, and ahead of a live appearance tomorrow afternoon at No Filter Fest, Venus Loves Mars begs an important question, whose implied answer is best left unsaid in lieu of repeat listens, “Is It Time?”

When he founded Austin retro-R&B-soul septet Soul Track Mind in 2008, there’s no way fronting singer Donovan Keith could predict how much his favorite genre would grow over the next fifteen years. In that decade and a half, the efforts of Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Charles Bradley, Mayer Hawthorne, and these Texas trendsetters evolved into an international movement, the mainstream resurgence of classic (or, depending on who you’re talking to, “original”) ’60s-and-’70s-style R&B-soul. To suddenly have an abundance of pertinent material after accepting the inherently temporal and finite limits of digging through crates of oldies was nothing short of exhilarating.

Well in 2016, the same year that Sharon Jones passed away, Soul Track Mind’s rolled out their final release to date, the Generations EP. Reluctant to disembark from the vintage R&B-soul bandwagon as such a seasoned singer, Donovan Keith made his solo debut with the standalone “Last Chance For Love” in the summer of 2019. Marking a whole year since he unfurled his first full-length, Hot off the Wire, today Keith commemorates the occasion with a real stud of a single.

Impressively penned in absence of any instrumental accompaniment, Donovan Keith’s debonair vocal delivery steals the whole arrangement on “Heartbreak Soliloquy”, even paired against Emily Keeley. By tossing Americana, pop, and folk into the usual heritage mix, this soft, sunny charmer is ideal for an afternoon affair. So why not catch Donovan Keith 5:30PM this Friday at Central Market North Lamar or 2PM this Sunday and each Sunday in May at Banger’s?

When art rock first emerged against the counterculture explosion of the late ’60s, its ability to slyly insert societal and political remarks into avant-garde arrangements and multi-sensory experiences (think Warhol’s relationship with The Velvet Underground) was a real piece of modern renaissance. As the ’70s transitioned into the ’80s, art rock’s prime offspring (punk rock and new wave) began to shed the subtle nuance of prior decades in favor of more blatant, less open-to-interpretation lyricism, albeit with a wider distribution network for the multi-media aspect, thanks to MTV. Now, thirty years post-Cold War, in an era where creative dissenters can directly confront public figures by tagging them on Twitter or re-appropriating their image on TikTok for the whole world to see, such explicit callouts have become the status quo in art rock.

And unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that COVID-19’s created a lot of discourse worth responding to. Among the many supplying contemporary commentary is Austin songwriter Thom Kurtz, who, since 2016, has contributed his fair share of off-kilter cross-genre observations with his project Friends To The End. Although Friend To The End’s averaged at about two singles per year, we haven’t heard from Kurtz since last summer’s “ROBOT ODDiTY”.

Today Friends To The End tosses us back into the satirical trenches with “Chinese Underground”. When you watch its blunt lyrics flash over the cartoonishly-hyperbolic imagery of its music video, “Chinese Underground” seems like a straightforward mockery of Mao Zedong on a surface level. But try digging into “Chinese Underground” by recognizing the subtext of its oriental orchestration (akin to the implementation of African sounds underneath David Byrne’s blight-biting lyrics on Remain in Light) as a stylistic choice rather than a reinforcement of potentially harmful sonic stereotypes. Once you do, you’ll appreciate this infectious ’80s-style oddball tune through a whole new lens – as a reflection on the invincibility of an idea.

As of this publication, there’s a decent chance of severe thunderstorms in today’s forecast. But if you’re the type that doesn’t mind braving the elements (or at least a chance of getting rinsed in a car-to-front-door sprint) to support your local music scene, 1) you’re a trooper that deserves commendation and 2) we’ve got one hell of a recommendation.

It comes on behalf of Austin’s Tearjerk, a passion project of guitarist-vocalist-songwriter Vanessa Jollay rooted in inconsolable indie-folk-rock and distraught dream-pop. That’s not to say that Tearjerk is a practice in sadness just for sad’s sake. Instead it’s an expression of emotional weight and hard conversations alongside the turmoil and transformations that invariably follow.

This morning Tearjerk released their six-song debut EP Face to Face, recorded by David Dalton at Driftwork Sound and featuring Jeremy Brandilek on pedal steel, Carissa Giard on drums, and Jake Stuart on bass. This melancholy collage begs to be heard all the way from top to bottom, in-person, on-streaming, and definitely on-cassette. So while the sky is crying, why not enjoy one of two back-to-back Face to Face album release shows? The first is at 4PM for an in-store at End of an Ear Records, followed by Tearjerk’s final April residency appearance 10PM this evening at Hotel Vegas with openers Specific Thing and Harry & Emmy. So if you could benefit from some solidarity on top of great music in the midst of the rainy day blues, shake off the sulk and let Tearjerk “Show You” a good time.

Prior to my career with KUTX, my main musical contributions were on trumpet as part of fifteen-piece’s hefty horn section. And speaking from personal experience, it’s incredibly liberating to spend time outside of a big group and redirect some focus towards solo songwriting. So based on his time playing bass with Minneapolis eleven-piece Black Market Brass, I’m sure that multi-instrumentalist/producer Charlie Bruber is having a ball breaking out and hopping behind the mic, front-and-center for the first time. This endeavor’s inception came when Bruber stumbled across the remarkably-rare EMS Polysynthi and picked up where Pink Floyd, Gong, and Tangerine Dream left off more than half a century ago. A bit before the start of the pandemic, Bruber holed up in his home studio and invited an assortment of friends and acquaintances to tinker around with the Polysynthi’s vast idiosyncratic potential. Next Tuesday the fruits of Charlie Bruber’s labor finally touch down with Finding the Muse. At sixteen tunes, Finding the Muse is a sprawling amalgamation of unfettered feelings, earworm melodies, and full-bodied arrangements that are a testament to unrushed, collaborative greatness. And today Charlie Bruber burst out with another infectiously-mellifluous offering ahead of Finding the Muse. Appearing at the LP’s halfway mark, “Bubble” confidently steers clear of over-saturated pop formulas with damp drumscapes, tranquil tempo shifts, and softly-sung phrases that sound like the vocal chords of Chaz Bundick, Roger Waters, and David Gilmour had a mellow lovechild.

As a native Austinite that rarely spends a week out of eyeshot of our ever-elevating skyline, I’m hardwired to be somewhat of a city slicker. So I’m always kind of surprised when a folk performer decides to settle down in our noisy, crowded, metropolitan hub. But hey, more folk music for us, right?

Among those we’ve welcomed with wide open arms is pianist-guitarist-vocalist Dan Peters, whose current urban digs are a stark contrast from his coastal Massachusetts upbringing. Dan moved down here at the turn of the decade not only to pursue a career as an environmental scientist but also to reap the benefits of residing in the Live Music Capital. As a result, when he’s not off the grid collecting empirical data, he’s playing keys with local bossa nova/tropicalia outfit Nossas Novas. But of course, with his love of North American landscapes in mind, Peters naturally gravitates towards folk in the vein of Wilco and John Prine as a solo songwriter.

Rooted in such (and in line with the wilderness-inspired titles of his existing standalone tracks “Bottom of the Sea” and “The Birds Are Louder in Texas”), Dan Peters drops his Ramble Creek-recorded debut EP Ocean and the Wind this June. Based on Ocean and the Wind‘s fiddle-infused lead single “Jenny Lake”, which takes us on a cross-country trek from toasty Texas to the snow-capped peaks and tranquil pools of Wyoming, we’re expecting a wholesome Americana-folk sonic safari in store for us this summer.

For nearly a full century now, Cumbia’s infectious rhythms have crept out further (both North and South) from its breeding grounds in Colombia. That intercontinental dissemination has led to a plethora of subgenres, and thanks to Texas’ relatively close proximity to Central and South America, some those tendrils (most notably ’60s-style Peruvian psychedelic cumbia or “chicha“) have found new roots here in the Lone Star State. Even here, a several hour drive from the US-Mexico border, we’re blessed to have some prolific cumbia acts call Austin their home. While groups like Grupo Fantasma, Superfónicos, and Money Chicha already found their footing before the turn of 2020, there’s also an exceptional outfit that emerged out of the darkness of our pandemic era. Austin six-piece El Combo Oscuro dropped their debut single “Calavera” right around one year after COVID-19 led to the abrupt cancellation of SXSW (where we usually get an influx of awesome international cumbia acts). Since then they’ve released two EPs (2021’s Que Sonido Tan Rico and 2022’s aptly-titled Cumbia Capital), racked up two Austin Music Awards nominations for “Best Latin Act”, and brought the heat to gatherings like Utopiafest, Levitation, and Chicha Summit. But as quickly as El Combo Oscuro’s come up, like 99% of Austin artists, they could always benefit from a little extra shine. On that note, they’ve recently been inducted into the Austin Music Foundation’s Artist Development Program – Class of 2023/ADP6 alongside KUTX favorites Jake Lloyd, S.L. Houser, and Grace Sorensen. By collaborating with The Bubble recording studio and in-house producer Chris “Frenchie” Smith, ADP helps propel some of Austin’s most talented-yet-overlooked musicians closer to the stratosphere of wider awareness and higher streaming numbers. Today, ahead of live performances next Friday at Arts Mission Oak Cliff in Dallas and next Sunday for Austin psych fest at Far Out Lounge, El Combo Oscuro offers up a first-class seat on a non-stop cumbia flight piloted by ADP. So buckle up for some frenetic Latin turbulence and get ready to take off towards cumbia’s critical altitude with “Despegue”. And to appease some passengers, we’ll go ahead and leave the “no smoking” sign switched off…

If you’ve attended your fair share of hip-hop shows, this has happened to you at least once. You discover a new rapper, fall in love with their music, and seize an opportunity to see them live. But right after they take the stage, they inexplicably start cupping the mic, distorting their once-intelligible lyrics into gobbledygook. It can really put a damper on things, even when they’re clearly giving it their all. So when you watch a seasoned emcee prove their worth as a “mic controller” in what could’ve quickly become a garbled cacophony, it’s refreshing as hell.

Considering Ray Villareal’s various public-facing side hustles – as an esteemed stadium sports announcer (for NCAA, UT, and beyond), frequent Double Toasted Bites podcast contributor, or as an outspoken pal determined to buy a round of Buds for the whole bar – it makes sense that Tone Royal treats microphones with a lot of technical understanding and respect. Tomorrow night, the San Antonio-raised, Austin-based vocalist assumes the headlining throne for Empire Control Room’s all-ages “Slow Roasted” 4/20 showcase, preceded by openers MCs Unknown, Shrt_lyf, Daddy Nat, and ZC3, all alongside DJ Buck Rodgers.

This morning Tone Royal sparked up the anticipation with his first single since last August’s “I Hate You”. While the straight-laced often associate 3AM with the witching hour, lonely partakers of the herbal persuasion can relate to the red-eyed reflections and retro re-runs that reside shortly before the day’s first 4:20. Somewhere between a modern torch song and a blunt-rolling bop, “Nick at Nite“ picks up where Passion Pit and Timmy Trumpet left off with a fresh interpolation of Mary O’Hara’s “Óró Mo Bháidín” baking under hazy sax in the background. Tone Royal’s trademark laid back swagger (on both the studio and live version of “Nick at Nite”) has us begging for a full-band full-length follow-up to 2018’s Late some time in the near future, but until then, we’re just fine with putting the remote in the freezer and letting the dial collect dust.

If you weren’t already well aware, we here at KUTX love Walker Lukens; we shined our Artist of the Month spotlight on this perfectionist performer back in January 2015, right when Walker Lukens and (his backing band) The Side Arms released their Jim Eno-produced single “Every Night”, a tune that now totes more than two million streams on Spotify. Since then Walker’s sort of mimicked the mysterious monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey, touching down to intrigue the masses and revolutionize listener experiences, but only when the moment is just right.

That’s not to say that Walker hasn’t kept busy since 2019’s ADULT, his final pre-pandemic piece of output. On top of dropping two more full-lengths and an EP, Lukens has been helping to interpolate flirty little secrets as one of the two masterminds behind The Song Confessional podcast. Walker’s also been graciously offering up his production prowess and fine-tuned formulas as a noble service for his fellow Texas creatives.

But as seductive as Walker’s sonic sorcery is in-studio, if you’ve seen him play live, you know how whetting it is to witness the carefully-crafted studio magic replicated almost identically onstage, expertly-cut a capella loops and all. So imagine our excitement this morning when Lukens announced his fourth studio full-length Accessible Beauty for release in August alongside plans for a promotional tour.

That welcome news arrived alongside Accessible Beauty‘s lead single, “The One Who Loves You”, a re-introduction to Walker’s retro-pop tastes. Between invigorating reverse guitar, sexy synth squelches, and processed vocals that soar through a torrid chorus, “The One Who Loves You” boasts an enormous sense of space that easily towers over most of Tame Impala’s less-intense installations. Wish you could express your feelings as fiery as Walker? Just forward this one to whomever you carry a torch for and get ready for romance.

When first branding a new band, a little repetition can go a long way. And throughout the past half century there’s plenty proof of now-iconic acts who made the most out of a name by extending it to both album and song titles; think about Bad Company, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Motörhead, or more recently, Run the Jewels and Wilco. Well, last weekend the world was treated to yet another artist-album-song triple threat, this one coming straight out of Austin. After a three-year recording break filled with professional and familial obligations, Oh No Oh My frontman Greg Barkley recently rediscovered solace from those stresses through songwriting. Following several hushed solo home studio sessions, and a full decade since Oh No Oh My performed their last live show essentially at the height of international fame, Barkley re-enlisted ONOM drummer Joel Calvin and keyboardist Tim Regan plus Shivery Shakes bassist Wil Glosup to turn these stripped-down tunes into a reality. As a result, we’ve just been introduced to Solid Lines. The indie elements that earned Oh No Oh My so much acclaim still shines throughout Solid Lines, albeit underneath a coat of passionate electro-pop paint. Solid Lines’ eponymous debut induces nostalgia for care-free youth alongside reflections over the choices Barkley’s made that’ve led him to a life full of love. In line with Barkley’s “full steam ahead” approach to this new batch, the nine tracks on Solid Lines are best enjoyed front to back, but if you want to jump straight to one of Solid Lines‘ midpoints and find out what the group is all about, set aside five minutes and settle into the vocal unity and six-string-and-synth-driven serenity of “Solid Lines”.

These days, participating in a youth choir – in school, at church, or wherever – is like a gateway drug for future singing sensations. Based on the abundance of success stories in recent history, it’s pretty clear that placing some discipline on your pipes at an early age gives you a huge leg up later on.

See: Chrissy Symone. Born in Georgia and now based in Austin, Chrissy was first bit by the songwriting bug back in her school’s choir about a dozen years ago. Since settling into the pandemic mentality, Symone’s been padding out an impressive SoundCloud presence with original acoustic tunes that arrange piano, guitar, and vocals into consistently pleasant jazz-and-blues-adjacent soft indie pop. But of course, Symone’s voice is the prime attraction. Her delicate delivery, poignant lyricism, and effortless ability to navigate intervals and registers make Chrissy one of the most slept on artists in the Live Music Capital.

Well, today Chrissy Symone gave the world a much-welcomed wake up call. Despite its initial appearance on SoundCloud nearly a year ago, Symone just released her flagship Spotify single “March 14”. Huge kudos to Chrissy for including an instrumental rendition as well – one that truly illustrates the weight and impact her vocals can bring to a track like this. Chrissy Symone has a don’t-miss SoFar Sounds session coming up on May 7th, and while you’ve got calendar dates in mind, take a tranquil trip back exactly one month with “March 14”.

The first time I met Chase Weinacht was back in high school. Let’s call it 2008. He and fellow Marmalakes co-founder/frontman Josh Halpern dropped by band practice. Despite their infinitely superior songwriting and performance skills (and assumedly awareness of such), I’ll never forget how humble and supportive they both were. And still are. Fast forward to 2019. Chase, Casie Luong, and I were Artist Instructors for Mother Falcon Music Lab. As Casie and I essentially lectured on how to create a podcast, Chase just sat back there behind the campers and soaked it in. Like the biggest, most curious kid in the classroom, for another charming moment of humility. And if you’ve ever seen Chase perform, you know that he’s not only one of Austin’s most talented songwriters, but also one of the most graciously unassertive. Which is why you might not have heard about his new project, Feeling Small. Based on the band’s debut single, Feeling Small seems to be a reflection on our overall insignificance in the grand scheme of things, a blissful sense of nihilism. Even though Weinacht could tackle such subject matter in a solo setting, he’s surrounded himself with some of his best friends, who also happen to be a few of Austin’s most prolific: Why Bonnie’s Sam Houdek on bass, The Stacks/Good Looks frontman Jake Ames on lead electric, Frozen Orange/Lomelda/Daphne Tunes contributor Andrew Stevens on bari guitar and percussion, and Estuary expert ear John Michael Landon handling sampler, synth, and production duties. That first tune, “One-Eyed Paradise”, is a series of little snapshots, like smash cuts that exemplify the beauty of moments that may seem minuscule at first. A soft shaker crescendo starts off this short-and-sweet stoner confessional (complete with lyrics about breakfast edibles and expensive pens) that ends up sounding like Mac DeMarco took a chill pill on top of his natural lackadaisical character. Huge bonus points for that one-of-a-kind Estuary sense of acoustic space, tight instrumental interplay, and a shift of focus away from the weight of life’s abundant anxieties.

It’s fascinating how many wholesome qualities folk and bluegrass fulfill: the importance of a tight-knit family, a primal connection to nature, and earning keep strictly through musical means. And to be completely honest, if those genres weren’t so overwhelmingly positive, they’d almost seem more like an antiquated cult. But instead of indoctrination and manipulative reprogramming of the meek-minded, some of the best bluegrass and folk hedonists were simply bred right into that bucolic lifestyle.

Just look at the upbringing behind mandolinist Sol Chase, who was raised by a hippie tribe that practiced their craft in European forests and festivals alike. Trips to civilization were often reserved for street side busking, a habit Chase continued after retreating to the campfires and cordillera of rural Colorado. Sol Chase essentially only appeared “on the grid” once he relocated down to Austin close to a decade back. In that time Chase recorded with Third Eye Blind, opened for the likes of Shinyribs, and basically immersed himself in Texas’ sprawling jamgrass scene as a must-hear master mandolinist.

Now, Sol Chase did decide to split town last year in favor of more wanderlust with his sweetheart Evergreen, but not before recording his solo debut with some of Austin’s finest players. The Eclectic Life of an Only Child was engineered by Yeah Yeah Yeahs/Sublime contributor Charles Godfrey, who helped instill a heightened sense of clarity for this four-song collection of personal memories, semi-fabricated fables, and emotionally-piercing parables. The Eclectic Life of an Only Child drops this Friday ahead of a 7:30PM release show at The Cactus Cafe and a late night set 1AM next Thursday at Old Settler’s Music Festival.

But Sol Chase isn’t exactly constrained by time and place, so why should you be? Like a bark-built acoustic rocket sparking up, clearing a tree line, and ascending into orbit, the Eclectic Life‘s latest single, “Moonwalker” builds up from a droning long tone into a zero-gravity instrumental gallop. “Moonwalker” wows with moody motifs, Appalachian-inspired intervals, and extensive solo sections that feature fiddle, flute, and of course, mandolin. So if you’re not ready to soak up the summer rays shining today, let Sol Chase help you flip the celestial switch into a lively lunar stroll.

When we last brought up our April 2018 Artist of the Month, we relented that the AOTM feature might’ve been a hair premature. Because on this side of the 2020 turnstile, the beast that is Mobley has spread his tendrils into even more disciplines. Seemingly no longer challenged by the traditional songwriters’ plight of recording, producing, and touring cohesive material, Mobley’s moved on to crafting album-long concepts, directing and editing visual counterparts, and more recently…coding? That may sound odd at first, but of course, as with all things Mobley, there’s a big creative payoff.

In this case, it boils down to isolating singular instrumental tracks – more commonly known as “stems” – from a fleshed-out song. Any producer worth their salt will relate the joy of pinpointing a specific sound in a vast arrangement – “soloing” it – before bringing the full mix back in. Instantly unlocking the way remixes work, stems can lend themselves to some fascinating tonal pairings, almost like conducting a chamber quartet with the click of a button. Now, releasing stems for free use is no new affair, but that’s not exactly what Mobley’s been working on.

Instead Mobley’s picked up where Zaireeka and the Stem Player left off. Where the implementation of those notable predecessors was restrictive, either due to technical limitations (honestly who has time to sync up four stereos?) or simply a matter of supply and demand, Mobley’s coded an interactive multimedia experience that’s accessible to anyone with internet access. In doing so he’s peeled Cry Havoc!‘s centerpiece apart into four solo feeds – each of which can be toggled on or off at any time in the song’s two-minute duration – but here’s the kicker: those selections affect the visuals as well. That’s right; as you discover all these sonic combinations (maybe even a John Cage-esque take with all four instruments muted just for the heck of it), each respective member of the Cry Havoc! band – TV Man, Jacob Creedmoor and all – vanishes and re-appears accordingly.

On top of all that, two-different camera options, plus an absurdist Gilliam-style AI lip-synced Queen Elizabeth II providing the third, “lord” doesn’t just add a ton of re-play value to an already addictive track. It also puts a brilliant twist on the solo-artist-as-each-player music video concept that reemerges now and then. The only question now is what channel Mobley will transport us to next.

The Cactus Cafe has remained an important cultural crossroad for countless Americana, folk, and country acts. So when a thread is formed between two longtime Cactus veterans (with recognition in their own right) who go on to collaborate outside of Austin’s best listening room, expectations are high.

Take for instance two of the most decorated Cactus acts, Houston-born Americana country-rocker Rodney Crowell and Uncle Tupelo/Wilco co-founder Jeff Tweedy. Both have created unforgettable acoustic performances, both have two Grammy Awards to their name, and both their genre fortes roughly overlap into the sphere of alternative-country. These talented two have undoubtedly crossed paths plenty of times in the past, but it wasn’t until recently that Tweedy was recruited to produce a full Rodney Crowell record.

Despite a relatively unremarkable title, The Chicago Sessions are anything but; the pairing of Tweedy’s keen ear with Crowell’s tried-and-true country storytelling presents this Texas troubadour in a pristine, rejuvenated package, even compared with 2021’s Triage. And intentional or not, the ten tracks on The Chicago Sessions drop on May 5th, or Cinco De Mayo for folks with upbringings near the southern border like Rodney Crowell. Remember what we said about high expectations? The Chicago Sessions‘ lead single “Everything At Once” not only channels some of Tweedy’s best production work, but also moves him away from the mixing board momentarily for his sole in-person feature on the album. Which makes us wonder, what would a WilCrowell tour sound like? We can only dream for now.

These days us Austinites know all too well that an Adrian Quesada production credit is ostensibly a golden ticket to brilliance. And although Adrian’s predominant territory is Tex-Mex soul, the style that courses through his formulas wouldn’t be what they are without California’s historic Latin psych scene. That’s a no-brainer for native Los Angeleno Rudy De Anda, who formalized his ’60s psych-rock tastes in the scenic stretches of Long Beach, despite major sources of inspiration from London’s The Kinks and NYC’s The Velvet Underground.

However, in drawing from the psych products of those grayer, more industrialized musical hubs, De Anda’s turn-of-the-decade relocation to Chicago makes a lot more sense. And while it didn’t take long for Rudy to find his footing in the Windy City, that cross-country migration put a lot of distance, physically and emotionally, between himself and his lifelong home state friends. But it was that vulnerability allowed De Anda to brush off the surface-level sun and sand aesthetic typically ascribed to his Cali output in favor of confessional cultivation.

For his latest LP, De Anda recorded outside of California for the first time – but not in Chicago. Instead Rudy recruited his Cali bandmates to join him in Adrian Quesada’s Electric Deluxe recording studio right here in Austin. The new setting, plus a decision to track straight to tape, finds De Anda and the band approaching the process more seriously than ever before, and soon we’ll hear the fruits of that labor flourish on Closet Botanist.

Closet Botanist drops April 28th, introducing us to ten lush sonic shrubs, all audibly (though unobtrusively) influenced by Quesada’s production input. These bilingual herbs will feel right at home in your record collection, and give you a bit of insight into Rudy De Anda’s journey over the past two years, as heard on Closet Botanist‘s next installment, “Tu Mirada”. Inspired by the Brazilian baroque pop and psych folk of Milton Nascimento and Lô Borges’ 1972 landmark Clube da Esquina, “Tu Mirada” (the first track Rudy penned post-Chicago) is a great look for De Anda’s new grooves, bookended by a sunrise-slow introduction and an instrumental jam section that climaxes into mind-melting reversed soundscape.

When a key contributor breaks out of an early musical vehicle to focus on solo momentum, it can be really empowering. Whether it’s Brian Eno’s ascendance into experimentalism after leaving Roxy Music, Danny Elfman’s evolution into a Hollywood soundtrack darling following Oingo Boingo, One Direction’s Harry Styles dominating mainstream attention in the late 2010s, or Gwen Stefani’s post-No Doubt success, going solo can lead to great things.

With 20/20 hindsight in mind, one look at Austin pop-rock quartet Corbella’s eponymous EP artwork was all we needed to figure out that frontwoman Britny Lobas was the bella that ball. Now, a few years before Corbella’s 2019 heyday, Lobas did drop a collaboration under her own name but it wasn’t until the turn of the decade that she re-emerged as the beast we revere today. Atop fashion statements that give PJ Harvey a run for her money, Britny Lobas continues to flock towards the radio-proven formulas of Celine Dion or Shania Twain and belt her way into the pop-rock pantheon, leaving thirst and admiration in her wake after each enthralling live performance.

Maintaining Lobas’ quality-over-quantity pace of one studio single per year, her latest auspicious offering precedes a single release blowout this Saturday at The Pershing along with The Reverent Few. Mooring buoyant guitar licks (both acoustic and electric), a call-and-response chorus that’s beggin’ for audience engagement, and a vocal dyad-dominated bridge, “Marina” harbors a Summer boat-party-ready pop-rock powerhouse, whether or not it refer to a woman’s name instead of a yacht dock.

There’s a ton of iconic music adjacent to the 1977 punk explosion, intuitively categorized as “proto-punk” and “post-punk”. And while you could argue discrepancies outweigh similarities between The Stooges’ Raw Power, Television’s Marquee Moon, Gang of Four’s Entertainment!, and XTC’s Black Sea, one word seems to encapsulate the shared aesthetic among protos and posties: “angular”. Of course, since the start of the ’80s, that crusty concrete-encased counterculture has helped inform new wave, grunge, and eventually the trebly indie rock riffs that turned acts like The Strokes into household names. It’s intriguing because nowadays some refer to The Stooges’ style as “garage rock”, and yet – despite punk’s many offspring (hardcore, riot grrrl, anti-folk, etc.) – the term “post-punk” is alive, well, and readily-applicable. Austin has its fair share of contemporary post-punk purveyors, including a quartet who got together in 2019 – a full four decades after Gang of Four’s daring debut – Ragabash. Ragabash released their first-ever studio single, “Heartache” earlier this spring, showcasing a stabbing and distorted offkilter style. For their debut album (due out this Fall), the group’s entrusted production duties with Grammy-winner Stuart Sikes (Loretta Lynn, The White Stripes, Modest Mouse, etc.), which’ll likely lend an extra sense of accessibility to Ragabash’s crowd-pleasing organized chaos and all-hands-on-deck approach to vocal harmonies. Ragabash’s sophomore installment arrives with a single release show 11pm tomorrow night at The 13th Floor alongside openers Sweet Slacks, Mr. Kat, and DJ Dead Flowers. So before you ascend to the 13th Floor, immerse yourself in Ragabash’s appreciation for that short sweet space after staccato sequences, with “Daydream”. Its trumpet solo, bold dynamics, and instrumental interplay are sure to keep you lucid well past hump day and right into the weekend.

As a genre modifier, the term “experimental” can be pretty controversial. For purists, unless an artist is redefining sound by employing production, recording, and performance techniques typically unfit for “traditional” music, they’re not gonna consider it “experimental”. But when you take a more lenient approach and avoid strict gatekeeping, you’re bound to discover acts that’ll undoubtedly challenge your tastes and pre-conceptions. For an example right here in Central Texas we can point straight to Austin four-piece Glasshealer. Once deemed “Best Experimental Artist” by The Austin Chronicle, this unconventional quartet combines the most out-there elements of punk, electronica, and rock into a beautifully bizarre blend. The Austin Chronicle also gave Glasshealer the recognition they deserved for both their 2020 debut Cranberry Stream and 2021’s But the Weight of Comfort Pulled Me Back Down, merits that’ve helped pack venues once Glasshealer name appears on the marquee. But as with any groundbreaking experiment, you can’t rush the scientific process, which is why we haven’t had any studio releases from Glasshealer since But the Weight… Coming hot off a 2022 East Coast tour, Glasshealer returned to the lab to elevate their sound further by penning some impressively eclectic tunes. So while we patiently wait for a third EP from Glasshealer, the band’s blessed us with a six-and-a-half-minute psychotropic delight. Alongside the mind-melting visuals of its music video “Ever Love, Ever Have” is structured like a cinematic DMT trip, complete with uncanny nuances, expansive dynamic shifts, and revelation-ready hard left turns.

For wannabe solo acts, the endlessness of electronic music and accessibility of home studios offers an appealing amount of autonomy; rather than recruit a rag-tag rhythm section or accompanist and tease out tunes take after take, you can hunker down, sequence all sorts of sounds out, quantize if needed, and call it a day. And like Toro Y Moi’s Chaz Bundick with his dance alter ego Les Sins, Austin producer-singer Joy Baldwin’s been intermittently stepping away from the guitar-pop court of King Air to reign over retro synth tones, samples, and loops as Steel Gemini.

Steel Gemini pairs Baldwin’s penchant for sassy and accessible pop formulas with ’80s-style drum programming, alternative-inspired chord progressions, and a ton of LFO love. Contrastingly titled, “End of It All”, Steel Gemini’s debut single dropped midway through last December. Just before SXSW, Steel Gemini’s second installation “What Would Your Girlfriend Say” cemented Baldwin’ as ‘s coquettish creativity within the electro-pop crowd. There haven’t been any overt suggestions of a full Steel Gemini record release quite yet, but we’ll buddy up and throw elbows the second there are.

Today Steel Gemini torched us with brilliantly bombastic 808s, Timbaland-derived MIDI choices, club-ready snaps, hazy harmonies, and untethered melodies with the hot to the touch “Twin Flames”. Only way to get burned by “Twin Flames”? By not cranking it all the way up and letting the bass rattle you right out of the work week.

At the top of March, we praised Walker Lukens for his willingness to help up-and-comers in need of a keen production ear early on in their career. So you can imagine our excitement when we began to see credits from our August 2021 Artist of the Month BLK ODYSSY pop up in the wild. BLK ODYSSY’s latest collaborator? Austin-via-Minnesota singer-guitarist Lewis “Lew” Apollo.

Sadly, Lew Apollo’s recent alley-oop from boozy live blues-rock performances to BLK ODYSSY’s slick in-studio wheelhouse hasn’t been all that pleasant of a trajectory. It actually coincided with the loss of both his father and a friend to suicide last Fall, an unimaginable trauma that’s become a bittersweet impetus, a tragic catalyst for a creative pivot. In tribute, Lew Apollo’s since dedicated his songwriting to normalizing some of life’s most troubling obstacles – isolation, entrapment, anxiety, temptation, and depression – in hopes of making listeners feel less alone with their own struggles.

As part of that transition, Lew Apollo’s allowed BLK ODYSSY to come on board as producer and co-writer for Lew’s deeply personal debut EP JUNGLE. The machete-sharp cuts on JUNGLE take a leap into rock-R&B concoctions and neo-soul seductions, which remind us that some of the harshest environments can be our immediate internal and external surroundings, not perched at the top of a dense canopy or stalking the bottom of a rainforest floor. And in tandem with Apollo’s passion for providing a sense of belonging to those who may be in crisis, JUNGLE drops in the midst of Mental Health Awareness Month on Friday, May 12th. The release show is 8PM that same evening at The Pershing and JUNGLE‘s third single comes out on Friday, but we just gotta give it up to a track that came out in early March. Featuring KUTX favorite Grace Sorensen and unapologetically emotional, “NEED YOUR LOVIN” steers away from the distorted guitar of its Black Angels-esque predecessor “TROUBLE ON MY MIND” for an alluring, atmospheric, and reverb-drenched, harmony-heavy falsetto foray. Bonus points for blunt brevity, unbridled bass riffs, and an effervescent vibraslap at its tail that lends a seals some finality to this near-three-minute masquerade.

Between the 30th anniversary of the Waco siege and the tragedy that just occurred on the border, the word “fire” might understandably turn some Texans off right about now. But for those who continue to rock out through the pain of the world’s ongoing, encircling dumpster fire…this one is for you.

It comes courtesy of sanguine sweetheart Ray Garza, whose effortless guitar and calculated vocals have become a staple of Austin outfits like Lola Tried, Space Tan, and his previous passion project, Poly Action. But just as Poly Action was picking up traction at the turn of the decade, the pandemic put an instant damper on PA’s momentum. Like countless others, the isolation and uncertainty of the subsequent lockdown left Garza feeling stuck in a rut. Historically an unapologetic upbeat pop-punk-rock lover, Garza surprised himself when he shed his typical humor-hinged defenses in favor of slower tempos and more fragile subject matters.

Fortunately for us, those tunes haven’t sizzled out into an ash pile. Instead, Garza’s internally-torching originals have rung the bell on his latest endeavor, Small Engine Fire. With Small Engine Fire (which features alum from Space Tan and Bogbody) Garza finds a safe haven to unspool those anxieties and insecurities with quirkily-human indie rock. And following their first-ever live show shortly after Free Week, Small Engine Fire has recently signaled the drop of a debut album sometime this year.

The quartet just lit the wick on that record with a solemn scorcher of a lead single, “Ruin Everything”, a slow-burning indie rock inferno stoked by infectious embers of instrumental interplay and subtle dynamic shifts. So if you’re planning out your weekend, consider showing some support for Small Engine Fire’s single release show 10PM this Sunday at Hotel Vegas followed by A. Sinclair and Rusty Dusty. If not, just toss on some headphones, throw “Ruin Everything” on repeat, and keep watching the world burn, baby.

Whether its a stubborn molecule of toxic masculinity, a frank reflection on the fragility of life, or just a brash rock ‘n’ roll stereotype, “getting soft with age” is an oft-repeated adage, especially in the world of music. In the decade-long natural maturation of tastes between one’s preteens and post-grad explorations, there can be an almost parodic adrenaline-and-amp-addicted attitude that prefers to “die young” instead of “grow up”. And while claiming a traditional genre like folk is “hard” in contrast to say…punk rock sounds a bit silly, of course it’s all in the ear of the beholder. For London-born, Washington, D.C.-raised, and Austin-based songwriter Andy Aylward? A steady progression into soft-folk-rock hasn’t curbed any of the observational petulance of his adolescent punk days nor the nihilism of his post-college psychedelic experiences. Now whisked in the relative wisdom of his thirties, Aylward does make a conscious effort to eschew overt pessimism from his originals. But as heard on Andy Aylward’s 2019 solo debut Sometimes Rain, neither interjections of hope nor gallows humor mask the beautifully bleak honesty of his folksy poetry. Riding off a historically wayward relationship with cheap wine, bygone breakups, and the cross-country moves that eventually brought Aylward to Texas, Remember Me Like Birds On The Wind doesn’t relent an inch away from Andy’s intrinsic earnestness. These eight introspective, sparse arrangements were mixed by Fruit Bats/Kevin Morby producer D. James Goodwin for a minimalist affair that features The Cairo Gang’s Emmett Kelly, Stephen “Sweet Baboo” Black, and Captain Beefheart’s J.T. Thomas. Last Friday, ahead of Remember Me‘s April 25th release date, Aylward unleashed the album’s lead single that syncs up J.T. Thomas with trumpet-for-hire Paul Brandenburg for a jaunty jangler that just doesn’t give up, “No Surrender”.

Since our late great radio icon John Aielli passed away, KUTX’s airwaves have largely veered away from classical music. But some of the best things about classical music are its timeless universality, its enduring ability to be adapted, and its ripe potential for renewed relevance post-re-interpolation. That’s also is a big part of what drives Austin multi-instrumentalist/instructor Evergreen, whose traditional cello upbringing and intrinsic understanding of the classical “language” had earned her spots onstage alongside Father John Misty and The Eagles by her mid-twenties.

As with the third stream movement of the 1950s, Evergreen especially seems to enjoy taking a revisionist approach to classic compositions, ditching strict tempo instructions in favor of moment-to-moment nuance, and letting centuries-old leitmotifs bask in new contexts. For her upcoming debut, Delicious Vignettes of Recent American Kind, Evergreen dissembles Antonin Dvořák’s “American String Quartet No. 12” and splits its bits across five infectious neo-classical sketches. That, on top of an ample cast of collaborators, an indie folk original, and a Joni Mitchell cover closing out the album, Delicious Vignettes is pretty much the exact level of classical-inspired eclecticism that Aielli so adored.

Today, before Delicious Vignettes drops on Friday, we took a “Step” closer to the LP with a stripped-down duet between nylon guitarist Chris Melas and percussionist Charles Godfrey. A delightful dance of flamenco rhythms and Latin jazz, “Step” feels like a great way to start Spring.

We’ve got just one more SXSW 2023 recap track for y’all, and it’s a real gem in a clam. It comes courtesy of the Gainesville-cradled jazz-space-pop project Pearl & The Oysters. Multi-instrumentalist-songwriters Juliette Pearl Davis and Joachim Polack are at the core of this classic kitsch-imbued bivalve, who now perform live as a five-piece. The migration of Davis and Polack’s musical mollusk to Los Angeles at the start of the pandemic seems to have introduced an extra breezy element to Pearl & The Oysters’ daytime disco-adjacency, which we’ll hear more of on their upcoming full-length Coast 2 Coast, out April 21st.

That of course means that Pearl & The Oysters are about to shell up and clamp their gear shut for a month-long North American tour, including a gig here in Austin at The Mohawk in late May. For our live broadcast, Pearl & The Oysters perused some of the new stuff off Coast 2 Coast, 2021’s Flowerland, 2018’s Canned Music, and even their 2017 eponymous debut. And despite the fact that their Scholz Garten set last Saturday wasn’t too long after dawn, the midpoint prize from Flowerland, “Evening Sun”, glistened with the morning crowd, sure to shimmer through plenty more memories and horizons.

Somehow six whole years have already slipped by since London rapper Little Simz played as part of our annual SXSW live morning broadcast. Of course, Simz has blown up exponentially since her 2017 Four Seasons performance, to the extent that we probably couldn’t have booked her now even if we wanted to. But in an impressive display of “small world” kismet, KUTX at Scholz Garden showcased another Londoner with direct ties to Nigeria, Obongjayar. On top of that, it happened the same week that Obongjayar and Simz’ “Point and Kill” played as part of IMDb Pro’s music video competition during SXSW film. When it comes to classifying Obongjayar’s style, there’s not a whole lot of consensus. Best we can say is it’s a politically-and-spiritually-inspired balance between rapping, chanting, and singing over Afrobeat-adjacent electronic soul. But there’s also something surprisingly unobtrusive about Obongjayar’s in-your-face aura that makes his outrageous originals so damn accessible. Which is doubly impressive when he’s got his live five-piece competing for a piece of the crowd’s energy. Obongjayar was still lucid off his debut full-length Some Nights I Dream of Doors when he obliterated the Scholz Garten scene with high-octane tunes like “Message In A Hammer”. Here’s hoping we don’t have to wake up either.

As mentioned on Monday, our Scholz Garten guest Son Rompe Pera did an outstanding job of representing Mexico City’s diverse scene for our live morning broadcast last week. And while SRP made an impression that’ll surely have folks talking til next SXSW, they weren’t the only ones bridging capitals; we were also fortunate enough to have M.C. native Nan de Miguel on deck, better known as Girl Ultra. Seven years after she first got signed, Girl Ultra’s grip on undulating melodies and bilingual verbal abilities have escalated her into the upper caliber of Latin R&B rockstars like Kali Uchis and Nathy Peluso. By building on an already-rich reputation for adaptability and sonic variety (including an appearance on Adrian Quesada’s Boleros Psicodélicos), last April, Girl Ultra branched out to genres like U.K. two-step, indie pop, alt-rock, and even orchestral Bossa nova on her latest studio release, EL SUR. Well, last week Girl Ultra brought some of EL SUR, Nuevos Aires (2019) and Adiós (2018) north of the border and into our city limits. On Friday morning Girl Ultra got up onstage at Scholz Garten and gave it her all with hybrid arrangements that beautifully blended backing track samples with live instrumentation. The set certainly attracted a pack of new listeners like everyone’s favorite camelids (sorry, alpacas) thanks to lush renditions that included the album opener from Girl Ultra’s 2018 sophomore EP Adiós, “Llama”.

After years of supporting Deezie Brown and Jake Lloyd individually, it’s beautiful watching them both earn exponential exposure with this hip-hop/R&B phenomenon that is Geto Gala. The latest phase of a fruitful friendship, Brown and Lloyd had already shared a fair amount of stages together pre-pandemic before capitalizing on their bar-trading chemistry with their eponymous February 2021 studio debut. Alongside its delightfully-southern Chopped and Slowed counterpart, The Geto Gala EP probably played a part in Brown and Lloyd separately scoring their first official ACL Fest sets last October, where informal versions of the full Geto Gala band ended up backing each solo performer.

Between then and now, the Geto Gala gang’s apparently upped their game for a whole gauntlet of live gigs, at least based off the applause they garnered last Thursday morning when they transfigured our Scholz SXSW space into the Geto Garten. With a set that’d make Big Pokey proud, and a crowd that was happy to “fifth wheel” alongside the band, Geto Gala sure as hell had “Sumn’ to Say” at SXSW. We’re just hoping our invitation’s still good for the next Gala.

It’s safe to assume that us at KUTX aren’t the only ones exhausted after SXSW 2023. But as part of our obligation to provide the Austin Music Experience, we can’t just let last week’s handful of sessions exist strictly as a memory. So instead we’re revisiting some of our favorite moments from the legendary Scholz Garten to help you through the next five days of Spring Break recovery.

If you missed it in person or on-air, our live broadcast on Wednesday morning ended with a bang thanks to Son Rompe Pera. The Mexico City cross-genre fraternal quintet dropped in bright and early to marinate the Garten gang in some mallet-manic marimba topped with hypnotic percussion, pulsating bass intervals, and various western spices. Still riding high on the release of their sophomore full-length Chimborazo the previous weekend, Son Rompe Pera unsurprisingly sizzled especially hard on the new material. And although the feature-laden baker’s dozen on Chimborazo is arguably best enjoyed front to back at full volume sipping a cold cerveza, you can revive your love of Latin language live performances with the Scholz Garten rendition of “La Muerte Del Amor” in a video from our amazing multi-media team.

Typically around the tail end of SXSW music week, there’s a lot of local magic. It could be Bill Murray hopping behind a dive bar and serving up whatever he wants, or a relatively undiscovered up-and-comer getting an unexpected big break. But today we’re talking about the Austin representation, something that can get easily eclipsed by all the international faces at SX.

Now, we here at KUTX have gushed again and again over The Bright Light Social Hour, which makes sense since they’ve been with us even before the start of our call letters. So rather than recap what makes ’em so great (like their continuously progressing sound and willingness to team up with fellow Austinites), let’s just jump right into what Bright Light’s got in their limelight.

This morning The Bright Light Social Hour announced their fifth full-length Emergency Leisure. Down to its Slow Rush-reminiscent title, it seems like TBLSH is taking a sweet-yet-sinister Tame Impala daytime disco/indie-psych approach. But true to the Bright Light’s nature, Emergency Leisure isn’t just a full-band vehicle for one singer-songwriter (looking at you, Kevin Parker); instead its a seamlessly collaborative exchange perfected over nearly two decades of playing together that translates in-studio just as well as it does onstage.

For a taste of the ladder, check out The Bright Light Social Hour 8PM this evening at Parlor & Yard, 1AM late tonight at Parish for the Mint Talent Group official showcase, or 5PM Sunday at Rustic Tap. As of now, Rustic Tap looks like Bright Light’s last local gig until after Emergency Leisure comes out August 2nd, when the group hits the road on a three-plus-month tour. And while all that may sound like short notice, you gotta remember who we’re dealing with here; The Bright Light Social Hour always comes in cool and calculated, even when they drop Emergency Leisure‘s lead single like some high-powered blotter paper as they did this morning. Alongside its music video, “Not New” will knock you back with its driving-but-subdued sonics that are almost too cool to party to. Almost.

We’ve gotten drenched by several “South By Soaking Wet”s in the past, but rest assured, despite gloomy weather, there’s a lot going on. And any precipitation aside, CIVIC sure as hell is in that mix. Founded in 2017, this Melbourne quintet has continued to follow old school punk rock’s first rules: 1) Don’t overthink it, 2) just have fun, and 3) play what gets the people going. And while we suspect CIVIC’s circle pits are a prime place to get bloody and bruised, the band’s pandemic-era full-lengths have found the five-piece broadening their scope to more inclusive, higher-fidelity, and controllable elements of rock, albeit all high-octane.

That said CIVIC‘s already begun bringing the low-light grit of the “Aussie music experience” to our city limits. They wrapped up the first quarter of a dozen shows yesterday afternoon at Hole in the Wall and just hopped off stage at Mohawk for Flood-Fest a few minutes ago. They’ll be back at Hotel Vegas today at 2PM for Levitation Party before a 5PM set at South By San Jose. Tomorrow’s options are 12:15PM at Chess Club, 2:15PM at Australia House/Lucille Patio, and 5PM in the Waterloo Records parking lot. CIVIC’s final Hotel Vegas appearance is Saturday at 2PM, before Do512’s “The Big One” 6PM at Far Out Lounge and 11PM at Valhalla.

With that many gigs (both official and unofficial) at that many venues, you won’t need to be Taken By Force to see CIVIC in person. So why not brave the elements to throw elbows with some of Australia’s finest? Because as much as us Texans like to poke fun at those who complain about the sun, these Melbourne badasses were “Born in the Heat”. Catch the fire while it’s close by…

SXSW provides an excellent opportunity to enjoy international artists right here in our own city limits. Yet for some, the city-wide wanderlust can get overlapped by a desire to discover acts from specific regions. Well, fortunately for those folks, there are a ton of origin-curated SXSW showcases scheduled for this week, both officially and unofficially. For UK music enthusiasts, consider stopping by BBC Presents: The British Music Embassy, whose eclectic across-the-pond 2023 roster includes stunning up-and-comer Yazmin Lacey. Like many singers-in-the-making, Lacey got her start in church choir before her ears caught on to hip-hop, soul, and R&B. But, like her contemporary Danielle Ponder, Lacey didn’t pursue music professionally until the late 2010s, when she was already past the “prime” age which most creatives launch their career. Nevertheless Lacey impressed us with beautiful, reactionary honesty in a three-EP progression at the turn of the past decade; 2017’s Black Moon, 2018’s When The Sun Dips 90 Degrees, and 2020’s Morning Matters. Since the start of March, Yazmin Lacey’s been riding high on her astonishing, moment-capturing hour-long inaugural full-length Voice Notes, which has already cemented her status as a neo-soul sensation. If you want to hear this modern day mashup of Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu, and more in person, you’re in luck; Yazmin Lacey entertains our airwave neighbors KMFA at 3PM today before making a two-night run on 4th Street: 9PM tonight for British Music Embassy at The Courtyard and again 9PM tomorrow for Jazz re:Freshed Outernational at Seller’s Underground. So show some support by diving into Voice Notes on streaming or by joining the crowd downtown. Either way, you’ll find yourself in delightfully “Bad Company“.

Artist multiplicity is a big part of what draws people to Austin, and definitely not just during SXSW. But especially in the midst of SX, it also behooves many to diversify their performances and mix up their on-stage exposure. And for Buenos Diaz singer-guitarist Nick Diaz, that’s “The Name of The Game”.

This week Nick’s rockstar aura glows across several acts and venues; he’s spending much of it as a six-string-for-hire with his NYC friends Lizzie and the Makers, balancing the rest out between solo and full band sets. Lizzie and the Makers play 8:45PM tonight at The Dizzy Rooster, at Blind Pig 10PM tomorrow and 10:15PM on Wednesday, and 10PM this Friday at Saxon Pub. As for Nick, he’s going solo 5PM tomorrow at Mañana and 1:30PM on Wednesday near the Taco Deli at Austin Bergstrom International Airport.

But bringin’ it back to Buenos Diaz, the full band hops on right after Lizzie and the Makers 11PM on Friday at Saxon Pub before a show 6:30PM next Wednesday at Lustre Pearl South and 10:30PM next Sunday at Long Play East. Under Nick’s direction, Buenos Diaz blew us away last August with their LP Cocaine Queen, but when you spin this hard-rocker you can tell right away that it’s best enjoyed live. So catch Nick in any capacity this week if you can, because playing at the biggest international music festival right in your own backyard? That’s “The Name of The Game”.

Who wants to meet up tonight?

SXSW Music is the talk of town all this week, and of course we’ve got a handful of live performances for your consideration. Starting off today with another set of four all-caps letters, SUSU. Since the mid-2010’s, jiggish Gemini singers Liza Colby and Kia Warren have guided SUSU through New York City’s steamy indie rock-and-soul scene. The quintet clawed their way onto streaming platforms with 2019’s Panther City EP and follow it up this spring with a new baker’s dozen of outrageously catchy originals on Call Susie.

Sure, SUSU’s in town for SXSW, but between their camaraderie alongside KUTX favorites Sweet Spirit, they’re certainly no stranger to the Live Music Capital of the World. As of this publication, SUSU’s already about halfway through their slew of gigs, having already wrapped up two back-to-back shows on Friday, Saturday’s Hoss Sauce House Party, and a set early this afternoon at Empire Control Room. But fortunately for USUS, SUSU is still going full speed ahead.

SUSU’s spree continues 8:45PM tonight at Hole in the Wall and return to the Hotel Vegas Patio at 10:45PM. SUSU rings in 5 o’clock right for the Paste Magazine Showcase presented by Ilegal Mezcal on Wednesday before closing out their Spring Break 5:30PM Thursday at Antone’s. There are plenty of free-with-RSVP options to see SUSU, so find a day and time that works for you and claim it as “Mine” – which is also the title of Call Susie‘s latest spark-plug of a lead single.

Concerning instruments with gorgeous tones and rich cultural histories, the banjo is often overlooked. And it makes sense to some extent; outside the roots world, banjo is rarely front and center. But when an innovator like Béla Fleck or Alison Brown comes along, it’s a refreshing reminder of banjo’s intrinsic magic.

Brown has bred an impressive legacy of success that stretches back to the early ’80s. Shortly after she was recruited into Alison Krauss’ Union Station, the title track for I’ve Got That Old Feeling won the Grammy for “Best Bluegrass Recording”, the same year Brown’s own album Simple Pleasures scored a nominated for “Best Bluegrass Album”. She co-founded Compass Records in 1995, the label that released Fair Weather in 2000, which earned Brown the “Best Country Instrumental Performance” Grammy for her Béla Fleck collaboration, “Leaving Cottondale”.

But at the turn of the 2010s, after two decades of consistent solo releases, Brown began to focus on production. As such, the last LP we received from Alison Brown was 2015’s The Song of the Banjo. Well, coming up this summer, the five-string phenom returns with the succinctly-titled On Banjo. On Banjo finds Brown and her eponymous quintet trading licks with the likes of The Kronos Quartet, Anat Cohen, Sierra Hull and more. Alongside pleasant surprises like the Steve Martin co-written “Foggy Morning Breakdown”, you’ll also hear more exotic explorations into Brazilian sounds when On Banjo drops May 5th.

Maintaining Brown’s boundary-less repertoire for cross-genre compositions, On Banjo‘s lead single masterfully mashes up The Beatles with Antônio Carlos Jobim for a spring stroll-ready medley, “Sun and Water (Here Comes the Sun/Waters of March)”.

We’ve been talking a lot about our upcoming SXSW Showcase next week at Scholz Garden, with a lineup that’s already got mouths watering. And on top of that, if you’re like me, perusing Scholz’ gasthaus-style menu is guaranteed to put mustard on the mind. But today we’re not talking about Dijon, Bavarian, or the plain yellow kind; instead we’re giving you a scoop of Hot Mustard straight outta Johns Island, South Carolina. Instrumentalist-producers Jack Powell and Nick Carusos have spent much of their 2020s scraping the must out of their jam sessions and bottling the best remain bits into a satisfying spread of retro funk-soul and golden-era hip-hop. Their crunchy, lyric-less high-contrast soundscapes and cinematic chord choices make for an especially transportive tang in Hot Mustard, who served their first full buffet in 2021 with Mother Sauce. But just like a variety flight of increasingly spicy flavors, Hot Mustard is only destined to get hotter, right? For their fittingly-titled follow-up Seconds, Hot Mustard have taken the Until the Quiet Comes-era Flying Lotus route. By opening up their minimalist arrangements to new instruments and more collaborators (such as Antibalas trumpeter Jordan McLean and TV on the Radio trombonist “Smoota” Smith), Hot Mustard has incorporated plenty of new, pungent spices into the mix. Sure, there are fewer explicit references to condiment preferences in the song titles, but the trade-off is much more emotional songwriting over more complex structures. “The End of Time” is a perfect example of that. Inspired by the passing of a beloved canine friend, the addition of singer Alanna Royale, albeit briefly, adds a ton of weight to an already gorgeous track. Bonus points for its music video, which continues Hot Mustard’s brilliantly absurd legacy of collage-based animated visuals. It’s sure to keep you sated ’til Seconds comes out on March 31st.

Next week is South By South West, which means it’s been three whole years since SXSW 2020’s abrupt cancellation marked the beginning of our ongoing COVID climate. Of course, we now recognize several silver linings, mainly the sudden abundance of free time to follow through with unrealized creative projects, some of which haven’t been heard until now.

Take for example Austin trio Passiflora. Passiflora’s first root came from a cross-pollination of genre interests between guitarist Rudy Durham, singer Lauren Harris, and drummer Raul Luevano sometime under the veil of the pandemic. What sprouted as an experiment in hybridizing indie, R&B, and jazz has since bloomed into a collective one-of-a-kind passion project. Their style reminds us of turn-of-the-millennium neo-soul innovators like Jill Scott and Erykah Badu, albeit with an extra jazzy sense of adventure, manifested as time signature changes, enthralling chord progressions, and killer polyrhythms.

For their appropriately-named debut EP eponymous, Passiflora brought The Point bassist Jack Montesinos into the mix, and dang does he fit right in the pocket. eponymous is out this Friday, Passiflora performs at Continental Club Saturday, March 25th, and today they pass along the album’s final lead single. Acronymized as “SOMS”, “Sun on my Skin” begs to be enjoyed under brighter skies by basking in dreamy keys, breezy drum brushes, and, of course, Harris’ siren singing that heralds the start of spring and’ll subconsciously make you want to put this “f***ing record on repeat”.

The Big Lebowski turned twenty-five yesterday, marking a quarter century since Jimmie Dale Gilmore stole a scene as the line-stepping pacifistic bowler Smokey. But if Smokey’s your only reference point, here’s a quick recap. Born in Amarillo, raised in Lubbock, and based in Austin, Jimmie Dale Gilmore is a tried and true Texas music treasure of more than fifty years. Outside of his infectious Nelson-esque tenor, JDG’s longevity also lies within his collaborative spirit, most notably as co-founder of country supergroup The Flatlanders.

Then there’s Gilmore’s California colleague Dave Alvin, who cut his teeth as chief songwriter and lead guitarist for The Blasters before short stays with X, The Knitters, and The Flesh Eaters. Despite a ten-year age difference and complementary genre experiences, Dave and Jimmie both launched their solo careers in the mid-late ’80s. And although they crossed paths and fostered friendship for more than three decades, it wasn’t until 2018 that Dave Alvin and Jimmie Dale Gilmore formally teamed up on Downey to Lubbock. Even after two tough years of battling cancer, Alvin leveled out the less-loquacious Gilmore as both emcee and segue storyteller when they toured together as a duo last summer.

On top of that, Alvin and Gilmore actually just wrapped up a thirteen-date Southwestern U.S. tour last Saturday alongside their backing ensemble The Guilty Ones. Even more impressively, Alvin and Gilmore also released a new studio single about halfway through that recent time on the road. Inspired by Big Bend’s immense nation-dividing river canyons and the unique emotive energy they emit, “Borderland” is a beautifully-rugged Americana testament to unbridled love. And with a cast of archetypes that include an exhorting sheriff, a hitchhiking judge, a slick businessman, and stubborn guards, this rustic tale of romance begs to be heard for generations to come.

As much as I miss seeing Walker Lukens & The Side Arms dominate marquees and show bills across town year-round, it’s been really neat watching Walker evolve from a frontman of many hats to a straight-up behind-the-scenes producer. In doing so, Walker’s been able to lend his idiosyncratic sense of sonics and production techniques to artists who might not necessarily have the ear to take their own tunes to the next level. Case in point: Austin’s Brett Hammann, better known by his stage name Coy O Té.

Like the eponymous critter sniffing out and snatching a nestled egg from the coop, Coy O Té started creeping up once Hammann dug up a set of demos he recorded in Nashville back in 2015. Rather than let them slip away into the aether, Hammann took those tracks straight to Walker Lukens and engineer Adam Mason to help groom Coy O Te’s coat in 2021, a process that’s led to Coy O Te’s debut EP, Chapter One: Randy’s Tavern, out tomorrow.

True to its title, Chapter One: Randy’s Tavern is an awesome first round of Coy O Té’s groovy western originals. And ahead of a trio performance next Tuesday at Hotel Vegas, today Coy O Te’s extended an invitation to join the pack early with Randy’s Tavern‘s final lead single. Following Walker’ Lukens’s signature formula of noncomplex vocal harmonies, reverb across the board, tasteful auxiliary percussion, and striking effects-drenched solo guitar, Hammann channels Division Bell-era David Gilmour as he questions a seemingly-insatiable canine appetite on “Never Enough”.

Happy Women’s History Month! If you weren’t already aware, over the past year Spoon drummer/Public Hi-Fi producer Jim Eno has been helping to write a new chapter in Women’s History through Project Traction. By opening the doors to Public Hi-Fi and offering a seat behind the board, Eno’s given female and non-binary musicians the skills and know-how to advance their careers and improve representation for their marginalized demographic in the production world. Since finding its footing, this admirable experiment has also provided some unexpected pairings with remarkable results. And from the variety of sounds you can tell Jim’s mainly there to facilitate things rather than steer collaborations in any particular direction, which is awesome in terms of women’s autonomy in this male-dominated realm. But like mud-stuck tires, you simply can’t go full speed ahead to gain any real ground, which is why Project Traction’s singles have trickled out one at a time up until now. At the end of next month, PT receives its first formal compilation, appropriately titled Project Traction Volume 1. It hits wax on April 25th, and limited vinyl copies will be available at Waterloo Records. Rounding out the first edition is a real retro-inspired dirty-disco/tech-house banger that takes cues from Teddy Pendergrass’ “You Can’t Hide From Yourself”, and was co-produced by The Suffers’ brilliant frontwoman Kam Franklin. Performed by the sensuously eccentric Austin funk-R&B duo The Vapor Caves, “Sacrifice” shoots you straight to the other side of the millennium at the crank of an LFO knob. The style is classic, but the mixing is modern, making “Sacrifice” a must-spin for your favorite funk-house playlist. Huge bonus points for live brass on behalf of The Suffers, minor 2nd chord modulations, clever clavinet, and some seriously commanding vocal phrases.

Remember What Made Milwaukee Famous? Along with Spoon, The Octopus Project, and Explosions in the Sky, WMMF helped to hurl Austin’s explosive mid-2000s indie rock scene into the international zeitgeist. But with the exception of a brief 2019 reunion, What Made Milwaukee Famous has remained largely dormant since the release of You Can’t Fall Off the Floor in 2013. Fun fact: that was right around the same time that WMMF co-founder/multi-instrumentalist Drew Patrizi doubled down on another indie rock endeavor – Trumpeter Swan.

Although the then-fledgling project recorded their 2010 debut here in Austin, Trumpeter Swan only released Listen For The Clues after Patrizi’s northward migration up to New York. And after 2013’s The Magnitude of Now, Trumpeter Swan seemed to be flourishing in their nest near the Big Apple, accruing acclaim left and right for their still-limited studio output. Yet in the decade that’s followed The Magnitude of Now, Trumpeter Swan (like WMMF) has been noticeably mute.

Thankfully, Trumpeter Swan didn’t drift too far into the mythos of their eponymous waterfowl, because after repatriating back down to ATX mid-pandemic, Patrizi decided that Trumpeter Swan was still far, far away from their final performance. Last October Trumpeter Swan evened out their discography’s flock formation with their third and most sophisticated, layered, and nuanced full-length to date, Fast We Fall. And now, as we approach SXSW, Trumpeter Swan is once again on the wing with a handful of local live gigs. Trumpeter Swan plays 9PM this Saturday at Hole in the Wall opening for Fun Haunts and Gentlemen Rogues, Friday, March 17th at Vortex for a free SXSW Day Party and Thursday, March 30th opening for Futon Blonde at Chess Club. So even after all these years seems like Patrizi’s living his best life possible, the “American Dream” as it were…which is a pretty fitting title from a band named after America’s heaviest bird, not to mention an instant indie pop-rock earworm.

There’s a huge leap in time between Jan Hammer’s mid-’80s Miami Vice heyday and Kavinsky’s 2011 Drive soundtrack kickoff, “Nightcall“. Now, you could easily classify both under the”synthwave” umbrella and leave it at that, but after ingesting now-beloved pieces of media like Far Cry: Blood Dragon and Kung Fury, we’ve come to label that retro-futuristic fetishism and nostalgia for pre-internet MIDI/VHS artistic limitations (e.g. modern acts like Kavinsky) as “vaporwave”. Luckily, as the birthplace of Don Johnson’s daughter Dakota, that Vice-descended vapor has kept Austin synth-enthusiasts dewy, which is pretty damn nice.

In particular, four-piece Dream 2 Dream surfs a vaporwave aesthetic across coasts of indie, psych, and alternative; down to how they stylize their name and craft their pseudo-neon artwork, D2D deliberately pushes elements of late Cold War pop culture into their decades-crossed bops and iconography. And like a custom-tuned Testarossa of well-balanced talent, Dream 2 Dream revs off later this month on a West Coast tour.

But before they do, today Dream 2 Dream drops off their first of several singles for 2023, “I Have Hope”. Although it stays under a certain BPM speed limit, “I Have Hope” cruises through the night with massive drums, cinematic chord changes, impassioned vocals, crunchy bass, arpeggiated melodies, and a ton of reverb and delay across the board. Altogether “I Have Hope” maintains the solitary getaway driver mood whether you’re on the way to case a bank or just joyriding with your favorite “partners in crime”.

Back in summer 2021, Dripping Springs trio Midland centered their sophomore EP The Last Resort with a pretty straightforward declaration: “It Takes Two to Two Step“. Now that may sound pretty redundant in the world of group choreography, but it’s also true in terms of a performers’ ability to inspire spontaneous dance. Without the help of loop pedals, a stripped down drum kit, or other one-man-band mechanics, solo troubadours are rarely capable of keeping a crowd in motion all on their own. On the other hand, when the interplay of at least two musicians bounces off each other and onto the dance floor, that‘s how you get the energy going. And even after a half decade of gigging together, the core duo behind The Pendulum Hearts has kept the chemistry alive and pumped their passion into plenty of venues. Guitarist Chase Risinger and violinist Tony Perez flip the script on the leader-and-follower structure at the tip of a brim, a dynamic that’s allowed The Pendulum Hearts to pierce ears and move boots over Americana, Honky-Tonk, Western-Swing, and more. Today, on the heels of their latest single and on the verge of a show at Love Supreme Pizza tomorrow evening, The Pendulum Hearts have released the visual counterpart to their relaxed waltz, “Waiting”. It may be a bit slower than what you’d expect based on how we’ve been describing them, but after watching the music video on your own, we guarantee you’ll want to partner up, grab hip, and live out that intimate moment you’ve been “Waiting” for.

As we’ve come to expect in the Live Music Capital of the World, this past weekend once again treated us to a bevy of release shows. But among the many, one you might’ve missed came on behalf of Madison Baker, who, alongside our September 2019 Artist of the Month Flora & Fawna, Glasshealer, and Clover the Girl, scorched the Swan Dive stage on Friday night.

The occasion? Madison Baker’s latest single “U-Shaped Dent”, breaking a nearly two-year period of no releases. In contrast to the Beyoncé-esque trap and R&B drum programming that helped define Baker’s 2021 EP Boundary, “U-Shaped Dent” is a real endeavor into alt-pop; it sounds like Imogen Heap and Robyn hive-minded their vocal techniques into a relaxed-tempo Flight Facilities track. And although the single’s promotional photos find Madison rummaging through a junkyard, rest assured “U-Shaped Dent” salvages the crisp, clean production and feathery falsetto we’ve been missing since Boundary.

Madison Baker’s next listed gigs include an appearance at Planet K next Friday, March 10th and BLK Vinyl on Wednesday, March 15th, which ought to help you put a dent into your annual live show quota.

When the phrase “piano man” comes up, we think of one song and one song only. Which is kind of a bummer, because there are some truly incredible performers who fit the bill here in Austin that frankly put Billy Joel to shame. Among the mightiest on the ivories like Red Young, Dr. Joe, and D-Madness, there’s also the relatively young Nik Parr. The thing about Nik is that he’s not only mastered double duties on vocals and piano, he also manages to juggle some sax in there too, all without breaking a sweat. Along with his outfit The Selfless Lovers, Nik’s stayed up to par with Austin’s longstanding legacy as a hub for blues rock. But true to their title, The Selfless Lovers go above and beyond by touching on erogenous zones of classic soul, southern, and funk, positioning their style basically wherever listeners want it the most. And although it may not sound as sexy as all that, The Selfless Lovers latest LP Promised Land stems from Parr’s mid-twenties post-stroke revelations. A spiritual reflection on the American Dream, Promised Land is best enjoyed front to back across twelve tracks in its 48-minute entirety. Parr promises a payoff if you do so, but if the live scene is more your vibe (which is good, since The Selfless Lovers average at about one gig every 2-3 days), you’ll want to take part in a live concert filming tonight at The Continental Club. Henry Invisible warms the crowd at 9:30, Isaac Sloane wraps things up at midnight, and The Selfless Lovers take the stage at 10:30PM. Need a solid commuting track to help you get there? No problem. Like a cut song from the original Miami Vice TV soundtrack, “So Far Gone” soars with yacht-rock keyboard stabs, jazzy chord changes, some nice disco drum upbeats, and oh yeah, an appropriately-’80s-style sax solo square in the middle.

Last summer we treated you to a crispy trap-R&B collabo between Casie Luong and waverly called “blessing”. Rest assured, the second-generation Vietnamese-American songwriter and the Cambodian-born producer are still palling around Austin making great music together. And on that note, today, in the spirit of spring and new beginnings, the two team up to introduce a real smokeshow of a project, promqueen.

With waverly still planted in the producer’s chair, promqueen showcases a previously unrecorded talent of Luong’s: bilingual rapping in Vietnamese and English. It marks a new chapter in the pair’s shared mission to amplify Southeast Asian voices here in the states, allowing promqueen to reign in a Vietnamenglish court of cultural pride. It also reckons with Luong and waverly’s collective challenge of not quite knowing where to land in the Venn diagram of Asian-American identity. As a result promqueen presents an interesting trichotomy; although one of promqueen’s core values is natural authenticity, she sits atop a throne of carefully-concocted predominantly-digital instrumentals and hyper exaggerated character-driven imagery. But like bright lipstick against a pale complexion, that high contrast only makes promqueen’s wig-adorned aura of pizzazz glisten stronger.

This fierce, sexy, and verbally-deft belle of the ball breaks out her debut EP szn one in June, kicking off with a “must-see” event before the five remaining tracks trickle out like fashionably-late and outrageous red Tết envelopes. Fastened by saturated boom bass and tasteful 808s, “Xí Xọn” is an extra sassy first impression of promqueen and a tempting promise of what’s to come. Bonus points for the music video that puts you up close and personal with promqueen’s flamboyant makeup, rapid costume changes, and some twerk-adjacent dance moves that are much easier to learn than whatever the latest Tik-Tok routine is.

Part of what makes modern folk-rock acts like Mac DeMarco so memorable is their ability to walk a tightrope between self-deprecating humor, snarky remarks, and heartfelt wisdom. And it makes sense. When you crack a joke or make a bleak shock-value statement, it quickly establishes a surface-level rapport and opens a threshold towards deeper reflections and tougher truths. But channelling that cavalier attitude while carrying authentic emotional weight and managing to stay catchy in the context of a song?

Austin songwriter Jefrey Siler has been living “at the corner of sincere and sardonic” since debuting Yellow Means Infection! in 2010. Yet outside of two singles from 2020, Siler’s studio output has been close to silent in the past decade. Well, this Friday Siler jumps back into action with Jefinitely.

Produced by The Shins’ Yuuki Matthews and recorded in Brooklyn with members of Devendra Banhart and Sufjan Stevens, Jefinitely is a killer counterpart to Yellow Means Infection!, which also totaled in at ten tracks. Just like its predecessor, Jefinitely is jam-packed with confessional crooning, intriguing instrumentation, and yeah…some beautifully flawed storytelling. Perfect example: “Wounded in Similar Ways”, whose acoustic guitar arpeggios and galloping tom-tom cadence make you overlook that the title is “something a hippie might say”. And although Jefrey’s vocal register is about two octaves lower than Justin Vernon’s, the gorgeous choral harmonies remind us of the arrangements on Bon Iver’s 22, A Million, sending Siler into the upper echelon of inventive indie-folk-rock.

In the world of “gotcha”-style band handles (whose spot on a marquee may entice unsuspecting listeners in under false pretenses)…nothing will ever come close to “Free Beer”. As a result, countless college bands and beyond have adopted the “Free Beer” moniker, nowadays either temporarily or often with some kind of modifier (“Free Beer & Pizza” comes to mind). But that gimmick gets old after the initial chuckle, and tricking potential first-time listeners isn’t exactly how you build a dedicated following. With all that in mind, there’s a certain genius to naming a band Domestic Tallboys; Here in the South, especially Texas, it’s pretty much guaranteed that any live venue serves non-imported aluminum pints. So by holding onto the name since 2017, Domestic Tallboys have not only ditched the nefarious bait-and-switch of “Free Beer”, they’ve curated a whole dive bar vibe that they call “sloppy nacho rock”. Well, now that now that the foam from their latest final masters have settled down, Domestic Tallboys are ready to crack open their debut full-length, MAXIMÓN. MAXIMÓN introduces saxophone into the mix for some extra cross-genre carbonation, bringing that beer-braised energy into the comfort of your earbuds. MAXIMÓN is out on Friday, and Domestic Tallboys hits the stage at Swan Dive for the LP release show at 10:30PM that same evening. So get out, cop a couple of your favorite cans at the bar, and soak up some solo-heavy stuff like what you hear in MAXIMÓN‘s final lead single, “Dead Bread”.

It takes a certain hubris to claim that nature isn’t humankind’s greatest source of inspiration. And in Texas, although they’re all a bit more than a stone’s throw away from Austin, we’re honestly spoiled by our abundance of incredible parks. Between Palo Duro Canyon, the Fort Davis Mountains – and of course – Big Bend, the Lone Star State gives California a run for their money in terms of diverse scenery.

In particular, there’s an otherworldly quality to the almost-limitless terrain of Big Bend, which sparked something in Austin Barker and Dominic Sena. Under the handle Ma, this pair draws from Brian Eno, Radiohead, and Alex G, which has helped them translate Big Bend’s awe-inspiring imagery into ambient-and-grunge-adjacent indie. When Ma’s not cooped up in their home recording studio making magic, they’re playing around town alongside the likes of Redbud and Psychic Shark, and up until now Ma’s music has only been accessible in the live realm.

Today, that all changes; Ma just dropped their debut studio single “CALL”, the first of a few new tunes to be released in 2023. It sounds almost like Tears for Fears dehydrated themselves of their synth-pop sonics and swapped them out for a stripped-down grunge arrangement. The chord progression evokes wanderlust, the vocal harmonies inspire mesa-height hope, the drum patterns clatter like an abrupt rocky descent, and some of the guitar work sounds straight out of a revisionist Western soundtrack.

The first time I heard the phrase “charley horse” was as a little brat needling and buzzing my way below the belt on that Hasbro “board game” Operation. Fast forward to college, when I experienced my first abrupt leg spasm…and yeah, they’re not fun. So whether the term conjures thoughts of cursory surgery techniques or just a pain in the leg, there’s an indie rock outfit here in Austin eager to reclaim the mane and breed a positive connotation for Charley Horse.

These five friends rode in with their first pair of demos right around this same time last year, and followed it up that May with their appropriately-titled debut studio EP Summer. And even though Summer only clops in at about thirteen minutes over four tunes, it showed off Charley Horse’s versatility by galloping and cantering across power pop, psych, and alt-rock. Well, next Friday Charley Horse is set to hitch listeners in once again with their sophomore offering, Foothills

Foothills keeps it short and sweet at three brief tracks, which is honestly plenty enough to pad out their live performances and studio output as Charley Horse matures from foal into yearling. So while die-hard MLB fans count the days until March 30th, NBA heads dribble around in anticipation of the 30th Anniversary All-Star game this Sunday, and sunbathers count the clouds until spring, today Charley Horse chimes in with a bit of profound fashion-and-posture advice. If you’re chasing serenity, do it with your chin up, your eyes on the horizon, and your “Ball Cap” tipped high.

Maybe it’s this never-ending relay race of global pandemics, the collective cabin fever many of us endured during the recent ice storm, or just a gentle mist of malaise. Whatever the affliction, if the Milky Way’s main attraction is shining when you’re feeling imprisoned indoors, it’s always worth taking a couple of minutes to soak up some rays if you can. So with brighter days and clearer skies approaching with spring, perhaps it’s best to follow cues from our climate and embrace a sense of clarity.

Well, in the Austin rock realm, few indie-pop acts have managed to keep things as “clear” as Space Tan. Spearheaded by chief songwriter Gianni Sarmiento, Space Tan maintains transparency across both sonics and lyrics, leaving their melodies and messages ripe for in-ear radiance and emotional reflection. And on Friday, following up 2020’s Don’t Worry About Me and 2021’s Inti Raymi, Space Tan champions the obliteration of internal barriers on Prison Planet.

Prison Planet doesn’t want you to rot in a cell of your own inhibitions or deflective tendencies. Instead it incarcerates you in an energetic five-inmate gen pop of unconventionally inspirational indie rock, guaranteed to leave you re-evaluating any reservations you have for the coming year. Space Tan celebrates Prison Planet on March 3rd at Swan Dive for a joint release show with Domestic Tallboys alongside AMA and our January 2023 Artist of the Month je’Texas. And today, like an adorably deadpan indirect response to Youth Brigade’s 1983 call, Space Tan’s handed us a Strokes-esque testament to the value of life, “I Don’t Wanna Die”.

Longtime morning listeners can attest that the late great John Aielli was incredibly keen on his almanac commemorations, especially Halloween and Valentine’s Day. But the class act John was, he always kept it kosher on the actual calendar day, saving the delightful disdain of his Anti-Valentine’s playlist for February 15th. So in the time since he left us, it’s not surprising that former producers of John’s (including myself and my colleague Taylor) and other “Aeillians” like to jump the gun and get a little smarmy on Hallmark’s favorite holiday.

In that scornful spirit, For Spite presents “Singles Only” 6PM tonight at The Far Out Lounge, hosted by KUTX’s own Taylor Wallace. For just $10 you’ll get a lot more than a bouquet or a box of chocolate – four sets of hand-picked Austin acts back-to-back, each packed with a brand new offering. The evening kicks off with a Kiki Machine music video premiere and continues with three kick-ass single releases from Die Mart, Exotic Fruits, and today’s feature, The Blowies.

Comprised of Sharks in the Deep End ex-pats Tucker Jameson and Samuel Thompson, this hardcore duo dropped their uncouth debut The Blowies back in 2020. Their already-cynical take on societal commentary has flourished from their of-kilter confidence at start of the pandemic era into the breakneck tongue-in-cheek typhoon we now know as The Blowies. A new gale of high-octane punk touches down later this year on an as-of-yet-untitled sophomore full-length, one that brought The Blowies back to Public Hi-Fi Studio, this time with producer-engineer-extraordinaire Max Lorenzen. And when The Blowies hit the stage at 8PM tonight, join them in chanting an irreverent anthem that almost seems to celebrate the pessimism surrounding climate change by bidding farewell to our arctic ursine neighbors, “Bye Bye Polar Bears”!

Whatever your NFL affiliations may be, most music lovers would agree who took home the crown last night…Rihanna. But just a couple days before the big Half Time show, us central Texans were treated to our own set of spectacular visuals, courtesy of Damascan Daydreams.

Faithful to her handle, multi-instrumenatlist-songwriter-producer Eman Tiba was born in Syria’s southwestern capital before a creative childhood in central Ohio, a PhD-education at OSU, another batch of songwriting salad days in South Carolina, and eventually residency here in Austin. Like a twisted, feminine Little Nemo for our current generation, Damascan Daydreams transports us across a collective subconscious of exotic, electronic pop-inspired sounds.

Last Friday Damascan Daydreams followed up her noir-y repertoire of singles (“Haunted Home”, “French Film”, and “Lights, Color, Dark”) with her creepiest offering to date. Cloaked in seductive minor-second chord changes, “Crown of Gold” (and its incredible music video) feels almost like an alternate American Horror Story title sequence. But thanks to straight-ahead trap-style drum programming, sinister synth tones, and Tiba’s spectral soprano, “Crown of Gold” will weigh you down from how much head-bobbing it elicits.

Here at KUTX 98.9, we’ve never been too shy about our love of Ley Line. Since naming Ley Line as our October 2019 Artist of the Month, this language-crazed Austin-based quartet has become somewhat of a Song of the Day and Austin Music Minute darling. And that’s for a damn good reason.

If you follow Ley Line on socials you already know what we mean; whether it’s writing, recording, touring, performing, or soaking up influences across the globe, these four folk femmes always seem to be doing something. And in 2023, as they celebrate one whole decade since first meeting at Telluride Bluegrass Festival, we’re somewhat expecting Ley Line to surprise us with something else between now and their set at Old Settler’s Music Fest in April.

But until then, we’ll have to tide ourselves over with Ley Line’s latest studio single, which was last March’s “High Tide” up until today. This morning Ley Line woke up singing, had a cup, and poured up a Folger’s-fresh reflection on life’s sweeter moments. “Sometimes” tops that optimism off with soft vocals that effortlessly alternate between unison and harmony, breezy strings that’ll set your mind at ease, and a naturalistic, percussion-less arrangement that reminds us – you don’t need to march to the beat of anyone’s drum but the sun’s.

In the late ’60s and early ’70s, jam bands were all the rage. But now, in an era where song durations hinge on short attention spans or knowledge that shorter tunes simply hit bigger streaming numbers faster, jam bands are actually pretty polarizing. Even more recent innovators like Mars Volta or Godspeed You! Black Emperor have struggled to stay accessible because of lengthy runtimes. We’re so far removed from the long-form improvisation that jazz and rock normalized half a century back, that when a contemporary group can keep on jamming and pack it in on wax, they’ve got a serious leg up.

Take for instance Central Colorado quintet The Runaway Grooms. Sure, TRG’s 2020 debut Tied to the Sun simmers down with a 13-minute epic, but “Tales of Ernest” is really an outlier of their studio output. Instead The Runaway Grooms prove the power of brevity when laying down tracks. In doing so, The Runaway Grooms are able to evoke classic jam acts like The Allman Brothers or The Grateful Dead without sinking into the long song gimmick (looking at you, Phish). That ability to relegate the extended stuff to concerts is no doubt informed by seven national tours, but you don’t need to check their list of stops to experience This Road.

Tomorrow, on the heels of a statewide CO tour, The Runaway Grooms release their third album, This Road. This Road winds over eclectic retro blends in the ilk of Steely Dan and Yes across five originals. And with no genre stoplights in earshot, The Runaway Grooms navigate This Road by opening up the throttle, hitting hard left turns, and at times, coming to an abrupt stop, all while charting a cohesive musical pilgrimage. So if This Road is already giving you wanderlust jitters, rip into the record early with a single that that sounds like Jethro Tull and War had a funky-prog love child in the year between Aqualung and The World Is a Ghetto: “Mister Ford”.

When we think about the impact that Indian music has had here in Texas, most folks would knee-jerk react by pointing to Norah Jones, the Grapevine-raised, UNT-educated daughter of sitar legend Ravi Shankar. but obviously, despite Jones’ enormous talent, she’s not really who we look to when we want to hear authentic Eastern influences. For that, we gotta give it up for Mumbai-raised, Austin-based singer-songwriter Nagavalli. Nagavalli Medicharla made her mononymous debut in 2012 with Eastern Soul, a term she also applies to her boundless Eastern-meets-Western/traditional-meets-modern style. In the decade since Eastern Soul, Nagavalli’s interpolated Twelfth Night in a Bollywood style, earned an Austin Music Award nomination, and taken on roles as both Board Chair of EQ Austin and Vice Chair of the Austin Music Foundation. And on Friday, following up her ambitious 2019 endeavor Immersion, this invaluable international asset to our creative community re-embraces the spirit of cross-cultural unification with her next full-length, Numinosum. Numinosum combines the best-sounding bits of Eastern spirituality with pop, rock, jazz, and more, thanks to a dream team backing band and intriguing arrangements that showcase their fair share of world/ethnic instrumentation. Numinosum packages passionate English-language originals next to an Eliza Gilkyson cover, a Durga invocation, and even a couple Indo-Pak bangers. Nagavalli celebrates the release of Numinosum 5PM today for a free in-store performance at Waterloo Records and again 8PM this Saturday at The Paramount along with KUTX favorites BettySoo, Carrie Rodriguez, and Oliver Rajamani as well as familiar faces Patrice Pike and Indrajit Bannerjee. Unless you’ve mastered astral projection, attending both shows might be a bit of a stretch. But you can slay the demon that is Hump Day with “Guru”, a pocket-raga that transcends language through ethereal orchestration and entrancing dynamics.

While we here at KUTX celebrate our 10th birthday, it’s worth revisiting the folks who were KUT 90.5 heavyweights well before 98.9 FM’s call letters were even born. Among that roster of Central Texas mainstays is a real character of the airwaves, singer-guitarist Slaid Cleaves. It’s crazy to think that his breakout fifth LP No Angel Knows came out all the way back in 1997, especially considering that Slaid’s continued to cut through the competition like a certain kitchen utensil. Which, to maintain a presence in the Live Music Capital for more than a quarter century, is easier said than done…even with a pretty consistent three-to-four-year release rate such as Slaid’s.

On that note, diehard Slaid-heads (including horror legend Stephen King) might’ve become bereaved by Cleaves’ lack of post-pandemic output. Good news! On March 3rd Slaid slides back in with Together Through the Dark, his first studio offering since 2017’s Ghost on the Car Radio, and celebrates with an album release show later that month at The 04 Center. As you can imagine from the title, Together Through the Dark champions empathy in uncertain times, mainly anchored by Cleaves’ idiosyncratic storytelling but also applicable to the sans-power solidarity we’ve had the past couple weeks in Central Texas.

However it hits you, TTtD contains some of Slaid’s most mature folk-Americana compositions to date and a beautifully flawed sense of human confidence we could all appreciate right about now. So if you want to be the first of your friends to get your mitts on the new Slaid, set the needle down on the record’s third single “Second Hand”. Like a vintage Plymouth carrying you across your routine stops, “Second Hand” steers straight with easily-navigable chord changes, gentle harmonies, and as with all things Cleaves, a relatable narrative. After all, who thinks being a thrifty family man is unfashionable?

After an excruciating week of weather-related rancor and cabin fever here in Austin, the prospect of seeking refuge in nature versus spending additional time indoors may seem less a transcendentalist fantasy and more the extension of a Kafka-esque sentence. But of course, bitter winter feelings aside, the physical walls of a house do little to confine fires of creativity.

Take for instance Mary Elizabeth Remington, whose bucolic childhood was spent in and around a log cabin near Hardwick, Massachusetts. And while Remington’s Walden-reminiscent upbringing gave her an intrinsic appreciation for nature (a must-have for folk songwriters), those talents didn’t sprout up into public consciousness until she made her first live performance at the 2013 Kerrville Folk Festival. Ten years later, Remington’s ready to reveal a life’s-worth of Americana-folk reflections with her debut full-length, In Embudo.

True to its title, In Embudo finds Remington shacked up across the nation from her Moose Brook origins, in cozy quarters near the Rio Grande in New Mexico. While Sarah W. only had ghosts as company in Winchester House, the Remington’s Embudo HQ was full of life over this LP’s recording session; Remington recruited Adrianne Lenker and James Krivchenia of Big Thief alongside Twain’s Matt Davidson for these eleven originals. In classic folk fashion, In Embudo brushes away the allure of digital and instead embraces the nuanced imperfections of 4-track tape, an aesthetic that (along with plenty of elemental song titles) totally sells us on Remington’s biophilic presence. In Embudo drops this Friday, but if you’re not willing to brave the unbridled, even in song form, at least heed a small piece of civilization. Like Nick Drake and Vashti Bunyan had a lovechild set to CSN’s “Wooden Ships”, In Embudo‘s album closer “Wooden Roads” will lilt you with balmy bongo taps, sanguine guitar, and Mary Elizabeth Remington’s soon-to-be renowned vocals.

It’s been a tough week across Central Texas. Hundreds of thousands are still without power. Agitations over limited amenities reveal just how much we depend on electricity and WiFi to fully participate in our “advanced society”. The worst of this severe winter weather already seems behind us, so might as well return to routine and re-engage with Austin’s cultural capital. In today’s case, The Western Civilization. The fabric of The Western Civilization was sewn in Houston back at the turn of the millennium between Rachel Hasbro and Reggie O’Farrell. Now, two decades later, they split their time as a quartet between H-Town and ATX. If you haven’t checked out The Western Civilization yet, we definitely recommend starting with their 2007 debut LP Letters of Resignation. Once you’re done you might be disappointed by the lack of a sophomore follow up fifteen years down the line. If that’s the case, don’t turn tail quite yet, ’cause you’re in luck. Today, following last October’s “Bible Verses for Kids”, The Western Civilization shared the second single from their upcoming full-length Fractions of a Whole, due this fall. If you’re able to wait a whole week to unleash your cabin fever, you can let it all out 8PM next Friday for a free single release performance at ABGB. If you’re unfortunate enough to still not have power and just here to grasp some modicum of modernity, The Western Civilization’s latest original is available below. “If You’re Lucky”, you’ll appreciate a tune that sounds like Broken Social Scene was tempered by Arcade Fire in a forge of much-needed, off-kilter indie rock warmth.

Cheer Up Charlie’s consecutively scores “Best of Austin” awards, and deservedly so. Within downtown’s highly competitive Red River District, this renowned venue has maintained staying power thanks to its all-welcoming attitude, calculated curations, and unique use of natural landscape. So unsurprisingly, most concertgoers in Austin have made fond memories at Cheer Up Charlie’s, no matter how hazy they may be. And concerning the creative community, we suspect Cheer Up’s has probably inspired more art than meets the eye.

Case in point, a modern tale of allure set against Cheer Up Charlie’s iconic neon lights from our April 2020 Artist of the Month, Hey Cowboy!. Since moseying down here in 2018, these three Dentonites continue to lasso listeners into their synth-pop posse. Less of a Mexican standoff and more of a guitar-verboten Wild Bunch, Hey Cowboy! corrals the best bits of vintage film scores, psychedelia, and even some punk, all sans-six-string. Their sandy, lambent arrangements plant you right in the saddle and entrance you towards a grainy horizon of mid-fi harmonies.

Like a steel plate beneath a poncho, Hey Cowboy!’s kept the new stuff under wraps, but promise their third full-length for release some time in 2023. Today, ahead of a live gig at Volstead Lounge 10pm on Valentine’s Day opening for fellow KUTX favorites Sun June and Star Parks, Hey Cowboy! casts a spell with their first jingling spur of the year, “Mesmerize”. Fastened by a hypnotic drum strut and intriguing, sedative intervals (both vocal and instrumental), it’s tough to resist Hey Cowboy’s command to dance in this misty recollection of a Cheer Up’s tryst.

Happy Black History Month! You may know that the first observance took place at Kent State in early 1970, back when the civil rights movement was still fresh in memory and the Black Power movement was just ramping up. But did you know that funk pioneers Kool & the Gang dropped their eponymous debut mere weeks before the first Black History Month? It’s a curious cultural crossroad, but also pretty remarkable that they’re both still going strong in 2023. Kool & the Gang are responsible for some of the most recognizable, influential, and enduring soul-funk-R&B hits of the ’70s and ’80s; chances are, regardless of your age, you’ve heard them in some shape or form. The latest generation of the Gang (which includes Robert “Kool” Bell himself and founding drummer “Funky” Brown) makes history once again 8PM this Saturday at ACL Live at the Moody Theater along with opener/KUTX favorite Tameca Jones. And if you don’t think their newer stuff captures the aura of all their best ’80s bops, mingle with rising R&B star Sha Sha Jones on “Let’s Party”. Just don’t come complaining once it overtakes “About Damn Time” in your top played tracks.

When we watch characters like Marge Simpson or Mad Men‘s Betty Draper, their “homemaker” status is typically the butt of a joke. However after plenty of post-lockdown reflections, the status quo has clearly shifted back to domestic preferences. And although she’s worked damn hard for her planet-spanning, twenty-plus-year success, Canada’s Jill Barber is ready to put aside almost all of it in favor of motherhood and marriage. Almost. Barber boasts a discography dating back to 2002, an impressive list of international festival appearances, three JUNO nominations, countless awards, song placement in programs like Orange is the New Black, ambassadorship with Save the Children, bilingual fluency, and oh yeah, authorship of two children’s books. With a decade of marriage under her belt and a couple kids tied to her hip, this highly-decorated debonair has entered her forties with the maternal wisdom that you simply can’t rush greatness, nor should you ascribe to outdated norms. Sure, Jill still mixes a potpourri of infectious folk arrangements and seductive jazz vocals within perspicacious pop formulas. But she’s also eager to reclaim and re-appropriate the term “homemaker” on her eleventh full-length of the same name, out next Friday. Homemaker is a jubilant piece of musical matriarchy and cooperation, plain and simple, one that recognizes that nobody succeeds alone, that twice the work for half the pay is a raw deal. Barber’s latest cut comes straight from her creative nerve center in Vancouver, British Columbia and serves as her first as co-producer, yet another testament to the power of nurturing together. So if you want to stave off these statewide winter shivers, harness the warmth of emotional energy within Homemaker and say heck yeah to “Hell No”.

Seasons are changing and wintertime migrations are abound. But here in the Live Music Capital of the World, we’ve learned that there’s an influx of musicians from other musical metropolitans year-round. One of which, Ohio-raised multi-instrumentalist Sam Shaffer, recently hopped down here not too long ago. After a handful of albums and countless performances with Chicago psych three-piece Faintlife, Shaffer relocated to the Lone Star State in late 2021, right around the same time he recorded his solo debut EP, Quiet Delta. Shaffer kept the momentum from the windy city by writing and recording and first-full-length Valley of the Living Water, which swept through last September. This dozen-song collection offers some pretty honest indie-psych-folk sonics, secured by Shaffer’s velvety vocals and largely unadulterated by post-production effects. That last bit is obviously more impressive live in concert, cold weather be damned. For a Chicagoan like Shaffer, these temps won’t do much to deter him from putting on a killer show 10PM tomorrow night at Hotel Vegas, opening for Sunrosa and Guma. Take today to familiarize yourself with the Valley of the Living Water, and be sure to greet Shaffer on Tuesday evening with one of two questioning song titles off the LP, “Sup?”.

We hope you’ve been enjoying the start of our Under the Covers weekend! And since it’s so warm and snuggly under here, we certainly won’t be the ones to tear the blanket off. One of my personal favorite things to discover in hearing a new rendition of an established classic is when the “updated” version looks at the fork in the road just past a tune’s tracks and opts for the less beaten path.

Sure you could just genre-swap the sound or gender-swap love lyrics to fit your orientation, but the covers that blow my mind the most are the ones that capture the essence of the original without sacrificing any of its integrity all the while turning it into something bigger. So with something as magnificent as Bill Callahans’ baritone-battened “Drover“, it takes a brilliantly creative mind to imagine how a masterpiece like this may sound with a more feminine, folksy inflection. A mind like Aoife O’Donovan’s.

This Grammy-winning songwriter co-founded KUTX favorite I’m With Her and continues to front the string quintet Crooked Still. On top of that, a ton of other collaborations, plus her decade-long status as a mainstay on Prairie Home Companion, O’Donovan’s an incredibly accomplished solo artist. At the start of January, Aoife O’Donovan announced The Apathy Sessions, a deluxe edition of last year’s acclaimed Age of Apathy LP that finally hit streaming today. You’ll surely recognize Sharon Van Etten’s “I Love You But I’m Lost” among the twenty-track roster, which is phenomenal in its own right, but O’Donovan’s take on “Drover” almost redefines Callahan’s tale of bucolic solitude. O’Donovan performs every instrument (guitar, bass, keys, and of course, vocals) in this incandescent recording that unplugs the amps and plants you right on the emotionally abandoned ranch. So saddle up…just try not to tear up too.

Based on one fossil of a film franchise, we’ve pretty much come to belief that most archaeologists have some sort of a side hustle. And although they haven’t had escapades like Indy’s quite yet, today we’re digging into Austin’s Bennett Dampier. Dampier recently wrapped up his Master’s in Archaeology at Texas State, which is impressive on its own but doubly so considering he split that time writing and recording his debut album.

Produced by David Ramirez/Big Bill drummer Jeffrey Olson and Heartless Bastards/Star Parks bassist Sam Pankey, Multiverse Tirade stacks nine tracks into a neat little package. The LP’s chock-full of Dampier’s friends for a real “who’s who” of Austin talent from projects like PR Newman, Annabelle Chairlegs, CAPYAC, Motenko, Batty, Jr., and more. Conceptually a break-up record, each arrangement, each choice of players corresponds with a specific stage of post-relationship coping, collectively into one heck of an emotional experience.

So while we await Multiverse Tirade‘s release date, Dampier’s given us a galloping skiffle-orchestral original to tide us over ’til next week. At just over three minutes, the folksy psych harmonies and melancholy trot of “I Hate You” make it sound like an unreleased B-Side from the Get Back/Let It Be sessions, albeit defined by Dampier’s own McCartney-esque charm.

Without a cursory glance at the classical glossary, the term “chamber” might be a bit off-putting. No, it’s not music to be tortured to, nor the ambiance you’d hear in a musty dungeon. Instead, when we talk about “chamber music“, we’re really referring to palatial arrangements and efficient approaches that rely more on cooperation between players relative to their performance space, basically allowing a room’s acoustics to take on a character of its own. As a genre modifier, jazz and folk are perhaps the most analogous modern styles you could revolve into the chamber, thanks to their emphases on solo ability and roots in large hall venues. So in an era where we can digitally replicate reverb across thousands of different room designs with the click of a button, it’s heartwarming to hear artists continue to employ this centuries-old technique.

Among those with technical respect for their sonic surroundings? Los Angeles pianist-composer Christina Galisatus. Galisatus spent her adolescence internationally touring with a symphony orchestra playing French horn, but by the time she started college, she’d fully returned to her childhood love of the ivories. Stanford degree now on the mantle, Christina Galisatus is eager to share her own variety of evocative, jazz-folk vibrations.

This Friday Christina Galisatus gifts us her debut full-length Without Night, an amazing encapsulation of chamber-adjacent live concert magic. At sixteen tunes (a baker’s dozen of originals plus two interludes and a reprise), each harmonic reflection is a remarkable moment of nuance, only made possible through an interaction between Galisatus, her backing sextet, and their acoustic environment. Without Night also marks Galisatus’ first foray into formally writing lyrics, an experience that lends itself to the LP’s sense of rumination and resonance. But before Without Night hits wax this weekend, Christina’s lit a wick that illuminates the album’s dulcet discipline and dynamic range. The ensemble’s synchronicity both with each other and their shared space glows throughout “Candlelight”, like a torch-in-sconce that taper off the walls, floor, and ceiling into an almost amorphous luminescence.

Back in the Summer of 2018 a somewhat unexpected pairing popped up and completely blew all of us at KUTX away. I’m talking about Austin duo (and our July 2018 Artist of the Month) Night Glitter, although technically you could call them a supergroup, considering its core is composed of The Happen-Ins’ John-Michael Schoepf and longtime Thievery Corporation singer/svengali Loulou Ghelichkani. Since launching the project, they’ve learned that parenthood doesn’t necessarily preclude plugging in in the PM hours and producing under the veil of darkness.

And these aren’t just slight hitters. No, they’re noir-y psychedelic cross-genre bangers imbued with hypnotic synth-driven dream pop and Franglais lyrics, like if Cahiers du Cinéma came up with the Blade Runner soundtrack. And lately, Night Glitter’s hinted at a new collection of tunes, due for release sometime in 2023. Once again we’re expecting them to entrance us the moment they crank those analog knobs, as experienced during their seminal studio 1A appearance.

For those who haven’t witnessed Night Glitter live, they’ll be playing back-to-back 3Ten ACL Live performances opening for Poi Dog Pondering in late February. But for the sake of their fans’ well-being, Night Glitter also just released their first single of the year, “Magic Eyes”. From its initial crescendo all the way to its final breath, “Magic Eyes” is a gaze-inducing three-and-a-half minute piece of sonic sorcery that casts its spell with delayed-out vocals, an arpeggiated bridge, and a synesthetic sense of eye contact for your ears.

Last March we tipped you off about Austin’s Light Wheel, right around the release of their sophomore LP See Through. The Shining-level chemistry between producer Evan Dunivan and vocalist Tyagaraja Welch is still going strong, and still, according to them, best enjoyed live. Rounded out with a two-man rhythm section, Light Wheel continues to put a pretty bright spin on the indie rock genre, covering a wide spectrum from R&B and pop all the way to psych and prog.

Today Light Wheel rolled out their first single of the year, which despite the exigence of its title, is a charming four-minute slow burn. Like a rocky canoe through uncertain waters, “Sudden Changes” softly paddles with acoustic oars and sparse percussion strokes, all steered by by Tyagraja’s serene siren singing. So as us weekday workers transition back into Monday, soak up “Sudden Changes”‘s sonics and save ’em for when you need to ease into the next big shift in your life.

Over the past couple months, both on air and online, we here at KUTX have all been geeking out over this rising four-piece Redbud. I mean, they’re immaculate. Redbud’s misty indie-psych-pop swamp almost obscures how much each member dedicates to this project; on surface value they all kind of seem too cool for school (especially frontwoman Katie Claghorn), but when you listen to their recordings, you can instantly tell how disciplined and demiurgic this dual dyad is.

This year Redbud’s raring to release their debut EP, The Long Night. If you’re a crusty ex-Game of Thrones fan, don’t be discouraged by its title. Rather than a bungled, essentially-meaningless attempt that could never live up to its own hype, Redbud’s The Long Night is a concise, five-track masterpiece of unearthly arrangements, airtight structures, and a caliber of songwriting we rarely hear from relative newcomers.

The Long Night drops February 24th and Redbud plays 10:15PM tonight opening for The Stacks’ EP Release show at Hotel Vegas. So while you get ready to get rowdy on the east side, practice your howls at home with the sickly sweet “Sad On The North Side”. Expect plenty more mesmerizing percussion patterns, intriguing chord changes, and ghostly vocals to haunt your ear drums through the weekend.

I’ve already chimed in on the use of the word “songstress” plenty before, so I might as well lend my piece to the discourse once again. For me, unless we’re talking about Ella Fitzgerald or Etta James, the term “songstress” comes off as kind of archaic. Like, it’s 2023; should we really single out artists based on sex instead of…you know…altogether ditching an engendered midcentury descriptor and letting the music speak for itself?

Short answer: Sometimes…maybe.

Exhibit A: Austin’s Akina Adderley. Full-bodied performances, unfettering feminist energy, and a direct link to jazz-and-R&B-defining greats? Yeah. That’s a songstress. As the grand-niece of Cannonball Adderley, granddaughter of Nat Adderley, and daughter of Luther Vandross Music Director/Co-Songwriter Nat Adderley, Jr., genre transcendence is literally encoded in Akina’s DNA. And between her eponymous octet, NORI and Charlie Faye & The Fayettes, plus numerous guest appearances on Austin-produced albums, Akina just doesn’t miss.

Akina has some don’t-miss shows over the next couple months, but she’s stolen today’s spotlight thanks to her latest studio single. And it’s the best kind of love song – the torch variety. Bookended by Nat Jr.’s explorative ivories, “Where Does The Love Go?” would make for an intimately welcome intermission between Frank Sinatra’s Only the Lonely and Billie Holiday’s Music for Torching. The sense of space in this arrangement is nothing short of astonishing, easily matching the calibre of your favorite orchestral tearjerkers. The only thing we’re surprised by is that “Where Does The Love Go?” isn’t a Broadway darling…at least not yet.

If a classically-minded academic comes across the name “Hall Johnson”, they’ll likely think of one figure and one figure only: the highly-renowned composer, arranger, and choir conductor of African-American spirituals. And although we are rapidly approaching Black History Month, contemporary scholars of the local scene have probably already pieced together who we’re really talking about…indie-rock quartet Hall Johnson. These childhood friends have spent the past half decade perfecting their performance, four of those years right here in Austin. They’ve played alongside indie rock icons like Beach Fossils but as has sadly become standard in the last couple years, the COVID-19 pandemic put a stop to Hall Johnson’s 2022 West Coast tour plans. Hall Johnson ended up seizing that newfound time to write and record their third EP A Slow Descent, all the while keeping their debut full-length cooped up in post-production. You see, Hall Johnson tracked Haymaker back in August 2021 against the bucolic backdrop of Ashlawn Recording Company in rural Connecticut. Thanks to a month-long pastoral production period, isolated trails, pickup basketball, lakeside wakes, and skipping stones are all ingrained in Haymaker‘s eleven originals. You’ll be able to drop a needle on Haymaker once it hits vinyl in May, but given the level of wanderlust that Haymaker‘s piqued, you’ll want to unpack its lead single, “OMWO” now. An immaculately-balanced, easy-going indie-rock bop, “OMWO” ought to sate your trumpet-arrangement tastes and chase away any malaise while Hall Johnson is on their way out with more.

For the better half of last year, our staff made damn sure you knew the name Jake Ames. As co-founder of our May 2022 Artist of the Month Good Looks, Ames helped introduce us to “Vision Boards”, a KUTX airwave darling that’s seemingly become a generation-defining indie rock anthem. You may also remember that Ames was struck by a car on the verge of an expansive Good Looks tour..but don’t worry; he’s fine now and ready for you to feast on his latest collaborative labor of love…via The Stacks.

The Stacks got their start back in 2015, and have kept Ames’ insatiable, auteurist hunger and guitar-engulfed earworms front and center ever since. Pre-pandemic, the three-piece strictly existed in the live performance realm, only sharing their first studio single “Chicon” on April Fool’s Day 2021. “Chicon” proved far from a holiday farce and instead shook things up in the right direction for The Stacks, whose madman amp accumulation finally hits wax this weekend.

The Stacks’ debut 8-track, Lay Me Down To Rest, coincides with a record release show 9PM this Friday at Hotel Vegas alongside openers Rusty Dusty, Redbud, and Sammy G. So check out just how well this un-toppleable trio…stacks up in person and anoint yourself with one of Lay Me Down To Rest‘s most serene blessings. “St. Michael” was actually The Stacks’ sophomore studio offering (initially issued in May 2021), but its hallowed vocal harmonies, empyrean rhythms, and blissful six-string licks slap so hard, even an erratic archangel could be cajoled back to a state of calm.

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day! In commemoration of nonviolent protest, overcoming societal struggles, community engagement, and voicing our dreams, today we’re putting the focus on Fantastic Negrito. Born just 74 days before Dr. King’s assassination, Xavier Dphrepaulezz spent his teens witnessing Black oppression firsthand while selling drugs and toting guns in Oakland at the onset of the ’80s crack epidemic. It wasn’t until listening to Prince’s Dirty Mind and learning of his autodidact status that Xavier decided to zero in on artistry, skip formal enrollment, and eventually sit in on Berkeley music classes.

Three years after the release of his 1996 mononymous Interscope debut The X Factor, a car crash left Xavier in a three-week coma. Once Interscope severed their ties, Xavier, fully recovered or not, slipped back into the street mentality and opened an off-the-books club in South Central L.A.. If the story stopped here, Dr. King would’ve chided it as a cautionary tale. But in 2014, Xavier returned to the songwriting realm with “black roots music for everyone” on Fantastic Negrito.

Since then, Fantastic Negrito’s released four additional full-lengths, three of which garnered Grammys for “Best Contemporary Blues Album”. Most recently, Fantastic Negrito’s fanned enthusiasm for Grandfather Courage, an all-acoustic reimagining of last year’s White Jesus Black Problems that drops on February 3rd. In a way Grandfather Courage continues King’s legacy by retelling stories on behalf of our elders and introducing their discourses to a new generation of dreamers. Hear for yourself on the record’s lead single, a stripped-down rework of “Highest Bidder”.

Given the generation-sprawling success of industry darlings like Billie Eilish and Future, it’s safe to say that the use of auto-tune has become a near-universally-accepted aesthetic. Or at least more so than when “Believe” first broke conventions in 1998 or when the disdainful “D.O.A.” dropped in 2009. Auto-tune’s ascent into ubiquity has also aligned nicely with an advent of alt-pop over the past decade, a movement that wouldn’t be what it is without acts like Felt Out.

Cemented in ten years of friendship, Austin multi-instrumentalist/producers Sowmya Somanath and Walter Nichols first showed off their sultry smooth style on Felt Out’s 2019 debut full-length Superfluid. The pair also passed off a trio of Superfluid B-Sides back in 2021, but since then we’ve felt a bit in the dark about what’s next for Felt Out. Today, that all changes.

Felt Out announced their sophomore full-length Until I’m Light earlier this morning. The ten-track LP’s set for release on April 14th, toting some of the most innovative harmonic auto-tuning we’ve heard since Imogen Heap’s mid-2000s heyday. The record’s lead single “Closer” just touched down alongside a phantom-filled music video, whose forlorn dynamics and fleshly form will make you feel held all the way up to Until I’m Light‘s release day.

After enough time in a live music hub such as ours, one of the most satisfying things to see is when local acts join forces, hit the road together, and take the nation by storm. Want to bear witness yourself this weekend? You’re in luck! As part of our 10th Birthday Concert Series, this Sunday KUTX presents a dual tour kickoff featuring two of Austin’s finest indie-adjacent outfits. I’m talking about our March 2021 Artist of the Month Sun June alongside our September 2020 Artist of the Month (and today’s spotlight) Why Bonnie. Founded by Houstonian Blair Howerton a half decade back, Why Bonnie began evolving into the “shoegaze-icana” phenomenon we’ve grown to adore over the course of three EPs: 2018’s In Water and Nightgown followed by 2020’s Voice Box. Last August, Why Bonnie rounded out their lineup as a quintet and blew us away with their debut full-length 90 in November, a ten-track half-hour human piece of imperfect heaven. Why Bonnie and Sun June are set to be West buds as they co-headline a six-stop week-long West Coast tour, prefaced by an 18+ show along with Redbud 8PM this Sunday at Antone’s. The opportunity to catch two KUTX Artists of the Month for the price of one (post-Free Week) seems like a great value. But if you’re not ready to brave the downtown crowds, you can certainly still appreciate the autumnal trot of “Apple Tree”, the soothing seed of a 90 in November B-Side just unearthed on Tuesday.

It’s not really an industry secret that some of the very best songwriters are the most patient ones, the ones who soak up a ton of pre-existing stuff before ever playing their first note. And needless to say, if you’re close to the Live Music Capital of the World, you and your creative sponge are in pretty good shape.

It wasn’t all that long ago that Alex Gaw became a father in his mid-30s, settled down a stone’s throw away in Round Rock, and moved up from guitar and ukulele lessons to fulfilling, honest songwriting. On top of inspirational Austin mainstays like Bob Schneider and Matt the Electrician, Gaw’s biggest influences include Metric, Fleet Foxes, jazz, and Joy Division.

Gaw seems especially struck by that final act, considering the original title of his sophomore single explicitly name-dropped Joy Division’s infamously tortured frontman. But even after just one spin of “Something Behind”, its indie-folk eclecticism (which features Wilson Marks on electric guitar and loops), fine-tuned dynamics, and lyric-less refrains will leave you agog to hear more from Alex Gaw, wherever his next muse may lie.

As we hit double digit days in the new year, it’s worth mentioning that in the past week and a half alone, a bevy of superb songs have already sweetened the deal for 2023. And there’s proof in the purring! Roughly one year after premiering a triplet of live performance videos on YouTube, Austin quartet Sugar Purr just gave us a double lump with their debut pair of studio singles last Saturday. And before you hiss at their handle; you’d better believe these morsels are for more than just Meow-Meows! Spearheaded by singer-guitarist John Wilhelm, Sugar Purr crafts complex sonic cocktails; they refine and reverberate elements of Pink Floyd, Andy Schauf, and Santo & Johnny into psychedelic country-tropical concoctions, somehow ideal for both lonesome buckaroos and boozy beach bums alike. The newly-released B-Side is just as much of a treat as its predecessor but we had to unwrap Sugar Purr for newcomers with the luau-ready lap steel and siesta-friendly structure of “Other Heart”. Just don’t nod off at work.

I’ve talked plenty before about my affinity for ambient music. So when those healing frequencies are made more accessible through pop production techniques, it’s absolutely an attention-getter. And if there’s one pair from North of the Border you ought to keep on your ambient pop radar, it’s unmistakably Best Fern.

Built from the ground up by composer-producers Alexia Avina and Nick Schofield, Best Fern showcased subdued rhythm patterns, breathy, effects-drenched singing, and heavenly synth harmonics on their eponymous 2016 debut EP. Best Fern nurtured a fertile collection of covers the following summer and again at the top of 2018 with a-ha’s “Take on Me”. But after that April’s sole original, “I Know You Know”, Best Fern’s left us a bit bereft…until now.

With a half decade of studio silence finally behind them, Best Fern is set to return with their first-ever full-length, Earth Then Air. These dozen new originals drop on February 3rd and’ll definitely let you discern how rooted Best Fern still is in soothing, misty soundscapes. Earth Then Air‘s initial offering “Way Inside” came out last November, and today Best Fern’s tossed us another spore, “Before I Go”. Other than the trademark ambient crescendo/decrescendo bookends, the pale pulsations, reverb-and-delay-enveloped vocals, and nuanced synth-bass work make “Before I Go” one of the best ambient-pop bops you’ll hear in the 2020s.

We hint quite a bit about the significance of risky pivots. Of course, as casual listener-observers, we usually only see the success stories, not the hurdles to get there. But when someone does pull it off, it’s incredibly satisfying to see (and hear). Which brings us to Barb.

Born Barbara Klavin, this Austinite spent her first two and a half decades engrossed in athletics, most notably as an active, excelling participant in Texas Rowing. However in the midst of some emotional turmoil, Klavin recently hung up the oars, picked up the pen and six-string, and made way for Barb.

Last year Klavin introduced us to her candidly queer identity and soulful brand of indie-surf-rock with Barb’s debut single, “Small Talk”. And today she’s followed it up with what’s easily my favorite tune of 2023 so far. Encased in coquettish guitar riffs, poignant lyrics, and bittersweet chord changes, (not to mention Barb’s heart-melting vocals and some exceptional percussion fills) “Liar” is a truly beautiful track, (even if you’re kinda f****d up right now). Listen all you like in the player below and catch Barb live at Swan Dive next Friday and on Friday the 20th.

For much of the English-speaking world, the genre we call “New Wave” can be pretty easily categorized. However it’s worth noting that this late ’70s/early ’80s post-punk pop movement wasn’t actually the original “new wave”. That title goes to the little ’60s Brazilian post-samba sensation known as “Bossa nova“. Of course, the very best Bossa came out a half century back. But that hasn’t kept contemporary innovators out of Bossa nova’s seductive currents; take for example Brooklyn’s Erik Laroi, who uses the classic, sandy sound as a transcontinental bridge between modern indie and the golden age of baroque pop. Under the handle Lost Weekend, this David Gilmour-reminiscent singer-guitarist is soon set to share a dozen such indie-bossa-pop bops on his debut LP Memorias. Like an audio-only lucid dream, Memorias transports you to different times and places throughout these incredibly-calculated arrangements, which were fastidiously pieced together over a two-year bicoastal recording period. And today Lost Weekend’s given us an early forecast for Memorias ahead of the record release next Friday, one that features Mascott frontwoman Kendall Jane Meade on vocal harmonies. In a four-and-a-half minute trickle of tranquility, “Soft, Summer Rain” swells with flailing flutes, lightning-tight trumpets, and elegiac electric piano, from which you won’t want to dry off.

We’re still only in the first handful of days for 2023, and in the Live Music Capital of the World…you know what that means. It’s Free Week! And if you haven’t heard yet, KUTX has a locally-curated showcase coming up in a couple days. It’ll kick off 8PM this Friday at Cheer Up Charlie’s with a bill that includes Como Las Movies, Redbud, 10pmtoclose and Skateland. Born Dorian Williams II, this multi-instrumentalist/singer/producer came to Austin from Las Vegas in pursuit of a degree at UT. But as with many other young creatives, Austin’s artistic aura helped sway Williams to also cement a musical project of his own, Skateland. Skateland’s trucks balance between moody alt-pop and tranquil indie-shoegaze, like if St. Vincent and Weyes Blood were grinding rails and transferring pipes alongside Beach House and Alvvays in the same park. Sure, Skateland’s only got a couple studio singles out as of now, but both of ’em are sensationally mellow cross-genre bops. As such, Skateland put his formula right there in the title of his upcoming debut EP: New Wave Revival. We’re looking forward to more lyrical gloom, retro instrumentation, and proven pop production methods when New Wave Revival drops on February 16th, and during Skateland’s set 9:40PM on Friday. Just don’t let his latest Weeknd-esque earworm (and music video) “Wreck” wipe out your productivity this Wednesday.

Back in Summer of 2016 a quartet calling themselves A Case For Brooklyn treated the Austin area to an ear-catching original; entitled, “All Your Money”, it was a killer tryst of styles that recalled RHCP, Björk and No Doubt, which is a pretty strong start to say the least. Yet soon after these longtime friends shed the ACFB handle in favor of something a little more ferocious…Ladyfang.

Since that switch, Ladyfang’s flourished atop unfettered feminine flamboyance and chaotic pop rock combos, sinking one infectious incisor after another into listeners old and new. This year, however, we’ll finally be getting a filled-out row from Ladyfang, courtesy of the four-piece’s upcoming self-titled full-length.

Produced by Chris “Frenchie” Smith and Brett Marcom at The Bubble, Ladyfang is guaranteed to be the group’s most coherent experience to date outside of live performances. And the proof is in the premolars! Today Ladyfang unfurled their first foray for 2023 and the eponymous LP’s second lead single. Don’t be deceived by the mellow guitar intro of “D C L”; by the 40-second mark all hell breaks loose in this masterclass of pop rock dynamics.

Happy New Year! I spent the last bit of December collecting some truly outstanding new music that I’m eager to introduce to y’all…starting today with Austin’s Sam Pace and the Gilded Grit. One glance at Pace’s striking eyes, vicious visage, and black wide-brimmed hat is all it takes to imagine him as a rugged 19th-century, mixed-morality dime novel protagonist, but really he’s more of a contemporary Southern soul-rock scarecrow.

But don’t be intimidated by appearances! Anchored by his bewitching baritone and stinging six-string techniques, Sam Pace and the Gilded Grit have stayed strong across Austin and beyond for just over a decade now. They’ve got four phenomenal full-lengths out and on streaming for you to peruse through, though the big news for the Gilded Grit in the New Year is a single release show, 10PM this Friday at Saxon Pub.

However, Friday’s all the way at the end of the week, and I know folks are trying to hit the ground running in 2023 (myself included). That’s why, in keeping pace with the passing of a year, Sam and the Gilded Grit have gifted us an early piece of inspiration. Its message essentially champions resilience and courage when faced by darkness, and between production by Chris “Frenchie” Smith, a guitar solo that’d make Jack White’s jaw drop, and an airtight arrangement, “The Light” extends well past “carpe diem”, and instead begs you to “carpe annum” over the next twelve months.

Well…it’s the very last Song of the Day for 2022. As mentioned before, we’ll be off for a couple weeks and returning with an exciting batch of premieres on Monday, January 2nd. But with Christmas just over a week away now, we’d be remiss if we didn’t save the very best 2022 yuletide tune for last. If you don’t know Bronx-born vocalist Samara Joy, hop aboard the hype train (whose existing passengers include LaKeith Stanfield and Regina King) now. At just 23, Joy’s already begun to lead a new generation of jazz royalty, thanks to a pair of incredible post-lockdown LPs. Joy’s latest, Linger Awhile, picks up where her 2021 eponymous debut left off, and marks an indoctrination into the ranks of fellow Verve virtuosos – Anita O’Day, Ella Fitzgerald, and Billie Holiday. Both albums make great evergreen gifts for the vocal jazz fanatic in your family, but Samara’s not shy about her love of Christmas either. In fact she was just here in Austin last Wednesday for Big Band Holidays w/J@LC Orchestra. Joy just dropped an intimate, gospel collaboration “O Holy Night” with The McLendon Family, but considering the all-too-real risks of blackouts this coming Winter, we’re tossing “Warm in December” straight into your stocking. By nixing the clichéd cheese of sleigh bell percussion and leaving plenty of space for improv piano and sensitive dynamic shifts, “Warm in December” transcends your run-of-the-mill Christmas playlist as a contemporary jazz instant classic.

In the small riverside town of Clearwater, Kansas, claims to fame are few and far between. Now that’s not a slight on Clearwater; I’m well aware that we can’t all reside someplace with a prestigious nickname like “The Live Music Capital of the World”. But aside from adjacency to the historic Chisholm Trail and producing a couple title-winning supermodels (plus a radiation roboticist), chances are you’d only know Clearwater through rising country star Logan Mize.

Since sharing his eponymous debut in 2009, Mize has spent the past dozen-plus years rounding out an incredibly-accessible style with a rich, ever-growing discography. That also means Mize has stepped up his live game quite a bit as well; he’s not only toured alongside industry heavyweights like Eric Church, Leeann Rimes, and Blake Shelton, but just made his second stage appearance at the iconic Grand Ole Opry two weeks back as well.

But the holidays are all about hugging your loved ones around the hearth, right? Well, hot off the success of their 2021 concept collaboration Welcome to Prairieville, Jill Martin joined her husband in-studio once again for Merry Christmas from Logan Mize‘s centerpiece. Like a big box from Santa that everyone wants to tear open, “Wrapped” and its accompanying music video are far from the white elephant of Merry Christmas. Instead “Wrapped” is the perfect excuse to fill your glass with something warm, unwind, and make the most of mistletoe with your respective Mr. or Mrs. Claus.

Back on Monday we mentioned that we’d be plying the final Songs of the Day with nothing but Holiday tunes. But honestly, today’s spotlight is a bit looser of an interpretation…and it comes on behalf of New York City ambient country outfit SUSS. See, SUSS has endured several dramatic changes of season in the past couple years, least of which concern the weather.

Coming off the success of their 2020 LP Promise, SUSS rode the momentum right back into the studio for their next record, Night Suite. But just as they’d wrapped, SUSS co-founder Gary Leib tragically passed away. With Night Suite already completed and drenched in a sense of loss, SUSS soldiered on as a three-piece with a master plan: create a series of EPs that contextualize Leib’s final contributions within SUSS’s evolving formulas.

Night Suite was followed by Heat Haze this past June and Winter Was Hard just last month. Concluding with Across the Horizon, this comprehensive four-parter was compiled into an eponymous, double-disc chronicle just a couple weeks back. Of course, SUSS‘s consumption has to be done in one sitting for the full effect. But in lieu of still-busy schedules, and perhaps even some end-of-year anxiety, you can also jump straight to Winter Was Hard. Like a sans-dialogue Gary Paulsen novel, this six-song suite will transport you to a bleak and trying tundra of arctic arrangements, warmed only by fond memories and our primal need to survive. Within that blizzard, the near-meter-less-ness and barren instrumental pairings of “The First Thaw” make for an especially magnificent piece of meditation.

If there are two genres that are grossly misunderstood by masses (and frankly abused) through pop culture soundtracks…they’re Christmas music and Bossa Nova. For the former, we’ve been conditioned to expect schmaltzy exchanges or comic Griswold-esque catastrophe. For the latter, it’s typically a toss-up between elevator music and sexy-yet-playful moods. But of course, both can offer much more heart and soul than we’re exposed to.

However that requires a certain caliber of creativity…like that of grentperez. In the short year since sharing his debut original, this Sydney singer-producer’s assortment of DIY pop has soared to the top of Spotify and YouTube, turning grentperez into a household name internationally. Back in February grentperez cemented his delicate vocal delivery and propensity for softer, expansive arrangements on his debut EP Conversations with The Moon, a trend that’s continued with a subsequent string of singles.

grentperez’s final gift of the year is classy atmosphere, Bossa seduction, and seasonal excitement all wrapped into a neat three-and-a-half minute package. Amid swirling strings, Hallmark-moment harmonies, and dynamic pop percussion, “When Christmas Comes Again” is a snowglobe you’ll want to keep out year-round.

It’s the final five features for Song of the Day‘s 2022 season. We’re taking a vacation for a couple weeks, but don’t fret; we’ll be back bright and early next year. Until then we’re hanging some of the very best musical mistletoe of the past months, starting off with Austin’s own David Shabani. Born in Paris and raised in Canada, Shabani’s blessed the Live Music Capital with gripping alternative hip-hop in the vein of Lupe Fiasco, Childish Gambino, Kaytranada, and Kid Cudi. Shabani’s outstanding verbal skills, butter-smooth singing, and brilliant taste in beats have earned him supporting spots for international icons like Ashanti and Trinidad James, local legends Black Joe Lewis and Blackillac, and consistent placement as an airwave heavyweight on our Hip-Hop/R&B specialty show The Breaks. After nearly thirty live appearances since January, Shabani, along with his backing group The Nu Leopards, have had a pretty good year for themselves. Considering Shabani’s motto (“I feel good right now”), being in the moment is a gift available to anyone, anywhere. So even if you’ve got a stocking full of “Holiday Blues”, the sleigh bells, slick instrumentation, and modern Dickensian storytelling of Shabani’s latest single ought to keep your heart warm for the winter.

Often with this feature we have to spell out the origin story for a young up-and-comer. Today? Not the case. That’s ’cause we’re talking about East Berlin-born New Wave & Punk trendsetter Nina Hagen. Despite bitter Cold War tensions, Hagen, with her operatic pipes and distinctive visual statements, instantly exploded with her backing band’s eponymous 1978 debut. After going solo in ’82, Hagen’s oddball aura, dolled-up wardrobe, and near-cartoonish makeup have helped her to become a powerful counterculture icon worldwide.

Strictly discussing studio output, Hagen’s prolific as hell; before this year she had sixteen LPs, two EPs, two live albums, fourteen compilations, and one original soundtrack album under her snappy elastic belt. But in light of Hagen’s undeniable legacy, we haven’t heard anything new since 2011’s Volksbeat.

That all changed this morning. Breaking a decade of studio silence, Nina Hagen just released her fourteenth solo record Unity. At a dozen tracks, Unity brings together nine new originals (including a duet with Boomtown Rats frontman Bob Geldof as well as a George Clinton feature) plus three inventive covers (of Sheryl Crow, Bob Dylan, and Merle Travis). As is tradition in Hagen’s work, Unity does have somewhat of a political agenda. However, there are also several songs that are just plain fun and wacky. Case in point, Unity‘s penultimate offering “Open My Heart (Dinner Time)”. Between a trip-hop-esque breakbeat, chopped and pitch-shifted vocal samples, and elegant harp glissandos, “Open My Heart”, would have 100% blown the minds of ’81-era Tom Tom Club and well beyond…my own rattled noggin included.

Trap-pop. It’s decidedly a young person’s game. I mean sure, you’ve got “older” folks like Drake and Doja Cat purveying it on the Billboard charts but really, the target demographic and the generation who’s going to take it to the next level are people in their teens and twenties. Which brings us to Wil Brookhart. Born in Cambodia and now based right here in Austin, Brookhart’s been no stranger to collaborations in recent years; a continuing contributor and Artist Instructor for Mother Falcon Music Lab, this multi-instrumentalist/producer has also helped shape the sound of Carley Bearden, fruit collective, and most recently Casie Luong. Throughout all those endeavors, Brookhar balanced guitar-driven indie with MIDI-textured R&B, but his jump from producer to solo songwriter is really what propelled Brookhart into the big top of pop trapeze within the past year. That shift coincided with the adoption of a new handle, waverly, and the release of four standalone singles since April. Electric guitar is still the central instrument, but beats, bass, synth pads, and now, Brookhart’s processed-yet-velvety vocals complement these otherwise-spacious arrangements. Today, on Brookhart’s 24th birthday, waverly stirs a little bit of Juice WRLD into a three-minute sonic smoothie. Unmarred by complex techniques or convoluted chord changes, the simplicity of “overcomplicated” (compared with its emotional weight) is what guarantees it to be an enduring, widely-accessible earworm.

Austin area indie-rock/guitar-pop connoisseurs ought to be well acquainted with the legendary experimental outfit Cotton Mather. The core members of Cotton Mather have kept each other company for a little over two decades, albeit non-consecutive ones. And yet you might still be unfamiliar with Cotton Mather co-founder Harold Whit Williams’ solo endeavor, Daily Worker.

To call this prize-winning author-poet-guitarist prolific is putting it mildly; in less than half a decade Daily Worker has put out more than a dozen full-lengths, including the Shelter In Tapes lo-fi four-track series. Each new addition is an absolute jackpot of jangle pop chock-full of moving ruminations, a trend set to continue with Autofiction.

Autofiction drops February 3rd, but Daily Worker’s already released the LP’s first two tracks as a 45, with a full band release show 6:30pm this Friday at Love Wheel Records. Visually, its A-Side (which doubles as Autofiction‘s album opener) brings a bit of ’60s psychedelia to the cemetery. And despite its title, “Irish Goodbye” gushes Eastern energy with sitar-inspired lead guitar riffs that’d have George Harrison sticking around for more.

You’ve heard of Christmas in July…but July Talk in December? No, your calendar’s not having an existential crisis. But if you want new music at home and live in person, today we’ve got a recommendation and premiere all packed into one.

Chances are, you’ve never experienced anything quite like July Talk. For the past decade this spectacle of a Toronto sextet has electrified crowds with a relatively unconventional lineup in the indie rock realm; two fronting vocalists, bewitchingly balanced bass and guitar, and most recently the addition of a second drummer. Their 2012 eponymous debut proved right away that July Talk’s raucous chemistry isn’t constricted to the stage, and their full-length formulas have only become more and more refined at a pace of about one record every four years.

But true to their name, July Talk’s identity is an ongoing conversation. While the band’s back-and-forth fury is certainly still there, themes of rebirth, renewed strength, and voicing dissent dominate their fourth LP, Remember Never Before. This masterfully-inventive eleven-track drops January 20th, and July Talk wraps up a week-long U.S. tomorrow night in Dallas. Tonight at 9PM July Talk takes the stage at Antone’s along with Austinites Darkbird for an 18+ show. So if you want to rock out with these ACL Fest veterans, you can squad up to Antone’s OR let it all out on Remember Never Before‘s latest! Buckle up, ’cause from its sparse first downbeat all the way to its cacophonic final chord, “Human Side” is a helluva sendoff to 2022.

You’ve heard a ton about our Holiday Sing-Along over the past couple weeks, and today we’ve got good news for both Grinches and Gingerbread Architects alike. To the former, you won’t be hearing those promos after this weekend. To the latter, we’ve got an early stocking stuffer for you.

That’s because shortly after the tree lighting, KUTX favorite Superfónicos‘ll be serenading us with their idiosyncratic blend of world music. This one-of-a-kind Latin-fusion octet is no stranger to Studio 1A, nor Austin Music Minute, nor Song of the Day. Which shows you how just how spectacular and accessible this first-rate eight-piece still is, even almost a decade down the line.

We’re not entirely sure how the stars aligned so dang well for Superfónicos’ latest single, but given the title and their post-lighting performance tomorrow night, the cosmos are clearly on their side. Between tantalizing auxiliary percussion, a free-flowing psychedelic structure, and harmonies that herald radiance, Superfónicos’ almost-unbelievable eight-part cohesion is illuminated throughout “Primera Luz”, AKA “First Light”. Pop “Primera Luz” into your favorite playlist, and catch Superfónicos in person tomorrow night or for “Cumbia NYE” at Far Out Lounge along with Grupo Fantasma.

Every December, everyone says that this year was the absolute worst. And while I won’t debate the objective demerits of 2022, it sure has felt like an especially long turn around the sun. It’s wild to think about, but at the end of this month, we’ll technically be twice as close to 2025 as we are to the end of the 2010s. So just as we sometimes pine for simpler memories of pre-9/11 America, there’s a certain pre-pandemic charm to the tail end of the last decade compared to these “Boring ’20s”.

For example, here in Austin, singer-guitarist Nick Adamo made a double debut in 2019 with a twin-pack of surf-rock singles. But just as we thought Austin surf legends 3 Balls of Fire were about to have stiff competition from this young buck, COVID brought the world to a halt, and Nick Adamo retreated away from those good vibrations. We haven’t really heard from Nick Adamo since…until now.

Earlier this morning Nick Adamo broke the silence with his first single in three years. “Lie to Me” teams Nick Adamo up with NPR Tiny Desk veteran/vocalist Aubrey Hays, Pelvis Wrestley pedal-steel-guitarist Zack Wiggs, and even a string quartet courtesy of the Austin Symphony composed by Charlie Magnone. The payoff? A sandy folk-orchestral arrangement anchored by Adamo’s dexterous finger-plucking and sanguine singing. Catch Nick Adamo’s solo acoustic set 3-5PM this Saturday at The Domain (benefitting the Musician Treatment Foundation) and a full band single release show on December 14th, 10PM at Saxon Pub.

Prog-pop. Admittedly not the most expected pairing compared to its ’70s counterpart prog-rock. But here’s where it gets interesting. Austin three-piece Easy Compadre! also incorporates a little bit of cumbia, synth-wave and other worldly styles into their sonics. Comprised of guitarist Hector Tednoir, keyboardist/bassist Oscar Botello and percussionist Chido Machine, Easy Compadre’s been doing their thing since 2019.

The three mend their unique talents into a refreshing blend of traditional and digital multimedia; interactive visuals and video mapping pair effortlessly with classic rock instrumentation and MIDI controllers. And after almost a dozen standalone singles, Easy Compadre! has pulled the curtain on their fourth track of the year and second official collaboration. Not too long ago Easy Compadre! invited The Bright Light Social Hour’s Jackie O’Brien (AKA “Starflake”) into the studio and recently emerged with some impeccable cross-cultural chemistry. “Besos De Menta” (and its SFX-laden music video) is a silly but sweet three-and-a-half minute riff on the anxieties of modern dating, whose eccentric energy and airtight arrangement will treat your ears like the taste of peppermint on your lips.

With one only month left until the year’s close, the need to recharge has become a higher priority worldwide. Even the most prolific creatives benefit from a period of recess, and when they come back, more often than not they’re better than ever. Among those who’ve made the most of their time off is Turkish singer, painter, and anthropologist Gaye Su Akyol.

This Istanbul native released her 2014 debut LP Develerle Yaşıyorum right around the same time she lost her mother, but continued to share new material at a rate of about one album every two years. At the end of the 2010s, after three full-lengths, film soundtrack contributions, the 2019 Songlines Music Award for “Best Artist”, and countless hours and kilometers spent touring, Akyol was in dire need of a break. So when COVID-19 came around, the quarantine conditions became a blessing in disguise, allowing her to reflect, refresh, and re-emerge anew.

Unfortunately, here in the states, “dragon energy” has taken on some controversial connotations. But Gaye Su Akyol’s taking it back to mythological, sexually empowering heights with her fourth offering Anadolu Ejderi (“Anatolian Dragon”). At just shy of a dozen originals, Anadolu Ejderi is an epic excursion through all kinds of genres; scales of Turkish psychedelia, Anatolian folk, and Eastern classical shimmer alongside an eclectic collection of contemporary Western styles. As such, we highly recommend enjoying Anadolu Ejderi uninterrupted and in its entirety. Chances are, Akyol’s voluptious vocals on the album opener and title track will energize and mesmerize you all the way to the end.

Way before Elon Musk or Joe Rogan moved here, I remember seeing a ton of bumper stickers and T-shirts with slogans like these: “Don’t L.A. my A.T.X.”, “Don’t Dallas My Austin”, and yes, even “Don’t Put Your Big ‘D’ in My Little ‘A’”. Now, I can’t recall the last time I saw one of those in person, and as a native Austinite, I’m cool with that! Because y’all, we simply wouldn’t have the melting pot that is The Live Music Capital without new locals sharing their art.

And although the thought of another in-law just days after Thanksgiving might make your heart skip a beat, I can assure you that there’ll always be a seat at Austin’s table for Ben Murray and his solo affair Friend In Law. See, Murray’s move down here nearly eight years ago was a critical first step in rekindling his teenage love of penning and performing guitar-driven tunes. Once COVID hit, Murray doubled down on his once-juvenile dreams of becoming a self-produced musician, an auteur in the vein of Kevin Parker or Mac DeMarco.

Rooted in Murray’s ongoing DAW immersion, Friend In Law’s sonics follow a family tree of ’60s/’70s classics with contemporary limbs like pop punk knotted along the way. As of now, Friend In Law’s studio output is still fledgling. But when you hear how calculated each tone, note, and inflection is, you sure as heck won’t want to rush Murray’s progressing greatness. These things take time! And as heard on Friend In Law’s latest single, time can define people and places. As such, “Hold Out” is a triumph of triplet rhythms, a sanguine psych-shoegaze soundscape, and above all, an arresting piece of nostalgia.

It’s a gloomy start to 2022’s final thirty-nine steps. And in embracing the wintertime blues, it’s the perfect time to indulge in a hazy, understated, all-lowercase aesthetic. Which, here in Austin, brings us to on being an angel. For the past three years this quartet sewn seeds of pop melodies across faint fields of fuzz […]

Longtime fans of Austin four-piece Big Bill no doubt still feel the effects of their unexpectedly refreshing hard left turn earlier this year. For those out of the loop, midway through 2022 Big Bill released Public Freakout Compilation, chronicling the group’s shift from their once-signature ’80s-esque angular post-punk into lackadaisical ’90s-style indie rock. But the […]

Jazz has pretty much always been my favorite genre. But along the way, I’ve discovered that the biggest barrier of getting into newer stuff (for myself, personally) is a general lack of connection to any sort of jazz royalty. Fortunately, that’s not the case with Dezron Douglas. Once apprentice to the late legend Jackie McLean, […]

Phantogram. Big Freedia. George Clinton. For most folks, opening for any one of ’em would be the crowning achievement of their career. But to have shared the stage with all three, not to mention Bob Moses, Lettuce drummer/producer Adam Deitch, and other legends in under a decade? On Trouble in the Streets‘ list of milestones, […]

Indie music in Austin, Texas: there’s a lot of it. You’ve got indie rock, indie pop, a little bit of indie electronic, and my personal favorite, indie folk. And that’s strictly due to the incorporation of acoustic instruments, something Austin duo Deer Fellow excels at. Made up of violinist-pianist-vocalist Alyssa Kelly and guitarist-vocalist Matt Salois, […]

A few things for the many who love Sarah Shook & The Disarmers…Number one, get in line. Number two, relax. They didn’t break up; they’ve got tour dates starting up again in late January. Number three, and most importantly, you might’ve slept on Shook’s still-sprouting solo project, Mightmare. In another victory for the queer music […]

With the autumnal onset of dreary, drippy weather here in Central Texas, this past weekend was kind of a wash for live events; at KUTX, we ended up postponing our final Rock the Park performance of 2022 a full week. But if you’re not as easily deterred by the elements, you might’ve made your way […]

Back at the turn of the millennium it was a pretty interesting phenomenon seeing the label “alt-rock” dominate genre preferences. Now, immersed in the status quo of DAWs and MIDI arrangements a full generation later, we’ve come full circle with “alt-pop”. So if you’re on the prowl for the top purveyors of alt-pop right here […]

No matter the kind of creative, a hard pivot takes a lot of guts. Be it George Carlin dropping “straight” in favor of “straight up” or Danielle Ponder leaving her legal firm to focus on her pipes, those risky shifts can end up being unique, life-changing gifts. Among the more recent entries into that roster? […]

It’s post-election Wednesday, and after the extremely close results of our gubernatorial race, there are a lot of folks feeling their fur mussed up to say the least. But no matter who’s at the top of Texas politics, at least for right now, Austin is still the Live Music Capital first and foremost. So if […]

Seasons are quickly shifting, and not just with the weather. We’ll be wrapping up the 2022 season of Song of the Day on Friday, December 16th, winding down this year alongside fellow KUTX creation Song Confessional. If you’re not hip to Song Confessional‘s concept, here are the basics. Volunteers come clean about an incident in […]

On behalf of KUTX, here’s a confession of sorts: we could lean a little more on the heavier stuff. And I’m not saying that just because I’m rocking the long, windmill-ready thrash hair right now. There really are some sensational prog metal (or at least hard rock-adjacent) songwriters sprinkled across Austin. Exhibit A: Souls Extolled. […]

Reno, Nevada…not typically a place thought of as a hub for water-sports. And maybe that’s the point; between the desert flora and the arid atmosphere, it’s almost as if someone laid a pox on “The Biggest Little City in the World” for aquatic fanatics. A Surf Curse, if you will. For nearly a full decade, […]

Boy, there’ve been a lot of new Austin acts popping up in 2022. And while artist multiplicity has made gatekeeping and curation a bit more complicated than it was in the pre-DAW era, we still try our best to show off up-and-coming artists around town. Yet our airwaves simply cannot catch everything. That’s why Song […]

Our Saturday night specialty program The Breaks does a great job of highlighting hip-hop from the heart of Texas. But with an increasing number of émigrés ditching the Lone Star State for greener pastures out West and elsewhere, The Breaks simply can’t catch everything. Because of that, today we’re spinnin’ some new stuff from native […]

Among the many personality types out there, those whose favorite holiday is Halloween are the ones I prefer to keep close. So if you’re like me and want to get the most brimstone for your buck on October 31st (despite celebrating Halloween year-round), welcome Grandma Mousey into your nightmare. This indie rock trio’s been tricking […]

Way back in March we helped to introduce Project Traction, a mentorship program from engineer extraordinaire Jim Eno designed to level the playing field for women and non-binary creatives in the world of production. Well, Project Traction’s got a new batch of tracks, the first of which is a real groove seducer. About-town Austinites (and loyal fans of The […]

Beginning with his 2016 debut LP Shake It on Down, Los Angeles singer-guitarist Max Fite has been magnifying in on a mighty fine line of hard rock. This magnum force has already toured alongside legends likes of Puddle of Mudd, Johnny Thunders, Social Distortion’s Mike Ness, Blondie’s Clem Burke, and oh yeah, even Sex Pistols’ […]

Although you probably didn’t get a personal calendar notification about it, today is in fact Public Radio Music Day. Admittedly, that may not sound as appealing as say…”Pet A Puppy September” or “Free Drugs Friday” but in its third commemoration, we’re celebrating unity among public radio music stations, artists, and fans to highlight the contributions […]

Back in my day if you wanted to be one of the first to lay eyes on a new music video, you basically had to stay locked onto TRL. And if you wanted your music video to get played, you probably had to have an industry contact in the early internet era. So no disrespect […]

It’s the first day of our Fall Membership Drive and the final day of sharing our ACL Fest Pop-Up performances…so we saved the best for last. True to her surname, Danielle Ponder has no holds spending time deep in thought. In fact, that introspection somewhat recently led her to an objectively risky shift – leaving […]

Although much of it might’ve been spent on the couch streaming Hulu, we feel like one of the brightest highlights of ACL Fest Weekend One was Adrian Quesada’s Boleros Psicodelícos. And that’s mainly thanks to the sheer quantity and astonishing caliber of international vocalists who flooded the forty-five minute set Saturday afternoon on the Honda […]

We’re on Day Two of featuring our Austin City Limits pop-up performances, and given the recent shift in seasons (plus a gorgeous full moon casting joy across Zilker during Weekend One), we’d be remiss if we didn’t listen back to Luna Luna. Following up their third full-length Flower Moon (and a steadily growing brand of […]

Oh boy, after two long weekends out at Zilker Park, we’re betting the vast majority of fest-goers are dead tired after Austin City Limits. Not us though! Our impeccable multimedia team’s been hard at work turning around an exclusive batch of intimate, backstage performances, starting today with Dehd. Six years since their eponymous debut, these […]

Weekend Two of ACL, baby! Those gates are wide open and ready to receive fest-goers of all kinds. For those who’ll be out at Zilker early tomorrow, you shouldn’t have a lot of trouble getting close up to the T-Mobile stage for a favorite of The Breaks and beyond, R&B vocalist-songwriter-producer Jake Lloyd. Along with […]

As is tradition here at KUTX, ACL tends to dominate our airwaves the first half of October. But overlapping across both fest coverage and Hispanic Heritage Month is our October 2022 Artist of the Month, Como Las Movies. With the exception of a two-year hiatus, the Spotify-curated, AMA-nominated Austin-based cumbia-indie-pop quartet has been spearheaded by […]

It’s been really cool to see folks we’ve featured as our Artists of the Month advance up into official ACL acts. Yesterday we gave a shoutout to our May 2022 AotM Good Looks and today we move onto Urban Heat. This post-punk three-piece first stopped into Studio 1A back in February to swelter listeners with […]

As promised, we’re perusing a whole new batch of Austin ACL acts for you to enjoy during Weekend Two, continuing today with indie four-piece Good Looks. We named Good Looks as our May 2022 Artist of the Month right around the release of their landmark debut LP Bummer Year. But despite the seven-song’s title, and […]

The dust may still be settling from Weekend One of ACL, but if the past three days of festin’ just weren’t enough for you, we’ve got a whole new batch of recommendations. Big fans of The Breaks ought to recognize the name J Soulja as one of the specialty show’s longest heavy rotation mainstays, and […]

The gate’s are open and Austin City Limits Music Festival 2022 is a go! And here just in time for Hispanic Heritage Month will be Latin-American music-melter Lido Pimienta. Born in Barranquilla, Colombia and raised in Ontario, this Toronto-based singer-songwriter has spent the past twelve years infusing flavors like Bullerengue and Cumbia with synth-driven art-pop. […]

Just before noon tomorrow, the gate’s’ll open up and Austin City Limits Music Festival 2022 will officially be underway. So if you plan on being out there bright and early, you might want to taste the Big Apple flavors of Brooklyn three-piece Nation of Language. Bassist Michael Sue-Poi and multi-instrumentalist Ian Richard Devaney founded Nation […]

Grupo Fantasma. Brownout. Black Pumas. Glorietta. Ocote Soul Sounds. No matter what outfit you know him from the best, it’s adequately clear that Adrian Quesada has a near-unquenchable artistic appetite. And on the verge of his upcoming instrumental LP Jaguar Sound – the visionary’s second full-length for 2022 – Quesada and his Boleros Psicodélicos crew […]

Songwriters can often canter by on their high horse, claiming to be a contemporary Virgil or Homer with stanzas in hand. So it’s a breath of fresh air when you come across truly talented self-deprecators like Austin-via-Irving singer-songwriter John Wesley Coleman III. Coleman calls himself a “trash poet”, eschewing hubris in favor of fun, accessible […]

It’s that rare sliver of the year where the weather is great the whole day through. And for me personally, that’s all the motivation I need to get out and enjoy live music, indoors or out. Even if the venue’s little more than a concrete box, as long as there’s airflow, I’m out there dancing. […]

KUTX turns ten next year. And two groups that’ve been glued to our hip the whole way through are The Bright Light Social Hour and Riders Against the Storm. They’re both must-hear Austin mainstays for a damn good reason; The Bright Light Social Hour continues to innovate a sweet-yet-sinister indie-psych sound while Riders Against the […]

Decades after acts like Les Paul & Mary Ford, Captain & Tenille, and Ike & Tina had their heyday, seeing the phrase “husband-and-wife duo” can personally make me wince. Like we get it; you love each other, you’ve got great chemistry together, and you have a lot of emotions you need to dispense, but often, […]

Contemporary curators for some of the best instrumental genres (namely jazz) seem to be fearless when it comes to digital hi-fi production. But thankfully, some of the finest facilitators of the funk-soul sound still prefer the “authentic” old school character of analogue techniques. Amongst them is Hammond organ extraordinaire Adam Scone. Scone and his magic […]

If you’re a lover of traditional Indian music like I am, you won’t want to miss a certain concert in town this weekend. Just two weeks after the release of their seven-song full-length Saath Saath, Mumbai sitar maestro Purbayan Chatterjee and flautist Rakesh Chaurasia are set to perform 7PM this Saturday at Bates Recital Hall. […]

If you dig Belle and Sebastian’s brand of indie pop along with Mazzy Star’s style of alternative rock and have ever wondered what a lovechild of the two might sound like…let us introduce you to Glassreel. This Winnipeg project began as a duo between core songwriters Kelly Beaton and Trevor Graumann before rounding out a […]

There are so many artists out there with names that are virtually un-Google-able. And if they’re from Austin, it’s not really helping their SEO. I mean just try searching “Hikes Austin”…you’re not gonna find music. Hell, even Spoon might’ve had some trouble in their earlier days. Which brings us to Rental House. No, it’s not […]

I suspect that when many people of my generation hear the word “Chancy” out loud, they probably think of that egg loving Pokémon rather than the adjective. And while that demographic tends to have strong feelings about the “original 151”, collectors of indie-pop-rock ought to add Chancy to their musical Pokédex. This Dallas quintet only became Chancy after they […]

If you weren’t aware, today is the first day of Hispanic Heritage Month, which brings up an interesting discourse. Surface level listeners may experience a kind of culture shock when they hear the Spanish language outside of the subliminally-associated genres; if it’s not cumbia, reggaeton, or traditional Latin, it might sound “out of place”. And […]

Steve Miller Band. Jamiroquai. Kacey Musgraves. They’ve all written songs called “Space Cowboy”. And considering the continued popularity of those tunes, it’s safe to say that “space cowboy” is no longer a derogatory term for a shameless stoner. No, it’s something musicians want to wear on their sleeve. Which brings us to Garrett T. Capps […]

There’s no doubt; Denver’s got a splendid music scene. Yet despite an artist multiplicity that gives Austin a run for its money, it’s rare to come across an act that captures several sounds of the city simultaneously. So if you want a calculated combo of post-hardcore guitar, jazz-injected percussion, and turbulent pride-of-punk bass riffs, sign […]

Nick Wallisch and his ever-growing cache of instruments have been a staple of the Live Music Capital for nearly a quarter century now, complete with crushing performances on drums, bass, piano, ukulele, and even penny whistle. That’s not to say Wallisch doesn’t play guitar as well (of course he does) but throughout recent memory he’s […]

Connoisseurs of Americana (or “Americonnoisseurs” as I like to call them) can probably recognize the music of Freedy Johnston within a few notes. Back in the early ’90s Johnston became somewhat of a legend thanks to an unfettered dedication to his craft and a consistent, high quality output of tunes. As a matter of fact, […]

Astrology. It’s a one-of-a-kind litmus test in casual conversation; either people will scoff at you for believing that gobbledegook or chastise you for not knowing your ascendant. But if there’s one demographic who seems to get a unanimous pass, it’s lyricists. From Deep Purple’s “Maybe I’m a Leo” to Des’ree’s “What’s Your Sign?” and Nirvana’s […]

Like the Jan Brady of national holidays, Labor Day is an oft-overlooked middle child between the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving. So, quick bit of “birthday” trivia; although it’s American-manufactured, some historians believe Labor Day may have been inspired by Toronto’s worker-centric parades held in 1882. Which means we ought to recognize our neighbors to […]

When California comes to mind, it’s easy to imagine three hundred and sixty sunny days a year. But between earthquakes, floods, mudslides, wildfires, and other natural disasters (we’ll even throw in this global pandemic for posterity)…it’s not just a coastal breeze over there. Whatever the weather, Cali can always rely on some really cool cross-cultural […]

Between Methyl Ethyl, Jen Cloher, Tame Impala, G Flip, Courtney Barnett, and The Avalanches…KUTX plays so much ‘down under’ music that we could probably get away with rebranding ourselves “The Aussie Music Experience”. But that’s not just a bad pun; there’s plenty of truth behind the cross-continental exchange between America and Australia. See, Austin does have a sister city […]

There’s no sensation quite like discovering a new artist, and when a group has really fun song titles, that joyous curiosity can show up well before you even press “play”. One glance at track names like “Tijuana Blowout”, “Check Please”, and “Whiskey Diviner” clues you into the inherent lighthearted friendship that fuels Austin quartet Sweet […]

Before the indie pop chirality of Lucius caught on our airwaves, and heck, even before KUTX was its own music station, there was only one “Lucius” to be reckoned with on Austin radio – Uncle Lucius. From the early-mid-oughts all the way through the late twenty teens, frontman Kevin Galloway and his keen grasp of blues-R&B-country rock […]

We’ve all experienced impostor syndrome in one way or another. For musicians, it typically comes in the form of filling a bill considered “out of their league” or trying their hand at a style that’s not as rehearsed as the rest of their repertoire. But you’ll never know unless you try, right? Because that’s exactly […]

Now this is purely anecdotal, but it seems like there’s an awful lot of traffic between Austin and New York. Must be something about a cross-metropolitan cultural exchange between the Big Apple and the Live Music Capital…Whatever the weather, one peripheral instance of that migration pattern graciously gifted us singer-guitarist Michael Paul Lawson. Lawson’s parents […]

For many artists, you can pretty much determine their main influences based on a cursory first listen. Safe to say though, it’s much more stimulating when you can’t quite crack the code, only figuring out the formula when you learn about the musicians’ role models, like the last piece in a puzzle. That’s been our […]

College years are often the most formative for young musicians who are eager to break out of the rigidness of academia and into the boundless world of “adult” songwriting. And typically it’s not until after graduation that these creatives can fully re-commit to their craft and progress their inventiveness. People like singer Susannah Joffe, who […]

Yesterday we celebrated the intrinsic ingenuity of human creativity, but we didn’t touch on one of the most important aspects: writing your way through trauma. It’s a healing property that goes all the way back to the ancient storytelling tradition of African percussion, but for Austin-based singer-guitarist Jeremy Nail, the weightiest wounds were his 2012 […]

Here’s the biggest understatement you’ll read today: creativity is an incredible human asset. We reach into the aether and pull out something that previously didn’t exist. But in the eyes of consumers and curators alike, that’s only half the battle. For them, bringing the abstract into fruition as a tangible, easily-accessible document is what separates […]

Aside from poignant politics, pulsating synths, and plenty of fuzz pedal, it’s not all that easy to define post-punk. Even when you dive into the minutiae of music glossary terms, there’s still a sprawling spectrum of post-punk ranging from angular, analogue noise to straight up digital bass and beats. Fortunately there are also forays like […]

Now I don’t want to jinx the elements, but with only one triple digit high in the forecast for this week, it seems like we might finally be cooling down just a bit. So if you’ve been in sweaty solitude and need to take advantage of this (presumably brief) seasonal respite, we’ve got a couple […]

In the state of contemporary recording, session EPs are a pretty refreshing concept. By limiting yourself to one space and removing any access to punch-ins, session records evoke the “one-take” magic of century-old methods, back when capturing an authentic live performance was the industry standard. Phil Hurley‘s experienced the best of both, having tracked with […]

In 2019 I got a big kick out of Kacey Musgraves’ “Album Of The Year” Grammy acceptance speech for Golden Hour; it was so heartwarming to see a future country superstar acknowledge her trustworthy team, whose efforts took a record with little hype or radio recognition all the way to the top. And if you […]

It’s been almost a full decade since I graduated college, and I’d like to think that those I haven’t kept up with remember me for my two biggest creative endeavors at the time: playing trumpet and producing jazz-sampled hip-hop beats. I only say that because it seems like a pretty cool combo that I’ve sadly […]

Ranging from Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA & GZA to Austin’s own Slothrust, the first step to truly appreciating an artist is knowing how to say their name correctly. So even though 9m88 may sound more like a robotic bounty hunter to a Native English speaker, when we loosely translate from phonetic Taiwanese, the actual pronunciation rolls […]

So often when we’ve heard someone say, “it’s not a popularity contest”, the opposite turns out to be true. But here in the Live Music Capital, it’s perfectly clear that having a larger-than-life persona and being in vogue will get you pretty far. Enter Austin four-piece Personality Contest, who’ve been curating a style of indie-psych-rock […]

Relationships of all kinds deserve commemoration. Whether it’s with romantic partners or creative projects, after the initial handful of anniversaries, every fifth one merits something grandiose. This year Cincinnati three-piece The Harlequins celebrate their first decade and a half together, with the most recent third of that period spent writing and recording their next album, […]

We here at KUTX aren’t shy about our adoration for Austin songwriter Taylor Wilkins. And why would we be? Between his two semi-eponymous projects – the hard rockin’ Otis the Destroyer and the soft poppin’ Otis Wilkins, Taylor doesn’t really miss. We’re still patiently holding out for a full record from the latter, but Wilkins’ “quality over quantity […]

Without too much hard data to support this claim, songwriters who’ve divided their time between several metropolises and musical hubs tend to have some of the most fascinating insights. Just look at Bruce Smith, who was reared near Detroit and based in Atlanta during his late teens and early twenties. The early portion of Smith’s […]

Long time locals are likely already familiar with the Austin Music Video Festival but what you might not know is that festival co-founder Jeremy David Roye also has his own solo musical project entitled Shimmer Island. When AMVF got postponed due to the pandemic, Roye sent his eight-year-old daughter back to her mother in France, […]

For the past four weeks you’ve heard plenty about our July 2022 Artist of the Month, Urban Heat. But in case these record-breaking temperatures are melting your memory, we’ll give you a quick recap. Analog sound designer/multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Jonathan Horstmann founded the three-piece back in 2019 under the name Urban Heat Island Effect. It only took […]

True to its name, ambient music seems best suited only to certain environments. I mean, we typically associate those sounds with New Age yoga and meditation studios; you’re not in your car cranking those healing frequencies up to 11. But that’s kind of weird, right? That we’ve collectively decided percussion and lyrics are must-haves in […]

True to its name, ambient music seems best suited only to certain environments. I mean, we typically associate those sounds with New Age yoga and meditation studios; you’re not in your car cranking those healing frequencies up to 11. But that’s kind of weird, right? That we’ve collectively decided percussion and lyrics are must-haves in […]

We’ll be honest…we may have jumped the gun by a bit when we first declared Mobley as our April 2018 Artist of the Month. We only say that because over the past four years Mobley‘s artistry has matured tenfold and it seems like he’s only now hitting his stride, thriving in his prime. Last February […]

Pop-punk. Alt-rock. Whichever genre classifiers you choose, it’s ultimately rowdyism and virility that defines Ram Vela & The Easy Targets. Ram Vela & The Easy Targets got started in 2018 and quickly established a brand of melodic punk rock and athletic, adrenaline-drenched live shows. Translating the Austin four piece’s fierce power into the studio without […]

When it comes to performing for pay, there are typically just two types of players; those who merely moonlight with their music and those who quit their day job long ago. But there are also those who’ve done both. People like Nick Pagliari, who spent more than a decade as a full-time musician in Nashville […]

Even during these dog days of summer, singer-guitarist Sunny Sweeney‘s preferred A/C is Americana/Country. Sweeney first crept up over the honky-tonk horizon in 2006 with Heartbreakers Hall of Fame and earned her first three Top 40 Country singles on 2011’s Concrete, cementing herself as a must-hear for millions of new fans. Following a “Top Female […]

At KUTX, we know we’re far from the only radio station in town. And if you’ve done your fair share of channel surfing, you might’ve come across another fine listener-supported frequency, KOOP 91.7FM. For the past half decade KOOP’s been home to Small Cool World, a 90-minute weekly freeform show hosted by T.J. Masters. But […]

When you think of Texas music, you think of Willie, you think country. But despite being the one-time home of Armadillo World Headquarters and current harbor to dance halls like Broken Spoke, White Horse, and Little Longhorn Saloon, there’s just not a ton of straight-up country coming out of Austin nowadays. As a matter of […]

This may be a no-brainer, but here at KUTX, we’ve always got radio on our mind. And we know we’re far from the only Texans where that’s the case. Take for example singer-guitarist Micah Paredes, who moved from Terlingua down here to Austin in 2007. After about a decade of finding his footing and exhausting […]

With only one month of reflection and healing between the racially-targeted attack in Buffalo and the second official observance of June 19th as a Federal Holiday, Juneteenth came amidst an especially complicated sociopolitical context in 2022. On a day meant to celebrate the power and resilience of Black Americans, the troubling juxtaposition forced us to once […]

Back in February, we celebrated Black History Month with Sacred Soul: The D-Vine Spirituals Record Story Volume One & Two, a gospel compilation that introduced once-rare 45s to digital platforms. D-Vine Spirituals was founded by record producer Juan D. Shipp and studio engineer Clyde Leoppard, with Elizabeth King & The Gospel Souls as the label’s […]

It’s always satisfying to hear artists incorporate local flavors once they relocate to a new musical hub. For Pittsburgh-born, Philly-braised songwriter Jac Carson, a move to Austin meant patting down his cut of blues-alt-rock with spices of cosmic country and neo-soul into a style he’s dubbed “New Texas Groove”. Even in light of the setbacks […]

If you didn’t get a chance to get out and have some fun this Fourth of July weekend, you’re probably pretty bummed. So if you want to get ahead of the FOMO and make your own plans for the next few days, we highly recommend checking out The Criticals. The core songwriting duo behind this […]

I’ve never been shy about my love of jazz, pretty much every style across the spectrum, save Dixieland (sorry, not sorry). One of my all-time favorite sub-genres out of that bunch is Exotica, the Latin-leaning, arrangement-driven “easy listening” style made famous by Martin Denny in the ’50s. Now, I know I’m far from the only […]

Back in the ’90s before grunge fizzled out and indie became king, “alternative rock” was all the rage. But that’s not to say the genre’s gone the way of tin pan alley. There are still folks out there who prefer the heavier, less inoffensive side of the rock mega-spectrum, including Austin’s Scott Collins. Ever equipped […]

Major sonic shifts from artists with a well-established sound can be pretty polarizing. But think about all the albums that’ve become iconic simply due to how different they were from their predecessors. Among many others, there’s Bob Dylan’s Bringing It All Back Home, Trans by Neil Young, Alabama Shakes’ Sound & Color and A Sailor’s […]

This past Tuesday we treated you to Kalu & The Electric Joint’s latest single, “Garden of Eden“. And although the elements seem to be at odds with one another (Monday’s freak downpour knocked over my four o’clock flowers, which had been baking in the sun just hours before), a connection to nature, no matter how […]

With the explosive success of Black Pumas, Grupo Fantasma producer Adrian Quesada has become a household name in the mainstream consciousness. But that doesn’t mean Adrian’s the only visionary coming out of Grupo. Far from it. We can’t overlook Grupo Fantasma co-founder and guitarist Beto Martínez, who’s also been the major driving force behind Austin […]

Sporting a leather jacket with frills, hats with brims (not bills), and a voice that both thrills and chills, Jonathan Terrell is still Austin’s arbiter of “cosmic country”. Formerly the frontman of Austin rock outfit Not In The Face, we named Terrell our May 2020 Artist of the Month, right around the same time he […]

For the better part of the past decade, we’ve kept a close eye on Nigerian-born, Austin-based singer-guitarist Kalu James. James first caught our attention with intimate solo acoustic gigs at venues like the Cactus Café right around the release of his 2013 full-length The Offering: Flesh. After linking up with guitarist JT Holt, James co-founded […]

It’s been really endearing to watch projects evolve over the course of COVID, especially when it’s a post-social-distancing expansion of membership. One of those is Austin indie pop-rock outfit AZXO, the brainchild (and amalgamation of initials) of Chinese singer-songwriter Zhipeng Xing and L.A. multi-instrumentalist/producer Alex O’Masta. AZXO first got together at the start of the […]

One of the main reasons why jazz is my personal favorite genre is that once you’re familiar with the Great American Songbook, you basically have a loose blueprint for how each tune’ll turn out. Sure, every rendition is different, but even when chord progressions get lost in genre translation, those classic heads still dazzle. And […]

We hope you’ve been enjoying our Pride Month portraits of local artists over the past few weeks, but in case you haven’t had a chance to read the one on BabiBoi, we’ll give you a quick recap. BabiBoi is the preferred handle for Austin’s Dorian Delafuente, who’s also a co-founder of House of Lepore, one […]

We all know how dangerous social media can be, especially if you’re a solo creative; with the instant feedback and gratification of “likes”, there’s less incentive to craft your art with time and care. That brings us to Austin singer-guitarist-producer Ben Murray, better known by his handle Friend In Law. Friend In Law marries turn-of-the-millennium […]

Having played trumpet in a band whose membership ranged from around fifteen to twenty, “the more the merrier” approach didn’t really translate to exceptional songwriting. Thankfully that’s not the case for Austin nine-piece Honey Made. The first leg of Honey Made’s career was spent in the “party band” realm, wowing crowds more with enduring arrangements […]

To all the Texans, Happy Belated Juneteenth! Even if you’re out of the state, we hope you got to unwind, enjoy some much-needed shade, and maybe even connect better with your local community over the weekend. When it comes to that last bit, there aren’t a whole lot of creatives that’ve gotten tight with their […]

Over the past decade, it’s been an absolute pleasure to watch NOLA pianist-singer-composer PJ Morton move up from mere Maroon 5 recognition into mainstream awareness. His grasp over gospel, R&B, soul, jazz, and beyond have earned PJ Morton four Grammys – Best Traditional R&B Performance for his 2019 cover of Bee Gee’s “How Deep Is […]

Around this time of year, many Texans have the breezy beaches of Corpus Christi on their mind…and with triple digit highs scorching the state, we can’t really blame ’em. So on the off chance that you’re venturing out to the Gulf Coast this weekend, consider an entertainment recommendation to pad out your travel plans. We’re […]

Plano, Texas may have been the childhood home of Boz Scaggs and birthplace of Anson Funderburgh, yet we don’t typically classify the town as a musical hub, and especially not one for electronic music. But then there’s multi-instrumentalist-producer Fernand Vera, a Professor of Music at Collin College and one half of the classical guitar outfit […]

Between blockbuster franchises, AMC spin-off series, and mobile games, we’re steeped in a culture obsessed with the grotesque, amoral, and ever-hungry aspects of zombies. But when you peel back the decaying flesh and fatigued growls, they’re really just creatures of transformation. Considering the positive connotations behind, say the resurrection of Christ or the ascension of […]

In a city as dense as Austin, we’ve got our fair share of transportation problems. Each year we hear exponentially grander solutions to herding a mass of people from Point A to Point B, including the hyperloop design of Elon Musk’s Boring Project. Those bold, sometimes impractical ideas can lead us to reflect on the […]

There’s an adage that’s true for many things, but especially applicable to high-caliber collaborations; “you can’t rush greatness.” In the case of queer, second generation Vietnamese-American songwriter Casie Luong and Cambodian-born producer Wil Brookhart (who recently rebranded himself as waverly), they’ve actually known each other for quite some time, thanks to the Mother Falcon Music […]

Think about all the musical milestones that have come with the introduction of a new lead singer. There’s AC/DC with Brian Johnson, Black Sabbath with Ronnie James Dio, Pink Floyd with David Gilmour and Roger Waters, and Jefferson Airplane with Grace Slick. Now, Austin soul-rock outfit Steady Legend isn’t quite as well-known as those groups…at […]

If you’ve ever listened to Neon Rain, The Wild Jays, or Dream the Electric Sleep, you’ve already heard some of Trevor Willmott’s handiwork. Outside of those groups, this Lexington-born Nashville-based singer-guitarist-producer has also racked up millions of streams with his indie-alternative-folk solo project Cujo Moon. Cujo Moon first crept up in late 2020 with his […]

In some ways, everyone’s a historian; we reflect on our past, rewrite narratives, review documents from before our prime and re-contextualize them so they’re readily-applicable today. That’s doubly true for musicians like Alain Paradis, whose grasp on ’80s music makes his own modern songwriting sound like it came straight out of a time capsule. Paradis’ […]

Thanks to the mainstream success of Black Pumas, Adrian Quesada has become a household name internationally. But we here in Austin are already well-acquainted with Adrian’s preceding projects – be it Grupo Fantasma, Brownout/Brown Sabbath, Glorietta, and even Ocote Soul Sounds. It’s no embellishment to say that Quesada’s a musical visionary, since his ability to […]

First and foremost, Happy Pride Month! Today we’re celebrating by shining the spotlight on blooming Houston songwriter Vivi Rincon. She may only be 21, but between her virtuoso vocal range, fearless lyricism, in-the-pocket guitar patience, and deft sense of dynamics, Rincon’s already proven an amazing talent well beyond her years. While attending Berklee College of […]

Without traumatizing yourself too much, try to tally up how many major moments of turmoil our society’s experienced over the past half decade. It’s a lot. And without trying to sound too hippie-dippie, we’re not going to heal with more hatred. Although she primarily applies it to the constant grind of songwriting, recording, and touring, […]

The COVID-19 outbreak, the anxiety it caused, and the ever-changing conditions of self-quarantine have become a great equalizer; they’ve affected everyone across the globe, regardless of social status, and given us all a little bit of extra empathy towards our fellow man. That phenomena lends itself to the idea of interbeing – the interconnectedness of […]

With the creeping commercialization of folk, you’ll find a lot of lyricists embellishing an idyllic upbringing or a Snow White-level connection to nature like they’re modern day Thoreaus rewriting Walden. But then you’ve got poets like Shaina Goodman, who was treated to a true bucolic lifestyle by her father, a farmer in Delta, Kentucky. Goodman […]

The COVID-19 pandemic has become a major milestone in the way we look at recent times, an unstable start to the 2020s. But of course we can also measure the turn of that decade by looking locally. For the last three quarters of the twenty-teens Austin was home to Fair City Fire, whose masterful heartland […]

If you take your pooch down to the free section of Barton Springs, you’ll recognize that Austin’s a pretty dog friendly town. You could also pick that up from show bills, considering we’re home to groups like A Giant Dog, Dog Beach Rebels, The Ghost Wolves, and the now-defunct Growl. There’s also Dog Island, the […]

A cursory glance at the name Old Sea Brigade may conjure images of surly seventeenth-century sailors, but it’s actually the solo indie-folk project of Nasvhille-via-Atlanta singer-guitarist Ben Cramer. Cramer dropped his eponymous debut Old Sea Brigade in 2016, which quickly accrued acclaim and earned Cramer touring spots alongside the likes of Julien Baker and Hiss […]

What You Will isn’t the easiest band to Google, so we’ll break down the basics for you here. Chris and Jenni Wiggins started the group in 2010 as a straightforward folk duo, and after cutting their teeth at the Kerrville Folk Festival, the band’s expanded into an alternative-indie-folk-rock sextet. For the past year, Jenni and […]

Back in 1943, Woody Guthrie garnered some serious attention by painting an ambitious message on his acoustic guitar: “this machine kills fascists“. Fast forward about four score to the present year and a different global conflict, where a new generation of musicians are picking up where Woody left off. Take for instance, New York’s Jesse […]

Hyperpop…despite its glittery surface-level sound, it’s decidedly not just a genre for teenage girls. But let’s be honest, it’s primarily produced for and consumed by women of younger generations, so you need to cater directly to that audience. Enter NOT THE MAIN CHARACTERS, an L.A. “girl group” that’s really not all that different from The […]

When a player becomes a hot commodity within their musical community, there’s an unsaid understanding that they could probably demolish a solo set all on their own. A perfect example is singer-guitarist Matt Koziol, who’s collaborated with country legends like John Paul White, Abby Anderson, and Jimmie Allen and enjoyed a creative partnership with Bre […]

Pop’s a broad spectrum, a mega-genre that pushes the boundaries of modern production but becomes plenty accessible thanks to foolproof earworm formulas. Austin singer-producer Primo the Alien is something of a pop stalwart, with a discography primarily defined by ’80s-style synth-pop. But it’s the 2020s, and Primo’s keen to keep with the times. So with […]

Supergroups on any scale are just plain exciting. You get some residuals from the previous groups and they hardly ever underwhelm, especially when they first come out of the gate. Enter Cola, a new post-punk project that features Tim Darcy and Ben Stidworthy of Montreal art-punk quartet Ought alongside Toronto drummer Evan Cartwright of U.S. […]

If you listen to our airwaves a lot, then you already know the name A. Sinclair. That’s the eponymous indie rock project of Austin multi-instrumentalist Aaron Sinclair, who doesn’t typically stick to one tempo for long and steers clear of 4/4 time as best he can. That said, A. Sinclair’s secured a reputation of accessibility, […]

There’s a specific league of creatives (let’s be honest, mainly rappers) who can’t help themselves but keep adopting new semi-official monikers. Then there’s the other extreme of strictly eponymous performers (e.g. the vast majority of country music). So there’s gotta be a sweet spot somewhere in between stage name, nickname, and birth name, right? Enter […]

At the risk of sounding pessimistic, it’s not that often that siblings maintain the closeness of their childhood. But there are obviously exceptions, be they Peyton and Eli Manning, Finneas O’Connell and Billie Eilish, or L.A.’s Brandon and Savannah Hudson. The Hudsons have stayed faithful to their commitment of being best buds, a pact made […]

Anyone who practices mindfulness and meditation will tell you that being in the moment is a big deal. The most successful goal-oriented individuals will say it’s never too late to start chasing dreams. Those two fundamentals boil down to seizing the day, something that John Inghram‘s taken to heart in recent times. The Charleston, West […]

It’s been a little under a year since we named Daniel Fears as our July 2021 Artist of the Month, right around the time he shared his debut EP Canopy. Since then this multi-instrumentalist-producer has had no problem selling out shows, thanks to his velvety vocals, intimate lyrics, and surreal R&B soundscapes. And although Fears’ […]

When you first hear of a genre called “heartland rock”…what do you think of? Well according to Austin outfit Buzzard Company, its inspirations lie in blues, garage rock, psychedelia, grunge, and of course, Americana. Buzzard Company got started as a duo in 2019, but rather than let a little global pandemic pick the meat off […]

For people of my generation, the name “Fat Tony” immediately conjures an image of the tired-eye mafioso voiced by Joe Mantegna on The Simpsons. And although rapper Anthony Obi is something of a character himself, his passion and dedication to his craft is no joke. Raised in the historic Third Ward, Obi received the Houston […]

What if you took the drummer for Gary Clark Jr., the bassist for David Bowie, and one of the ringleaders of Glorietta and put them together into a new band? Well it turns out you don’t have to use your imagination for this one. Introducing Branzino! For years David Bowie/Blackstar bass player Tim Lefebvre and […]

¡Feliz Cinco de Mayo! We’re commemorating the date with Veracruz-born songwriter Rafael Mesa Zamudio, better known by his stage and studio name Pehuenche. Be it with traditional Latin American rhythms, modern Mexican flavors, or the folk-pop-rock sonics of the ’60s and ’70s, Pehuenche puts it all together into something entirely new. On top of his […]

A lot of anniversaries follow somewhat of a sequence along a rule of fives; after the first one’s done, you make sure the fifth year’s a big blowout…and by ten it’s typically amplified even more. For Willie Nelson’s Luck Reunion, their ten-year anniversary this past March was an absolute blast, thanks in no small part […]

Upton Sinclair shocked the world with the harsh, humid realities of city life in his 1906 The Jungle. More than a century later, we understand there was a bit of muckraking embellishment in the novel, but you won’t find any unnecessary exaggeration with Urban Heat. Since 2019 this Austin trio’s captivated metropolitan crowds with their […]

Indie, alt-rock, amplifiers and…apples? Yes, it’s all there for Austin quintet KONZI, who began harnessing their creative juices in early 2020 as COVID-19 triggered a global lockdown. And like countless other songwriters, the overwhelming precariousness that came with COVID convinced KONZI to pursue positivity through rock at all costs. That endearing energy is plenty evident […]

Wil Brookhart’s neo-classical background has given him a leg-up on his contemporaries, but it certainly hasn’t defined his sound. Now based in Austin, this Cambodian-born multi-instrumentalist first popped on the radar with his eponymously-released 2019 debut “Warden”, then dove head-first into synth-and-guitar-driven-R&B as producer for Denton’s Carley Bearden, and co-founded the national collaboration Fruit Collective […]

Moving to a new city is hard enough as it is, but to do it in the middle of both a break up and a global pandemic? That’s some serous character building. On the other hand, relocation hasn’t been the biggest challenge for singer-songwriter Seth Walker, who recently left Nashville for Asheville but had spent […]

When you think of the new generation of electronic-based producers, you probably don’t think of high school and college rock bands…but alas, that’s where many cut their teeth. That’s the path Keaton Peters took shortly after picking up the guitar at age 12, all the way until he discovered his love of production once he […]

The mainstream success of Black Pumas has made Austin a destination for lovers of retro R&B-soul. But of course, that style’s not strictly property of the Pumas, and certainly not the only act in town to flaunt the sound. Take for example, Donovan Keith, who moved down here from the midwest in 2009 and began […]

When artists take a hard left turn from their established sound it can be pretty polarizing. But if they can pull it off without losing too many of their defining characteristics…no harm, no foul, right? We’ve got high hopes for Big Bill, an Austin quartet who’s built a repertoire of quirky, ’80s-style art-punk since 2016. […]

There are a lot of ways to pay tribute to one’s pedigree, but few are quite as charming as keeping a family nickname alive. And in an odd sort of role reversal of Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, Austin singer-guitarist Taylor Wilkins re-appropriated his father’s college moniker “Otis” for a pet dog before adopting […]

“You can take the boy out of Texas but you can’t take Texas out of the boy”; it’s an old adage consistently weighted in truth. Fifth generation Texan Barton Stanley David is a prime piece of evidence, considering he moved back to Dallas in 2019 following a decade in New York City. After that, it […]

Everyone’s referencing “four twenty” on this Wednesday, but if you’re sick of all the pot talk, you may want to shift your focus to another set of symbolic numbers: 323. That’s the area code for South Central, Los Angeles, which is the handle inspiration and home base for rising R&B star Traetwothree. And as opposed […]

When you listen to the vast majority of bands, you tend to hear the same things: drums, bass, guitar, and of course…vocals. But considering that vocals are often just the icing on the cake, an extra level of garnish for a balanced dish, does making accessible music really require the use of a vocalist? Short […]

Back in the ’80s, groups like R.E.M., The B-52’s, and Widespread Panic turned the quiet college town of Athens, Georgia into a hub of alternative music, a legacy that’s since continued with of Montreal, Drive-By Truckers, and Neutral Milk Hotel. That spirit of indie culture is still alive and well today, as made clear by […]

Although we’ve had clearly defined political boundaries since 1836, there’s still an inseparable culture between Texas and Mexico. Whether you call it Tejano or Texican, it’s a give-and-take social process within which Austin’s Graham Reynolds has found a golden opportunity. Graham and the Golden Hornet team have already applied rock production techniques to classical arrangements […]

The vast majority of musical artists are plagued by their influences; either there’s a huge disparity between their sound and that of their role models, or its a cookie-cutter copy of their sound. But when you end up with something new that still has subtle hints of those inspirations…that’s what separates the milquetoast many from […]

Englanders raised after the tides of New Wave had waned and while the turn-of-the-millennium indie rock boom began to quiet down might’ve gravitated more towards the music of the midcentury. That’s exactly what happened with singer-guitarist PM Warson, who, after a stint as a full-time touring musician, has since settled nicely into a ’50s/’60s R&B-soul […]

It’s been three quarters of a decade since Austin songwriter Robin Mordecai shared his last EP Here Goes Something, but fortunately for us he’s finally got another album coming out this weekend. True to its title, Portraits features five succinct snapshots of fictional personalities anchored in ’70s/’80s-style pop rock, not unlike The Cars or Tom […]

Although our neighbors in New Mexico get a lot of alien-centric attention thanks to Roswell, the mystique of the “Marfa Lights” has made Texas a destination for extraterrestrial enthusiasts. And when it comes to “visitors” here on Earth, singer-bassist Geoff Bradford definitely qualifies; with a youth divided between New York City, Western Europe, West Africa, […]

It’s almost been a full decade since four glam rockers got together and started their Austin-based indie-alt-pop-rock affair A Case For Brooklyn. That baby tooth of a band name fell out in 2016 and has since been replaced by a more permanent handle: Ladyfang. Ladyfang’s also maintained a high standard of songwriting, giving us bite-sized […]

Compared to other genre pairings, indie and country typically don’t get corralled together, but they’ve made for some successful formulas in the past, perhaps most notably with Band of Horses. A good representation of those crossroads here in Austin is The Lonesome Heroes, a “cosmic Americana” quartet whose cornered their sunny, acoustic sound over three […]

When your debut single harvests one-and-a-half million streams on Spotify, you must be doing something right. Take for example Austin trio Sneaky Peaches and the Fuzz, whose hook-driven drupes have catapulted them into international indie pop recognition. These surreptitious freestones are all still college-age, but clearly each member’s got a lot of talent within their […]

If you were a regular in the Live Music Capital during the mid-late-aughts, you may remember the name Tody Castillo. Castillo self-released his eponymous debut in 2004 as well as his sophomore Windhorse in 2009, but he’s since shied away from the studio, at least on the surface. Turns out…that’s no longer the case. After […]

For anyone, it’s good to reflect on your goals and see which dominoes can teeter now towards great results ten years from now. And for someone as accomplished as Austin’s Nick Diaz, we’d be surprised if Buenos Diaz was far from what he first envisioned in Brooklyn back in 2010. Nick’s semi-eponymous lo-fi alt-pop project […]

Thanks to shifting social interests and categorical curiosity, we here at KUTX are now able to explore an entirely different product of musical appreciation. We’re talking about that vase-looking thing that sounds like a broken aquarium filter and tends to get used before throwing on Dark Side of the Moon or trekking out to ACL […]

Down here in Austin we’ve got a lot of pride for our FC, but up in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan a completely different FC commands an arena’s worth of attention. I’m talking about underground hip-hop producer Graham Murawsky better known by his handle Factor Chandelier. Between Murawsky’s contributions, collaborations, and compilations, it’s tough to pinpoint exactly how […]

Indie-jazz is a pretty accessible inlet within the bay that yacht rock usually drops anchor. And though the latter is trickier to define than the former, their currents and tides undeniably influence one another. You’ll hear that same fluidity in Mark Ghastine‘s budding discography, which so far consists of six standalone singles. They’re chock-full of […]

With a genre as sprawling as indie rock, it can be tough to track down exactly what you’re looking for. But if you’re on the hunt for some vintage indie in the vein of Built to Spill, Sonic Youth, and Dinosaur Jr., you’ll want to check out Antelope. Not to be confused with D.C. post-punk […]

The term ‘avant-garde’ tends to get thrown around egregiously in the world of music, especially by up-and-coming acts who have yet to realize that their sound falls within more recognizable genres. So when an artist authentically encapsulates ‘avant-garde’ in a way that’s not just ‘weird for the sake of weird’, it can be pretty refreshing. […]

A lot of folks have used the pandemic to reinvent themselves, but sometimes reinvention is less of a choice and more of a necessity. Just look at Fantastic Negrito, who after a failed record deal and catastrophic car accident, spent four weeks in a coma that atrophied his body and maimed his guitar playing hand. […]

Who says hip-hop can’t move a crowd at 8 in the morning? Definitely not Mariah Parker, the Athens, Georgia rapper-songwriter-activist who performs as Linqua Franqa. It’s been half a decade since Linqua Franqa shared their self-titled debut, which has been their sole full-length to date. But for good reason; they’ve been busy! On top of […]

The first episode of Atlanta‘s third season just premiered last week at SXSW. But we had plenty of other Georgia-based acts in town to remind us that Atlanta isn’t just a hub for hip-hop. Take for example indie rock duo Mattiel, the mononymous brainchild of virtuoso singer Mattiel Brown and visionary producer Jonah Swiley. These […]

There’s an unsaid promise imbued in the term “alt-pop”; it’s bound to have many of the upbeat sonic qualities claimed by mainstream pop but its nuanced chord changes and introspective lyrical content may not appeal as much to the masses. That said, New York’s Sarah Kinsley could very well be on the fast track to […]

Congrats, we all survived another SXSW! There were some uncertainties going into the fest’s first physical iteration in two years, but it’s safe to say that the city pulled it off in a way that felt pretty dang close to the pre-pandemic days. While we take a much needed breather, KUTX will recap some of […]

We’re in the final days of SXSW 2022 and many of us haven’t been able to see everything we’ve wanted. Either the long lines have intimidated us, the commute’s been problematic, or we simply can’t be in two places at once. Unforeseen circumstances have struck performers as well, considering the Brooklyn Bowl Family Reunion had […]

Happy St. Patty’s Day! If you’re looking to celebrate with some contemporary but authentically-Irish live music, let Pillow Queens guide you into their court. The Dublin quartet dropped their debut EP Calm Girls in 2016 and have since captivated fans across the globe with a harmonic iteration of indie rock that cushions between punk and […]

You may not have known her name until today, but you’ve absolutely heard some fruits of labor from Tayla Parx. This Dallas-born L.A.-based singer is a credited songwriter on Billboard blowouts like Ariana Grande’s “thank u, next”, “Love Lies” by Khalid and Normani, “Infinity” from Mariah Carey, and Christina Aguilera’s “Accelerate”…and that’s just scratching the […]

South By’s in full swing and Song of the Day‘s got another recommendation for you – this time on behalf of East Yorkshire sextet Low Hummer. Low Hummer’s debut album Modern Tricks For Living dropped last September, exposing a post-punk potency not heard since the late-’70s or early-’80s. It’s almost as if Gang of Four […]

SXSW has officially arrived and Song of the Day is here to offer some recommendations for this week of shows, starting today with another set of four letters – XIXA. Unlike SXSW, XIXA’s not an acronym; it’s a bold, all-caps re-spelling of “chicha” – the South American tropical genre that’s one of many influences on […]

You hear a lot of Australian music on 98.9, so much that you may wonder, “is this supposed to be the Aussie music experience?” But despite how well the continent’s handled quarantine, they haven’t stopped sharing great music, and we’re just trying to keep up. As of yet, though, we don’t have Sydney’s merci, mercy […]

SXSW starts tomorrow and with how much is happening in person, it’s more-or-less back to its pre-pandemic state. That’s a huge contrast to 2020, when SXSW’s cancellation presaged the past two years of quarantine guidelines, in-person precautions, and varying techniques of social distancing. That same March singer-songwriter John Zakoor took the immediate impacts of COVID […]

The bond between singer Tyagaraja Welch and producer Evan Dunivan has only seemed to get stronger and stronger, having started off as strictly friends before becoming songwriting partners almost a decade back. With the addition of bassist Michael Sanders and drummer Ethan Yeager in more recent years, that Welch-Dunivan core has expanded into the boundary-challenging […]

For the first phase of her career, Paulina Sotomayor was strictly known as the namesake frontwoman of her family band Sotomayor, but in just a couple years she’s expanded far beyond and proven herself as an incredibly-driven creative. Nowadays she spends a good amount of time behind the turntables as a DJ and hosts an […]

When you name your band after two monosyllabic slang words, you know it’s gonna be good. Case in point: Rad Gnar, whose members overlap with those of Basketball Shorts, Big Bill, and Breaklights with more than a decade of live show experience. Rad Gnar reels in the space between indie and punk and keeps their […]

You may have already read into Project Traction earlier today, but if you haven’t, here’s the gist. Producer-Engineer Jim Eno of Spoon and Public Hi-Fi Studios is tapping into his resources at hand to diminish the frustrating imbalance between men and women behind the board. The stats are pretty telling – women only represent under […]

Elden Ring‘s been out for a week, so you may think already have a certain type of spectral canines on your mind. The Ghost Wolves, however, aren’t playing any games. This Austin two-piece has more than a decade of experience under their fur, having toured across the globe and landed their original music on programs […]

As we finally (fingers crossed) bid farewell to winter and invite some sunny spring weather into the Lone Star State, a bit of Frozen Orange sounds pretty satisfying right about now. Originally an offshoot of the Austin group Maryann, Matt Hudson and Evan Kaspar recruited AMA’s Blair Robbins and Poly Action’s Zane Frisch to record […]

Although Song of the Day tries not to play favorites, in these final hours of Black History Month 2022 we’ve just gotta give you one more Memphis soul rarity from Sacred Soul: The D Vine Spirituals Record Story Vol. 1 & 2. This killer compilation’s now available on LP vinyl so you don’t need to […]

Anyone who’s ever had an in-depth discussion about performing and recording the music of others knows that covers can be a contentious conversation – especially when the new version is “too close” to the original. And although it’s hardly a rule of thumb, it seems like the older the originals or less-expected the genre swaps, […]

With the popularity of acts like Greta Van Fleet, it’s pretty clear that people enjoy classic-style rock in the contemporary realm. But that doesn’t mean modern rockers need to double down on being derivative to get attention. Take for example Austin three-piece Grandma Mousey, who’ve patched a path between ’70s hard rock, ’90s alternative, and […]

With less than a week to go in our celebration of Black History Month, we’ve gotta keep sweeping through the amazing compilation Sacred Soul: The D Vine Spirituals Record Story Vol. 1 & 2. Engineer Clyde Leoppard and Producer Juan D. Shipp poured their hearts into this ’70s Memphis label and recorded some of the […]

Nashville can get pretty chilly this time of year, but that doesn’t hinder the never-ending flow of musicians fanning their creative embers, be it performing on Broadway, recording in renowned spaces, or just staying at home and songwriting. Singer Sophie Gault’s taken part in that ecosystem since moving from rural Maryland in 2014 and has […]

The lightly-irreverent, endlessly-perseverant energy of Celtic punk is truly a unique one, capable of both riling unrest and encouraging excess within the same three-minute sprint. That’s straight out of the playbook for Sydney five-piece The Rumjacks, whoseraucous take on the genre has led to a decade-and-a-half-long success streak. The Rumjacks have managed to keep it […]

We’re just past halfway through Black History Month but have only scratched the surface of Sacred Soul: The D-Vine Spirituals Record Story Vol. 1 & 2. This compilation preserves the legacy forged by producer Juan D. Shipp and engineer Clyde Leoppard and their incredible roster of Memphis ’70s-soul acts by digitizing these rare 45s for […]

You may have gotten wind of Luck Reunion’s 10th Anniversary lineup that was just announced yesterday, which’ll feature several KUTX favorites and take place a month from now out in Spicewood, just a stone’s throw away from Austin. But don’t get confused between that Texas treasure and another “Luck” legacy in the country music world […]

Regardless of the providence, Canada and its vast countryside has always made for wonderfully nuanced folk music, be it through Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, or the late Leonard Cohen. Toronto’sAbigail Lapell has been carefully creating her own legacy of modern folk, threading a needle between dark and bucolic. Lapell first showed off her pipes on […]

With South By South West 2022 just a month away, the “must-see” previews are beginning to pop out. And if you’re the type that prefers to soak up as much Austin music as possible during SX, you’ll want to check out the Keeled Scales official showcase on March 17th at Cheer Up Charlie’s. Among the […]

Although Valentine’s Day is filled with Hallmark moments and sweet nothings for couples across the globe, many prefer to ditch those saccharine stereotypes and instead celebrate the date by…well…treating it like any other. Montreal multi-instrumentalist Geoffroy probably falls in that latter category, considering theephemeral energy and active conscientiousness imprinted across his new album Live Slow […]

Along with Detroit and Memphis, Chicago was a major hotspot of classic soul back in the ’60s and ’70s, so it’s no real surprise that the sound persists in the Windy City today…although not always in the places you’d expect. Say hello to “retro rock” quintet Hollyy, who released their 2020 debut album Miss the […]

COVID-19’s still constricting the ways we can safely connect, so you as can imagine, our beloved Studio 1A’s been pretty quiet as of recent. That said, before Omicron took over, we managed to nab a couple standout acts late last year, perhaps most notably Denton six-piece Midlake. These prog-folk rockers got their start all the […]

For just over a week now we’ve graced KUTX’s airwaves with our February 2022 Artist of the Month Chief Cleopatra, the Corsicana, Texas-born singer-songwriter who conjures a seductive concoction of rock, psychedelia, and soul. That’s not to say that Cleo’s a complete stranger to KUTX, considering her appearances on The Breaks and genre-bending performance during […]

Los Angeles and New York City are both considered major hubs for musicians to “make it”, and plenty of Austinites have made that move and never looked back. But for Kelly Barnes (who left L.A. after a dissolved marriage) and Brian Cole (who relocated from NYC after a house fire), the Live Music Capital of […]

Last Tuesday we introduced you to Sacred Soul: The D-Vine Spirituals Records Story Vol. 1 & 2, along with a promise to share some of the bounty over the course of Black History Month. Before this compilation dropped your best bet to hear these Memphis rarities was finding low quality turntable rips on YouTube or […]

Bassist-guitarist-vocalist Harrison Anderson was a fairly common sight around town in the mid-2010s, performing with Austin groups SMiiLE and Dreamboat, and has since grown into a confident and charismatic solo act. As for singer-guitarist Emily Whetstone, she’s also enjoyed some stripped-down sets outside of her fronting/chief-songwriting role in Van Mary, whose track “Hug” has been […]

As we all know, New York is one of hip-hop’s central hubs so it can be tough to keep track of everything coming out. But there’s one EP in particular from last year that you won’t want to gloss over,Project Mayhem. Two of Buffalo’s finest – rap-punk vocalistTr38cho and producer-emcee Ajent O – went in […]

There’s aninherently international quality to the original tunes ofKiko Villamizar, theMiami-born, Colombia-raised singer, songwriter, and gaita flautist who currently calls Austin his home. You might’ve caught Kiko’s My KUTX session a couple weeks back, seen him do stand-up around town, heard some of his contributions to Money Chicha’s latest record, or gotten wind of his […]

By design, Song of the Day tends to feature up-and-coming artists and contemporary releases. But in honor of Black History Month, we’re gonna shake things up just a little bit. You’ll still get the usual mix of modern acts over the course of February, but each week we’re also offering a unique piece of Black […]

Though you may not have known him by name, you’ve almost certainly heard multi-instrumentalist Sterling Steffen play around town, be it with Mother Falcon, Sometimes A Legend, The Watters, Wild Child, or even Father John Misty. But outside of his status as a complete savant in the woodwind world, Steffen’s been preparing to unfurl a […]

Under the Covers weekend is well underway and with only a few days left of Love Austin Music Month we’ve found a perfect intersection among those overlapping circles. Classically trained pianist-vocalist Roxi Copland has shown off her Americana-jazz-pop chops across town since 2012’s Pretty Lies and now – a full decade later – this Austinite’s […]

Austin icon David Ramirez has been a major station staple of ours since KUTX’s humble origins. You’ve no doubt heard the Americana-connoisseur on our airwaves and we’ve had him in Studio 1A more times than we can count but the big news this week is the announcement of a new live EP. Rules & Regulations […]

As Love Austin Music Month starts to lull, we’re at the final offering fromAustin Music Foundation’s Artist Development Program and ATX Gen Next: Adventures in Person. Punk groupPleasure Venom has certainly helped to make this iteration of ATX Gen Next pop out compared toprevious versions, thanks topowerful verses chock-full ofpolitical views and vivacious arrangements that […]

It’s safe to say that 2022’s started off strong with the year’s first Artist of the Month, San Gabriel. Seasoned multi-instrumentalist James Bookert only recently started releasing solo recordings after longstanding stints with Wild Child and Whiskey Shivers but his uniquely uplifting pop style has already laid out an impressive and accessible brand. San Gabriel […]

We’re in the final seven days of Love Austin Music Month and in the home stretch ofATX Gen Next: Adventures in Person, which features this year’s roster fromAustin Music Foundation’s Artist Development Program. Quentin And The Past Lives especially shines among ADP 5’s Class of 2022, thanks in no small part to the canned heat […]

With freezing temperatures in the forecast and the trauma of last year’s statewide blackout all-too-fresh in memory, many Texans just want to fast-forward to sandier summer times. Well, at least in the musical world you can do just that with Austin “beach-alt” duo TV Temple, who’re still in the standalone single phase of their career. […]

At the top ofLove Austin Music Month we re-introduced you toAustin Music Foundation’s Artist Development Program and their new compilation ATX Gen Next: Adventures in Person. ATX Gen Next: Adventures in Person features a dozen original songs from six Austin artists, including indie-pop/Americana-folk aficionado Natalie Price. This guitarist, vocalist, and kalimba-enthusiast began to seriously forge […]

COVID-19’s omicron variant quickly curbed some of the Live Music Capital’s winter highlights – high profile New Year’s Eve shows, an overflow of talent throughout Free Week, and the long anticipated return of music to KUTX’s beloved Studio 1A. But especially with the recent foggy mornings and freezing temperatures on the horizon, we’re just thankful […]

At just past the halfway mark forLove Austin Music Month we should recognize that not every Austinite stayed in town for their latest releases. Case in point: Austin’s Bonnie Whitmore, who after a string of successful solo albums, joined her older sibling Eleanor in Los Angeles to realize their folk project The Whitmore Sisters. And […]

Anyone who’s heard Anastasia Hera can tell that she’s a big proponent of Black activism, making her a prime candidate for the spotlight on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. This native Austinitecemented her charismatic sense of verbal cadence early on by memorizing King’s iconic “I Have A Dream” speech at a young age, andin 2015 […]

Since 2019 Austin’s Dena Hope has been expanding on an eponymous solo synth-pop endeavor, which got its first leg up in 2020 with her debut EP In Transit. And while many synth-poppers out there tend to dabble with retro-’80s formulas, Dena Hope prefers to keep it more contemporary sounding and in line with her alluring […]

Houston trio Khruangbin’s been getting a lot of kudos for their blend of world music and ’70s-style psychedelia, but Austin three-piece Nemegata and their own timeless sound may very well become their nemesis. Nemegata makes extensive use of Spanish and Muisca in their tracks and effortlessly alternates between neo-traditional rhythmsand effects-drenched psych-prog-rock, as heard on […]

Right around this same time last year, guitarist Ben Root and drummer Emma Berrigan had finally put their “beach-alt” sound as TV Temple on streaming platforms, making their eponymous place of worship easily accessible no matter the static. But instead of just feeding the figurative idiot box, this Austin duo’s chosen quality over quantity with […]

As our hip-hop specialty program The Breaks celebrates five years on the air, we can’t help but give extra kudos to one of the shows’ main staples, Austin renaissance man Kydd Jones. On top of his never-ending drive in the hip-hop R&B realm, be it producing, writing, singing, or rapping, Jones has been dipping his […]

We’re already one week intoLove Austin Music Month but’ve only scraped the surface of ATX Gen Next: Adventures in Person – the new compilation fromAustin Music Foundation’s Artist Development Program. One of the more well-known contributors is native Austinite Anastasia Hera, whose early inspirations of ATCQ, Jay-Z, and MLK Jr. helped shape her verbal abilities […]

Going back to their 2016 debut single “Where I’ll Be”, guitarist-vocalist Matt Salois and violinist-pianist-vocalist Alyssa Kelly have been making listeners feel all warm and fuzzy inside with their project Deer Fellow. True to their name, this Austin duo’s shown a real camaraderie with the calming powers of nature thanks to an indie-folk-pop sound slathered […]

As the nation marks one year since a high-profile socio-political event,Love Austin Music Month continues with theAustin Music Foundation’s Artist Development Program and one of our city’s most politically outspoken punk bands Pleasure Venom. Fronted by fierce vocalist and unapologetic lyricist Audrey Campbell, Pleasure Venom’s been seeping its way into all the sub-genres of punk […]

As Love Austin Music Month marches on, we continue our coverage of Austin Music Foundation’s Artist Development Program‘s new compilation, ATX Gen Next: Adventures in Person, with Quentin And The Past Lives. Quentin’s eponymous quintet may be a relatively recent endeavor but their high-octane brand of funk-infused pop-rock (polished with plenty of harmonies, dynamic virtuoso […]

Austin Music Foundation’s Artist Development Program has just entered their fifth year and in honor of Love Austin Music Month they’re releasing their third record, ATX Gen Next: Adventures in Person – recorded at The Bubble and produced by Chris “Frenchie” Smith and Einar Pedersen. The album officially drops mid-January and the vinyl edition is […]

No one can deny how taxing 2021 was, and though we can’t make any guarantees for 2022, we’d be remiss if we didn’t recognize some gems that made the Winter season a little less bleak. Case in point: two of Austin’s most outspoken hip-hop creators, Ben Buck (who’s had a fruitful solo career as a […]

Here we are at the final Song of the Day for 2021 and with just one week away until Christmas Eve, this one’s an extra sentimental seasonal pick. It comes from the mind of L.A.’s Stephan Moccio, who, outside of a successful solo career has some seriously impressive co-writing credits: “Wrecking Ball” from Miley Cyrus, […]

Born in Minneapolis and now based out of New York, guitarist-vocalist José James continues to inspire joy at the intersection of jazz and hip-hop. His discovery in London about a decade back led to legendary jazz label Blue Note Records signing James and releasing five of his albums between 2012 and 2018. Since then José […]

Like so many others before him, blue-eyed, Mississippi-born vocalist Jeremy Lister first fell in love with singing in his childhood church. Fast forward to 2003 when Lister relocated to Nasvhille and released his debut EP Shooting Star and jump ahead again to 2010, when he joined acclaimed a cappella outfit Street Corner Symphony, who landed […]

Even if you haven’t tied the voice to the name, you’ve likely heard Amanda Shires, be it with Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, supporting the late John Prine on tour, or as one quarter of country supergroup The Highwomen. But it may surprise some of you to learn that this Lubbock-born/Nashville-based singer-fiddler’s just released […]

Like it or not, Christmastime is officially upon us. And with no apologies to the Scrooges, Song of the Day‘s final week of 2021 is dedicated strictly to the seasonal stuff. First up is Austin’s Patricia Vonne, an actress who’s not only had a fruitful relationship with Robert Rodriguez, but is also an award-winning filmmaker, […]

Pittsburgh-born poet Jac Carson was inspired early on by ’90s alt-rock soundtracks (Van Wilder and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater to name a couple) before getting his chops up onstage in Philadelphia and eventually moving down to Austin. And it’s here that Carson’s project Jac with No K has really flourished – blurring the lines between […]

Under the handle Heaven the Dude, multi-instrumentalist producer Lucas Gorham’s already gotten some serious love from the electronic/beat crowd. Not too long ago he produced Houston MC Fat Tony’s 10,000 Hours record, making the country-rap concepts a beyond-satisfying reality. But more recently Gorham’s been hankering to tap into something a little more idiosyncratic, leading us […]

Although Minneapolis brothers Page Burkum and Jack Torrey didn’t begin singing together until they were in their thirties, The Cactus Blossoms and their handsome harmonies have already flourished a reputation that gives The Everly Brothers a run for their money. A half decade after The Cactus Blossoms released their debut LP You’re Dreaming and just […]

Based out of Tennessee, guitarist-vocalist-organist Jon Eldridge has enlisted some of Nashville’s finest for his eponymous rock project The Eldridge Band – fellow multi-instrumentalists Johnny Boyd and Caroline Browning as well as drummer Will Morrison. And after tracking their debut full-length Hindsight this past year, The Eldridge Band teamed up with acclaimed Jack White/Chris Stapleton […]

One of the most auspicious arbiters of rock here in Austin is undoubtedly A. Sinclair. Since 2014’s Pretty Girls, Aaron Sinclair’s consistently curated an intricate indie rock sound bolstered by cavalier-but-calculated vocals and gorgeous guitar work, a legacy that’s continued with this year’s Sunshine Ghost LP. This two-time Studio 1A veteran joins a roster of […]

Some of you may still be distraught over the 2019 disbanding of Yeasayer post-Erotic Reruns, but former core member Anand Wilder has come with a bit of good news. Wilder’s recently announced his upcoming solo debut I Don’t Know My Words for release early next year, in which Wilder reignited the self-imposed creative challenges of […]

Singer-guitarist Timothy Showalter took the trauma of his early twenties and transformed it into his solo project Strand of Oaks while he was still in Pennsylvania but it’s open been since he moved down to Austin that his style has fully flourished. Following the release of his eighth album In Heaven back at the beginning […]

Austin’s Sara Maria may only have a couple singles to her musical moniker as of now, but just those two tracks alone are plenty enough to impress us with the potential of Sarita. Sarita’s been blending a variety of genre nooks and crannies for her upcoming debut album, be it from folk, pop, R&B, or […]

Following all the cranberry sauce, stuffing, and more, the post-Thanksgiving digestion period can be plenty liberating. But even with the knowledge that everyone’s still full and high on family time (be it for better or worse), Austin singer-guitarist Clarence James has just come out of the kitchen with a double dish of socially-conscious soul, courtesy […]

The term “songstress” is a relatively outdated one, but if there’s anyone here in Austin that fits the description, it’s absolutely Akina Adderley. In addition to her work providing vocals for the world-jazz group NORI and as one third of retro-girl-pop project Charlie Faye & The Fayettes, Adderley’s long maintained a reputation as a must-hear […]

For the past few weeks you’ve heard plenty from our November 2021 Artist of the Month Buffalo Nichols, the Houston-born/Milwaukee-raised singer-guitarist who just released his self-titled debut. Carl Nichols’ worldly travels and keen sense of observation have both leant themselves to the lyrical praises for Buffalo Nichols and just last week he dropped by Studio […]

New York’s Benjamin Lazar Davis already showed off his multi-instrumental indie pop chops on his 2018 debut Nothing Matters but in the three short years since then he’s leveled up even further. A proven mastermind of sonic choices and vivid, varied arrangements, Benjamin Lazar Davis released his eponymous sophomore full-length today, blurring the lines between […]

One of the trickiest parts of pop songwriting is conveying emotion in a genuine way that’s both catchy and accessible. But for L.A. duo EXES – vocalist Allie McDonald and producer Mike Derenzo – that’s their bread and butter. Thesekindred collaborators have been creeping up into the indie pop scene since 2019 and coming off […]

Emily Shirley might be most recognizable here in Austin for her rolewith The Belle Sounds performing synth, piano, and vocals, but she’s also got plenty of other merits elsewhere. The classically-trained Connecticut native was the lead singer of Boston soul-breakbeat group Amun Ra for their two albums before moving to Austin a decade and half […]

Like many Americana artists, Nashville native Sara Jean Kelley grew up with an adoration for nature and has since continued to explore how us humans interact with the world that’s grown around us, be it for better or worse. Kelley first put those thoughts on record with her 2013 debut The Waiting Place, revealing the […]

Though they’ve already proven their outspokenness as an anti-racist organist/activist, Stellar‘s passion is about shine in a separate-but-adjacent setting – folk music. The Austin-based singer’s style falls somewhere between Sinead O’Connor, Indigo Girls, and Joni Mitchell, framing candid societal commentary over enthralling instrumental arrangements. Stellar releases their debut LP RAINBOW SHADOWS this Friday and shares […]

Previously under the name A Case for Brooklyn, the quartet Ladyfang has become a fabulous force of glitter, glam, and the like within Austin’s rock scene. Between their eye-catching outfits, less-than-reverent lyrics, and unpredictable nuances within their genre’s framework, Ladyfang’s kept us plenty entertained for the past half decade. Ladyfang performs tonight at Empire Control […]

With an initial frame assembled from the demos of Janson Sommer in 2014, Futon Blonde has since reclined and extended for maximum listener comfort. Since finalizing the lineup heard on the 2016 EP Solid State, this Austin quartet’s proven time and time again that blondes do indeed have more fun, thanks to eclectic grooves that […]

Summer may be far behind us but surf rock music is a good fit for all seasons, hot or cold. That’s common knowledge for Austin quartet The Avocados, who, like the fruit of the same name, have taken years to fully mature from their pit status all the way back in 2013. The four seasoned […]

Back in his screwdriver and salad days, songwriter Matt The Electrician was somewhat of a local legend, coming straight off all-day shifts to open mics still in company attire. Matt’s occupational capacity as electrician is a thing of the past, but the title’s become inseparable from his musical character and internal creative circuitry. Just last […]

Unlike the similarly-named avian companion, Jenny Parrott has never needed to mimic anyone else to express herself. After moving to Austin a decade-and-a-half back, she fronted the Western swing three-piece Shotgun Party through three LPs and international tours, then got involved with folk rockers Loves It for two albums. Since then though, Parrott and her […]

On an atypically gray and rainy day in Texas, we can all appreciate the warmth of some good indie-style illumination. And celebrating the 11th anniversary of their eponymous debut this weekend is longtime KUTX favorite The Bright Light Social Hour, the psych-pop connoisseurs who’ve graced both Studio 1A and KUTX at the Four Seasons with […]

Though she’s historically called Houston her home, after several LPs that navigate the many canals of jazz (including two in the bossa-nova-verse), singer Kristine Mills is about to actualize her international aspirations with a move to London. That pond-hopping dream becomes a reality only after the release of Mills’ aptly-titled new record, Looking Back. Moving […]

The blight of male-propagated verbal harassment is universal but is sadly, especially common in metropolitan settings such as our fair city. Songwriter rajinee knows this all-too-well, and has transformed her experiences with unsolicited comments into an absolute banger, one that also marks a significant departure from her historically acoustic material. But that’s not to say she’s entirely […]

When singer-guitarist Garret Ashton moved from rural Idaho down to Houston, his bucolic creativity collided with the hustle and bustle of bayou-metropolitan tastes. As soon as those internal frequencies acclimated to the new environment, Ashton’s alt-rock endeavor Transmission Lost was born, with its first lineup finalized around 2018. Unlike the cryptic numbers stations of decades […]

On the ascent towards their latest album Chicha Summit, you’ve been hearing lots about our October 2021 Artist of the Month, Money Chicha. This exotic cumbia-psych-rock project features some of the biggest standouts from both Grupo Fantasma and Brownout as well as relative newcomer Kiko Villamizar, who helped Money Chicha achieve the peak perfection heard on Chicha Summit. […]

When a group’s been dubbed the Japanese analogue to golden-era Red Hot Chili Peppers, expectations are pretty high. And yet Tokyo-based four-piece OKAMOTO’s manages to live up to that hype and well beyond with a raucous, irreverent brand of punk-funk-rock that gives Freaky Styley a run for its money. In the same vein as the Ramones, the members of […]

Even if you’re only barely familiar with Golden Dawn Arkestra, you likely know that Austin’s premiere cosmic-afrobeat/nu-disco outfit is all about pushing the envelope, be it with mystical, incense-laden live show rituals, exotic costumes, or intriguingly bizarre music videos. Well, on that last front these three-time Studio 1A veterans have further fueled the fever dream that […]

Raised in sunny South Florida against a backdrop of ’80s club bangers and pivotal ’90s hip-hop, multi-instrumentalist Roberto Carlos Lange’s found sturdy legs in Brooklyn for his Latin-leaning experimental electronic folk project Helado Negro. The pursuit that began with 2009’s Awe Owe has since earned Lange several awards and considerable critical acclaim, including a widely popular […]

For a full decade, retro-pop power trio Sphynx had an almost mythical command over their electrifying live performances and immersive studio recordings. But with Sphynx having sifted back into the figurative sand, former frontman (or at least one of them) Aaron Miller’s extended himself well beyond the sphere of Sphynx with his daring solo endeavor […]

Though he got his start way up in Vermont, singer/painter Ethan Azarian‘s been flourishing in Austin for the past three decades, beginning with his early-’90s project The Orange Mothers with longtime collaborator Jeff Johnston. This seasoned banjo-playing vocalist hasn’t felt the need to shy away from evergreen themes of folk songwriting, instead tapping into what makes […]

You might have fond memories of Fair City Fire, whose embers attracted a formidable following over their seven-year tenure here in Austin, even landing their own official day on August 31st, 2019. The bad news is that Fair City Fire’s called it quits. But the good news is that FCF co-founder Brian Wolff continues to […]

As the grandson of Lubbock-raised creative polymath Terry Allen, singer-guitarist Calder Allen has been raised with a set of songwriting sensibilities that few have been privy to. But despite that huge leg-up heritage-wise, Allen only made his live band debut just a couple weeks ago with Charlie Sexton during the first Sunday of ACL Fest. Calder […]

Since the salad days of KUTX, Austin songwriter David Ramirez has been a major staple of our airwaves. And David’s growth alongside ours over the years makes us feel like we’ve got a special bond between us. So imagine our elation when this six-time Studio 1A veteran visited us backstage at ACL Fest and treated us […]

Since the genre’s earliest days there’s been a fruitful relationship between hip hop music and basketball, a legacy that’s soon set to continue with Philadelphia’s Mega Ran. The rapper’s dressing out for the NBA’s 75th season with his upcoming 11th album, Live 95, a loving tribute to this unique intersectionality of sports, music, and urban life […]

Canada’s Brandy Zdan may have settled into her current home base of Nashville back in 2014, but the preceding three years she spent here in Austin was plenty enough to win over a following. This year Zdan’s zeroing in on Falcon, the full-length follow-up to her 2018 sophomore release Secretear that’s set to spread its wings at […]

For those with their ear near to Austin’s alt-country/Americana scene, the name Tony Kamel shouldn’t sound too unfamiliar. For years Kamel’s provided the circuitry for the Grammy-nominated string group (and KUTX favorites) Wood & Wire, and alongside his newfound fatherhood, has recently issued his debut solo LP, Back Down Home. This Kamel-Back packs all the coastal accoutrements […]

Raised in Nicaragua and inspired by the passion portrayed in 1997’s Selena, Austin indie-R&B singer Shiela began forging her own mononymous path to superstardom at a young age. Now, Shiela’s impeccable knack for crossover appeal (both genre-wise and through bilingual lyrics) has helped make her 2021 debut Chilita a treasure chest of eclecticism, one that even includes […]

The forecast calls for sunny, clear skies so it’ll be a perfect weekend to appreciate The Tender Things. Frontman Jesse Ebaugh’s experiences with bluegrass and blues rock groups in Northern Kentucky laid the groundwork for this “hippie country” outfit, which was formed here in Austin only a few years ago after Ebaugh resigned from Heartless […]

Born in Detroit and based right here in Austin, polymath painter-producer-vocalist Mike Melinoe is a must-see for this weekend of ACL Fest. The psychedelic-minded model enjoys an enigmatic aura and incorporates the best bits of pop, rock, and R&B into his genre-inclusive hip-hop style, conquering each new venture with remarkable verbal skills and outstanding flow. […]

Whether you’ve attended those legendary Body Rock ATX dance parties, celebrated the official RAS Day (August 29th), or seen their name pop-up on KUTX’s playlists, chances are you’ve heard of Riders Against the Storm. Since their 2013 eponymous EP, this eclectic hip-hop duo has continued to defy any expectations of the genre by incorporating a variety […]

One weekend of Austin City Limits Music Festival is already in the bag but those famous flags are still flying high, so we’ve got another week of Austin artist coverage, continuing today with Heartless Bastards. Founded in Cincinnati nearly two full decades ago, this trio has transcended the expectations of traditional rock with flairs of folk, […]

The gates are waiting for you and ACL Fest is officially underway! So get your fill on festival fun this Friday but if you’re an ACL early bird, a must-see for Saturday is Austin’s Aaron Stephens. The Chicago-born, South Texas-raised producer/multi-instrumentalist shines best on funk-rock guitar and grizzled vocals, as heard on Stephens’ 2014 debut […]

In less than 24 hours ACL Fest 2021 will officially begin and who better to help put things in gear than western swing icons Asleep At The Wheel? Three years after their inception in Paw Paw, West Virginia, Ray Benson steered The Wheel down here to Austin where they went on to give the final performance […]

If you know Wild Child or Glorietta, then you’ve already got a good idea of how talented vocalist Kelsey Wilson is. But Kelsey’s latest crowning achievement is her jazz-soul-R&B project, Sir Woman, which finds the powerhouse singer blending the best bits of Amy Winehouse, Lauryn Hill, and Norah Jones together into her own idiosyncratic style. Sir […]

Though the bulk of his studio output has been relatively recent, Bastrop-born/Austin-based producer/vocalist Deezie Brown‘s already proven plenty of potential. Following up 2018’s Judith, Brown was a contributor on ATX Gen Next: Adventures in Lockdown and makes up one half of the R&B/hip-hop collaboration Geto Gala. Deezie Brown’s got some new material in the works, and hopefully […]

Austin City Limits Music Festival is officially upon us, so for the next couple weeks we’ll be shining the spotlight on Austin acts that might not be as well known as some of the major headliners, but deserve just as much attention and praise. First up is Jade Bird, who after growing up in the UK […]

As temperatures dramatically drop here in Texas, it seems fitting to give Go Fever the “all clear” to heat things up again. After charismatic mastermind Acey Monaro spent a year in the respite of her Australian motherland, these two-time Studio 1A veterans seem right at home back here in Austin as our September 2021 Artist […]

If you’re a connoisseur of contemporary jazz-soul, then you’re likely already in-the-know about New York’s Cory Henry. This Snarky Puppy veteran multi-instrumentalist-producer-composer shines chiefly on keys and vocals, and invites the classic gospel, funk, and R&B tones of Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway, and Marvin Gaye into the realm of “future-soul”. Cory Henry shared his aptly-titled […]

One of the hottest topics in Texas right now surrounds birth, but this isn’t really the appropriate forum to talk politics so instead let’s focus on Fertility House. The four Austin transplants of Fertility House made their debut in 2018 with their eponymous LP, showcasing the band’s knack for upbeat-yet-smooth and at times politically-charged indie garage […]

Even with the mass proliferation of digital production trends in the past three decades, there’s something inherently retro about the funk-soul sound. Austin group Flyjack knows this all-too-well, having just released a record named after an airline that bit the dust right when computers were becoming commonplace in the music world. Pan Am gives you a first class […]

We might’ve just kicked off Hispanic Heritage Month, but that doesn’t mean we should overlook Spanish’s distant cousin, Portuguese, and subsequently the music of Brazil. Enter Frederico7, the Austin-based Brazilian soul-rocker who first captivated the Live Music Capital with a Latin-leaning vatapá of South American sounds on his 2019 debut LP Exótico Americano. Frederico7 brings o calor to the […]

If you’re looking to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with a bit of dancing, there are few artists more capable of bringing the house down than El Dusty. On top of being a Latin Grammy Nominee and beloved crate-diggin’ turntablist, this Corpus Christi-born DJ/producer/composer is also a leading pioneer in the nu cumbia/electronic cumbia movement, and […]

If you have even cursory knowledge of the Tex-Mex genre, then you’ve likely already heard the name Joe “King” Carrasco. Born in the Texas panhandle and currently calling Southwest Mexico his home, Joe King Carrasco’s approaching a half century worth of innovative music output, with highlights like recording with Michael Jackson and appearing on Saturday Night […]

With the exception of iconic industry shifters who made it look easy like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rage Against the Machine, or dare I say, even Limp Bizkit, the mashup genre of rap-rock can be a treacherous territory to navigate. That said, Austin four-piece The Dragon Berries seems to have hit a stride in the hip-hop-meets-alt-rock […]

Typically based in Austin but currently kicking it in Portugal’s capital, guitarist-singer Ben Murray’s been moonlighting with his solo endeavor Friend In Law. Murray’s lo-fi bedroom-based style recalls the melancholic catalogues of Bright Eyes and Elliott Smith, and can be heard most recently on Friend In Law’s latest EP, Craw Manor. Keep an ear out […]

Going back to the genre’s mid-’80s heyday with Big Boys and Dicks, punk rock has been a major part of Austin’s musical character. And though there are a number of groups that continue the Austin punk legacy into the 2020s, few can package their sound with the same accessibility of Lola Tried. Fronting vocalist-guitarist Lauren Burton first […]

One of the most appealing aspects of Montreal four-piece Fleece is that they sheer the finest fibers from a number of genres, and weave them together into an undeniably smooth final product. Fleece shared their latest line of feel-good indie music with the release of Stunning and Atrocious and the tail end of last month and are […]

With the sun out and about and temperatures hitting nearly triple digits this week, it might not be a bad idea to just simmer in the sweat and embrace the Dayglow. Austin multi-instrumentalist Sloan Struble blew us away in 2019 with Dayglow‘s debut album, Fuzzybrain, and invited us to get a little more intimate with his indie […]

Though husband-and-wife songwriting team Daniel and Jenna Watters have spent the past half decade in Austin, their flow of Americana-soul dates back to the early 2010s. The Watters‘ evolving stream of retro-style rock and contemporary funk sounds has decidedly bubbled up since their time here with the addition of a five-piece backing band, complete with […]

For the past few years Austin multi-instrumentalist Jonathan Fox has built up a repertoire of indie pop under the handle Foxtales. And though he already totes a robust coat of colors, Foxtales ventures even further into the realm of chillwave with a more synth-reliant sound on his upcoming fourth record, Perfect Landing. Perfect Landing touches down […]

Big news from Austin’s Slomo Drags this morning; the indie-glam-pop-rock group just announced their new EP, Twin Absorber. The record is co-produced by Danny Reisch (whose work has helped elevate the likes of fellow Studio 1A veterans Shearwater, Bright Light Social Hour, Tele Novella, and Erika Wennerstrom) and Quiet Company contributor Matt Parmenter, so you […]

You may recall Nané from when we named them our Artist of the Month this January, or from their debut single “Always On My Mind”, which dropped late last year but quickly earned a rotation spot on our airwaves. The Austin group’s just hit their half-decade mark, and has markedly stepped up their groove-based rock-R&B style […]

L.A. native Sydney Ranée first started putting her pipes to work when she turned double digits, got a Bachelor’s in Music from Cornish, and now has fans across the globe. On top of being a virtuoso vocalist, some of Ranée’s more recent endeavors have included exploring the endless world of music production and dipping her toes […]

If you’re a longtime listener of KUTX, then you probably agree that Austin’s Nakia has historically been a bit of staple on our airwaves. The four–time Studio 1A veteran and two-time My KUTX host has been shaping his soulful style of blues rock for the past decade, and has recently dug up something from around his Season One appearance […]

This is far from their crowning achievement but if there’s one band here in Austin that makes you sound like Marcie from Peanuts when saying their name, it’s Yes Sir, No Sir. These four Live Music Capital veterans have been palling around town for a long time but only inaugurated Yes Sir, No Sir within the […]

The name BLK ODYSSY might seem a bit grandiose on first glance, but a quick listen to their recent material justifies the epic magnificence of their sound. While D’Angelo & The Vanguard maintains a naming convention that touts their frontman’s saga, singer Sam Houston has graciously allowed his own name to go by the wayside as […]

If you know L.A. roots duo HoneyHoney or have watched shows like Medium and Without a Trace then you’re already acquainted with the talent bestowed in singer Suzanne Santo. But even the pre-existing fans might’ve missed the fact that Santo recently moved here to Austin to double down on her Americana-meets-Gothic-soul solo project. The follow-up to Santo’s […]

When you discover a group whose style and vibe matches up perfectly with your own, sometimes you just gotta recruit ’em. At least that’s what happened with L.A.-born psych-pop producer Frank Maston (better known as one half of PAINT and mononymously as Maston), who experienced love at first listen when he laid ears on Geneva […]

West Texas native Rett Smith may have spent some time in Nashville and New York, but its only after settling down in our lovely southern metropolis that he’s returned to his full Americana potential. Smith shared his grizzled and grim southern-folk-rock sound last year with the nine-track debut record Giving Up On Quitting, and has […]

Raised in the Live Music Capital and now based out of Beantown, producer Andrew Moon Bain’s rap sheet of recording credits includes industry giants like Diplo and Snoop Dogg. Which is plenty impressive, but it’s only been within the past couple years that Bain’s unfurled his new solo project, Brown Bones. Bain’s first pair of […]

At a junction of ’80s-style synth-work, millennium-era R&B, and modern electronic experimentation, L.A. producer David Halsey, better known to the world as Petticoat, is inching closer and closer to a truly timeless sound. Which is impressive to say the least, considering he’s only in his mid-20s, but that youth has allowed Halsey to overlook some […]

Aside from the unique influences you’d only get from having a church organist and a cover band’s lead singer as parents, Mike Fuller‘s been finalizing his own folk-rock style more-or-less all on his own. Fuller only dropped his debut EP The Human Condition last September, but he’s spent the past decade perfecting what’s become his […]

Raised in a Virginia-West Virginia border town and now based out of Black Mountain, North Carolina, Alexa Rose has always had a rugged sense of country living and love of travel imbued in her music. Rose won over plenty of listeners with her intimate breed of Americana folk rock on her 2019 debut Medicine for […]

Like many who hadn’t quite yet tapped into their full potential, Austin native Ruel Thomas didn’t flesh out his inner musician until he spent some time away from home. While living in Australia, Thomas soaked up the folky formulas of Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, and Paul McCartney while shaping his own indie-adjacent sound on guitar (both […]

As we all know, musical trends come and go in cycles, and with the 50th anniversary of disco’s mid-late-’70s heyday approaching, guess what’s back in fashion? That’s not to say that anyone participating in the revival is doing it for a cash grab; just look at Dallas Latinx four-piece Luna Luna, whose retro-friendly style takes […]

Houston’s Thomas Csorba may have released his debut full-length From the Foxhole in 2017 but it wasn’t until last year’s eponymous LP that his mastery over the Americana genre became common knowledge. And riding off that well-deserved high praise for Thomas Csorba, much to the delight of us fans, the Bayou City singer’s set to […]

You might not recognize the name Reva DeVito right away, but she should instantly get some extra credence based on the calibre of her collaborators, be it Young Franco or KUTX-favorite Kaytranada. The Portland singer absolutely slays it with a sensuous and soulful indie-R&B blend and just announced a national month-long tour alongside London’s Franc Moody, […]

With a new post-humous Prince album out in the world, all eyes are back on Minneapolis. But it’s safe to say that there’s plenty of life in the Twin Cities aside from the dearly departed Purple One. Case in point: Nick Elstad, who produces bedroom pop under the name Sweet and Lonely. As the handle suggests, […]

During the heyday of Seattle’s grunge scene singer-guitarist Harris Thurmond was a key player in groups like Hammerbox, Orbiter, and Sanford Arms, and has called Austin his home for the past decade and a half. Following that relocation, Thurmond became a major contributor for Austin outfit New Roman Times, but even though they called it […]

Like hundreds of other international musicians, rising Copenhagen-based producer-drummer Rasmus Littauer was eager to showcase his music during SXSW 2020…but you know what happened. So instead of putting his debut album as School of X, Armlock, on display in the Live Music Capital, the pandemic allowed Littauer to tap deep into his own psyche and […]

From weekly food assembly rituals to pre-exposure prescription drugs, the word “prep” carries a ton of different connotations. Arguably its most common use is to describe Ivy League chums, something that’s been re-appropriated by Oxford-alum Tom Havelock (and his equally talented colleagues) for the buoyant London-based project PREP. PREP first cast out from the dock […]

Concerning artists who amp up the anticipation with an enticing name, Austin four-piece Half Dream is definitely a group who lives up to the expectations of their handle. The quartet walks a mesmerizing tightrope between ethereal shoegaze arrangements and grounded folk songwriting, spearheaded by fronting vocalist-guitarist Paige Renee Berry. Half Dream shared their debut album Monster of […]

After spending time in Los Angeles, Austin-born quartet Mamalarky has settled into more southern pastures, and now calls Atlanta their metropolitan headquarters. Regardless of their location, these Studio 1A veterans have continued to make their off-kilter indie rock more and more accessible to the masses, though they’ve never shed what makes them great: non-traditional lyrical […]

Regardless of which city you live in, the ubiquity of home studios and social media has made the R&B market incredibly competitive. But Austin native Anastasia Hera seems to thrive off of that energy, growing bonds in her local community while excelling at her half-rapped/half-sung style, and opening for the likes of Dead Prez, GZA […]

Like many others, North Carolina-born multi-instrumentalist Leah Shaw had her style shaped by her mother. In childhood, Shaw received plenty of maternal encouragement to learn adopt music as a language, picking up piano, bassoon, percussion, and clarinet all by age sixteen. Impressive as that was, when Shaw wasn’t playing in church, memorizing classical music, or […]

Austin has its fair share of synth pop acts but arguably the belle of the ball in terms of output is…well…The Belle Sounds. The brainchild of songwriting spouses Noëlle Hampton (vocals) and André Moran (guitar) premiered in 2013 with their eponymous debut LP, and has since grown into a quintet with an impressive work ethic, especially […]

Though his auspicious solo career’s only just begun, Austin-via-Houston producer/trombonist/vocalist Daniel Fears has already shown a real knack for wedding sound with image. As the only R&B singer we can recall who looks like they designed their wardrobe at a military surplus store, Fears (with his signature drab jumpsuit equipped) released his debut EP/visual album […]

In recent memory, L.A. singer-producer Sam Martin’s occupied a singular role at the helm of indie pop outfit Youngblood Hawke. But just within the last couple months, Martin’s embarked on a refreshing solo venture, Sunshine Boysclub. Martin lives up to the expectations of the handle with a summer-ready youthful energy, lathering up classic disco-funk formulas […]

Along with Spoon and Shakey Graves, White Denim is arguably one of Austin’s most recognizable offspring. The locally-dyed four-piece has continued to spin their refreshingly unique cuts of rock since their 2008 debut Workout Holiday, taking the finest yarns of blues, jazz, prog, punk, and dub and weaving them into extremely catchy, non-traditional songs. We named White […]

For the past thirty-two Februarys, Folk Alliance International has hosted a conference in an effort to expand the community of folk musicians across the globe. This year however, ascribing to quarantine conditions, FAI opted for the all-virtual Folk Unlocked, a five-day event that included panels, showcases, and more. They also produced a series of collaborative […]

Though Austin’s never quite been corralled into any singular sound in the past couple decades, you’d probably expect a fair amount of Southern rock from the Lone Star State’s capital. That’s where Black Pistol Fire comes in. Kevin McKeown and Eric Owen’s lifelong friendship began in a North Toronto kindergarten class and graduated into a musical […]

Let’s get straight to the meat and potatoes of Marcus Machado; as a guitarist for D’Angelo’s Vanguard and session player for the likes of Robert Glasper and Anderson .Paak Machado’s got a gorgeous, highly-sought-after kind of talent. Machado’s also an accomplished songwriter in his own right, having incrementally expanded his solo discography since his 2015 EP 29. […]

After years of living in England, singer-guitarist Dan Croll somewhat recently hopped across the pond and resettled in the states. And without presuming too much, it seems like he picked up some of our nation’s more charming characteristics in the process, chiefly yacht rock. Dan Croll‘s intertwined that idiosyncratic soft ’70s sound with his own mellow […]

Power trios, or “three-o’s” if your prefer; there just aren’t as many as there used to be. So when a three-piece of self-made songwriters join forces, hit the stage, and achieve a higher creative sum, you’ve gotta take note. And true to their moniker, the talented women of Nobody’s Girl (Rebecca Loebe, BettySoo, and Grace […]

As music technology marches on, the world of synthetic sounds continues to grow. But despite the digital wealth of wacky tones available in this home studio era of ours, for some folks, you just can’t improve on classic hardware. Case in point, Austin synth pop enthusiasts TC Superstar, who first gave us their teleporter to […]

You might’ve heard the work of singer-guitarist Kyle Vonderau with Austin’s Walker Lukens and Old Coyote. And you might’ve noticed fellow songwriter Evan Lecker at the front of Ethan Durelle and Holy Fiction. So what better thing to do than mash up two astronomical talents into a super duo? Enter Von Louis, Lecker and Vonderau’s collaborative project […]

As partners in both marriage and songwriting, Stephanie Jean and Chris Turpin’s undeniable chemistry has allowed them to easily negotiate the challenges faced by any musical two-piece. Under the name Ida Mae, their ebullient bond won the world over with their 2019 debut LP Chasing Lights, right around the same time they relocated from London to Nashville. […]

In this KUTX Producer’s humble opinion, Latin artists hardly get the press they deserve here in Austin. So today we’re shining the spotlight on Austin jet-setter Angélica Rahe, who grew up in Japan and Spain before settling in the States in her teens. After accruing influence from Erykah Badu, John Mayer, and Sade and elevating […]

For five years the Austin scene has been treated to an infectious chemistry between Charlie Martin and Will Taylor, better known as Hovvdy. Pronounced like the ubiquitous southern greeting, these Studio 1A and My KUTX veterans continue to cruise in a more mature direction than their super lo-fi salad days, but retain the pop-rock charm that […]

Going back to Motown, Blue Note, Decca, and Def Jam, record labels have helped shape an artist’s character and vice versa. For rock songwriter A. Sinclair, that record label came out of a phone call from fellow Austinite Jonas Wilson and his budding Mr. Pink Records. A. Sinclair‘s six separate Studio 1A sessions should cue you into the progression […]