Austin Music Minute

This Memorial Day weekend, the SIMS Foundation Feel Good Music Festival is taking over The Far Out Lounge and Stage, all in support of SIMS providing access to mental health and substance use recovery services for musicians, music industry professionals and their dependent family members. Round one of this event tonight features performances by Money […]

More of the hot stuff for ya. Hot Luck Festival 2023 continues its Memorial Day weekend run today through Sunday, and in addition to all the delicious bites prepared by top chefs, the fest brings a lot of great live music to the experience, from local and touring artists. Hot Luck, of course the food’s […]

Smell it! It’s in the air! All that delicious live music! (See what I did there?) Along with a dazzling array of culinary delights presented by world-class chefs at tastings at Franklin Barbecue, Fair Market and Wild Onion Ranch, Hot Luck Fest 2023 is also bringing the live music with line-ups featuring local and touring […]

[Insert Rod Serling voice here.] Imagine, if you will, an extreme upheaval in your existence, one that you took on willingly, but without considering the consequences. It’s a drastic change in your surroundings that ultimately changes your entire way of life, your work, and your relationships. What will this new terrain, this new atmosphere, bring? […]

In addition to coming from a musical family, growing up in NYC meant that Emily King was surrounded by a number of influences that shaped the artist she is today, from jazz to R&B to hip-hop. King made her official debut with the album East Side Story in 2007, and since then, the Grammy-nominated songwriter […]

Originally from Seattle, Darci Carlson has mad love for outlaw country, with just a bit of punk coursing through her veins, having done some time as lead guitarist in The Dolly Rottens and co-fronting bassist/vocalist in Brent Amaker Deathsquad. Call it hardcore twang if you like, but these days, it’s not so much punk country […]

It was during the height of the pandemic that CAELIN experienced this full-on writing storm, all the while focusing on sharpening her process and discovering where various music influences were taking her. It was a lot to rein in, and so she began a collaboration with musician, producer, visual artist and longtime AMM fave Mobley […]

So. Damn. Heavy. Bid welcome to your doom metal overlords. (insert AMM host making metal sign with both hands) But on another note: Seriously, that damn pandemic. Many musicians have their own stories about experiencing delays over tours, album releases, and merch, especially bands awaiting some sweet, sweet vinyl in ultra-cool color variants. Austin-based doom […]

Bring the excellent music, and they will come. Amplify LIVE presents a big benefit show supporting the work of I Live Here, I Give Here, a nonprofit connecting the Austin community to organizations and causes they care about. There are so many nonprofits in Austin alone that it’s sometimes difficult to know where to start, […]

Okay, seriously; this is another one of those line-ups where it’s like, did you let the Austin Music Minute book this one? Did you? This week, Cheer Up Charlie’s puts three Austin-based songwriters in the spotlight. Excellent, one and all: Ry Black, a member of Batty Jr., Redbud, and songwriter for his own project Sunroom […]

When We Were Friends by The Backseat Lovers is one of those impossibly good albums making it difficult to pick just one favorite track. Not fair. The ears are coaxed in with the beautiful opener “Watch Your Mouth” and that’s it. It keeps going. You’re hooked. How could it be possible that this 2019 release […]

It wasn’t as if Danielle Ponder didn’t like her job. Her work as a public defender in her hometown of Rochester, NY reflects a soul that’s passionate about supporting her community and using her voice to do so. But that voice is also strongly connected to music. Ponder grew up with music. When it’s in […]

Luz Elena Mendoza Ramos says the title of Y La Bamba‘s seventh LP Lucha has two meanings. “Lucha,” a nickname for Luz, btw, translates into “fight.” But “luz” can also mean “light.” Both apply to the album’s exploration of an existence in multiplicity – love, queerness, la familia, Mexican-American roots and Chicanx identity, confronting a […]

In an Austin Chronicle 2022 cover story, J Soulja didn’t hesitate expressing his gratitude in an interview with Derek Udensi. For the Austin-based hip-hop artist, having struggled to make ends meet in his life, understanding the importance of lifting others around him felt like a revelation. And from helping others comes a fulfillment, an empowerment […]

Jason Isbell’s forthcoming LP Weathervanes, his first album of originals since 2020’s Reunions, takes a hard look at…having some growing up to do. At its core, it’s songs played for, and by, grown ass people, as Isbell might put it. Whereas some music connects to the eternal youth in us all (“I Don’t Wanna Grow […]

In the wake of so much pain, Grammy Award-winning band La Santa Cecilia expresses one overarching wish for all: They want to see you happy. And who better for lead vocalist La Marisoul to sing the title track of Quiero Verte Feliz with than one of the most unique and influential voices in the world, […]

Lindsey Verrill knows the water holds its own magic. Even the poster she created for tonight’s show at Hole In the Wall shares that wisdom: “The river moves my heart to lose these blues.” And Thor Harris himself once described Verrill and Jeff Johnston‘s Little Mazarn as “…a cool float a few feet from the […]

Near and dear to your Austin Music Minute host’s dark little heart. LA darkwave artist Mareux dives deep into the unsettling murky depths of unrequited passion on the new LP Lovers From the Past. Musician and producer Aryan Ashtiani created a haunting soundtrack for a haunted memory, making it almost impossible to move on. Mareux’s […]

It’s many things, coming at you from different directions. Maybe Austin-based band Megafauna is given all the descriptions because of this killer musicianship that owns it. All insanely brilliant live performances aside, it’s never been more apparent than on their sixth full-length release Olympica. This thing is tight yet flies across the board. To hell […]

Throwing shapes! All the colors! Action packed! Well, not quite the same action taking you on a whirlwind ride in the 1986 spy thriller Vikram, but the essence of the film’s irresistible theme song is captured to perfection on The Octopus Project‘s kaleidoscopic electro-pop spree “Vikram Vikram,” now with a new video that’s equally as […]