In the film Crazy Heart, actor Jeff Bridges is the skin, bone and blood of Bad Blake, a once famous, gifted, country-western outlaw Texas singer-songwriter, now a scruffy alcoholic, obscure, middle-aged, drifting, weathered, and fractured soul echoing out an existence in ghostly contrast to the enchanting skyline of New Mexico. He is a wary faded shell from the breakaway music outcast who once blazed a new path.
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On the heels of her new gospel record, Downtown Church, Patty Griffin has hit the road. The third stop on the tour was Denver’s beautifully ornate, 1,870 seat Paramount Theatre.
With support of her “dream” band, Buddy Miller, Doug Lancio, John Dedrick, Marco Giovino and Frank Swart, she brought down the house with rollicking, country spirituals and brought chills to the audience with the softer ballads.
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The legendary charismatic conjunto, rock, and soul of the Texas Tornados, is back in classic pureed jalapeno style. Blazing away within this meticulous collection, entitled ¡Está Bueno! meaning “It’s Good” is a genuine borderline groove.
Dedicated to Doug Sahm and Freddie Fender, the album crosses the barriers of musical culture in fine fashion. The music sizzles, it is savory, snappy, and has smooth squeeze box sounds with deep heartbeat.
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In the rather small Cedar Street Courtyard, the fine people at Bug Music presented their SXSW showcase with performances by Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles, Exene Cervenka, Jimmie Vaughan, The American Bang and Buddy Miller. More…
To fill the time between panels, the trade show and the showcases, SXSW attendees had the option of the Day Stage Café, a room for relaxation and music inside the busy convention center. One of the bands that stopped by to play a short set was the Carolina Chocolate Drops, a trio from North Carolina fearlessly bringing back old-time jug band music. More…
Electrifying the Antone’s stage during the Americana Music Association showcase, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals put some tunes from their upcoming record to the test.
The packed house had just been treated to the Court Yard Hounds (Martie Maguire and Emily Robison of the Dixie Chicks’ new venture) which, while a great folky set, lacked a proper dancing groove.
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The “Cadillac of girl bands,” Sis Deville took over the stage at the Saxon Pub for a rare show during the SXSW frenzy. And with Shelley King, Carolyn Wonderland, Floramay Holliday (all on guitar and vocals), Sarah Brown (bass) and Lisa Pankratz (drums), they’re not so much a girl band as a supergroup of Austin’s finest musicians.
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As part of their SXSW offerings, KGSR (now on the dial at 93.3) hosts a live broadcast from the lobby of the Four Seasons hotel. With a lineup including John Hiatt, Grace Potter, Jakob Dylan and the new Dixie Chicks spin-off project from Martie Maguire and Emily Robison, fans rose early (4:30am in some cases) to get a chair or a scare piece of carpet to enjoy music and breakfast for a small donation to the Seton Shivers Cancer Foundation. More…
