One of the things I like about live music towns is how a group of musicians will just sort of start playing local gigs and end up becoming a well-known part of the music scene. They can make a living, or at least have a healthy side hustle, performing frequently without ever having to sleep anywhere except in their own bed at home. I’ve heard it called the velvet rut. Mike Donello and some of his pals decided to do their own version of this and they released their first EP last year as Mike Donello & the New Essentials, calling it Setting Things In Motion.
The best song on the record, in my opinion, is a love letter to spending leisure time in South Austin, entitled Southside. There’s a lot of angst going around about how it’s too expensive and too commercialized to live there anymore. But Donello has put his finger on why people still do. So set aside ACL and SXSW and go there on a blazing hot summer day when everyone turns down their race-to-success thermostat to Chill. Donello and his band have captured that feel on Southside, and Twangville is extraordinarily pleased to present the new video that goes with it.
About the author: I've actually driven from Tehatchapee to Tonopah. And I've seen Dallas from a DC-9 at night.