SXSW never lacks for great music, so here are more favorites from 2016. Ryan Adams One of the few relatively big budget corporate events this year was Marriott hosting a couple of nights of music at their downtown Austin location. It was an interesting venue as the ballroom setting made the shows feel sort of […]
SXSW 2015 — The Sounds, Part 1
TRAPPER SCHOEPP The Milwaukee-based rocker used a raucous early afternoon set to preview songs from a forthcoming album. With Hold Steady guitarist Steve Selvidge in tow, Schoepp and his band the Shades provided an electric jolt to all those in attendance. Count me among those eagerly awaiting Schoepp’s new release — it’s gonna be a […]
Monday Morning Video – Alejandro Escovedo and Jon Dee Graham
Austin legends Escovedo and Graham revisit their True Believers days with the classic “The Rain Won’t Help You When It’s Over.”
Monday Morning Video: The True Believers
Here’s a flashback to this year’s SXSW. Austin rockers The True Believers — featuring singer-songwriter-guitarists Alejandro Escovedo, Javier Escovedo and Jon Dee Graham — let their guitars ring out at Mellow Johnny’s Bike Shop in this set recorded for Seattle public radio station KEXP. This band was meant to be played LOUD. The set list […]
Tuesday Morning Video, SXSW 2013 Highlights Part 2
We continue our celebration of SXSW 2013 with a special Tuesday edition of our Morning Video series. We’ll call this the SXSW classic rock and country showcase, led off by a three-fer featuring Alejandro Escovedo. The True Believers let their guitars do the talking on “She’s Got” and “All Mixed Up” Bobby Bare Sr., joined […]
SXSW 2013: The Sounds, Part 2
The True Believers Austin’s The True Believers were high on, if not at the top of, my list of bands to see at SXSW. Nearly thirty years ago they established a reputation as a powerhouse rock and roll band. Given that I wasn’t attending many rock shows thirty years ago so I was downright giddy […]
SXSW 2013: The Scene
For me, the true harbinger of spring is the arrival of the SXSW Music and Media Conference in Austin, Texas. Or rather, spring begins for me when I arrive in Austin for SXSW. With upwards of 2,500 bands and 20,000 attendees from around the world, SXSW is the world’s premiere music conference. Even better, it […]
Monday Morning Video: True Believers
Let the guitars ring out, the True Believers have reunited! Back in the mid-1980’s, the legendary Austin band scorched a blazing trail as they criss-crossed the country with their three guitar attack. A solid debut album was released. A follow-up album was recorded but was lost for years in record company limbo. The frustrations mounted […]
Monday Morning Video: Matthew Ryan and Jon Dee Graham
Have you ever wondered what happens when two musicians play “rock, paper, scissors?” Well wonder no more.
Monday Morning Video: John Doe (with Jon Dee Graham)
Here’s a lost classic that remains one of my favorite songs. Doe and his band (look closely to see Jon Dee Graham on guitar) let loose a furious romp that punctuates Doe’s social commentary. Some people say they like to hear me talk ’cause I tell ’em what’s wrong. I don’t see much more than […]