They may be the greatest bar band in the world, but NRBQ have always had some difficulty translating their amazing live shows to record. For sure, they’ve made their share of solid albums; after all, they’ve been around for 35 years now. A band with that kind of longevity is bound to have gotten it [...]

So far it’s pretty much under the national radar, but of late Austin’s bluegrass scene has been exploding. Most of the bands involved are not playing your father’s brand of bluegrass, however. They prefer instead to take their cues from the likes of alt.bluegrass pioneers such as the Bad Livers and Split Lip Ray-field, using [...]

The Two Dollar Pistols have been around for a while, having gone through a couple of lineup changes since 1996. Nothing they’ve done in the past however, suggested the unremitting charm of Hands Up!, their third full-length release. Previously, the Pistols played a little too sloppy with songs that were a little too insolent, attempting [...]

Ray Mason has been making music for more than twenty years. Since 1983, the songwriter from central Massachusetts has been releasing albums and playing nearly 150 gigs a year. He’s also been a member of the Lonesome Brothers, played with Cheri Knight and J Mascis, and even was the subject of a tribute album. Idiot [...]

The Greencards are an Austin trio composed of two Australians, mandolinist Kym Warner and bassist Carol Young, and an Englishman, fiddler Eamon McLoughlin. Warner and Young made names for themselves Down Under for their instrumental prowess and vocal abilities; McLoughlin has worked with Ray Wylie Hubbard, the Austin Lounge Lizards, Bruce Robison and others. Together [...]

The South Austin Jug Band won the new band contest at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in the summer of 2002. But, as they like to point out, they don’t really play bluegrass. And they’re not a jug band, either. They are, however, currently one of the hottest bands in Austin (north or south). This self [...]

Dubbed “the best British female singer-songwriter of the last ten years” by one English publication, Thea Gilmore has yet to make much of dent here in the U.S. Avalanche is her second disc to be released on this side of the Atlantic. The fact is, she doesn’t have much competition in the U.K. We’ve got [...]

Nearly every Sunday evening for the past year or so, many Austinites have wound the weekend down by dancing the night away at the Continental Club. The music is provided by a supergroup of sorts that refers to themselves as Heybale. Composed of Redd Volkaert (guitar), Earl Poole Ball (piano), Brian Smith (standup bass), Tom [...]

After spending most of the 1990s on Hightone Records, Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys have jumped to a new label, Yep Roc. The change seemingly hasn’t affected them one bit, though; It’s Time is another solid collection of western swing and old fashioned rock ‘n’ roll from a group that is foremost among all [...]