“You Can’t Break My Heart” by Miles Zuniga
Miles performs "You Can't Break My Heart" for Austin Songwriter. If only that were... Read more →
Gene Clark
Gene Clark helped facilitate the inevitable union between American folk and American country. Known primarily for his work with the Byrds,... Read more →
Hamilton Pool Preserve
Maybe time to take a dip! The Hamilton Pool Preserve is another lovely oasis west of Austin. Our very own cenote in the Texas Hill Country. Be sure... Read more →
John Hiatt
John Hiatt was born in Indianapolis, but you'd swear from his lyrics that he was a southern son of Memphis or New Orleans, maybe even Muscle Shoals.... Read more →
Robert Earl Keen
Robert Earl Keen married careless soul with country smart-ass and came up smiling. He has captured the coarse irony of good people tumbling across... Read more →
Ponty Bone and the Squeezetones
The squeezebox has a special place in Texas musical history. A mainstay of polka, conjunto and zydeco, the "button accordion", as it is more properly... Read more →
Miles Zuniga and The Resentments perform Richard Thompson’s “1952 Vincent Black Lightning”
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Casino El Camino
Casino El Camino is a local hangout in the heart of 6th Street. Great scene to mix with the locals, enjoy a "world famous" burger (no tall Texas... Read more →
Ana Egge
Ana Egge’s voice pulls from some deep well, somber and strong, calming but bracing. With roots in North Dakota, New Mexico, Austin, and now... Read more →
Drew Kennedy
Drew Kennedy bases out of New Braunfels, a lovely Texas Hill Country town nestled along the banks of the Comal and Guadalupe rivers between Austin... Read more →
“Hard Times Come Again No More” by Seela Misra and the Purgatory Players
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“Getting Over You” by Stephen Bruton
The great Stephen Bruton teaches us to say... Read more →
Hotel San Jose
Hip and contemporary bungalows smack dab in the middle of South Congress, Hotel San Jose is a tranquil haven with lush courtyards and minimalist... Read more →
Eric Taylor
Eric Taylor’s voice sounds a little like God’s might, starting off low and considered and ending up booming and insistent, as though he were... Read more →
Joe Ely
In 1977, Joe Ely came blowing out of Lubbock with his first record, Joe Ely, after sowing the early seeds of the High Plains scene with other hardy... Read more →
Eliza Gilkyson Interview (November 23, 2016)
Few songwriters have achieved Eliza Gilkyson’s poetic soup of inventiveness, gravitas and sheer emotion. Her songs are a flowing... Read more →
Scholz Garten
Built back in 1866 by early entrepreneur August Scholz, over the years Scholz Garten has served as a saloon, cafe, boarding house, opera house,... Read more →
Austin Guitar Slingers, Volume I
Guitars sizzle in Austin every night. Here are some of our... Read more →
“Copperhead Road” by Steve Earle
A young Steve Earle reminds us of the angst of the Vietnam... Read more →
Jason Isbell
Jason Isbell’s music is raw in substance but perfectly polished in execution, sort of like Neil Young sitting in with Crosby, Stills & Nash... Read more →
B. W. Stevenson
Looking a bit like an Amish Hoss Cartwright, B. W. “Buckwheat” Stevenson turned heads even in the spectacle of seventies Austin. A native of... Read more →
Walt Wilkins describes all of life in a single song
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Garage Cocktail Bar
Garage Cocktail Bar is a minimalist respite tucked inside a parking garage. Stainless steel and glass, vodka and gin, hushed conversation.... Read more →
Heartworn Highways and Townes Van Zandt
Heartworn Highways, James Szalapski's gritty and lovely documentary about the country songwriting scene of the seventies, features mostly Texas... Read more →
Amanda Shires
Amanda Shires songs are grounded but ethereal, enchanting original work delivered with a husky voice that can suddenly erupt into a bird-like trill.... Read more →
Van Morrison
Austin Songwriter reluctantly concedes that the best living songwriter is not from Texas, not even born on American soil. This person’s name is not... Read more →
James McMurtry’s “12 O’Clock Whistle”
If you grew up in small town Texas, or loved your grandmother, or ever chased the DDT truck down the street, you need to hear this one. McMurtry at... Read more →
BettySoo whispers your name
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Joe Ely and his stunning “Slow You Down”, with Joel Guzman
A lotta love, a little lust. Joe Ely slow dances his truck stop girl into highway... Read more →
David Ramirez
David Ramirez writes melodic, brooding songs of love and life, delivering them with perfect pitch and regret. Young, but hopeful despite his... Read more →
Terry Allen
It is no secret that West Texas produces musicians of uncommon creativity and grit, likely the result of too much flat land and steady wind.... Read more →
Torchy’s Tacos
With nothing more than mad kitchen skills, a food trailer and a Vespa scooter, Michael Rypka opened the original Torchy's Tacos in Austin... Read more →
Jesse Winchester’s “Mississippi You’re On My Mind”
The late Jesse Winchester performed his signature ballad at the Belcourt Theater in Nashville, circa 2010. We miss Jesse. We even miss Mississippi a... Read more →
Houston Marchman
It’s a safe bet that Houston Marchman’s breath is tinged with road dust and a little farm-grade diesel. His songs are classic Texas folk, weary... Read more →
Ted Hawkins
Ted Hawkins lived a hard life, but his journey was a gift to us all. Born black and poor in Mississippi, he did time in reform school and prison... Read more →
“Monahans” by Kevin Higgins
Kevin's ode to the perils of young love. Barbara Maltese helps... Read more →
Alejandro Escovedo’s haunting “Rosalie”
I guess we've all had our "Rosalie". Or wish we... Read more →
Mean Eyed Cat
The Mean Eyed Cat Bar, named after the Johnny Cash song, is one cool bar...located close to downtown Austin and blessed with towering Texas Live... Read more →
Carolyn Wonderland
Resurrecting Texans from Freddie King to Janis Joplin, Carolyn Wonderland burns the blues with her rolling originals, piercing voice and blistering... Read more →
Blaze Foley
The story of Blaze Foley, the songwriter, is too often lost in the legend of Blaze Foley, the “Duct Tape Messiah”. Hard drinking, homelessness,... Read more →
“She Never Spoke Spanish to Me”, by Butch Hancock with John Fullbright
Butch Hancock's beautiful meditation on love in the borderlands. True passion complicated by cultural distance, a common story in the annals of Texas... Read more →
“Election Day” by Lyle Lovett
Lyle Lovett with a tribute to the great Blaze Foley. John Hiatt grins... Read more →
Nanci Griffith
Nanci Griffith was born to musical parents in Seguin, Texas, and was playing clubs down the road in Austin by the age of fourteen. She continued to... Read more →
Special Songwriter’s Festival
Every January, high in the snowy mountains of northern New Mexico, Austin songster Drew Kennedy holds a gathering of poets and dreamers called Red... Read more →
Leeann Atherton
"Sass" is a revered quality in Texas, a blend of joy, spunk and casual fearlessness. If you've got it, you'll have friends aplenty in the Lone Star... Read more →
The Bugle Boy
Lane Gosnay opened the doors to The Bugle Boy in 2005, promising a small town listening room dedicated to the songwriters of Texas and elsewhere. She... Read more →
The King in Europe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mE9H1bW-zQ4 In the way back, Freddie King took Europe by storm, Introduced with a dose of Groover's Paradise by the... Read more →
Jesse Winchester
It is absolutely worth your while to rediscover the recently passed Jesse Winchester, a writer of uncommon heart, wit and grace. Born in 1944 in... Read more →
Sam Baker
Heralded as among America’s finest songwriters since his debut in 2004, Sam Baker is a stone cold original with no discernible influences other... Read more →
“Not Dark Yet” by Allison Moorer and Shelby Lynne
Sisters Allison and Shelby breathe new life into this Dylan classic. A little different edge sung in the feminine voice, particularly in these days... Read more →
Darden Smith
Since moving to Austin in the early eighties to attend the University of Texas, Darden Smith has grown into a renowned songwriter and performer, as... Read more →
Michael Fracasso
Michael Fracasso’s voice is high, pure and lonesome, but full of hope and strength, and his delicate songs beg us to feel a little deeper. On-stage... Read more →
Bob Marley’s “No Woman No Cry”, by Ruthie Foster and Blues Traveler
Everything's gonna be... Read more →
Roy Orbison
Roy Orbison's voice might have been enough, as strong and versatile as ever to grace American roots music. But stack that voice next to the... Read more →