“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 →
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
... Read more →
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
... Read more →
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 →
“Lake Charles” by Lucinda Williams
Back to the bayou with the great Lucinda... Read more →
“Secret Heart” by Ron Sexsmith
The sensitive boy from Canada with some sage and impossibly gorgeous... Read more →
Saxon Pub
Consistently excellent music is served up at the cozy Saxon Pub seven nights a week. Comfortably worn around the edges, this iconic venue is a haven... Read more →
“Listen to the Lion” by Van Morrison
Van the Man says search your heart for the... Read more →
Freddie King
Hailing from Gilmer, Texas, Freddie King held his own with B. B. King, T-Bone Walker, Muddy Waters, and other masters of the electric blues. In the... Read more →
“Me and the Eagle” by Steve Earle
Take a trip to the mountaintop and turn your world from silver to... Read more →
Justin Trevino
If you’re a two-stepper, find Justin Trevino in a Hill Country beer joint and travel back a few decades. Born in Brownsville, raised in Austin and... Read more →
“Save Her Love” by Michael Fracasso
A young Michael with some sage... Read more →
“Boxcars” by Joe Ely
Joe does a lovely solo of buddy Butch Hancock's classic take on lonely old West... Read more →
Guy and Susanna, the Look in their Eyes
This photo or Guy and Susanna Clark means something more to folks of a certain vintage. It's the semi-hippie attire, for sure, and the old school VW,... Read more →
BettySoo
BettySoo writes profound pop/folk with just enough country to makes things comfortable. At once powerful and vulnerable, she handles us like a big... Read more →
Max Gomez with his lovely “What It Means”
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Miles Zuniga
Miles Zuniga left Laredo for Austin in 1984, determined to make a life out of music. In 1994, he teamed up with Tony Scalzo and Joe Shuffield and... Read more →
Lucinda and Elvis with “Wild Horses”
Lucinda Williams and Elvis Costello with their take on "Wild Horses" by Jagger and Richards. Dusty and distant. Love in the rear view... Read more →
Walt Wilkins Interview (November 23, 2016)
“Journeyman” usually refers to a seasoned and reliable guitarist or drummer, but what does it mean for a songwriter? In the case of Walt Wilkins,... Read more →
“That’s What Makes You Strong” by Jesse Winchester
The late Jesse Winchester with some beautiful... Read more →
Butch Hancock
Another musical luminary from the Lubbock area, Butch Hancock is best known for his on and off collaboration with Joe Ely and Jimmie Dale Gilmore... Read more →
Mary Chapin Carpenter
Mary Chapin Carpenter is a songwriter of uncommon depth and sensitivity who came of age in the seventies as a folksinger in the clubs of Washington,... Read more →
Mickey Newbury Live
A little Newbury to calm your... Read more →