Archives for December 2017

Austin psych-rock explorers Food Group blend genres and incorporate acoustic sounds to make reflective experimental music. Formed in 2013, the band consists of singer and guitarist Eric Lyday, keyboardist Wiley Greene, bassist Luis Rangel, and drummer Jeff Olson—with a rotating group of friends that provide additional instrumentation and fill in every now and then. Food Group’s sound has evolved since their early single-microphone demos, incorporating elements of chamber pop, folk, and electronic music. Their more recent efforts have been sonically darker and more progressive while still touching on the themes of love, loss, and spirituality that are present in their earlier work. 

With “Lakespirit,” Food Group takes their psychedelic journey underwater. The instrumentation seems to move around Eric Lyday’s singing until it reaches a fever pitch of wailing organs and crash cymbals. The live interpretation of “Lakespirit” recorded in Studio 1A features arpeggios that are even dreamier and brings attention to Lyday’s vocals in particular. We were very lucky to have the band visit KUTX and add a new dimension to one of Food Group’s most energetic and romantic songs. The jangling guitars and spacey synths work like a long extended metaphor, equating the feeling of love to the feeling of floating.

“Lakespirit” appears on Here Today, out now via Bandcamp. Food Group will be playing a free show at Cheer Up Charlie’s on Saturday, December 9th with Particle Devotion, Lola Tried, The Hermits, and Ama.

-Harold Urteaga, KUTX Music Intern

One of the most talented Texas blues musicians is back with some old and new material! Johnny Nicholas has been entertaining listeners and live audiences for decades on end across the nation and right here in the Lone Star State. His idiosyncratic songwriting and guitar and vocal performance style continue to captivate after all these years, and in the spirit of that timeliness, Nicholas is set to re-release his 1977 album, Too Many Bad Habits. Too Many Bad Habits accompanies an album of brand new material Fresh Air – and the pairing truly illustrates the versatility of Nicholas’ talent 40 years down the line. Check out the re-released version of Nicholas’ cover of Son House’s “Grinnin’ In Your Face” before you catch him performing this afternoon – 5:00pm at Waterloo Records and this evening – 9:00pm at Antone’s.

–Jack Anderson (Host Monday-Wednesday 8-11pm, Saturday 6-10am)

After six years and about 500 shows, Austin punk four-piece Big Bill conjure their powers of witty songwriting; fast, relentless energy; and admitted nonsense into their first full-length album, out last month. Brothers Eric and Cody Bradon, along with Alan Lauer and Alex Riegelman, have spent the last few years playing and selling out some of Austin’s most notable venues and garnering a fan base with love and loyalty in proportion to the band’s ecstatic, yet channeled energy, and continuing Austin’s unique legacy of punk rock. Where do you take that energy from there? According to these guys, you make a video for every song on the record.

“Trick Everybody” is the personified profile of “fake it til you make it,” but Eric Bradon takes it a bit further by calling out what’s going on beneath that facade of know-how and sense of direction: at some point, most of us stop and realize that between “figuring it out,” and painful self-awareness, we’ve lost our sense of self. Paired with tight, yet aggressive guitar squeals and bass momentum, you won’t be able to help yourself from picturing this music video as a crudely drawn stop motion vignette.

“Trick Everybody” appears on Stand By Your Bill, out now via First Humans Records. Catch Big Bill’s album release party this Friday at Hotel Vegas.

-Taylor Wallace // Host, Thursdays at 8pm and Saturdays at 2pm; Producer, Eklektikos with John Aielli

Yes, there are some American Revolution connotations behind their choice in band name. Potentially divisive history aside, Light Horse Harry offers a fresh spin on tried and true American sounds. Originally bred in Dallas among high school friends, three of the five members of Light Horse Harry moved on to the University of Texas at Austin where the group now resides. The current incarnation of Light Horse Harry features acoustic guitar, mandolin, fiddle on top of the typical rock band setup to blend elements of Americana, folk, and roots with contemporary interpretations of country, rock and pop.

Light Horse Harry is set to follow up their 2014 EP Busted in Brownsville with their sophomore effort, San Pedro, to be released this Friday at Spiderhouse Ballroom. Show up early to catch The Rotten Mangos & Wilkinson’s Quartet and even before all that – check out “Momma’s Lemonade” – a crude country foot-stomper that’ll keep you grinning all the way to the release show.

–Jack Anderson (Monday-Wednesday 8-11pm, Saturday 6-10am)