Song of the Day

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August 17, 2021

Ruel Thomas: “Waited to Say”

By: Jack Anderson

Like many who hadn’t quite yet tapped into their full potential, Austin native Ruel Thomas didn’t flesh out his inner musician until he spent some time away from home. While living in Australia, Thomas soaked up the folky formulas of Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, and Paul McCartney while shaping his own indie-adjacent sound on guitar (both electric and acoustic), vocals, and harmonica.

Now that Thomas is back in the Live Music Capital and playing gigs when he can (including one on the 28th at Fitzhugh Brewing), he’s been masterminding his debut album, due out this winter. But you don’t even hold off til the first day of fall to check out Ruel Thomas’ haunting vocals and accessible-yet-unique rock on with his most confident composition (and music video) yet, “Waited to Say”!


Episodes

May 1, 2024

Emily Shirley: “Morning Light”

It’s the classic end to an encounter. You meet someone new. Sparks seemingly fly. You have fun for a night. But when you wake up ready to tell your new boo you’d like to see ’em again…they’re long gone. Hell, and in the modern era, that might all happen on just on an app alone. […]

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April 30, 2024

Grandmaster: “Castle Door”

Watch out, Golden Dawn Arkestra…there’s a new costumed collective in town, and they’re hunting for for fresh converts! But instead of frenetic Afro-inspired dance grooves, these fanatics have so far stuck to the slower side of ’70s-style jazz funk rock; think War whisked together with Steely Dan. Not that you’d be able to tell from […]

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April 29, 2024

Trip Cigs: “Comeback Kid”

When a seasoned musician wades out of their genre comfort zone, you love to hear it. Because the technical expertise, jam stamina, and songwriting skills are already in place, but opening the gate to different inspirations and influences is always a welcome breath of fresh air. So let’s talk Rod Gator, who – as you […]

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April 24, 2024

Viben: “Pablo Picasso”

Lyrics are a fickle field. You can be wordy as hell, hoping that at least one line sticks in listener’s minds. Or, you could just loop the hell out of some barebones sentences – guaranteed to have a lot more hypnotic staying power through sheer repetition, especially in the realm of dance music. Now let’s […]

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April 24, 2024

Rett Smith: “Sunsets”

In terms of musical association, at least outside the world of film soundtracks, U.S. southwestern scenery often gets associated with country. But there’s a certain psychedelic quality to our regional deserts that we just love to see artists embrace. Folks like Rett Smith, based here in Austin, but bred out of West Texas, so you […]

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April 23, 2024

Ruel Thomas: “I Am Today”

Any profession requires quotas…whether that’s how many tickets you write or how many kids pass your class. And when music is your source of income, the obvious metric to measure by is quantity of shows played. But as with any creative endeavor, there’s an opportunity to move the needle in many directions, which makes “success” […]

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April 22, 2024

Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors: “Suffering”

The very nature of Americana is rooted in traditional music. But it also lies at the crossroads between folk, country, and rock. So if an Americana act decides to veer into new lanes, the choices are limited and somewhat predictable. And yet it’s still such a joy to hear an artist explore new sonic territory, […]

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April 19, 2024

Melotheory: “Breathe”

When you have roommates, at least good ones you get along with, group activities naturally arise around the house. For most folks, it’s watching TV, recreational smoking and drinking, or maybe the occasional board game. For musicians, however, having a practice space within eyeshot of your bedroom door is too good of a scenario to […]

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