Taylor Wallace

Half Dream: “Fly” [PREMIERE]

Austin’s Paige Renee Berry has had music at the center of their life since before they could talk. The Knoxville, Tennessee native began writing their own music in college, and when they moved to Austin in 2015, Berry co-founded the folk duo The Rosaries. In 2018 Berry started taking their own solo music head-on but quickly fleshed out their vision with a full rock band and renamed the project Half Dream. Since 2018, the group has released an EP and full-length, toured the East Coast, and been an official SXSW artist.

Today, Half Dream releases their new single “Fly,” a song true to their brand of rock music with lyrics about growth, trauma, and the state of the world around us. But, also true to their brand, there’s no wallowing or doubling down — there’s always a sense of therapy and hope, as fallible as we may be along the way. “Fly” in particular, has a slight country step to its groove like a little nod to where their love of music all began.

Half Dream plays tonight at Hole in the Wall with Great Howl and Hallo.

Chaparelle: “Playing Diamonds, Cashing Checks”

Texas band Chaparelle harkens back to a golden era of country with modern lyrics. What started as a mind-meld between Zella Day and Jesse Woods in 2023 not only evolved into a match on its way towards matrimony, but also into a trio, originally working with Beau Bedford in a producer role before he became part of the band full time. And it’s the magic among the three that puts Chaparelle on-track to be in the same discussions as Paul Cauthen, Leon Bridges, and Orville Peck (all artists Beauford has done production for).

The melodies, storytelling, and twangy vocals of Day and Woods set the group solidly in the modern era of golden country, and that power was on full display this past SXSW both out at Luck Reunion and our own show at Scholz Garten.

Now the trio is set to release their debut album Western Pleasure on April 18^th, and they’re embarking on a 39-date tour across the country in support. Austin is the second stop on the tour, playing Scoot Inn tomorrow night with Sydney Quiseng and Angel White.

CDSM: “Not Another Bleeder”

They say the SXSW trifecta is free food and drinks, seeing one of your favorite bands (current or past) and discovering your next beloved band. I hit that trifecta this year, and it is my absolute pleasure to bring you my new obsession.

Atlanta’s CDSM (short for Celebrity Death Slot Machine) are a rag tag collective possessed by the ghost of Alan Vega and the living spirit of Can, fusing freakish synth-heavy post-punk with dance punk and a touch of goth in a refreshingly atypical manner. Many of their songs sound they fall down a wormhole into a different dimension partway through, while the guitars take a backseat to the crazed, workhorse synths. To top it off, a well-placed growling saxophone makes many a guest appearance.

All the members of CDSM are kinetic on their instruments, rotating duties between every song, but it seems the one constant rule is at least three people need to be on synths at any given time. It’s brilliantly executed controlled chaos. Being part of the CDSM chaos while packed in the small front room of Tweedy’s on a Sunday afternoon, you look around and think, “this is why I leave the house.”

Convertible Hearse is out May 23^rd.

Gus Baldwin & The Sketch: “Itch” (Live in Studio 1A)

We’re already in April. Q1 is gone but not forgotten. And as a final sendoff to the first part of the year, we’re throwing down with our March Artist of the Month, Gus Baldwin & The Sketch, one more time.

The quartet had an affirming SXSW, playing big shows at 29^th Street Ballroom with Christian Bland & the Revelators and Frankie & the Witch Fingers and Hotel Vegas with Madrid’s Hinds. Those shows were ramping up towards their quick tour kicking-off this week. But before leaving town, they stopped by Studio 1A to bring their live, infectious garage rock energy to our concert club members and airwaves. So let’s give it up once more for our March Artist of the Month!

You can see Gus Baldwin & the Sketch at Mohawk on Monday, April 21st.

Tiny Specks: “Danger Oso”

Fun’s not just for Friday anymore. Mondays need need fun too. Maybe even more than Friday…or Wednesday. And your dose of Monday dopamine comes from Austin’s Tiny Specks. Members Vanessa Gonzalez, Nikki Preciado, and Brian Cox have been members of many bands of many sounds over the years, but when the three came together, a beautiful synthesis occurred, and what they’ve manifested is some self-coined space-punk-pop.

The trio’s debut EP First Contact, recorded with Matt Parmenter at Ice Cream Factory Studios, showcases their creative egalitarian approach to song writing, allowing each member’s own brand to be stamped on and woven into the clever, chuckle-inducing fabric the group has woven.

“Danger Oso,” is, in fact, a fun quick tune about a dangerous bear. Un oso peligroso. It’s pithy garage rock at its best. And they pack a lot into this quick romp, oscillating between straightahead punk energy to moments of almost psychedelic tranquility with babbling water overlayed with drippy surf chords. Even Garfield would crack a smile on a Monday for this song.

Soft Bones: “Let the Sun In”

Bassist and singer Anastasia Wright has long been a part of the Austin music tradition of being part of about a dozen bands you’ve seen and heard of. Hong Kong Wigs, Tyler Jordan and the Negative Space, Black Basements, and the B-52’s cover band Mock Lobster. Additionally, she’s been running her own vegan catering and personal chef business Temptress Meals for years.

Now, Wright’s turned her sights toward her latest solo project, Soft Bones. Pooling together wonderful artists like Big Bill drummer Jeff Olson and Wright’s own husband Joe Olmstead. While Anastasia is an extraordinary bassist, her vocals are siren-like and showstopping. Both instruments are put front and center on the new EP Return Your Experience.

There’s a lot of air and space throughout the EP, but it’s not stripped down; it’s an essential and well-executed layer to the sound. Truly, it’s gothic beauty. On “Let the Sun In,” her bassline sets the dark tone before her vocals come in like a mysterious draft from an old, castle tower window. Soon, the windstorm picks up, and you’re enraptured in her vocal gusts. And yes, this would perfectly soundtrack your next tarot reading.

Along with the release of Return Your Experience is a bittersweet departure. Anastasia gifts Austin this EP as she moves on to new pastures and new projects. But, not without a proper sendoff in the form of a release show tonight at Radio East.

You can see Soft Bones’ EP release show and farewell to Austin tonight at Radio East with Alex Riegelman and Feeling Small.

hey, nothing: “Barn Nursery”

Athens, Georgia. A fertile ground for breeding world famous bands like the B-52’s, R.E.M., of Montreal, and Drive-By Truckers. Now, humbly moving their own way up the ranks is hey, nothing. The emo-folk duo, originally from Atlanta, are, for better, or worse, writing music that is much more raw and reflective than what you’d expect from a pair of 19-year-olds. But when life comes at you too early, too fast, and too hard, music can be an excellent form of therapy, conversation, and community.

Like a lot of folks to have grown-up too fast, humor is another form of therapy, and Tyler Mabry and Harlow Phillips are adept at folding that humor into their lyrics and on-and-off stage charm.

“Barn nursery” is about the stages of grief. We’re taken through the narrator’s journey, not only through lyrics, but through the emotional states of the music itself. The tempo in particular stands out, as the beat is kept perfectly in time to the natural rhythm of rumination while the vocals take center stage.

hey, nothing plays 3Ten tomorrow night.

Blush Fantasy: “Dreamboat”

Over the last several years, Kenneth Frost has made his mark in the Austin underground scene with his band the Cuckoos, a group that blends classic rock sentiments with neo-psych and club beat attitude and punctuation. Now Frost is stepping into a new project, a six-piece outfit called Blush Fantasy. Blush Fantasy is like a fresh look back in time. The beats dance somewhere between the disco floor and 80’s clubs (much like Chromeo) until the power chords cut into to plant you a bit more in the 80’s, but now you’re in an entirely different club, still dancing, but not asking too many questions. You’re here for the ride! It’s a true celebration of all of Frost’s favorite influences. Even his vocals are like David-Bowie-meets-Michael Hutchence.

“Dreamboat” features Hey Cowboy’s Sydney Harding-Sloan joining Frost on the mic, setting the scene and creating an ethereal, fog-machine like mysticism. She is the mysterious dreamboat, and she will be seen and celebrated.

You can see Blush Fantasy tomorrow night, March 27th at Hotel Vegas, and this Saturday, March 29th on the indoor stage at Mohawk.

Julian Neel: “Mermaid of the Rodeo”

Austin’s Julian Neel grew-up in Lubbock surrounded at home by the music of artists like Joe Ely and the Flatlanders. Then he spent the last half of the 2010’s on the road with Molly Burch touring the US and Europe. All the while, he was fronting his own band, and he released his debut album Call the Mountain in 2020.

After years of getting his music thirst quenched, Neel filled his cup with the vines of entrepreneurship co-managing the popular Austin wine bar Lolo. But, two cups can be filled at the same time, and Neel has never stopped writing. What musician can?

Neel is back with the heavyweight-studded EP Gallery Show. Members of Chaparelle, Voxtrot and Tele Novella along with members of Weyes Blood, Devandra Banhart, and Tim Heidecker’s bands fill out the record. Neel at the lead takes us through a series of vignettes spanning a motely cast of characters and situations in a small, non-descript Texas town. Each story is given its due time as the EP maintains a leisurely pace, not dallying, but appreciating and exploring.

The characters exist somewhere between the Lynchian and Tarantino spheres, illustrating a place and time that seemingly only perfectly exists within itself, and we’re being treated to a peek inside.

Nick Garza’s Get Along: “Silver to Hold”

Austin’s Nick Garza is Texas music personified. The 13^th-generation singer-songwriter uses his baritone voice to add an extra layer of salve to his beautifully-crafted songs that embody not only Western music, but plenty of notes and nods to various Texas-centered genres like Tejano. He’s even collaborated Texas with music stalwarts like Augie Meyers and Los Texamaniacs. And it’s not just Austin who’s locked-in on Garza’s inevitable rise as the singer-songwriter has garnered praise from music critics and lovers all over the state.

Garza’s latest EP Silver to Hold is a three-song release that includes Colter Wall’s harmonica player Jake Dillon Groves on the title track, joining the rest of Nick Garza’s Get Along. “Silver to Hold” is a slow, rich waltz that perseverates on lessons learned and the advice that follows. And Garza’s vocals alone will keep you transfixed and heeding.

Chinese American Bear: “Feelin’ Fuzzy” (Live At Scholz Garten)

The last day of Spring Break deserves a real party, doesn’t it? Well, Chinese American Bear has the honey pot for just that.

Classically trained Anne Tong immigrated from China with her family when she was around six years old, and after moving around several states in vastly different parts of the country, the family settled in Spokane, Washington. Concurrently, Bryce Barsten’s Spokane-based family were part of the global “llama boom” of the 90’s that hit the US specifically in the Pacific Northwest. These two singular life experiences eventually brought them together in matrimony and music.

Chinese American Bear, simply, is wonderfully weird. Mixing the bubbly, whimsical nature of Chinese pop culture with more off-the-wall Western sensibilities of groups like Deerhoof or even a melodic Animal Collective to bring a bright, fun, bicultural party to the stage. And it’s a party we’re all invited to.

At their Scholz Garten performance, we learned the Chinese words and process for making dim sum and we got a reminder to not take ourselves too seriously, to let loose, and just feel fuzzy.

Los Eclipses: “Elodie” (Live At Scholz Garten)

Happy first day of spring! With sunny skies in the 70s and school out, let’s put an extra spring in that step.

Mexico City’s Los Eclipses are a cosmic duo. Blending many Latin music influences with singer Eva De Marce’s Franco background, a lot of their music feels like it’s created a rare new space in music: airy, psychedelic, French-Pop inspired music with bilingual lyrics and Latin roots. Like the cosmic distance between the lunar and solar eclipses, Los Eclipses encompasses all they are.

“Elodie” is a French-language tune wherein the speaker is lionizing the artist Elodie’s complex personality, talents, and burdens. A tortured artist on the brink. Feeling alone and misunderstood, the speaker is there to console Elodie, saying “Je veux embrasser tes blessures,” I want to kiss your wounds.

Edgar Alejandro: “Contigo Quiero Todo” (Live At Scholz Garten)

It’s Wednesday, baby, and we are halfway through our week of celebrating some of our favorite performances from last week’s KUTX Live at Scholz Garten, where over 2,000 music fans local and visiting came and celebrated with us.

“Contigo Quiero Todo” or “I Want Everything With You,” is one of Edgar Alejandro’s many captivating love songs. The L.A. musician by way of Guadalajara, Mexico was born into a family of mariachis, started composing his own music at thirteen, and now at twenty-three, his blend of mariachi, bossa nova, salsa, and other Latin music genres is being shared virally on platforms like TikTok and streamed over 100,000 times a month on Spotify.

And while that would be exciting for any emerging artist, these stats are doubly affirming to Alejandro’s mission to bring mariachi to the mainstream outside of Latin America. He brought this mission to Scholz Garten where he had an audience of hundreds positively captivated.

King Cruff: “Easy” (Live At Scholz Garten)

As we continue our week-long celebration of our week at Scholz Garten where we raised over $20k for the Central Texas Food Bank, we turn our ears north and south to King Cruff. Raised in Jamaica, based in Montreal, and being Bob Marley’s grandson, Solomon Markey-Spence AKA King Cruff, furthers the family legacy with his own style.

Blending everything from afrobeat to dancehall reggae, and contemporary pop, Cruff’s music and stage performance is an adrenaline rush straight to the soul. With all of that together, King Cruff calls himself in one word, “punky,” unable to be put in a box. It’s even in his name, as “cruff” is a Jamaican term for unambitious. The off-kilter dichotomy in the name represents the off-kilter dichotomy of his style. And it’s a damn party.

Cruff took the Scholz stage Wednesday morning at the tender hour of 10 AM, and this one-man show transported our audience to sleepy bopping to full-on boogieing. And now, we bring that boogie to you.

Cardinals: “Unreal” (Live At Scholz Garten)

Last week, the SXSW storm rolled in, and KUTX was part of the rolling thunder over part of downtown. 16 artists took the Scholz Garten stage across four days, and one of the standouts was Cork, Ireland’s Cardinals. While the band tends to dance around calling themselves post-punk, they do set themselves apart from their Ireland and UK post-punk contemporaries like Yard Act and Fontaines DC (who’s lead singer Grian Chatten calls Cardinals his favorite new band).

Cardinals oscillates between loud, animated guitar riffs and quieter, more vulnerable ruminations. And despite having released just one EP and a handful of singles, their dynamic sound is well-established. They brought that dynamism to the stage at Scholz Garten last week. In fact, this entire week of Song of the Day is dedicated to last week’s performances. So, here’s a St. Paddy’s Day gift from us to you.

Maxwell Knowles: “Monsters”

If coffee house ambiance had the same moderately caffeinated energy their beverages do, that would illustrate the energy of Austin alt-pop artist Maxwell Knowles. The bouncing basslines, playful piano melodies, and his suave, baritone voice create a sound that’s interesting and comforting at the same time. Even with a song called “Monsters.”

Knowles releases “Monsters” today ahead of his album Daydreaming In the Dark, out April 25th. The album is a showcase of Knowles’s Bon-Iver-meets-James-Blake talents, and he brings those talents to Vintage Bookstore and Wine Bar on E. 11th on March 28th.

“Monsters” is on Daydreaming In the Dark, out April 25th.

Elijah Delgado: “Hide + Seek”

Austin native Elijah Delgado has been releasing his self-proclaimed indie rock lullabies since 2021. Since then, he’s performed with national acts like Sister Hazel and Dayglow and performed at Old Settler’s Music Fest and Utopiafest.

Since the release of his debut EP in 2021, Delgado has been sprinkling his audience with a few singles, now leading up to his second EP Moonboy, out this June. The EP’s first single “Hide + Seek,” showcases Delgado’s continued graduation in songwriting. A song about being honest with yourself when you know you’re off or simply falling behind, taking inventory, and using that information to do better and get back on track.

Playing tomorrow afternoon at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, here’s Austin’s Elijah Delgado with “Hide + Seek.”

Real Sickies: “Should’ve Seen It Coming”

Raucous, infectious, and powerhouse are all words used to describe Real Sickies. Not much of a surprise coming from the band Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong has deemed his “favorite Canadian punk band.”

The Edmonton-based band has been known for years for their relentless touring schedules and sublimely noisy sound comparable to everyone from Buzzcocks and Devo to Ramones and even a little bit of vocal inspiration from Led Zeppelin. Then you throw-in physical styling akin to the Cramps, and buddy, we’re rolling.

The group’s fifth album, Under A Plastic Bag, comes out this Friday, illustrating a new stride for Real Sickies. They’ve added more complex, experimental textures to their fun, pop-punk sound that’s already perfectly portioned for a head-bopping pick-me-up any day, any time.

“Should’ve Seen It Coming,” out now, is on Under A Plastic Bag, out March 14th on Stomp Records.

Wes Denzel: “Juice”

The last time we checked-in with Wes Denzel, he was re-releasing his 2023 H-Town love letter Last Night In Houston. And during that time, he was already working on his next record. The San Antonio-based rapper, songwriter, and self-taught producer has spent the last couple of years working on Sorry About Last Night, a five-song EP set for release next month.

The EP finds Denzel furthering his mastery of beatmaking and production and polishing his storytelling skills. Each song has a distinct mood, but true to Denzel’s established style, his vocals are laid back and cool while the mellow beats keep the momentum. “Juice” is a chill mediation on loving and admiring exceptional ladies with fine taste. Suggested pairings include a glass of Veuve and a drippy Van Cleef Alhambra piece.

Sorry About Last Night is out April 4th.

Wes Denzel takes the SXSBreaks stage tomorrow night at 7:30 at Lefty’s Brick Bar on East 6th.

CLUB: “Sunshine”

Austin’s CLUB COMA are electrifying. Ebbing between dark electro -pop, high-octane rock, and a little bit of funk (sometimes all in the same song), the trio brings the party to the stage. And when you know the members come from Austin groups Ume, Boyfrndz, and Stiletto Feels, your eyes unfocus just enough to see the whole magic eye image.

After working with Spoon’s Jim Eno in the production seat for their debut album in 2023, their upcoming sophomore album receives the touch of Danny Reisch, who mixed the song around evacuations from the L.A. wildfires in January.

“Sunshine” is the full tamale when it comes to the moods of CLUB COMA: after a grand swell of an industrial opening, the floor opens on what you think is going to be a dark dance track, then boom, fuzzy guitar riffs spring into action, giving way to a high-energy solo before the songs backs down into a slick, funky bass solo. As the energy oscillates, your ear stays engaged, looking for the next trick or pivot.

“Sunshine” is the title track off CLUB COMA’s new album, out this summer.

Club Coma SXSW shows:
– Monday, March 10 – Empire (Music/Tech Mashup Party) @ 6:15PM — ENTER TO WIN ENTRY
– Monday, March 10 – Hotel Vegas @ 8:45PM (Free Entry)
– Thursday, March 13 – Chess Club (Nine Mile Touring Showcase) @ 4PM (Free entry)