Song of the Day

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January 30, 2020

Ariel Abshire: “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels”

By: Jack Anderson

Going all the way back to her childhood, Nederland native Ariel Abshire has had an almost-offensive comfort in and command over classic country. Ariel’s since settled right here in Austin, where she’d already cut her teeth onstage at iconic venues like Broken Spoke and Cactus Café and where she continues to slay it as a singer-songwriter. With a voice reminiscent of Brenda Lee, a flawless sense of pitch, and a lighthearted style of lyrical sarcasm, Abshire’s vocals are instantly evocative of midcentury pop, but lately she’s been crankin’ out tracks that sound more like Katy Perry than Skeeter Davis.

Get ready for some aggressive modern pop, both onstage around town and on Abshire’s upcoming fourth full-length, but don’t be too quick to discredit her country roots, considering she just released an impressive cover of  a Kitty Wells 1952 hit – “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels”


Episodes

April 15, 2024

Tone Royal: “Alone” (feat. Daddy NAT)

When rappers claim to be “the best on the mic”, they’re talking about verbal skills, not their technical prowess with any specific equipment. Clearly that’s the case, since you’ll see those same people spend a whole set cupping the SM58 ’cause it turns out their mic technique actually sucks. But in terms of intimate familiarity […]

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April 12, 2024

Tagua Tagua: “4AM (Acústico)”

Feliz sexta! Today we’re talking about Tagua Tagua, the passion project of São Paulo songwriter-producer Felipe Puperi. Now, Brazil is an enormous country, full of fervent creators; it takes a ton of traction to get towards the top. But in the seven years since Puperi launched off, Tagua Tagua’s become one of the nation’s most […]

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April 10, 2024

Faaris: “Taken Not Given”

As our ever-evolving hip-hop scene steadily expands, so does the representation of nations, cultures, and identities from its contributors. And for some truly refreshing cross-cultural flavors that have made their way into the ATX hip-hop melting pot, look no further than Faaris. Brought up in a Pakistani household right here in Austin, Faaris brings a […]

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April 9, 2024

Adam Sultan: “The Great Divide”

They say, “write what you know”. And in music, if you know something well enough to perfect its performance, that usually means you’ve absorbed the material enough to build upon it and make it your own. So let’s talk about Austin’s Adam Sultan. Sultan started off a singer-guitarist in the ’90s with Poi Dog Pondering […]

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April 5, 2024

Flicker Vertigo: “Midnight Fantasies Upon Prospect Hill”

As an unabashed Pink Floyd fan, I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to firing up the Atmos mix of Animals on my home theater setup when the BluRay drops next month. Sure, the full record’s been etched in my memory forever now, but through the lens of the latest mix an full […]

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April 4, 2024

Mountains in Stars: “Hazards of Loving Creatures”

You’ve heard it a million times before: a picture is worth a thousand words. But go ahead and try it out if you dare. Pick a picture and start verbalizing. Yeah…you’ll give up far before you get anywhere close to a four-digit word count. Music on the other hand? Each chord carries various connotations, which […]

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April 3, 2024

Nané: “Always On My Mind” (Live in Studio 1A)

As with any active artistic community, the Austin music scene has suffered its share of too-soon tragedies. And the passing of Daniel Sahad – the flamboyant frontman of Austin sextet Nané who left us in April ’22 – still feels especially fresh in our memory. Thankfully Daniel’s legacy still lives on through his music, Nané’s […]

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April 2, 2024

The Watters: “Set to Cruise”

Prayers for rain resonate all throughout the Lone Star State year-round…even in April with a once-in-a-lifetime solar eclipse on the horizon. So without wanting to entice a cosmically inconvenient drench, let’s dip our toes into The Watters. This Americana soul love affair is teeing up to hit the two-decade mark, but the bond between husband […]

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