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

July 14, 2022

The Western Express: “Honky Tonk Saints”

When you think of Texas music, you think of Willie, you think country. But despite being the one-time home of Armadillo World Headquarters and current harbor to dance halls like Broken Spoke, White Horse, and Little Longhorn Saloon, there’s just not a ton of straight-up country coming out of Austin nowadays. As a matter of […]

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July 13, 2022

Kyote Radio: “The Crown” (feat. Kyle Shutt)

This may be a no-brainer, but here at KUTX, we’ve always got radio on our mind. And we know we’re far from the only Texans where that’s the case. Take for example singer-guitarist Micah Paredes, who moved from Terlingua down here to Austin in 2007. After about a decade of finding his footing and exhausting […]

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July 12, 2022

Tribe Mafia: “We Matter”

With only one month of reflection and healing between the racially-targeted attack in Buffalo and the second official observance of June 19th as a Federal Holiday, Juneteenth came amidst an especially complicated sociopolitical context in 2022. On a day meant to celebrate the power and resilience of Black Americans, the troubling juxtaposition forced us to once […]

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July 11, 2022

Elizabeth King: “I Need The Lord”

Back in February, we celebrated Black History Month with Sacred Soul: The D-Vine Spirituals Record Story Volume One & Two, a gospel compilation that introduced once-rare 45s to digital platforms. D-Vine Spirituals was founded by record producer Juan D. Shipp and studio engineer Clyde Leoppard, with Elizabeth King & The Gospel Souls as the label’s […]

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July 8, 2022

Jac With No K: “Morocco”

It’s always satisfying to hear artists incorporate local flavors once they relocate to a new musical hub. For Pittsburgh-born, Philly-braised songwriter Jac Carson, a move to Austin meant patting down his cut of blues-alt-rock with spices of cosmic country and neo-soul into a style he’s dubbed “New Texas Groove”. Even in light of the setbacks […]

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July 7, 2022

The Criticals: “Absinthe”

If you didn’t get a chance to get out and have some fun this Fourth of July weekend, you’re probably pretty bummed. So if you want to get ahead of the FOMO and make your own plans for the next few days, we highly recommend checking out The Criticals. The core songwriting duo behind this […]

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July 6, 2022

Kolumbo: “The Key Club, 1976”

I’ve never been shy about my love of jazz, pretty much every style across the spectrum, save Dixieland (sorry, not sorry). One of my all-time favorite sub-genres out of that bunch is Exotica, the Latin-leaning, arrangement-driven “easy listening” style made famous by Martin Denny in the ’50s. Now, I know I’m far from the only […]

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July 5, 2022

Scott Collins: “Be Alright”

Back in the ’90s before grunge fizzled out and indie became king, “alternative rock” was all the rage. But that’s not to say the genre’s gone the way of tin pan alley. There are still folks out there who prefer the heavier, less inoffensive side of the rock mega-spectrum, including Austin’s Scott Collins. Ever equipped […]

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