Song of the Day

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April 26, 2022

Donovan Keith: “Cruel Fools Eye”

By: Jack Anderson

The mainstream success of Black Pumas has made Austin a destination for lovers of retro R&B-soul. But of course, that style’s not strictly property of the Pumas, and certainly not the only act in town to flaunt the sound. Take for example, Donovan Keith, who moved down here from the midwest in 2009 and began unleashing some serious dance skills and killer pipes. Choreography aside, Keith and his project Soul Track Mind couldn’t stop captivating local dive bar crowds and eventually graduated to opening spots for Erykah Badu, Fastball, Tower of Power, Snarky Puppy, Enrique Iglesias and even the late, legendary Charles Bradley.

More recently though, Donovan Keith has doubled down on an eponymous solo adventure, which received a Black Fret nomination in 2018 and has continued to capture the vintage magic of mid-to-third-quarter-century funk-soul-R&B. In the next couple days, Donovan Keith drops his debut solo album Hot Off The Wire and celebrates with a release show 8PM Thursday night at Antone’s alongside Aaron Stephens and Emily Keeley. So for this cloudy week, invite Keith’s sunny vocals, call-and-response chorus singers, and warm horn riffs into your home with Hot Off The Wire‘s final lead single “Cruel Fools Eye”.


Episodes

February 24, 2025

Craig Finn: “People of Substance”

Since the early 90’s, years before the Hold Steady was a twinkle in his eye, Craig Finn has been laying down his legacy. Now over 20 albums deep into his discography, he’s set to release his 6th solo album Always Been this April. Finn calls Always Been his most narrative album to date, dropping into […]

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February 20, 2025

Persona 749: “Stereo Girl”

From the hockey rink of the University of Utah to the mean streets of New York City comes Persona 749. After being inspired through music heard at college parties, Landon Langenbrunner and Che Landikusic started writing music, but without real direction, they were making music from a place of fun, playing around in the sandbox […]

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February 19, 2025

Maddy Kirgo: “Spare”

New Orleans’s Maddy Kirgo writes music not only akin to the eclectic, all-embracing attitude of the Big Easy, but also to the sounds currently pouring out of its venues, or in her case, the buskers on the corner. To that end, her sounds simultaneously evokes the California country rock sounds of the nudie suit era […]

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February 17, 2025

MIEN: “Evil People” (Live In Studio 1A)

We all know that when an artist is featured on a song, it’s likely that they recorded it remote and sent the track to the main artist. But how does it work when you’re a quartet and only 2 of y’all live in the same place? To ask the members of Austin experimental psych band […]

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February 14, 2025

Kowloon: “Heart Begins With You”

L.A.’s Kowloon is truly a one-man operation. Songwriting? Him. Instrumentation? Him. Recording, production? Yep, all Kowloon. Backed by a full library of effects and music gadgets from various eras, Kowloon released a string of singles last year, demonstrating his affinity for the darkwave sounds of the 80s a la the Cure and Bronski Beat. Ahead […]

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February 13, 2025

Tommy Francisco: “Tommy’s Groove”

Even a piping hot bowl of tokontsu ramen can’t fully shake-off today’s bone chill, but maybe the headspace of partying on a yacht in Mallorca can. Austin native Tommy Francisco hit the scene in 2020 with “Fever,” giving him an international audience and proving his ability to blend his Latin and Indigenous backgrounds into a […]

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February 12, 2025

Serebii: “Verrans Corner”

Auckland, New Zealand’s Callum Mower, known as Serebii, has always focused on pushing forward. Forward musically, forward personally, and now, forward into naked vulnerability.   Serebii’s upcoming album Dime finds Mower at his most vulnerable. Historically, Mower has relied on his mastery of instruments and production with others, namely fellow New Zealander Arjuna Oakes, but […]

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February 11, 2025

Slept All Day: “Asteria”

Austin duo Slept All Day may be new on the scene, but don’t sleep on them. Together, the two create moving soundscapes a la Bonobo and Washed Out. And they use their vocals as an element of the scape instead of its driving force. And despite the electronic instrumentation and vocal effects, the music is […]

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