Song of the Day

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February 19, 2024

Golden Hornet: “Army Ants”

By: Jack Anderson

Bugs…they’re super weird! They’re everywhere, they’re ancient, their appearance is alien and for every beautiful-looking specimen there’s an equal and opposite that makes us feel icky. And if there’s anyone up to the massive task of adapting…bugs to an aural experience, it’s Golden Hornet, and not just because they have a bug in their name.

No, this Austin-based string-heavy endeavor spearheaded by Artistic Director Graham Reynolds has never really been bound by the rules of conventional composition; instead Golden Hornet stings with unbridled variety and adventurous arrangements, no matter what genres they’re crossbreeding with. And the latest from Golden Hornet finds Reynolds uniting with ex-Kronos Quartet cellist Jeffrey Zeigler and renowned percussionist Susie Ibarra to create INSECTUM, a nine-song collection as eclectic as the specimens they interpret.

INSECTUM is avant-garde down to a microscopic level, and far from the most accessible thing you’ll hear all year. So if you’ve been bit by the bizarre music bug, support our classical-curating colleagues and march on over to the Draylen Mason Music Studio 7PM this Thursday for KMFA’s Offbeat series. We guarantee it’ll be a life changing concert, and not in a nightmarish Kafka-esque way. Just crank up the volume, zone out, and lose your mind to INSECTUM‘s penultimate offering “Army Ants” and you’ll hear exactly what we mean.


Episodes

March 27, 2025

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 […]

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March 26, 2025

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 […]

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March 25, 2025

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 […]

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March 24, 2025

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

Austin’s Nick Garza is Texas music personified. The 13th-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 […]

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March 21, 2025

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 […]

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March 20, 2025

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 […]

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March 19, 2025

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 […]

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March 18, 2025

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 […]

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