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August 16, 2024

Gracky: “Up All Night”

By: Jack Anderson

Folk music fosters some of the most wholesome creators. And when you look past the transplant apathy that’s rampant within our city limits, you’re usually reminded of that greater Lone Star State trait: kindness to strangers. So naturally, Texas folk musicians are some of the sweetest people you’ll ever meet.

Perfect example? Grace Roberson, who these days goes by the handle Gracky. The Corpus Christi-born Austinite’s got an authentic affection for entertaining audiences of all kinds; long before she was a regular performer at retirement homes, Roberson was an avid national anthem executant, college cover song curator, and talent show competitor, having even passed through an un-televised American Idol audition. With that many things in one woman’s wheelhouse (on top of a recent songwriting and recording routine), you might wonder, “when does she sleep?!” Well, today we may have gotten an answer.

This weekend Gracky releases her fifth studio single since her streaming debut late last Fall, marking her second original offering of the year. “Up All Night” is an affectionate four-minute piece of acoustic ecstasy, whether it’s paired with those 3AM caffeine beans or your new boo’s band jams. The emotional piano-guitar-vocal arrangement is just begging to be used during a dramatic end-of-Act-II montage, not to mention an endearing reminder that listening to Gracky’s velvety voice, even in small doses, is just as fulfilling as a forty-year relationship.


Episodes

September 12, 2024

Rett Smith: “Stop Signs”

For well-established acts, keeping faithful to the formulas that first made ’em famous is often the key to longevity. We’re talking AC/DC, legacy acts that dare not alienate longtime fans by trying to fix what ain’t broke. But the big difference between AC/DC back then versus now is how frequently they put out new material. […]

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September 11, 2024

Mozworth: “Postcard”

Since the days of Thoreau, we’ve often romanticized the idea of a creativity-spurring wilderness retreat. That’s especially true of Justin Vernon’s illness-evoked cabin sanctuary that ended up being the backbone of Bon Iver’s 2007 debut. But the product in mind doesn’t always have to be so strictly transcendentalist (or even acoustic for that matter) for […]

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September 10, 2024

Kelly Finnigan: “Be Your Own Shelter”

We’re starting to sound like a broken record over here…but the retro soul renaissance? Not only is it verifiable; it just keeps getting better and better. And one of the movement’s biggest players is back at it again. We’re talking about Kelly Finnigan, the chief songwriter and class act frontman of psychedelic soul giants Monophonics […]

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September 9, 2024

Damascan Daydreams: “People” (prod. Oddmanrush)

Making memorable trip-hop’s not just a matter of slowing down breakbeats, and swapping out rap verses with some reggae-dub bass and exotic-sounding samples. No it’s a tricky tightrope that walks the thin line between sneaky and seductive, mellow and bangin’, and of course, hip-hop and psychedelia. And in our opinion, the tunes with women singers […]

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September 6, 2024

BOO85: “Retrograde”

You’ve heard the excuse before. Ya know, somebody spaces on a date, forgets to turn in an assignment, or otherwise just kind of has a minor misstep. What do they say after shrugging? “Sorry, man. Mercury must’ve been in retrograde.” Sure, scapegoating the cosmos for your own shortcomings isn’t the most mature thing…but neither is […]

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September 5, 2024

Motenko: “Free Yourself”

Here at Song of the Day, we’ve observed a resurgence of classic-style soul in recent years, and reported plenty on it too. As a matter of fact, when Sir Woman’s Kelsey Wilson came by KUTX a couple months back, we had to ask the genre authority whether or not she’s picked up on a retro-soul […]

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September 4, 2024

The Belle Sounds: “Oh Humanity”

For a lot of people, when you think of synth pop, you think “inorganic”. You think “artifice”. Which, to be fair, “synthesizer”, “synthetic”…we get it. But despite the constructed character of those modern mood makers, there’s plenty of potential for passion and authenticity in the synth pop sector. So let’s get into the The Belle […]

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September 3, 2024

Sonny Gullage: “Go Be Free”

Blues is an almost stereotypical staple of the “old Austin” Sixth Street sound. But if you wanna break out of the city limits, let loose, feel unleashed and all that good stuff? Of all the notable places to split from the whole program and make the best of the blues, New Orleans always stands tall […]

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