Song of the Day

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March 25, 2025

Julian Neel: “Mermaid of the Rodeo”

By: Taylor Wallace

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 Call the Mountain in 2020.

After years of getting his music thirst quenched, Neel filled his cup with the vines of entrepreneurship co-managing the popular Austin wine bar Lolo. But, two cups can be filled at the same time, and Neel has never stopped writing. What musician can?

Neel is back with the heavyweight-studded EP Gallery Show. Members of Chaparelle, Voxtrot and Tele Novella along with members of Weyes Blood, Devandra Banhart, and Tim Heidecker’s bands fill out the record. Neel at the lead takes us through a series of vignettes spanning a motely cast of characters and situations in a small, non-descript Texas town. Each story is given its due time as the EP maintains a leisurely pace, not dallying, but appreciating and exploring.

The characters exist somewhere between the Lynchian and Tarantino spheres, illustrating a place and time that seemingly only perfectly exists within itself, and we’re being treated to a peek inside.


Episodes

April 2, 2025

CDSM: “Not Another Bleeder”

They say the SXSW trifecta is free food and drinks, seeing one of your favorite bands (current or past) and discovering your next beloved band. I hit that trifecta this year, and it is my absolute pleasure to bring you my new obsession. Atlanta’s CDSM (short for Celebrity Death Slot Machine) are a rag tag […]

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April 1, 2025

Gus Baldwin & The Sketch: “Itch” (Live in Studio 1A)

We’re already in April. Q1 is gone but not forgotten. And as a final sendoff to the first part of the year, we’re throwing down with our March Artist of the Month, Gus Baldwin & The Sketch, one more time. The quartet had an affirming SXSW, playing big shows at 29th Street Ballroom with Christian […]

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March 31, 2025

Tiny Specks: “Danger Oso”

Fun’s not just for Friday anymore. Mondays need need fun too. Maybe even more than Friday…or Wednesday. And your dose of Monday dopamine comes from Austin’s Tiny Specks. Members Vanessa Gonzalez, Nikki Preciado, and Brian Cox have been members of many bands of many sounds over the years, but when the three came together, a […]

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March 28, 2025

Soft Bones: “Let the Sun In”

Bassist and singer Anastasia Wright has long been a part of the Austin music tradition of being part of about a dozen bands you’ve seen and heard of. Hong Kong Wigs, Tyler Jordan and the Negative Space, Black Basements, and the B-52’s cover band Mock Lobster. Additionally, she’s been running her own vegan catering and […]

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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 […]

Listen

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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