While festivals are known primarily as a way to catch some of the world's top musicians within the span of a couple of days, they’re also a great place for scoping out the hottest bands on the rise. If you’ve got time to kill at Austin City Limits before all of your favorite headliners play, here are a few gems that have gotten missed in the fine print on the lineup schedule.
Dancers painting themselves to the beat of live music. A life-sized Pabst Blue Ribbon can ring-toss. A rapturous audience, filled with crowd-surfers and mosh pits. Foam noodles everywhere. Local creative collective Raw Paw did not disappoint at its “New Magic” event at the Scoot Inn on Sept. 5.
Cover songs: one of the trickiest balancing acts in music. Artists face the tremendous pressure of putting their own stamp on a time-honored classic, while still paying homage to the original. Add extreme skepticism from purists to the mix, and it seems like a no-win situation for musicians simply trying to wear their influences on their sleeves. Still, against all odds, these artists’ renditions manage to not just make the cut, but even surpass the original versions in the eyes of the ORANGE music staff.
They say home is where the heart is. They forgot to mention that home is where the comfy bed, working kitchen appliances and free Wi-Fi are as well. We got back from tour a couple of weeks ago. I’ve been meaning to sit down and write my final reflections on the whole adventure ever since then, but truthfully, I’ve been trying to enjoy my last week and a half at home before I leave yet again, this time until December at the earliest. Hey, this is the first stress-free week I’ve had all summer.
We just had two days off, yet I didn't write a single word about the tour in our downtime. Instead, it's back to the iPhone notes while sitting in the back of the van. Good to know I maintained my stellar work ethic from the school year.
Story by Bryan RolliPhoto by Jane Claire Hervey
I'm starting this post on Friday afternoon in a note on my iPhone, sitting in the backseat of our van on the way from Fayetteville, Arkansas to Lawton,...
I haven’t produced a single piece of writing in nearly three months.
That’s probably a mortal sin in this world, right? Shouldn’t I be stricken from the journalistic community and left to wither in my own irrelevance? Even if I’m allowed to stay, my creative muscles have probably atrophied past the point of no return. I’m lucky I even managed to eek out the last five sentences!
At the age of 19, American rock band Say Anything’s frontman Max Bemis was writing songs about his bipolar disorder and his issues with drugs and unhealthy relationships. Now 30, Bemis has channeled...
Willie Nelson. Janis Joplin. Stevie Ray Vaughan. A diverse trio of superstars with one thing in common: They all have their roots in Austin. But in the 30 years since Vaughan stormed the charts with...
