After spending 2025 rising from humble five-piece to a staple of the Central Texas bluegrass scene, Austin’s Valley Flower are back with the new single “Mountain Don’t Care,” a song true to their special blend of folk, bluegrass, and country. A bit more traditional than last year’s, “Run Buddy,” “Mountain Don’t Care,” a brooding track postualting on the harrowing power of man vs. nature, sounds like an award-winning theme song for a generational family drama set in the Cumberland Gap where the song’s inspiration (and some of the band’s members) hail.

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Bannaner Man was born in the Cavendish Islands in the rarely explored Citric Sea. After splitting for Corpus Christi, he found himself in Austin, busking on 6th Street before playing bass for Austin notables Magna Carda and Los Coast. After becoming a Dad, Bananner Man took pity on put-upon parents forced to listen to emetic, saccharine songs made to delight children and inch parents towards the nearest cliff. The result is akin to The Bug Club collabing on early Gorillaz songs: lyrics that are silly and fun but clever set to chill, earwormy electronic beats.

Bananner Man opens Rock the Park tonight, and not only do the songs pair well with peanut butter and toast, but also with the lo-fi bedroom pop beats of tonight’s headliner, Dorio.

Rock the Park is sponsored by Dell Children’s Medical Center, a part of Ascension Seton.

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Pianist and singer Lene moved to Austin back in 2023, already having seen musical success in Europe: having been a contestant on X Factor: Italia and performing at festivals in Italy and Portugal. She left Italy for love, but a move across the world leads to a shift in identity, and her lush song “I Wanna Be Your Lover” “reflects that mix of excitement and displacement, where you’re building something new while still feeling tied to where you came from. The result is smooth, sultry, a little vintage, and a hell of a bop.

Like A Stranger is out tomorrow, March 27th.

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There’s something about every song by Austin’s Dorio that’s just sweet, sticky, and timeless. It simultaneously takes me to a certain sunny side of the 90’s; my old, cozy, West Campus apartment; and some of the best new music I’ve been listening to all year. It’s also something none of us around here can stop listening to. The soft, bubbly melodies get punctuated with equally soft and bouncy vocals, all wrapped-up in a lo-fi blanket to give it that “anywhere, anytime” feeling.

Dorio kicks off Rock the Park Spring 2026 this Friday, so we’re revisting their Studio 1A from last summer to get you in a bubbly, live music good mood! Rock the Park is spondored by Dell Children’s Medical Center, a part of Ascension Seton.

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The feeling of being perpetually confined by your own thoughts is ugly and burdensome. When we root for ourselves and finally find ourselves on the other side of the chrysalis, life is colorful once again, and the feeling of mentally reentering and contributing to the world in a meaningful way is unparalled. This sentiment echoes through the new single from Omaha’s Maria Taylor.

Founding member of early 00’s dream pop duo Azure Ray and now fittingly on Conor Oberst’s Million Stars Records label, her upcoming solo album Story’s End is imbued with deep storytelling chronicling her journey from loss to solace. “Never Thought I’d Feel New” beautifully blends Taylor’s light, understated vocals with a pulsing undercurrent that crescendos into full joy and freedom, going from dreamy reflection to reveling reawakening.

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The story behind Dallas hip-hop trio Cure for Paranoia is a tender one. Born during a “doomsday roadtrip” following a mental health diagnosis by frontman Cameron McCloud that later found more fuel following the death of McCloud’s mother, grief has been turned into motivation, one McCloud used to rap every day and put it on social media, gaining tens of thousands of followers in one year. That’s led to Cure for Paranoia sharing bills with George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic, Nas, Ludacirs, and Leon Bridges.

The trio shared this and other stories with us at Scholz Garten between getting the crowd dancing with their coy bars paired with groovy, funky hooks.

Audio recorded by Jake Perlman and mixed by Rene Chavez

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The quick rise of UK alt-indie rockers Adult Leisure have garnered them attention in a myriad of magazines, support from BBC Radio 6, two songs featuring John Waugh of the 1975, and a tour across the UK and Europe, New York, and, finally, more than a half dozen shows at this year’s SXSW. That last leg started with us at Scholz Garten where they blew the roof off the end of our first day. You’ve heard us playing their song “Kiss Me Like You Miss Her,” so we’re gonna switch it up with a different boogie for today’s Song of the Day.

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Another SXSW, another rousing success at Scholz Garten. And all this week, we’re sharing some of our favorite performances with free downloads just for you!

Austin’s Quentin is as much of a visual artist as they are a performer. And we experienced that in a big way on Thursday. I was in the booth at the station making some behind-the-scenes magic happen, and I had this set TURNED UP Spinal Tap style. Powerful, evocative, and anthemic as hell, this performance was a formidable way to kick off our three-day stint down at Scholz Garten.

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KUTX’s coverage of SXSW is powered by Rivian and presented by Uber Eats

Austin’s Anastasia Hera has been blending her brand of rap and R&B for almost fifteen years. In addition to releasing her own solo work, leading her group Anastasia and the Heroes, and putting her mark on various other projects, she’s also the founder of CAKE (Creativity, Abundance, Knowledge, Education), a non-profit empowering and educating women pursuing music careers.

Her deft lyrics, sultry vocals, and smooth, earwormy beats led her to becoming our February 2025 Artist of the Month. And tonight she’ll be performing at SXSBreaks at Lefty’s Brick Bar.

The post Anastasia Hera: “Ambitions” [Live In Studio 1A] appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Sonic ingenuity with ruffles imbued with love is the thesis of Austin indie duo Deer Fellow. Blending sonic loops and synth-sibilities with violin intimacy, they set a romantic mood that can’t help but creep in from the background. Newly married, Matt Salois and Alyssa Kelly are well into their season of love, beautifully illustrated through their latest single “Fool For You.” As the duo puts it, “the song is an old-fashioned style of love song, a nod to the Great American Songbook with a modern twist, blending bedroom pop with indie soul.”

Deer Fellow are playing a charity event on Monday, March 16th at Wolfhouse ATX on E. Cesar Chavez raising awareness for type 1 diabetes, pancreatic cancer, and the Whipple Warriors. They also have an early show on Saturday, March 28th at Batch on Manor Rd.

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