Born in Houston, partially raised in Plano, and now an Austin resident, Marlei Dismuke has been writing and performing music since she started piano lessons at age five. Writing songs for her brothers turned into composing music for family musicals complete with choreography, and eventually truly honing her craft in high school and college, performing everything from jazz to pop to opera.

Dismuke’s myriad of musical interests pour through her songs that sometimes leans a little pop and others a little R&B, but there’s little bits of all of her talent baked in. “Fantasy” is a sultry bi-curious anthem, celebrating the female figure while being caught-up in that all-too-relatable moment of, “what do I do with these feelings?”.

“Fantasy” is out now.

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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 have led her to becoming our February Artist of the Month. And, just announced today, she’s part of our line-up for KUTX Live at Scholz Garten during SXSW next month.  

As our Artist of the Month, she recently stopped by our Studio 1A to share songs from her latest album Way Outside. And now, you get a taste of what’s to come on the stage at Scholz.

“Ambitions” is on Way Outside, out now.

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Austin’s Sam Hernandez has always seen life through a different prism. Colors, textures, and the planes of reality are subjective and mere suggestions. Influenced by the bubbly music of the 50s and 60s as well as an early penchant for Jim Henson and his muppets, Hernandez writes lovely songs to capture a familiar but not quite tangible plane of existence with the band Wabi Sabi and the Sweet Littles.

As the lore behind Wabi Sabi and the Sweet Littles goes, the band was born from a clever, inspirational gnome Hernandez met on a casual walk to the grocery store. Speaking on the tenants of the ancient Asian aesthetic and philosophy of wabi sabi, relating that art can be incomplete and impermanent. And in that way, Hernandez found freedom.

“Nile Walk” is a fun retro-pop tune full of little, weird gifts, like a flute bringing a flair of whimsy and animal sounds for that altered- Henson-like full effect. It’s weird, it’s fun, it’s joyful, exactly as intended.

“Nile Walk” is the debut track from Wabi Sabi and the Sweet Littles, out now.

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When I think of Jane Ellen Bryant, the first thing that comes to mind is her vocal tool box. She’s not just a great singer; the control she has over her voice and the tricks she’s able to do with it are show stopping. She’s shows off this mastery in both the dance pop duo Jane Leo and her own solo work.

After the rousing success of Jane Leo, Bryant has returned to her solo work, but she’s brought in partner Daniel Leopold (the other half of Jane Leo) to fully actualize the next chapter of her music. Pivoting from her country pop style to a brooding singer-songwriter tone, “My Corner of the World” is a slow, reflective exercise stemming from her Saturn’s return, that lovely thing that happens around your late twenties where everything you’ve been running from or have known comes to a head and you, hopefully, go through a growth and ego death period where you redefine what’s important in your life, who you are, and who you want to be. I mean, Gwen Stefani wrote an entire No Doubt album about this.

“My Corner of the World” is out now.

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Since the early 90’s, years before the Hold Steady was a twinkle in his eye, Craig Finn has been laying down his legacy. Now over 20 albums deep into his discography, he’s set to release his 6th solo album Always Been this April.

Finn calls Always Been his most narrative album to date, dropping into the protagonist’s life during a trying time: seeking a livelihood as a clergy man despite his lack of faith and his rise and fall in the process. It could almost be the sequel to MJ Lenderman’s Manning Fireworks.

“People of Substance” is the lead single from the upcoming album, both produced by Adam Granduciel of the War on Drugs and backed by the band taking-up the session position. It drops us in at the journey’s beginning, writing to a former lover about taking inventory of his life, making peace and taking accountability, and alluding to what’s to come.  

“People of Substance” is from Always Been, out April 4th.

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From the hockey rink of the University of Utah to the mean streets of New York City comes Persona 749. After being inspired through music heard at college parties, Landon Langenbrunner and Che Landikusic started writing music, but without real direction, they were making music from a place of fun, playing around in the sandbox until something stuck. What came out of that experimentation is a fun quintet blending rock and new wave for a full-party band experience.

“Stereo Girl” is dancy tune that bumps around the ring with varying degrees of energy: when you think chaos is about to erupt, Persona 749 brings it back to center with a catchy hook…or a cowbell. And I’d reckon they’ve come full circle, now being the band on every college party playlist.

“Stereo Girl” is from the upcoming album JOCK ROCK, out February 28th.

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New Orleans’s Maddy Kirgo writes music not only akin to the eclectic, all-embracing attitude of the Big Easy, but also to the sounds currently pouring out of its venues, or in her case, the buskers on the corner. To that end, her sounds simultaneously evokes the California country rock sounds of the nudie suit era and the contemporary indie art pop sounds of artists like Weyes Blood or Faye Webster. And nearly seven years since her last release, she dropped Shadow On My Light late last year.

“Spare” is the first track on Shadow On My Light, opening the album’s theme of finding joy and just feeling good. Her soprano voice floats around her mellow, sun-soaked melody, setting the mood for the next half hour.

Maddy Kirgo performs this Friday at Hole in the Wall with Austin’s Fishplate and Dallas’s Brody Price.

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We all know that when an artist is featured on a song, it’s likely that they recorded it remote and sent the track to the main artist. But how does it work when you’re a quartet and only 2 of y’all live in the same place?

To ask the members of Austin experimental psych band MIEN, it’s a lot of time, patience, and enthusiastic participation. Alex Maas of Black Angels fame leads MIEN alongside Golden Dawn Arkestra’s Rob Kidd here in Austin while the group’s other members, John Mark Lapham and Rishi Dhir call Abilene and  Montreal home respectively. And what started as a fun recording project on the side became a fully realized band after their debut song “Black Habit” proved to us and them that there are still many unturned stones in the psych realm, sparking the tank and turning gasoline into energy.

Now back with their sophomore album MIIEN, that’s M-I-I-E-N, out this April, the band came together in person for a Studio 1A before they hit the road for a UK tour this spring.

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L.A.’s Kowloon is truly a one-man operation. Songwriting? Him. Instrumentation? Him. Recording, production? Yep, all Kowloon.

Backed by a full library of effects and music gadgets from various eras, Kowloon released a string of singles last year, demonstrating his affinity for the darkwave sounds of the 80s a la the Cure and Bronski Beat. Ahead of his sophomore album out later this year, Kowloon has gifted us “Heart Begins With You,” a song that leans more towards current indie pop than a fresh take on the past, like a laid back TC Superstar. But that relatable bleeding heart power runs through. And despite the song’s overall laidback energy, no part is simple or just there to check a box. And remember, it’s all him.

“Heart Begins With You” is out now.

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Even a piping hot bowl of tokontsu ramen can’t fully shake-off today’s bone chill, but maybe the headspace of partying on a yacht in Mallorca can.

Austin native Tommy Francisco hit the scene in 2020 with “Fever,” giving him an international audience and proving his ability to blend his Latin and Indigenous backgrounds into a brand of R&B and pop that speaks to the general human experience.

After charting at #2 on the R&B iTunes charts in 2024 with this EP In My Feelings, he’s back with V.I.P., and he’s put us on this list.

“Tommy’s Groove,” is a smooth, lively romp of yacht R&B. Like a collab between Chromeo and Michael McDonald. But don’t worry, Tommy’s Groove is lactose intolerant: no cheese, all linen-suit boogie.

“Tommy’s Groove” is from V.I.P., out now.

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