Danny Lee Blackwell has been performing under the moniker Night Beats since 2009, but there’s an argument that he could just as well be called “The Distiller.”

Night Beats has a reputation for concocting. Blackwell can make a country song sound like a trip through the desert with Hunter S. Thompson. He can turn a blues riff into a full-on mind melting haze. Much like Beck, each release is a surprise of inspirations, but it all gets distilled in a way that is distinctly Night Beats.

The latest from Night Beats is “Behind the Green Door,” a sexy, shuffling, down-tempo tune packed with groovy, blues-psych textures, and the signature Night Beats haze.

Tomorrow Night Beats releases the 7” of “Behind the Green Door” backed with a remix of the song by Rah John, an artist Blackwell stumbled upon while hanging out on the island of Koh Kham Yai in the Gulf of Thailand.

“Behind the Green Door” is out now on all streaming platforms, and the 7” is out tomorrow.

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Mobley’s career has been a fun, transformative one over the last decade. You heard that right, we’ve been talking about and championing Mobley for almost ten years. What started as writing smart R&B pop bops has grown into full concept albums revolving around racism, technology, and our future, composing cautionary tales warning of a regressing society and the darkest parts of Science-Fiction decaying into neither predictive science nor fiction.

Mobley’s upcoming album We Do Not Fear Ruins continues the story of Jacob Creedmoor, the protagonist at the center of Mobley’s 2022 EP Cry Havoc!. This time, we’re 300 years in the future, and our hero has woken up in a post-apocalyptic America, realizing that everyone he’s known and loved is long gone and his legacy seemingly lost to time. Grief and solitude set in.

As the last proper song on the album, “Yesterday’s Another Day” brings us to Creedmoor overcoming his struggles in the current time and redirecting his mission. Our protagonist finds a beautiful metaphor for the post-apocalyptic ruin he’s surrounded by. Ruin can mean recalibration and change. And Mobley punctuates this with an apropos bop that dances between R&B and psych pop.

The song is accompanied by a video made to look like an early-80’s variety show (the era our hero was frozen in in between albums) and was even shot on a 1981 Sony Trinicon for full, unfiltered authenticity.

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Austin’s Ley Line has been celebrated for their beautiful songs that encapsulate the Earth and its connection to the musical traditions of blues and folk as well as Brazil, West Africa, and Latin America. Songs that celebrate older, more traditional genres with a delicate soul that always feels grounded in nature. Whether it’s the song’s style, instrumentation, or both, the brand of Ley Line’s music is always transports you to serenity.

The new single from the group is “Flores,” one of the quartet’s most stripped-down songs to date. But the powerful essence of Ley Line remains strong. It’s beautiful and meditative, and the birds chirping in the background flesh out the tranquil spirit of the song.

“Flores” marks the official return of Ley Line to the stage after a couple of years of working on other projects, living life, and writing new music. Their first show back is this Saturday at Rosette on 39th and Avenue B, celebrating the release of “Flores.”

“Flores” is out this Friday, April 11th.

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Austin’s Paige Renee Berry has had music at the center of their life since before they could talk. The Knoxville, Tennessee native began writing their own music in college, and when they moved to Austin in 2015, Berry co-founded the folk duo The Rosaries. In 2018 Berry started taking their own solo music head-on but quickly fleshed out their vision with a full rock band and renamed the project Half Dream. Since 2018, the group has released an EP and full-length, toured the East Coast, and been an official SXSW artist.

Today, Half Dream releases their new single “Fly,” a song true to their brand of rock music with lyrics about growth, trauma, and the state of the world around us. But, also true to their brand, there’s no wallowing or doubling down — there’s always a sense of therapy and hope, as fallible as we may be along the way. “Fly” in particular, has a slight country step to its groove like a little nod to where their love of music all began.

Half Dream plays tonight at Hole in the Wall with Great Howl and Hallo.

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Texas band Chaparelle harkens back to a golden era of country with modern lyrics. What started as a mind-meld between Zella Day and Jesse Woods in 2023 not only evolved into a match on its way towards matrimony, but also into a trio, originally working with Beau Bedford in a producer role before he became part of the band full time. And it’s the magic among the three that puts Chaparelle on-track to be in the same discussions as Paul Cauthen, Leon Bridges, and Orville Peck (all artists Beauford has done production for).

The melodies, storytelling, and twangy vocals of Day and Woods set the group solidly in the modern era of golden country, and that power was on full display this past SXSW both out at Luck Reunion and our own show at Scholz Garten.

Now the trio is set to release their debut album Western Pleasure on April 18th, and they’re embarking on a 39-date tour across the country in support. Austin is the second stop on the tour, playing Scoot Inn tomorrow night with Sydney Quiseng and Angel White.

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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 collective possessed by the ghost of Alan Vega and the living spirit of Can, fusing freakish synth-heavy post-punk with dance punk and a touch of goth in a refreshingly atypical manner. Many of their songs sound they fall down a wormhole into a different dimension partway through, while the guitars take a backseat to the crazed, workhorse synths. To top it off, a well-placed growling saxophone makes many a guest appearance.

All the members of CDSM are kinetic on their instruments, rotating duties between every song, but it seems the one constant rule is at least three people need to be on synths at any given time. It’s brilliantly executed controlled chaos. Being part of the CDSM chaos while packed in the small front room of Tweedy’s on a Sunday afternoon, you look around and think, “this is why I leave the house.”

Convertible Hearse is out May 23rd.

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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 Bland & the Revelators and Frankie & the Witch Fingers and Hotel Vegas with Madrid’s Hinds. Those shows were ramping up towards their quick tour kicking-off this week. But before leaving town, they stopped by Studio 1A to bring their live, infectious garage rock energy to our concert club members and airwaves. So let’s give it up once more for our March Artist of the Month!

You can see Gus Baldwin & the Sketch at Mohawk on Monday, April 21st.

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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 personal chef business Temptress Meals for years.

Now, Wright’s turned her sights toward her latest solo project, Soft Bones. Pooling together wonderful artists like Big Bill drummer Jeff Olson and Wright’s own husband Joe Olmstead. While Anastasia is an extraordinary bassist, her vocals are siren-like and showstopping. Both instruments are put front and center on the new EP Return Your Experience.

There’s a lot of air and space throughout the EP, but it’s not stripped down; it’s an essential and well-executed layer to the sound. Truly, it’s gothic beauty. On “Let the Sun In,” her bassline sets the dark tone before her vocals come in like a mysterious draft from an old, castle tower window. Soon, the windstorm picks up, and you’re enraptured in her vocal gusts. And yes, this would perfectly soundtrack your next tarot reading.

Along with the release of Return Your Experience is a bittersweet departure. Anastasia gifts Austin this EP as she moves on to new pastures and new projects. But, not without a proper sendoff in the form of a release show tonight at Radio East.

You can see Soft Bones’ EP release show and farewell to Austin tonight at Radio East with Alex Riegelman and Feeling Small.

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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 from a pair of 19-year-olds. But when life comes at you too early, too fast, and too hard, music can be an excellent form of therapy, conversation, and community.

Like a lot of folks to have grown-up too fast, humor is another form of therapy, and Tyler Mabry and Harlow Phillips are adept at folding that humor into their lyrics and on-and-off stage charm.

“Barn nursery” is about the stages of grief. We’re taken through the narrator’s journey, not only through lyrics, but through the emotional states of the music itself. The tempo in particular stands out, as the beat is kept perfectly in time to the natural rhythm of rumination while the vocals take center stage.

hey, nothing plays 3Ten tomorrow night.

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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 fresh look back in time. The beats dance somewhere between the disco floor and 80’s clubs (much like Chromeo) until the power chords cut into to plant you a bit more in the 80’s, but now you’re in an entirely different club, still dancing, but not asking too many questions. You’re here for the ride! It’s a true celebration of all of Frost’s favorite influences. Even his vocals are like David-Bowie-meets-Michael Hutchence.

“Dreamboat” features Hey Cowboy’s Sydney Harding-Sloan joining Frost on the mic, setting the scene and creating an ethereal, fog-machine like mysticism. She is the mysterious dreamboat, and she will be seen and celebrated.

You can see Blush Fantasy tomorrow night, March 27th at Hotel Vegas, and this Saturday, March 29th on the indoor stage at Mohawk.

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