Against the annual challenges of triple digit Texas temps, one AC reigns supreme above all the rest: air conditioning. Well…maybe also the alternating current that makes powering on fans and your Margaritaville possible. Our point is there’s another awesome contender for AC that’s also accessible all-year ’round. That of course is Austin country.

And we try not to take anyone in the Austin country circuit for granted, be they time-tested troubadours or recent up-and-comers like Torin Franklin. Torin’s a truer Texan than many of us city slickers could ever aspire to be, since he was born in Abilene before spending formative time in Corpus Christi and Houston, plus a more recent residence in Austin. Genre-wise Franklin first started off smitten by the folk purity of Bob Dylan and John Prine. But as a die-hard admirer of country heavyweights ranging from Ol’ Hank and Johnny Cash to Townes Van Zandt and Waylon Jennings, Franklin’s lately swapped out his acoustic six-string for a twangy electric and embraced a scorching southern sound on his debut album set to drop next year – For the Birds.

As of this publication, we only have one offering off For the Birds, but boy howdy is it a certified honky tonk two-stepper. Among Torin Franklin’s all-star in-studio accomplices for this record is Chase Risinger – which makes for a bit of serendipity since For the Birds‘ lead single and title track almost sounds like a companion piece to The Pendulum Hearts’ “Lost in Austin”. Yep, “For the Birds” is another lighthearted foray into the forbidden fruit of nightlife and neon that’s all-too-familiar for us here in the Live Music Capital of the World. To prime you for the weekend, we recommend getting sky high, cranking up “For the Birds” so till any flock in proximity chirps out, and pray this ain’t the day your favorite haunt finally pulls in your tab.

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