As the voice of Til' Tuesday, Aimee Mann seemed destined to become a one-hit wonder. But with 1995's brilliant I'm With Stupid, Mann defined her musical identity and found wide critical acclaim (though, at the time, not a sizable audience.) Mann mined the emotional territory of breakups, dysfunction, regrets, and longing, and most who heard the music could relate to Mann's regretful glances into the past. In an interesting twist, right as Mann found her niche, her personal life changed dramatically when she married fellow singer-songwriter Michael Penn. more ›

Image credit: Nature abhors a vacuum more ›

Didn’t want to spend your hard-earned cash for ACL ducats this year? Or maybe you have to work, and can’t get away from that computer to which you’re chained. Whatever the case may be, if you aren’t heading down to Zilker Park this weekend, you can still catch several of the ACL performances broadcast live over the intranets. AT&T will be airing exclusive content at their Blue Room portal beginning tomorrow with the first... more ›

Time for another look at some of the artists playing the Austin City Limits Festival in September. There are only 49 days left and I have oh... just about a ton of artists left to preview on my ACL Artist Previews Page. But rainy weekends are made for writing, so if the lousy weather in Nashville holds up, I'll have a more than a few for you next Friday. Here's what I've covered since I last checked in: more ›

We just read a leaked report of the ACL Fest Lineup, to be officially announced on Thursday. The report comes from Dallas Observer entertainment guru Robert Wilonsky. As we said, this is just a leaked report and therefore considered a rumor, but this source is about as good as they get. Of course, we hope there are a few more of our favorites coming but won't hold our breath. Have a look for yourself... more ›

We stumbled upon the work of Sarah Sharp through a coworker, and initially thought nothing of it. In our defense, people recommend flash-in-the-pan bands to us all the time, so we rarely put much stock in any real listening quality. Myspace has ushered in an unprecedented wave of half-practiced hopefuls who just met each other through Craigslist three weeks prior, yet somehow already have an album out. The time and effort put into that album is easily seen in the quality of the product. more ›

: : FRIDAY : : [art] Coy Poage and William K. Stidham Art Exhibit benefiting the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition of Austin, 7pm-10pm @ Barocca Studios - $15 donation [music] Mae Shi @ Elysium [film] New Films! @ Your Local Theaters [music] Andy Rourke of The Smiths @ The Parish [music] Loxsly, 8pm @ Red Fez [music] AM Syndicate with Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, Cue and Dear Nora, 8pm @ Beerland [books] Douglas... more ›

Singer-songwriter Glen Phillips first burst onto the music scene in the 90's as the lead singer of Toad the Wet Sprocket, a group of four guys from the laid-back, sun-drenched California beachside town of Santa Barbara. Remember "All I Want" or "Come Down"? After Toad broke up in 1998, Phillips went on to a fairly promising solo career, releasing in 2001 the highly acclaimed Abulum. This album was largely a reminiscence of days long... more ›