Photos courtesy Nash Cook...

You've got to love it when, long after the lineup is set and the schedules are printed, the opening act takes a quantum leap in the quality of their music, and, for all intents and purposes, stacks a show with TWO truly engaging acts rather than your customary one. And that's exactly what's happened here, as New Zealand natives The Ruby Suns' new album, Sea Lion, is so badass that getting to the Mohawk early enough to see them open up is imperative. And, in a nod to their previously determined spot as a Friday night headliner, Throw Me the Statue is a delightfully tight and catchy band belying their Seattle roots. So, hell, The Ruby Suns AND Throw Me the Statue? Even if you haven't caught word of these bands yet, they're both damn good, and for such a quality lineup this show is about as inexpensive as they come....

SXSW Music kicks off on Wednesday the 12th, as always with the Annual Austin Music Awards at Austin Music Hall, but it has become clear over the last few years that the music really starts the night before. Just thinking back to last year, we remember walking up and down Red River, watching bands like Golden Bear, White Denim and Broken Teeth at venues such as Beauty Bar, Emo’s and Red 7, and congratulating ourselves for getting started early....

Image from Birds Barbershop Man FestSaturday, December 1Birds Barbershop (2110 S. Lamar)Free, 2pm-7pm[info]Need a dose of machismo this weekend? Get your arm wrestling biceps and triceps warmed up for some very manly fun at Man Fest — a free testosterone-filled afternoon hosted by PartyEnds.com at Birds Barbershop. This is the kick off event for the salon's Man Month, where men's hair products are half off with a purchase of a cut. There’s going to be......

It’s only fair that talented acts get an additional chance to be added to the killer line-up for this year’s Austin City Limits Music Festival. The Dell Lounge has presented one such contest that has captured the imagination of local artists and fans alike. Whittling down to 20 acts from hundreds of original submissions was the first step; The Sound And The Jury Contest has now arrived at its final five competitors, all thanks to......

Austin Sound, if you haven't checked it out already, is a great site featuring information about local music. This Saturday, they're pulling out all the stops to celebrate their one year anniversary, and throwing a mini-ACL that's much, much cheaper. With 13 bands playing, there's bound to be someone to rock your picky ass. Also: free food and FREE BEER for five bucks! We know, it doesn't make sense to us either, but it......

Emo's is packing in approximately half of the bands in Austin this evening for a Bacchanalian orgy of rock and roll, Lone Star, and - with all due respect - poorly conceptualized tattoos. Silly tats aside, tonight is guaranteed to be a blowout, and whether you're looking to get familiar with some of the best indie that this town has to offer, or a long-time fan, you'll be sonically satiated come this evening. Here's......

So which influential band would you die for? Tonight offers a mouth-watering choice of Hoot Nights for two legendary bands. Stubb’s Inside hosts acts such as The Christophers, Robbie and the Robots, and The Wailing Walls covering the plethora of material put out by Oklahoma’s eccentric pop outfit, The Flaming Lips. A complete line-up can be found on do512. We’re leaning towards a similar event at Emo’s Lounge with alt-country legends Wilco being the......

Mohawk, how we love thee. Let us count the ways ... With so many great shows and events, we don't know how you keep up. Yet on any given evening you offer us a great band, a film screening, secret and not-so-secret shows, a cheap drink, or simply a place to hang our hats before we trudge into the chaotic maw of the Red River District. Tearing up here, so we're gonna quit with......

WEDNESDAY [23] film • The Onion A.V. Club Movie Night with "Network" at Rio Rita (9pm) music/film • Jo's Rock and Reel with Broke Beads and "Gleaming the Cube" at Jo's Coffee (Free, 7:30pm) music • Austin Discovery School Benefit with Quien es Boom, Foot Foot, The Lennings at Emo's music • Prom Nite, Boo and Boo Too, The Unbearables, Baby Birds Don't Drink Milk at Emo's music • Doo-Wah Riders, Merchants of Moonshine......

*The views expressed in The Laurie Show are those of the author and do not represent Austinist as a whole.* -ed. note I have returned, music lover! Yes, my on-air escapades on KUT 90.5 FM have been scattered about, but I'm actually working my regular shift tonight, 11 p.m. to 3 in the morning, when the peeps are still stumbling out of the cantinas. And once again, my inspiration for tonight's chaos comes from......

Another special night of local music beckons Friday at the baby Emo’s (Lounge). Headlining will be fast rising favorites Golden Bear, featured recently as the Artist Of The Day by Spin Magazine, while fellow Austinites Peel celebrate the release of their self-titled debut out now on Peek-A-Boo Records. Sandwiched between the two are the Midgetmen who specialize in beer infused punk n’ roll fit to kick off any weekend, or week-day for that matter.......

WEDNESDAY [25] comedy • Tig Notaro and Steve Burr at Cap City Comedy Club books • BookPeople's First Annual Spelling Bee at BookPeople (7:00pm, 13 and under) books • Jacqueline Taylor presents Waiting for the Call: From Preacher's Daughter to Lesbian Mom at BookWoman (7:00pm) dance • Fetish and Other Dances, part of Refraction Arts' Fuse Box Festival at The Off Center (8pm) film • "The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico" at Alamo......

Well, lookee here: Austin's own pop-influenced indie rockers, Golden Bear, are SPIN.com's Artist of the Day! Crediting lead singer Chris 'Grizzle' Gregory's "throaty, honest voice and unpretentious lyrics" and the band's "sheer energy," SPIN remarks that, while the "Galactic-Forest-Rock[ers]" often draw comparisons to the Arcade Fire, their new record offers an "affectionate intimacy with the listener." For the full story and your chance to vote for Golden Bear, click on over here.......

FRIDAY [30] music • The Skeletons at South Austin Speedshop (7pm) fashion/music • Couture de Amore with fashions by Loves, Mariessa; Stiletto Gold; Sea and Enemies; Amy Kline (Jewelry), and Clap!Clap!, Golden Bear, Haunting Oboe Music, The Valentines at The Parish Room ($10) music • Video/CD release for "The Projeckt" at Latitude 30 music • Bluebonnet Blues Festival, benefitting Historic Main Street Association of Marble Falls, at Marble Falls music • 3rd Annual Global......

Peanut Butter and Jelly, Guns N’ Roses, Matt & Kim, plenty of items in life go perfectly together. Fashion and Music? Sure, why not? Mariessa, a young and up-and-coming fashion designer in the city is putting together a mouth watering extravaganza at the Parish to showcase the magic of both. Innovative designs will be complemented by the wonderful sounds of Golden Bear, fresh on the heels of their second release, To The Farthest Star. The......

On Sunday afternoon, Austin Rock N Romp and Book People are sponsoring an all-ages event on the patio at Mohawk featuring Neal Pollack and Shearwater's Jonathan Meiburg. The show will also feature Black Before Red, amps still warm from their Local Music is Sexy 3 performance the night before. Rock N Romp has been putting on all ages rock shows since last summer, and in the coming months will be moving their events to......

Now that we're in mid-January, club bookings for winter and spring shows are beginning to emerge. While much internet browsing has already been done looking for the SXSW 2007 lineup, there are also plenty of great touring shows dropping in outside of those dates (thankfully). New shows from The Roots, Explosions In The Sky, Midlake, and a Willie Nelson/Merle Haggard double bill top the new additions, but there is plenty here for all musical......

Label-mates (and band-mates) The Channel and Golden Bear have been making the rounds at Austin venues for the past few months, hot on the heels of their respective CD releases. However, this Saturday the Channel will mix things up at the Parish with a re-do of Harry Nilsson’s The Point. A tale revolving around the only round-headed boy in the Land of Point, the story has been reinterpreted in various media, including an animated......

In an article about "hip" American cities published over the weekend, the New York Times effectively thumbed its nose at Austin, calling us the "Live Music Capital of the South." South? Obviously someone neglected to read the press release. Admittedly, taking the Times seriously in this instance is predicated on the laughable assumption that its cantankerous old coots have any basis for evaluating "hipness." Still, it hurts. Austin officials were up in arms this......

FRIDAY [17] music • Frida Hyvonen, Tacks the Boy Disaster, Jonathan Meiburg (Shearwater) at Emo's Lounge music • She Wants Revenge & Pretty Girls Make Graves at Stubb's music • Deftones, Deadsy at Austin Music Hall music • Steve Carter at Waterloo Records music • Grupo Fantasma at Antone's music • Golden Bear, The Lemurs, Glass Family at Continental Club (9:30pm) music • Joe Ely at Cactus Café music • Chin Up Chin Up,......

The following is a weekly column by guest contributor Laurie Gallardo. Hear her Friday evenings on KUT 90.5FM, from 11pm-3am. -- The Editors Hello again, kids! I’m not sure how you’ve been feeling as of late, but it seems time is flying by faster than I can read the clock. Must be all the shows that keep popping up, one right after the other. That spells goldmine for me.  First things first, ladies and......

Austin Sound is teaming up with KVRX 91.7 to throw a joint fund raiser in support of local independent music here in Austin tonight at Emo's. The bill is full of some of our favorite locals, including Operator, The Channel and the undeniably dance-able Golden Bear. In addition, Car Stereo (Wars) will be spinning all night long to keep everyone's booty in motion. Would you like to go? Yes, we thought so: Congratulations John......

FRIDAY [27] party/music/awesome • Car Stereo (Wars) and Austinist host a Halloween Bash with Clap!Clap!, carnie games, face painting, fortune tellers, free fangs, "killer" drink specials, a costume contest judged by the fashionistas of Team Fabrication, and more at Beauty Bar (10pm-2am, $3 with, 4 w/o costume) zombies • Zombie Flash Mob at City Hall fashion • Beauty Bar Blowout with complimentary 'dos by Birds Barbershop, makeup applications by MAC artists, DJ Robbie Hardkiss......

A mini pop-fest is always a bonus for any Friday evening. October 27th marks one such night at Emo’s as three of Texas’ most promising indie-pop acts take the stage along with Oklahoma’s Colourmusic. Headliners the Glass Family have garnered solid reviews for their compositions: stirring melodies, attractive soundscapes, all with plenty of keys and hooks mark their debut record, Sleep Inside This Wheel. San Antonio’s Buttercup’s new release, Hot Love, in similar vein,......

THURSDAY [28] music • Ratatat, Envelopes, Panther (outside), Maritime, Ghost of the Russian Empire (inside) at Emo's ® music • Clap Clap at Whisky Bar music • Jonny Lang at Stubb's music • Jose Gonzalez w. Death Vessel at The Parish Room ® music • AUX, Red Leaves, Belhome at Flamingo Cantina music • Boy Band Hoot Night with Single Frame, Golden Bear, and more at The Mohawk (912 Red River) ® music •......

FRIDAY [1] music • Tacks, The Boy Disaster w. The Channel, Golden Bear at The Parish Room ® books • Jacqueline Winspear presents Messenger of Truth at BookPeople (7pm) film • Chuck Norris Martial Arts Movie Mania with Chuck Norris in Person: Sidekicks at Alamo Downtown (6pm, $10) film • Lawrence of Arabia at Paramount Theatre (7:30pm) film • Chuck Norris Martial Arts Movie Mania with Chuck Norris in Person: Code of Silence at......

Austin's C-Side Records has been busy the last few months, releasing albums by two bands to watch back to back. Golden Bear's self-titled debut is a near perfect collection of songs with influences as diverse as Spacehog, early Built to Spill and My Morning Jacket. Austin music scene bright lights such as Pink Nasty, Voxtrot’s Jared Van Fleet, The Black Angels’ Kyle Hunt, and Jason Morales of Tia Carrera help out on the album,......

Thanks to the good folks at local indie label C-Side Records, we've got a pair of guestlist spots to giveaway for tonight's show at The Parish Room, featuring Tacks the Boy Disaster, The Channel, and Golden Bear. Check out the mp3 downloads, and enter the contest below! Downloads: Golden Bear - Santa Rosa Golden Bear - A Reason To Be Proud The Channel - The Deserter The Channel - Sibylline Machine Tacks, the Boy......

Austin Rock N Romp is back this Saturday for a second round of family-friendly rocking out, and this time, supremely awesome local rockers Golden Bear will be providing said rock! In case you don’t already know (but you’re cool folks, so we’re sure you do), Rock N Romp is a kid-friendly concert series that offers music-loving adults, who might not have the time or ability to get to shows, a chance to mingle with other......