Chris Thile is a human being. He is not an alien nor is he a mutant—he’s just really, really great at playing the mandolin…and singing…and composing…and performing…and…ok, we’re not entirely convinced either but he makes up 1/5th of the band people who know about music love:Punch Brothers. Now located in New York City, each member of the band is well-regarded in his own right for being unnervingly brilliant with their respective musical instruments (see banjo-player Noam Pikelny school Steve Martin here for proof) and they’re everywhere these days. They’ve appeared on Letterman twice in the last six months, toured with Paul Simon, they have a song on The Hunger Games soundtrack (OMG!), they just released a new album, Who’s Feeling Young Now?, to glowing reviews, and they’re here in town to play at Antone’s tonight (anyone get to see their ACL Live taping last night? As we said: they’re everywhere). We were able to get Chris on the phone to chat a bit about music, the glories of obsessive researching, and a fist fight everyone would love to see. more ›

Even when her RISD classmates dove into conceptual work, she had a fascination with the Bay Area Figurative Movement and portraiture. Something clicked with this idea she loosely titles Everyone I Have Ever Known that has come to guide her career - a concept behind the traditional. more ›

It is difficult to find an album endearing when it begins with a track about violently hitting someone with your car. However, Brooklyn-based duo Chairlift manages to do it. Whether it’s lead singer Caroline Polachek’s shimmering crystalline voice or her counterpart Patrick Wimberly’s perfectly fitted melodic hooks, the band’s latest album, Something , radiates a hypnotic energy that is hard to ignore. Instead of coming to a halt after the loss of a key band member three years ago, the two artists seized the creative opportunity, exploring a new collaborative writing process that ultimately results in a dazzling synth-pop album. However, the record resonates with a haunting and vivid dark side at times, making it even more unforgettable. In the midst of a month-long tour with Nite Jewel in support of this sophomore LP, Caroline kindly gave the Austinist a few minutes to reveal her artistic insight on dreams, major record labels, and a desire to invent the 4-sided vinyl. more ›

There's a saying that in art, greatness is defined not by what sells the most or what is the most popular or critically acclaimed, but by what makes everyone who follows have to readjust their way of thinking about the art form itself. In the comedy world, there are only so many people who can lay claim to embodying such a definition, but the matchless Steven Wright definitely qualifies. He's been cited as a profound influence on everyone from Mitch Hedburg to Demetri Martin to Zach Galifianakis, and anyone who's taken to the stage in the last twenty-five years has had to reckon with Wright's singular deadpan style. In advance of his highly anticipated show at the Moontower Comedy Festival, we decided to call up the Grammy-nominated and Oscar-winning (yes, Oscar-winning) comic for a conversation so strange and unpredictable only a legend could have made it happen. more ›

When Matt Bearden walks into a comedy open mic around town, a low-register hum effuses the room. The comics communicate like a hive of bees when they see he’s there. Those who have already finished their sets second-guess the delivery of a punch line or a tag; comics who have yet to go up abandon new bits and fall back on the tried and true. They want to make people laugh hard when Bearden’s there. He’s not even on stage and he owns the room. And for good reason: Matt Bearden has some hard-earned bona fides; he won the coveted Funniest Person in Austin Contest in 2002; his television appearances include MTV’s ‘Austin Stories’ and Comedy Central’s ‘Premium Blend.’ He’s done well with this comedy cache; he’s the mind and muscle behind PUNCH!, a weekly comedy showcase at Cap City that’s consistently great and always sells out (on a Tuesday of all days); he’s the snarky voice of reason on KLBJ’s Dudley and Bob Morning Show; he’s served as host every year for Misprint Magazine’s insanely popular Beard and Moustache Contest, and is a mainstay on Fun Fun Fun Fest’s comedy stage. Leading up to this month’s Moontower Comedy & Oddity Festival, we talked with Matt Bearden about the business of making it as a humorist in a town still a little unwilling to call itself a “Comedy” town. Part one of this interview can be found here. more ›

Bowerbirds are back and, as the indie music scene heaves a collective sigh of relief, the dynamic duo that fronts the band, Phil Moore and Beth Tacular, are making the rounds in their van in support of their new album, The Clearing. What makes this album a standout from the previous two is that this couple has been through some shit, like fer-reals shit, and came out the other end of it together and better than ever. Their trademark melancholy is crisper and fuller; their lyrics foreboding and succinct. They get to the heart of the matter in a way that doesn’t terrify you even though it probably should. Phil and Beth are making news in the DIY scene, as well, as the couple have famously embarked on building their own cabin in the woods of Chatham County in North Carolina, a place “where there’s a more normal crowd,” Phil said during our chat. In advance of their show tonight at the Parish were able to get him on the phone while he and Beth journeyed in the aforementioned van. We talked about cabin-making, the new album, and what is sure to be the newest and most enduring hipster pastime. more ›

You'd have to be in a state of serious and tragic life-denial to not know who that is in the picture: Ron Swanson, a man of estimable tastes and non-variable facial expressions, a man of bacon and deviled eggs, a man who's spawned no shortage of internet adoration, whether it be calls for his election to state government or whole websites devoted to cats who so happen to bear a resemblance to the mustachioed bossman of the Pawnee Parks and Recreation department. Despite this profound fame, few know much about the man behind the man, the true-to-life inspiration named Nick Offerman, a longtime performer who has found a niche perfect for his persona. Offerman, a man who has a way with words, is a skilled woodworker, and he isn't afraid to shed a tear. In advance of Offerman's appearance at the Moontower Comedy Festival, we called him up to discuss his man vs. beast fighting preferences, the nature of real masculinity, and how it feels to sail down a river in a canoe you made yourself. more ›

Mike MacRae’s impression of Michael Douglas makes you want to start smoking cigarettes (again?), and maybe develop a palate for scotch, only so your vocal chords can take on such a remarkable range. While you’d perhaps be a hit at parties, MacRae’s impressions aren’t parlor tricks. One: They’re spot-on; two: He doesn’t fall back on a hacky Schwarzenegger for a cheap laugh. He knows jokes. Former cast member of Frank Caliendo’s Frank TV, MacRae’s television appearances include Comedy Central’s “Premium Blend” and “The Late Show with David Letterman.” He also lends his voice talents The David Feldman Comedy Podcast and The Jimmy Dore Show. MacRae headlines this week at Cap City, and will be featured at Moontower Comedy Festival later this month. We caught up with MacRae by phone to talk about Richard Dawkins, Rick Perry and PR wars against standup comedy. more ›

The National Book Award is, simply said, one of the profoundest honors a writer can receive, and, usually, it goes to a book written by an author, who’s, you know, been around a little while. So it was quite the surprise when this year a more out-of-nowhere work of fiction claimed the prize: Salvage the Bones, by Jesmyn Ward. But the author’s lack of a decades-long track record doesn’t diminish the text, and in fact enhances it, as this emotionally powerful, lyrical tour de force studies a working class family—including pregnant teen protagonist and dogfighting brother—as it confronts Hurricane Katrina head-on. But Ward is no casual observer of this sort of struggle; for this new headliner in the literary world, this is just a slice of real life. With all this in mind, and in advance of her reading tonight at the Mayor’s Book Club at the John Henry Faulk Central Library, we called her up to talk about memory, writing in the wake of tragedy, and a newfound audience. more ›

Going from a lone-woman folksy act to an indie rock outfit, Lower Dens’ leading lady lives, breathes, and tears herself to shreds for her music. “Sometimes known for intimate, ghost-heavy weird-fi,” says last.fm of Hunter, “she is now writing and playing with a group that might get filed as new wave, or drone pop, or post-punk.” With such a verbally packed single-sentence description, the nature of this oddly hypnotic group is clearly a difficult one to establish. However, while maintaining a delicate combination of melodic structures and at times grungy undertones, Lower Dens possess a style that flows and bends like a question you don’t mind not knowing the answer to, while Hunters’ spellbindingly androgynous voice pulls listeners into the depths of each cavernous song. In an equally colorful interview with the Austinist, Hunter reveals details of the band’s upcoming album Nootropics , the liberating experience of finally being able to dance on stage, and a quirky, yet fearless, fascination in immortality and artificial intelligence. more ›

There’s something about the new La Sera album from the woman affectionately known as “Kickball” Katy Goodman, also of the Vivian Girls. The second album for La Sera is a fragile, beautiful work invoking sounds of women past. In it you can hear everything from The Shirelle’s to Fleetwood Mac, while still remaining fresh and uniue. La Sera will be playing several shows this SXSW, so we talked with Katy about her own musical influences, Austin, gaming, and what’s next for her. more ›

To adequately discuss Unknown Mortal Orchestra , one must first understand the peculiarity of the band's genesis. Frontman Ruban Nielson (formerly of Mint Chicks) originally began recording tracks in his Portland home as a hobby that would allow him complete liberty over his art without producers, band members, or fans influencing creative output. However, his misguided idea to post one of his tracks on Bandcamp.com would mark the end of this golden era of music-making. Within days, he was immediately bombarded with emails from record labels, and became overwhelmed and reluctant to give up the peace of mind he had so recently established. But thanks to the internet age, good music literally cannot be ignored, and Nielson eventually signed to Fat Possum. After releasing Unknown Mortal Orchestra's debut album, the band became a sensation of the underground music world. Utilizing a refined amount of countless music styles, the album twists and turns with alluring hooks and choruses that you'll found yourself humming waiting in line at the pharmacy whether you're aware of it or not. Surprisingly content with his choice to continue the rock 'n roll lifestyle, Nielson shared with the Austinist stories of his youth, his sudden thrust into the limelight, and why he finally decided to leave his cozy basement world of music-making. more ›

For over a decade, Eleanor Friedberger has been making driving, arty, blues-inflected rock as the fairer half of the Fiery Furnaces. While her brother Matthew contributes most of the instrumentation and generally gets the credit as the outside-the-box songwriting savant, Eleanor's lyrics, with their camera's-eye attention to detail and coolly detached verbosity, are equally responsible for elevating the Furnaces above the fray of garage-rock bands with a literary bent. On 2009's I'm Going Away, Eleanor took a greater hand in the songwriting, penning almost all of the album's lyrics and contributing to the melodies; not coincidentally (it turns out), the album was the prettiest Fiery Furnaces record, achieving a subtler emotional impact than they'd previously reached. Her first solo record, 2011's Last Summer, further portrayed an artist capable of crafting affecting pop songs. Blending a diverse array of styles, from 70s AM Gold to light disco to folksy-pop a la Joni Mitchell, the album resonates as a songwriter's love letter to her adopted hometown of New York. We got Eleanor on the phone to talk about making the record, why she loves New York so much, and why she'll be heading to West Texas for a spell after SXSW. more ›

There’s a known fact within the music industry that one of its most consistent curmudgeons and contrarian characters is also the same man responsible for one of its most magnificent albums. The Magnetic Fields’ Stephin Merritt, architect of deep voice, darkly comic songwriting, concept albums, and the monumental 69 Love Songs, isn’t the world’s biggest ray of sunshine, but that didn’t stop us from giving him a call. In support of the iconic band’s first ever SXSW appearance, and the release of their new album, Love at the Bottom of the Sea, we hopped on the phone with Merritt to discuss technology, vampires, 50th birthday parties, and how he doesn’t care about the hopes and dreams of the young. more ›

The list of former members of Crooked Fingers could be compared to the phone book of mid-size metropolitan area. But regardless of the perpetually-shifting line-up, Eric Bachmann has always consistently delivered amazing live performances. In support of his newest effort, Breaks in the Armor (Merge Records, 2011), he has assembled yet another incarnation of Crooked Fingers, and judging from their recent December show at the Mohawk (which made me cry twice), this ensemble is a keeper. A large part of Crooked Fingers' current dynamic sound is in the hands of drummer Jeremy Wheatley. If you've ever been in a band, you know that a great drummer is as rare as a four-leaf clover. If you find one, said drummer should be doted upon, plied with many expensive gifts, and chained to your van or practice room to limit opportunities for escape. And a great drummer who can sing and write songs is like a six-leaf clover... So it's no wonder why Crooked Fingers' Jeremy Wheatley has been kept so busy over the last few years as Athens, GA's 'it drummer,' playing with the likes of Tin Cup Prophette, The Low Lows (Parker and Lily), Je Suis France, Thayer Sarrano, and Liz Durrett's own solo project, in addition to his own solo work. Because he's so often trapped behind his drumkit, I invited Mr. Wheatley into the limelight to briefly talk about Crooked Fingers, songwriting, and yeast gravy. more ›