Deer Tick, or John McCauley, has fast made name for himself with a series of self-released records as well as 2007’s War Elephant on Jana Hunter’s Feow! Records. McCauley was raised in Providence, Rhode Island where he decided on a career in music at an early age, recording and even touring by the time he was in high school. McCauley’s voice demands attention, his songwriting shines through, and his work falls somewhere between Bright Eyes and Wilco. And he turned 21 last year. We caught up with McCauley recently to understand what exactly makes Deer Tick tick....

But really, The Castanets can't be a country band, can they? What with the quirky little indie and freak folk tendencies creeping up from the edges, those occasional dashes of electronics, and all that distortion squall they toss at their listeners...that can't really be considered country, right? Well, I hate to break it to you, but The Castanets' waterlogged new album, In the Vines, has just a hint too much pedal steel to get away......

The label and house that bear the name Natrix Natrix are the result of a fruitful and creative partnership between couple Rhonda Turnbough and Seth Whaland. To date, the label has put out eleven releases, most of which are very limited edition cassettes that feature personalized art and music from a nationwide staple of folk musicians including Viking Moses, John Rose, and compilation featuring Jana Hunter, Real Live Tigers, The Lovely Sparrows, and more. When......

Starting at the very conservative hour of eight in the evening this past Sunday, La Zona Rosa played host to Devendra Banhart and his merry-makers, The Fat Boys (no, not those Fat Boys), and one of their “favorite musicians in the cosmos,” as Banhart put it, opener Jana Hunter. Photo of Banhart courtesy Marco Bruni on Flickr. If you have photos from this show, tag them "Austinist"!......

Although Austin isn’t without its own freak-folkiness, former Texans Devendra Banhart and Jana Hunter will be journeying to La Zona Rosa on October 7th to present their own take on the genre for what has become a burgeoning fan base. Banhart, as close to a superstar as an acid-folk rocker can be, is supporting his newest album Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon, which features contributions from surprising sources including Nick Valensi of The Strokes, actor......

Like an uncomfortably morbid Renaissance Faire, the debut album from Orion Rigel Dommisse is a bit of ancient escapism mixed in with near-constant themes of death and disintegration. Altogether, it amounts to a captivating but unsettling tour of a freak-folk take on mortality. To prove this isn’t an exaggeration, see a few of the song titles: “Fake Yer Death,” “A Faceless Death,” “Suicide Kiss (Because Dead),” and, ending the album on an unsurprising note, “Drink......

Houston native and current Baltimore resident Jana Hunter was once just as equally known for her solo material as she was for the musical associates with whom she kept company - take Ray Raposa of Castanets and Devendra Banhart, just to name a couple. But 2007 has been an ambitious year for Hunter, who has made her mark not only with recording projects like her well-received sophomore album There’s No Home, but also with the......

Peter & The Wolf is/are preparing for a spring tour which will feature not only the soothing sounds of the Austin-based singer/songwriter Red Hunter, but a tour-only CD. Though this 6 week jaunt around the country will feature the same reliable Toyota as previous trips, one notable difference is the permanence of Hunter's accompanying band, which will remain solid throughout the tour. Some lucky locals around hosting towns will be featured as choir members......

MONDAY [11] film • Danielson: A Family Movie at Alamo Downtown (9:45pm, $2) film • Third Coast Night: Iraq in Fragments at Alamo Downtown (7pm) film • "City of Men" at Spiderhouse (8pm, Free) film • White at Rounders Pizzeria (8pm, Free) film • Nacho Libre at Café Mundi (8pm, Free) film • The Life Aquatic at Austin Java (9pm, Free) shopping/art/holidays • Blue Genie Art Bazaar at Blue Genie HQ (10am-10pm/Midnight) music •......

We were relieved to find out that Austin's own "wandering moon howler" Red Hunter, aka Peter and the Wolf, made it back safely after his whirlwind national tour -- the final leg of which was traversed by sea. Accompanied by Jana Hunter, The Castanets, some eye-patch-wearing fellow from WFMU and other assorted pirate types, the motley crew successfully navigated their way up the East Coast's Intracoastal Waterway. Also, as Red mentioned in the interview......

Like the wandering ghosts of some long-lost pirate ship, San Diego’s Black Heart Procession will invade The Parish tonight with their moaning, clanking brand of spooky country. Though the BHP lineup is constantly shifting (and has included members of RFTC, Hot Snakes and Blonde Redhead) the current band includes Pall Jenkins and Tobias Nathaniel (both of Three Mile Pilot), Joe Plummer (Modest Mouse, Magic Magicians), Jimmy LaValle (The Album Leaf), Scot Mercado (Manuok/Via Satellite)......

"The book is a riddle, it's our generation's bible, and you have to guess the title with one clue: After photoshop was used only to remove certain letters, what remained were the words FACT and CON..."...

With national gas prices soaring past that dreadful $3-per-gallon mark, most of us at Austinist have had to rework our upcoming roadtrip plans. But what about our city's vast legions of musicians? Summer's a great opportunity for bands to get out for a bit of stateside touring, but it's hard enough for most indepedent artists simply break even -- especially when you've rented a jalopy of a gas-guzzling touring van to house all those damned......

SXSW.com released an updated lineup for this year's SXSW Music Festival earlier today, and it's one hell of a list. The SXSW committee hastens to note that "This is a partial list of performers confirmed to appear at the 2006 SXSW Music Festival. This list is current as of 1/13/06. All of this information is subject to change." International acts include: Masahiro Nitta, DMBQ, Ellegarden, Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re, PE'Z, The Emeralds (Japan)......

Note: While going downtown this weekend, please don't forget the new rules regarding the TRS parking lot at 11th St. and Red River! : : FRIDAY : : [film] New movies @ your local theater! [party] SOS Holiday Party, 6-11pm @ Mercury Hall - $10 [music] Peel, Fire vs. Extinguisher and Junius @ Beerland [music] Hurts to Purr CD release party, 7pm @ Momo's - $10 [in-store] The Black Angels, Sound of Confusion, Rescue......

M O N D A Y [ 2 4 ] Happy United Nations Day! music · Coheed & Cambria, Dredg, mewithoutYou and Blood Brothers at Stubb's music · Elizabeth McQueen and Jason Roberts - of Asleep at the Wheel - hold court at Threadgill's (8pm) film · The Austin Film Festival at various venues around town (Through Thursday) books · Tram Nguyen discusses We Are All Suspects Now, her investigation into the "human cost of......