It was a rough long weekend. If you're looking for a distraction from the drought, fires, or just the return to work, the hodge-podge group of bands playing at Hole in the Wall might serve up the respite you need. Local favorites Leatherbag and Wiretree are joined by Brooklyn's JP and the Gilberts at tonight's show. more ›

Want to talk about an Austin institution that embodies the spirit of the city? Talk about Hot Tracks, a recording studio that strives to maintain the distinct qualities of the Austin artists it tracks. But like so many other grassroots Austin efforts, Hot Tracks is at odds with a powerful force: condo developers. As such, the City of Austin has condemned Hot Tracks' East side location, and owner Matt Smith has no choice but to move and rebuild. more ›

Starting tonight, KUT is partnering up with La Zona Rosa for a weekly happy hour showcase of local music, fittingly titled KUT's New Music Happy Hour. They could hardly have picked a stronger debut lineup - Leatherbag and The Eastern Sea are two of our favorites here at the Austinist. more ›

L.A.-based Radar Brothers have been around for a while now, having established themselves over the course of five releases featuring soaring sonic landscapes, horizontally-unwinding melodies and lead singer Jim Putnam's soft vocals, all infused with a kind of mellow California vibe. You wouldn't fault them not changing it up, but change it up they did: for Illustrated Garden, released earlier this year, Putnam (who is the son of Bill Putnam, inventor of the modern recording console) recruited bassist Be Hussey and drummer Stevie Treichel to replace the band's original rhythm section. The newcomers push the band in a different direction, resulting in a punchier, more immediate feel to the well-worked Radar Bros. sound. more ›

Leatherbag’s Randy Reynolds is the real deal. His songwriting is solid and versatile. He has a healthy, mature and approachable attitude about his music. And his band, Leatherbag, has been experiencing a very natural rise and progression bringing them to their brand new full length, Hey Day, which arrived just last month. more ›

Around 2007 or thereabouts you couldn’t throw a rock without hitting a member of a six-piece Montreal band fronted by a husband and wife team. That was the year The Besnard Lakes release their second album The Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse on Jagjaguwar, and while it fit within the bounds of big, melancholy rock from our Neighbors to the North, The Besnard Lakes crafted orchestral-rich and haunting songs with just enough sweet harmonies and bold noise to separate them from the pack. more ›

At this point Brendan Benson should have a comparable number of fans who recognize him for his work as co-frontman for The Raconteurs to those who know him from his ever-growing solo catalog. His first solo release, One Mississippi, came out a full ten years before the first Raconteurs record, so don’t you even worry about him running short of material at his upcoming gig at The Independent Wednesday. more ›

Over the past few years, Austin’s Leatherbag has received favorable mentions and kind words of encouragement from a healthy portion of this city’s music critics. The group’s sound, although obviously affected by classic rock and roll, contains enough style and originality that those comparisons to bygone acts don’t survive as you sink your teeth into the group’s growing catalog. Led by Randy Reynolds and supported by Geoff Dupree, Drew Emmons and Kory Cook, Leatherbag is now gearing up to release their latest full-length, Hey Day, since Love and Harm in 2008. The album was produced by Michael Crow of Grand Champeen and recorded by Matt Smith at Hot Tracks. more ›

Free Week Free Week Free Week has your overflowing bosom of otherworldly and cost-effective goodness just about reached its point of earthly ceasing? Dost thou have in thy kindly arms any more delights with which our post-holiday doldrums may be cast into the fires of non-necessity? Is there yet another verbally absurdist imploration we can offer you, so you can have for us but one last weekend of excellence? ...Hopefully not. But what we can say is that this Saturday night has blessed us with one of Free Week's finest offerings, as not only do the proceedings continue elsewhere on Red River, but at Stubb's, where local faves Leatherbag, The Pons, and Danny Malone will be plying their fine craft. And bonus points for being inside, because being cold is for suckers. more ›

All photos courtesy Eric Uhlir and Chad Wadsworth. more ›

What’s the Deal: This New York dance rock foursome will be stopping in at this year’s Austin City Limits between shows in Germany and France to give Austin a taste of the music that’s been scuffing up dance floors in New York City clubs since before the release of their self-titled debut last year. They’re a little funky, a little new wavy and a whole lot of club pop. With at least one former model in the group and a whole heap of songs about young hook ups and coke brunches, the band would be an ideal candidate for shows like Gossip Girl. It will be interesting to see music with such a metropolitan feel make an impact in the heat of Zilker park. more ›

• Built to Spill is coming to Stubb's in October
• Riverboat Gamblers have a new music video for "Victory Lap".
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Photos courtesy Pooneh Ghana. more ›

Much to our delight, L.A.’s Little Joy, a band who are casually referred to as a Strokes side project but are truly so much more, return to Austin tonight to help brighten up your Monday evening. They’ll be on hand to help break in our fair city's newest venue, the Independent at 501 studios (here’s what we had to say about the new club back in May). The L.A. trio, which features Los Hermanos’ Rodrigo Amarante - Little Joy’s principal songwriter and lead singer - multi-instrumentalist Binki Shapiro, and Strokes’ drummer Fabrizio Moretti, played an exuberant and absolutely charming set of their breezy, MPB-inflected, Strokes-esque tunes at the Parish Room in November. Expect more of the same tonight, as it should be a perfect early summer show augmented by the Independent’s intimate space. more ›

We've been keeping you in the loop about KLRU's new program, ACL Stage Left, and for those of you who missed the RSVP for Leatherbag and Brazos, we've got a treat. Check out Leatherbag performing "On Down the Line" (above) and follow the jump to see Martin Crane from Brazos doing a moving rendition of "Mary Jo". We can't wait to see who is on the bill next. more ›

If Buckner’s voice were a wine, it would be heavy with oak, and his instrumentation is also undeniably gnarled with country fundamentals, cutting a swath following the simplest path the way a river does. And yet, his vocals resonate with a shimmering, almost phosphorescent quality that rises above the workaday flesh of the very songs they narrate. more ›

We are thrilled about music in Austin this May, and a big part of our excitement is thanks to the fifth installment of Chaos in Tejas, a multi-venue festival featuring the best punk and hardcore has to offer. This year's venues include Emo's, Red 7, Mohawk, Beerland, the Broken Neck and more, and the lineup is better than ever. Don't miss Propagandhi's reunion tour in support of their new release Supporting Caste, get some Amebix and Severed Heads of State action, shake to the Thermals and please (please) don't miss sets by Harvey Milk, Times New Viking and Trash Talk. Check here for the complete lineup and ticket info, but stay tuned: Austinist will be giving away tons of tickets and three day passes in May. more ›

Robyn Hitchcock and the Venus 3 rolled through Austin on Friday night supporting Goodnight Oslo. Leatherbag opened, and Austinist contributing photographer Steve Hopson shot the evening. more ›

As if the Yep Roc reissues weren't exciting enough, we've got even more sex, death and food to look forward to next week when Robyn Hitchcock rolls into town. Lucky for you, there's a couple of opportunities to go for free, one today and another next week. more ›

It's no secret that here at Austinist we're just waiting for Randy Reynolds' Leatherbag to emerge as a serious force in the national indie scene. In the meantime, he continues to quietly write some of the finest rock'n'roll music around, on this year's Love & Harm as well as an upcoming EP, Tomorrow. What was he a fan of in 2008? more ›

Future Clouds and Radar are so into it. It's not difficult to tell when a band is phoning it in, but with these guys there's never any danger. They're filled with the incredible shining power of music, and they're looking for mountaintops to shout it off of. As such, their albums reflect this. more ›

We kicked off Fun Fun Fun Fest weekend with our annual Local Music Is Sexy party at the Mohawk. Thank you so much to Brothers & Sisters, Foot Patrol, the Lovely Sparrows, Leatherbag and the Eastern Sea for providing the local lineup, and to Dengue Fever for ending the night with a bang. more ›

We're proud of this community, and we can't think of a better time to celebrate it than on the eve of Fun Fun Fun Festival. Join on us November 7 promptly at 8 p.m. for Local Music Is Sexy VI at the Mohawk Bar on Red River. more ›

We often hear about the traveler who visits our city for the immense SXSW festival and then refuses to leave (perhaps you, dear reader, are one), but how often does an extended or permanent visit also become the perfect opportunity to record an EP? Well, maybe the term perfect is a little off. When folk singer Tom Schraeder hit Austin for the festival, he turned it into a six-week recording process for his latest release, the Lying Through Dinner EP, and his visit here ended up consisting of not just nights on couches and floors but even a trip to one of our homeless shelters more ›

A trio of Austin acts will be ruling the proverbial roost at Stubb's tonight. The indoor show will start off with Jude Ross, followed by Leatherbag, and finally Dana Falconberry. The evening promises a solid set for a low low sticker price -- especially for those who have been finding themselves seduced by the backward looking AM gold stylings of other local acts like Brothers and Sisters. more ›

Tonight, Leatherbag will celebrate the debut of Love & Harm at Emo's, along with the Black and Lomita on the inside stage. more ›

What would you get if you snatched up Bob Dylan while he was sitting backstage at the Newport Folk Festival in 1963, strapped him to the rather large hood of a Chevrolet K20 pickup and drove through the deserts and ranches of the Southwest finally making your way across to the southern states and stopping for an extra long time in Tennessee? What if he soaked it all up and adopted a little more of the sounds, culture and twang? Well, he’d be a lot like Randy ‘Bag’ Reynolds and company. Saturday night at Hole in the Wall you’ll be able to make your own assessment when locals Leatherbag make their way to the stage sometime around midnight. Between tunes of cello, slide guitar and smokey vocals and others full of fuzzy guitar and brash rock and roll sounds, there exists a captivating balance of sentiment and flat-out fun. more ›