Earlier this year, Amy Cook released Let the Light In, a brilliant, multi-layered album. Produced by Alejandro Escovedo, the record watches Cook swing between the rock'n'roll goddess she is and the more emotive, sentimental crooner she can be. more ›

Austin singer/songwriter Amy Cook has a lot of friends, a few of which will be joining her for a show at the Mohawk Wednesday. She’ll be headlining with a full band at her back and the addition of the orchestral grace of Austin’s Tosca String Quartet. Local folk rock musician and songwriter Ben Kweller will open the show and possibly trade a song or two with Cook. Both Kweller and the Tosca String Quartet contributed to the production of Cook’s upcoming album, let the Light In, which is scheduled for release in early 2010. The album also includes contributions from Patty Griffin and Alejandro Escovedo, who is also the record’s producer. more ›

Last New Year’s Eve, experimental film artist Luke Savisky gave us the eye. This Halloween season, he'll create a surreal urban oasis on film at one of Austin’s historic parks. It may be hard to top images of a giant eyeball projected on to a downtown water tower, but Savisky’s latest large-scale film installation promises to be just as imaginative—and maybe just a little less creepy. On Friday night, Savisky will present Film Actions VI:... more ›

Tonight's eagerly anticipated launch party for KLRU-TV's Downtown has been rescheduled to tomorrow night, due to the heavy thunderstorms and flash floods that are expected to slam Central Texas. "Rain, hail and thunderstorms don't make for a good party when it's being held at a power plant," as someone our awesome friend aptly put it. The original lineup will remain intact, with featured guests from past episodes of the Emmy Award-winning series performing throughout the... more ›

Tacks, the Boy Disaster's Daytrotter Session features four free songs, one of which is slated to appear on their forthcoming album. "Dying to Know" is one of the band's oldest songs, but one that needed some help before it became clear how to deal with that pesky bridge. Although the charm of the Daytrotter Session songs is their live and impromptu nature (complete with borrowed instruments and auxiliary musicians), we're anxious to hear this... more ›

When you spend nearly every weekend watching all forms of low-budget, pseudo-experimental performance in barely converted warehouses, you find yourself yearning for shows that are just a little more polished. So, when a new company sprouts up, featuring ballet allstars from around the country, and headed by both a nationally recognized choreographer and composer, your interest is piqued. Enter American Repertory Ensemble. The company’s first production, Dialogues, was part contemporary ballet, part classical music... more ›

…And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead has been supplying inventive rock music and raucous live performances for over a decade now. What started out as a two man entertainment outfit headed by Conrad Keely and Jason Reece has grown over the years into a five-piece, dual-drums-pronged machine that abides no discernible formula when it comes to expansive rock. In 2003, the band found its mature side, employing the Tosca String... more ›

Last week, Austin's American Repertory Ensemble (ARE) was in the land of fried Snicker bars, indiscernible drunkards, and the largest fringe performance festival in the world. (Read: Edinburgh, Scotland.) Everything was laughs and lager until the terrorists got involved. more ›

When your roster of artists includes dancers from the Joffrey Ballet, Boston Ballet, Atlanta Ballet and Oregon Ballet Theatre, musicians from the Tosca String Quartet, and two Artistic Directors that are already rising stars in their respective disciplines, your work has to meet some seriously high expectations. After seeing Dialogues, American Repertory Ensemble’s first performance event – a highly professional, intelligent, inventive and entertaining evening of music and dance – we think ARE lives... more ›

TUESDAY [25] [music] Launch Party for KAART Marketing with Peel and Pong, "hosted beverages," food, and good friends of Austinist at Velvet Spade (10pm, Free) LINK [film] AFS Essential: Irreversible at Alamo Downtown (7pm) LINK [film] The Women at Paramount Theatre (7pm) LINK [film] Lost Boys at Rounders Pizzeria (8pm, Free) LINK [film] Adam's Rib at Paramount Theatre (9:40pm) LINK [film] Harold & Maude at Alamo Downtown (9:45pm) LINK [music] Tosca String Quartet and Glover... more ›

MONDAY [24] [film] The Pop Films of Peter Whitehead Series at Alamo Downtown (7pm) LINK [film] The Pink Panther at Paramount Theatre (7pm) LINK [film] Nightwatch at Rounders Pizzeria (8pm, Free) LINK [film] Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind at Austin Java (8pm, Free) LINK [film] KOOP Monthly Benefit Screening: Granito de Arena at Monkeywrench Books (8pm, $5) LINK [film] The Big Lebowski at Café Mundi (8:30pm, Free) LINK [film] The Party at Paramount Theatre... more ›

From the moment we woke up, something was different. Our fingers delicately tip-toed across our bedside table; we nimbly caressed our oddly rhythmic alarm into silence. Gone was our everyday stumbling stupor as we arose from the bed like a bird on a spring. ‘Twas replaced with physical ease – how nice – as we spun and we twirled, dipping and diving, shuffling gracefully to our morning…pee. (Ahhh.) This is no week in theatre,... more ›