The first and second waves of the 37th annual Texan showcase of new music SXSW lineup have been released, and once again, it looks to be the sound of tomorrow. The festival runs a full six days from March 10-19th, 2023 and registration for tickets is open now. You can see the ticket and lineup information in full at https://www.sxsw.com/.
Texas and March may be far away, but the music is always close. Americana UK journos trawled through the 400+ artists to bring you a list of what hot new Americana artists you could be playing next year. You heard them here first. This is day nine of a Twelve-part series that explores this showcase; enjoy all of these artists “nine cowgirls dancing, eight whiskey a-slammin’, seven slides a slidin’, six gators layin, five rhinestone suits, four open roads, three fresh hats, two bald eagles, and a pardner in a pantry”.
The Pink Stones are much more than a six-piece band from Athens, Georgia. With the release of their debut album, ‘Introducing… The Pink Stones’, out last year on Normaltown Records, mixes elements of rock’n’roll with fresh humour. The Pink Stones claim to be “authoring a new chapter in the annals of Cosmic American Music“! They rock a “pull-string guitar” as well as pedal-steel, lap guitar and slides. Woah.
After releasing their debut self-titled album in 2017, their sophomore album, ‘How you Make a Fool‘ of 2020, did not disappoint. Work on their next album, ‘That Texas Touch’, has been going on for over two years and, presumably by the time of the festival, could be released. This Texan seven-piece band proclaim to make a sound that is reminiscent of 70s LA, swampy Muscle Shoals, but is Appalachian folk played in the style of Tex-Mex honky tonk. Pleasingly for fans of The Grateful Dead.
Johnny Chops lives in Austin with his wife and two basset hounds (click on the link above for dog pics on his website!). He cut his teeth as a bass player in The Randy Rogers Band in 2002, and with them, recorded eight studio and two live albums on both major and independent labels and extensively toured the United States. He has been writing solo since 2013, and after two releases, a third album is in the pipeline. He records at the same studio as Uncle Tupelo, Kris Kristofferson, Jim McMurty and The Dixie Chicks. His music is Tom Petty-inspired, but with so many twists of blues and rock n roll to make it unique.
Tami Neilson is both visually and aurally arresting. She has won awards for her music on both sides of the world and has been named “best dressed” to boot. Tami was born and raised in Canada as part of the country band The Neilsons but relocated to New Zealand, where she now lives and writes. Her fifth album ‘Kingmaker‘ features Willie Nelson, and the single went to number one in both Canada and New Zealand. Surprisingly, the UK and USA haven’t heard her despite the epic lungs. Belting out soul-style vocals like Amy Winehouse while playing surfy guitar that mere oceans would pale into background noise.
This band of four met in South Texas while one busked in the streets. An eclectic group, some of them cite Patti Smith as an influence, while others enjoyed their father’s country DJing. Currently touring with Arlo McKinley, their new and excellently titled album ‘Bummer Year‘, which came out this year, was written (surprise, surprise) during 2020. Clever but simple music, they say of their music, “Good Looks is a bar band searching for common ground and yearning for a better system.“.
You can read the previous post here.
