Randy Rogers Band

The Randy Rogers Band had a banner year in 2007. Turning in one electrifying performance after another, the band played to sold out crowds across the country breaking attendance records along the way. In addition to the victories he shared with his band, Rogers himself shared the stage with icon Willie Nelson, toured with Chris Knight and was invited to co-write with the likes of Guy Clark. Embraced by his peers, Rogers has already carved out his place among the best in the business. The toughest critics in the land were impressed with their major label debut saying “Rogers boasts loads of grit, swagger and heart,” in USA Today and “ Randy delivers everything hear with the verve and the confidence of a star in the making,” in Country Weekly. No doubt the same critics along with fans across the country are ready to hear what the band comes up with for their sophomore effort on Mercury.

The Randy Rogers Band recently went back in the studio with friend and producer Radney Foster in Lafayette, Louisiana. Together they will try to top what has been called one of the finest major label debuts in decades. Luckily for Rogers and crew, they have the chops to do just that!

Wade Bowen

Today, he’s already a familiar and awarded name in music, performing along the active touring highways of Texas and the Southwest and selling out top venues like the legendary Gruene Hall in New Braunfels.

Carving out a dedicated fan base with his magnetic appeal and proven abilities, Wade Bowen has enjoyed a 7-year stint as a leader amongst flourishing Americana and Alt-Country music community. From the numerous successes of his February 2006 release, Lost Hotel, to his recent tour with Lee Ann Womack and Friends, Wade Bowen shows absolutely no signs of slowing down.

Ray Wylie Hubbard

A willing conspirator in the late seventies Cosmic Cowboy revolt that ushered in the mythical Outlaw era, Hubbard was a catalyst in the cultural upheaval that led to the peaceful coexistence of Lone Star music enthusiasts who comprised each end of the social and political spectrum of that troubled time.

In the stellar company of iconic colleagues like Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Doug Sahm and Jerry Jeff Walker, Ray Wylie Hubbard was an architect of the musical legacy that continues to inspire subsequent generations of up-an-coming Texas talent. Perhaps no other artist of Hubbard’s generation, with the exception of demi-god Willie Nelson, has earned the respect and the allegiance of so many young singers, writers, and players populating the pantheon of rising Texas stars. From Cross Canadian Ragweed, to Wade Bowen to Bonnie Bishop and Slaid Cleaves, a steady stream of ascendant artists are anxious to pay homage to Hubbard by co-writing songs, sitting-in with him onstage, or recording his songs.

Ray has been busy this year writing a screen play with award winning director Tiller Russell. It's a gritty western with despicable characters, blood, guns and a really cool girl. Gary Busey, Taryn Manning and Jack Ingram starred in the teaser which was filmed at the end of June.

The Gougers

For The Gougers, it is more important that audiences hear the lyrics of the songs created by the singing/writing team of Shane Walker and Jamie Wilson — poems of vivid imagery, human struggle, subtle social comment, truth — than be concerned with what sort of genre the band’s music fits into.

Formerly the Sidehill Gougers, this local quartet lost part of their name, but it's blossomed, unexpectedly, into a band. The Gougers' third effort following an EP and LP, A Long Day for the Weathervane spins with a newfound depth and electricity flowing through their alt.country. A lot of the credit belongs to producer Keith Gattis and some A-list local sidemen, including Brad Rice, Bukka Allen, Taras Prodaniuk, Ken Coomer, and Brian Standefer. Bandleaders and vocalists Shane Walker and Jamie Wilson, who wrote the songs, deserve the lion's share of kudos, however, recalling Gram and Emmylou or Ryan Adams on tunes as free and easy as "Dedend" and as achingly gorgeous as "Riding in a Lincoln Continental With Sylvia Plath."

Band of Heathens

It's rare for a band's first two releases to be live recordings. But then there's nothing typical about The Band of Heathens. Live At Antone's - simultaneously released on DVD and CD - finds their concept of 'songwriters in the round with a rhythm section' moving into exciting new territory. Now truly a magical musical entity, one that's comprised of singers/songwriters/guitar-pickers Colin Brooks, Gordy Quist and Ed Jurdi, bassist Seth Whitney and drummer John Chipman following in the footsteps of legendary names of Americana as the Band, Little Feat and Townes Van Zandt.

Live at Antone's, recorded in June of 2007, shows why the quintet captured 2007's Best New Band at the Austin Music Awards. It's true that it was the first time they ever used a set list, but like all of their shows, this performance was an exhilarating mix of familiar tunes and some that were previously unrecorded. Throughout the Heathens' refined brand of soul, folk and country shines in a new way.

For now however, the band will continue to tour throughout Texas and into the West, with gigs in Colorado and New Mexico scheduled for early next year, bringing their unique brand of Texas twang and country soul to anyone who is curious. In the meantime, Live At Antone's loudly proclaims this is a band and this is what Austin's Best New Band sounds like.

Ryan Bingham & the Dead Horses

One minute into any of Ryan Bingham’s songs and it’s clear why he’s receiving enthusiastic endorsements from underground Texas heroes Joe Ely and Terry Allen, and why another avid fan, Patty Griffin, asked him to open her shows on her 2007 tour. His spare but weighty style is part roadhouse cosmic country and part gypsy fiddle soul, and he sings like he hasn’t slept in two days but is still as restless as ever.

Bingham's new album, Mescalito, sounds gritty and dense, with songs such as "Borracho Station" incorporating a Spanish-language vocal. The disc also demonstrates instrumental diversity — incorporating mandolins, harmonicas, and slide guitars — that help reflect an overall mood of loneliness and hardship. He is high demand and constantly touring across the country including several tours in Europe in the past year!

Micky & the Motorcars

Gary and Micky Braun grew up singing and playing with their musician father, Muzzie Braun. In 2002, Micky and the Motorcars moved to Austin, Texas with an arsenal of fresh songs, and soon recorded their first independent CD, Which Way From Here. Micky and the Motorcars were off and running.

Their sophomore effort, Ain’t In It For The Money, put them on the road full speed ahead and the success of their latest release, Careless, has sent them into overdrive, with two singles charting in the Top Five of the Texas Music Chart. Now, with newly minted Motorcar Chris Farrow on guitar and a new studio effort in the works, Micky and the Motorcars are leaping and bounding across the nation, sharing bills with acts like Cross Canadian Ragweed, Reckless Kelly, Pat Green, and Willie Nelson and consistently topping XM Channel 12’s Most Requested list.

Matt Skinner

Matt Skinner is an experienced and innovative musician and record producer living and working in Austin, Texas. Thousands and thousands of miles, long nights, foreign lands, and good friends have given him an extensive knowledge of people, music, and a love of storytelling that makes for good conversation and great performances everywhere he goes. Matt is a musician's musician and an ambassador of the songwriter's craft. "The Nighthawk Affair" is a magnificent collection of stories and songs wrought from a coyote-like existence living by blood and guts, by one's wits and integrity. "The Nighthawk Affair" features the musicianship of Adam Odor on bass and organ, Jason Roberts on fiddle, Lloyd Maines on lap steel, Will Dupuy on Upright bass, and the amazing vocals of The Amanda Brown.

Arielle Nicole

Arielle Nicole is anything but a typical teenager. At 16, she is honing her craft as a songwriter, striving to capture her life and the world around her and put it into song. The evidence of this is not in the clothes she wears or how she behaves. It's in the songs she sings, and more and more people are listening. Arielle has an understanding of not only musical composition, but of lyrical styling that is far beyond her years. Singing, writing and playing lead guitar, Arielle has gone from a late-night jam session-ista to respected artist amongst her peers as well as those musicians in the upper echelon of her genre. She cut her teeth playing drums at a young age in her father’s church band in New Mexico, and later moved to Texas where she picked up the guitar, began writing songs, and built her chops while opening for acts such as Reckless Kelly, the Clay Jeffrey Band, and Southern Drive. She is quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with, and when she takes the stage you see a tempestuous transformation take place in the form of sonic maturity, precision playing and a fiery attitude to match her signature flaming red hair. Where will you be when Arielle Nicole blows into town?

Zack Walther

New Braunfels' hometown band Zack Walther and the Cronkites are delighted to be doing something new and different. In reality, Zack Walther and his buddies play a distinctly potent yet sweet blend of Americana and modern rock, peppered with pop hooks.

Supporters of the Cronkites are often first recruited to the cause by the voice of Zack Walther, which is something like a combination of Pat Green and Eddie Vedder, a little more versatile than the first and a lot more intelligible than the second. The second thing that people notice are the songs, which are thoughtful about life, love, and the tough parts about being a musician in an unknown band. Zack is a plain-spoken songwriter, simple and to the point, and that goes for the tunes as well as the words.

June 5, 2007 marks the date that Zack Walther and the Cronkites release their first full-length album, Live at Tavern in the Gruene. The Cronkites lineup was strengthened that night buy guest musicians Ron D'aaasdfasd on keyboards, Deric Garza on acoustic guitar, and Claire Cunningham on vocals. Highlights include their new epic alt-country song, "Get Up," which gets the 3 part harmony treatment at the end and may raise some hairs, a brilliant and spirited cover of Radney Foster's "I'm In," and "Wrapped for Me," an Old-fashioned country duet that features the rootsy alto of Claire Cunningham.