Ones To Watch: Black Pumas

All this week, KUTX profiles the Ones To Watch: seven must-see artists at SXSW 2018.

Whether it’s playing guitar with Brownout or producing records by Third Root and Grupo Fantasma, Austin’s Adrian Quesada is a busy man. Last year, a break in his schedule found him writing some psychedelic soul songs, but he needed a singer. Enter Austin’s Eric Burton, and together, they’re Black Pumas.

Recorded at Quesada’s studio, Black Pumas’ debut is out later this summer. Quesada finds it thrilling to start from the ground-up again. “It’s exciting to make new music, you know,” he says. “Imagine if you asked a director to just make Star Wars 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. I feel like I like telling different stories, I like writing different music, and it’s hard for me to write the same style of music every year.”

Listen to the feature below, hosted by Jody Denberg and produced by Art Levy, with engineering assistance from David Alvarez. Catch Black Pumas at the All The Friends Ball at Spiderhouse Ballroom on Sunday, March 11 at 11:30 p.m.

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