KUTX’s Rene Chavez and Jake Perlman test sound in the KUTX backstage tent on Oct. 6, 2024, at the Austin City Limits Music Festival. Michael Minasi / KUT News
Chaparelle: “Bleeding Hearts”
Ask anyone about their favorite ACL Fest performance and there’s no telling what answers you’ll get. But we’re willing to wager that if you ask anyone below the age of thirty, “did you catch Chap-“, there’s a good chance your interviewee will enthusiastically finish your question with, “Chappell Roan?! She was awesome!” Yeah, there’s no doubt Chappell Roan’s among those leading the charge of younger fest attendees this year, but if you’re less in search of the Pink Pony Club and more keen on something to successfully serenade both you, your parents, and their hoss, there’s another “Chap” that was well worth checking out during Weekend One.
And that’s Chaparelle, the Southern supergroup of Zella Day, Jesse Woods, and prolific producer-composer-multi-instrumentalist Beau Bedford. Between the three? A lifetime of country music experience that, when combined, authentically encapsulates the classic midcentury sound that so many of us miss hearing on the airwaves. Based on the level of polish we’ve heard, we already see Chaparelle as a champion of twang made in and for the Lone Star State. And we’re bettin’ they’re gonna go a lot further than that after the release of their debut LP next Spring.
But in the world of country, (at least the real stuff that can’t be wrangled into Top 40 pop), high production values can only take a subpar performance so far…and Chaparelle sure ain’t a case of that. Because while the studio version of Chaparelle’s debut single from this June “Bleeding Hearts” recalls the iconic comfort of prime Patsy Cline recordings, the stripped-down acoustic-electric-vocal arrangement the trio treated us to last Friday at ACL is intimate, unadulterated talent. And like the title suggests, “Bleeding Hearts” isn’t a two-steppin’ barn-burner; it’s a surefire recipe for tears in your beer that’ll have you holding onto your Stetson for emotional support…lest you’ve got a requited love to corral.
Filmed October 4th backstage at ACL Fest 2024. Musicians: Zella Day – vocals; Jesse Woods – vocals, guitar; Beau Bedford – guitar | P
Mon Rovîa: “crooked the road.”
When it comes to exposure for international acts here in Austin, you typically think of SXSW. But time and time again, ACL Fest has shown great global flavors, even if the artists in question are quartered stateside.
A perfect example? Mon Rovîa. The songwriter was lucky enough to escape his moniker’s namesake in the midst of the Liberian Civil War, and given the Appalachian atmosphere of his current home base, Mon Rovîa’s forged a really fascinating fusion of Afro influences and American folk, shaking up whatever expectations you have surrounding the “Tennessee sound”. Since hitting streaming early on in the pandemic, that formula’s found a strong listenership that only grows with Mon Rovîa’s ongoing streak of about five-to-six singles a year, alongside the three-act EP progression that began with last Summer’s Act 1: The Wandering and culminated in this April’s Act 3: The Dying of Self.
As the BMI Stage’s inaugural act, Mon Rovîa (and his backing band) had the honor of expressing gratitude, championing peace, and setting a pensive mood for ACL’s first weekend with a slew of tunes. And that extended to a pop-up performance of “crooked the road.”, which still feels fresh after debuting just over a month ago. It’s gorgeous. It’s heartwarming. It’s the most tasteful pairing of ukulele and vocal harmonies you’ll hear all week.
Mon Rovîa – vocals, uke; Tyler Martelli – guitar, bgv; Sam Hudgens – bass, bgv
Producer: Deidre Gott; Audio Engineer: Rene Chavez; Audio Mix Engineer: Rene Chavez; Cameras: Michael Minasi, Issak Koteki, Livia Blackburn; Edit: Deborah Cannon
The Beaches: “Blame Brett”
econd Friday of October is upon us, and Austin City Limits Music Fest is about to be in full effect once again. And in the interim that is this Thursday, we got a twofer for ya: a reflection on last weekend and a hint on what to expect for this next one.
So although it’s finally starting to feel a little more like Fall around here, there’s really no bad season to get behind The Beaches. These masters of fashion have been at it for a decade straight now, solidifying the soundtrack to a generation and proving proficiency (sans predictability) in the indie pop rock realm with each release. And after snagging the Juno Award for Breakthrough Group of the year in 2018 and the Juno Award for Rock Album of the Year in 2022, this past March the quartet scored another milestone in winning the Juno Awards for both Group of the Year and Rock Album of the Year.
The Beaches are back at it bringing a bit of The Six down to ATX twice over the next couple days with a completely sold out show 6:30PM tonight at Scoot Inn for Backline’s World Mental Health Day Event followed by a return to the T-Mobile stage 3:20PM this Saturday at ACL Fest, so you may want to give a single day pass a second consideration before The Beaches blow up even more. Because they’re only getting better, y’all. Like, looking back at last Saturday, the Ontario sisterhood rocked it (shades donned and sass intact) on their highest-charting single to date and the album opener off last September’s Blame My Ex, “Blame Brett”with a semi-acoustic rendition that undeniably takes on a new character while keeping the spiteful spark of its anthemic studio counterpart in place. Sorry, Brett; this one ain’t for you. But it sure does slam even with that sole egg shaker keeping the beat.
Musicians: Jordan Miller, Kylie Miller, Leandra Earl, and Eliza Enman-McDaniel
Producer: Deidre Gott; Audio Engineer: Jake Perlmam; Audio Mix Engineer: Rene Chavez; Cameras: Michael Minasi, Issak Koteki, Livia Blackburn; Edit: Deborah Cannon
flipturn: “Rodeo Clown”
Between the big Texas sky, the sprawling space of Zilker Park, all the dust that gets kicked up across the festival grounds and cowboy hats abound, ACL Fest sure can feel a bit like a rodeo right here within the city limits.
And heading back to the fest, Weekend Two of ACL 2024 certainly won’t be flipturn‘s first rodeo, that’s for sure. Following the recent announcement of their sophomore full-length Burnout Days (set to release next January) The Florida five-piece is back at ACL’s American Express stage at 2:45PM this Sunday for an hour-long set. And on top of that, flipturn’s also going to be playing at Scoot Inn tomorrow evening alongside openers Hotel Fiction.
But if those two options to flip your sh*t over flipturn’s formidable live set aren’t appealing to you quite yet, we’ll point to the pop-up duo rendition of Burnout Days‘ lead single “Rodeo Clown” below. And while we’d never advocate illicit drug use to enhance music, this tune sure does remind us of our fun friend Molly and her ability to make any festival performance feel like you’re floating on cloud nine. Not to mention, with lyrics about wanting to escape from the reality of a reluctant performance, it’d be incredibly meta to watch “Rodeo Clown” played to a crowd of thousands.
West 22nd: “Road Trip”
Another ACL is officially in the books, so we’re keeping those fest memories fresh by bringing y’all some more KUTX-clusive pop-up performances straight outta Zilker Park. And nothing says “Austin City Limits” quite like a band whose handle directly references their UT campus origins.
Yep, our October 2024 Artist of the Month (powered by PNC Bank) West 22nd was among those chosen to represent our city’s elite local acts across ACL’s weekend afternoons. The five-piece effused their carefree and upbeat indie rock flavors throughout the Tito’s Handmade Vodka stage during Sunday One and had no trouble getting hands waving across a multi-generational audience, which is a massive notch on the belt for any outfit still relatively in their infancy.
We’re guessing the fellas of West 22nd are riding high off the experience even now, considering it’s a big benchmark of success ahead of a show in Nashville next month and an album on the way in 2025. So it was a treat to get West 22nd back in the KUTX pop-up tent for a trio interpretation of All The Way Home‘s EP ender “Road Trip”. Because based on the strength of this stripped-down, acoustic session alone, it’s safe to say West 22nd is on their way to well-earned exposure far outside our fair city limits.
Logan Madsen – vocals; Gabe Acevedo – guitar; Douglas Blatt – shakers
Producer: Deidre Gott; Audio Engineer: Rene Chavez; Audio Mix Engineer: Jake Perlman; Cameras: Michael Minasi, Issak Koteki, Charolette Keene; Edit: Deborah Cannon
Chance Peña: “Blackbird”
For a lot of major artists, ACL Fest is just another tour stop. For up-and-comers, it’s the opportunity of a lifetime. But for those who overlap the brackets, the experience falls somewhere in between: somewhat routine, somewhat sentimental.
And we’re guessing Chance Peña lands in that final category. Depending on your age demographic, chances are you’ve already heard of Peña through one avenue or another. Nearly a decade back, Chance Peña caught widespread attention at the tender age of fifteen as a contestant on The Voice. These days, Peña pulls an impressive social media presence and colossal streaming numbers for someone in their mid-twenties.
Yeah, in between the release of his debut full-length Ever-Shifting, Continual Blossoming last month and his current headliner tour that’ll take him across Western Europe and Scandinavia, Chance Peña is pretty much on top of the world. However, we do feel like playing Austin City Limits the first Friday must have been a pretty big deal for a Tyler native, so kudos to the ACL coordinators for showing strong home state support for a young Texan on the up and up. And shoutout to Peña as well for paying that Lone Star love forward with a passionate pop-up performance of his ES,CB standout, “Blackbird”, recorded that same day.
Chance Peña – vocals, guitar; Nate Sander – keys; Aaron John Hicks – guitar
Producer: Deidre Gott; Audio Engineer: Rene Chavez; Audio Mix Engineer: Jake Perlman; Cameras: Michael Minasi, Issak Koteki, Livia Blackburn, Deborah Cannon; Edit: Deborah Canno
Midnight Navy: “Solo Tu”
Midnight Navy is the brain child of saxophonist, songwriter and lead singer Francisco Jose Rosales and stopped by the KUTX tent to perform weekend one of ACL Fest 2024. “Solo Tú” is a bolero song inspired by Francisco’s parents’ wedding song – “Quien Eres Tu?” by Nelson Ned and will be on the deluxe edition of 2023’s EP De Melón, coming out November 15, 2024.
Musicians: Francisco Jose Rosales – vocals, keys, sax; Marcus Bell – bass; Guldo Canedo – guitar; Jakai Li – bongos; Karena Jimenz – cajon
Producer: Deidre Gott; Audio Engineer: Rene Chavez; Audio Mix Engineer: Jake Perlman; Cameras: Michael Minasi, Issak Koteki, Livia Blackburn; Edit: Deborah Cannon
DAIISTAR: “Velvet Reality”
It’s always super cool to see our KUTX Artists of the Month get some additional hometown love out at ACL Fest. Off the top of our head, this year we saw Kalu & The Electric Joint, promqueen, Chief Cleopatra, and West 22nd added to the lineup. On top of those, we were stoked to see our October 2023 Artist of the Month DAIISTAR get some well-deserved recognition in the stacked ACL schedule as well.
Considering the quartet only hit streaming last February, DAIISTAR is decidedly still in a dawning phase. But with the release of their debut full-length Good Time last September, the four-piece made their mellotron-tinged brand of noise-pop felt far across Austin and beyond. Between a pair of recent remixes, a standalone original that dropped right around SXSW, and a handful of appearances on the West Coast over the next couple of months, 2024’s been a busy year for DAIISTAR.
And that includes the Good Time they had opening up the Miller Lite Stage this past toasty Sunday at ACL. After which DAIISTAR took shelter from the sun, shades still donned, in the KUTX multi-media tent for an unconventional twist on their Good Time closer “Velvet Reality”. Alongside the Sonic Boom remix that came out in April, this low-volume rendition of “Velvet Reality” is a testament to the versatility of DAIISTAR’s songwriting and the absence of limits in the nuanced world of noise.
Alex Capistran – vocals; Nick Cornetti – cajon, Derek Stahan – mellotron, Misti Hamrick-French – bass
Producer: Deidre Gott; Audio Engineer: Rene Chavez; Audio Mix Engineer: Rene Chavez; Cameras: Michael Minasi, Issak Koteki, Charlotte Keene; Edit: Deborah Cannon
Geese: “Space Race”
Think we’re already finished talking about ACL Fest 2024? Don’t be a silly goose! Sure we’re quickly shifting gears to Halloween, Levitation Fest, Thanksgiving, and the Winter Holidays, but we do have one more piece of ACL awesomeness ahead of that Fall gauntlet.
So let’s take a gander at Geese. Almost a decade removed from their fledgling days, Geese and their distinct crossbreed of indie artcore post-punk rock still haven’t run afoul of stagnation. And even as they hatch the next Geese release, this Brooklyn outfit’s still feeling the impact from their golden egg: the Summer 2023 concept album 3D Country, as well the 4D Country outtake offshoot and this June’s Alive & In Person EP. As for the forecast for the rest of this year, it’s about to be open season up in Geese’s BK HQ for the three-day GEESEFEST going down the first week of December.
A couple years after they joined us for our SXSW Studio 6A live broadcast, the cosmos aligned to reunite KUTX with Geese on the second Saturday of Austin City Limits. They turned the KUTX tent into an aural aviary with a trio treatment of the final feather off 4D Country, “Space Race”, during which percussionist Max Bassin relegated both hands to the cajon and one foot to a tambourine, which interestingly offers more of a convincing kit sound.
A deep cut? Perhaps. But a prime piece of Geese? Undoubtedly.
That Mexican OT: “Cowboy Killer”
Before his set at ACL Fest 2024, That Mexican OT smoked out our backstage tent while performing a track from the 2023 album Lonestar Luchador.
Whookilledkenny: “Rich Rich”
Austinite based rapper currently based in LA, Whookilledkenny.
