SXSW 2026: Tom Jenkins

 Luck Reunion artist. According to this article:

Inevitably music will be inspired by personal experiences and Tom Jenkins has a fascinating dual work situation. On the one hand he’s a sheep farmer in South Wales and he revels in his family history of running a farm in rural Wales. But he’s also a wonderful singer-songwriter and to date he’s released two highly praised albums and a range of shorter EP-length recordings still pitched as albums.

He has been in other bands and toured but soured on the scene.  Per this article:

 After a few years on the road and feeling uninspired by his own music, Jenkins would eventually end up in the outback of New Zealand, to pursue his passion of sheep shearing, Shepherding and ranching. Cut off from the world, sometimes weeks at a time with only a landline that would receive calls, the isolation and beautiful landscape that surrounded Jenkins would provide the right time and place to write his debut solo album.

He returned to Wales and connected with producer (and Austin-based) Elijah Ford (Gary Clark, Jr. bandmate) to make new music. He now has a new album out.  He opened for Ryan Bingham on his tour of Ireland.

 'It Comes In The Morning, It Hangs In The Evening Sky' is an older song. It's more rocking than his newer stuff. Reminds me a little of Jeff Buckley. 

"Stay and Work the Land" is about his life farming. It's a good song and video.

This is his most streamed song.

SXSW 2026: Robert Lester Fulsom

Luck Reunion artist. This is a crazy story in the vein of "Searching for Sugarman". This artist originally from Georgia released an album in 1978 that never got popular so he moved on with his life and became a house painter. The album developed an underground cult following and in 2009 Mexican Summer asked if they could re-release it on vinyl. They then asked him to come perform.  Per this article:

Folsom—with a backing band of Jacksonville locals, mostly members of his church group—played at the Knitting Factory in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, on a bill for Mexican Summer’s showcase during the once-juggernaut music industry convention CMJ. It was Folsom’s first time in New York City.

 As Robert Lester Folsom stood before a crowd who sang his songs back to him, songs he’d written and recorded almost forty years before, songs he hadn’t played live in over three decades, he was overjoyed.

It's a great article. He has since released songs he had saved up over the years and at 71 is now playing Luck.

"Music and Dreams" was also the title of the album. 

The article describes "My Stoves on Fire" as a mix of Boz Scaggs and Todd Rundgren.

This is him live last year. Nice tune.

SXSW 2026: Penelope Road

 Luck Reunion artist.  According to this article:

The sound of Atlanta rock band Penelope Road forces you to look back. Listen to the track “Tired of Love,” and you’ll hear a mix of Otis Redding and Christopher Cross. Then, there’s the gospel-tinged soul of “Mercy” or the slow-groove R&B of “So It Goes” that’s reminiscent of Robin Thicke in his prime. 

Here is "Mercy" live.  Good to see the kids embracing old-school genres.  

It says they signed a record deal with Warner Brothers last year.

"Out Tonight" is a nice tune.   Good outdoor festival daytime music.

Another nice song.

SXSW 2026: Luna Roja

Luck Reunion artist. Another one with hardly anything online.  I can't find any articles on her.  Her bandcamp page says she is out of London.  It says:

Luna Roja is a singer-songwriter blending Latin music with the spirit of the Wild West. Her sound fuses multiple latin genres with Spaghetti Western vibes. Through soulful vocals and poetic lyrics, she evokes love, longing, and the rugged frontier, offering a timeless journey through heartache and hope.

The only place I found a bio was on this podcast which says she was born in Italy.  Her father was a pianist and guitarist who encouraged her to play.  

She has a Spotify page but it has no music posted and 0 monthly listeners. hmm.

Her Instagram page has some music clips of her performing but that's about it.

The only videos I found are her performing live at the Mayflower Pub in London.  

"Huesos Rotos" is a nice mellow tune. 

She has a song on TikTok called "Austin, Texas, San Antonio" so maybe she has a local connection. 

Something is going on behind the scenes for her to be on the Luck schedule. May have to see what's up.

This is pretty good. It has 246 views. 

SXSW 2026: Los Juanos

 Luck Reunion band.  They're from San Antonio and this article states:

Launched during the pandemic, the band started as a nostalgia-embracing one-off collaboration between friends Baldemar Esquivel and Miguel Guzman. 

No longer a one-off, the band now has six members.  More:

And, the band’s sound?

Esquivel still calls it Tejano dream-pop, which is pretty spot-on in its own right, but the music also has a lo-fi, stoner, punk aspect at its core. Maybe it’s the lyrics, frequently embracing blissful abandon, maybe it’s the group’s restless energy and refusal to sit still — literally and figuratively.

 "Cien Novias" was their first single.

"Disco Y Salieri" is a nice mellow tune. It's the closest to dream-pop I found.

This is fun.