Here is my ranked schedule from Friday through Sunday in order of appearance. This should make it easier to review each band before they go on stage. Click the name to see the preview. To see the spreadsheet in full-page click here.
Sunday at 7pm. Nothing makes me feel old like looking at the top billed acts at ACL and not recognizing them. Yes, ACL is catering to a younger audience. Plus, the bands at the top are genres I don't really follow. Ok maybe I don't feel so old after all. They do have Marcus Mumford and RHCP.
Three acts at this time. Marcus Mumford, techno-dance producer Zhu ("Faded" has 129M views!) and this jam band out of Connecticut. They are compared to Phish and Umphry's McGee. They call themselves "indie groove".
They sold out Stubb's for ACL Nights on Saturday Oct. 8th. They also played Red Rocks. Check out their cover of this The National song. Two drummers!
Sunday at 6pm on the Tito's stage. This timeslot on this day is usually saved for something special. One year it was Richard Thompson. Last year was Trixie Mattel. This year it's this legendary jazz musician. I can't even get into all the accolades and collaborations. Read his Wikipedia page if you want to get worn out.
The other options are rock band Paramore and rapper 6lack.
The Statesman says: "If your festival won’t be complete without some truly mind-boggling musical mastery, the jazz titan from Houston is here to oblige."
Sunday at 5pm. Synthpop now based in L.A. From Wikipedia:
The band is named after its lead singer María Zardoya who was born in Puerto Rico and raised in Atlanta, Georgia...The Marías are an American indie pop band from Los Angeles, California. They are known for performing songs in both English and Spanish, as well as infusing their music with elements like jazz percussion, guitar riffs, smoke-velvet vocals, and horn solos.
The Statesman says: " Enjoy a bilingual synth pop interlude as you escape the heat of the day under the shade trees that form the far edge of this stage area." They are playing the Barton Springs stage.
Sunday at 5pm. Japanese Breakfast is on at this time. So is Eric Tessmer on the BMI stage. Two other options. First is producer, composer, vocalist and instrumentalist Jackson Stell. From Wikipedia:
Stell began his music career as a hip-hop beat producer, known as J Beatz, in his native Massachusetts at the age of 14. Stell graduated from Northeastern University and worked as a composer for an advertising agency before moving to Los Angeles, where he switched his focus to producing electronic music and singing under the moniker Big Wild.
Sunday at 4pm. ACL likes to throw in one out-of-left-field act every year. Remember Die Antwoord? Last year it was Trixie Mattel but she turned out to be great. I'm not sure that will be the case with this guy.
Sunday at 4pm. Spoon is on at this time plus two other choices. First up is a duo originally from Miami but now in L.A. Gorilla vs. Bear loves them. He posts about them all the time. I think they are signed to his record label. According to Wikipedia:
(Mica) Tenenbaum was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and immigrated with her family to the United States, while (Matthew) Lewin is also of Argentine-Jewish descent. They originally met in high school at a program run by Live! Modern School of Music, where they were placed in a classic rock cover band and later began writing their own progressive rock music as Tabula Rasa...After that band broke up, they formed Magdalena Bay in 2016 while on vacation from college—Tenenbaum at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and Lewin at Northeastern University in Boston—and continued to collaborate remotely
An indie-pop band with roots in Miami and vibes from another dimension. Sort of transporting in a Purity Ring way, ethereal in an early Grimes way but hook-forward in an experimental, "could be friends with Charli XCX" way. Anyway, see 'em.
Sunday at 3pm. An older musician now. She's 21. From Wikipedia:
PinkPantheress (born 2001) is an English singer, songwriter, and record producer. In 2021, while attending university in London, she posted several songs to TikTok that went viral, including "Break It Off", and she subsequently signed to Parlophone and Elektra Records...She won BBC's Sound of 2022 poll and has been nominated for three NME Awards.
Not bad. The Statesman says she someone to see and says: "Candy coated bedroom pop from a TikTok sensation who’s about to be a massive star."
Sunday at 2:45pm on the Tito's stage. Dream pop. She's 18 now but was signed to Republic Records at 16 after posting the song below on social media. She's from L.A. According to Wikipedia: " Rosinkranz used to help her father with ideas for songs he was writing for various TV shows and commercials."
Sunday at 3pm on the BMI stage. According to Wikipedia he's "an alternative pop singer originally from Barstable, MA (on Cape Cod.) He's 19 years-old and signed to RCA Records. He has also toured with girl in red.
Sunday at 3:15pm. 5 choices at this time. The only one I recognize is MUNA who played ACL in 2017 (writeup here). I don't think we went to see them. Let's take a look at the other choices.
This is a rapper born Bianca Miquela Landrau in Medford, MA. (Town north of Cambridge). She now lives in L.A. and has worked with Pharrell, Nicki Minaj, and J.Cole ("London", video w/him). She was also on a reality TV show called Sisterhood of Hip Hop.
Sunday at 2pm. This is an interesting fellow. The band name is the first clue: the music is not goth and he's not female. It's the moniker of Griff Washburn. Born in Memphis, he is a wandering musician. From this interview:
Recent Pacific Northwest transplant, Goth Babe, formerly known as Griff Washburn, is out to eventually take the alternative music genre by storm. Originally starting his music career in Nashville, he then moved to New York City shortly after, and then on to Los Angeles.
Griff currently lives off the grid exploring a variety of lifestyles. Currently living between a sailboat, tiny home or camper van, surfing up and down the west coast with pup, Sadie. He writes and records his music in the back of his camper off of solar power, while in the midst of following good weather and good people.
Indie rock/jangly guitar/synth pop. "Canary Islands" is good. It has a New Order bass beat in it which is nice. "Running Around" is good, too.
I say we go watch this set after Buffalo Nichols.
He's headlining Scoot Inn on Sat. Oct. 8th with Sarah and the Sundays opening. Two female-themed bands without any females. It's sold out.
This video shows his camper and I suppose his dog.
Born Larry Eugene Hendricks III to teenage parents in San Francisco, June moved to Atlanta at age 5; he spent much of his childhood vacationing to the West Coast, where he longed to live permanently. At 14, he moved back to his native Hunters Point neighborhood briefly before heading to Vallejo.
This song may be autobiographical. Sample lyrics:
I was born in ninety-one, product of the dope game
Sunday at 1:15pm. There are 4 bands on at this time. Dehd is my first choice. Also playing are Austinites Darkbird (regular rotation on KUTX) and Caleb de Casper.
This is a singer/songwriter who was born in Springfield, MO, grew up in Ozark, MO but is now in Nashville. He is signed to Warner Records.
Sunday at 1:15pm. This is one of my top bands to see. It's a trio out of Chicago. Here is their performance on KUTX. Indie rock.
Pitchfork loves them. It throws around comparisons to Roy Orbison and The Cure. Quite a range. Their guitar licks remind me of Real Estate, too. Also, dare I say it, the B52s.
Sunday at 12:30pm. Post-punk from Tampa. This article states: "Their art is rooted in a mutual love for rock and new wave icons like Joy Division, Gang of Four, and the B-52’s." It says their debut album was produced by Dave Shultz of Cage the Elephant.
Sunday at 12:45pm. 80s dance pop on the Tito's stage. It's the moniker of Austin-based Laura Lee Bishop. She's a Black Fret artist this year so we'll probably see her soon at one of their showcases.
Sunday at 12:30pm. You're going to love this one. I'll let this article introduce them:
By now, many Metallica fans know that co-founder Lars Ulrich's two adult sons, drummer-guitarist Myles Ulrich (23) and bassist-vocalist Layne Ulrich (21), have their own rock band called Taipei Houston.
It's what you expect. Here's their first released song.
Sunday at 11:45am. This is a band out of Oak Cliff. This article describes their music:
Luna Luna’s music is based in groove and rhythm, carrying a slight rock inspiration with pop influences ranging from bedroom, synth, and dream-pop. The group crosses genres often, sometimes collaborating with rap artists, and frequently borrowing from different decades of music.
"Feel it Now" is synthpop. Reminds me of Tame Impala.
Sunday at 11:45am. Here is how he describes himself in this interview:
I’m an artist, I write and record my own music, with the help of a few friends equipment I record. I specialize in Latin/English urban music. I’m known for making music in Spanish and English with different types of genres...What sets me apart from others is the fact that I’m from a different country I’m actually from Panama, I came to the United States young but Latin music was always a part of me absolutely I just added my twist to it with the English music which I really enjoy too, even though I’m Hispanic, I look American because my dad is American but I wasn’t born here in the USA. So, I think my character and my music type is what sets me apart from others.
Sunday at 11:45am. 5 choices at this time. Danielle Ponder is first choice obviously. Let's see who else is playing.
Not much on this artist. In this interview she says she was raised in Memphis but her bio says she's now in Tulsa. Most of the music online is her playing acoustic guitar or doing covers. This is the one song with a video that is an original. It was uploaded two weeks ago. It also shows her band name as just HAPPIE. Maybe she dropped her last name. This interview says she has an EP coming out right after ACL. Pretty impressive that they booked her before even releasing an EP.
Saturday at 7:15pm. The 6:15pm time slot has Lil Nas X, Big Boi. and something called Purple Disco Machine. I'm thinking Big Boi. His setlists include lots of Outkast songs. Yes please.
This time slot has War on Drugs, Diplo and this singer/rapper/actor from Alief, Texas. Wikipedia says:
Nwigwe is of Nigerian descent, and hails from the Igbo ethnic group.
He played high school football and then college football at the University of North Texas. He was being considered for draft by the NFL. However, a Lisfranc ligament tear left him unable to continue to play football.
He performed on NPRs Tiny Desk Concert which received lots of attention. Michelle Obama put his song "I'm Dope" on her workout playlist.
Saturday at 5:15pm. Barton Springs stage. R&B. She's originally from Miami but now in L.A. Another online streaming viral star. She's now on Atlantic Records.
I like her sound. Nice and mellow. Sade smooth. "Stand Still" is good.
"Messages from Her" gets lots of love in the comments. Sample: "This is the most powerful song a girl child needs to hear before she enters adulthood."
Saturday at 5:15pm. It's a pop rock duo that consists of sisters Alyson (Aly) and Amanda Joy Michalka (AJ). They were both Disney actors and continue to act but also formed this band back in 2004. Their first album went Gold. They are playing the BMI stage.
"Like Whoa" has 48M views. Most of the comments are people remembering watching their videos on Disney channel. We're not their core audience. This is their big hit.
an insatiable dance collection of jungle-pop songs with many well-executed nods towards Brazilian instruments, poets and to the national language, Portuguese.
Sofi Tukker is the duo of Sophie Hawley-Weld and Tucker Halpern.
Sophie Hawley-Weld was born in Frankfurt, Germany, but grew up in rural Canada and Atlanta. She then attended United World College of the Adriatic, a UWC in Duino, Italy.
Tucker Halpern was born in Brookline, Massachusetts. Growing up, he was a basketball player who was recruited by major Division I basketball schools, ending up at Brown University where he played three years and was the captain for a year. Due to an illness, he changed his career, started DJing and concentrated on making music.
Halpern and Hawley-Weld first met at Brown University in 2014 at an art gallery where Hawley-Weld was performing. Halpern approached her and they began writing and performing songs together.
Saturday at 5:15pm. I thought we had seen this band before but I guess not. They played ACL in 2010 and 2018 but we didn't go see them. They're from Atlanta, not Manchester.
Saturday at 4:15pm. Wallows is playing at this time as well. They played ACL in 2018 (my writeup on them) and we saw a little of their set. It was pretty good.
This time slot is all teen pop music. Maude Latour's bio from Wikipedia:
Latour was born in Sweden.[2] Her father is Almar Latour, former executive editor of The Wall Street Journal and CEO of Dow Jones & Company, and her mother is a journalist for S&P Global.[3] She lived in London and attended Hong Kong International School before attending the Brearley School in Manhattan.[4][5] Latour graduated from Columbia University in 2022 as a philosophy major.[6]
She went viral after posting a song online and is now signed to Warner Records.
Conan Lee Gray was born on December 5, 1998, in Lemon Grove, California,[5] to a father of mostly Irish ancestry and a Japanese mother.[6] As an infant, his family moved to Hiroshima, Japan, due to his grandfather requiring medical care. After living there for two years, the family moved back to California. Gray previously spoke Japanese fluently, but has since lost his proficiency.[7]
Gray's parents divorced when he was three years old. In a "Draw My Life" video, he details his experiences with divorce as a young child.[8] As his father was in the military, Gray moved twelve times throughout his childhood, moving three times during sixth grade alone. Gray was frequently bullied throughout grade school. At one point, he was one of only five Asian children at his school.
Gray eventually settled in Georgetown, Texas, as a preteen where he remained for the rest of his teenage years. Gray's life in central Texas inspired much of his art and music. He was accepted to UCLA, and moved to Los Angeles, California in September 2017.
Now 23, he blew up online after posting some of his music and is now signed to Republic Records.
"Maniac" is pure indie pop. 83M views. "Disaster" is one of his newer songs.
Saturday at 3:30pm. Indie rock/pop from Samia Najimy Finnerty of New York/L.A. Her parents are actors Kathy Najimy (Peggy Hill on "King of the Hill") and Dan Finnerty She has also acted but music is her main thing now. She's touring with Maggie Rogers.
Is There Something in the Movies? has a Phoebe Bridgers sound. Mellow. The video features Maya Hawke (Ethan's daughter, "Stranger Things").
This is more rocking. More of a Maggie Rogers sound.
Saturday at 3:15pm. This is the moniker of Tucker Pillsbury, originally from Portland, Maine. He was discovered by Mac Miller who asked him to come to Los Angeles to record. He's signed with Interscope Records.
He often plays acoustic guitar on his songs, and his music has been described as pop and bedroom pop. He has called Mac Miller an inspiration of his due to his influence on the city of Pittsburgh, and called meeting him "the most pivotal moment in [his] life". Critics have described his lyrics, which discuss topics such as sex, mental health, and relationships, as "relatable" and "confessional".
Saturday at 3:15pm. Pop. This article sums up her background:
Born in Massachusetts to a musician father and actress mother, Sands was always surrounded by music. As a kid, she found herself inspired by storytelling songwriters like Bonnie Raitt, Sheryl Crow and Grace Potter. By her teen years, she began writing music and discovered emo and pop-punk bands like All Time Low and Taking Back Sunday. Trying to find that middle ground between those 2000s rockers and childhood favorites has been an ongoing challenge she’s embraced as an artist ever since she moved to Nashville two weeks after high school ended.
She had a breakout with this song about Harry Styles. Again from the article:
In November 2020, Sands penned “Dress” — a direct response to conservative pundit Candace Owens and the negativity surrounding Harry Styles’ Vogue cover where he sported a Gucci ball gown. “I love the way you wear that dress / Making everyone upset / Burning that cigarette, boy / Swear to god I’ll confess, boy,” she swoons in the chorus. It didn’t take long for the song to blow up on TikTok, and it currently has 1.3 million views and counting. For Sands, the surprise hit wasn’t just a statement about redefining masculinity.
Saturday at 3pm. The Tito's stage is only allocating 15 minutes between bands most of this day. Past Lives finishes at 1:45pm and Cimafunk is supposed to go on at 2pm. He plays until 2:45 and then this singer from Nigeria goes on at 3pm. I don't see that working out smoothly.
Judging by his Youtube counts I'm surprised he's on this small stage. "Godly" has 75Million views. "Understand" has 58M views. In addition, he has collaborated with Justin Bieber.
Saturday at 2pm. Third option at this time. He's in the Tito's tent. I know you know him but wanted to post this video since I didn't realize KUTX was doing live sets in Studio 6a during SXSW this year. I love seeing shows in that studio.
Saturday at 2:15pm. Three options at this time. I'm sure your first choice is Adrian Quesada's Boleros Psicodélicos. Another choice is this band out of L.A. They are categorized at synthwave. Wikipedia says they are a duo. One of the founders is Danish.
Saturday at 1:30pm. This band played ACL in 2019 but we didn't go see them. I liked their surf rock sound. Here is them live at Paste Studios. They are playing after The Ventures. Good scheduling.
Of the four options this is probably my first choice.
Originally from Barranquilla, Colombia, she later immigrated to Canada, settling in London, Ontario, before moving to Toronto, where she is currently based. Her father died when she was six years old...She rose to prominence after her 2016 album, La Papessa, won the 2017 Polaris Music Prize. Her music incorporates a variety of styles and influences, including traditional indigenous and Afro-Colombian musical styles such as Cumbia and Bullerengue, as well as contemporary synthpop and electronic music.
Saturday at 1:30pm. According to this article "Born Jessika Harling to a music-teacher mother, she started singing at age two and writing her own songs at 11." She currently lives in Vancouver. She released the song below on TikTok and it blew up. Since then she has won the Juno Award in Canada for Breakthrough Artist of the year, Single of the Year, and Pop Album of the Year.
Saturday at 1:30pm. Four choices at this time. First choice is the moniker of Catherine Grace Garner. I had to make sure I had the three "y's" included in the name. Almost just used 2. She's originally from St. Louis but is now in L.A.
According to Wikipedia: "Her music style has been likened to Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, and Paris Hilton". Oh boy.
Saturday at 12:45pm. Holy moly. The ultimate nostalgia act. This band was formed in 1958 in Tacoma. You'll know their sound. Instrumental guitar rock. The original surf rock that inspired the Beach Boys. They played on American Bandstand with Dick Clark when TVs were still black and white. Check it out. "Walk Don't Run". You'll know it instantly.
All of the original members are dead. The main guitarist joined the band later and the drummer is the son of one of the original drummers. Still may be fun to check them out.
Saturday at 12:45pm. Three options around this time. One is Austin band Past Lives who we saw at the Long Center Lawn as part of the Drop In. They were pretty good. They play the Tito's tent. They're my choice over this band.
Dance pop. It's a manufactured band created by Simon Fuller ("American Idol" creator). He auditioned prospective members via TikTok and chose 3 singers and 4 dancers. I'm not sure who plays the music (backup band? pre-recorded?)
This video has 5.3M views. I guess the marketing worked.
Saturday at noon. Final choice at this time. Disko Cowboy is playing the Tito's tent. Someboday at Tito's must really like him.
This is a 6 piece band out of Glasgow. Goth-glam. "Heather" is described in this article as "more end-of-the-night pop banger — it’s The Breakfast Club brought into the 21st century."
Very retro sound. Adam Ant beats with a Sisters of Mercy voice. Probably more my cup of tea than yours.
Katzù Oso is a Latino solo artist based out of Los Angeles, CA. The moniker of Paul Hernandez, Katzù Oso combines upbeat, dancey production with dreamy vocals. Taking inspiration from artists like HOMESHAKE, Tame Impala and more, Hernandez sought to combine a dreamy synth-drenched sound with influences from growing up east of Los Angeles, CA – the sounds of growing up east of a major metropolitan city, of being young and brown in America.
Saturday at noon. 5 choices on at this time. First up is best summed up by this article:
As ethereal as it is gritty, and as lighthearted as it is deep to the core, spill tab has landed, serving up multi-genre bedroom beats. The moniker of Claire Chicha, spill tab is a French Korean American singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, now pouring distinctive, duality-drenched tracks with producer David Marinelli straight out of LA.
In the interview she explains how she got the name:
The first summer marinelli and I started hanging out and making music, we were also going to a shit ton of shows in LA and subsequently drinking so much alcohol. One of his friends was a bartender and explained how a spill tab is a bar tab designated for spilled drinks but mostly for giving free drinks to friends and I found that so freaking cute.
"Grade A" sounds like a lot of songs. It's got that Max Frost/Mobley/Portugal the Man beat going.
This reminds me of Billie Eilish. It rocks at the end.
Friday at 7pm. The 6pm slot has Nathaniel Rateliff and James Blake along with a techno band Big Gigantic. Billy Strings and Carly Rae Jepsen are also on in this slot.
I'm not sure how this is worthy of the 7pm slot. He's ok. R&B/Hip-hop/ballads/latin music. Kind of all over the place.
Friday at 5pm. One for the kids. It's the moniker of 22 year-old Stella Rose Bennett from Aukland, New Zealand. She won every award you can win at the New Zealand Music Awards. Multi-platinum sales, too.
Indie pop. She's slotted in between Zach Bryan and Nathaniel Rateliff.
Friday at 5pm. Arlo Parks is on at this time so that's my first choice. This is an indie pop band now in Austin. Most of the members are from Connecticut but one member is from Austin and he talked the rest into moving here.
The other tidbit: there is no one named Sarah in the band. It's all guys, too. (Update: Declan, the member from Austin, has a sister named Sarah. They used to practice on Sundays. Hence the name. Thanks Margie!)
Friday at 4pm on the Tito's stage. Hip-hop. He was born in Ghana and lives in Australia. His first album "Smiling with no Teeth" won all sorts of album of the year awards in Australia.
This song sounds familiar. Is it getting KUTX airplay?
Friday at 4pm. Playing opposite Zach Bryan. She's won multiple Grammys and is on Time Magazine's list of 2022's "100 Most Influential People". I'm embarrassed to say I don't know her. Thanks to ACL for exposing me to other artists.
The Statesman says: "Sullivan is an R&B artist’s R&B artist. Beyoncé, Chaka Khan and Mary J. Blige are all fans."