ACL 2019: Weekend One

I'm not going to weekend one so I didn't post about the bands only playing that weekend.  Also, I don't post about bands I've seen or that I'm already familiar with.  This "blog" is really just a note-taking spot for me to use as reference during the festivals as my memory isn't so great.  It's great for me but it doesn't cover some of the better choices for anyone else that reads this (anyone?).  In light of that here is a quick rundown of my best recommendations for Weekend one.  These are mostly bands I've seen before.

Friday:

1pm Erin Rae: mellow singer-songwriter.  She has toured with Jenny Lewis.

1:15pm Sam Fender: earnest pop/rock sound.  I enjoyed his set at SXSW.  He seemed very down to earth despite his talents.  I expect him to blow up soon.

2:45 Cherry Glazer:  Don't miss this.  We saw them at SXSW and I loved them.  Kick ass rock. She can shred on guitar.

3:30pm Tyler Childers. He has blown up.  Well deserved, too.

Saturday:

Weekend one before 6pm has lots of bands that are different from weekend two and I haven't heard of many of them.  I haven't seen anyone so I can't help much.  There's only one band I really like:

2:15pm Men I Trust.  Nice indie pop grooves.  I've never seen them but love their sound.  I wish they were playing weekend two.

Sunday:

12:30pm Julia Jacklin.  I've posted about her before: here and here.

2pm IDLES or Joseph.  Joseph if you want to kick back and relax. IDLES if you want to get motivated to run through a goddamn brick wall.  Any band with a song called "Never Fight a Man with a Perm" is worth checking out.  Here's their set at Glastonbury.  No kicking back to relax at that show.

5pm Billy Strings.  Bluegrass on speed. Extraordinary.  Go to 2:09 in the video.  He's not to be missed.

7pm Lizzo.  Very fun.  She puts on quite a show. 

ACL 2019: Wrabel

Sunday at 5pm.  The last choice is this singer-songwriter out of L.A. He is just playing weekend two while Billy Strings is playing weekend one.

A mix of Coldplay and Adam Lambert.  A good opener for the Third Eye Blind fans.

11 Blocks

ACL 2019: BANKS

Sunday at 5pm.  Electropop from L.A.  I previewed her in 2014 when she played SXSW before her first album was released but we didn't see her.   She has since released three albums. 

Her wikipedia entry says: "Banks' sound has been described as dark R&B and compared to Ellie Goulding, The Weeknd, and Aaliyah, although she cites Lauryn Hill and Fiona Apple as her biggest influences."

Gimme

ACL 2019: Caamp

Sunday at 5pm.  Four choices at this time.  Billy Strings is playing Weekend 1 at this time but we don't get that privilege.

One option is a techno DJ (FISHER) so I'll skip that.  First choice is a band out of Ohio.  Country-folk sound.  One song I heard ("Going to the Country") had a little Grateful Dead feel. 

This is a good opener for the Bruce Hornsby fans before his 6pm set.

By and By

ACL 2019: GoGo Penguin

Sunday at 4pm.  This is the choice opposite Rosalía.  They're playing in the tent after Yola.  Mellow piano jazz instrumentalists from Manchester.

If you want to chill while at work here's their NPR Tiny Desk Concert.  I love the first comment on the video: "looks like 3 guys from a laptop repair shop takin a short break from work ."

The other option is the reggae band Rebelution.  They've played ACL in the past.

Window

ACL 2019: Rosalía

Sunday at 4pm.  Austin360 just published their their recommendations for Weekend 1.  All three critics picked this singer as the one to see.

Peter Blackstock: "The 20something eclectic singer-songwriter from Spain has collaborated with Pharrell Williams and James Blake and won two Latin Grammys last year. She’ll also tape an episode of the “Austin City Limits” TV show on Oct. 8."

Deborah Sengupta Stith: "Buoyed by tremendous range and superb showmanship, the Spanish pop singer who smoothly shifts from dramatic vocal flourishes that tremble with passion to sassy hip-switching Latin pop jams is on a meteoric rise."

Eric Webb: "The flamenco sensation’s “Con Altura” made both my summer playlist and Barack Obama’s. If you don’t believe one of us, at least believe the other."

Those three never agree so perhaps we should check her out.

107M views

MALAMENTE (Cap.1: Augurio)

ACL 2019: Shura

Sunday at 3pm.  This would be my first choice if we had the time to see her.  She's on the vrbo stage which is across Barton Springs Road.  A long way from Tito's.  The other choices besides Koffee are Bea Miller, a 20 year-old pop singer that competed on the X Factor.  She was a little too poppy for me.  The other option is rapper IDK.

Shura is the moniker of British-born Aleksandra Lilah Yakunina-Denton.  Electropop/synthpop.  Her new album was released on Secretly Canadian Records.

"BKLYNLDN" is very chill. 

religion (u can lay your hands on me)

ACL 2019: Koffee

Sunday at 3pm.  Yola plays until 3:30 so we won't be able to catch any full sets at this time.  This is the closest stage to Tito's.  It's 19 year-old Mikayla Simpson from Kingstown, Jamaica.  The New Yorker says she is modernizing reggae and states: "To understand both the history and the future of Jamaican music, listen to Koffee."

Toast

ACL 2019: Shandon Sahm

Sunday at 1:45.  Playing after Ley Line on the Tito's stage is Doug Sahm's son/former Meat Puppets drummer Shandon Sahm.  He just released a cover album of his dad's songs called "Sahm Covers Sahm" and is out on tour promoting it.

At 2pm we have two choices,  IDLES and Joseph.  I know you have no interest in IDLES but I'd like to check them out.  You can wander over to Joseph.

We can meet up at 2:45 at Titos for Yola.  I'm beyond excited to see that show.


Give Me Back the Key to My Heart

ACL 2019: Kat Dahlia

Sunday at 1:15pm.  This Cuban-American singer/rapper from Miami (but now based in L.A.) is playing the small BMI stage.  I'm not sure why as it looks like she's quite popular.  The Youtube video below has 53M views.  That's much more than the other 3 artists at this time.

According to this article she took a 2-year hiatus and is now recording new material.   This song was her first big hit back in 2013.

Gangsta

ACL 2019: Duckwrth

Sunday at 1:15pm.  This rapper/singer was at SXSW and I previewed him then.  I predicted he'd be at ACL.  I'm getting good at this.

NPR has an article on him.

This song came out since SXSW.  It's pretty good.

Crush

ACL 2019: Still Woozy

Sunday at 1:15pm.  Soulful R&B sound from Oakland.  This is the moniker of 25 year-old Sven Gamsky.   The reddit poster has a good overview of him.

"Goodie Bag" is cool.  I've listened some other songs and like what I've heard.  He and Mallrat are playing next to each other so we can easily walk between the two stages.


LAVA

ACL 2019: Mallrat

Sunday at 1:15pm.  Four choices at this time.  All are pretty mellow.  I hadn't heard of any of them so I'll preview them all.

This is probably my first choice.  It's the moniker of 20 year-old (she'll be 21 at ACL) Brisbane-born Grace Shaw.  Fader says she's a breakout star.  Good indie pop song.

Groceries

ACL 2019: Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors

Sunday at 12:30pm.  Last choice is this band out of Nashville.  They say they were influenced by Tom Petty.  They did a cover of "Won't Back Down" with Austin based Penny and Sparrow.

"Dragons" is a nice song similar to Avett Brothers. 

This song is Alternative rock/pop similar to Of Monsters and Men and Head and the Heart.

End of the World

ACL 2019: Ley Line

Sunday at 12:45pm.  All female band out of Austin.  They played the Campground stage at Old Settler's last year after you left.  Really good. Crowd was totally into it.  They're playing the tent and I bet it would be a good set.  I'd like for you to see them but Julia Jacklin may beat them out.  We need to make an effort to see a show in Austin.  They're quite mellow so it would need to be the right venue.

They play at The Grove at Southpark Meadows tomorrow at 7pm.  They also play HAAM day but it's at Cenote off Cameron Rd. and 290.

This video was recorded at Old Settlers by KUTX on their pop-up stage.  "Respiração" was recorded in L.A. for Jam in the Van.

Oxum

ACL 2019: Julia Jacklin

Sunday at 12:30am.  Three good choices at this time.  First choice is who we saw during SXSW in 2016 at the Hilton Hotel.  She was very good.  She has since released her second album.  I've been listening to it and really like it. 

Caroline Rose followed by Julia Jacklin.  That's a great way to start a Sunday.

Body

ACL 2019: Sego

Sunday at 11:45am.  One more band at this time.  It started as a duo out of Provo that is now a full band in L.A.

They're really going for the Beck sound, especially on "Neon Me Out".

This song has lots of Beck with a little LCD Soundsystem mixed in.

Shame

ACL 2019: Kady Rain

Sunday at 11:45am.  First choice at this time is Caroline Rose. No way I'm missing that.  For informational purposes I'll highlight the other choices at this time.  There's a hip-hop band out of San Marcos (not Brockhampton) called PNTHN that really isn't our style.  You can click on the link if you want to hear one of their songs.

Another option is Austinite Kady Rain Williams.  She got a nice writeup in the Austin Chronicle and was on the 2018 NPR 100 for SXSW. 

Straight up pop.  "Lonely One" has a throwback 80s pop sound. It's pretty good.

R.A.D. Moves

ACL 2019: Natalia Lafourcade

Saturday at 5pm.  Last choice at this time is this singer, composer and producer from Mexico.  Mellow latin pop.  Her big success in the US was singing on "Remember Me" from the movie Coco.  It won the Academy Award for best song and she performed on the show.

Her Tiny Desk Concert has almost 9M views.  Pretty good sound.  She's on the vrbo stage which is the new one on the other side of Barton Springs Rd.


NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

ACL 2019: Chris Schiflett

Saturday at 5pm at the BMI stage.  Americana/country rock side project from Foo Fighters guitarist.  You'll never guess who produced his solo albums: Dave Cobb.  This whole festival is filled with Dave Cobb artists.

The BMI stage is an interesting spot.  I hope it doesn't rain.  That area was a mud pit last year.

I listened to some of his other songs and they're all pretty similar to this one. Nothing really grabbed me but it could be good live.

West Coast Town