Bourbon & Beyond 2026 - Line 16 (Magoo, Atlus, Sawyer Hill, Rattlesnake Milk, Jason Scott & the High Heat, Levi Turner)

Magoo

One Liner: Bluegrass and Jam Band combined for the powers of good
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but this is bluegrass and jam
Home: Colorado
Day: Thursday

Thoughts:  I mean, just read the band name "Magoo" and what do you think is coming your way?  Droopy-eyed druggie jam band meanderings for the rest of time, right?  It absolutely sounds like I am about to dive into a Phish-level pond of noodles.

Before I get to that though, I just feel like you should be reminded of who Mr. Magoo was.  Do you remember that cartoon?  It was really freaking weird - he was this super-rich, old dude with terrible eyesight.  So, people around him thought that he was a psychopath who did insane things like hanging out with a bear because he thought it was a friend in a fur coat.  I did not recall that they made a movie featuring Leslie Neilsen as Mr. Magoo.  I am going to guess that it is better that I do not recall that.  Also, Magoo was the name of the rapper who worked with Timbaland before he blew up.  He dead tho.

Wikipedia claims that Magoo is an English indie rock band formed in Norfolk, England in 1992 that was active from 1992 to 2014.  But I do not think this is the same band as the people I am listening to right now on Spotify.  Magoo is apparently now the name of a progressive bluegrass quartet from Colorado.  The Reddit I just read about their tour this summer is very complimentary, with comments such as "This band SHREDSSSS!! 10/10 recommend, these guys bout to blow up!" or "Thanks for the post. I looked them up and will now be seeing them at the Paper Tiger in San Antonio."  I heard that place is super sucky and owned by an asshole.

But this band seems pretty damn fun!  I know bluegrass isn't the thing for some folks, but bluegrass mixed with jam band stuff just makes a ton of sense.  Like, even in normal bluegrass, you would expect a player to go insane on the mandolin for a while in the middle of a song, or the banjo to have a little time to jam loose, so nothing seems out of place here.  Just one album so far, following up behind a handful of EPs and singles.  2026's What a Life has what you'd expect - good singing harmonies, killer instrumentation, and a mix of speedy, wild tunes and mellow meanderings.  But it definitely feels like both bluegrass and jam band.

The top tune is "West Dakota Rose," which has been on a few of the EPs over the years but was not added to the album.  439k streams.

I don't know what they call that little banjo fleck that keeps the time, but this is just a perfect example.  These dudes are good at their instruments too!  They also have some fun covers, and I expect maybe we will get a few of those at this show because one of them is the Foo Fighters ("Everlong").  Hell, check it out.  It is fun.

Damn, that just makes me smile - that guitar solo about midway through is a beaut.  About the time that we had kids, there was a series of albums that came out of bluegrass covers of certain popular artists - like all Metallica songs, or all Beatles songs, or whatever.  Those were pretty great.  Anyway, I'd definitely go check this out.  Likely by myself as the rest of my group will be very tired of my bluejamgrass ass by then.

Atlus

One Liner: That terrible type of R&B country people sing/rap
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia - R&B/rap but like if Luke Combs did it or something
Home: Denver
Day: Saturday

Thoughts: This guy's top song's title immediately made me laugh out loud.  The song sucks, like sort of R&B but the sort of R&B that country people do with heavy drum machine and staccato lyrics.  But the title - "You're a Fucking Bitch Hope You Know That Shit" - was good for a legitimate LOL from me.  I really hope the next song is better, because otherwise this will be a quick listen to run away from this music before it breaks me.  Wikipedia thinks Atlus is a Japanese video game company.  it is apparently known for the Megami Tensei series.  Of course.  Duh.  Sadly, the second song from this guy sucks butt too.

Born Sean Haywood, he spent his time as a commercial truck driver working on writing music.  That is kind of a cool background.  The bio I am reading claims that he developed a distinctive yet catchy sound, but I would retort and say that this is not distinctive at all and it super sucks.  He sounds like a poor man's Post Malone.  He wanted his stage name to sound like the mythological Titan who held up the heavens.  he apparently got a break by getting to perform with Jelly Roll at Red Rocks.  I have to stop listening to this or I will be very sad all day.  Here is that top hit with the funny name - 154 million streams.

I hope I never hear that again.

Sawyer Hill

One Liner: Deep-voiced rocker from Arkansas who feels right for Austin
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, this is alternative rock, indie rock, guitar rock
Home: Fayetteville, AR
Day: Friday

Thoughts: This fella was at ACL in 2024, but I did not catch the show.  I am absolutely bastardizing my review from then.  Sue me.  

You hear that name, and I immediately thought okay this is going to be a country guy.  Then you pull up the Spotify and the dude looks like Sebastian Bach from Skid Row.  Then you click the first track and it is like that dude from the Crash Test Dummies was allowed to sing something other than the humming song.  I have no clue how to parse all of these inputs.

His tiny bio provides that he grew up playing bars in the Fayetteville, Arkansas scene, and ended up playing "countless" shows in the south with his band.  But COVID nuked that band.  He also says this dumb phrase: "It's sounds you're familiar with, but with a delivery and composition you haven't heard before."  C'mon man.  But then he came back with a new thing, and has managed to nail some TikTok and Instagram viral action to get popularity.  He now says that he'll get randomly noticed around Fayetteville as that singer with the deep voice.

"Look at the Time" is that big track that has blown up - it has a great line about "when you say that I'm the only one, did you mean that I'm the closest one around?" and also calls back to the guitar stylings of Eric Johnson at one point.  I enjoy it.  He claims that it just flowed out of him in 15 minutes, which is also cool.  26.9 million streams.

Mmmmmmmhhhhhmmmmmmmmhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmm.  Nah, just kidding.  This is a good one.  One album - 2025's Heartbreak Hysteria (although only 7 songs), with a handful of singles out there before. "Firestarters" and some of these other tunes reminds me of those Austin bands of old - not just a flash of Eric Johnson here and there, but more like the Arc Angels and Charlie Sexton type of guitar-forward, loosely-collected rock and roll.  Not quite into the Gary Clark Jr. guitar heroics thing either, but it just feels like this dude would be at home here in Austin slinging these songs.  I like it.

Rattlesnake Milk

One Liner: Laid back rockabilly grooves
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but Americana and rockabilly?
Home: South Texas
Day: Saturday

Thoughts: Another ACL alumni, but they were in Austin in 2023.  I did not catch the show.

No Wikipedia, so I'm depending on offbeat little articles about them.  One claims that they come from the "great desolate southern plains of Texas."  I really want to know where that is supposed to be.  The same article later says they were formed in Lubbock in 2013 (which I hope they are not considering to be south Texas) by singer Lou Lewis who was farming cotton at the time.  He apparently recorded eight demos in his childhood bedroom by himself, and then a few friends heard the tapes and decided to jump on board.  Also, says they later moved together to Austin.  (please let this person writing this article think that Austin is the "great desolate southern plains of Texas.")  Amazingly, that article never mentions any other town, so the writer at www.holler.country believes that either Lubbock or Austin is the "great desolate southern plains of Texas."  Big fan of your prose, buddy.

Other fun tidbits from that article - lead singer's first CD ever was My Way by Usher, all of the members are either full or half Mexican, and they shout out Nirvana, Slipknot, and Eminem.  The music itself is nothing like those things, it is more of an Americana, rockabilly, surf rock, shambling pastiche of chilled country sounds.  I like it.

Three albums - 2014's Snake Rattle and Roll, 2020's Rattlesnake Milk, and 2022's Chicken Fried Snake.  Almost all of their top tracks are from the new album, with four from the second album hanging around in the list.  Top track is "Midnight Train" from the most recent disc - 13.4 million streams.

Straight surf guitar stylings.  On ".38 Special," the groove just sucks me in before the song has even really gotten off the ground.  Makes me want to bob my head and chill out as soon as the first notes roll on out.  It is spare stuff, and a little weird in these modern times, but I would enjoy a set from these guys at some intimate little Cactus Club type joint.  If they're playing the right set time, I'd check it out.

Jason Scott & the High Heat

One Liner: Smoothed Americana with a hint of rock seeping in here and there
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but Americana, Folk, Roots Rock
Home: Oklahoma City
Day: Saturday

Thoughts: I really like that band name.  The High Heat is a solid backing band name.  The music reminds me of that guy who used to be married to Kacey Musgraves - Ruston Kelly.  The bio I just read names it pretty well - too loud for folk music and too textured for Red Dirt.  Not sure if I would say textured, I'd probably go with polished.

Jason Scott apparently trained to be a preacher and then went through a crisis of faith, leading him to the evil ways of music.  One of his early songs was chosen in 2017 for an NPR World Cafe's Heavy Rotation playlist, which brought him a little solo fame.  For a while, he was mainly producing other people's stuff, but then he assembled the High Heat, and they released their debut in 2022.  They have since played several medium-sized festivals and opened for an eclectic group like Band of Heathens, the Gin Blossoms, and Kaitlin Butts.

Their top track comes from the second album, 2025's American Grin, this one is "High Country" with 5.5 million streams.

Also sort of reminds me of that Good Looks band who I liked so much from a recent ACL poster.  I have to say, I wish they didn't have the whistle in there, but otherwise I like it.  "Intermission" is kind of slinky and cool.  "Me & the Bottle (Hungover You)" is a little too clever, but "Yardwork" made me smile.  Overall, pretty enjoyable tunes.  I'd watch him play.

Levi Turner

One Liner: Bluegrass wunderkind all grown up now
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but folk, Americana, singer/songwriter, country
Home: Flovilla, GA
Day: Saturday

Thoughts: I like the cut of your jib, Levi.  Annoyingly, he's only got like 15 songs, and so as I was just enjoying my jam session with him, I realized that Spotify had started playing other things after his songs had been exhausted, so I was actually enjoying Flatland, Bryan, and Pony Bradshaw instead (who is pretty great!).

He has the distinction of being the first guy signed by Zach Bryan to his label, back in 2023.  So, that is a powerful co-sign these days.  He's from a town with 650 residents, which I find fascinating.  Why do you live there?  What do the people in Flovilla do for a living?  So odd.  But just prior to signing to the label, he had a few thousand views on YouTube and a limited social media following.  But, of course, that changed drastically after the co-sign from Bryan.  Has a similar vibe to Bryan - basic song structure, good lyrics - and got to open for him for a run of shows after the signing.

One album (although short at only 7 songs) and then a handful of singles.  The top track is "Allergy Season" with 3.1 million streams (so maybe not such a huge breakout after the signing).

Man, allergy season freaking sucks.  Not that song, I mean the actual thing.  I feel like it keeps getting longer too - maybe I'm just a more allergic person now, but it is brutal.  "Coyotes (Out in California)" is a lovely and ragged little country tune.  "Cold Feet" made me grin, just because the wife can't stand me putting my cold feet on her in the bed.  Also, the more I stream these, the more I think that he adds more to the music than ZB does - there is more of a rock angle going on here with full instrumentation, whereas ZB can frequently feel entirely stripped down.  Pretty fun tunes.