Hozier (2025)

One Liner:  Massively popular Irish blues rock with "Take Me To Church" and "Too Sweet"

Wikipedia Genre:  Indie rock, soul, blues, folk, R&B, blues rock

Home: Ireland

Poster Position: Headliner!
Both Weekends.
Friday.

T-Mobile Stage at 8:15.

Thoughts:  He was last here in 2023, and as far as I can tell, no new music since then.  Oh, no, wait, that is not true.  After his 2023 album, he released the Unheard EP that features his second-biggest streamer overall that has taken my household by storm.  Very good song, but we will get to that later.

This guy confounds me a little bit.  I really liked his first album, but I haven't paid attention to him much since then.  And yet when he was named as a Headliner (!?!?!) for 2023's Fest, I heard multiple people straight freaking out that he would be here.  My niece-in-law (is that a thing?  The lady married to my nephew.) said that she is dying for a Hozier tattoo.  I heard more than one person say they were more excited about Hozier than anything else on the 2023 poster.  Which is, huh?

Now, don't get me wrong, I loved that 2014 self-titled album.  I've professed my love for it repeatedly on this blog.  In my preview for his eventually cancelled 2014 ACL show.  In my top ten for the 2015 Fest.  In a short review of his album.  In my top albums of 2014 post.  In my review before he came to ACL in 2015.  This disc is full of very great music.  That first disc went 6 times platinum in Ireland and 5 times here in the States.  It was a major album that any artist would kill for in this age.  It also came out eleven years ago though!

"Take Me to Church" is the juggernaut, the unstoppable tune that has FUCKING THREE BILLION FUCKING STREAMS despite being rock and roll.  Holy shit.  I CANNOT believe that this song has over 3 billion streams.  That is seriously mind-boggling.

Jacked up video though...

You might recall that he was scheduled to come to ACL in 2014, but called in sick or something and we missed out.  Which bloooooowwwwws.  Then he came back the next year and was very good.  The portions that I didn't like in 2015 were his cover tunes, so hopefully now that he has a few discs out there he'll shy away from dumb Ariana Grande songs.  But, if "Take Me to Church" is all you know from this guy, then by all means, keep listening.  He's good.

I heard a cover version of "Work Song" the other day, and it reminded me how damn pretty that one is.  Also from that debut album.  786.1 million streams.

Beauty.  The excellent "Someone New" has 675.9 million streams, and the similarly nice "Cherry Wine" boasts 558.3 million streams.  These are big hits.  But my favorite from all of them is "Jackie and Wilson."  345.1.

Hells yeah.  It is honestly hard to believe this dude is from Ireland.  Great tune.  I still listen to that one today.

After that original disc, he released a four song EP, called "Nina Cried Power," in 2018.  The first track, featuring Mavis Staples, is a power blues rocker about stepping up in the face of oppression, that gives shouts to everyone from James Brown to John Lennon for fighting the power.  The second tune is a dark, slow, burning warning to those who might mess with his baby called "NFWMB."  I like that one a lot.  Third song is a more traditional blues rock stomper, "Moment's Silence (Common Tongue)," that sounds like Hozier's prior songs.  "Shrike," the fourth and final tune, has that lilting Irish guitar sound that he uses to great effect on the first album, which adds some cool depth to an otherwise relaxed ballad.

Aside - what is a "shrike?"  "a songbird with a strong sharply hooked bill, often impaling its prey of small birds, lizards, and insects on thorns."  Criminy.  I need to go listen more closely to those lyrics, is this a song about Bird the Impaler?  Yep, the chorus says that he wants to be reborn as "the shrike to your sharp and glorious thorn."  So, in his next life, he wants to be the killer that uses her thorn to store his murdered prey?  Or he's going to stab her in the stabber?  I'm more confused now that when I started.

After that, he came out with 2019's Wasteland, Baby!  It does not appear that I ever reviewed it - this is what I mean, he just kind of fell off the map after his big debut album.  I say that, and yet it is a really good disc.  I've just run through it several times and it is lovely music.  Why did I start ignoring this cat? The hit was "Almost (Sweet Music)," with 536 million streams.

oooh, super wide angle video!  So cinematic!  Lovely little tune - his voice is really singular.  Hard to believe he's an Irish dude when he sounds like a soulful throwback singer from some 50's rock band.  Speaking of which, who is this dude?  I've talked a lot about his tunes but not about him.

Andrew John Hozier-Byrne was raised in County Wicklow, Ireland, which is on the eastern shore of the island and is named after the Old Norse for Vikings' Meadow.  Badass.  Also, sounds like a beautiful place - known as the "Garden of Ireland."  Born in 1990 to a blues drummer and an artist, he was a class clown and that school was a monotonous nightmare.  He taught himself guitar and sang in his school choir as a teenager and then studied music education at Trinity College Dublin.  At Trinity he sang in a choral ensemble, touring internationally.  But after that time, he wrote "Take Me To Church" in 2013 during a period when he was playing open mics and trying to get noticed.  The tune went viral and scored many multi-platinum designations, leading to his first album by 2014.  He has stated that his dad's love of blues helped inform his musical education - John Lee Hooker, Otis Redding, Nina Simone - and you can hear that in his bluesy rock.

Finally, 2023's Unreal Unearth.  There are multiple versions of this album now, all because a B-Side throwaway blew up so insanely large.  But on the original album itself, where that song was culled and cut, the big hit was "Eat Your Young."  I guess that has been on the radio or something, totally rings a bell.  252.2 million streams.

Cool video.  Song is okay - not blowing my mind.  I like the duet with Brandi Carlile on here.  Also, this album is too damn long.  Over an hour for a Hozier album?  What do you think this is, a Drake release?  But, like the 2019 album it is good stuff.  Dawning on me that I really like Hozier.  Who knew?  

Finally, finally, he fired out a little four song EP called Unheard in 2024, and struck absolute gold.  These songs came from the Unreal Unearth sessions, and were apparently inspired by Dante's Inferno.  But it shows you what a terrible mistake he made by removing these songs from the album, being that "Too Sweet" rose to #1 on the Billboard Top 100, making him the fourth Irish artist to top the chart.  I'll be damned if this little EP doesn't showcase some of his best stuff anyway.  The first song, "Too Sweet," sounds like he joined up with the Black Keys for some southern, soulful riffage.  "Wildflower and Barley," with Allison Russell, has a funky shuffle but otherwise is an ethereal little burner.  "Empire" builds in a really tasty way.  "Fare Well" starts out really quiet and sneaky, and then erupts into a dance party.  "Too Sweet" is crushing it though - 1.5 BILLION streams!  Nothing else here breaks 40 mill.

I find myself just singing "I take my whiskey neaaaaaaaaaaat" at random times now.  And my girls wore this one out around the house for sure.  Not sure what he means by taking his bed at three, but it's a funky little tune.  Good stuff.

The other massive song that he has going for him right now is a duet with Noah Kahan that definitely is getting a ton of play.  My girls jam this all the time.  468.9 million streams for "Northern Attitude."

Look at those two glowering, long-haired beauties.  Very enjoyable tune.

So, I guess me and my question marks as to why this fella is considered a headliner can just check myself.  Two songs with more than a billion streams.  Many more with hundreds of millions.  Also, this freaking outrageous beauty that my middle kid played for me a little while back and is going to make me tear up all over again.  "Do I Wanna Know" cover on BBC, live.

Crush that up and pour it directly into my earholes.  This dude is amazing, and he is rock and roll, and he means that I will probably miss out on Luke Combs, Cage the Elephant, and Empire of the Sun.

Zach Person (2024)

One Liner: Blues rock goodness in the vein of Gary Clark Jr.

Wikipedia Genre:  No Wikipedia, Blues rock
Home: Austin!

Poster Position: 25
Weekend One Only.
Day: Saturday at 12:05

Tito's Tent.

Thoughts:  Cool stuff - this guy is legit.  Getting a Gary Clark Jr. vibe from this - bluesy rock stuff.  It's not the same at all, he uses drum machines on some of these tracks, and his guitarwork isn't nearly as volcanic, but its in that same wheelhouse.  He was last here in 2021.

He was on American Idol in 2016, and even played Gary Clark Jr. for his audition tune.  He made it to the top 50 on the season, and then got cut.  From one article I read, it sounds like he used to play as a three piece, but during the pandemic slimmed down to just him and his drummer.  He says he grew up in North Carolina, then in Houston.  He claims inspiration from John Mayer as well, which I can see.  Kinda bluesy but also rock-based and catchy.  In that American Idol video, he can jam on the acoustic, and has a lot of confidence.  Three yes'es from the judges - pretty damn good.

His second-most streamed track is "Can't Stop Running," with 136k streams.  His eyes are freaking me out.

That video is awesomely bad.  Like, made for $300 in a friend's art studio in 30 minutes bad.  But I still love it.  And a good tune - got some guitar fireworks and a catchy jam.

Two albums, starting with 2021's Zach Person.  On the cover, he's in a swanky bathtub with a tumbler of drink in his hand, looking all sort of relaxed and nonchalant.  He's not getting just a ton of streams - most of his tunes have less than ten thousand.  Which is a shame - I think this is very enjoyable.  His fourth-most streamed is "Send Me Away," with 53k streams.

Huh - I had no clue that those drum sounds were being played by a live human.  Thought that was just a drum track when I listened before.  But another rock tune steeped in the blues and dripping with a slinky soul.  Dig it.  That guitar solo is tight.

Since then, he released 2024's Let's Get Loud, and has a bigger hit on his hands.  "Muddy Water" currently has 319k streams and so it wins his streaming wars.  Freaking good too.

Definitely is not angling away from the Gary Clark Jr comparisons with that sound.  That guitar tone is freaking bad ass.

Unfortunately, his poster position likely means he'll be playing the crappy early slot.  Maybe we'll get up there in time to see him, but that seems like too early for Saturday.  We'll see - I definitely think he's worth checking out if you are going to be there.

Hozier (2023)

One Liner:  Massively popular Irish blues rock with the Take Me To Church song

Wikipedia Genre:  Indie rock, soul, blues, folk, R&B, blues rock

Home: Ireland

Poster Position: Headliner!
Both Weekends.
Sunday at 6:15

Thoughts:  I'm getting towards the end of my reviews, and I have been holding off on doing this one, in part because this guy confounds me a little bit.  I really liked his first album, but I haven't paid attention to him since.  And yet when he was named as a Headliner (!?!?!) for this year's Fest, I heard multiple people straight freaking out that he would be here.  My neice-in-law said that she is dying for a Hozier tattoo.  I heard more than one person say there are more excited about Hozier than anything else on the poster.  Which is, huh?

Now, don't get me wrong, I loved that 2014 self-titled album.  I've professed my love for it repeatedly on this blog.  In my preview for his eventually cancelled 2014 ACL show.  In my top ten for the 2015 Fest.  In a short review of his album.  In my top albums of 2014 post.  In my review before he came to ACL in 2015.  This disc is full of very great music.  He went 6 times platinum in Ireland and 3 times here in the States.  It was a major album.  It also came out nine years ago though.

"Take Me to Church" is the juggernaut, the unstoppable tune that has FUCKING TWO POINT ONE BILLION FUCKING STREAMS despite being rock and roll.  Holy shit.  I CANNOT believe that this song has over 2 billion streams.  That is seriously mind-boggling.

Jacked up video though...

You might recall that he was scheduled to come to ACL in 2014, but called in sick or something and we missed out.  Which bloooooowwwwws.  Then he came back the next year and was very good.  The portions that I didn't like in 2015 were his cover tunes, so hopefully now that he has a few discs out there he'll shy away from dumb Ariana Grande songs.  But, if "Take Me To Church" is all you know from this guy, then by all means, keep listening.  He's good.

I heard a cover version of "Work Song" the other day, and it reminded me how damn pretty that one is.  361.8 million streams.

Beauty.  The excellent "Someone New" has 420 million streams, and the similarly nice "Cherry Wine" boasts 433.9 million streams.  These are big hits.  But my favorite from all of them is "Jackie and Wilson."  219.5.

Hells yeah.  Its honestly hard to believe this dude is from Ireland.  Great tune.  I still listen to that one today.

After that original disc, he released a four song EP, called "Nina Cried Power," in 2018.  The first track, featuring Mavis Staples, is a power blues rocker about stepping up in the face of oppression, that gives shouts to everyone from James Brown to John Lennon for fighting the power.  The second tune is a dark, slow, burning warning to those who might mess with his baby called "NFWMB."  I like that one a lot.  Third song is a more traditional blues rock stomper, "Moment's Silence (Common Tongue)," that sounds like Hozier's prior songs.  "Shrike," the fourth and final tune, has that lilting Irish guitar sound that he uses to great effect on the first album, which adds some cool depth to an otherwise relaxed ballad.

Aside - what is a "shrike?"  "a songbird with a strong sharply hooked bill, often impaling its prey of small birds, lizards, and insects on thorns."  Criminy.  I need to go listen more closely to those lyrics, is this a song about Bird the Impaler?  Yep, the chorus says that he wants to be reborn as "the shrike to your sharp and glorious thorn."  So, in his next life, he wants to be the killer that uses her thorn to store his murdered prey?  I'm more confused now that when I started.

After that, he came out with 2019's Wasteland, Baby!  It does not appear that I ever reviewed it - this is what I mean, he just kind of fell off the map after his big debut album.  I say that, and yet it is a really good disc.  I've just run through it several times and it is lovely music.  Why did I start ignoring this cat? The hit was "Almost (Sweet Music)," with 334.2 million streams.

oooh, super wide angle video!  So cinematic!  Lovely little tune - his voice is really singular.  Hard to believe he's an Irish dude when he sounds like a soulful throwback singer from some 50's rock band.  Speaking of which, who is this dude?  I've talked a lot about his tunes but not about him.

Andrew John Hozier-Byrne was raised in County Wicklow, Ireland, which is on the eastern shore of the island and is named after the Old Norse for Vikings' Meadow.  Badass.  Also, sounds like a beautiful place - known as the "Garden of Ireland."  Born in 1990 to a blues drummer and an artist, and says that he was a class clown and that school was a monotonous nightmare.  He taught himself guitar and sang in his school choir as a teenager, and then studied music education at Trinity College Dublin.  At Trinity he sang in a choral ensemble, touring internationally.  But after that time, he wrote "Take Me To Church" in 2013 during a period when he was playing open mics and trying to get noticed.  The tune went viral and scored many multi-platinum designations, leading to his first album by 2014.  He has stated that his dad's love of blues helped inform his musical education - John Lee Hooker, Otis Redding, Nina Simone - and you can hear that in his bluesy rock.

Finally, 2023's Unreal Unearth.  I've definitely heard "Eat Your Young," the bigger hit from this one.  I guess that has been on the radio or something, totally rings a bell.  93.1 million streams.

Cool video.  Song is okay - not blowing my mind.  I like the duet with Brandi Carlile.  Also, this album is too damn long.  Over an hour for a Hozier album?  What do you think this is a Drake release?  But, like the 2019 album it is good stuff.  Dawning on me that I really like Hozier.  Who knew?  I guess I'll be over there instead of seeing the YYYs.

Jimmie Vaughan & Tilt-a-Whirl Band

One Liner:  Stevie Ray's big brother laying down classic blues guitar action

Wikipedia Genre: Electric blues, blues rock, Texas blues, jazz blues

Home: Austin!

Poster Position: 4 (18) 
Weekend Two Only.
Friday.

Thoughts:  I mean, we all know Jimmie Vaughan.  The older brother to Stevie Ray, and a great blues guitarist in his own right.  When I was in junior high or high school I loved their duo album called Family Style.  "Hard to Be" was classic and the whole album was damn fun.  But that album was released just after Stevie Ray's death, so there was never a follow-up.

By himself, he has a nice little catalog of bluesy, guitar-forward tunes.  Including one called "Tilt A Whirl" on his solo debut in 1994.  His top track in his solo stuff is called "Dengue Woman Blues," and it sounds just like that title.  9.9 million streams.

Dusk til Dawn.  His solo stuff hews to the very traditional sound of classic southern blues rock - but he does a great job with it.  

Jimmie was born in Dallas in 1951, and after graduating from high school there he moved to Austin in the '60s to get into the music scene.  He apparently got to open for Jimi Hendrix in Fort Worth in 1969, so that's pretty freaking cool.  One article I read said that after a football injury, a family friend gave him a guitar to pass the time and he discovered that he was good at it.  He passed the love on down to his little brother.

But the big hits you'll remember him on are those from the Fabulous Thunderbirds - like "Tuff Enuff."

Hilarious video.  "I need some models who will act like they are doing blue collar manual labor, but really just need to do Blue Steel over and over again.  Except later, I need one to be a hooker at a food truck.  Perfecto!"  But Jimmie is just the guitar hero there, that is a different dude singing.  After his brother died, he left the T-Birds and did his solo thing.

But this (maybe?) appears to be something different than his solo stuff.  On Spotify, a search for this band only brings up one song, a seven minute Lou Ann Barton bluesy burner called "Shake a Hand," with 5,237 streams.  They are just sorta featured on the track.  Jimmie never sings.  Wikipedia has nothing about this band.  Just about everything I find written "about" the band is just superlatives about Jimmies career.  So, not sure what the difference is here between the solo action and this band, but I think you can assume you will hear some classic blues covers and maybe a few originals, sung and played by one of the best to ever do it.  Here's a hella-bad live video from 2022.

Looks like the show will be him presiding over the guitar in the middle of the stage while a band of blues dudes lays down a track behind him.  Probably pretty solid!

Christone "Kingfish" Ingram

One Liner: Real-deal guitar-slinging blues

Wikipedia Genre: Blues, rock, blues rock, soul, gospel

Home: Mississippi

Poster Position: Level 3 (15) 
Weekend One Only.
Saturday.

Thoughts:  Always sort of fascinating to see someone make carbon copy music in a classic, niche style.  Like Billy Strings making old school bluegrass.  This dude is making real deal, spot-on southern guitar blues that sounds like it could have been plucked from Muddy Waters catalog.  

He's 24 now, but he was making a name for himself as a teenager.  He learned the guitar from an arts and education program at the Delta Blues Museum in his hometown of Clarksdale, Mississippi, and one of his instructors gave him the nickname Kingfish after a character in the Amos n Andy show.  This is a funny quote, about conversations with friends about being into old school music: " "Man you young but you listen to that old, sad stuff." I'm like, "Man, I ain't really like that, I'm listening more for a culture thing, you know? This is history. This birthed what you guys listen to today, because you know rap is nothing but the blues' grandchild." "  He's performed at lots of festivals, played for the Obamas at the White House, appeared on the TV show Luke Cage, and won a Grammy award.

The thing here is that he's got a great voice, in addition to being a whiz on the guitar.  Whole package.  Two albums, 2019's Kingfish and 2021's 662.  I've been just letting this roll on for two days while I work, and it's really solid stuff.  Top track is "Been Here Before," from the debut album, with 5.4 million streams.

Makes me think of one of the songs on the Oh Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack.  The top track from the newer album is the title tune.  3.4 million streams.

More fireworks and representing his home.  Love it.  Sounds fantastic.  I'd go check this guy out - although I think he would be more fun in a smaller venue.  Bring it.

The Past Lives

One Liner: Bluesy rock outfit from Austin (I think!) without any studio music that I could find.

Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but blues rock?
Home:  Austin

Poster Position: 30 (almost the bottom of the poster)
Weekend One Only. Saturday.

Thoughts: Huh.  When I search on Wikipedia, a band called "Past Lives" pops up as being a band from Seattle that formed in 2007 after the breakup of the Blood Brothers.  They have three albums.  When I look on Spotify, that same band comes up.  At the bottom of their Spotify page, it says they'll be at ACL.  But if I search the Web for "The" Past Lives, a website pops up for an Austin band called The Past Lives, and says they have yet to release an album.  But their touring schedule on their own website says they will be at ACL.  

Sooooooooooo, it has to be the Austin, band, right?  It would be really weird for the Seattle band to be coming here when a band from Austin is saying on their own website that they'll be here?  Spotify must just be wrong?  That is what I am going with (although the Seattle band is kinda good!).

The website says this about the band, which is something: "The house is rocking, energy in the air is thick and electric. The Crowd is begging for more as Neptune has full control of every soul in the room. The Past Lives  embodies all that is Rock & Roll with raw captivating energy, liberating lyrics, and a range to reach all sonic heights.   The PastLives are currently gearing up for what looks to be a busy 2022. Participating in their first official SXSW experience, working on their debut album, and appearing on major festival line ups."  And yes, the missing space in their own band name is on their own website.

KUTX lists their band name as "Quentin and the Past Lives," which is not the same as their billing on the ACL lineup.  The lead singer is named Quentin Arispe.  He likes to perform shirtless.  Because of their similarly named friend up in the PNW, it is hard to find YouTube clips, but this appears to be them.  I don't know what this song is called, and the video has 651 views.

Pretty okay little blues rock number.  I'm not so sure that Neptune has full control of my soul right now, but maybe that only happens when you are in the same room as them.  More than likely will not be there at noon on Saturday or whenever their slot will be, but its pretty nice.  They should probably get some music onto Spotify...

Rag'n'Bone Man (2022) [no longer playing the Fest!]

One Liner: Soulful belter with a killer voice

Wikipedia Genre: New blues, blues, blues rock, R&B, soul, hip hop, alternative rock.  That's like most of the genres.
Home: Uckfield, England

Poster Position: 13
Weekend One Only.  Friday.

Thoughts:  I could have sworn that I wrote a review of this dude in the past, but I can't find it anywhere and he does not appear to have played ACL Fest before.  Dude is kind of wild - bearded, tattooed, heavyset white guy with killer pipes and a soulful sound that doesn't seem to match the package.  He looks like he should play bass for a Norwegian Death Metal band instead.

Rory Charles Graham is his real name, and he's English.  He's named after the British term for a person who collects unwanted household items and sells them.  Back in the day, this was a guy who would walk the neighborhood with a cloth sack to collect his items.  According to Wikipedia, this still sometimes happens, but mainly by guys collecting scrap metal.  The really weird part about that to me is that they apparently collected and sold bone.  WTF were people buying the bones for?  Like, I get finding cloth or scrap metal that maybe could be sold, but if you found a leg bone, who is buying that?  Anyway, when he was first getting started, he was MCing with a drum and bass crew and used the handle Rag 'N' Bonez.  He later rapped with a group called Rum Committee.

Before his big hit, he had a handful of albums - 2012's Bluestown, 2013's Dog 'n' Bone (sorta a rap/R&B album?), 2014's Put That Soul on Me EP, 2014's Wolves, and 2015's Disfigured EP.  Those first two are definitely more of a blues rock guitar type sound.  Not many streams on those discs.  But by Wolves, he was getting more streams, with most songs on there having more than 5 million streams.  The top one is "Guilty," which comes on like a rap track almost.  12.5 million streams.

The title track on that album also has a rap/spiritual sort of flavor to it.  Dude's voice is fantastic.  he also has Vince Staples on a track on that disc, which is obviously rap-centric too.

In 2017, he released Human, which blew up in a major way.  Four times platinum, "the fastest selling album by a male for the entire decade," and led to several BRIT Awards.  The title track has 705.4 million streams, and the video for it has just under 1.5 billion freaking views.

Another that has a chain gang/spiritual sort of vibe to it.  Nice groove, amazing vocals.  As of that point, he hasn't yet gone with the face tats.  Just the neck appears to have ink.

But then the cover of the new album - 2021's Life By Misadventure - shows him with several really crappy-looking face tattoos.  Odd choice.  This album has a few monster songs, and then a lot with surprisingly low stream counts.  One has P!nk on it, so of course it has more streams.  And so I'm pretty sure his set will involve a visit from her Pinkness as well.  But then several tunes have less than 2 million streams, which just looks odd.  Here is the P!nk song - "Anywhere Away From Here."  57.3 million.

Nice song, but I wish they combined their voices into a super extra power ballad - they mostly just sang their own bits without each other until the very end.  Also, freaking sad.  Both this and "Talking to Myself" sounds like a showtune - feels like it was on the Greatest Showman and I've just forgotten it.  Certainly a different vibe than the guy was doing with his first few albums!  "All You Ever Wanted," later on in the album, is at least a fun sounding tune.  The majority of this album is kind of a bummer.  Maybe that is why it has so few streams.

I'd go watch this dude roll.  Would be cool to hear his voice in person!

Eric Tessmer

One Liner: Guitar hero blues rock tunes from the best guitarist in Austin in 2017-2018.

Wikipedia Genre: Blues, soul, R&B, Blues rock
Home: Austin

Poster Position: 25
Weekend One Only.  Sunday.

Thoughts:   What is it called when people just sound like they are playing Guitar God?  Like, there is a certain type of solo and tone that is shared between guys like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Johnson, Charlie Sexton, Gary Clark Jr., and this dude.  It is different from the guitar wizardry of Jimi or Clapton or Santana or Keith Richards or Eddie Van Halen or Jeff Beck or many others who you'd consider as Guitar Gods.  Is there a term for this?  Is it called Texas Flood?  I'm sure it is just called blue guitar or something, but I'm going to go with Texas Flood.

And it shows you how in-the-know I am around the Austin scene, as this dude was apparently named the Best Guitarist in Austin by the Chronicle's Annual Poll in 2017-2018.  Where have I been?  For a few years, he had a band - the Eric Tessmer Band - but then that broke up and he's been solo ever since (although Wikipedia claims he has been working with Nancy Wilson from Heart).  He's been releasing solo albums since 2010, but most of that stuff is not available on Spotify.  Instead, all that you can do on there is 2016's 1, 2019's Eric Tessmer 2 (just awful album names, man), and three singles.  Including a cover of Depeche Mode's "Policy of Truth" with Nancy Wilson, which is solid.

Top track is "Good So Bad," with 376k streams, off of that second EP.

Comes on like a Dan Auerbach track, before he goes into the fireworks shed and fires up a blowtorch.  And another fun angle to that track is this live version filmed at Stubb's in 2018:

Fun to get to watch his hands actually make those sounds.  Hot damn that is wild.  How shitty is it that SRV freaking died?  That sucks.  His most recent single is one called "Suffer," from 2021.  Just over 10k streams so far.

Sure, another good one - bluesy rocker with all the guitar heroics you're looking for.  Also, a good lyrical message.  These are good songs - I'm truly surprised at not knowing anything at all about this guy who has apparently been playing right under my nose all along.  But I think he'd be fun to check out.

Southern Avenue

One Liner: Belt-y, soulful rockin' gospel-adjacent tunes

Wikipedia Genre: Blues, soul blues, gospel
Home: Memphis

Poster Position: 20
Weekend Two Only.  Saturday.

Thoughts: I know that the Beyhive will come for my soul for saying this, but the comp my brain keeps making here to the voice of the lead singer is Beyonce.  Her name is actually Tierinii Jackson (and no, I don't know how to say that first name) and she's in the band with her sister on drums.  The band is a five-piece outfit out of Memphis - the band name is after a street in Memphis that runs from the eastern city limits to the area of town where Stax Records was located.

The tunes are rock-ish blues and soul music, that sometimes veer towards gospel and sometimes towards southern rock.  It's pretty good music, and when combined with Tierinii's great voice, the whole thing really works.  Three albums, 2017's eponymous one, 2019's Keep On, and 2021's Be the Love You Want.  None of them really have a different feel or groove, they all pretty well run together after a long day of listening.  Not that there is anything wrong with that, they found a lane and they are crushing it.  Reminds me of Lake Street Dive, but with a better singer.

Top track is from the debut - "Don't Give Up" has 2.8 million spins on Spotify.

Hear that gospel vibe in there?  The opening with the guitarwork and hand-claps feels like you're in a southern Baptist church waiting for the word.  And then the drums and electric guitar kick in and you've got a slow-burner rock song.  Good stuff.  Off of the new album, the title track is the top streamer - "Be The Love You Want" - with 219k streams.

That one is a little more aggressive - bongos driving it forward and the horns popping up here and there to give it a little crescendo.  Again, her voice is the difference maker.  The band is solid, but imagining it along with some generic singer and it would be significantly less interesting.  I hope they can convince McConnoaghayscghey to get on stage naked with them and play the bongos for this track.  Would be guaranteed to get them noticed and make the first weekend crowd angry about the lack of McConaPeen.

Buffalo Nichols

One Liner: Rootsy bluesman with all the right notes.

Wikipedia Genre: no Wikipedia, but I'll just say Blues and roots
Home: Born in Houston, but raised in Milwaukee.

Poster Position: 18
Both Weekends.  Sunday.

Thoughts:  His real name is Carl Nichols, but I dig the stage name, which is why he is the first band I'm checking out on the poster.  This is super legit.  Listening to these tunes makes me feel like I'm watching Oh Brother Where Art Thou or Justified.  Just feels like I've entered a portal back to a time when a guy would do an entire show or record that sounded like he was pouring his heart out over basic, rootsy instrumentation and his soul.  And he is really good at what he does.  

Now, will there be people who want to see that these days?  No clue.  But there is no way you can deny the fact that his voice and these tunes are spot on perfect for a bluesman revival.  He's signed to the same label as the Black Keys, which also makes sense.

Only one album, 2021's eponymous debut.  The top track is "Lost & Lonesome," with 949k streams on Spotify.

No real videos, no Wikipedia.  You'd think that he could work at the marketing just a little since he's already playing out-of-fashion music. Either way, it is a great song, feels like when Gary Clark Jr. takes off his SRV cape and goes for a rootsy number.  Excellent voice, good lyrics, cool guitar-work.  Checks all the boxes.

"Another Man Done Gone" is an old song - covered many times, even by Johnny Cash.  But Nichols has adjusted the lyrics with "Another Man Gone" to call out issues for the Black Lives Matter era.  It used to just sing about how "they killed another man," but now the lyrics are more modernized for today.  In whatever version, “Another Man Done Gone” was never specific, merely lamenting “they killed another man.” Now we get: “Another woman is dead/Turn signal wasn’t on they locked her up and now she’s gone,” (referencing Sandra Bland, probably) or “No need to hide behind a white hood/When a badge works just as good.”

I'd go see this.  We'll see what the schedule ends up looking like, but this feels like a real talent who could be at the start of a cool career.

Zach Person

One Liner: Blue rock goodness in the vein of Gary Clark Jr.

Wikipedia Genre:  No Wikipedia, Blues rock
Home: Austin!

Poster Position: Late Addition
Day: Sunday at noon on the BMI Stage
Weekend Two Only.

Thoughts:  Cool stuff - this guy is legit.  Getting a Gary Clark Jr. vibe from this - bluesy rock stuff.  It's not the same at all, he uses drum machines on some of these tracks, and his guitarwork isn't nearly as volcanic, but its in that same wheelhouse.  

He was on American Idol in 2016, and even played Gary Clark Jr. for his audition tune.  He made it to the top 50 on the season, and then got cut.  From one article I read, it sounds like he used to play as a three piece, but during the pandemic slimmed down to just him and his drummer.  He says he grew up in North Carolina, then in Houston.  He claims inspiration from John Mayer as well, which I can see.  Kinda bluesy but also rock-based and catchy.  In that American Idol video, he can jam on the acoustic, and has a lot of confidence.  Three yeses from the judges - pretty damn good.

HIs top track is "Can't Stop Running," with 73k streams.  His eyes are freaking me out.

That video is awesomely bad.  Like, made for $300 in a friend's art studio in 30 minutes bad.  But I still love it.  And a good tune - got some guitar fireworks and a catchy jam.

One album - 2021's Zach Person.  On the cover, he's in a swanky bathtub with a tumbler of drink in his hand, looking all sort of relaxed and nonchalant.  All ten of his top tracks are from that album, but he's not getting just a ton of streams - most of his tunes have less than ten thousand.  Which is a shame - I think this is very enjoyable.  His second most streamed is "Send Me Away," with 17k streams.

Huh - I had no clue that those drum sounds were being played by a live human.  Thought that was just a drum track when I listened before.  But another rock tune steeped in the blues and dripping with a slinky soul.  Dig it.  That guitar solo is tight.

Unfortunately, he's at noon on Sunday.  Maybe we'll get up there in time to see him, but that seems like too early for Sunday.  We'll see - I definitely think he's worth checking out if you are going to be there.

Maggie Rose

One Liner: Strong-voiced country singer who has transitioned into soul and bluesy pop

Wikipedia Genre: Rock and blues, soul (and I'd add country to that list)
Home: Nashville

Poster Position: Late Addition
Friday at 1:45 on the T-Mobile Stage.

Weekend Two.

Thoughts:  As I started listening to her, I kept thinking that this sounds a lot like Cam, who I already reviewed.  Sorta country, but also soulful and semi-rockin'.  Reading up on her, it sounds like she strives to be more of a rock and blues singer, but I hear some fiddle and slide guitar popping up in these songs sometime that make me think of country.

Her real name is Margaret Rose Durante, and for her first few years she went by her actual name.  But in 2012, she shifted to Maggie Rose and signed with a mainstream country music label.  She was raised in Maryland, but moved to Nashville during college.  Her original moment in the spotlight started with a cover of Kings of Leon's "Use Somebody."

That is 1,000,000% a country song.  And she is also a child in that video.  So, her Wikipedia saying she is a blues and rock singer, that is BS.  Not an amazing cover, IMO.  It's fine, but its not like she blows the doors off of the song.

Two albums - 2013's Cut to Impress and 2019's Change the Whole Thing.  Her top streamer is a single from 2017 called "Body on Fire."  7 million streams.

She chopped all her hair off!  And get tats on her neck!  But also, that song comes off more like a pop song with some country rock tinges, than anything straight country or blues.

Her second-most streamed is from the 2019 album, and is the title track.  Just over 6 million streams.

Got some John Mayer guitar licks going on in there.  Okay, that one sounds more like a soul track than rock or country or blues.  Who knows what genre this lady really lives in.  All I know is that her voice is great, and I don't think I'd go see her in the fall.  ;)

Patrick Droney

One Liner:  John Mayer-esque guitar and soft-blues-rock guy

Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, soft-rock-blues
Home: Nashville

Poster Position: 23

Weekend One Only.

Thoughts: Only five songs available, all from a 2019 EP called Patrick Droney.  I feel like he could work on the last name and choose something a little more cool.  Droney makes me think this is going to be boring and sucky, and instead its quite good.

This piece about him says that he attended the Clive Davis school at NYU, and then received "major placements on TV shows."  It also says he had a self-titled debut that was released on August 3, which is either in the future or a past that is not in the same multiverse as my Spotify account.  But he started touring when he was 12, so dude has been going at it for a long while.

He says Eric Clapton is a hero, and I can see that in here, but I'd compare him much more closely to John Mayer with the guitar licks and that very similar vocal tone.

Top track for streams is "High Hope," with 4.4 million.

Gentle little soft-rock song, dripping in soul.  I like it.  I sort of wish that one of his songs would kick it into higher gear, instead of just always sticking with this laid back groove stuff.

I'll also give you the other top track, "Stand and Deliver," with 828k streams.

C'mon man, that light touch guitar work underneath most of the tune, his soft tenor in the chorus?  Totally John Mayer.

I'd give this a shot - sure he only has a few songs now, but he seems pretty talented and ready to blow it up.  Might be fun to get him before he's the next big thing.

Jackie Venson

One Liner: Austin blues rocker with a killer guitar.

Wikipedia Genre: Rock, blues, soul
Home:  Austin

Poster Position: 23
Day: Saturday at 12:45
Weekend One Only.

Thoughts: The first thought I had about her songs was that she was raw.  I thought she probably was from Austin, because her production sounded like she was being recorded in a bedroom studio down in South Austin somewhere.  Then I listened to her 2014 album, The Light in Me, and the first few songs are much better sounding.  Some real deal guitar work and a strong voice - kind of like a Gary Clark Jr.-lite.  After I wrote that ( I swear) I read Wikipedia saying that the Austin American Statesman had called her “a Gary Clark Jr.-level talent who speaks boldly through her guitar."  I mean, lets not get carried away here guys.

"What I Need" is the strongest tune in my opinion - but with only 7k streams I'm not able to present you with a video link to listen to.  So, here is her most popular track (by a mile), "Flying" with 91k streams.

Hear what I mean?  Sounds like she recorded it at home with her phone attached to a mike.  Not a bad tune, but I've played it a few times and am just not seeing anything exciting other than the great guitar solos.  The rest is pretty basic and a little boring.  

That being said, here are a few interesting anecdotes about her:

• Attended Berklee College of Music
• Allergic to weed
• Austin City Hall declared May 21, 2014 Jackie Venson Day.  Take that Paul McCartney, I bet Austin doesn't have a Sir Paul day!

Only one album - 2014's The Light in Me - and then two EPs - 2017's Transcends and 2013's Rollin' On.  Well, there is also a live album, but it is up and down in terms of quality.  Her second most listened to track (almost everything in here is under 10k streams) is called "Mysterious," but honestly, I think you should just listen to the guitar work on this YouTube video instead - much more interesting.

Tune is called "Rollin' On," which is on a 2013 EP available on Spotify, but leave the lyrics and the rest of the band behind, that one is all about the slick Texas blues guitar work she is doing right there.  Pretty sweet.  That solo in the middle is choice, grade A prime.  So are the crowd shots of the white people dancing to the music.  Hell yeah, gimme more awkward white man overbite all day.

Based on the albums, I was likely going to say I wouldn't go give this a chance, but after that live video, I might just go check it out and see her shred in person.

Benjamin Booker

One Liner: Raw New Orleans blues guitar shredding has morphed into a more subdued bluesy rock
Wikipedia Genre: Blues rock, guitar rock
Spotify Says Similar To: Thunderbitch and The Arcs (good company to be in!)
Home: New Orleans

Poster Position: 11
Slot: ?

Thoughts:  This guy rules.  I saw him play at ACL in 2014 - Here is where you can find my review.  Despite the raw-ness of that show, his music is freaking great.  Raw, loose, shredding, and it always sounds like he's having a damn ball playing the tunes.  I won't go back into his first album, which you can read about by just going to my review that I did for 2014.  That 2014 album is freaking great though, and you should go eat it up.

Since then, he's put out a new disc, 2017's Witness, which is likewise a solid burst of good time, guitar-driven rock and blues that works really well for me.  But its a little more chill.  I said this before in my past review, but he feels like a he does the Gary Clark Jr. thing with a little more rawness, both in his raspy singing voice and in his looser guitar style.  But this is still some solid blues guitar action.  And this new album isn't nearly as urgent and loose as that first one, these tracks are a little smoother and crafted.  For example, "All Was Well" builds and builds, sounding like it is just about to kick off into a raging inferno guitar storm that will "tear this building down," but then instead it just shifts into a Beatles-esque quiet horn and strings fade.  Which I think is too bad.  But the album opener still rocks and rolls as it should.  And "Off the Ground" is a jam that hits me in all the right rock synapses.  
The top track off of that album is the title track, "Witness," with 1.5 million streams (and what sounds like a Mavis Staples cameo).

Ha!  It is Mavis Staples!  I'm good.  And the lyrics of that song are like, damn.  "We thought that we saw that he had a gun, thought that it looked like he started to run."  This "witness" isn't about witnessing for the Lord, its about witnessing more police brutality - "now everybody that's brown can get the fuck on the ground" - and what you're gonna do about it. Heavy.

His most listened to song is still "Violent Shiver" off of the 2014 album, with 6.6 million streams.

Which still makes me want to kick things over and go steal cigarettes from the local convenience store and shave my head and yell punk things like "oi!"  I wish that the new album had more of this blast, instead of keeping things reserved throughout, but I still enjoy the new tunes.  Stuff like "Motivation" and "Believe" are solidly beautiful tracks of thoughtful lyrics.  "Overtime" has a happy tone and makes me want to groove.  This guy is good.

I'll give you another video to check out as well, here is something called "NPR Field Recordings," I guess for people that are just too rad for a tiny desk?

I laughed out loud with him after her lost his tuner into that drain.  I'll definitely plan on going to see him do it up in October.

Welshly Arms

One Liner: Solid blues rock with a bucket of covers

Poster Position: 26

Thoughts:  With multiple covers, including the thrillingly, imaginatively titled Covers EP, comprising their most listened to songs on Spotify, you'd think that these guys were just a bar band making other people's music. However, their lone full album available to stream is really good as well, a swaggering, meaty blues rock sound.  So, who do they cover?  Their most popular track right now is an INXS song ("Need You Tonight") and their most listened to track on Spotify is a Sam and Dave classic ("Hold On, I'm Coming").  They also dip into Roy Orbison, Golden Earring, and Bobby "Blue" Bland (as well as others in an apparent quest to remake a lost third disc to the Forrest Gump soundtrack).  But their self-titled album, from 2015, is some tasty rock and roll action.  The most listened to track off of that album is "Never Meant to Be," which has 156k listens.

Live version, as I can't find a studio version or official video for the song, but you get the idea.  We're not breaking any new ground on this sound, but it is solidly done.  "We Move Easy" and "Love in a Minor Key" are both hard hitting nuggets.  And their most recent song, "Legendary," which has only 24k streams as of right now, sounds like something that should be used for a NFL 2016 ad campaign, or some other movie/TV show ad campaign.

Coming this fall!  CBS presents all the scientific drama you love, except with nothing actually happening!  CSI: La Grange!  Legendary!  Just wait, ESPN is going to find this song and play it so much during their March Madness promos that you are going to actually contemplate suicide.

Huh, I also found a YouTube video of their Sam & Dave cover, which was apparently the "official soundtrack" of the Hateful Eight's trailer.  This shows why it is their most listened-to track.

Its a pretty bad ass cover.  These dudes are from Cleveland, Ohio, but I can't find just a ton written about them on the web.  Their own website has a little, but Spotify doesn't have a bio and Wikipedia has nothing.  I mainly just wanted to find out what their band name is all about.  Sounds like a hotel name from jolly old England.  I like this music pretty well and would consider catching them if the schedule lines up right.

Rhiannon Giddens

Soulful voice walking a thin line between bluegrass and blues.  I've looked at her music twice before, once with the New Basement Tapes supergroup, and then for the release of her first solo album.  That album, 2015's Tomorrow is my Turn, is really nice.  And mostly covers.  Her voice is velvety smooth like warm honey, I love it.  

Her most popular and most listened-to track on Spotify is a cover of "Forever Young" that was apparently used for NBC's show Parenthood.  A duet with Sam Beam of Iron & Wine, it clocks in at 879k listens.

I bet eight million tears were shed when that song played over some special montage of the ending of that show.  I watched the first few seasons and then just got exhausted by the soap opera aspects of it and gave up.  My wife still chastises me for not sticking it out.  If she reads this review and hears that song, she'll likely bawl all over again.  Sweet version of the song though.

From that new album, she's got three tracks that crack six-figure listens.  The most popular of those is "Don't Let it Trouble Your Mind," with 334k.

Live version, but check it out.  Sultry and powerful (and according to the comments beforehand, a Dolly Parton song).  Men who don't step right, you can step right on off.  Dolly and Rhiannon will tell you what's up.  My favorite of those top three songs off the new album is called "Shake Sugaree," and it has just over 150k listens.

A little mountain music, baby.  A million years ago, my sister made me a ton of tapes for the car, and one of them was a Taj Mahal mixtape, which is the only recollection I have of this song, but I dig it. "everything I got is done in pawn" is a good lyric.  If you want to trip down a rabbit hole into the meaning of that song, be my guest: philblank.net/Shake%20Shoccoree.doc

Giddens got her name from a book called Mabinogion, "the Welsh mythological epic," which is way cooler than what I thought, which is that her mom liked Fleetwood Mac.  Prior to this solo career, she was the singer for the Grammy-winning Carolina Chocolate Drops.  I've never heard them before, but I might give them a shot once this project is over.  In addition to her album, she also has an album on Spotify called "All the Pretty Horses," which is kind of a world music pastiche of Celtic sounds with occasional French or unidentified languages thrown in.  I actually enjoyed hearing it today.

As for my final thought, I honestly have enjoyed listening to her new album.  In general terms, this is kind of like the Norah Jones albums a few years ago, I can fully appreciate the fact that this is really well-done and beautiful music, but it doesn't mean that I'm going to go back and listen to it again and again.  I likely won't search out her show at the festival, but I'm not ruling it out either.

Maggie Koerner

Louisiana powerhouse singer.  Sultry, blues-y rock and a killer voice for this gal in the bottom portion of the poster.  She has two albums available on Spotify, 2011's Quarter Life and 2013's Neutral Ground.  No bio available on Spotify, but the ACL website provides some color on her. Recent transplant from Shreveport to New Orleans, has been recently fronting a funk band called Galactic, and has a song with them that features her and the lead singer from the excellent band the Revivalists.  "Hey Na Na"

That is a funky ass groove, right there.  She is working on a new album right now, but from listening to the two available albums, the most recent one is great, while the older one is OK.  Neutral Ground showcases Koerner's voice over simple but dark blues rock arrangements.  The most listened-to song she's got is called "He Calls Me Mama," with over 23k listens.

See what I'm talking about?  Sultry, with a light touch on the backing music.  Loads better than he first album.  And then here is a long video for the title track to the album.

Hell yes.  That blues guitar riffage just blazes, and her voice is so strong.  Sweet sound. Homegirl gets her acting on in that video, too.  Well, until she gets transmogrified into a baby.  After that, its all bad lighting and puke-mode-Blair-Witch camera movement.  I hope someone nice finds that baby and teaches it how to play guitar.  I'd go listen to her if I was there early enough for the slot she'll invariably get.