Austin Sound

For many, the genre of Modern Folk appears derivative, used up, and withered; a mockery of some bygone era long since grown impure. Austin’s Brothers and Sisters, with their newest release, Fortunately, contravene this concept - creating, in effect, Austin’s first Postmodern Folk album. Its music is fresh and honest, not because it mimics that golden era of mid-20th-century folk, but because its chords and sentiments seem to flow directly from the past and combine effortlessly with the band’s modern storytelling sensibilities. In these fourteen songs, the band is at once ironic and non-patronizing, tearing just at the edge of novel and nostalgic.

Opening with “Mason City,” Lily and Will Courtney immediately introduce classic folk themes of travel and loss, as the two harmonize “I’d give anything just to get back home/ … I’m a runaway.” For these two, the contradiction between the desire to flee and the need to feel at home has never been so strong.

Under the glimmering warm florescent glow of Austin Sound 2.0, we’d like to resurrect one of our favorite lost features: Weekend Preview.

Just as before, each week we’ll take a little time to clue you in on the happenings around town. For each day (Friday - Sunday), we’ll give you our top pick of the night, and then sometimes a couple of alternatives (if the evening is just brimming with activities). So sit tight, we’ve got this under control.

Tuesday, July 7, 2008

Artist: Brothers and Sisters
Label: Calla Lilly
Genre: Folk

What better to come down off of the 4th of July weekend with than a little something new from a band that has long been compared to great American folk acts like the Mamas and the Papas, the Byrds and the Jayhawks, with a little Canadian Neil Young thrown in to boot? I say nothing!

3/7/07
Brothers and Sisters recently completed the video for their song “Breathing Lessons.” The video is directed by Michael Cash, who also did their Skate-tacular “One Night” shoot. It’s a gorgeous, if absolutely depressing, little film.

Brothers and Sisters will be headlineing the special show at Beerland this Saturday for the premier of These Days. The show also features past Sound Off band The Black and this week’s featured artist Tenlons Fort. Also, be sure not to miss our exclusive feature of Brother’s Will acoustic versions of several Brothers and Sisters songs in our new Sound Wave section!

Video: Brothers and Sisters - “Breathing Lessons”

Brothers and Sisters’ self-titled debut made the perfect soundtrack to summer in Austin when it was released last year. These tracks, recorded back in 2004 and 2005 by Brother Will, are the original acoustic versions of songs that would later find their way to the debut. They sound fantastic and offer a different take on the songs than the album versions.

Brothers and Sisters will be playing this Saturday March 3 for the Texas State Arts Festival at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum, as well as next Saturday on the 10th for the Austin Premier of the Film “These Days.” You can also catch them kicking off SXSW with the free pre-party at Emo’s on March 13th.

Click images to view full size picture

Sunday September 30th was a good day to live in Austin. Not that most days go by without some small reminder of why this is our city of choice�just some days are more Austin-y than others.

From mid-afternoon to early evening the annual Pecan Street Festival took over 6th street with scads of vendors, bands, and my personal favorite: children wearing those hats made from balloons. Yet the shutting down of the festival gave way to the beginning of a night of musical menagerie, with Fishboy, Brothers and Sisters and Spoon taking the stage at one of the few mid-sized Austin venues, Emo’s.

photo by Courtney Chavanell

8/31/06
The local buzz surrounding the folk-rock tribe of Brothers and Sisters has been pretty intense this summer – and justifiably so. But it’s about to get a national push as they have been slated to open for Trail of Dead on their extensive North American tour. They’ll be following the Trail from the end of October all the way through December, including their dates at Emo’s on November 22 and 23.

The choice of Brothers and Sisters for the opening slot certainly offers a useful word-association for remembering the lineup: Brothers and Sisters, Blood Brothers, �And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead. Somehow, though, Baltimore’s new-wavey punks Celebration are thrown into the mix too, so already our mnemonic is falling apart.