Austin Sound

In our post SXSW trolling of the internet, we came across this lovely little gem from the fine party folks over at Republic of Austin. As part of their “Voyeur Music Video” series (which is a little weird to begin with, but whatever), they recently spied on Kat Edmonson doing a gorgeous version of her tune “Lucky.” Of course, when is a Kat Edmonson tune not gorgeous? Don’t try to answer, it’s a trick question! This looks like it was filmed down at Ladybird Lake, but we’re not sure where that stage came from. Is that a thing? If so, we want to play on it. And if it was only put there for the video, then we have to wonder exactly what the RoA folks are doing with a stage like this in their back pockets. Portable disco floors for everyone! This is a fairly stripped down version of “Lucky,” with Edmonson accompanied only by vibraphone from Laura Scarborough, which makes the tune that much more enchanting. Check it out below, as well as Republic of Austin’s first video in the series from Hollywood Gossip playing outside of Shangri La.

Kat Edmonson, whose socially-conscious single “Be The Change” made waves in Austin last year (thanks in part to the excellent video that was made with it), has come back with Take To The Sky, a new album full of old jazz standards and brilliant, unashamed pop covers (although Edmonson may take issue with you calling them “covers”). Her breathtaking live performances have been packing Austin clubs for months behind her band’s unique and versatile arrangements and Edmonson’s stunning vocal prowess. She took time out of her busy independent-artist schedule to talk to us about going up North, the new album, covering The Cure, and “kittenish” puns that were perhaps less than fit-to-print. You can see Edmonson live on Tuesday, July 7, as she plays at the Cactus Cafe on campus. We suggest you stop by and pick up Take To The Sky before a major label grabs it up (seriously).

The sky seems to pretty much be the limit for Kat Edmonson right now. On June 2, she will officially release her already highly praised debut album, Take to the Sky, which features a collection of jazz covers from standards to impressively re-worked arrangements of the Cardigan’s “Lovefool,” John Lennon’s “(Just Like) Starting Over,” and the Cure’s “Just Like Heaven.” The latter is especially something to hear, as she and arranger Kevin Lovejoy give the tune a slinky bossa nova vibe, and you can download it below!

4/25/08
Did you hear about this Democratic Primary that’s going on? Yeah, it’s still going on. But at least it has inspired some pretty awesome music projects. We’ll even go out and vote again if it might mean a Superchunk/Arcade Fire show down here in Austin!

Kat Edmonson has thrown her jazzy pop vocals into the ring with her new single and video “Be the Change.” While a lot of politically inspired songs leave us a bit cold, Edmonson has crafted a gem here, and her video is a grass-roots type project featuring local folks holding hand-made signs of the change they’d like see. Yesterday the city even declared April 24 officially Kat Edmonson day, which leaves only eight musicians in town with out their own governmentally decreed day. Check out the video below.