Austin Sound

Set as a local cd release for Tom Schraeder, a Chicago songwriter who spent a spell down here in Austin last spring to record his new EP, Lying Through Dinner, the show managed to bring out a solid crowd for a Wednesday night at the Mohawk. While Schraeder’s headlining return was the primary draw, he was supported by two of Austin’s best up-and-coming artists whose praises we have been singing for while now: Leatherbag and Dana Falconberry. Falconberry was celebrating her own new release, Oh Skies of Grey, and Leatherbag had several new songs to deliver for the evening as well.

This past month, both Leatherbag and Danny Malone hit the road on separate tours, but managed to cross paths in Chicago to record a studio session for the great blog Hearya.com. The session was posted on Hearya’s site recently, and we recommend you head over there asap to download the new, unreleased Leatherbag tune “Here Comes Change.” Among the cuts from the session, though, our favorite is the take of “White Doves” with Danny Malone adding his distinctive vocal harmony to Randy Reynolds lead. Watch a video of the session below, and download the mp3 from Hearya.

Dana Falconberry

with: Leatherbag and Jude Ross
at: Stubb’s
Date: Thursday, June 12, 2008
Doors: 9pm
Tickets: $6-$8 (via FrontGate)

A good rule of thumb: anytime Leatherbag plays a show, you generally want to be there. That being said, when Leatherbag plays a show with Golden Bear as his backing band, well, you damn well better drop whatever it is you might otherwise have planned and make arrangements to head down to the show, which just so happens to be Thursday night at Stubb’s.

“It’s over, I got nowhere left to run,” confides Randy Reynolds on his latest album Love & Harm, and it’s almost true; after moving to Austin in 2005 in the wake of Hurricae Rita, Reynolds, or rather “Leatherbag,” began to carve out a home for himself in the Austin music scene, releasing his debut album Nowhere Left To Run after two excellent EPs for local label Superpop!, as well manning the producer knobs on Graham Weber’s Door To The Morning. So it’s safe to say Reynolds has quit running and found his place in the creation of his second LP, Love & Harm. But when it comes to settling down, the album does no such thing.

An Austin Sound favorite, Leatherbag unveils his fourth album, Love and Harm, on Thursday, April 17, at the Cactus Cafe. The Houston expatriate has been combining his vision of integrity and American folk with whatever he finds in other musical realms. With a slight, Texan drawl that just embodies the good old Americanism that’s so tough to easily find in music, Leatherbag (aka Randy Reynolds) met with Abhinav Kumar, whose radio show, Tons of Fun, you can tune in every Thursday evening from 8:00-8:30pm on KVRX 91.7FM. Leatherbag will be live and in-studio on Tons of Fun on this Thursday, April 10. You can also download “Stand Close,” an exclusive outtake from the new album here.

3/28/08
Come April 17th, Randy “Leatherbag” Reynolds, will be releasing his new album, Love and Harm with a show at the Cactus Cafe. If you’ve had the opportunity to catch any recent Leatherbag shows, then you’re probably prepared for the eclectic sweep of the album, everything from banjo ballads to pure Sixties pop jangle to gritty garage rockers. Yet even given the wide range, Reynolds is also a heavy-handed editor when it comes to honing his own music, and this fantastic track didn’t make the cut for the upcoming release. Leatherbag has, however, allowed us to post the mp3 for all to enjoy.

We’re on the edge of our seats over here at Austin Sound waiting for the upcoming release from Leatherbag (aka Randy Reynolds). The album-to-be is currently titled Love & Harm and is due in April on local label Superpop. We caught some of the new tunes live at the Graham Weber release show last weekend for his new album The Door To The Morning, which Leatherbag produced. While we wait though, two new songs from the album just went up on his Myspace: “On Down The Line” (check out the video below) and “It’s Over.”

We’ve always said Leatherbag’s music is like a one-float musical parade through the ideal suburban neighborhood street (or something like that). Here, finally, is the visual proof.

Catch Leatherbag at any of three show next week: Wednesday, January 16 at the Carousel Lounge (with Austin Collins and Graham Weber), Thursday, January 17 at Emo’s Lounge (with Frank Smith and Mice & Rifles) or Saturday, January 19 at the Cactus Cafe (with Alejandro Escovedo). Looks like somebody has to pay for their new video.

Video: Leatherbag - “On Down The Line”

It’s moments like this that truly make Austin an amazing musical town. Bringing together the impressive talent stables of local imprints C-Side and Superpop, No Bridges to Cross features members The Channel, Golden Bear, Leatherbag, The Archibalds, Hope Irish, Secret Sideshow, and Brother Machine – basically a massive collective of nearly every artist associated with the labels. The crux of the project, however, is built upon the songwriting talents Driftin’ Luke (Colby Pennington) and Leatherbag (Randy Reynolds), both extremely prolific and wide-ranging writers who here push each other’s songs in new, spectacular directions.

This spring, Leatherbag will be releasing a limited run of 7″ singles for “My Sister,” the lead track off his full-length debut, Nowhere Left to Run. As the B-Side for the single, Leatherbag recorded “Kathryn Says,” with his band, which includes Joey Thompson on banjo, Seth Gibbs on drums, and Pete Stafford on bass.

“Kathryn Says” offers an interesting counter to the rollick of “My sister” - more mellow and perhaps a bit more in line with Leatherbag’s earlier EPs. Since the single will be released as vinyl only and limited to about 50, Leatherbag has allowed us to share the B-side for download. Keep an eye on his Myspace for ordering info when the single gets released.