Song of the Day KUT & KUTX Studios

Watch out, Golden Dawn Arkestra…there’s a new costumed collective in town, and they’re hunting for for fresh converts! But instead of frenetic Afro-inspired dance grooves, these fanatics have so far stuck to the slower side of ’70s-style jazz funk rock; think War whisked together with Steely Dan.







Not that you’d be able to tell from your first look at ’em. Yeah…between their cloaked, crowned, and ember-eyed namesake leader (thurible and staff ever at the ready) and ten black-suited, red-hatted, and white-gloved Zealots (eyes always redacted by clever lenses), Grandmaster is an great example of “appearances can be deceiving”. Creepy cult getups aside, in the sole year since their first performance, this eleven-piece has already indoctrinated an impressive sect of followers. And based on the caliber of those live stage-filling rituals, they won’t need much proselytizing to add a digit or two to their current numbers. Probably just a bigger place of worship.







Well right after winning an American Songwriter contest that re-united The Grandmaster with Bootsy Collins during SXSW, the cosmos smile once again ahead of Grandmaster’s Nolan Potter-produced self-titled debut. By that we mean they’ll be celebrating an album release show at The Paramount’s State Theatre 7PM this Saturday for The Grandmaster’s Gala, alongside openers Nolan Potter’s Nightmare Band and Dodo. With proceeds benefitting the SIMS Foundation, and a sophomore follow-up already foretold in The Grandmaster’s prophecies, this Gala’s a good opportunity to catch the band before their concerts demand venues with larger capacities.







To any who still resist temptation, we point to Grandmaster‘s second incantation “Castle Door”. Because with a goblet-sloshing groove, a palace-spanning chord progression, and a truly regal arrangement, “Castle Door” lowers the yacht rock drawbridge and raises the prog-funk portcullis to one hell of a good time.

When a seasoned musician wades out of their genre comfort zone, you love to hear it. Because the technical expertise, jam stamina, and songwriting skills are already in place, but opening the gate to different inspirations and influences is always a welcome breath of fresh air.







So let’s talk Rod Gator, who – as you might’ve guessed from his stage surname – leans on his steamy Louisiana bayou upbringing for a swamp-swept sound. Gator’s kept us sated with his own stuff as recently as last September with the release of his LP Conqueror. Interestingly enough, that was also ’round about the same time Gator linked up with fellow Sagebrush door staffer Leo Lydon (lead guitarist/vocalist of Austin trio Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol) for a songwriting session. Sparks flew, heaviness ensued, and with the addition of Nico and Willie Jansen, the southern metal endeavor Trip Cigs was born.







Fast forward to a couple weeks back, when the quartet opened up the stable for Trip Cigs’ debut EP Hoss. Heavy without being excessively brutal, swampy without getting bogged down in sludge, this record’s got an incredibly thick consistency to it. And since it maintains that session energy so effectively, its best recommended to set aside fifteen minutes to appreciate the EP in full. Definitely take a deep breath before saddling up and dig into whatever stirrups you may have on hand, ’cause with minimal space between songs, and a bucking start to each of its six tracks right out the gate, this thing is a steed who needs no speed. If you’ve only got time for one quick ride, get a feel for Hoss with Trip Cigs’ very first foal, “Comeback Kid”.

In terms of musical association, at least outside the world of film soundtracks, U.S. southwestern scenery often gets associated with country. But there’s a certain psychedelic quality to our regional deserts that we just love to see artists embrace.







Folks like Rett Smith, based here in Austin, but bred out of West Texas, so you know he appreciates all kinds of sandy, desolate miscellanea. Historically, Rett’s smithing has involved all things Americana blues. And while that’s certainly still his skillset, for his upcoming album A Weighted Remorse (out September 13th), Smith finds himself trudging through the dunes of shoegaze.







And the result is heavy as hell, almost bordering on sludge thanks to its subterranean six-string tone and massive drums. Alongside its music video, “Sunsets” feels less like hiking the Fort Davis trails and more like watching The Holy Mountain if it was shot on Super 8, ’70s abstract psychedelia and all. We’re getting major Black Angels vibes from this one, and we have a feeling that when Rett returns from his Western European tour, he’s gonna translate his travels into something else equally arid-inspired and aurally exciting.

Lyrics are a fickle field. You can be wordy as hell, hoping that at least one line sticks in listener’s minds. Or, you could just loop the hell out of some barebones sentences – guaranteed to have a lot more hypnotic staying power through sheer repetition, especially in the realm of dance music.







Now let’s talk about Ben Fish, who operates here in Austin under a few different avenues: as a DJ, as frontman of his full band Viben & The Submersibles, and as the mononymous solo act Viben. Viben categorizes his stuff as “Scuba Funk”, a label that totally mirrors his liquid grooves, but doesn’t necessarily require a lot of deep diving in terms of lyrical accessibility. So while Viben’s sophisticated soundscapes have earned him a place on our local sonar since his start in 2018, his latest release proves that a more basic approach can be just as good.







Which reminds us of the great Pablo Picasso, who once said, “It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.” And that quote really resonates with the vibrant simplicity of Viben’s latest, “Pablo Picasso”. This super trendy, Euro-friendly piece of house chic translates Picasso’s genius brushstrokes into brilliantly swung drums, synth, rhythm guitar, and bass, while Viben’s vocals pine for an artistic ascent towards the tune’s namesake legendary status.







Will Viben one day become a celebrated painter? We don’t know. But will “Pablo Picasso” be remembered as an uncomplicated piece of genuine expression in Austin’s electronic oeuvre? No doubt.

Any profession requires quotas…whether that’s how many tickets you write or how many kids pass your class. And when music is your source of income, the obvious metric to measure by is quantity of shows played. But as with any creative endeavor, there’s an opportunity to move the needle in many directions, which makes “success” a complicated thing to assess.







So let’s get a quick look at Ruel Thomas. The Native Austinite developed his guitar-vocals-and-harmonica style around folk-pop-rock icons like Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, and Paul Simon while still in Australia. When he moved back to the Live Music Capital about a half decade back, everything fell into place to become a certified full-timer. And Ruel Thomas has done just that, with thousands of gigs in the bag across the Lone Star State, the Tonight and Myself full-length from 2022, and last May’s Texas Castle EP.







You might’ve noticed that time spent onstage and on the road outweighs studio offerings by a country mile. But remember what we said about moving the needle in new directions? Yeah, in 2024, Ruel Thomas has vowed to drop a new single every two months, no small feat for someone who needs to wrangle a band for every recording. And last Friday that new series continued with “I Am Today”, which sounds somewhere between a decades-old yesterday and a fast-approaching tomorrow in terms of classic influences and modern mixing – thanks to Luna drummer/NYC Producer Lee Wall. At just a hair over three minutes, the ever-rolling rhythm section behind “I Am Today” dangles tomorrow’s horizon in the distance, while Ruel’s rich vocals and Americana guitar keep you right in the moment.

The very nature of Americana is rooted in traditional music. But it also lies at the crossroads between folk, country, and rock. So if an Americana act decides to veer into new lanes, the choices are limited and somewhat predictable. And yet it’s still such a joy to hear an artist explore new sonic territory, no matter how established they may be.







Having said that, we’re happy to hear that Nashville’s Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors will be joining us in our neck of the woods later this week. That’s right, on the heels of their ninth full-length Strangers No More, the Americana connoisseurs kick off a month-long national tour right here in town. The Find Your People Tour fires off 7:30PM this Thursday at the Scoot Inn, and our newfound neighbors will be stopping by Central Texas again for the Kerrville Folk Festival late next month.







And since Austin is such a hard left turn from Holcomb et. al’s Nasvhille stomping ground, the band gave us an early listen to their latest shifting of gears. On “Suffering”, the grit is real, and the rock is Southern. It captures the rudest elements of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Molly Hatchet, and Marshall Tucker band, albeit with that one-of-a-kind Holcomb character. Safe to say that if Southern rock is your bag, “Suffering” is so good it hurts.