Peligrosa for the Statesman

Light monkeying around for Peligrosa, a Latin DJ collective that has a regular jam at the Scoot Inn.

SXSW 2012

Two months is enough time for recovery, right?

SXSW is a beast for any journalist to cover. Depending on what your client needs, which bands are 'breakthrough artists,' and how long the lines are, making the frames you want is a challenge. Most of these were snapped in the half hour I was running to the next line/show/sweatypresspit. I would love to street shoot the entire thing - following the sound of a good time, the good light, the randomness of the scene. You can only shoot so many open mouths at a microphone. Maybe next year.

SXSW 2012 - Images by Julia Robinson

Orville Neeley for XL

As Joe Gross put it in his write up of OBNIIIs, "Orville Neeley is a @!#$*% rock star." This guy puts on an intense and physical show. Catch him at Beerland one of these nights.

Cash Robinson for the Statesman

Nine-year-old Cash Robinson has been to every Austin City Limits Festival. He attended his first when he was just 10-months old. Cash recently got an electric guitar and is already banging out AC/DC's 'Back in Black.'

Shearwater for the Statesman

Once in a while an assignment can be a complete joy.  I'd heard the buzz about Shearwater, but hadn't had a chance to listen to their music.  I got the call to cover a performance of three of their most recent albums at Central Presbyterian Church in Austin.  The albums are thematically linked and together form The Island Arc.  Fans came in from all over the nation to hear this (possibly) once-in-a-lifetime performance of all three albums in order.  I was enchanted.  There's a trip to the record store in my future.

House of Songs for KUT

There's a neat musical exchange going on between Austin and Denmark. Musicians from Copenhagen fly in for total immersion in the live music capitol, spending a week or two collaborating with locals, playing gigs, and soaking up the atmosphere in the 78704.

The program is funded by the Songwriter Guild of Denmark and operates other houses in New York and Los Angeles, Spain, Portugal and Greece.  Back in January, I worked on a story with KUT's David Brown. I met some amazing musicians and made a list of people to see the next time I visit my brother in Copenhagen.

Stanley Samuelson, center, a songwriter from the Faroe Islands, plays with Austin artists Danny Schmidt, left, and Carrie Elkin, right, on the back porch of the House of Songs in the Travis Heights neighborhood.

Peter Smith stopped by several south Austin shops, hoping to find a new guitar.



Peter Smith and Austin musician Nathan Felix collaborate on a song in north Austin.



ZAR outside Austin's Broken Spoke.







The House of Songs has weekly showcases of Austin and Denmark musicians at Flipnotics, Momo's, and Threadgill's. Check 'em out. You won't be disappointed.

Spoon for KUT

Shot Spoon for Texas Music Matters on Tuesday. It was fun to run around the set of Austin City Limits and not be hostage to the usual two song limit.  This band also rocks my socks off.  Bonus.  See the slideshow below.

luckenbach - pickin' for the record

made the short drive up to luckenbach to cover their attempt at breaking the guinness world record for largest guitar ensemble. the previous record was held by 1803 germans, who gathered to play 'smoke on the water' in 2007.

the unofficial count on sunday was 1859 guitarists, enough to set a new world record with the song 'luckenbach.' it was a sight and sound to behold. i haven't had a chance to sort through all the audio i recorded that day. i met some nice folks from all over the state. i hope they do it again next year.