On June 24th, we attended the Leftover Salmon, Railroad Earth, Yonder Mountain String Band show at the Hayden Homes amphitheater in Bend, Oregon. Much anticipated, attendees showed up early to fill the venue, since on this tour they are surprising the guests with what band will be playing first. For this show, Leftover Salmon was the opener, followed by Railroad Earth and Yonder Mountain String Band finishing up the night with an incredible performance. There were many times throughout the night that they combined forces for a magical evening, dancing in the moonlight.
We had so much fun watching the sunset as the bands played and watching some incredible musicians. Everyone in the crowd was dancing and so happy to witness such a fun night of music.
If you wanted to hear some jaw-dropping vocals, heartbreaking lyrics and soothing melodies, Moody Amphitheater was the place to be last night. Musicians mehro and Dermot Kennedy performed their hits to a lively crowd, complete with swaying vocals, guitars and crowd chanting choruses. See the photos below, taken by Gaby Deimeke.
Last night, Erez, ford. and Elderbrook brought the groove to Emo’s in Austin, Texas. Elderbrook kept the audience entranced with a steady stream of melodic beats and a strong stage presence, impressively singing while also mixing on two consoles–providing not only production but also a performance. He adjusted synth pads and played keyboards while cycling through danceable song after danceable song. One notable song mid-way through the set that the crowd particularly loved was the catchy tune “I’ll Be Around.” Elderbrook came back for an encore and closed the house with “All My Love.” Check out the photos below, taken by Gaby Deimeke.
Austin, Texas based band Woodward and Parker chatted with us about how they got started, where they gather inspiration, and the process of making their latest album. Check it out below for all the details, and links to their music at the end.
Crowdsurfer: How did you come to play together as a band?
Woodward and Parker: We started as friends in college at St. Edward’s, and for the first few years we would play music together, occasionally showing each other songs we were writing. When we were seniors we decided to try making music together as a group, but all we really had were three guitarists. So instead of looking for other people to play bass, drums and keys, Christian got a drum set, Julian got a keyboard, Alan got a bass, and they set about learning to play them as we were writing songs together. I think that really helped us get closer as friends and make the music we wanted to with each other and for each other.
CS: What was your goal with creating your newest album, Through A Broken Window?
W&P: For a couple years a few of us rented an old house together in North Austin. We had an extra room we weren’t using, so we turned it into a recording studio. That’s where we recorded Carriage House, and as we were approaching the last year of our lease we knew we wanted to get at least one more project out of that space we spent so much time and effort to build for the band. We also had watched ourselves mature as artists and musicians, and we really wanted to create something that would showcase that development. I think TABW accomplishes that, sonically, lyrically, and in terms of production value.
CS: How is this sonically different from your first album, Carriage House?
W&P: Probably our biggest practical goal with recording this new album was to capture the feeling of our music when we play it live. To do that, we recorded the drums, bass and rhythm guitar for every track at one time with 8 microphones running on two audio interfaces. We also didn’t use a metronome on any of the songs because we wanted them to flow and breathe more naturally. From a songwriting perspective, this album is a lot more cohesive and explores darker themes and arrangements than on our previous recordings.
CS: What’s your songwriting process like?
W&P: Generally our process for this album was to take outlines of songs that Bennett and Christian had written and spend hours in the studio together trying to flesh them out into a full, five-piece arrangement. Working on them all together like that was difficult and often frustrating, but I think it led us to a more cohesive artistic sound.
CS: Where do you gather inspiration from?
Christian: I pull inspiration from small moments in my life that involve the people close to me. I really try to put parts of myself in the songs that I write. It’s very cathartic.
Alan: I find that music is a way for me to understand the external world internally, and for me to express my internal world externally.
Julian: I was inspired by the darker themes on the album. I tried to lean into the feeling of being happy in the dark.
Bennett: I drew inspiration from the urban environments around me and my connection to them, as well as the macabre – which can frequently have a lot in common.
Kenny: I found inspiration by sitting out in nature with my guitar, under the pecan tree in our backyard, watching as the seasons changed.
CS: What’s next?
W&P: You’ll have to stay tuned to find out: we’ve got a lot of things coming.
You can check out Woodwind and Parker on Instagram and Spotify:
Flared pants, little shirts, tote bags, hair clips, thrifting…
These are all clear trends that stem from the fashion industry.
But there is no line that can’t be crossed when it comes to trends. Tik Tok has been a huge contributor to its current rise. Depending on your algorithm, your FYP (For You Page) constantly funnels out the next fad of whatever you’re into in that everyone seems to love hopping on the bandwagon.
When it comes to the music industry, this has made a huge impact on unknown singer-songwriters looking for an outlet and trying to gain enough attention for A&Rs to find them. They’ll find a trend that seems to be picking up, put their creative take on it, and find themselves on a major label’s radar in an instant.
While some have argued that the music made from trends have no use and will die out quickly, the plus side is the current new take of modern music has been entertaining to watch and has introduced a lot of people to newer, unknown artists.
Here are some of the my favorite trends in music right now:
BRINGING BACK 80s
The overuse of Synth leads and 80s drum patterns have inspired a lot of artists these past couple of years. You can hear 80s inspired music in 2022 from the entire DAWNFM – The Weeknd Album, Dua Lipa’s FutureNostalgia album, Harry Styles channels his ‘a-ha’ moment with the release of As It Was.
My personal favorite 80s inspired song is from a VERY talented upcoming artist, Amber Ais – Ordinary.
POP PUNK (Angrier tho)
I’m pretty sure we’ve all wanted to be in a band or were obsessed with them at some point. Artists had the chance to channel their inner emo kid during this movement. In Olivia Rodrigo’s breakup anthem, good 4 u, or in Willow Smith’s entire discography.
My personal favorite POP PUNK inspired song is between Leah Kate’s 10Things I Hate About You or Tate McRae’s she’s all i wanna be.
WHAT IF THIS SONG WAS….?
The biggest success story I’ve seen to this day was from LA based singer and producer, ASTN, on his incredibly sultry version of Billie Eilishs’ Happier Than Ever.
SONGS TO SCREAM TO IN YOUR CAR (with your besties)
This isn’t necessarily a specific style of music that people are following. The trend is to sit in your car, explain your song, and prove why it’s good enough to be on aux worthy while driving through a tunnel while screaming it. This generally consists of angry breakup anthems or broken hearted ballads, no in-between.
Mine is, abcdefu – Gayle or my favorite, EatSpit – Slushpuppy ft. Royal & The Serpent.
You can find my favorite takes on music trends on my beloved CROWDSURFER COLLECTIONS playlist on Spotify <3.
Luck Reunion is a one-day, laid back country music festival turned musical family reunion hosted by the Willie Nelson Family and held on their private ranch in Luck, Texas, just outside of Austin. Held on St. Patrick’s day, this was the 10 year anniversary for Luck Reunion, and we thought it was a heck of a good time.
The backdrop for the music is actually an old western movie set — it was built in 1975 and served as the backdrop for the film adaptation of Nelson’s Red Headed Stranger. The biggest names in Texas outlaw music appeared, including Charlie Crockett, Vincent Neil Emerson, a surprise performance from Jason Isbell, and of course a headlining set from Willie Nelson and his sons.
There was an open bar for all who purchased tickets to the event, along with food trucks and free Melt ice creams and Topo Chico to quench your thirst during the heat of the day. The VIP area had a Gibson guitar pop-up, a tattoo artist, signed guitars, fresh Oysters, and tintype photos. Folks sported country western fashion, with cowboy hats, boots and everything in between.
One of our personal favorite moments were the stripped down acoustic shows from Tre Burt and Vincent Neil Emerson, held in a small chapel that held less than 50 people, and another in a two-story saloon.
A popular choice for shopping was the little shop selling “Willie’s Remedy” and various hemp products, along with a “Weed Legal” neon sign. Across the dirt road, a barn held a display of artifacts and photos from previous years at the ranch.
It was a perfect summer day in Texas for live music and a fun day overall, a breath of fresh air and a step outside from the chaotic SXSW events this week. To end the night, Willie got a lively reaction from the crowd by singing this song during his headlining set— “If I die when I’m high, I’ll be halfway to heaven.”
PVRIS put on an electrifying performance at Southside Ballroom in Dallas on Sunday. The band had the crowd buzzing from song #1, kicking off the show with their hit new single, “Monster.” They went on to play tracks from their newest album, Use Me, while mixing in some classics, from “Dead Weight” and “Gimme a Minute” to “St. Patrick” and “What’s Wrong.” Despite the crowd being a bit smaller than other stops on PVRIS’ tour so far (Sundays are tough) their performance was energetic and fans thoroughly enjoyed the evening.
Pop artist Betty Who opened for Ke$ha last night in Dallas at South Side Ballroom and put on an awesome show. Check out our photo review below. Images by Natalie Perez.
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