I recently asked Harlem guitarist Michael Coomers to describe what his band sounds like. "When kids are jumping on the bed playing tennis rackets like guitars. We are the music that is playing in their brains." If you've seen them live yet, you know that really kind of nails it. For most of its history, Harlem was just Coomers and drummer Curtis O'Mara bashing out lo-fi rock in the deserts of Tuscon, Arizona, which wholly informed their superb garage wooze. Right before they moved here a few months ago, they found third member John Hostetter at a junk store, and they've been playing the shit out of Beerland recently, the perfect incubator for their sloppy, poppy sets. So, the reason for moving to Austin? "We moved to Austin for Barton Springs and stayed for the free nacho bar down the street," Coomers explains. Coincidentally, their new album, Free Drugs ;-) (yes, the smiley face emoticon is part of the title), gets released June 28 at Beerland. But you can catch them sooner! This Sunday at Trailer Space Records (1401-A Rosewood Ave.), 3pm, and the United States Art Authority later that night.

Tremoloco doesn’t mean anything. It’s just a play on the word tremolo that bandleader Tony Zamora and fellow vintage guitar buff Stephen Bruton came up with. Bruton is just one of the many Texas connections that can be found on the Los Angeles-based band’s self-released full-length debut, Dulcinea. It also features appearances by Redd Volkaert, Cindy Cashdollar, Max Baca, Joel Guzman, and Ian McLagan. Dulcinea follows closely in the steps of the Texas Tornados and Los Super Seven, mixing Mexican heritage and American roots rock into a Southwestern stew that’s festive and savory. Zamora claims it’s a combination of his Tex-Mex roots - his mother is from El Paso and his father is Mexican - with youthful influences from growing up in East L.A. “When we first started in 2002, Los Super Seven and Los Lobos were a huge influence,” the 48-year-old explains. “We were covering some of that stuff at shows because I hadn’t written the songs for this album yet, the Cesar Rosas and Freddie Fender stuff. So when it came time to record, this seemed like a natural progression.” The disc was recorded with the production assistance of Los Lobos percussionist Cougar Estrada, who brought more of the Texas influence to the proceedings from his work with artists like Guzman and Sisters Morales.

“Peace." RZA answers the phone emphatically in his Houston hotel room. After spending much of Monday playing phone tag – let’s call it shadowboxing – with the Wu-Tang producer and swordsman, Bump & Hustle finally connected when he touched down in Texas. Playing the role of alter-ego Bobby Digital, RZA performs tonight at Emo’s in support of Digi Snax (Koch), due out June 24. He promises it will be “a good motherfuckin’ time.” Bump & Hustle: What sort of adventures has our superhero Bobby Digital gotten into since the release of Digital Bullet? RZA: Digi Snax sums it all up. The character still struggles within himself but still saves the lives of others, you know. The character is growing. I’ve been using this character in more than one medium, not only in music, but we’re working on the comic book, a feature film for the character, a video game for the character. Digi Snax is the way we’re introducing this character back into the game in a way that’s gonna be a continuation. I put a lot of time and effort into this to make it crack for us. I just think about the first song on the album, “Long Time Coming,” and I think that sums it up a little bit. It’s speaks to the fact that a man sometimes feels that he’s at the end of his rope, on his dying day, but it ain’t his dying day it’s a rebirth, the beginning of a new day. And that’s how I feel about Bobby Digital. He went through trials and tribulations, the character was in limbo for a minute, but now he’s back out the gate. And guess what? He’s hittin’ jackpot. A hundred mil to the bank!

To see Odetta perform is to witness a woman possessed by song, each note wrung with emotion as she assumes the strength and pain of the blues. Rarely does an artist so fully invest each song with such complete devotion, evincing the power and sincerity of every moment. In Austin to benefit the St. James Episcopal School, Odetta effused a grace, poise, and compassion that encompassed the congregation of 250 inside the church Saturday. At age 77, she no longer plays the guitar with her commanding strum and, escorted out in a wheelchair, it was uncertain how fully she would still be able to sustain her famous vocal range, misgivings accentuated by the somewhat halted opening reading of Marianne Williamson’s famous passage, “Our worst fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.” Yet as soon as Odetta burst a cappella into “This Little Light of Mine,” there was no doubt she still possesses one of the most entrancing voices in folk music. Throughout the nearly 70-minute set, she introduced the songs with cultural and personal histories, declaring before “Careless Love” that “If there was ever a ‘smelting’ pot in this country, I feel it was in our food and our music.” “Something Inside So Strong” roared clear throughout the chapel, Odetta carrying the weight of the song’s determination and joy in every line of her face.

Back in the day, country music queens had proper country music names: Kitty, Patsy, Tammy, Dolly. None of this Carrie, Shania, or Faith business. Those names bespoke a largely Irish, Scottish, and English heritage from the mountains, the backwoods, the rural living that informed and inspired amid a citified nation. That tradition is deeply embedded in Loretta Lynn – in her music, lyrics, and life. It’s also in her voice, accented with Kentucky twang as tart as lemon pie and phrasing that’s a throwback to the past. In advance of her show Friday at Stubb's (which features oh-so-up-and-coming opener Sunny Sweeney), Lynn ruminated on a variety of topics as she cleaned up the kitchen in her Tennessee home: “Don’t they love to eat down there? I’ve been wantin’ to get down there and buy me some good Mexican food. They don’t have it around here. I’ve been puttin’ away strawberries all mornin.' Got ‘em all over me. I froze ‘em to have for dessert." “Dottie Rambo come to see me where I was workin,’ not that far from home. I brought her onstage and we sang ‘Forever.’ It hadn’t been that long ago, maybe three months. So I was shocked when she died [in a tour bus accident May 11]. Her manager’s still in hospital with them two broke legs. Sure was somethin.’ I couldn’t believe it." “They’d banned eight of my records by the time I come out with ‘The Pill.’ When they banned it, I said, ‘Don’t spend a penny on that record ‘cause it’ll make No. 1. And it did. ‘What Kind of Girl Do You Think I Am’ – preachers got me to send that to their daughters."

Following last year’s sponsorship-driven, traveling free-for-all, Ozzfest 2008 will be a one-day destination festival at Pizza Hut Park in Dallas, Saturday, August 9. The show is headlined by Ozzy Osbourne and Metallica, but the rest of the lineup is a bit underwhelming, featuring solo projects like Serj Tankian (System of a Down) and Jonathan Davis (Korn), along with the reunion of Sepultura’s Max and Igor Cavalera as the Cavalera Conspiracy. What makes Ozzfest particularly noteworthy, though, is the addition of a third stage dedicated to Texas metal. Austin’s the Sword have already nabbed top billing, but there appear to be a few more slots available. Who would you recommend to Sharon Osbourne? Here’s OTR’s top picks. The Jonbenet: Houston’s finest have been thrashing Red 7 regularly for a few years now. Catch them at the club’s second annual Jared is a Grumpy Fuck Fest, Saturday, June 14. The Roller: The local quartet just released its debut, full of low frequency rumbling and deathly growls. Check them out at the Compound (1300 E. 4th), Friday, June 13. Mammoth Grinder: The name doesn’t do these guys justice. A punishing combination of more abstract metal, a la Neurosis, and hardcore beatdowns. Also appearing at Grumpy Fuck. Prey for Sleep: As evidenced by their debut, A Bitter Beginning, this Austin quintet delivers brutal thrashcore that sounds custom built for an Ozzfest crowd.

Last night, the first date of the Summer in the City hip-hop series at Headhunters went down amidst plastic tiki gods holding heads on sticks and a screening The Simpsons Movie. However, that hardly kept the crowd from focusing on the night's event. MelodicScience top dog Mirage did his part, picking three of Austin’s best MCs to keep the crowd moving, from Young Nick’s twisting rhythms to Brokebread’s aggressive technique, backed by the versatile spins of DJ Berlin. The night truly belonged to Zeale 32, though. The South Austin MC, adhering to the model of spitting over sped-up soul samples, led the crowd on a journey from the future to the past and back again, the middle portion filled with rips over Europe’s “The Final Countdown,” Guns N' Roses' “Sweet Child o' Mine,” and Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough." Zeale added that the particular jam was from the King of Pop’s darker days, “when he had a fat nose.” Employing the hip-hop call-and-response, Zeale drew cheers when he switched over to “Obama!” “What!” “I don’t wanna get too political, but fuck Hillary," he responded. His stage presence, along with his straight-up dope flow, got heads ringing across the bar. Mark your calendars for June 19, when Summer in the City continues with Shanka D-Russ, Dred Skott, the F.L.Y, and Mirage.

This Saturday, Odetta will perform a special benefit concert at the St. James Episcopal Church. Few voices have rung as powerful or as influential in folk and blues as Odetta, her deep and commanding vocals serving as the voice of the civil rights movement. Dubbed by Martin Luther King Jr. as “The Queen of American Folk Music,” it was Odetta who sparked the visceral ferocity of a young Janis Joplin and was famously claimed by Bob Dylan to be his entrance into folk music. Born Odetta Holmes in Birmingham, Ala., New Year’s Eve 1930, Odetta began her career at age 13 with classical training in opera in the Los Angeles-based Turnabout Theater. Realizing that even her indomitable voice could not break the racial barriers in opera, however, she turned to folk music and quickly gained recognition. In addition to her staggering range, Odetta invested her work with an integrated influence of jazz, English and Appalachian folk, blues, and African American spirituals. Her 1954 debut, The Tin Angel, and seminal 1956 album Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues cemented her reputation as one of the most important figures in American music.

Ruben Molina, the Los Angeles-based author of Chicano Soul, will be at Antone's Records for a book signing at 6pm Friday. Besides being the best book on 1960s/70s Mexican-American rock, Chicano Soul is a landmark publication for filling a gap in popular music history. It is also the first book to detail the way young Mexican-Americans assimilated music and culture after rock & roll took off in the 1950s. Molina also authored The Old Barrio Guide to Lowrider Music, a delightful cruise through car radio-friendly hits of the 1950s-70s. Chicano Soul is essential reading for anyone with an interest in Texas music, Tejano culture, and 1960s rock. The year’s half over. Buy one for yourself and another for a Christmas present. You won’t be sorry.