For Those About to Eat: A Menu of Music at Hot Luck

Shannon & the Clams (Courtesy of Concord)

You're crazy if you think that the curators behind the Hot Luck festival chose the musical performers based on their names having a vague relation to food. Sure, grunge-pop songwriter Colleen Green's name does resemble the classic Southern staple collard greens and, yes – speaking of side dishes – the fest also welcomes London blues stomper and one-man band Cam Cole (slaw). But if you think the glammy heart-on-sleeve pop act Sweet Spirit sounds like an after-dinner cocktail, or fellow Austinite Michael Kingcaid's cover band the Motts are applesauce enthusiasts, or – God forbid – that Nineties North Carolina indie music paragons Superchunk could be a new line of Campbell's soup products, your food obsession might be clouding your ability to enjoy music. One exception: the melodically brilliant garage doo-wop quartet Shannon & the Clams … yes, they were most likely booked based on their seafood-related name.

Music and food, in fact, both hinge on the same valuation: good taste. Hot Luck can hang its apron on that. Here's a rundown of the music at the four-day festival.

Thursday's pizza-focused Giddy Up event at Mohawk welcomes Philly golden-era hip-hop producer DJ Jazzy Jeff – known for his work with Will Smith – and premier Austin selector DJ Mel.

On Friday, the Mohawk pairs the smartly written local guitar pop of Gentlemen Rogues with Sweet Spirit and their Merge Records labelmates Superchunk, while the fun and defiant saxophone-addled garage punk livewires Sailor Poon squish the patriarchy at Hotel Vegas with a high-heeled pump. Perhaps the most delicious pairing of Hot Luck is served up Saturday with Oakland's Shannon and the Clams and crafty, talented Texas songwriter, guitarist, and stagey "pianoman" Robert Ellis. That same day, frequently funky guitar expresser Joe Marcinek plays Antone's after Cam Cole, and Austin's sonically fierce, emotionally resonant metal force Glassing brings their epic compositions to Hotel Vegas. Colleen Green, fresh off her career-best album Cool, headlines the aforementioned East Sixth punk club on Sunday, while the Motts and Queen tribute act Magnifico close down proceedings at Mohawk with nothing but fun.