Bobbie Nelson and Amanda Shires in 2022 (Photo by Joshua Black Wilkins)

A Celebration of Bobbie Nelson

Gruene Hall, Sunday 9

Ahead of Bobbie Nelson's death in March 2022, prodigious fiddler and vocalist Amanda Shires tapped Willie's "little" big sister to join her in the studio. Now, Shires is taking the 10-song album of covers released in June, Loving You, to two iconic Texas dance halls as a tribute to the late piano virtuoso, joined by Texas swingers Asleep at the Wheel. Loving You was a chance for Shires, who at 15 joined the Texas Playboys, to work with one of her longtime idols – a rare woman, shining with unmitigated talent, among the male-dominated industry and genre.

"Much of my path seemed possible because I saw a woman working and making a career of music at a young age, and that woman was Bobbie Nelson," Shires said in a press release. The original plan was for the two women to join together for a long weekend once a month to play songs from the album and do "a little shopping and some fine dining," Shires told Texas Monthly. She's fulfilling that original intention with stops at Dallas' Longhorn Ballroom and the inimitable Gruene Hall, with additional surprises promised.
 – Abby Johnston

Carousel Lounge 60th Anniversary

In 1963, the same year news of Beatlemania and JFK's assassination would sweep the nation, Cecil and Myrtle Meier opened Carousel Lounge in hopes of bringing a New Orleans-style dance hall to Austin. On Friday, the circus-inspired watering hole celebrates its diamond jubilee with performances by folksy eightpiece Middle Sattre, acoustic songwriter Juliet Goldstein, and resident rockabilly group the Mad Cowboys. The longstanding Windsor Park venue caters to a faithful crew of regulars and remains a friendly jumping-off place for newly formed local bands to sharpen their sound. In a town where most venues struggle to reach five years of age, the Lounge's 60th birthday gives music lovers across Austin a good reason to raise their glass.  – Genevieve Wood

Water Damage

Drone music can fascinatingly fuck with your perception of time, loudness, and structure. As such, the hypnotizing effects of repetition can result in the same arrangement sounding different after five minutes. Austin ensemble Water Damage – with their face-to-face double drum kits, two basses, and assortment of buzzing strings and electronics – expertly unravels such revelations on the torrential side A of recent sophomore album 2 Songs (though they actually call their songs "reels" due to their marathonic length). The trebly, classical-bells-spiked flip "Fuck That: Reel 13," meanwhile, emphasizes the group's collective rhythmic ingenuity. WD materializes twice in a week: Friday inside a campus-area convenience store with Body Tape and Emotional Maturity, then Thursday at Parish alongside New Strangers, VVVOOOLLLUUUMMMEEE, and Fogwood.  – Kevin Curtin

Hatred Surge Final Show

For those braving the heaving, howling waves of Texas hardcore, no band quite reaches across the waters like Hatred Surge. Though the powerviolence trio officially disbanded in 2013, its members continued to trawl even heavier depths, surfacing in some of the last decade's heaviest warhorses: Power Trip, Mammoth Grinder, Impalers. Gathered together for a "final" one-off performance in honor of departed sometime-bandmate Wade Allison, they now curate the future of the genre. Carrying the uncommon influence of Japanese hardcore, Peace Decay highlights a fierce ATX supporting slate rounded out by manic D-beaters Scorched Earth, blackened crusters Ninth Circle, and scrape rockers Burnt Skull.
 – Julian Towers

Shinyribs Album Release Jubilee

During the pandemic, Shinyribs pitmaster Kevin Russell holed up like everyone else. At a distanced lunch at the Mueller food trucks, he described practically hallucinating in his home studio while solo recording 2021's Late Night TV Gold. Bouncing back – bouncing, shimmying, rubbing, swaying – with full-band follow-up Transit Damage, he and honorary Austinite Steve Berlin of Los Lobos produced a horn-sexy hip-shaker on the order of Shinyribs peaks I Got Your Medicine(2017) and Fog & Bling (2019). Expect a Stax-like review at the Paramount and a veritable hootenanny on the Waterloo Records bandstand. Hallucinations optional.  – Raoul Hernandez

Peso Pluma

Hassan Emilio Kabande Laija, the 24-year-old Guadalajara native behind Peso Pluma, makes his long-awaited Austin debut with a headlining show at Formula One's home base. With a boost from TikTok sound bites, the rapper/singer catapulted from regional fame to global superstardom with 2022's "El Belicón." Ensuing EP Sembrando saw Peso sharpen his brand of corridos tumbados, a trap-infused take on traditional Mexican narrative folk music. Recent collaborations with Argentine producer Bizarrap and pop sensation Becky G have helped Laija grab the title of Mexico's most-streamed artist. Remaining resale tickets start around $50.  – Genevieve Wood

Music Notes

Photo by Le3ay

Wallice

I stumbled upon Wallice's "23" via Spotify's New Music Friday playlist and instantly felt like I'd unearthed a diamond. The Feb. 2021 track details the jazz school dropout grappling with living in her mother's house as her Jordan year approaches, fusing indie rock sensibilities with the intimate lyricism – and striking relatability – of bedroom-pop. The Los Angeles singer-songwriter's growing discography holds more gems: some comedic wit ("90s American Superstar") and beautiful introspection about visiting her father's home country ("Japan"/"日本"). Latest EP Mr Big Shot was released two weeks ago on British label Dirty Hit.

UnoTheActivist

Emerging during the peak of the SoundCloud era, this Atlanta MC rhymes with a contagious rasp. New mixtape Deadication 3 features verses over instrumentals such as Future's chart-topper "Wait for U" and Central Cee's "Doja."