Ducks Ltd. and the Bug Club

Friday 4, 29th Street Ballroom

Anyone into jangly power pop and/or zippy post-punk should be aware of this co-headlining tour. Toronto duo Ducks Ltd. issue sunny, sub-four-minute sing-alongs with an English lilt (though raised in the U.S. and now based in Canada, singer Tom McGreevy’s native British accent pokes through his delivery), while Welsh singer/guitarists Sam Willmett and Tilly Harris of the Bug Club craft the kind of irreverent, girl-boy speak-singing that gets your head bobbing. Touch Girl Apple Blossom, the certified best pop band in Austin, opens the show, completing the melodic guitar rock trifecta.   – Carys Anderson

Chaparelle

Friday 4, Scoot Inn

Jesse Woods and Zella Day cook with an undeniable chemistry onstage. The Texas songwriter and pop powerhouse seem an unlikely pairing, but their band Chaparelle – formed with überproducer Beau Bedford – builds upon the duo’s romance to flirt sultry and playful in their throwback country duets. Touches of classic collaborations like Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris sweep through the sound on debut LP Western Pleasure, set for release later this month, but stewed with an eclectic flavor of vintage rock & roll harmonies, Southern-fried country, and indie folk. Soulful cowboy Angel White opens behind new album GHOST OF THE WEST.   – Doug Freeman

Libby and the Loveless

Friday 4, Sam’s Town Point

Libby and the Loveless bring their signature brand of upbeat yet heartbreaking honky-tonk to their home away from home, Sam’s Town Point, for the release of Call It a Night. A favorite among two-steppers, the band’s wistful ballads and boot-stomping anthems already echo through dance halls, with fans swaying and singing along as if the songs were old classics. Fellow local crooner Devin Jake joins the bill, his tender yet gritty vocals setting the stage for a night of pure, heart-wrenching country magic.   – Kyra Bruce

Pretty Girls Make Graves

Saturday 5, Mohawk

Gilmore Girls’ Lane Kim would be so happy to see these guys back in action. After breaking up in 2007, when our favorite fictional fanatic audiophile bemoaned, “They were so young and had so many killer albums left in them,” Pretty Girls Make Graves – indeed named after the Smiths song, but bearing no resemblance to Morrissey and Marr’s jangly Britpop – reunited in 2023. The post-hardcore quintet returns to Austin with support from local pop punks CorMae, whose debut EP arrives on show day.   – Carys Anderson

A Cappella Texas Presents: Spring Sing Festival

Saturday 5, Memorial United Methodist Church

Just reading about this event might make your heart sing! Ten Central Texas choruses convene for a day of collaborative chord creation, kicking off with harmonic hosts A Cappella Texas. A full day follows with Round Rock Community Choir Men’s Group, Looking for Treble, San Antonio Chordsmen, Soli, the Ransom Notes, Hearts Desire Quartet, Austin Saengerrunde, and HMMM, all capped off with awards-circuit-sweepers A Cappella Unlimited. Beneficiaries of proceeds are Health Alliance for Austin Musicians and Austin Pets Alive!, which will be showcasing adoptable pets and receiving donations of blankets, pet toys, and the like.   – Kat McNevins

Besame Mucho

Saturday 5, Circuit of the Americas

“Booked like first-year Lollapalooza and staged à la ACL Fest, COTA’s Latin music eclipse Besame Mucho manifested a first for Austin: Brown music for brown people, tens of thousands of them.” So began the Chron’s live shot of last year’s four-stage, 12-hour, 84-act debut, which here stacks some 50 names onto the poster. From ACL 2024 breakout Carin León to headlining comet Peso Pluma, the second iteration also boomerangs alt-Latinx legends Enanitos Verdes and Molotov, plus norteño accordion king Ramón Ayala. Amidst a male-dominated curation, Mexican grupero queen Ana Bárbara and Spanish superstar Mónica Naranjo demand attention.   – Raoul Hernandez

Solid Pink Disco

Sunday 6, ACL Live at the Moody Theater

There's a good chance if you're a Trixie Mattel enjoyer, you got your tickets for this party back in February when she announced her latest spin as DJ Trixie in a YouTube GRWM vid. But not everyone keeps up with the busiest drag queen in da biz, so here's your kind gay reminder that this weekend, the RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars season 3 winner takes over ACL on Willie Nelson Boulevard. She'll be behind the decks with guest DJ Mateo Segade and getting physical with Shea Couleé and local king Alexander the Great.   – James Scott

Snõõper

Sunday 6, Mohawk; Wednesday 9, Hotel Vegas

Snõõper makes music for haunted, pixelated video games and quirky independent action films. The Nashville-based band, formed in 2020, has quickly made a tradition of energetic, prop-enhanced Austin shows. Their sound, replete with basement-dwelling power chords, is propelled by zippy riffs and Blair Tramel’s one-two-punch lyric delivery. The percussion feels playful – a cowbell here, hand claps there – until the punctuated pounding gets serious, like a pillow fight gone spectacularly wrong. I don’t want to say too much about their mascot, just that it inexplicably embodies their deadpan fun, art-punk style. You’ll just have to see.   – Caroline Drew

Bilal

Sunday 6, Antone’s Nightclub

As Bilal emerged solo at the century’s turn after cutting his teeth in Philly jazz clubs and voicing the avant-garde Soulquarians, outside ears labeled his work neo-soul. But, as the pioneer has proven, even subgenres don’t suffice. Composing comfortably from left of center, the intuition-driven song vessel fuses jazz chording, hip-hop beats, and free-form vocal dexterity into his own sonic presence. His sixth full-length (and first drop in almost a decade), Adjust Brightness, reads like a reliably fresh, circular trek stacked with tangents and plot twists. Catch his Austin stop Sunday at Antone’s with local unleashed drummer-fronted project SKETCH.   – Amber Williams

Paul Simon

Tuesday 8, thursday 10 & friday 11, Bass Concert Hall

Paul Simon is yet another musician to lie about retirement. Just days after his touching SNL 50 performance, the folk legend retracted his 2018 farewell, returning to the road for the “A Quiet Celebration” tour. The new shows will take place in intimate venues to accommodate his hearing loss; although almost completely deaf in his left ear, he’s still got it and is ready to maintain it. He will debut his latest album for live audiences, the seven-movement composition Seven Psalms, and revive iconic tracks from his poetic catalog, dating back 60 years to his mellow Simon & Garfunkel days.   – Mattea Gallaway

Hovvdy

Wednesday 9, Mohawk

As time passes, Austin gets further and further in the rearview mirror for Charlie Martin, who now lives in St. Louis, and Will Taylor, settled in Nashville. Still, every local Hovvdy show feels like a homecoming. The ATX-launched duo’s 2024 self-titled double album charts their trajectory from DIY pillowcore act to Pitchfork-approved indie rock heavyweights – and proves Texas remains firmly planted in the singer-songwriters’ minds. “So take a trip to Texas/ Get together with my friends/ Been a while, been too goddamn long,” they intone on “Big Blue,” a melancholy ode to family, the Band, and “coming up on 31.” Hovvdy’s moved on, but their cozy melodies endure, locally and beyond.   – Carys Anderson

Jim Henson’s Labyrinth: In Concert

Wednesday 9, ACL Live

In 1986, master of Muppets Jim Henson helped redefine what audiences could expect from puppet movies with Labyrinth. Its seductive story, its chilling and entrancing visuals, and its scale all combined to make it a beloved classic. But none of that happens without the music. A mix of electronic pop and orchestral grandeur, the score by Trevor Jones was just as memorable as the original songs performed by David Bowie as Jareth, the Goblin King. Now hear them performed live in this special concert-style screening, complete with live band, officially sanctioned by the Jim Henson Company.   – Richard Whittaker

Lowertown

Thursday 10, Mohawk

Bridging the gap between the folky eclecticism of early Aughts luminaries the Microphones and contemporary bedroom-pop, lo-fi-minded duo Lowertown exudes the kind of familiarity only available to old friends. A long way from the high school math class where bandmates Olivia Osby and Avsha Weinberg first met, the Dirty Hit signees arrive at Mohawk on their first headlining U.S. tour. Recent releases – including a collaboration with Philly shoegazers They Are Gutting a Body of Water – signal a growing interest in glitchy experimentation. L.A.-based openers Dutch Interior return to Austin following last month’s packed SXSW schedule.   – Genevieve Wood

A Tribute to Billie Holiday and the Blues with Mara Kaye & the Mike Sailors Quartet

Thursday 10, Monks Jazz

Sixty-six years after her death, the music of jazz titan Billie Holiday remains timeless. Her earthy, soulful singing is also one of jazz’s most direct links to the blues. Since Lady Day isn’t around to sing the catalog herself, it’s up to intrepid vocalists like Mara Kaye to keep those classic tunes in circulation. With a grounding in country blues, the help of Austin’s own Mike Sailors Quartet, and just the right amount of grit, Kaye can bring Holiday songs like “Strange Fruit” and “God Bless the Child” to life with the proper balance of reverence and personal interpretation.   – Michael Toland

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Music Notes

by Derek Udensi

BodyRock ATX

Friday 4, Sahara Lounge

Your monthly reminder about DJ Chorizo Funk and Riders Against the Storm’s monthly, long-running dance party series typically held on the Eastside. This month, the trio will tribute Erykah Badu for an 11th year.

Denzel Curry

Friday 4, Stubb’s

From the introspective lyrics of “CLOUT COBAIN | CLOUT CO13A1N” to blared bass of “P.A.T.,” Denzel Curry has tackled a multitude of themes and rap subgenres throughout his career. The Carol City emcee’s latest project, KING OF THE MISCHIEVOUS SOUTH, is full of Southern hip-hop sounds and artists. Two of the 2024 release’s feature artists, Kenny Mason and 454, support.

DOSSEY

Saturday 5, Mohawk

Austin-based alternative musician DOSSEY celebrates her new EP Crying in Public with a release party one day after its premiere. Primo the Alien, Nolo, and Europa Boys support. KVN, DOSSEY and Primo’s pop trio with Lady Heartwing, also appears.

St. Vincent

Monday 7, Moody Amphitheater

Dallas–bred guitar maestro Annie Clark returns to Austin after a surprise SXSW 2025 set in support of her Grammy-winning album All Born Screaming, which interestingly has a Spanish version titled Todos Nacen Gritando. Psychedelic trio Glass Beams supports.

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Want to see all of our listings broken down by day? Go to austinchronicle.com/calendar and see what's happening now or in the coming week.