Graham Reynolds Ruins the Holidays
Friday 6 – Saturday 7, Rollins Studio Theatre
In the grand Christmas tradition of weird holiday music, composer, provocateur, and experimentalist Graham Reynolds has already savaged holiday music a half dozen times, taking your beloved favorites and turning them into moody, depression-triggering nightmares. He’s at it again for the seventh year, ready to curdle your eggnog, crumple your presents, and crack your candy canes. Reynolds usually ropes in guests from the Austin jazz scene to join the anti-fun; for this show, he’ll be accompanied by vibraphone sorceress Carolyn Trowbridge (Coke/Michel Sextet, the Azmaris). Watch one of Austin’s maverick geniuses jingle your bells in all the wrong ways. – Michael Toland
Tomar & the FCs
Friday 6 – Saturday 7, C-Boy’s Heart & Soul
A calendar such as C-Boy’s December run waits maybe all year for a month like this. Not because the South Congress speakeasy sister to the Continental Club doesn‘t curate modern roots year-round. Once the hustle & bustle of roadshows die down, locals finally reconnect with homegrown heavyweights including soul sovereigns Tomar & the FCs. Alt (and queer) icon Tina Schlieske the night prior to this two-night run and Strat champ Jimmie Vaughan on New Year’s bookend 2024’s exit here, but only Tomar Williams will evoke Otis Redding. Throaty grit from the frontman and brass-fed R&B from the FCs jolts particularly deep and pulpy during the holiday season. “Merry Christmas, Baby.” – Raoul Hernandez
A Charlie Brown Christmas
Saturday 7, Stateside at the Paramount
It’s not really Christmas without the piano-driven light jazz of Vince Guaraldi playing as Linus, Lucy, Peppermint Patty, Sally, Schroeder and, of course, everyone’s favorite blockhead find the true meaning of the season. Austin Chamber Music presents the trio of Michelle Schumann (piano), Utah Hamrick (bass), and David Sierra (drums) as they perform Guaraldi originals like the Charlie Brown theme as well as his arrangements of classics including Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” and “O Tannenbaum.” – Richard Whittaker
Wizard Rodeo 4
Saturday 7, Sam’s Town Point
It’s the most magical time of the year, which can only mean it’s time for the Wizard Rodeo once again. Now in its fourth year, the daylong fest at the east-of-Austin sandlot field ruminates amid various psychedelic roots and outsider sounds, anchored by founding artists Little Mazarn, Garrett T. Capps, and Jesse Ebaugh – the latter with his jazz-riffing Sahara Quartet. Headliners include Nina Ninastia, returning to music with the dark-gripped folk of Riderless Horse, and Will Johnson, haunting his new Sleuthed/Full Cuts EP. Jad Fair, A Hawk & a Hacksaw, and more also cast winter spells. – Doug Freeman
Unanswered Questions
Saturday 7, Mozart’s Coffee House
Sometimes you’d rather go to bed early than enjoy a live jazz performance. Sometimes you’d just rather get to it first thing, preferably with a strong cup o’ joe in your hands. Mozart’s Coffee Roasters has you in mind for their series of weekend jazz concerts starting at 9am. Consisting of guitarist Matt Berger, bassist Chris Jones, and drummer Tom Raines, local trio and Monks Jazz veterans Unanswered Questions enliven your Saturday morning for a couple of hours with unique takes on originals and covers. Let this band’s swinging, funky, melodic punch send you fresh-faced back into the day. – Michael Toland
KOOP’s Stronger Than Dirt 30th Anniversary With Big Bill, Sugar Shack, the Ugly Beats
Saturday 7, 13th Floor
Thirty years spinning raw garage and old-school punk records on community radio station KOOP: Scott Gardner’s been religiously filling our airwaves with the Mummies, the Motards, and all manner of lo-fi rock & roll every Saturday night. This weekend, we celebrate at the club named for Roky Erickson’s old mob, formerly Beerland – the natural habitat of countless local bands Gardner has championed. Taking the stage are three notable acts: local duo Big Bill, Houston’s long-running Sugar Shack, and Austin’s almost-as-long-running Ugly Beats. – Tim Stegall
Home Is Here: A Concert for Casa Marianella
Monday 9, ACL Live at the Moody Theater
We’d be hard-pressed to choose just one Bible scripture about showing love and hospitality to strangers, and harder-pressed still to neatly summarize the immense contributions those strangers make in our society. Actions speak louder anyway, so A Concert for Casa Marianella played by the monumentally talented Patty Griffin, tireless musical multihyphenate Adrian Quesada (Black Pumas), indie titan Britt Daniel (Spoon), Nineties rock icons Fastball, psychedelic cumbia masters Money Chicha, and Uganda-to-Austin rising star Jon Muq says it best: Be kind. The show raises money for a new shelter, expanding services Casa has offered refugees since its 1986 founding. – Christina Garcia
The Mountain Goats
Tuesday 10 – Wednesday 11, Antone’s
Admittedly, one of this writer’s favorite Texas albums is by a Californian – John Darnielle, the SoCal-raised songwriter behind prolific indie project the Mountain Goats. All Hail West Texas, that 2002 treasure trove of lo-fi guitar and character-driven storytelling, serves as an excellent entry point into the prolific group’s 22-album output. Vignettes of love and loss like “Blues in Dallas” and “Fall of the Star High School Running Back” show the group at their experimental best, with Darnielle’s nasal drawl pulling at the heartstrings of critics and precocious young music lovers alike. – Genevieve Wood
O Holy Night: Candlelight Christmas Carols
Tuesday 10, ACL Live at the Moody Theater
Even the tiniest-hearted Grinch has gotta admit there are some real bangers in the Christmas carol catalog – “O Holy Night” being one of them. Fun fact: That one was a collab between an atheist and a Jew, leading to a decades-long ban by the French Catholic Church. But spiritual singer-songwriter Kira Fontana recognizes its beauty, and will bring a 30-piece orchestra with her to present a gift to the city: a free concert featuring “O Holy Night” and a host of other gorgeous carols given new life and dimension. – Kat McNevins
Ben Folds
Wednesday 11, ACL Live
Winston-Salem, N.C.-born musician (and occasional actor) Ben Folds first came into the national zeitgeist with top 40 single “Brick,” off the Ben Folds Five’s jazz-inflected alt-rock second album Whatever and Ever Amen. His best mainstream solo effort, 2001’s Rockin’ the Suburbs, found Folds temporarily sidelining the failed chamber pop effort of BFF’s breakup-inducing 1999 release The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner. He’s had a momentous last couple of years, still in the chamber pop/jazz piano pool with 2023’s anxious but rewarding What Matters Most. But Folds is now hawking a super fun Christmas record, 2024’s Sleigher, just in time for the cold weather. – Kahron Spearman
Urban Heat
Thursday 12, Elysium
“I’m conscious of the positive effect that our darker music has had on people,” Jonathan Horstmann told the Chronicle in a 2023 cover story. The previous year’s still-fresh debut EP Wellness prompted a whirlwind of press, pomp, and promotion for Austin trio Urban Heat. This summer’s full-length bow The Tower delivered on all that promise. New Wave electro-goth and synth soul, the album quivers with millennial jitters even as Horstmann’s thick, rich, omniscient intonation soothes our red-hot unease. Bassist Paxel Foley and instrumental backbone Kevin Naquin complete the triumvirate at ATX’s leather-n-mascara HQ with support from Art Versus Industry and Night Ritualz. – Raoul Hernandez
Wavemakers Christmas Concert
Thursday 12, 04 Center
In 2023, Lurleen Ladd founded Wavemakers as a community to support female artists over 40 within the music scene, looking to create new opportunities and reset industry standards. Wavemakers’ holiday show features Ladd’s soulful pop grooves joined by three songwriters with standout albums over the past year: Suzanna Choffel’s eclectically mesmerizing Bird by Bird; Wendy Colonna’s powerful and searching Paradigms; and Erin Ivey’s new country-tuned Souvenir. With an all-star backing band, the quartet harmonizes across holiday favorites and their own seasonal tunes, while a market showcases crafts and merch from other local women artists. – Doug Freeman
Music Notes
by Derek Udensi
MAVI
Thursday 5, Parish
A maestro of crafting lyrical beauty from the uncomfortable depths of no-frills introspection, the Charlotte-bred MC continued his streak of great rap projects with the raw August album shadowbox. His third full-length showcases its protagonist, still just 25, attempting to untangle parts of himself as he further navigates complexities of life such as drugs. “Today my grandmother turn 80/ And I’m on three Percocets, I ain’t even ate yet,” he shockingly admits on “i’m so tired.” Rappers Ahmir and MESSIAH! support.
Spaceflight Records Fifth Anniversary
Friday 6, Radio/East
The prominent Austin-based nonprofit record label reaches the half-decade mark. Spaceflight signees Anastasia Hera and Nolan Potter’s Nightmare Band are on tap to perform. Hera recently released “Lo Que Quiera,” the first single from her upcoming album Way Outside. The Black Angels round out the evening’s proceedings.
Locuust
Thursday 12, Sahara Lounge
Rapper-producer Xóchitl Stauffer punctuated August with the release of her powerful debut full-length, Apparent Incoherence. She stars as her rap alias “Locuust” at this show also featuring Pelvis Wrestley and Lucía Beyond.
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.
This article appears in December 6 • 2024.
