Joe Ely, beloved Amarillo-born progressive country singer-songwriter, announced he was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia and Parkinson’s disease earlier this month. Ely was pivotal to Austin’s Seventies and Eighties country scene and has steadily released music ever since, including February’s Love and Freedom. Ely and his wife Sharon are embracing slower days by revisiting and re-releasing Ely’s older music and compiling a memoir. “Our story is about how music continues to lift us up,” Sharon shared in a press release. “Revisiting Joe’s recordings and hearing them brought to life again has given him so much joy, and we want others to feel that same joy too.”
Jordi, Austin-based MC and 2019 Red Bull Batalla runner-up, is once again climbing the ranks of the global Spanish-language freestyle competition, now celebrating its 20th anniversary. Born in Texas, Jordi spent most of his childhood in Mexico before moving to Austin at age 16. In the Live Music Capital, he began rapping and eventually studying psychology at UT. His passion for rapping took him from qualifier rounds to winning the Texas Qualifiers in San Antonio in April. On Sept. 26, Jordi will take on rappers from across the country at the USA National Finals in New York with hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Finals, hosted by Chile in April.
The Next Stage, Central Machine Works’ new concert series, will break in the East Cesar Chavez brewery’s freshly renovated beer garden from Sept. 26 through Dec. 5 with a lineup of Texan artists, starting with Black Joe Lewis this Friday. Each show in the free, 12-date series, which also books Adrian Quesada’s Trio Asesino, Grupo Fantasma, and Briscoe, benefits a local nonprofit, including the Central Texas Food Bank, Save Our Springs Alliance, and KUTX.