National Cheeseburger Day
Thursday 18, Hotel Vegas
Every day is National Cheeseburger Day if you know how to live your life right, but this Thursday is as fine a time as any to try a live-fired wagyu smash burger by Georgetown-based pop-up company Lace Burger, enjoy some free live music by Chicago Latin psych rocker Gabacho, and shop a vintage market curated by Decades in Retro. DJs Hair of the Dog and Da Beatnik provide additional sounds on the Vegas patio, and the bar also promises something called “cheeseburger shots.” We’re not guaranteeing success there, but everything else sounds pretty incredible. – Carys Anderson
English Teacher
Friday 19, 29th Street Ballroom
“I’ve been writing R&B for you,” Lily Fontaine sighs. “I’ve been making you a tea before you know it’s what you need.” What sounds like a sweet act of service for a partner is, on 2024 single “R&B,” a self-abandoning habit. “I should be writing for me and my,” she admits – hers being post-punk quartet English Teacher, signaling even greater societal pressures on the Black rock frontperson. The song appears on last year’s Mercury Prize-winning This Could Be Texas, a lush, multi-faceted art-rock document of swarming bass, jagged guitars, and spoken word delivery. Write on. – Carys Anderson
Texas Women Songwriters Festival
Friday 19 – Sunday 21, Downtown Lockhart
The inaugural Texas Women Songwriters Festival in downtown Lockhart will bring together dozens of pickers, storytellers, and creative powerhouses to celebrate the legacy and future of women in our state’s musical heritage. There are four ticketed headliner events: forces of folk and country Sara Hickman and Kimmie Rhodes (sharing a bill), “Rockabilly Filly” Rosie Flores, country queen Pauline Reese, and Tex-Mex legend Tish Hinojosa. The bulk of the weekend, however, comprises free song swaps boasting a who’s who of folk, country, and bluegrass songwriters from across the state coming together in the old songwriter tradition to share their work. Let’s go, girls. – Abby Johnston
Cherubs
Friday 19, the Lost Well
Trance Syndicate’s heaviest, noisiest, most fuzz-drenched beast is back – Cherubs, once again leveling rooms with distortion so dense it feels like Bambi got hold of a chainsaw and went berserk for 45 minutes. Offstage, they’re still the sweetest guys in Austin; onstage, Kevin Whitley, Brent Prager, and former Pain Teens bassist Pete Shore turn brutality into bliss. They’re joined by BÖNDBREAKR, a politically charged punk-metal wrecking crew bringing righteous rage and sweaty catharsis, plus Throat Piss, who slather Swans-oid sludge, saxophone, and raw trauma into one unholy scream. Chaos guaranteed. – Tim Stegall
Summer’s Gone Fest
Saturday 20, Sunny’s Backyard
Many of us are still in denial that summer is over. (Or coming to a close? Um, the autumnal equinox isn’t until Sept. 22.) Anyway, it feels functionally over, and that seems cause for mourning or celebration, depending on your seasonal preference. The indoor/outdoor Eastside bar is throwing a vinyl release party of “Good Timin’” for Thanks Light…, and the Loveshakers will go on at 8pm. Vending of vintage clothing will take place along with food pop-ups. Doors at 7pm, and it’s free. – Sammie Seamon
Cold Waves XIII 2025: Austin Edition
Friday 19, Mohawk
The sheer amount of latex, leather, and lace on the bodies going full “Sprockets” at this orgy of industrial dance will make for one of the sweatiest (slipperiest?) shows since, well, has the A/C ever gone out at Elysium? An evening of what ended up being called electronic body music with Nitzer “Join in the Chant” Ebb, Front Line Assembly doing a Wax Trax!-era set, Mentallo & the Fixer, Lead Into Gold, Clock DVA, Curse Mackey, Llora, SINE, and Ponyboy. I wonder how many of these acts are using the same kit of octagonal electronic drums. – Joe Gross
S.G. Goodman
Saturday 20, Antone’s
S.G. Goodman is the kind of quiet figure to inspire superlatives like Indie Saint of Appalachia and Queen of Rural Queers. Her songwriting incorporates Flannery O’Connor-esque scenes and contemporary issues, perhaps best encapsulated by “Fire Sign,” in which “The sun don’t shine on the same dog’s ass every day” and “Living like a fire sign/ I was born a seeker” find astronomical compatibility. Goodman opens up about love, friendship, and loss on this year’s Planting by the Signs. Live, her endlessly expressive vocals and twilight hour melodies will raise the hairs on the back of your neck. – Caroline Drew
Zach Person
Saturday 20, Stubb’s
If Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan ever respawned a pop-influenced child, he’s rolling around Austin. Local Zach Person really hit his stride in 2021, releasing his debut self-titled album and playing his first ACL Fest. He’s been off and running since, demonstrating cool lyricism and jaw-dropping guitar playing in hits like “Muddy Water” and wielding his influences proudly – such as his cover of Hendrix’s “If 6 Was 9.” One of his last stops on his current tour, this Stubb’s date is a chance for Person to show off his live show prowess where it all started for him. – Flora Belle Farr
Vinyl Brunch Presents Sunset Spin
Saturday 20, Carver Library
Warm up the turntables and celebrate 100 years of the Carver Branch Library with an all-ages vinyl-thon. On the ones and twos will be Megz, DJ Foxy Brown, and DJ Wyldflower; Black Maker’s Market hosts Spin City Market filled with local Black businesses; and swap vinyl with the Queer Vinyl Collective. Close out the night with Verse and Vinyl, hosted by Jasmine Games of every.Word poetry. The lineup is stacked for a night of energy that hopefully leads to another 100 years of this Eastside institution. – Felicity Guajardo
Grahamstock
Saturday 20, Radio/East
As part of their Grahams Give Back benefit series, local songwriters Graham Weber and Graham Wilkinson deliver a blowout, Grahamstock, to benefit Travis Heights Elementary. Weber’s roots-rocked outfit Restos and Wilkinson’s Pecan Street Preachers provide the foundation for a bill that includes rising songwriters Macy Todd and Taylor Rae, Jane Leo’s Jane Ellen Bryant, offering new solo EP Red or Green, and S.L. Houser, preparing the follow-up to her intoxicating Eighties-inspired Hibiscus. The evening concludes with an all-star tribute to Wilco’s A.M. on the 30th anniversary of the debut LP’s release. – Doug Freeman
Raphael Saadiq
Sunday 21, Paramount Theatre
As September falls away like so many leaves, ACL Fest season fast approaches and we’re reminded of Raphael Saadiq’s 2009 Zilker Park sizzle. Hoofing the previous year’s neo-Motown throwdown The Way I See It, the onetime “lead singer of R&B’s tony boy toys [Tony Toni Toné], Oakland’s former Charles Wiggins, reworked the Motor City etiquette manual on the Sound of Young America.” The three-time Grammy winner’s only put out two solo LPs since then, busy collaborating with D’Angelo, Mos Def, Jill Scott – check the writing credit on Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ’Em” – and now transitioning into heavy soundtrack work. TTT hits “Anniversary” and “If I Had Loot” are reportedly on the table here! – Raoul Hernandez
Addison Rae
Monday 22, ACL Live at the Moody Theater
I didn’t want to like Addison Rae. We’ve allowed far too many social media posters to crossover into music and film – now the girl teaching TikTok dances to Jimmy Fallon wants to be a pop star? Unfortunately, Addison rocks. Written with women songwriters – and, notably, Max Martin protégés – Elvira Anderfjärd and Luka Kloser, the 24-year-old’s debut album smacks of Blackout and Ray of Light when most contemporary pop projects sound agonizingly akin to a certain man behind the Bleachers. Stacked vocals; hazy synths; irreverent, admittedly half-baked lyrics: Rae’s musical turn is nostalgic, hooky, and cohesive, signaling a more clear-eyed vision from the internet personality than I was willing to admit. Guess I gotta accept the pain… – Carys Anderson
HAAM Day
Tuesday 23, Various Locations
The Health Alliance for Austin Musicians turns 20 this year – which means Austin’s working musicians have been connected to affordable health care for two decades. HAAM Day, an annual fundraiser based on citywide performances, is an essential part of keeping that mission alive. Entirely free, curated showcases populate our city on Tuesday – from Latinpalooza at Radio/East to Parker Woodland and Nakia at the ABGB to Midnight Navy, Elijah Delgado, and SuxxyPuxxy at Hotel Vegas. We’re partial to husband-wife duo Jane Leo, who bring the noir synth-pop of their new album Creature of Destruction to the Chronicle office from 4-6pm. – Carys Anderson
Leon Bridges & Charley Crockett
Tuesday 23, Moody Center
How long in the making is this arena go-round for “The Crooner & the Cowboy” tour? At least a decade according to local soulman Tomar Williams, accosted in 2015 by the latter country buck at the White Horse: “Charley said, ‘You remind me of this cat named Leon Bridges, man. I know him real well. We do the circuit out there in Fort Worth.’” When Crockett tried to put Bridges’ cell number in Williams’ phone, he found it already there. Turns out the Lone Star soul hero equally bum-rushed the storyteller – stageside at ACL Fest. Bonus: Flatlander Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Blaster Dave Alvin open. – Raoul Hernandez
Levitation Night Show: Mdou Moctar, the Point
Wednesday 24, Radio/East
Mdou Moctar’s richly layered protest music has brought West African psychedelic rock to a new generation of American audiences for over a decade. While on tour in 2023, the band became stranded in the United States after the president of Niger was deposed. They wrote Funeral for Justice in response while waiting to return home. 2025’s Tears of Injustice reimagines those songs acoustically – though stripped of the amplified guitar solos so characteristic of their sound, it remains undeniably them. Ahead of Levitation, the quartet joins local electrified funk trio the Point to kick off the festival’s varied lineup of psychedelic acts. – Caroline Drew
Alabama Shakes
Thursday 25, Moody Center
Welcome back to one of the best garage/roots/Americana acts of their era. Lead Shake Brittany Howard has been futzing around with a solo career since 2018, but it’s nice to see her return to bald-faced rock music, and with new material no less. The new single, “Another Life,” picks up where Howard, fellow guitarist Heath Fogg, and bassist Zac Cockrell left off with 2018’s Grammy-winning Sound & Color. The buzz for this tour has become louder by the minute. – Joe Gross
Music Notes
by Derek Udensi
King of the Slab 2K25
Saturday 20, Travis County Expo Center
Expect plenty of tricked-out rides and Southern hip-hop at this year’s King of the Slab. Performers at the event include Austin-based artists Babyrosae, CasinoATX, LiljayfromdaO, and NOOK Turner. Gates open at noon.
Motown Mondays
Monday 22, Pershing Hall
Previously held at the Far Out and most recently the Highball, Matchmaker Band brings its longtime event tributing classic Motown hits to Pershing Hall. The first Pershing-hosted Motown Monday took place earlier this week with plans for the residency to run at the venue for the next year, according to a press release.
Freddie Gibbs
Thursday 25, Emo’s
Earlier this year, Gibbs teamed up with prolific producer the Alchemist to release the sequel to their critically acclaimed 2020 collaborative album Alfredo. Only a character like the surgical Gary, Indiana, rapper can attack the tranquil, flute-infused instrumental of Alfredo 2 closer “A Thousand Mountains” with one of the funniest lines I’ve heard in months: “Shit don’t brack without Rabbit, even they fans knew it/ They should let me bet on these niggas floppin’ on FanDuel.” Arrive early for Charlotte lyricist MAVI.
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 September 19 • 2025.