When Seattle grunge went mainstream, it was only a matter of time before the ripple effect was felt in regions other than the Pacific Northwest. Georgia quintet Collective Soul, along with fellow inheritors of the now commercially lucrative post-grunge landscape like Live, Bush, and Candlebox, developed the genre into a more succinct brand of angst, turning the sonic cacophony of bands like Mudhoney and the Melvins into radio-friendly hard rock.

Collective Soul — taken from a line in Ayn Rand's book The Fountainhead, were formed in the small town of Stockbridge in the early '90s by principal songwriter Ed Roland (lead vocals/keyboards/guitars), guitarists Dean Roland and Joel Kosche, and rhythm section Will Turpin (bass/percussion) and Shane Evans (drums/percussion). Originally released in 1993 on the Atlanta indie label Rising Storm, Hints Allegations and Things Left Unsaid proved popular enough on the local level that it was picked up the following year by Atlantic. Within months of its release, "Shine" became a modern rock and MTV staple, and Collective Soul found themselves with a platinum debut, playing everywhere from arenas with Aerosmith to Woodstock 1994.

They released the eponymous sophomore effort the following year, which featured the hits "World I Know" and "December," once again going multi-platinum, but their fan base began to wane upon the release of 1997's Disciplined Breakdown. Released in 1999, Dosage was a return to form for the group, yielding the hit singles "Run" and "Heavy," but despite their best efforts, the post-grunge genre was suffering under the weight of the emerging nu-metal scene. In 2000 they released Blender, an image-seeking misfire that saw the group attempting a clean-cut (no facial hair) image and mixing in heavily produced AOR with dance-pop, even performing a duet with Elton John. The following year, fans were treated to 7even Year Itch: Collective Soul's Greatest Hits 1994-2001. In 2004, the group returned to their roots, bringing on new guitar player Joel Kosche and releasing the stripped-down and dynamic Youth on its own El Music Group imprint. An eight song EP (From the Ground Up) arrived the following year.

Del Castillo began as a latin flamenco-style project between two brothers, Rick and Mark del Castillo in the fall of 2000. Up until that time, both had been playing guitar and recording on separate projects but had never worked together. After an initial period of writing instrumentals, their good friend, Alex "El Lobo" Ruiz began to write some wonderfully soulful lyrics and collaborate with them to create some vibrant, energetic songs. Another longtime friend, Mike Zeoli, added some incredible drum tracks and the project began to pick up steam. After receiving tremendously positive responses from listeners, what started out as a "studio" project became a real band.

The group needed a solid grooving-in-the-pocket bass player and turned to another close friend, Albert "El Beto Bert" Besteiro. Soon after, Rick "The Rev" Holeman was asked to add his blessed expertise on percussion which put the "icing on the cake" and complete the band's sound. With the line-up complete, DEL CASTILLO began writing material fusing many styles and influences, all while retaining a solid latin element. The band released their debut CD "BROTHERS OF THE CASTLE" in 2001, which met with rave reviews from critics and music fans alike. As the once "project band" solidified into a family of musicians, the band crafted their follow-up release, "VIDA", which took the band to the next level. Austin, Texas' respected paper, The Austin Chronicle, said "if Vida is proof, their road to fame will be as short as an I-35 entrance ramp". And recognition, if not fame, came calling in the form of an invitation to appear on the soundtrack of director Robert Rodriguez "ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO" and the honor of winning "Best Austin Band of the Year" at the 2002-2003 Austin Music Awards.

DEL CASTILLO's signature non-traditional sound has been igniting clubs, radio stations, festivals, and stages all over Texas since August of 2001 and proves to be only a small sample of things to come. The uncontrollable buzz they are creating is also beginning to spread throughout America and the rest of the world via radio, word-of-mouth, and the internet. DEL CASTILLO draws from an infinite well of sonic landscapes, gracefully fusing old world “gitano” and new world flamenco with rock & blues.

Charlie Sexton, raised in Austin, Texas, made his debut with Pictures For Pleasure in 1985 at age 16. He followed that up with a self-titled second album when he was 20. Because word of his reputation as a prodigy guitar player spread far and wide, he found himself an in-demand session player while still in his late teens, and he had the opportunity to record with Ron Wood, Keith Richards and Bob Dylan.

Born to a mother who was just 16 when she gave birth to Charlie, he and his mother moved to Austin when he was just four. His mother would get him out to clubs like the Armadillo World Headquarters and the Soap Creek Saloon. Places like the Split Rail and Antone's blues club became his classrooms. After living outside of Austin for a while with his mother, he moved back to Austin when he was 12, and the musicians around Austin, his heroes, people like Jimmie Vaughan and Stevie Ray Vaughan, Joe Ely and others, took him in and put him up until he could earn more of a living on his own.

From 1992 to 1994, he was a member of Austin's Arc Angels, along with Doyle Bramhall II, Tommy Shannon and Chris "Whipper'' Layton. That group recorded one self-titled album, released in 1992 on Geffen Records. By the time the Arc Angels decided to disband, Sexton was 24 years old and already pegged as a blues musician. But in fact, Sexton plays gutsy, fluid blues guitar, but also spirited rock 'n' roll guitar.

In 1994 and 1995, he formed and recorded with his new group, the Charlie Sexton Sextet, and his debut for MCA Records, Under The Wishing Tree, was released in 1995. Sexton's album was well-received by the critics. Under The Wishing Tree presents Sexton in an array of musical genres, touching on Celtic flavored rock, folk-rock and blues. There is a lot of interplay between guitars, violins, cellos, Dobros and mandolins on the recording, and Sexton's vocals ride high on top of the melodies. On his 1995 tour to support the album, he was accompanied by Susan Boelz, violin, Michael Ramos, organ, and George Reiff, bass and Rafael Gayol, drums.

As a songwriter, Sexton writes about what he knows, so Texas themes permeate his songs. He considers Bob Dylan his strongest songwriting influence, while he counts Austin legends Jimmie Vaughan and the late Stevie Ray Vaughan among his prime influences for guitar playing. His lyrics mix autobiographical experiences with images that are open to interpretation. More great things are in the offing for this guitarist, singer and songwriter as he recently signed a recording contract with Back Porch Records.

Patrice Pike is the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the Austin-based band Sister Seven. Patrice and Sister Seven toured the United States and Western Europe in support of three independent releases and three major label albums. From Sister Seven’s jam-band beginnings to their Billboard-charting radio singles, they headlined clubs and supported major event tours.

Over the years Patrice Pike performed onstage with many artists including Dave Matthews, Sarah McLachlan, Natalie Merchant, Blues Traveler, the Allman Brothers and the Indigo Girls as well as opening sets for the late great Ray Charles, Cake, Soul Asylum, Cheap Trick, The Neville Brothers and more. The disbanding of Sister Seven and the release of her first full length solo studio album Fencing Under Fire as well as the recent live unplugged CD Live at the Brushwood Lounge has established Patrice Pike as one of the best independent artists today. Patrice recorded Fencing Under Fire with former band mate and co-owner of her label Zainwayne Records along with Jim Watts and Ethan Allan and released the album in 2002. Her single “Ms. Ramona” was in the top ten most added on AAA stations for several weeks being the only totally independent album with no major label or major indie ties on the charts along side Sonny Landreth, Dar Williams, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and David Grey.

Patrice’s most recent success points to her songwriting skill, as she along with co-writers Wayne Sutton, Darrell Phillips, and Sean Phillips have been awarded Grand Prize Overall and First Prize Rock for their song “My Three Wishes” in the USA Songwriting Competition. In the same competition “Nobody Knows” took Top 10 in Pop. Her sense for lyrics and melody is now winning international recognition, having competed with 32,500 entries from all over the world. Most recently Patrice’s song “Unraveling” garnered an honorable mention in the 2005 Mountain Stage NewSong Contest, presented by Performing Songwriter magazine.

In 2006, Patrice appeared as a finalist on the CBS reality show Rock Star: Supernova, a show that documents the search of the band Supernova's new lead singer. Throughout the show, Patrice met a lot of positive review with her performances, including her showcase of her original song, "Beautiful Thing."

Carolyn Wonderland has the goods. A triple threat with her diverse songwriting, soulful vocals, and guitar goddess status - all featured on over twenty CDs, six of which are her releases - she has a pedigree in this business that's hard to match. A bit of a renegade, she likes to incorporate elements of Blues, Country, Swing, Zydeco, Surf, Gospel, Soul, and some nights, maybe even a Cumbia into the musical mix. Recent years have seen her stretching out musically working some expert whistling and scat singing into her shows. In addition to her trusty guitar, "Patty," Carolyn has been regularly playing her trumpet, and even occasionally the accordion, mandolin, or keys...she is threatening to take up nose flute if someone doesn’t stop her...

Wonderland's songs have been featured on NBC's "Homicide," Fox's "Time of Your Life," & Houston NORML even made a video PSA set to Carolyn's "Annie's Scarlet Letter." She has toured with acts like Buddy Guy and Johnny Winter, sat-in with String Cheese Incident, Robert Earl Keen, and Los Lobos, and even sang the "National Anthem" at Sturgis Bike Week 2003 -- her 10th anniversary playing Sturgis -- before Robbie Kneivel's record-breaking jump over one hundred Harleys. Recently, she was a panelist at the University of Texas LBJ Library's "Instruments of Freedom" Forum with Kinky Friedman, Marcia Ball, Jerry Jeff Walker and others. She's been lucky enough to jam with mentors and friends like Bob Dylan, Eddy Shaver and Ray Benson. She's co-written songs with Cindy Cashdollar, Candye Kane, Sarah Brown and Guy Forsyth.

Marcia Ball honed her powerful singing and deft, rollicking keyboard chops while growing up in the small town of Vinton, Louisiana, on the Texas border. This musical and cultural frontier has produced such other roots-music greats as Gatemouth Brown, George Jones, Janis Joplin, Clarence Garlow, Cleveland Crochet, Clifton Chenier, Joe Bonsall and Johnny and Edgar Winter. It was and still is a hotbed of country, blues, gospel, Cajun, zydeco, rockabilly and Gulf Coast “swamp pop”, and young Marcia absorbed it all, even as she was receiving her formal piano training.

By the early ‘80s Ball was focusing on Gulf Coast rhythm & blues, and she’s never looked back. In addition to her critically acclaimed Rounder albums (Soulful Dress, Hot Tamale Baby, Gatorhythms, Blue House, and Let Me Play with Your Poodle), Marcia also found time to collaborate with Angela Strehli and Lou Ann Barton on a well-received album for the Antone’s label called Dreams Come True.

At the end of 1997, Marcia finished work on a similar “three divas of the blues” project for Rounder, this time in the distinguished company of Irma Thomas and Tracy Nelson. The album, Sing It! was released in January 1998 and was nominated for both a Grammy and Handy as “Best Contemporary Blues Album”. Ball also appears as a featured singer with Cajun country legends the Hackberry Ramblers on their recent Deep Water album (on the Hot Biscuits label),where she makes her recording debut singing in Cajun French (“Les Blues de Bosco”).

As with other talented but troubled artists such as Syd Barrett, Brian Wilson, and Roky Erickson, Daniel Johnston fights a daily battle with the chronic mental illness that has plagued him nearly his entire life. However, despite recurrent bouts of delusional behavior wherein he has physically endangered himself and others, Johnston has carved out a respectable, influential career as a singer/songwriter of extraordinary talent which has grown since his first crudely recorded cassette was released in 1980. He became the singer/songwriter of choice of the alternative/underground rock scene, and at various times has had his work championed by members of Sonic Youth, Yo La Tengo, Butthole Surfers, Half Japanese, Nirvana (Kurt Cobain was often photographed wearing a Daniel Johnston T-shirt), and numerous others.

Until the '90s, Johnston's recordings were basically homemade affairs, his plain voice accompanied by crude piano and guitar playing. His narrative concerns focused mainly on lost love, the pain of miscommunication, his love for the Beatles, and comic-book superhero Captain America. Johnston's music is unflinchingly direct, almost embarrassingly and painfully honest. Because of this and his increasingly erratic behavior, he was considered a local hero in his home of Austin, TX (where he moved from rural West Virginia), but too extreme to engender the interest of a record label. That situation changed in 1985, when MTV filmed a program on the Austin music scene. Johnston's performance brought him almost overnight acclaim, and he went from local legend to national cult figure. Soon, many of his self-released cassette recordings (on his appropriately named Stress label) began showing up in hip record stores from Boston to L.A., and the buzz was that Daniel Johnston was the coolest. There was, however, a grim side to this "success," as if his mental illness was the primary component of his hipness; therefore, there was a feeling that those not close to him were marketing his illness as much as his talent. Sadly, Johnston's behavior wasn't helping, and he was institutionalized twice in the late '80s after his refusal to take medication led to two dangerous episodes.

In the late '80s, indie label Homestead issued some of Johnston's early recordings on vinyl and a full-blown appreciation of Johnston's work was well underway. Soon he was recording solo and with Half Japanese mastermind Jad Fair on the Shimmy Disc indie label, and later with Butthole Surfer Paul Leary, who may well be the best producer/musical accompanist Johnston ever had. Johnston, to the amazement of virtually everyone, recorded for Atlantic, and despite occasional behavioral lapses, seemed more self-assured than ever. As a result, in the late '90s and 2000s, he recorded some of the best music of his career: smart, ebullient pop with ringing guitars, primitive keyboards, and a wonderfully naïve way of looking at the world. Although he sometimes becomes sad and bitter, cynicism and self-pity aren't his style, and that makes the little tragedies and epiphanies he writes about all the more compelling. Daniel Johnston's world may seem small, but it's much bigger and friendlier than that of our wildest imaginations.

A five-piece rocanrol band from Monterrey, Mexico, Kinky makes dance music with guitars. Like Rai, the North African confluence of reggae, hip hop, Arabic pop and traditional tribal music that has produced such international stars as Khaled and Cheb Mami, Kinky's electro-rock fusion is a borderless funk.

Executed with effortless enthusiasm, Kinky's eponymous debut is the sound of five guys from northern Mexico playing house music with their old rock instruments (plus the odd accordion or two) and a dog-eared Norteño song-book, with a little help from U.K. producer Chris Allison (The Beta Band, Coldplay).

Sure, guitarist and singer Gil Cerezo contributes the odd turntable scratch or three, and yes, Ulises Lozano's keyboard and drum programming are often front and center in the mix, but one listen to the blistering mixture of disco guitars, live bass and percussion, hip hop breaks, and raging vocals on the opening number, "Mas," and it's immediately clear that this is first and foremost a band, one that rocks. That becomes even more apparent live, for Kinky has a reputation for inciting dance-floor frenzies as they invariably blow the roof off of whatever spot they're playing.

Kinky is not just a party band though, not quite, and they are not just enamored of the futuristic sounds of the new global culture. They also have a strong affinity for the sounds of Mexican street music, and a predilection for lyrics -- delivered entirely "en español" -- inspired by the works of Latin America's magical realism literary movement. It's like 100 Years of Solitude, only you can dance to it. It's Kinky.

Movimiento Popular translates literally to "popular movement" which in Latin American countries means a grass-roots movement of or supported by the people. It is this attitude that best sums up the last few years of Grupo Fantasma's impressive existence. The band has avoided categorization and trends to become a completely independent musical force with which to be reckoned. Their first eponymous self-released album moved over 7,000 copies from the stage alone and landed them on internationally distributed compilations, a NPR special, and the soundtrack to critically acclaimed director John Sayles' film Casa de los Babys. Their explosive live performances have packed some of the most reputable venues in the US and Mexico on word of mouth and industry hype alone, and the band has shared the stage with musical legends such as Los Lobos, Flaco Jimenez, Patti Smith, KRS-One, and Barbarito Torres from Buena Vista Social Club

Once settled in Austin, Forsyth's passion and affinity for the Delta blues and other music from the 1920s and '30s netted him both a label deal with the blues label Antone's Records and a loyal local and national following for both his solo work and his spirited collaborations with a like-minded gang of pre-War music nuts who banded together as the Asylum Street Spankers. Forsyth quickly earned a rep as one of the city's best acoustic blues guitarists, harpists and saw players (admittedly, not as competitive a field as the first two, but still impressive). But while all of that Guy is still very much on Love Songs: For And Against, this Guy proves every bit as handy making music with a 21st century flair.

Forsyth recorded Love Songs with Austin producer Mark Addison and a host of notable locals (pitching in both instrumentally and with the occasional co-write) including Papa Mali, Darden Smith, Carolyn Wonderland, Rob Gjersoe, Michael Ramos, Nina Singh and more. The album is Forsyth's second release (following 2002's spare, acoustic Voices Inside) on his own Small and Nimble Records label. After a run with Antone's that produced 1994's Needlegun, 1999's Can You Live Without and 2000's Steak, Forsyth set out on own self-described "Righteous Babe period." It's as bold a journey as he's ever undertaken, but he's hardly a babe in the woods of the music industry.

Which, of course, brings Forsyth's journey full circle, all the way back to the wonder he felt as a kid hearing Robert Johnson and street-corner guitar players and knowing that that was his calling in life. "Humans are music making animals," he says. "We've always been doing it. In all the books and stories and religions from around the world, people talk about music. And I just want to be a part of that, because that's humans at their best."

IV THIEVES (formerly Nic Armstrong & The Thieves) come from Nottingham, England. Their first album, The Greatest White Liar, was hailed as a brilliant combination of contemporary Brit Rock and early sixties British Invasion. Their performances around the U.S. and at SXSW '05 were spine tingling. The band is currently finishing their 2nd New West album for a summer '06 release in Austin where they have been resident for that past six months.

Born in Houston, Texas, in October 1969, she began to play the piano just seven years later. Luckily her family was supportive of her inclination and when they got together music happened, and, of course, Paula had to sing. Other influences were those who would pop in for a visit: Waylon Jennings, Billy Joe Shaver and Kris Kristofferson to name a few. Despite the obvious, Paula wasn't convinced she was a performer.

But an answering machine is a girl's best friend. It wasn't until she approved of her own voice on her telephone message recorder that something she 'never thought she'd be doing' happened. One day while holed up in her 'studio' (which doubled as her bathroom), she serendipitously forgot to erase her version of Wynona Judd's "Rompin', Stompin' Blues." Later, the caller wasn't the only one who was surprised. Paula actually liked what she heard. Her next purchase was a karaoke machine.

Today, Paula laughs, but she says it was tough back then. What unfolded while living in Austin, California and Colorado was experience she could later only sing about. It wasn't until 1992 that Paula confronted her musical roots.

Aside from the annual Fourth of July appearances at Luckenbach, Paula performed at the Farm Aid Benefit in New Orleans and 'Generations,' the AIDS benefit in San Diego at Copley Symphony Hall. There, she played with Lee Rocker of the Stray Cats and shared the bill with Harry Dean Stanton, A.J. Croce, Arlo Guthrie and Rita Coolidge, whom Paula considers one of her earliest and biggest influences.

Aretha Franklin, Bonnie Raitt, The Rolling Stones, Ray Charles and Muddy Waters define her blues bent. Others she deems strong influences are Johnny Cash, Wynona Judd, Sting and Leon Russell. Often she hears she's too young to sing the blues. It's obvious that anyone who would say that hasn't heard Paula sing. There's nothing naive about this voice - other than its pure intention to be heard.

Since its conception in the fall of 1999, Ghandaia has seen a steady and organic growth in its musical exploration. Through a creative blend of their eclectic influences such as Funk, Rock, Pop, Reggae, Afro-Cuban and Brazilian music, they’ve created a cohesive and uniquely accessible sound. Ghandaia’s musical core consists of Frederico Geib (Lead Vox, Percussion, Guitar), Ed Jarusinsky (Drums), Greg Jones (Guitars), Pablo Larios (Bass), and Alex Marrero (Lead Vox, Guitars, Timbales).

To experience the band live is to witness a freight train of pure energy, along with a horn section and percussion, their music is delivered in an infectious trilingual package by two distinct vocalists. The band’s 2003 debut album ‘Uno’ received critical acclaim and gave the band a push into the mainstream through the song ‘A Cor do Som’ which was featured on a Volkswagen television ad campaign. Their sophomore release, ‘Evolucion’ (Jan. 2007) will surely allow the band to leave a permanent mark in today’s industry and most importantly help them reach a larger, global audience that is hungry for unity in diversity.

After a season of work in scoring music for movies where they carried out different musical projects including Sueno Staring John Leguizamo, and in Siete dias among others, Gran Panoramico marks the return of JUMBO. It contains a CD with 21 tracks, from which 18 are some of their most remarkable hits from their discography all of them totally remastered, one of them recorded live', and two new tracks Caminando hacia atras y Hasta que el sol se apague, and a DVD with their 13 video collection, 2 of them just released.

Named one of Austin, Texas' 'Best Live Acts' by the Austin Chronicle, Brownout! performs the nastiest latin funk music out today. This band of "party rocking legends" was resurrected from the same tequila soaked border town explosion that originated the highly acclaimed latin powerhouse Grupo Fantasma. Fresh off the worldwide release of their first 7" single on the UK's prestigious Freestyle Records, the band has made waves internationally amongst DJ's, tastemakers and good music fans alike.

Brownout! is an 8 piece ensemble complete with 2 guitars, bass, no nonsense latin percussion, and the "Best Horn Section" 2 years in a row at the Austin Music Awards. Throwback but not copycat retro, their music is timeless and honest, keeping the spirit of 70s afro-latin and funk music alive while honoring their South Texas roots.

Los Lobos are eclectic in the best sense of the word. While they draw equally from rock, Tex-Mex, country, folk, R&B, blues, and traditional Spanish and Mexican music, their music never sounds forced or self-conscious. Instead, all of their influences become one graceful, gritty sound.

After releasing an independent EP in the late '70s and an EP in 1983, los Lobos delivered their first major-label album, How Will the Wolf Survive?, in 1984; it received an enormous amount of critical acclaim, as well as a dedicated following of fans. In the next four years, they released a marginally successful attempt to make their wildly eclectic sound palatable for a pop audience (By the Light of the Moon), a soundtrack of old Ritchie Valens songs that was a hit (La Bamba), and an album of traditional Mexican music (La Pistola y el Corazón). The band took two years off and returned with The Neighborhood in 1990; the album was a varied and powerful rock & roll record that was better than anything they had released in six years. Kiko, released in 1992, brought the band into more experimental territory, without ever abandoning their graceful songwriting.

Los Lobos came back together in 1999, when they recorded and released their first record for Hollywood Records. In 2004, as los Lobos celebrated 30 years in the music business, they recorded a pair of sold-out shows in San Francisco, which became the basis for a live album and DVD, Live at the Fillmore, remarkably the veteran group's first "live" set. Wolf Tracks: The Best of los Lobos and the all-new The Town and the City arrived in 2006.

A willing conspirator in the late seventies Cosmic Cowboy revolt that ushered in the mythical Outlaw era, Hubbard was a catalyst in the cultural upheaval that led to the peaceful coexistence of Lone Star music enthusiasts who comprised each end of the social and political spectrum of that troubled time. In the stellar company of iconic colleagues like Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Doug Sahm and Jerry Jeff Walker, Ray Wylie Hubbard was an architect of the musical legacy that continues to inspire subsequent generations of up-and-coming Texas talent.

Absent from the recording scene for much of that time, Hubbard plied his trade in a honky-tonk haze that extracted a measurable toll on his physical and emotional health, enshrouded his artistic potential and confined his career to a survivalist track. Hubbard, who was born in Hugo, Oklahoma and raised in the Oak Cliff sector of Dallas, credits the late Stevie Ray Vaughan with influencing his decision to stop drinking on his birthday in 1987.

A working musician throughout his self-inflicted stint in professional purgatory, Hubbard held steadfastly to the hope afforded him by his robust character and deep inner well of humility and keen, raw humor. As the fog of addictive behavior lifted, Hubbard committed himself to improving his prowess on guitar and began to realize a renaissance of sorts in his songwriting. The often arduous journey of recovery, meted out ‘one day at a time’ has helped contribute to a songwriting canon comprised of some of the richest literary references and compelling melodic tapestries of any contemporary artist, in any genre of popular music.

Music for listening. Music for bangin' loud. Music for funkin'. Music to bring you head bobbin' and happy footz!! BLAZE creates instrumental jamz to help you through your life. These musicians have worked with Chaka Khan, Patrice Rushen, Me'shell NDegeOcello, Horace Silver, Eddie Palmieri, Jody Watley, Karl Denson's Tiny Universe, Eric B. and Rakim, and so many others. BLAZE has toured in parts of the US as well as Canada, Taiwan, Germany and Spain bringing there infectious blend of Jazz, Funk, R&B, Soul, Electronica and HipHop to all of these audiences. NIGHT SANGIN' is their 4th cd release since the band's conception in 2000. And this cd brings all of the above mentioned elements together in this super funky cd!

Jimmy LaFave was born in Wills Point, Texas, a small town 30 miles east of Dallas. He began school down the road in Mesquite and by Junior High was making music perched behind his Sears & Roebuck drum kit. It wasn't long before his mother traded a drawer full of green stamps for his first guitar and the switch to singer-songwriter was in progress. Although he has lived in Austin for the past 17 years, many people think of him as being from Oklahoma, because of his strong musical ties to the state and what he often refers to as his 'red dirt music'. It was in this landscape that he began to define his sound, which was in part, a combination of his experiences there among authentic songwriters from the tradition of Woody Guthrie. Here he did some independent recording and toured the southwest with the first version of his band, Night Tribe.

He moved to Austin in 1986, where he continued to write songs and to develop his musical ideas. Shortly after arriving he was asked to help launch the songwriter nights at a new performance venue, the Chicago House. In 1988 he recorded his self-produced tape, 'Highway Angels...Full moon Rain', which won the Austin Chronicle Reader's Poll 'Tape of the Year Award'. This led to a recording contract with a small independent label and allowed LaFave the opportunity to work with Bob Johnston, producer of several of LaFave's favorite albums including Bob Dylan's Blonde on Blonde and Nashville Skyline. The grass roots demand and critical acclaim for Jimmy's music, which led to extensive touring in the United States and Europe, was recognized in 1996 when he was asked to tape a performance of for the PBS musical series Austin City Limits, and was invited by Nora Guthrie to appear in Cleveland at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 'Tribute to Woody Guthrie'. And, in a town known for its songwriters, for the second consecutive year, The Austin Music Awards named LaFave 'Best Singer-Songwriter'.

His fourth CD, Road Novel, which was released in early 1997, received many glowing reviews. That year he was asked by Nora Guthrie to speak and perform at the induction lf Woody Guthrie into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. He traveled to Europe twice and also toured the USA and Canada.

Ruthie Fosters songs are a remarkable hybrid of blues, gospel, roots and folk music rich with honest spirituality and emotion. Her simply amazing vocal abilities have critics comparing her to Ella Fitzgerald and Aretha Franklin. Ruthie’s passionate songs and scintillating live performances attract both the young and old for an uplifting experience of dancing, listening, laughing and even some crying; especially when Ruthie rounds out the joyous occasion with her versions of show-stopping gospel standards. Ruthie's new international release Stages on Blue Corn Music is a collection of 14 songs recorded live in Austin, TX with Will Taylor and Strings Attached chamber ensemble at St. David’s Episcopal Church, Anderson Fair in Houston, TX and Club Passim in Boston, MA. While touring the Canadian Folk Festival circuit in the summer of 2002, Ruthie sold 1000 CDs in a day breaking a long-time record held by Ani DiFranco. Raised in Gause, Texas, a small town 180 miles southeast of Dallas, Ruthie grew up surrounded by the rich, soulful sounds of gospel and blues. In November of 1993, Ruthie received word from home that her mother, who had been quite ill, needed her. She left New York, Atlantic and her career in music behind and came home to College Station, Texas. She took a job working as a cameraperson and production assistant at the local TV station and spent her off hours caring for her mother. During this time, Ruthie began singing and playing for some of the elderly people that she had met with her mother, and thus began a heartfelt dedication to giving back to the community that continues to this day.

The nucleus of the modern rock sextet Vallejo is the three brothers A.J. Vallejo (vocals, lead guitar), Alejandro Vallejo (drums), and Omar Vallejo (bass). Raised in El Campo, TX and Birmingham, AL, they formed the Vallejo Brothers in 1990, later adding guitarist Bruce Castleberry and changing the band name to Vallejo. Moving to Austin, TX in 1995, they signed to TVT Records, which released Shining Sun in 1996 and Beautiful Life in 1998. Meanwhile, the band expanded to included percussionist James "Diego" Simmons and guitarist Heath Clark. In the winter of 1999, they signed to Emilio Estefan's Crescent Moon label, distributed by Epic Records. They won as best rock band in Austin's 2000 Music Awards. Their third album, Into the New, released in August 2000, coincided with a national tour. Their trek across southwest America continued throughout the close of 2002.

In the year of the triple zip, dos heads crashed together in the search for long lasting grooves deep in the sea of cosmic slop. This dynamic duo makes their presence known to the world as SPIGGA. Bienvenidos.

SPIGGA, unsatisfied with the taste of the current music scene, have decided to create their own flavor. Un mundo with no boundaries. Where funk and rock collide, house and industrial reside with soul and garage goofiness. Drum and bass becomes guitars, drum and bass, but el sancocho doesn't stop there. SPIGGA is multilingual (ooohh, sexy), with songs in English and Spanish and other idioms as soon as they can learn how to say "booty" in other tongues. SPIGGA's odd lyrical content can best be described as Maniacodepresivopsychosexual. Happy and ready to party one second and sad or angry and ready to kick your ass in the next. Who said sex and politics don't mix? A person who's never had arroz con pollo with corn bread, that's who.

SPIGGA is comprised of dos intergalactic mofo's. JASWHO?, a SF house music master (Soulmine Records) who's spent some time with funk rock (Argonaut) and reggae (Cool Runnnings), and GIOVANNY BLANCO, whose experience includes industrial (Liquid Circus), funk (G-Men) and Latin Rock with L.A. faves, Viva Malpache! Together, these two throw down some crazy ass shit. There, I said it. Watcha gonna do 'bout it? (subliminal message: listen to the music)

As for the name, it's all about taking stereotypes and labels, adding your own condiments (we prefer picante) and flipping the script. Hell, that pretty much describes the band.

Born in Tucson, AZ, on August 16, 1979, Crisantes (born Hector Crisanthakis) spent his childhood in nearby Nogales and Culiacan, Mexico. His father was an amateur musician who inspired Crisantes and his brother to start playing instruments, and after his first performance on-stage at age eight, the young singer/songwriter knew that he wanted to pursue music as a career. Though he had no formal lessons, Crisantes, thanks to his dedication and Beatles and Rolling Stones records, soon learned to play the guitar, keyboards, and drums, as well as sing, and in 2006 his debut, Crisantes, on which he sang solely in Spanish, came out.

Edo was born in the crisp air of California’s pacific coast. A lonely Takemine hung in a crowded guitar store overshadowed by vintage Gibson’s, Fender’s and custom made classics. The guitar’s initial context set the tone for edo’s unconventional style. Bravado overcame shyness as neophyte musician edo rented studio time with no songs. The flabbergasted engineer metamorphasized into a producer giving unto edo a template which, given time, would bear fruit. Funk, rock, pop, hip hop...whatever came to mind was laid on tape.

Two years pass as Edo moved to the city where he cut his musical teeth. Houston, TX. Edo was in an avant-hard noise band featured in SXSW99, when his then girlfriend heard the first demo he ever cut and pointed out that was the direction to head. He landed a weekly gig at the Mausoleum in Houston’s Montrose district and began to court an audience with his quirky songs and lush harmonies. One day a radio personality mused at how one of edo’s songs would sound great in Spanish. Unbeknownst to them, edo’s first language is Spanish! A demo is cut... and so begins the meteoric rise of this budding talent. Openers for Plastilina Mosh, Jumbo, and Moenia; BMG showcases; Radio performances and interviews: and Local Network Television appearances soon followed and, of course, the gypsy’s need to move...so he headed west for Austin.

Haydn Vitera began studying music at age five. The first-born son of a rice farmer from Texas and an opera singer from Mexico started with classical piano and added classical violin three years later. For the next several years, he performed in countless recitals and contests, honing his instrumental skills and developing his knowledge of music theory. At age fourteen, he discovered the guitar, teaching himself to play on his mother's forty-year-old gut string.

After high school, Haydn moved to Austin to attend the University of Texas. There he studied business administration and continued his musical development by studying music theory, violin performance, and composition. During this time, he was exposed to the rich diversity of the Austin music scene. He began performing with numerous groups ranging from country and rock bands to the UT Symphony Orchestra, becoming an accomplished vocalist, fiddle player, and guitarist in the process.

In 1996, Haydn left the University to pursue his music career full-time. He played the Texas dancehall circuit until March of 1997, when he landed a job with Columbia recording artist Rick Trevino. For the next three years, he played fiddle, guitar, and sang backup in Trevino's road band, performing all over the United States and Canada. He also toured and recorded with Texas artist Cory Morrow from 2000 to 2002.

In 2002, Haydn joined the Grammy-winning Asleep at the Wheel and toured the U.S. and Europe, performing on the Grand Ole Opry and appearing as a featured artist on Ray Benson's CMT pilot "Stars Over Texas." In April of 2005, Haydn left the Wheel to promote his debut album.

James "Jimmy" Cotton (born July 1, 1935 in Tunica, Mississippi), is an American blues harmonica player, singer, and songwriter who is the bandleader for the James Cotton Blues Band. He also writes songs alone, and his solo career continues to this day. His work includes the following genres: Blues, Delta Blues, Harmonica Blues, Electric Harmonica Blues.

Everybody else romances the road. Joe Ely lives it. Call him what you want – a wandering minstrel, gypsy cowbow, visionary song poet, or house rocker set on fire – what ever he is, Ely’s covered a lot of ground in his time. He really has ridden the rails (in a circus train, no less), thumbed his way across the country, hopped boats to exotic foreign lands, and ridden horses across the prairie. All part of the relentless quest for revelation that only a journey can satisfy.

The first milestone was a band called the Flatlanders, formed in Lubbock more than twenty years ago by Ely, Hancock and Gilmore. Their visionary melding of country, rock, and fold immediately pegged them as three singer- songwriters who were ahead of their time and way too experimental for Nashville.

Next came the Joe Ely Band, Joe's own ensemble who once again mixed country and rock elements into something new and completely different, proving to anyone that heard them that an accordion or pedal steel guitar really could pack the same sonic punch as an electric guitar. In England, the Panhandle poets and his pickers were embraced by the Clash, the standard bearers of the nascent punk movement, who might not have shared the same cultural values as the West Texans, but who certainly knew integrity when they heard it.

Since then, Ely has gained the respect of his friends and his peers, including such kindred spirits as Bruce Springsteen, who contributes vocals on his latest album, along with old friend Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and new friend Raul Malo of the Mavericks.

Joel Guzman has been called brilliant, extraordinary, a genius. He began dazzling audiences and fellow musicians with his unique accordion artistry as a child prodigy, causing established and respected accordion players to christen him, at an early age, “El Pequeno Gigante”. The Little Giant. Today, he is not only a superbly accomplished instrumentalist, singer, and performer, he is also a successful as an innovator, arranger and producer. He and his band “Aztex” formed the nucleus and inspiration for RCA’s release of Los Super Seven, featuring Joe Ely, Freddy Fender, Flaco Jimenez, Ruben Ramos, Rick Trevino and David Hidalgo and Cesar Rosas both of Los Lobos. The countless other artists with whom Guzman has collaborated reads like a Who’s Who of Texas Music. In spite of his award-winning success, Guzman is restless.

It’s not uncommon for the people who see Kissinger’s amp-leaping live show to tell stories about it later. In fact, Kissinger depends on it. For the last three years, the Austin, TX band has been touring through the Midwest regularly with nothing but word of mouth testimonials to fuel their growing following. Yet, after the release of Me and Otto Kissinger will be discussed beyond the interstate bars between Austin and Detroit. And instead of recounting the between-the-legs guitar solo or the 6’5” singer who flew off the stage, people will be talking about Kissinger’s songs.

Kissinger released their first 7” single in 1998. Producer John Croslin (Pavement, Spoon, Guided by Voices) heard the songs, and signed the band to WCI Records to record Charm. The album debuted locally in 2000 to a wave of critical acclaim. Over the next two years, Kissinger would win 6 Austin Music Awards and have three songs from Charm added to local radio stations. In 2002 the band took over ownership of WCI Records and released Rock and Roll Ain’t Cheap, an interactive EP with 4 songs, 4 short films and 4 live music videos directed by Hip Williams (Mates of State. The Mooney Suzuki). In 2004 WCI Records reissued Charm.