ACL Radio @ Hotel Van Zandt

In the Lyft, at 7:30am, on the way to Hotel Van Zandt, I realized I forgot my phone. Ugh. For the record, I missed Bob Schneider and Sunny War. It was cool though, I saw Sunny War smoking a joint outside the hotel when I got back from picking up my phone. (Andee)

As I believe the sentiment / quote goes in Office Space, were you really *missing* Bob Schneider? I mean, sure you weren’t there, but… I think you get my point. And if you don’t, it’s that not seeing Bob Schneider is no loss. (Jenn)

But what about Sunny War Jenn? I was missing that. (Andee)

Valid! (Jenn)

Darryl Rahn

It was early and Darryl Rahn was lovely. He played the acoustic guitar and sang pretty tunes to wake us up. Later he joined Willow Avalon and her full band. (Andee)

Agreed. I particularly liked his song “The Pharmacist”. (Jenn)

Anella Herim

On the Def Jam Record Label. A cute, young, east texas boy, who sang along to his backup music. He wasn’t bad but the set up wasn’t right. (Andee)

He was adorable (says the old lady) and he did accompany his pre-recorded tracks well, but that’s just not my jam. I like his lyrics, so I’ll be interested to see how he develops. (Jenn)

Willow Avalon

As mentioned above, Darryl Rahn joined Willow Avalon as her bandmate and her self-proclaimed best friend. I liked her and her songs. She only has one song on Spotify, but I’ll keep my eyes open for her, especially when I’m visiting New York. (Jenn)

Bob Schneider

It’s not that I don’t like Bob’s music, but he’s going to have to do a lot to redeem himself for all of the seemingly misogynistic things that I’ve seen him do and say. This would have been a hard pass for me if it hadn’t been in the middle of the line-up. (Jenn)

Sunny War

Sunny War is the artist that made me start my Notes to Rod when I saw her open for Valerie June in April 2022. She made an impression and I have seen her several times since then. I think she really has something to say, again speaking her truth. Because this was a radio interview as well as a performance, she was asked about homelessness and people being afraid of the homeless. Her response was on point, discussing classism and how people are afraid of the homeless because they are addicts but there are plenty of addicts in this room that we are sitting in. Addiction is palatable if you make it presentable is my summary of her words. (Jenn)

Robert Ellis

Robert Ellis (known in some circles as the Texas Piano Man) has relocated himself to Fort Worth. He’s mellowed out a bit but the music suits him. It’s introspective and mellow but worth paying attention to. There is so much talent here. (Andee)

Robert Ellis is a completely different entertainer than the guy I saw the first time, opening for Deer Tick and spraying the audience with beer. I like this Robert Ellis much better than that one, but truly I love the Texas Piano Man best. (Jenn)

The War & Treaty

This was magical. This was one of those performances that everyone holds their breath because it is so good and when it is done, everyone is wiping their faces and pretending their eyes aren’t leaking. Damn this is a great band. It’s always wonderful to see Max Brown who plays guitar for them. He was one of our earliest DidWeJam Instagram followers! I’m so glad we were present for this special performance. (Andee)

I couldn’t agree more. I have seen The War and Treaty numerous time in a wide variety of venues (festivals and smaller indoor intimate stages, stripped down like this with just the three of them and also with the full band) and while they have *never* disappointed, this performance of only three songs may be my all time favorite. My eyes leaked for the entire set. I had not been planning to really try to see The War and Treaty in Austin because I have tickets to see them on Tuesday, March 28th at The Independent in SF (and also because I have seen them so many times before and SXSW is a lot of music discovery for me). I’m so glad we saw this performance which led us to see them again later at SXSJ (another solid performance with the entire band including Mr. Kiran Gupta the organist who calls the Bay Area his home. (Jenn)

Valerie June

Valerie June is a down to earth treasure ready to heal you with her song spirit and the crystals of her voice. Her rainbow, shiny outfit and medusa dreds give her the appearance of a superhero/cartoon character in a great, rockstar sort of way. Later when I saw her at the Margo Price ACL Taping, we briefly spoke and she was so kind and open. Her rendition of Wonderful World was strange and beautiful, just like her. (Andee)

Agreed! Valerie June is a national treasure. Her voice is unique and as lovely as is she. She sparkles and shines, inside and out. On this particular morning, she kind of looked like a mermaid to me. Also, my eyes might have just been malfunctioning on this morning because they leaked a bit during her rendition of “What A Wonderful World”. (Jenn)

Margo Price

I read Margo’s autobiography earlier this year. When I say read, I mean that I listed to it on audiobook during my shitty work commute. It was good and I enjoyed gaining insight in to her rise to fame and the trials she endured. I think pain really does help build an artist and I am glad that she and her husband have found a way to harness that pain into some moving music. Her new stuff is a step toward rock and roll, away from the “Hurtin on the Bottle” country but it seems more real and I like it. Also, she mentioned she was 40. On Sunday, at her ACL taping, I will be kinda annoyed at how great she makes 40 look. (Andee)

Oh Miss Margo Price, you are all that and a bag of chips… and the dip to accompany those chips. Whether you are just wearing a tee-shirt and jeans, or one of your full-body covering, flow-y dresses or whether you are wearing one of your sparkly, spangley one-pieces with stiletto heels, you rock the outfit. And you also never disappoint! (Jenn)

Lunch at Guerro’s but we didn’t stay for the outside shows.

Goorin Bros Hat Shop

The Shanks

I don’t think we saw this band. I think you, Andee, are off on the bands we saw and have your notes for je’Texas under Tender Things. (Jenn)

Tender Things

Very traditional Texas country with a lap steel and two-steppers. (Andee)

This was the band that had quite a few people in the crowd dancing (two-stepping, I think they call it in Texas). This is also the band where the guitarist / pedal-steel guitarist sort of gave me the ‘rode hard / put away wet’ vibe AND where I got to watch some guy think it was perfectly okay to rest his hand on his (presumed) girlfriend’s ass when they weren’t two-stepping and watch her redirect this attention.

je’Texas

We did only catch a brief brief moment of this band, but they were jamming hard on the guitar for that moment we caught them. I’d make a point of checking them out again. Also, this is the band that our friends said was the best band they had seen. (Jenn)

Strange Lot

They were loud and I didn’t like them and we didn’t stay. (Jenn)

SXSJ @ Hotel San Jose

Peter One

I wish I had better things to say about this show but the sound was just terrible. (Andee)

Yeah, this show was a letdown after seeing that the day before and liking them so much. I do think the sound was a big part of the problem and I would certainly consider seeing them again. (Jenn)

Olivia Jean

Only Rob saw Olivia Jean so I’m not sure why this is on here. We were over at Goorin or Imogene & Willie’s with Mike. (Jenn)

Balming Tiger

This was described as a K-Pop band. I’m not sure it is that, but the band is Korean. They were fun, with a hip hop vibe and had a great time twisting their chords on stage dancing in a circle. (Andee)

What she said… No really, if that’s K-Pop then I’m even more out of touch than I thought I was. That said, it was enjoyable. They were having a good time up on stage and it was fun to watch them dancing around. I wish I could have seen a bit better as I think I missed some of their dance numbers. (Jenn)

Bridgette Calls Me Baby

This band was a lot of fun. Reminded me of bands that were popular in the mid to late 80’s. I think we all enjoyed their set and every member of the band had fabulous hair. IMHO, the band name is difficult to remember and I think they may want to reconsider this. (Jenn)

Yeah, this guy had strong Morrisey vibes, with the hair and the melancholy croon. It was actually really good but it was hard to get past how perfect this guys hair was. (Andee)

The War & Treaty

Oh what can I say… it was fantastic to see the full band and to see how much the audience enjoyed them. They are really really great! They also seemed a little bit tired; who can blame them, they were *everywhere* at SX this year and had an early performance at the ACL Radio at Hotel Van Zandt. I love them. (Jenn)

Sir Woman

This was the icing on my cake. I had only seen Sir Woman once before and they knocked my socks off. I really wanted to see them again and they knocked my socks off again. Spice and Roy, Jr. are AH-Mazing. Kelsey ain’t bad either. That is all… (Jenn)

I love this band. They were my pandemic band and I’ve seen them several times over the last few years. Im proud they are from Austin and anytime they play is a good time. They always seem like they are having so much fun up there! (Andee)

Imogene & Willie’s – DJ & Tequila

Who is this DJ impersonating my neighbor Ben? Never mind, there was a free tequila bar. I forgot what I was asking. We really enjoyed Imogene & Willie’s parties during SXSW 2023. Although it seems we only managed to enter the store once, we really appreciate the hospitality. I am pretty sure the fleece lined jean jacket our Jammie winner is wearing is from there. They are on trend and so SOCO. (Andee)

This was a delightful place to chillout. I really enjoyed all of our time at Imogene & Willie’s and hope that they continue to host parties and support artists in the way that they did. The only thing I would add is some sort of food availability; they get high marks for the beverages (both alcoholic and non). (Jenn)