Austin Vida

Austin Vida is at it again with another awesome showcase. Tomorrow night at La Casa (where Troubadour Saloon used to be), two awesome bands will be performing, In Situ Sound and Hydra Melody.

I caught In Situ Sound during Free Week after hearing my editors, Ian and Ajay, go on and on about how amazing this band was. They were right. They were amazing. Totally worth freezing my ass off to see.

Then the other band playing is Hydra Melody who I am excited to see live for the first time. Ian forward me the myspace link months ago to see what my thoughts were on this band and I immediately called dibs for an interview. You can check out that interview here.

So come on tomorrow night. Hang out with us. I've been told that there will be drink specials: 50 cent well drinks until 11. The cover is really affordable: $3 for 21+ and $5 for you youngins. What more could you want? Oh yeah, tamales.

Click here for the Facebook event's page.

News Briefs for Accent's second issue:

Students participate in mock health care panel at State Capitol

Pinnacle Parking Lot update

Spring Enrollment Increases

I wrote about the Fashion Freakout twice. One more in-depth than the other.

For Austin Vida:
Photo Gallery: Fashion Freakout 2010

Another for Accent:
Fashion Freakout

Austin Vida's indie showcase is this Saturday, Feb. 20, at Mi Casa, so we thought we'd give you some insight into the young bands we're featuring with a pair of Q&As. You can read Ian Morales' interview with In Situ Sound here. I spoke with the other half our bill: Hydra Melody, a progressive/alternative sextet from Helotes, Texas.

The band started as a middle-school pop-punk band, but evolved into the band we see now, a lineup that features keyboards and an auxiliary percussionist in addition to the standard guitar/bass/drums core. The setup provides an eclectic style of progressive melodic rock with hints of their Latin roots intertwined within the tunes.

Keyboardist Justin Berlanga recently chatted with me over the phone to provide an introductory overview of this headlining act for our first-ever indie showcase.

Click here to read the rest at Austin Vida.

Campus News Briefs for the first issue of Accent:

New semester of Austin Java Lit Gatherings starts this month

Gospel Extravaganza to be held at Eastview

Student Life wins International Gold Award for ad campaign

Former mayor, Reps, speak at CSPS welcome back event

Noyce Scholarship offers $31,000 for math and science

Then I wrote a short recap of Welcome Week.

Welcome week offers help and s’more

For Austin Vida, I wrote an in-depth profile on local artist, Alonso Reyes.

Painting for the future; local artist Reyes on his risqué oil paintings

From the moment the first note of Quiero Club's Nueva America plays, I'm instantly lost in an episode of the latest Gossip Girl episode. Cue the Kristen Bell voiceover with images of Blair and Serena living in the high society and Quiero Club belongs to the club of bands that provide the soundtrack to this popular CW TV show.

Click here to read the rest at Austin Vida.

Tonight one of the sites I write for, Austin Vida is hosting it's first showcase at Beauty Bar tonight. Although the site started in January 2009, I was asked to join the writing team back in June. Because of this site, I discovered there is more to Latino music than just cumbia and tejano. But before I get into a cultural enlightenment, back to the subject on hand...

So to celebrate one year of production, we are throwing a party in the AV way that we can. I can honestly say that the line up is pretty good and should be a fun show.

So come out to Beauty Bar tonight and celebrate with us. It's only $5 cover.

Click here to head to the facebook page for more details on the show and the bands.

I wrote a lot of non-music related articles this semester for Accent and turns out I'll be the Campus editor next semester. Excited! Doesn't mean the music articles will stop though.

Students Build a Park for tickets

Campus Life - Pinnacle

Fuel up for finals

East meets ACC

Top five restaurants to eat at SXSW

Here is a cool article about 2 local artists for Austin Vida. This was a cool interview to do.

Libres y Lokas: El Espetaculo de la Pobreza

Pint-sized Vicci Martinez stepped onto the Momo's stage with just her acoustic guitar. Wearing blue jeans and her Chucks, she belted out several of her gritty folk songs to an intimate audience.

Martinez is only 25 years old and her powerful voice has given her many opportunities since she sang her first note at the age of 12. Appearing on Star Search and becoming a regional finalist for the first season of American Idol, she has received praise and recognition from celebrities like Wynonna Judd and Kathy Najimy (King of the Hill, Sister Act).

She doesn't have any label support though, as she's not willing to compromise who she is to get herself to the next level. However, she is proof that musicians don't always need the backing of a label because she's opened for various musical legends, such as Sting, Etta James and Jonny Lang.

Martinez sat down with me before her set at Momo's while she reflected on her musical career, shared what motivated her to become a singer and why she loves performing in Austin.

Click here to read the rest at Austin Vida.

Vicci Martinez live at Momo's. Look I got a shout out!

I attended Whitman's first show in January 2005, when the now-defunct venue Redrum was in a small, upstairs facility. Musically, they played it safe, as those first songs were this mellow indie rock that almost crossed over to experimental territory.

Vocalists Ram Vela and Ryan Ermis appeared timid and unsure of their voices. On their first release, 2005's Anhedonia Falling, both guys held back, which made their voices sound strained. However, the potential that this could be a great band was evident.

Shortly after Torch Songs was released in 2008, seeing them live was like watching a brand new band. It was like the guys took the original Whitman sound and intensified it. The new Whitman was getting comfortable playing on stage, and with each other. The liveliness of the songs obviously showed they were having a great time being rock stars.

Vela conveyed his vibrant personality that everyone knows and loves into the delivery of his vocals, which gave him an approachable frontman stage presence. The biggest shocker, however, was the normally a quiet guy Ermis belting out his high notes in “For Heaven Sake” with such an excited grin on his face. Even now, he still keeps to himself off stage. But once he's on stage, he lets his inhibitions run free.

Five tours and three album releases later, Whitman is a solid indie-rock band that has really come a long way since that first show. The band's lineup has changed; substance abuse issues left the band looking for a new drummer to record a recent EP. After a session drummer helped out in the studio, the guys still needed to find a full-time replacement for playing live. But all the elements have come together for Whitman recently.

I got together with the band to chat about the last couple of years since I gave them their first interview. It was just like old times, full of laughter and silliness. Nevertheless, we did get down to business and talked about the recording of their upcoming release Culdesac and how far these guys think they've really come as a band.

Click here to read the rest at Austin Vida.

One of the sites I write for, Austin Vida is giving away the last pair of free tickets to Cafe Tacvba's show. Just like the above photo says the show will be at La Zona Rosa on November 29th.

If you want a chance to win, all you have to do is become a fan of Austin Vida on Facebook. Pretty simple huh? That's how we roll.

The drawing for the free tickets will take place on this Friday (November 27th) at 5:00 pm. Gotta live in Austin or close enough to actually attend the show, obviously. So take advantage of this giveaway! You might save yourself $40.

Click here to become a fan of Austin Vida.