For the past seven years, Mike and the Moonpies have been making a name for themselves as Austin Texas’ premier honky tonk band. With the growing regional popularity of their 2012 release “The Hard Way,” radio single of the same name, and a non-stop regional touring schedule, they have recently taken the entire Texas music scene by storm. The Moonpies have delivered some of the most memorable performances in recent years in venues like Gruene Hall and Luckenbach TX, and have gained a cult like following in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee and throughout the midwest.

Mike and the Moonpies maintained a rotating cast of musicians, and a Monday night residency at the Hole in the Wall in Austin, from ’08-’10 before solidifying the current lineup of Kyle Ponder, Preston Rhone, Zach Moulton, and Catlin Rutherford. In 2011, with the addition of John Carbone on piano, the Moonpies moved from Hole In The Wall to a new honky tonk in east Austin, The White Horse. Here, they would carve out their niche. While playing a blend of original material from their debut album ‘The Real Country,’ and covering songs by their Austin predecessors like Doug Sahm and Jerry Jeff Walker, the White Horse and the Moonpies built what would become one of the most notorious residencies in recent Austin music history. That same year, the band was also approached by Daytrotter.com with an offer to be a part of their annual touring concert event Barnstormer IV. This was the introduction of the Moonpies to the midwest and a national audience.

In 2012, the band self released ‘The Hard Way.’ A 10 song original album that showcased the tightness and maturity the band had developed over the past year of playing 4-5 nights a week. The following year would prove to be an eventful one for Mike and the band. In February of 2013, Mike Harmeier and his new fiance would find themselves stranded on the Carnival Triumph cruise ship stuck in the gulf of Mexico. This brought on some local news and radio attention and sparked new interest in the band. At the same time, the Moonpies started to open for larger acts in the Texas music scene and were gaining praise from bands like Eleven Hundred Springs, and Hayes Carll.

While on a run with Austin icon Ramsay Midwood through Tennessee, the Moonpies reached out to Nashville/Austin based booking agency Red 11 Music. After seeing the band live, Red 11 decided to help the Moonpies spread their music to a wider audience. Since then, Mike and the Moonpies have maintained a rigorous touring schedule supporting acts like Jason Boland and the Stragglers, Turnpike Troubadours, and the legendary Johnny Lee, as well as headlining iconic venues like Luckenbach TX, The Broken Spoke, John T. Floore Country Store, Oklahoma City’s famous Wormy Dog Saloon and most recently the world’s largest honky tonk, Billy Bob’s Texas. For the past year, they have been making a film documenting their lifestyle as a regional touring band, and writing and recording a full length album both to be released in 2015.
This September another huge milestone was achieved. Thanks again to their friend Sean Moellor at Daytrotter.com, the band was given the opportunity to release a 12″ vinyl split with the country music legend, superstar and idol George Strait. The vinyl, released in limited edition by Daytrotter and Wolfgang’s Vault, features 4 songs recorded live in studio by the Moonpies on side B, while side A consists of four previously unreleased live cuts from Strait recorded from ’82-’84. The vinyl is still currently available for order at Daytrotter.com.
With tales of their on and off stage antics, genuine songwriting, and dedication to playing real country music spreading like wildfire, The Moonpies are on the path to becoming a household name in Texas music and beyond.

If man was made from dirt and mud, La Tampiquena was formed from a mixture of sawdust and the beer spilled on the floor of Arkies Silver dollar saloon. Carried on the boot soles of the Trans-Pecos traveler, the poultice was co-mingled with the mineral-laden mud of the Caverns of Sonora; from whence it was transported through underground channels and into the Devil’s River, where it took form, came ashore, heard the corridos from across the border, and promptly headed to South Austin in search of a Lone Star and a hot-rat.
All legends aside though, La Tampiquena formed in 2007 when former South Austin Jug Band bassist, Will Dupuy, met Matt Lara (Former Assistant Astrologer for the Department of Defense) and realized that they both had Terry Allen and Doug Sahm in their LP collection. A pact was made in the parking lot of Threadgill’s World Headquarters during the set-break of a Terry Allen show, after long discussions of Tex-Mex, the Lubbock music phenomenon, and general philosophy, that they would put down any serious notions of what it meant to be a band, and have a great time playing the kinds of music that were near and dear to their big, biscuit hearts.
Soon after, Fletcher Murchison moved down from Lubbock, after also making a transition from a bluegrass band (Hot-Foot Toby). Fletcher was educated by the great Joe Carr and Alan Munde at South Plains college, and brought with him a style of Mandolin picking that could somehow simultaneously make both Bob Wills and Jerry Garcia say “Ahhhh!”.
After two practices (until recently, the only two practices), a gig was booked, and a number of Jug-Banders, and old-heads got up on stage with Will and Matt (Fletcher was playing Bingo that night) to make music on-the- fly, under the moniker “Corn-Backed Rattler”. Fun was had, but Dupuy’s delicate notions of sense and sensibility were jostled by the unsavory name, and soon after the band became known by a name synonymous with the “Gringo Plate” at their favorite Oak Hill taqueria: La Tampiquena.

Wild Bill and the Lost Knobs are a high energy Americana rock band from Austin, Texas. Heavily influenced by music from Austin’s trademark 70s “cosmic country” era, the band combines classic country and blues with other progressive styles to satisfy the dancers, the rockers, the rollers, and anyone else who hears them play. They look and sound like they were sent straight out of a time machine from the Armadillo World Headquarters in 1978, and quite possibly smell like it too. The band formed in a slow cooker starting with a singer songwriter show in a coffee shop. That eventually resulted in the band playing their own “Highbilly Happy Hour” residency at the world famous Antone’s.
They released their debut album, The Show, in 2014, and produced three videos to promote it. The video for “The Show” swept top honors over some of Austin’s biggest names at the Austin Music Video Race winning for best art direction, best concept, best use of song, and best music video.