Leo Rondeau deals in stories candid and honest and plainspoken. Based in Austin, Texas, his own story finds root in the Turtle Mountains of North Dakota, where Rondeau grew up surrounded by country music listeners and pickers spanning three generations. “It was always around me,” he says.

This aspect of his adolescence bolstered an unwavering sense of self and place in his work that sets Rondeau apart from peer musicians. A child of the rural American west and owning family lineage within the Turtle Mountain band of the Chippewa Indian tribe, his own history and worldview are engrained in the lines of his songs. This is about a type of honesty that means more than simply telling the truth. It’s a voice that either lives within you or does not.

Early on, Rondeau found and dug into such contemporary mainstream artists as Steve Earle and Dwight Yoakam, gleaning from them a penchant for up-tempo numbers geared toward the dance hall. But Leo Rondeau is a country dance band with a folk singer’s heart. In the honkytonks of Austin and elsewhere you’ll always find the dance floor in full swing, but you’ll also find bar sitters turned on their stools watching the stage.

Rondeau is first and foremost a songwriter. As a boy, he took immediate interest in writing and has maintained a deep respect for studying one’s own life through song. He calls himself a lifelong musician, and to hear him play will take the wind out of anyone who says otherwise. In his writing, Rondeau has been heavily influenced by the dolorous and at times bleak illustrations of Hank Williams, Jimmie Rodgers and Townes Van Zandt. His marked presence within the scenes of his stories is even reminiscent of early Tom Waits tunes in their somber appreciation of the darker realities of life.

The listener finds a departure from these influences, however, in Rondeau’s trademark hopefulness. A steady appreciation of life in all its twinges and sorrows, victories and joys.

He remains a student of music for life. For Rondeau, playing is as much a necessary ritual as a creative pursuit or career. He can be found nearly every Thursday night at The White Horse when he is in Austin playing to old fans, and many other nights singing his stories in barrooms and dance halls throughout the country.

While country music is ostensibly known for wearing hearts on shirtsleeves, Rondeau is a musician for whom the man and the music are inextricable. A man singing under his breath as he walks down an empty street. A doleful sound on the wind and a pleasant harmony. To hear him say it on his album Take It and Break It: “Here’s my heart. Do what you want.”

Mayeux (pronounced “MY-YOU”) and Broussard is a Country/Blues/Americana act from Austin, Texas. Formed in the Summer of 2011, the band consists of singer-songwriter’s Tate Mayeux and Brian Broussard, and their band members Taylor Englert (Drums), Misha Ben-David (Bass). Mayeux and Broussard have been performing relentlessly with their full band all over Austin and the state of Texas. Their blend of gritty Texas country and swampy blues is quickly finding its place in Texas music. Their debut album “While The Gittin’s Good” was released November 8, 2012.

Tate Mayeux and Brian Broussard make the kind of country music that wouldn’t have been completely out of place at Gilley’s in its Urban Cowboy heyday. It has the requisite fiddle runs and Tele riffs, along with a lazy Texas swagger that Mayeux compares to Hayes Carll. But these guys — Texans, both — aren’t afraid to get a little bit dirtier than Johnny Lee or Kenny Rogers ever did. And that’s exactly what they do on their upcoming High Times & Good Rhymes, the follow-up to 2012’s While the Gittin’s Good.

— Kelly McCartney, The Bluegrass Situation

Born a Northerner with a Texas soul, multi-genre singer/songwriter Josh Buckley is set to release his long-awaited (sophomore?) solo album, Blind Side of the Heart on September 4th.

First premeiring his talents in Austin in (2011?) fronting the critically acclaimed alt-country band Gilded Splinters, Buckley took the local music scene by storm. Playing a multitude of venues, events, and showcases, Buckley has built a solid and dedicated local fan base in a span of only a few short years.

Buckley’s upcoming exposé reveals the true merit of his abilities, serving up elements of alt-country and old-time rock-and-roll with a side of blues and garnished with soul. His single, “Sara,” a soul-baring yet teeth-clenching tune featured on KUT’s Austin Music Minute, is only a hint of what Blind Side of the Heart has to offer.

From Boston to Austin,Buckley’s Blind Side of the Heart is set to hit the ground running with his radio-ready tunes.

Born in Strong, Maine. Living in Austin, Texas.

“Elsa Cross plays David Lynch’s kind of rockabilly.”
– Austin American-Statesman

“Imagine the darkest of scenarios enveloping you in eerily beautiful tones, as though Johnny Cash or perhaps Tom Waits had a sister.”
– Laurie Gallardo, KUTX 98.9 Austin

“Elsa Cross should have been touring with Johnny Cash in his American recording days.”
– Performer Magazine

“There is a controlled ferocity to her tone and lyrics, even in the music’s softest moments, and the songs would seem equally appropriate if performed on a horse ranch or in a Hell’s Kitchen lounge.”
– The Wire

“Eddie Spaghetti and The Reverend Horton Heat would both fall in love with this woman.”
– Spotlight Magazine