Bugle Boy Foundation

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Formed in 2010, three years after brothers Bill and Matt Pucci moved down to Texas from the Pocono Mountains of Northeastern Pennsylvania and fell right in with a simpatico crew of fun-loving hippie honky-tonkers prone to front/back porch picking parties, Austin’s Sour Bridges specializes in a spirited brand of  harmony-laden country rock that’s equal parts Flying Burrito Brothers, The Band, and Buffalo Springfield. They call their sound browngrass — “like bluegrass, but a little dirtier,” and as much fun as it is on record (from 2010’s Working on Leaving to 2019’s Neon Headed Fool), it’s even more irresistible live. If you like your country and rootsy string-band music served up with heaps of banjo, mandolin, fiddle, three-part harmonies, and foot-stomping fun to spare, Sour Bridges is guaranteed to hit your sweet spot. 

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Want to hear a good story? Listen to any Adam Carroll song. His Texas peers sure have, over and over again, and are quick to heap superlatives on a stoic artist whose compositions provide a solitary glimpse into a verdant imagination. “His lyrics are like a good book,” says Terri Hendrix. “They take you somewhere and leave you better than they found you.” Slaid Cleaves calls Carroll “the quintessential small-town songwriter,” and Jon Dee Graham says Carroll “may be the best songwriter that Texas ever produced.” That’s some heady praise for a humble guy from Tyler to live up to — even a guy who’s already been honored with his own tribute album; but if any of that’s ever gone to his head, you sure wouldn’t know it from his down-to-earth, self-effacing stage presence and the way he just keeps on writing the kind of brilliantly crafted songs that leave audiences smiling and even the best of his fellow troubadours stumped as to how he does it. You’ll find no bigger Adam fan though than the one who leaves him smiling in awe, night after night: his Canadian-born wife, Chris Carroll, a gifted singer and songwriter in her own right that he met a decade ago when playing a festival in her hometown of St. Catharines, Ontario. In 2019, the same year that Adam released his most recent solo album, I Walked in Them Shoes, the couple released their first duo album, the excellent Good Farmer. It’s the perfect snapshot of how well they complement each other, both in life and onstage. “As a vocalist, she has the capacity to add just the right mixture of dark and light shades to whatever the canvas of words and music call for in any given song,” Adam says of Chris. “As a writer, she’s sensitive to the story in a song, and she’s not afraid to follow the poetry wherever it is meant to go. I can say that I’m a better musician and writer for having shared the stage with her, and a better person for having married her. She’s a treasure.”

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Before embarking on his storied solo career in the early ‘90s, Alejandro Escovedo already had some serious miles on his rock-legend odometer, having founded one of the West Coast’s first punk bands (the Nuns), toured with the pioneering alt-country outfit Rank & File, and co-fronted Austin’s ferocious roots rock band the True Believers. But it was with his 1992 solo debut, Gravity, that the San Antonio-born singer-songwriter really hit his artistic stride, beginning a long run of producing some of the most literate, ambitious, and eclectic music to ever come out of Texas (or anywhere). The magazine No Depression named him “Artist of the Decade” before the ’90s were even over, and even then many of his best (and most acclaimed) projects were still yet to come, from 2001’s towering A Man Under the Influence to 2008’s blistering Real Animal to 2018’s The Crossing (and its 2021 Spanish-language counterpart, La Cruzada), which told a richly detailed story of the immigrant experience. Along the way, he’s worked with such famed producers as Tony Visconti (David Bowie) and John Cale (Velvet Underground), and recorded with and/or shared stages with the legendary likes of Bruce Springsteen, Ian Hunter, and Joe Ely. He’s also been honored with an all-star tribute album, 2004’s Por Vida, featuring a host of fellow rock and roots icons including Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle, and Son Volt all covering his songs, and been the recipient of many notable awards, the most recent being his 2021 induction into the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame. We are excited to be welcoming this bona fide Americana music legend to the Bugle Boy stage for the first time!

Alejandro on ACL: Watch this look back at Alejandro Escovedo’s storied history on TV’s Austin City Limits, commemorating his induction into the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame in 2021.

Read: Alejandro Escovedo’s 2012 Lone Star Music Magazine cover story, by Richard Skanse

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While some artists make a career out of sounding “a little bit” this and “a little bit that,” Ginger Leigh has never been one for playing anything in little bits; rather, she’s a whole-lotta-of-everything kind of tour-de-force. Funky, sultry, sassy, and sweet, the prolific Austin-based singer-songwriter goes full-tilt and then some, and has now for more than two decades — writing and performing everything from heartbreaking acoustic balladry to dizzying pop, rump-shaking rock ’n’ roll, and straight-up jazz and cabaret. And you better believe she can belt a Broadway tune with the best of them, too, as befits a seasoned stage actress who earned rave reviews for playing the lead role as Maureen in the Zach Theatre’s rendition of RENT. Honestly, it’s hard to guess what to expect from Leigh anytime she steps onto a stage, even when that stage is in an intimate listening room like the Bugle Boy. But know this: You will be entertained.

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Although born in Alabama, Dale Watson is as Texas as the Panhandle or a smokey plate of BBQ. Seriously, how many people can say that Willie Nelson is their biggest fan? He came to country music early and naturally. His truck-driving father moonlighted as a country singer, and his older brothers had bands as well. Dale remembers receiving his first guitar at age 7 and starting to write songs shortly after — “the same stuff I’m writing about now,” he says with a laugh. A man with more than one life’s experience under his belt, he has entertained crowds all over the world, including appearances on Late Night with David Letterman and PBS’s long-running Austin City Limits. Dale has been inducted in the Austin Music Hall of Fame and even founded his own genre of music — “Ameripolitan,” complete with its own annual awards show. But just so long as it’s understood that we’re talking about the real-deal stuff, the 100-proof kind of hardcore honky-tonk that can fill a dancehall floor with two-steppers and a 12-pack of longnecks with salty tears, go ahead and call Dale Watson’s music what it was from the first time he set boot on stage, what it still is today, and what it will always be, long after we’re all gone but there’s still at least one working jukebox playing the good stuff: COUNTRY.

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Houston native Libby Koch began writing songs in junior high school, but she never considered doing so professionally until she attended law school at Vanderbilt University in Nashville — where she discovered she could hold her own in a city full of heavyweight talents. She still went on to find a job at a large Houston law firm,  but ultimately recognized that music was indeed her true calling and decided it was time to, as she titled her most recent studio album, Just Move On. Of course by the time she released that record in 2016, Koch had already hit her stride, having released her debut full-length, Redemption, in 2009, and two more well-received  albums in its wake — including 2014’s Tennessee Colony, which the Houston Press picked as one of the year’s 10 best albums. 2014 also found her winning “Emerging Artist of the Year” at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, as well as being named a finalist in the Wildflower! Festival’s Performing Songwriter Contest. In 2019, she celebrated the 10-year anniversary of her first album by recording the live Redemption 10: Live at Blue Rock. 

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A native of uptown New Orleans, Mia Borders’ powerhouse vocals and compelling songwriting have made her a perennial figure on the regional music scene. Heralded locally and nationally as one of the Crescent City’s best talents, Borders has performed at such renowned venues as Essence Festival, Brazil’s Bourbon Street Music Festival, House of Blues New Orleans, Tipitina’s, and the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts. She has shared bills with B.B. King, Corinne Bailey Rae, Lee Fields, and Marc Broussard, among others. Her live shows are regularly praised as “deeply funky” (USA Today) and “confident and cool” (The Times-Picayune). Her expansive catalogue includes six studio albums plus numerous live albums, singles, and EPs – including 2019’s “well-steeped in classic soul” Good Side of Bad (Offbeat Magazine). Most recently, she released two new singles on her own Blaxican Records label, “Sweater Weather” and “Right on Time,” and Live in New Orleans, recorded at last year’s Crescent City Blues & BBQ Festival.

“Mia’s voice is an instrument of exquisite beauty.” — Christina Oxenberg, Huffington Post

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Singer-songwriter Bob Livingston has never been a traditional Texas country musician living the honky-tonk life — even though he’s spent more than his share of time on the roadhouse circuit with some of the most colorful and rambunctious musicians in Texas. As a member of Austin’s legendary Lost Gonzo Band, Livingston toured and recorded with such legends as Jerry Jeff Walker, Michael Martin Murphey, Ray Wylie Hubbard and many more, playing an integral role in helping to create the music that first earned Austin the designation of “Live Music Capital of the World.” Traveling since the ’80s as a Music Ambassador for the US State Department, Livingston has taken Texas music as far afield as India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Africa, Vietnam and the Middle East, demonstrating  the unique power that music has to build bridges between peoples of the world. These tours earned him the honor of being appointed “Ambassador of Goodwill,” by the State of Texas and “Austin’s International Music Ambassador,” by the City of Austin. His 2004 album, Mahatma Gandhi & Sitting Bull, was a spirited romp through juxtapositions of East and West, and subsequent releases Gypsy Alibi (2011) and Up the Flatland Stairs (2018) and musical adventures have found him continuing to chart new musical directions, proving that for true Cosmic Cowboys and restless Gonzos, progressive country has no limits.

“Bob Livingston helped define Austin’s progressive country sound in the Seventies, but the Lost Gonzo Band co-founder has done his best work this century.” — Austin Chronicle

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A native of Santa Barbara, California, Alastair Greene was inspired to pursue a life in music by his late grandfather Chico Alvarez, who played trumpet in the Stan Kenton Band in the ’40s and ’50s. Hard rock was his kick as a fledgling guitar player in high school, but upon discovering records by B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Johnny Winter, and Stevie Ray Vaughan, the blues became his true passion and focus. After studying at the Berklee College of Music, he formed the Alastair Greene Band in 1997 and was off and running on a prolific recording and touring career, earning such honors as a Best Album of the Year nod from DownBeat for 2017’s Dream Team and a nomination for Rock Blues Album of the Year by Blues Blast Magazine for 2018’s Live from the 805. In addition to leading his own band, Greene also toured the world for seven years playing guitar as a member of the Alan Parsons Live Project, as well as stints with Starship featuring Mickey Thomas. In 2019, Greene signed with Tab Benoit’s Whiskey Bayou Records label and recorded his latest album, 2020’s power-trio tour-de-force The New World Blues. 

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With a voice as distinguishable and versatile as her name, Season Ammons is an award-winning songwriter, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, blending soulful blues with Texas roots and Americana. Her musical diversity is evident with consistent appearances on various national radio charts including Billboard‘s Triple A, the Americana Albums Chart, Roots Music Report‘s Top R&B Album Chart, and regular Top 40 chart action on the Texas Regional Radio Report chart. Her awards include the Texas Country Music Association Award of Distinction (2012); Emerald Coast BMA Awards for Best Country Artist (2015), Best Female Vocalist (2017) and Best Singer/Songwriter (2017); and Texas Music Awards nominee for Best Female Vocalist (2020). Ammons’ most recent project, Steel Hearts, is her fourth and most personal album to date. The Texan took a special trip across the pond to record the album in the legendary Studio 2 at London’s fabled Abbey Road Studios. Drawing predominantly from her experiences of heartbreak, forgiveness, self-acceptance, and new love, Steel Hearts showcases Ammons’ searing intensity and confirms that this singular artist has a lot more to say and infinite ways to say it. She has also partnered with Feeding Texas, donating proceeds from her latest single, “We’ll Get By” to the organization. The track has become an anthem for the times as it brings optimism and promise in the face of adversity.

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Miranda Dawn and Chris Hawkes formed Dawn & Hawkes after a chance meeting on an Austin dance floor. The first time they sang together they found a sound Texas Monthly calls “undeniably intimate.” Their initial duo effort, Golden Heart, climbed to No. 25 in Billboard’s Folk chart and landed at No. 2 in iTunes singer-songwriter albums kicking off a whirlwind of cross-country and international touring performances. Acoustic Guitar hails the musicality of their first full-length, Yours and Mine, as “Impeccable vocal harmonies and instrumentation” and Huffington Post summarizes “Transcendent alternative-folk — you will find yourself craving more from this amazing, dynamic duo.” The duo stored their possessions and lived on the road, drawing inspiration from American deserts and mountains, to the South Australian coast while navigating a shared journey through mortality, grief and compassion for differing perspectives. Upon returning to Austin, they set upon building a new home and self-producing their second full-length album, The Other Side. The Austin American Statesman calls it “10 new tracks of sweet folk-rock – instantly appealing tunes – rooted in the singer songwriter heyday of the early 1970’s, they also fit well into the modern-day indie-folk revival.” In a time when the world seems more divided than ever, Dawn & Hawkes celebrates hope and finding our common humanity.

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Owen Temple is a rambler with the heart of a road warrior, the soul of a poet, and a gregarious spirit that’s as big as the blue open sky of his native Texas. He’s country to the bone, but he’s as comfortable in a coffee house as he is in a honky tonk. Temple has a finely honed lyrical sense, a wry sense of humor, and a knack for blending strong melodies with ingenious wordplay. “I’m a singer-songwriter with a love of traditional music,” he says proudly. “There’s more beauty in the lives and exploits of ordinary Texans than we’re ever going to be able to record, all the eccentric failures and successes of the human condition. My songs are an attempt to capture some of those stories for the next generation. If you’re looking for help with your relationship, ask Dr. Phil. If you want a little slice of Texas history, I’m your man.” Temple has written his share of love songs, but he’s built his reputation with tunes that tell the stories of ordinary folks living their extraordinary lives. His ninth studio album, Rings on a Tree, was recorded with Band of Heathens founder and producer Gordy Quist, and the recording unfolds with some reflective, some sweet, and some funny songs about people you know or you wish you knew. The underlying theme of the songs — written with Walt Wilkins, Kelley Mickwee, George Ensle, and Nathan Hamilton — suggests that we humans are all a big family with a rich, deeply intertwined history that we can and should celebrate together.

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”Writing is the most vulnerable state that I’m ever in,” says Mary Bragg. “But there can be a real beauty in that vulnerability when you know you’ve written the strongest thing that you can, when you’ve paired a killer melody with a meaningful lyric that says exactly what you’ve always wanted to say.” On her 2019 album Violets as Camouflage, Bragg examined that vulnerability in all its delicate splendor, holding it up like a diamond to the light as she carefully studied each sparkling facet. “Her clear, warm alto, reminiscent of Patsy Cline, was made for confidences,” observed Ann Powers for NPR Music, ”and these gorgeously crafted and executed songs touch the listener on a deep level, where insight occurs.” Bragg’s 2017 album, Lucky Strike, was also critically acclaimed, with NPR calling it a “sublime distilling of Southern grit” and Vice Noisey crowning the Georgia native an “Americana Queen.” Her other releases include 2007’s Sugar, 2011’s Tattoos and Bruises, 2015’s Edge of This Town — and 2022’s Mary Bragg, arguably the artist’s most unabashedly vulnerable collection to date. “Mary Bragg is a personal and powerful set featuring a courageous plumb line that centers the 11 songs inside,” raved No Depression. “These tracks tell the story of love set aside and challenges accepted and the resulting vulnerable emotions of shedding her skin. As she sings on the stunning lead single ‘Panorama’: ‘Just to see straight, sometimes you have to leave.’”

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Born in New Hampshire, raised in Maine and now based in Nashville, Rod Picott is a former construction worker who traded his hammer for a guitar and never looked back. He has released more than a dozen albums over the last 20 years, and has also written two poetry collections, God In His Slippers and Murmuration, and a book of short stories, Out Past The Wires. Picott’s songs have been placed in television and film projects including the FX series Justified, the Michael Douglas film Solitary Man, and the PBS documentary Circus. He has toured as the opening act for Alison Krauss & Union Station and shared a win for Song of the Year at the Austin Music Awards for “Broke Down,” co-written with fellow Maine transplant Slaid Cleaves. The two songwriters have been friends since their teens, when they played together in their first band, the Magic Rats. Picott’s most recent projects include a limited edition double CD titled Wood, Steal Dust & Dreams, featuring newly recorded versions of 23 songs he and Cleaves co-wrote together over the last 30 years, and 2022’s Paper Hearts & Broken Arrows. Produced by noted producer/videographer Neilson Hubbard (John Prine, Lucinda Williams) Paper Hearts showcases some of the strongest songs Picott has ever put to tape, ranging from a heartbreaking narrative of boxer Sonny Liston’s tragic life to a full-throated and rocking declaration of loyalty.

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Phil Hurley has been playing in bands since he was 8 years old. He moved from his hometown of Potsdam, NY to Boston, MA in 1987 with his major-label band Gigolo Aunts, who toured extensively in the U.S. and Europe and recorded songs for several big films, including That Thing You Do, The River Wild, and Dumb and Dumber. Hurley later relocated to Seattle, Amsterdam, and most notably Los Angeles, where he performed in the original cast of the hit musical Rock of Ages, wrote the theme songs for HBO’s Lucky Louie and Weeds, and launched StoneHoney — the country-rock band that eventually brought him to Austin in 2009, to sign with Jimmy LaFave’s Music Road Records. Hurley fit right in with the Austin scene as a sideman, playing guitar for the likes of LaFave and Hal Ketchum, and he also co-founded the South Austin Moonlighters, performing and recording with the band for several years before leaving to pursue a solo career full-tilt. His Chris Gage-produced solo album, Nowhere Left to Run, was released in 2019.

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Grace Pettis epitomizes the term singer-songwriter. As a singer, her voice is both powerful and beautiful, and she uses it like a fine arts painter to color and craft her songs. American Songwriter wrote that she “blurs the lines between country, Americana and folk. Her soulful delivery of calculated lyric lines helps her tell stories for all generations.” Her songs have been recorded by many esteemed artists, including Sara Hickman and Ruthie Foster, and she also co-founded the folk-pop trio Nobody’s Girl with peers BettySoo and Rebecca Loebe. Her most recent solo album, 2021’s Working Woman, found her working with producer (and fellow troubadour) Mary Bragg as well as a who’s who of acclaimed women and non-binary artists including Foster, Dar Williams, the Indigo Girls, Gina Chavez, and the Watson Twins. Her other albums include 2009’s Grace Pettis, 2012’s Two Birds, 2018’s Blue Star in a Red Sky, and (with BettySoo and Loebe) 2021’s Nobody’s Girl. She is also the winner of many of the nation’s most prestigious songwriting contests, including NPR’s Mountain Stage New Song Contest, and has received grants from the Buddy Holly Educational Foundation.