Shakey Graves has long been one of the success stories of the Austin music scene. And even though he’s headlining festivals around the world and packing out theaters coast to coast, he’s not too big to forget where he came from.
On Thursday evening (3-13), Shakey Graves headlined a free show at Austin’s South Congress dance hall/honky tonk Sagebrush, with throngs of fans wrapping around the block like it was a TSA checkpoint for an opportunity to see their hometown boy in an comparatively intimate setting. Shakey’s known for jumping up on stages all across Austin, or playing small club shows in town, including a ticketed event at the appropriately-named Hole in the Wall in February.
The event also featured Canadian country singer Tenille Townes, Travis Bolt, and Tyler Halverson opening up, with Aubrie Sellers playing after Shakey. The crowd was mostly talking over the music for most of the night, save for the gaggle of two-steppers who broke out in front of the stage during Tyler Halverson’s set. The free event was part of Sagebrush’s SXSW programming for this week, and was sponsored by Lone Star Beer and Willie’s Nelson’s weed drink “Willie Reserve.”
But when Shakey took the stage, a hush fell over Sagebrush, and he had the audience in the palm of his hands. With his suitcase bass drum and hollow body guitar, Shakey spun the same kind of magic he’s be conjuring for going on 20 years. Band or no, Alejandro Rose-Garcia (his real name) is able to burrow down to the elemental bones of roots music, and make it resonate through the marrow of the audience.
Shakey performed ahead of his new album Fondness, Etc. to be released on May 15th via Secret Identity / Dualtone Records. It will be the fifth official album of Shakey’s grassroots career that started by him making a stir on Bandcamp, blossoming into a viral status before we knew about such things, smartly allowing fans to find him as opposed to vice versa.
Ahead of the new album Shakey has released the new single “Times Flies,” originally by Frankie Sunswept.
Shakey says of the new songs and album,
“I had a vision of making this album feel like a sort of zero-budget Roy Orbison ‘50s pop record, and with such a small window to write, record, and release an entire album, I figured I should do what the pros would do and sneak in a cover song written by an old friend. I first heard [Frankie Sunswept] play ‘Time Flies’ in like 2007 at the Sidewalk Cafe in Alphabet City.”
Shakey was hanging out in the back of the crowd as Tyler Halverson and his band played before his set. To Shakey, Austin venues like Sagebrush might as well be his living room.
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