All things Austin, Texas, have been coming to a head the last few years in the music world. Always a great music town, the scene has blown up to almost too-big proportions, with the South By Southwest festival growing to seemingly unsustainable levels.
Reckless Kelly, however, has been walking the streets of Austin since the band migrated there from Idaho in the late 1990s. At the heart of the group are brothers Willy and Cody Braun, who grew up in a family of musicians that included their bandleader father, who fronted a Western Swing outfit. In essence, Reckless Kelly is a Roots music band that almost perfectly fits the mold suggested by the Americana genre tag. Featuring original songs and a cross between Rock & Roll and more earthy fare, the quintet, which also features Jay Nazz, David Abeyta and Joe Miller, builds up a good head of steam in concert, with the The Seattle Times calling the group’s performance “a Texas Country party” in a glowing live review.
Reckless Kelly has been in existence for over a decade and a half and has continued to produce wonderful albums that get both good press and please its growing fanbase. The band’s 2011 album, Good Luck & True Love, scored a Grammy nomination for Best Recording Package (hey, a Grammy nomination is a Grammy nomination). The band used the same art directors for its latest album, 2014’s Long Night Moon, which actually won the Recording Package Grammy last year.
Besides showing its good sense of aesthetics and great taste in art directors, Long Night Moon is an excellent display of Reckless Kelly’s impressive songwriting talents, producing songs that are rocking yet atmospheric, often telling poignant stories with the lyrics.
Find show and ticket info here.
This article appears in Sep 30 – Oct 6, 2015.