MIKE AND THE MOONPIES:

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For more than a decade, Harmeier and his band of hard-touring road warriors—pedal steel player Zach Moulton, guitarist Catlin Rutherford, bassist Omar Oyoque along with new drummer Taylor Englert —have traveled far beyond their Austin homeland, flying the flag for homegrown Texas music in more than a dozen countries. They’ve become global ambassadors of a blue-collar country sound, striking a balance between timeless influences and cool, contemporary appeal.

Along the way, they’ve stretched their legs, following the breakthrough success of 2018’s Steak Night at the Prairie Rose with records like 2019’s Cheap Silver & Solid Country Gold (an album inspired by the classic countrypolitan hits of the early 1970s, recorded at Abbey Road Studios with help from the London Symphony Orchestra) and 2020’s Touch of You: The Lost Songs of Gary Stewart (a collection of nine unreleased songs written by the honky-tonk hero).

ERIN VIANCOURT:

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Full-hearted, free-spirited, and irresistibly genuine, Erin Viancourt’s take on country music is both timeless and entirely attuned to the chaos of modern life. On her debut album Won’t Die This Way, the Cleveland-bred singer/songwriter/ guitarist brings her lived-in storytelling to a gritty but gorgeously detailed batch of songs, encompassing everything from Americana to Western swing to classic outlaw country.

Rooted in the warm and radiant vocal presence she’s shown onstage in touring arenas with Cody Jinks (who recently made Viancourt the first signing to his Late August Records), Won’t Die This Way ultimately reveals her rare capacity to soothe the soul and leave the listener newly empowered to live each day to the absolute fullest.