There are so many great shows taking place this weekend, including two noteworthy shows both happening at Red 7. Look out Mohawk, Red 7 is becoming my favorite place in Austin to catch a show. Granted the two venues are cousins but nonetheless Red 7 is my top choice for this evening as they host headliners, Gardens & Villa on the inside stage. Tickets are still available online so it's possible you could just pay the cover at the door. However, the latest release from Gardens & Villa is fucking great so it's possible this show could sell out in the next couple of hours.


Gardens & Villa - Bullet Train video via YouTube

Meanwhile, just outside the double doors from Gardens & Villa you'll find legendary band, Sebadoh. Tickets for the outside show are completely separate from the inside performance and you'll enter from the alley behind Red 7. Again, these tickets are still available at the moment but the show is only a few hours away so it's possible they'll be gone before doors open. Purchase NOW if you're interested in either of these shows.

If you want to keep things on the purely local tip, I recommend checking out Dana Falconberry and Jack Wilson over at Swan Dive. This show promises to be the perfect date show, if that's your thing and if you're flying solo or hanging when friends then maybe Jack and Dana will be your Valentines? There are three tiers of tickets available for this intimate event, one of which is already sold-out.


Dana Falconberry & Jack Wilson - Swan Dive Tonight! video via YouTube

Saturday be sure to investigate MapJam. It's a really interesting event in which great Austin bands play a free set in various spaces on the east side throughout tomorrow afternoon. I particularly want to highlight Growl and Magna Carda. Growl has been nominated for an Austin Music Blogger Award and Magna Carda will be performing at the awards event on Thursday, February 27th. I would love to see you at the AMBAs and I encourage you to buy your ticket in advance as the price will increase on the day of the show.







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2014 Austin Music Blogger Awards

Our friends at Republic of Austin and Austin Music People have been herding cats in order to get Austin's music bloggers to work together. It seems as though they've pulled it off too because in a few very short works we will be hosting the first ever Austin Music Bloggers Awards. This event will take place at Spiderhouse Ballroom on February 27th. We encourage everyone to buy tickets in advance, they are $12 and all proceeds go toward Austin Music People. If you wait until the day of the event, you risk the event being sold-out AND tickets go up to $15 on day-of.

There will be two sets of awards given out as well as live music from some of the Austin Music Bloggers' favorite local artists. Some of the awards will be voted on by YOU and some of them will not. If you want to see what awards you can (and should) vote for there's a list right here. The music blogs behind the awards that will NOT be chosen by the public are: Austin Town Hall, Austin Writes Music, OVRLD, Pop Press International, Red River Noise, Republic of Austin and Ultra8201.


For my money the awards part of the evening is mostly a way for me to hang out with my favorite bands in town. There are bands I love who didn't receive any nominations and I'm sure there are bands who will win that I don't think should win. I'm sure there are artists that you would like to have been recognized who were not but that's the way things go. Awards are subjective, taste is subjective but we're hoping that this event is a way for all of us who always see the same people out at shows to hang out. Also, who doesn't want to win an award? I want to win an award.

So first things first, these are the bands we've booked to play the event:

• A Giant Dog
• Mirror Travel
• Shivery Shakes
• Orthy
• Magna Carda
• Jess Williamson

There is still one name that is not on the above list. Stay-tuned for that. In the meantime, here are the nominations in the categories that are NOT voted on by the public-at-large:

BEST ARTIST

Aisha Burns
Jess Williamson
Jesse Woods
Phranchyze
Walker Lukens

BEST BAND

American Sharks
A Giant Dog
Black Books
Mirror Travel
OBN IIIs

BEST ALBUM

A Giant Dog – Bone
Black Books – Self Titled
Love Inks – Generation Club
Mirror Travel – Mexico
Royal Forest – Spillwa

BEST EP

Borrisokane – Murdering Teeth
Feverbones – Self Titled
Growl – Gallery
Night Drive – Position 1
Sweet Talk – Flash of Light

BEST SINGLE

Gal Pals – Earthquake
Magna Carda – Shoes $ Money
Marmalakes – Wells
Shivery Shakes – Sidewalk Talk
Tiger Waves – Fields

BEST DJ

Learning Secrets
DJ Mel
DJ Miss Manners
DJ Orion
DJ ulovei

BEST PHOTOGRAPHER

Brian Gray
Chad Wadsworth
Pooneh Ghana
Randy Cremean
Tim Griffin

BEST VENUE

Cheer Up Charlies
Holy Mountain
Hotel Vegas
Mohawk
Red 7

So, there you have it. Are you enticed to go yet? If you're not, that's cool but I'm still going to be hitting your social media about this event for the next two weeks so you might as well just get on board. Ya heard?!?

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