Born into a musical family near Chicago, Leonard "Lowdown" Brown spent his formative years steeped in the Jubilee style of Gospel music, later transitioning into secular music, specifically, blues.

A true stylist, Brown's distinctive fretwork and inimitable vocals have captivated Gulf Coast area fans in a career spanning four plus decades.

Leonard Brown has opened for, accompanied or recorded with such luminaries as Johnnie Taylor, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Trudy Lynn, Sister Sledge, Solomon Burke, Calvin Owens, Diunna Greenleaf, Jonn Del Toro Richardson and Z.Z. Hill.

Having won the Houston Blues Society's first regional International Blues Challenge in 1997, the Leonard "Lowdown" Brown Band advanced to the finals in Memphis the following year.

Brown is featured in Dr. Roger Wood and James Fraher's definitive work on Houston area blues legends, "Down in Houston, Bayou City Blues."

When asked what he loves about playing for a live audience, he shares, “The thing about music, to me, is that it’s a way to bring people together and get them on the same frequency. Most people come to listen to music to have fun and dance; it’s a way to unify people. Music is what we have in common.”The Leonard "Lowdown" Brown Band can be seen performing in the Greater Houston area and touring extensively in the near  future."

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His was hard rock and heavy metal. Hers was the classic sound of the East Texas piney woods. Theirs was a fiery collision, bearing forth a sound that was at once novel and instantly familiar--high lonesome harmonies with a rock and roll soul. Behind Grifters & Shills is John and Rebecca Stoll, native Texans who met in a classic rock/blues jam band in 2008. Between them they discovered a magnetic chemistry that manifested not only in music, but in all aspects of their relationship. When they began playing as a two-piece band, they found a unique voice in the combination of Rebecca's East Texas vocal stylings and John's formidable guitar work. They immediately began writing their own songs, while testing the waters of vocal harmonies and adding an array of instrumentation to their arsenal. A typical show will feature a delightful range of electric instruments, including John's archtop guitar, Rebecca's bass, homemade suitcase drums, a couple of cigar box guitars, a handful of harmonicas, and an occasional kazoo.They call it high lonesome rock n roll, and together, this two-person, dozen-instrument act provides a show full of sound and fury, punctuated with raw, quiet vulnerability, forging new trails and shining new light on familiar ground. They are releasing their seventh full-length album at Shoeshine Charley's Big Top Lounge on June 17th. The Mighty Orq will join Grifters & Shills for the release show.

Paper Gliders is a band with a focus on capturing the vibes of indie-pop and indie rock with catchy guitar lines, tight rhythmic grooves, and three distinct lead singers. The Houston based 6-piece specializes in creating lush harmonies and emotional melodies, forming the basis of their sound.

“lighthearted” is an alternative, folk band based in Athens, Georgia. The band typically consists of five members with songs ranging from soft and contemplative to upbeat and groovy. Ethan Fogus of Immersive Atlanta said it best: "lighthearted is the songwriting venture of twin sisters Gracie Huffman and Eliza Lemmon. Featuring Win Cawthorne (electric guitar), Toni Hunlo (drums), and Aidan Hill (bass), the Athens quintet writes the type of hushed, kaleidoscopic songs that appeal to anyone that takes to gorgeous harmonies and plumb the depths of human nature. Together, the band makes perfect music for any long, introspective drive."

GALVEZTON, is the latest project by eclectic songwriter, Robert Kuhn.

“Honest and Independent Surf RocknRoll Music from Somewhere Near Texas”

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Multicultural poet and musician Robert Kuhn was born in Houston, Texas and moved back in 2010 after bouncing around the world for twelve years. Texas, New York, Pennsylvania, Australia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica and Nicaragua all played home for him as different doors, jobs, occupations and art forms opened and led him on from an Academic All-American Line Backer to a vagabond fisherman farmer writing the critically acclaimed songs he has carried throughout the Americas. Broken hearts, broken backs, failed marriages, violence, riches, drugs, labor, poverty, music, poetry, dirt and salt; so it goes and continues.

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Back in Houston, Robert joined forces with like-minded musicians (including extraterrestrial ancient bluesman Little Joe Washington), surf rock n’ rollers and reggae ragamuffins to form a band and recorded the album “Everybody Knows”. It was Little Joe’s last studio work and recognized by the press as one of Houston’s Top Releases of 2014. Kuhn’s latest album, PERSEVERE, a transcendent collection of psychedelic folk rock n’roll was produced at home in Galveston, Texas after his last tour was cut short by a nearly fatal van wreck in Colorado. It is scheduled for release in 2021.

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This world is changing so fast. Robert hopes it will again take him back on the road to share this rich new music with the friends and family he’s made along the way.

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“I grew up splitting my time between Houston, Galveston Island and Brazoria County.  Lots of Ford 150’s in my childhood.  I got to get me one of those new Lightning trucks.  

I started experimenting with music in junior high and then played in bands through college (Last Free Exit) and grad school (Buicks in the Fall) but it wasn't until I lived on Galveston Island after Hurricane Ike that a vast voice surfaced.  I was a contractor on the disaster circuit traveling the Gulf Coast working hurricanes and oil spills.”  

Enough subtraction led to Stewart's first solo record, Flagship (2013) produced by Kevin Russell (Shinyribs/Gourds).    

Stewart's sophomore album, City Fox (2015) was produced by George Reiff (Joe Walsh, Jacob Dylan), and represents a gem that came from a 2014 west Texas residency building flood levees around the dusty border town of Presidio.

"I knew a metamorphosis had to occur for me to develop as a sustainable artist. I went back to the piano and my music started to open up again. I rode a lot of horses in West Texas, one in particular that helped me on my way.”

Stewart's third record, Renaissance was produced by Stephen Belans (Radney Foster, Billy Cassis). The February 2017 session was held at Ronjo Studio. Jim Vollentine was on engineering. The record was released in the spring of 2018.

"I wrote this record from my 100-year-old house in East Austin, an encouraging first for me. The songs lined up rather quickly and seemed assessable and relevant. During the recording session, I was on a little wall-piano and that opened up my voice some. We recorded it live, with everyone in the same room. It was a great vibe. Working with Stephen is great. All those guys are about the higher song, and idiosyncrasies that make your music unique. Those are the same things that make you want to keep writing and give you faith in artistic longevity."

Call Me JT will be released at the end of 2022.  It was recorded live at Electric Deluxe Recorders in November of 2021.  Additional sessions were held at Brown Recluse Studio where it was deemed complete in the spring of 2022.

The record is produced by Michael Ramos (Paul Simon, Charanga Cakewalk) and engineering by Aaron Glemboski.  Players include Glen Fukunaga, Chris Searles, Michael Ramos, David Grissom.

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Houston, join us for an early listen of #EdSheeran’s new album #Subtract before its official release date of 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝟬𝟱/𝟬𝟱/𝟮𝟯!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

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•Attendees will get an exclusive poster (𝙒𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙩)⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

•Enter to win for cool swag, including 𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘂𝗽𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗡𝗥𝗚 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗦𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗠𝗮𝘆 𝟭𝟯𝘁𝗵! ⠀⠀⠀

•Free refreshments provided ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

•A chance to pre-order & secure your copy because we know this will be a big seller!

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Immediately following our Ed Sheeran "Subtract" Global Listening Party, Heartless Bastards will be on the Cactus stage playing a few songs for us.

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On the new album A Beautiful Life, Heartless Bastards share a wide-eyed and radiant vision for harmonizing a broken world. The Ohio-bred and Texas-transplanted band’s first new music since 2015’s Restless Ones, A Beautiful Life affirms frontwoman Erika Wennerstrom as a songwriter with the power to profoundly influence our state of mind, often by alchemizing her idealism into viscerally potent rock-and-roll songs. With its delicate coalescence of so many eclectic touchstones—French pop and Celtic folk, space rock and symphonic pop, Disney scores and post-punk—the result is an album that immediately lures the listener into a more receptive mindset, one that leads to deeper generosity, greater compassion, and a restored sense of possibility.