Mountain Time Release Meet The Kid

I’m sure most of you are familiar with the ATX legend Chris Simpson and his large catalogue of music with Mineral, The Gloria Record, Zookeeper, and tons of other local groups. Over the last few years, Simpson has turned his focus to a more singer/songwriter folk style of music with his project Mountain Time. If you didn’t pick up his “best of” or song collection of solo music from last year, Saint Francis, Zookeeper, well you should really grab a copy. This year Chris is working on a new album for a planned release next year, but in the meantime he’s shared this new single “Meet the Kid”. As has come to be expected, Simpson displays his keen ability to construct a near perfect folk inspired, American pop tune. Dig it.

Fun Fest Interview: Mineral

mineralFun Fest weekend is here kids and ATH is just about ready to kick this thing into high gear.  Before we wrap up our pre-festival coverage, we’ve got one more interview coming your way from one of our favorite all time Austin bands Mineral.  Founding father and vocalist Chris Simpson was nice enough to answer some of our tough questions.  I tried my best not to be a fan boy… Follow the jump for one of my most anticipated interviews of the festival season.

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Top 13 Bands of FFF Fest

1112top5coverFun Fun Fun Fest snuck up on me quite a bit this year and it’s hard to believe that we are just one short week away from Austin’s best festival.  Good times will be had by all I’m sure and of course ATH is here to ensure that you will be aptly prepared for the weekend of fun.  Today we’re continuing our coverage of the fest with a look at 13 bands you definitely shouldn’t miss out on.  Why 13?  Because it’s Halloween and we’re cool.  Follow the jump for the list in no particular order.

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Fun Fun Fun Fest Announces Lineup!!!

FFF9_poster_(2)_(1)I’m supposed to be watching the Los Spurs game, but the world can’t wait to hear the great news about Fun Fun Fun Fest.  There’s heavy hitters like Mineral, Nas, Dinosaur Jr, Death Cab for Cutie, Neutral Milk Hotel and more.  But, as they always do, there’s some great emerging artists we’ll keep you up to date with like King Tuff, Majical Cloudz, Courtney Barnett and Angel Olsen.  Click HERE for the full line-up…tickets go on sale tomorrow at 10am right here.

FTC: The Impossibles

impossiblesAs I thought about this year’s best Austin albums (which comes out next week folks), I came across an ancient video of one of my favorite local bands, The Impossibles. Growing up in Austin, I had the pleasure of singing along with this band at least once a month.  Sure, I didn’t know everyone there, but I felt as if they were all my friends.  We screamed, we threw up our hands in unison, and yes, we skanked a little bit, or a whole lot, depending upon your dedication and conditioning.  The guys in this band went on to play parts in Mineral and LAX (lets not forget Slowreader).   It was a time of youth and innocence, and The Impossibles were the perfect blend of both.  Let’s travel down memory lane together.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/04-Erin-With-An-_E_.mp3]

From The Closet: Mineral

mineral1I’ve been feeling really nostalgic lately about my Emo days in high school and college so I thought the hottest Austin emo band Mineral would be a solid choice for our From the Closet.  Mineral were only around for about 4 years and only put out two full LPs, both of which superb additions to the then trendy Emo genre.  After their break up in 1998, Chris Simpson went on to form The Gloria Record and now fronts the Austin folk-pop band Zookeeper.  The song I’ve got for you is “& Serenading” which appears on the bands second LP EndSerenading.  It’s long been one of my favorites from the late 90s emo genre.

[audio: https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/09-serenading.mp3]

Download: Mineral – & Serenading [MP3]