Upcoming Concerts | Purchase Tickets | Past Concerts | Newsletter | Contact
Presenting established and emerging acoustic musicians in a family friendly, listener-oriented environment.
Open Ears Concerts is a monthly concert series at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas. We present established and emerging artists, mainly in acoustic genres such as folk, bluegrass, world, and jazz, in a family-friendly, peaceful, listener-oriented environment. We are located on Wells Branch Parkway, just west of IH-35, at the corner of Wells Port Drive. We provide free organic fair trade coffee, and bottled water and soft drinks are available for purchase. Many attendees bring snacks to share.
The Steel Wheels w/Susan Herndon
Friday January 13, 2012
The Steel Wheels are truly an Americana band, rooted in musical styles that explore the territories between blues and bluegrass, old-time sing-alongs and foot-stompin' fiddle tunes. They are subtle innovators who respect the past but whistle their own tunes, layering in rich textures and decidedly modern energy to forge a new sound. The band shines exceptionally in their live shows, exhibiting palpable chemistry, energy, and musicianship that inspire comparisons to The Avett Brothers, Old Crow Medicine Show, and The Legendary Shack Shakers. Their last album, Red Wing, garnered widespread critics' praise and was met with tremendous success on the radio. 2010 was a breakout year for The Steel Wheels with 5 nominations from the Independent Music Awards and numerous placements on "best of the year" lists. It spent 13 weeks on the Americana Music Association Top 40 radio charts, topping out at #15 as well as cracking the top 10 of the EuroAmericana charts. Red Wing ranked #70 of the top 100 Americana albums of 2010 and #2 of all independent releases (Americana Music Association). The Steel Wheels are currently on their "Down Low Tour," which means that concert attendees get an exclusive opportunity to purchase their new album Lay Down Lay Low before anyone else - before it is even pre-released to radio!
Susan Herndon is an Oklahoma-based singer-songwriter whose latest album, the Lloyd Maines-produced All Fall Down, is a collection of songs that includes country, pop, blues, rock, reggae, bluegrass, jug-band, a ballad, a poetry-ramble, and a French song. The unifying thread being, "quite simply, she has one of the sweetest and most comforting female voices... of course it doesn't hurt that she's also a gifted songwriter." Susan will open the show at 7:30 pm, and the Steel Wheels go on at 8:00 pm. Coffee and water will be provided. Bring a friend and a snack to share. $15 suggested donation, but no one will be turned away.
