Doors: 7pm
Opener: TBA 8pm
Silverada: 9:30pm
Evolution. It's what keeps the best bands afloat — song after song, show after show, record after record. Mike Harmeier was still in his early 20s when he formed Mike and the Moonpies. From the start, they were the definition of a workingman's country band, cutting their teeth with five-hour sets on Austin's dancehall circuit before spreading their music to the rest of America. By the early 2020s, they'd become global ambassadors of homegrown Texas music, flying their flag everywhere from Abbey Road Studios (where they recorded 2019's Cheap Silver & Solid Country Gold with help from the London Symphony Orchestra) to the Grand Ole Opry. The growth was remarkable, but all that momentum left Harmeier and his bandmates looking for something new. After all, their music had decidedly changed. Why shouldn't their name do the same? Silverada marks a new chapter in the band's history. It's not just the title of the boldest release of the group's critically acclaimed career; it's also the name of the reinvigorated band itself. Silverada marks the group's ninth release, and it balances the strengths they've accumulated along the way - sharp, detailed songwriting that bounces between autobiographical sketches and character studies; gorgeous swells of pedal steel that drift through the songs like weather; a rhythm section capable of country shuffles, hard-charging rock & roll tempos, and everything in between - with a willingness to break old rules and open new doors. Harmeier wrote the bulk of Silverada in his backyard studio, surrounded by dozens of books he'd picked up at a local Goodwill. Jeff Tweedy's books on songwriting were a big help, but Harmeier pushed himself to get weird, too, finding inspiration in everything from astronomy texts to sci-fi novels. This is a snapshot of a band in motion, chasing down the next horizon, writing the soundtrack to some new discovery. It's the sound of alchemy, of some new metal being forged. And like silver itself, Silverada shines brightly.
GENERAL ADMISSION: $25
Gruene Hall
