The internet is an infinitely interneconnected series of wormholes and gambits: while most of the time you find yourself lost in the time-killing
nihilistic backcountry, sometimes you click your way to bonafide nuggets of gold. As I was checking in on Jesse Woods—a seriously jaw-dropping Austin-based folk talent that we've written about here
time and
again—I stumbled across one of Woods' links to a neighboring troubadour: the understated country-picked folk of
Austin Leonard Jones. Jones' latest home-brewed output is the June-released
Ponderosa—a six-song mix of swirling acoustic instrumentals and dreamy laid back vocals aptly self-described as "visions of Nashville beaches." "A river flows into my cup," he sings on "Wild Guide" as mandolin, shakers, and a banjo jangle, jump, build and recede into swaying ramshackle poetry. From a recommendation on Jones' homepage, I fell into the world of
Sleep Good, and more specifically, their new shimmering single "Summer Explosion." Trebly Paul Maroon-recalling guitar work, a fat bass line, and breathy vocal blasts of those insatiable and distinctly summery "whoas" launch the song towards blissful sun-is-shining windows-down territory. That's when the clicking stopped—I'd found what I was looking for.
Sleep Good - "Summer Explosion" (from
Monsanto 7")
Austin Leonard Jones - "Wild Guide" (from
Ponderosa)
