Tune in tomorrow night to see the first post-strike episode of Scrubs, featuring Catch My Disease by Ben Lee! Scrubs airs at 9:30/8:30c on NBC, but check your local listings to make sure you don’t miss it!

I watched Ben Lee’s tonight show performance of American Television and it was amazing. Ben sounds fantastic with this band. I hope he performs more shows with them in the future!

Fell in love with Australian brother-sister duo, Angus and Julia Stone over the last few days. The album - A Book Like This - and EP - Chocolates & Cigarettes. Melodic, catchy folk-rock with fantastic lyrics. Can’t stop playing “The Beast” and “Just A Boy.” (http://www.myspace.com/angusandjuliastone)

           Last night I was fortunate enough to go see AA Bondy (Scott Bondy) perform at the Parish here in Austin, TX. Bondy is a friend of New West and is an amazing singer songwriter. His music is reminiscent of Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie but he has a country twang that evokes Townes VZ. Bondy has written a slew of amazing songs about America and life in America. He adds a religious undertone that really brings out the Guthrie voice inside of his music. The show consisted of him and his guitar with a harmonica around his neck.  He was sick during the show and almost canceled it but he gave a gritty performance that would have been fantastic had it not been for all the shitty crowd noise from the people waiting to see the Weakerthans. Its was disappointing to have so many talk during a show in which attention should be paid not just to the man himself but to what he has to say and what he wants his music to mean. But Bondy, much like the tone and message in his music, persevered and fought through the crowd noise and showed some irritation but all in all gave a gutsy performance that I thoroughly enjoyed. I would highly recommend going to see his show if at all possible.

            His first solo album, American Hearts, is out on Fat Possum but was originally released on Superphonic records in early ‘07. His new style is quite a bit different from his original claim to fame in his old band Verbena. Verbena wasroutinely regarded as a southern Nirvana and even Dave Grohl signed on to produce their 1999 Capitol release, Into the Pink. Do some searching on this guy and go out and see his show. I have a feeling you will be able to catch him for many years to come.

SXSW 2008 was truly and amazing experience. There were so many great new artists that I was overwhelmed. I can’t wait for 2009!