It's fair to say that we've neglected the blog quite badly. Keep up with us on Facebook, where we're much quicker to update. Here's some groovtastic stuff that's happened lately:

We did a residency at Scoot Inn in December, and we got some very kind words from 90.5 KUT (Austin's NPR). You can STREAM THE SHOW HERE, or read the post:

At the risk of you rolling your eyes as you read this Austin Music Minute post, I – your hostess, Laurie Gallardo – will share the same statement you’ve heard from me before about songwriter Paul Banks. When I first heard Banks sing, I was so struck by his voice that I approached the unsuspecting musician and declared, “I want to marry your voice.”

True story. Banks will back me up on this, should you feel the desire to ask. Ehem.

Jesting aside, you’ll discover that Banks is an extraordinary talent. He has a deep connection with many styles of melody – whether pop- or rock-based, or sometimes even classic sounds harkening back to those larger-than-life performances of big band jazz. It’s that huge. Because of this, Banks pushes his vocals to an entirely differently level, without reserve, thoughtfully capturing moments in time. Bottom line:  He’s an incredible singer. Yes, the word “epic” is overused, but the description is quite suited to his dynamic delivery.

If you haven’t seen him perform yet, you’ll have several opportunities coming up. Paul Banks & The Carousels begin a weekly residency tonight at the Scoot Inn, 1308 E. 4th St. at Navasota. They’ll play at the Scoot each Wednesday night through December 21st. Superb. And each night also features a special guest performance. Here’s the schedule:

Tonight – Girl Dreams; December 7 – Some Say Leland; December 14 – The Baker Family; December 21 – Bill Baird.

Excellent music all around. Doors open at 9 p.m. Recommended.

KUT's Austin Music Minute followed that up with another shout a few weeks later when our guest artist was idiosyncratic Austin-music behemoth Bill Baird (Sunset, Sound Team). You can STREAM IT HERE.

Other sweet recent KUT press:

"Jealous" featured on Texas Music Matters NPR program on August 26

KUT's Laurie Gallardo-curated acoustic show

Thanks, KUT!

And HERE is a REALLY NICE ARTICLE about us in a Los Angeles music blog, written when we opened for Zach Rogue of Rogue Wave's new band, Release The Sunbird, at Hotel Cafe in Hollywood (too many links)? We had fun on the west coast in 2011.

We're gearing up to record a new album, and if you've been to any shows lately around Tejas, you've heard us kickin' out a lot of new tunes. It's been very fun to explore some new songwriting approaches and arrangement styles and to get a lil' wild with our drummer Matt's Space Echo tape-delay on my Rhodes electric piano. Getting into the studio with the new stuff is going to be fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun.

Stay tuned for news about the new grooves to come SOON.

Love.

-pb&c