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The Austin 100: Twain

Ryan Magnani
/
Courtesy of the artist

Hometown: Franklin County, Virginia

Genre: Americana

Why We're Excited: Twain's vast, searching music conjures the cosmic folk of Tim Buckley: A welcoming, wandering rumination on life, the afterlife, loneliness and "the beauties of this earthly world," "Solar Pilgrim" feels at once human and otherworldly. The latest project to feature singer Mt. Davidson — he's worked with The Low Anthem, Spirit Family Reunion and others — Twain makes the kind of music that, had it been made 50 years ago, would be a cherished cult item today.

SXSW Schedule:

  • March 14: Barracuda (611 E. 7th St.)
  • March 17: Lambert's (401 W. 2nd St.)
  • Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

    Stephen Thompson is a writer, editor and reviewer for NPR Music, where he speaks into any microphone that will have him and appears as a frequent panelist on All Songs Considered. Since 2010, Thompson has been a fixture on the NPR roundtable podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour, which he created and developed with NPR correspondent Linda Holmes. In 2008, he and Bob Boilen created the NPR Music video series Tiny Desk Concerts, in which musicians perform at Boilen's desk. (To be more specific, Thompson had the idea, which took seconds, while Boilen created the series, which took years. Thompson will insist upon equal billing until the day he dies.)