D’Amato’s 2010 debut Down Wires garnered a bunch of buzz and even earned the twentysomething a nod from World Cafe’s “Next” series. That debut was largely a spare affair, with D’Amato recording much of the album in his Princeton dorm room. Between his studies, he toured with the likes of Pete Yorn and Ben Kweller.

On May 29, D’Amato will release his follow-up, titled Paper Back Bones. It was recorded with a lot of help from his friends, including violinist Amanda Shires and members from Midlake, Crooked Still, and Ben Kweller’s band. The aforementioned “Hank Williams Tune” also makes an appearance on the record. With Brittany Haas from Crooked Still on fiddle, D’Amato weaves his story on acoustic guitar and harmonica. He makes a connection between Leonard Cohen’s poems, Jack Kerouac’s novels, the Rolling Stones’ wild horses, and Hank Williams’s tunes, drawing inspiration from a half-century of art to create something deeply personal.

Jaffe recently stopped by KUT for a set in Studio 1A. One of the songs she performed is a version of her song “Talk,” which originally appears on The Body Wins. It’s a sinister song built on cold, electric beats, synths and gravelly guitars. There’s an anger seething under the surface in Jaffe’s voice. She’s keeping it together, but you can hear the menace when she sings, “And I feel ignorant to be certain. Strung out like a fool. I know I don’t need to, but I know that I want you.” The taught, rocking sound of “Talk” may be light-years away from “Clementine,” but they’re both undeniably Sarah Jaffe.

It’s definitely a big change, but let’s take a look at the history of The Magnificent Snails before we look ahead to The Gorgeous Hands. Rusty and Chris Galis and Blaine McGaffigan formed The Magnificent Snails in 2010. In February the following year the group released their debut six-song EP Baby Acid Trips, and added a fourth member Charlie Magnone. Later that summer drummer and percussionist Cullen Faulk replaced McGaffigan, who left the band to pursue greener pastures overseas. The band has been working on new songs, and is set to release a 7″ this summer and a full-length later this year.

This is a new beginning of sorts for the band, and partly contributed to the name change. “The reason we’re changing our name is that we’re looking to tackle this new music with a fresh outlook,” says singer Rusty Galis. “We’re going to be putting a lot of time and effort into this project over the rest of the year and we’ve sort of outgrown the Snails moniker.”

But before we officially say goodbye to The Snails, and say hello to The Gorgeous Hands, we’ve culled one of the standout tracks from Baby Acid Trips as today’s song of the day. It’s a horn-laden, aptly-titled bit of lo-fi pop goodness called “Decisions Decisions.”

In 2003 singer and guitarist Sergio Trevino formed Buxton with multi-instrumentalist Jason Willis and bassist Chris Wise in the town of La Porte (just east of Houston on the Gulf Coast). They self-released their first record Red Follows three years later, but it was sophomore record, A Family Light, that earned them new fans, including the folks at venerable roots label New West Records who signed the band in 2011. At New West they joined a roster which includes the likes of John Hiatt, Steve Earle, The Old 97s and Kris Kristofferson (to name a few).

In January Buxton released Nothing Here Seems Strange, their third full-length, and first with New West. Today’s song of the day “Boy of Nine” kicks off the second half of the record. The tune has the heart of a loose front-porch jam and the punch of a rock show. The instruments are pure folk (mandolins, acoustic guitars, banjos), but the sound of them all together is just plain huge. The percussion booms, and the vocal harmonies are really lovely. The song is a perfect representation of what makes Buxton great, and why we here in Austin (and beyond) should be taking notice.

You’ll get a chance to catch Buxton Wednesday night when they play the ND alongside The Donkeys from San Diego and Austin’s own Wild Child.

Though he was born in Maine, Cleaves is largely known as a Texan, but it took him awhile to make his way to the Lone Star State. He got his musical start by busking in Cork City, Ireland while on a study-abroad trip. His love of classic songwriters–Woody Guthrie, Hank Williams, Bruce Springsteen, and Tom Petty–informed his own style, and Cleaves released his debut album in 1990. He fronted the band the Moxie Men for a record, but Cleaves went back to playing solo–an acoustic environment that fits him perfectly.

In 1992, he moved to Austin and never looked back. He’s a mainstay of the folk scene, even winning the prestigious New Folk competition at the Kerrville Folk Festival. Many of his best albums are simply live recordings, and Cleaves showed off his performance skills not too long ago when he stopped by KUT’s Studio 1A with fiddle and mandolin player Wayne “Chojo” Jacques. Cleaves’s session included the brand-new “Texas Love Song,” today’s song of the day. It may sound effortless, but there’s a smart directness to it–his ability to find enough words that rhyme with Texas is certainly a skill in itself, and the melody sticks in your head like any good Slaid Cleaves song.

She already has some heavy-hitters in her corner. Tom Waits took a shining to her music while she worked as a nanny to his kids, and her first album featured the polyrhythmic drumming of former Police-man Stewart Copeland. Just in the past year, she’s toured as a backup singer to Peter Gabriel and taken her own work on the road in support of the avant-bluegrass group Punch Brothers.

That’s an eclectic galaxy of stars as company, but those various strains–the bawdy jazz, the globe-hopping rhythms, the pop hooks, and complex musicianship–all figure in Hoop’s songs. The House That Jack Built was recorded with three different producers, but rather than sounding scatter-shot, it comes across as lively, with musical contributions coming from every corner. First single “Born To” bounces along smartly while asking why some of us are born into wealth while others are born into famine. It’s a heady question, but it’s obvious Hoop is taking that talent she was born with and running with it.

Last spring Briggs released Wound & Will, her first record as Little Brave. Not content to just throw the record out to the world and hope for the best, Briggs crafted an honest-to-goodness musical based on the album to celebrate its release. “This was easily the best show I’ve seen so far this year, and it wasn’t about the confetti: it was about the songs and the vision of a top-notch all-around artist the regional music scene should be proud of,” wrote Enrique Lopetegui of the San Antonio Current in a March 2011 review of the show.

One of Wound & Will‘s standout tracks, “Cut & Paste” is today’s song of the day. There are, appropriately, two parts to “Cut & Paste.” The first is marked by big, pounding drums, and Briggs’ expressive voice. There’s a yearning to it, as if Briggs can see her future in front of her, but she’s not quite there yet. About two-thirds of the way through the song effortlessly segues into the buoyant second part, with an electric organ giving the song a bouncy energy. It’s a great conclusion to a cinematic song.

You’ll get a chance to hear Briggs perform “Cut & Paste” live this Friday. As fellow locals Courrier celebrate the release of their new album, Little Brave will share the bill at Stubb’s. Likewise, this fall Little Brave is also set to release a follow-up EP to Wound & Will.

Foster began her professional career in 2000 with the release of her sparse first record These Eyes Are Above. The following year she made a slight left turn and released a set of children’s songs called Little Life. In 2004 Foster turned in All the Leaves Are Gone, a haunting set of 60s-inspired, psychedelic-folk tunes, but never one to remain in one genre too long, Foster has also penned albums that touch on the classical world (2006′s A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing) and dusty folk (2005′s Hazel Eyes).

For her latest work, Perlas (which is set for a May 15 release), Foster has again teamed up with Victor Herrero Band. Foster worked with the Spanish folk group previously on 2010′s Anda Jaleo, a collection of songs based on the poetry of Federico Garcia Lorca. Foster and Herrero recorded Perlas live in a small studio on the coast of southern Spain. You can hear the intimacy of the recording on tunes like today’s song of the day, “Sangre Colorada.” It’s a peppy, yet languid song that has the breezy feel of an afternoon spent playing music in the warm Spanish sun.

If you’re a fan of angsty pop-punk, you’ll probably recognize Vasoli as the front man for the band Starting Line. If you’re not (and I can probably safely assume you’re not), don’t get the wrong idea, because Vasoli is no one-trick pony. He formed the group Person L as a side-project in 2006. Over the course of two decidedly rockist Person L records Vasoli explored sonic territories (some down-and-dirty, sludgy, Helter Skelter-y riffage for example) unavailable to the shiny, mall-ready, pop-punk of Starting Line.

For Vacationer, Vasoli has made a turn for the electronic. Vacationer’s debut LP Gone (released May 20 this year) showcases a new side of Vasoli, one that recalls the twee eclecticism of groups like Animal Collective and Local Natives. Today’s song of the day, “Dreamlike,” is a perfect example. There’s a lot going on in the song from propulsive rhythm to a flock of dainty melodic flourishes. But it’s delicately-layered, and all the composite bits make for a zippy little pop song.

You can catch Vacationer tonight at The Parish when they play with Tennis.

Timber Timbre’s sound perches at the intersection of folk, blues, and soul, but it’s built up through a dark, almost swampy energy and an added touch of Canadian coldness. The Toronto-based trio favors simple arrangements with minimal instrumentation, giving plenty of room for the songs to breathe and really sink in. Kirk’s lonesome voice is always front-and-center, weaving dark tales about sinners, saints, and everyone in between.

Despite the low-key feel, they’re starting to gain traction, both in their native country and abroad. Fellow Canadian Feist tapped them as her opening band on her current tour, so Timber Timbre’s smoky sound has been taken out of the clubs and put on much larger stages. Yet it still works remarkably well, as we found out when the band came in for a live session. Recorded in Studio 1A, “Bad Ritual” is a standout on Creep On Creepin’ On, living up to the album title’s name with a sound that creeps along the studio floor.