A pillar of the Austin music scene, musical psychonauts The Bright Light Social Hour have won 6 SXSW Austin Music Awards, performed at Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits Festivals, opened for Aerosmith and headlined the legendary Stubbs BBQ outdoor stage multiple times. The band’s national profile reached new heights behind their latest full-length record ‘Space is Still The Place’ (2015), with NPR praising it “… continually exhilarating.” Known for their electrifying, high-energy live shows, TBLSH traveled 31,343 miles (that’s 460 hours) across the country following the release of ‘Space’, playing sold out shows to fans in Austin, New York City, Mexico City, Toronto, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco and more. The successful trek across North America landed them tours alongside Dr. Dog, Galactic, and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, and performances atop many of the nation’s most respected music festivals.
The band’s latest single, “Tear Down That Wall” (1/20/17), was written in November 2016 as a direct response to the U.S. Presidential Election outcome. “The president is a divider of Americans along lines of race, gender, class, and nationality,” says Curtis Roush, TBLSH guitarist and vocalist. “With his proposed wall, he seeks to separate us from our neighbors and close us off from integrating further with our human family abroad. We all have ways both psychic and material through which we can resist this division in our everyday lives. As a band, we will use our voices and sounds to keep pushing for love, justice, and cosmic perspective.”
In addition, TBLSH recently wrote and recorded “Harder Out Here”, the Main Title Theme for the new Amazon Originals show ‘Sneaky Pete’, co-created and co-produced by Bryan Cranston. The show was released January 13, 2017 and picked up for a second season just 6 days later behind critical praise from TV critics worldwide.
On November 4, 2016 the band released ‘Neighbors’, a three-song collaborative EP with fellow Austinite Israel Nash. ‘Neighbors’ is a statement about the current toxic political sentiment towards immigration in the United States. It takes the listener on a journey from bravely leaving home in search of safety and prosperity, to the longing for a life left behind, to the often terrifying experience of trying to settle in a new country. As bassist Jack O’Brien explains, “The whole EP is about having empathy for the struggles of those around us, our neighbors – specifically our neighbors to the south in Mexico, and undocumented immigrants who make up an essential part of our communities.” The Austin Chronicle praises the EP, stating “”The Forest” simmers and haunts, and ultimately evokes Pink Floyd, leaving one hoping these two Austin acts remain Neighbors.”
All members of the band work as producers/engineeers out of their Lake Travis studio, Escondido Sound, where they have been working diligently on new music as well as recording area artists such as Ray Wylie Hubbard, Walker Lukens, Migrant Kids, Megafauna, Bombay the Rapper and more.
Jack O’Brien – bass/vocals
Curtis Roush – guitar/vocals
Edward Braillif – synths/guitar
Joseph Mirasole – drums
