Blog Posts

During ACL I had time to do several interviews. Two of my favorites were Roxwel.com and Paste Magazine. Take a look...

The Austin Chronicle has posted several items about my appearance with Sharon Jones and our set on Sunday at the WaMu tent. Here's a quick sampling... Click here to read more....

In case you haven't heard about it already, I had an amazing weekend at ACL this year. The band played to a packed tent, full of a really attentive audience on Sunday, but it was something that happened on Saturday that really set the bar for the weekend for me personally.

Toward the beginning of her set at ACL, Sharon Jones decided - as she often does - that she needed a "good man" to let down for her song How Do I Let A Good Man Down. When she looked up at the VIP area, our eyes locked and she called me down to join her on stage. She had no idea who I was at all, let alone that I was a singer who just happened to like to shake it on stage. 

To find out what happened next and see plenty of video and photos that captured my appearance on stage with Sharon, click here [http://nakia.net/2008/09/27/nakia-and-sharon-jones-acl/.

In case you missed it when News 8 Austin broadcast it earlier this week, here is a link to the live performance that Mac and I did for their Rooftop series with Andy Langer. Nakia - Water To Wine - Live From The News 8 Rooftop [http://news8austin.com/content/living/rooftop_music/?ArID=220581&SecID=427

Following our knock 'em dead performance at the Four Seasons as part of the KGSR ACL preview show, I was approached by a beautiful young reporter from News 8 Austin. Heidi Zhou [http://www.news8austin.com/content/contact_us/news_8_staff/?ArID=191914 said she had enjoyed our performance and heard a bit of my "story" and asked me if I would be interested in being profiled for the station's coverage of ACL. She said that I had a real "passion" in my voice and that she was really excited by the tunes. Of course, I am not camera shy at all so I agreed to do the interview, but only if she promised to give me a few minutes to cool down and dry off. After Black Joe Lewis [http://www.myspace.com/blackjoelewis screamed out a couple tunes, Heidi and I met outside on the balcony of the Four Seasons for a few minutes. She also spoke with Bryan Beck of KGSR for the piece as well. The whole thing just ran on the 5 o'clock news and will run again several times most likely during the weekend, but if you missed it or don't live in Austin, just click here: Nakia's ACL Dream [http://news8austin.com/content/top_stories/default.asp?ArID=220593 - to watch the video and read the story.

Thanks to Dave over at Rawtime.com [http://rawtime.com! He was tuned into KGSR this morning and was able to capture the audio stream of our performance. I have to tell you... We had SUCH A BLAST and we tore it up. Check out the tunes On The Bus & Choose Your Poison along with the brief chat with Bryan Beck & Andy Langer right here! KGSR's Live At Four Seasons ACL Preview Audio!! [http://rawtime.com/mp3/nakia-kgsr20080925.mp3

Just sent out the newest Nakia's Notes with all the ACL goodness about Nakia & His Southern Cousins that you could possibly stand including radio & TV appearances and official show info. Even info on how you can win a pass to see the band on Sunday At ACL!! Click here to check it out.

Yesterday afternoon I had the pleasure of being interviewed by KXAN's Blair Shiff. We met up at Momo's on W. 6th and took some time to talk about the ACL Festival, my hometown, and KISS. Here's a bit from the interview...

"Nakia recalls the exact moment he found out he would play ACL. "Probably the first thing I did was smile real big and thank God," said Nakia. "I moved here right after ACL (festival) started. I remember saying 'I wanna play (the Austin City Limits TV Show) that stage and I wanna play that festival.' That's how I live my life. Here's what I want and here are the steps to get there."

For the full story: Visit Nakia.net [http://nakia.net

Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of having my EP, Playing The Cards, chosen as a Texas Top 10 of 2007 in the Austin Chronicle [http://auschron.com staff picks by the lovely Margaret Moser. Today, AusChron has released the beginning of the ACL 2008 coverage and once again Margaret has given us her recommendation. This time for the festival attendees to check out on Sunday.

Here's what she had to say.... [http://nakia.net

After answering a short "getting to your ACL artists" Q&A for Austin360.com - I decided to offer them a couple of exclusive tracks to stream from their "Soundcheck" player. They jumped on the chance and posted the Q&A along with a link to the tunes right here. Enjoy! ACL is coming up soon!!

This Thursday's regular Momo's show we will be playing right after my good friend Amy Cook who goes on at 9PM. Amy and I are performing together on this night as part of the L Style-G Style Magazine, Sept/Oct issue launch party. This came about because we happen to be their cover gal & guy for this new issue! The magazine will also feature in-depth articles on each of us and include the amazing photography of Michael Thad Carter. I hope you'll plan on joining us for this night of fun and style! Read the full newsletter... -------------------- There's lots of stuff coming up soon... Live from the Four Seasons with Bryan Beck and KGSR, we're playing the Final Celebration at the Backyard with Willie Nelson, Ruthie Foster, Grupo Fantasma, and many more, and there's a rumor that we'll be breaking into San Antonio in October as well! So stay tuned! Also, I will be playing a special set with my Southern Cousin, Derek Morris, at the Driskill Hotel in downtown Austin next Monday night from 7-9. It's upstairs in the bar. You can come and sit around the big piano and drink and make requests. It's a lot of fun! Read the full newsletter...

Tonight's show at Momo's was, as usual, really great! Great band that played before us - Douglas Jay Boyd [http://www.myspace.com/douglasjayboyd], and then we came on rockin' the house to a lot of new faces. One familiar face happened to pop his head in the door early in the night. Lucky for us - and the audience - this face happened to belong to none other than Gary Clark, Jr. [http://www.garyclarkjr.com/]! Just last week Mac and I saw him sit in with Jimmie Vaughn [http://www.jimmievaughan.com/] at Antone's and I was - as usual - blown away by him. He's so laid-back and super talented. I said to myself, "Man! I wish I could have Gary Clark, Jr. sit in with me!" As we were leaving Antone's that night we saw him speaking with Joe Constantine [http://www.cardboardboxmusic.com/] and we invited him to come by and see us sometime at Momo's on a Thursday. Mac even went so far as to extend an open invite for him to jam with us. We left Antone's and that was that. But tonight, I was floored when he walked in with some friends and I called for Gary from the stage to come up. Sure enough - he stepped up, Mac gave him his Fender Strat and here's what happened next...

After the set, we posed for a pic and I mingled in the audience trying to gather more emails for our mailing list. Gary hung out for most of the second set too, but had to cut out about 3 songs before we called it a night. Too bad, I was going to call him up again for Driving Wheel. Somehow though... I don't think this will be my last chance to play it with him. Thanks Gary! Nakia

Sometimes late at night I find myself Googling my name just for fun. Come on... You know you've done it too! Tonight, I found this amazing review of my SXSW show from back in March and of the Playing The Cards EP. Thought I would share it with you. Here's a blurb from the Twangville.com article:

In a small room off the beaten path at this year’s SXSW I found a big voice. Austin singer-songwriter Nakia took possession of the room that night, his rich and brawny voice shifting effortlessly from a soulful ballad to a R&B rave-up. Ably backed by his top-notch band the Southern Cousins, it was a highlight of the conference.

Nakia's Notes [http://www.nakia.net/newsletterarchive/2008/080408.htm] is out this week with a few quick items, but I wanted to make sure you saw this section for sure.... I am so thrilled to tell you that this Thursday you're in for a real treat... The one and only, Freedy Johnston will be performing a very special band set at Momo's just before we take the stage THIS Thursday! Freedy is a favorite among critics and songwriters alike and certainly one of my all-time favorite singer/songwriters. I cannot stress to you enough the importance of coming out early to see this very special set with a great band backing Freedy including Mark Addison and Joey Shuffield. Visit Freedy's site [http://www.freedyjohnston.com] for more info...

Read the rest of this issue of Nakia's Notes by clicking here [http://www.nakia.net/newsletterarchive/2008/080408.htm]...

Howdy Folks ! Let's keep it short and sweet, shall we? Tonight is Thursday and unless you've been hiding under a rock or you're new to the scene then you know that we will be playing down at Momo's tonight starting at 10PM! We've been playing a lot of the new tunes off the upcoming new CD and throwing in some your favorites along the way! So comb out that wig or dust off that crimping iron and get out there and shake it tonight with Nakia & His Southern Cousins! See ya there! Read the entire newsletter to find out how you could win a spot on the guestlist for you and a friend! Read it here [http://nakia.net/newsletterarchive/2008/072408.html].