The Bright Light Social Hour

Genre: Rock/Indie/Soul
City: Austin, TX
Bio: The Bright Light Social Hour is an American indie rock band from Austin, Texas. Born out of a university art-rock collective, The Bright Light Social Hour has evolved into an unabashedly wide-screen rock group, melding classic rock energy and dynamics with funk, soul, and experimental influences.

The band formed at a small liberal arts college outside of Austin. Band founders Curtis Roush and Jack O’Brien set out to create bold, funky rock and roll drawn equally from studied classics and contemporary experimentation. The young scholars soon kidnapped Jo Mirasole from a nearby high school drumline and tempted prolific Austin singer-songwriter A.J. Vincent with Curtis’ homemade organic cookies. The completed lineup recorded their new EP, “Back and Forth,” at an analog studio in south Austin. Anchored by fiery ensemble performances and rich harmonies, the record features their first single, “Back and Forth (Part 2)” – a foot-stomping lover’s plea, steeped in dark funk.

In October 2009, The Bright Light Social Hour won the Dell Lounge ‘Sound and the Jury’ contest to play the Austin City Limits Music Festival. The band competed with over 1500 bands from around the world in multiple rounds of public and industry voting, culminating in a final battle of the bands at Antone’s Nightclub two nights before the kickoff of ACL. Supported by hundreds of their local fans, the band lit up the stage to a decisive victory, garnering a unanimous vote from industry judges. Coming off an epic performance on the Dell Stage at ACL, the band will be touring throughout the fall and winter in support of “Back and Forth,” with plans to record a full-length record next year.