Austin, Texas

John Mayall gets the star treatment in this installment of the fantastic LIVE FROM AUSTIN series, which features uncut performances from perhaps the greatest live televised music showcase ever, Austin City Limits. Throughout his career, Mayall has been more famous as a picker and pruner of talent–among the ranks of his famed Bluesbreakers stood Peter Green, Eric Clapton, and Mick Taylor–than as a bluesman in his own right, but here he challenges all comers with a confident set of blues classics and self-penned numbers, plus a wildly effusive stage persona. The set was originally recorded on September 13, 1993.

Omar Dykes tears it up big-time on this marvelous live outing. Pulling tunes largely from his then-current Hard Times in the Land of Plenty album, Dykes and his band deliver the goods with loads of panache and attitude for a hometown crowd hanging on every note. Dykes' voice is poised somewhere between Howlin' Wolf and Bob Seger, while his guitar style is a Texas version of John Fogerty's work with Creedence, but the sound he produces out of all this is totally unique. The disc is loaded with solid Dykes originals like "Mississippi Hoo Doo Man," "Same Old Grind," "Hard Times in the Land of Plenty," and a wild encore performance of Jerry McCain's "Rock'n'Roll Ball." One great little package.

Steve Earle & The Dukes ride down "Copperhead Road" again with the concert release "Live From The Continental Club," recorded in Austin, Texas. This exclusive to indie double LP contains 20 live songs and covers a ton of ground through Earle's long career.