Casper Rawls

Casper Rawls plays The Continental Club on Thursday, July 30, from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM. If you've spent any time around the roots music scene in Austin, you've likely heard his name long before you saw him take the center of the stage. Rawls has been a fixture here since the 1970s, when he left his hometown of Helotes to find a place in the city's roots community. For decades, he's been one of Austin's most respected sidemen, playing on more than 75 albums alongside artists like Toni Price, Doyle Bramhall, The Derailers, The LeRoi Brothers, Miss Lavelle White and John Juke Logan.

His signature sound is built around the B-Bender Telecaster, that distinct, sliding country twang that's become his calling card. For a long time, that sound lived in the background of other people's records, but his first solo album, Brave World, finally put his own songwriting and vocals front and center. This show brings that same material to the stage, blending classic country, Bakersfield twang, blues and rockabilly, with stories from a lifetime spent playing with some of Texas' finest musicians.

There's also a bit of local history tied to the venue. In 1992, Rawls founded the annual Buck Owens Birthday Party at the Continental Club, a benefit concert that became a beloved local institution for more than two decades. It's a fitting place for him to play—a room that's seen a lot of the same roots and country traditions he's spent his career keeping alive.

He'll be playing from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM on Thursday, July 30, at The Continental Club.