Bryan Schutmaat
Austin football star-turned-creative director-turned-alt-country musician Scott Ballew celebrates his fourth album in four years with a release show this week. Though the late-blooming musician bleeds 512, Paradiso reflects on Ballew’s travels to anywhere but his home city. Each song highlights a different adventure – sunshiney acoustic guitar for “San Sebastian” to slower, chillier piano progressions for “The Last Viking in Sweden” – that has led the Longhorn to now feeling content in Austin making music in his 40s. Ballew sounds more his own than ever with outlaw-inspired storytelling that leaves a mark. – Flora Belle Farr