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Whether it’s coming out of Nashville, New York, L.A., or points in between, there’s no shortage of fresh tunes, especially from artists who have yet to become household names. Rolling Stone Country selects some of the best new music releases from country and Americana artists.

Joachim Cooder, “Over the Road I’m Bound to Go”

By the time he was 15, Joachim Cooder was already appearing on his father Ry Cooder’s albums as an inventive multi-instrumentalist. On his second solo album, Joachim offers a gorgeous rendering of...

Last week, Austin filmmaker Robert Rodriguez was at San Diego Comic-Con, promoting his latest movie Sin City: A Dame to Kill For with panels and parties -- even walking the convention floor in costume.

This week, the Austin Film Society has announced it will host the Texas premiere of the Sin City sequel, which will take place Wednesday, August 20 at the Paramount Theatre. The screening will be in 3D -- how many chances have you had to watch a 3D movie downtown at the Paramount?

Tickets are on sale now only for Afs members, who have until August 5 to buy tickets at a discounted rate -- as low as $20 for the balcony. On August 6, general-public tickets go on sale with no Afs member discount. Tickets include admission to an afterparty at the Rattle Inn.

Rodriguez co-directed Sin City: A Dame to Kill For with Frank Miller, who authored the original...

SXSW Film Festival Announces Midnight Features & Shorts

Austin, TX – Today the SXSW Film Festival revealed their Midnight Features & Shorts program.

The Midnighters section of SXSW is known for premiering the work future stars of the horror genre. Filmmakers Eli Roth, and Ti West, are a few notable directors who have had their films screened during the Midnight Features.

”Our midnight programs are the bloody, beating heart of SXSW,” said SXSW Film Conference & Festival Producer Janet Pierson. “Since the beginning, midnight films have been an essential ingredient to what makes SXSW so exciting and fun, and this year’s selections are no exception.”

Out of over 3000 short films submitted, only 150 were chosen, and will screen as part of twelve overall shorts programs.

“After months of reviewing a record number of submissions, we’re tremendously happy to share the final program,” said Shorts Programmers Claudette Godfrey and Stephanie Noone, “The short films...

Following the unveiling of the fantastic 2011 feature line-up last week, the South by Southwest Film Festival has announced the films selected to play at midnight throughout the nine-day event, as well as the complete list of short films.

Insidious, a haunted house flick from Saw director James Wan, is among the midnight program, along with Xavier Gen’s sci-fi thriller The Divide, Sundance favorite Hobo With a Shotgun, Argentinean entry Phase 7, and Joe Cornish’s Attack the Block. In previous years, the midnight and SXFantastic programs has helped launch the careers of Gareth Edwards (Monsters) and Eli Roth (Hostel).

Spike Jonze returns to the festival with another short film titled Scenes from the Suburbs, his second collaboration with (and about) the band Arcade Fire after his moving feature Where the Wild Things Are.

For those of you attending the festival, the schedule will be released on February 15 along with details about film-related panels.

Today the midnight features and short sections were announced for SXSW 2011.

This year the midnight features section has some awesome films, including Hobo With A Shotgun, James Wan’s Insidious, Joe Cornish’s Attack the Block, Xavier Gens’ The Divide, and Ben Wheatley’s Kill List. This years shorts include 150 films including, Spike Jonze’s Scenes from the Suburbs and a doc short from Jay Duplass.

Here's the full list of SXSW 2011 midnights and shorts:

Midnight Features

Midnighters

Scary, funny, sexy, controversial – provocative after-dark features for night owls and the terminally curious.

Films screening in Midnighters are:

Attack The Block (UK-England)

Director & Writer: Joe Cornish

A funny, frightening action adventure movie that pits a teen gang against an invasion of alien monsters. It turns a tower block into a sci-fi playground. It’s inner city versus outer space. Cast: Jodie Whittaker, John Boyega, Alex Esmail, Franz Drameh, Leeon Jones, Simon Howard,...

Austin Music Hall in Austin, Texas, will play host to the “Help Austin Help Haiti” benefit concert for the victims of last week’s tragic earthquake. The show happens this Sunday, Jan. 24, with a lineup boasting myriad country and Americana artists such as Bob Schneider, Kinky Friedman, Reckless Kelly, Patricia Vonne, Band of Heathens, Charlie Sexton, The Joe Ely Band, The Flatlanders (with Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock), Robert Earl Keen, The Gourds, Bruce Robison, Kelly Willis, Shawn Colvin, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Asleep At The Wheel and Guy Forsyth....