Peter McPoland brought his indie rock sound to Historic Scoot Inn, starting off his Big Lucky North American Tour in Austin, TX.
Peter McPoland is an American singer-songwriter from Texas. McPoland learned to play guitar when he was 14 years old and hasn’t looked back since. In 2018, he released his first few singles. It wasn’t until 2020 that his single “Romeo and Juliet” blew up on TikTok. Later that year, he signed to Columbia Records. Since then, he has released four studio albums, the most recent being Big Lucky (2026). Uniquely, McPoland produced and performed the entire album. He even painted the album cover himself.
Opening for Peter McPoland is folk duo, DUG. Dug is made up of musicians Conor O’Reilly and Jonny Pickett. The band is based in Dublin and flew across the pond to visit excited fans in the States. The two are a fairly new group and have only been making music together for about two years. In 2025, they released their debut album, Have At It!. They are astounding folk musicians and find roots in their Irish ancestry.
During their set, they performed songs such as “Jubilee” and “Have At It!” Before performing “Have At It!,” O’Reilly gave the American crowd an Irish lesson and taught them a few slang words. He explained that “guards” were the police and “yokes” were drugs. Keeping the audience engaged was second nature to DUG. They stopped and talked to the audience throughout the entire show. They told fans that anyone named Doug could use that to get into their concert for free, and over the past two years, no one has taken them up on the offer. Before performing “Promotor Man,” an unreleased song, Pickett told the crowd that every time they sang the lyrics “Mr. Promotor Man,” the crowd was to boo them. O’Reilly performed the song from the point of view of a conniving promoter trying to profit from artists. The crowd got really into it and had a fabulous time booing the two.
At about 6:55 PM, McPoland slyly snuck through the front entrance of Scoot Inn and headed to the side of the stage. The distracted audience members never noticed, as they were too focused on the crew checking equipment. Five minutes later, Peter and his band sauntered out and began their performance. Touring with him are musicians Josh Suarez (electric guitar/keys), Joe Curtin (drums), and Landon Laney (bass). McPoland opened his set with “What Do You Do To Me?,” a song from his new album. He also performed older songs such as “Shit Show” and “Eloise,” both singles from 2021.
During his show, he announced that he would be permanently moving to Austin after his tour. He said he tried New York and Los Angeles, but that it was Austin that was calling him. The entire show, he hyped up the city, and the locals felt the love. He closed his set with his track, “Swing Low.” Peter McPoland and DUG will continue to travel across America for the next two months. Later, McPoland will continue his tour in Europe before returning to his newfound home in Austin.
PETER MCPOLAND
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