{"id":104478,"date":"2025-12-30T03:31:37","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T03:31:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/104478\/"},"modified":"2025-12-30T03:31:37","modified_gmt":"2025-12-30T03:31:37","slug":"libby-and-the-loveless-the-austin-chronicle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/104478\/","title":{"rendered":"Libby and the Loveless \u2022 The Austin Chronicle"},"content":{"rendered":"

The relationship between Libby and the Loveless<\/a> and Austin two-steppers begins before the music even starts. It\u2019s in the way partners gather near the stage, in the unspoken excitement of knowing your favorite band is about to play some of your favorite songs to dance to. At the Highball, the dancers don\u2019t just listen \u2013 they respond, turning melody into movement.<\/p>\n

The latest installment of People To Wave To \u2013 the docu-concert series spotlighting Austin artists through live performance and intimate conversation \u2013 captures the honky-tonk band in two complementary settings: a buzzing Highball performance from Nov. 6, and an intimate back-porch interview. Seated on front person Libby Hallett\u2019s porch alongside drummer and singer Selena Rosanbalm and fiddle player Rebecca Patek, the band reflects on how they found each other \u2013 and why the dance floor remains at the center of everything they do.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth Selena and I, we both started as dancers in the two-step scene and then graduated into being on the other side of the coin,\u201d Hallett explains.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They aren\u2019t performing for dancers in the abstract. They are dancers \u2013 or at least they were, long before they were musicians. They know what works, what moves bodies, and what makes a floor feel welcoming.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we were dancing 15 years ago, the scene was solid,\u201d Rosanbalm says. \u201cBut it is freaking huge now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

That growth hasn\u2019t just been numerical. The band describes today\u2019s honky-tonk scene as young, queer, and surprisingly expansive.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels like a very safe and loving space for all types of people,\u201d Hallett notes.<\/p>\n

The band itself mirrors that safe and loving space. Hallett explains the band started as a joke until guitarist Schley Barrack booked them a gig and they had to get a band together fast.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSelena just jumped in and said, \u2018Can I play drums?\u2019\u2026 as a person who didn\u2019t play drums yet,\u201d Hallett laughs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hallett doesn\u2019t consider herself much of a musician. Songwriting isn\u2019t about precision so much as surrender. \u201cMy writing style is so rudimentary that I have no control,\u201d she laughs. \u201cYour brain is doing the thing now and you better just take it.\u201d That intuitive approach mirrors the band\u2019s origin story: less polish, more trust.<\/p>\n

What ultimately comes through most clearly in this installment of People To Wave To isn\u2019t aspiration or strategy, but gratitude. \u201cThe fact that I get to do this with literally some of my favorite people on the planet,\u201d Hallett says, \u201c[is] a privilege.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"YouTube<\/p>\n

The Austin Chronicle\u00a0Presents:\u00a0People To Wave To\u00a0is a docu-concert series produced by Kyra Bruce. Find more on\u00a0YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A note to readers:\u00a0Bold and uncensored,\u00a0The Austin Chronicle\u00a0has been Austin\u2019s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community\u2019s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands. <\/p>\n

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