{"id":115200,"date":"2026-01-08T06:36:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T06:36:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/115200\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T06:36:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T06:36:10","slug":"little-mazarns-intergenerational-growth-the-austin-chronicle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/115200\/","title":{"rendered":"Little Mazarn\u2019s Intergenerational Growth \u2022 The Austin Chronicle"},"content":{"rendered":"

The national music industry grinds to a halt in the wintertime. Good thing we\u2019ve got live music at home. <\/p>\n

Each January, the Red River Cultural District, Austin\u2019s live music epicenter, ditches the cover fees to produce Free Week, a locals-only music festival that guarantees working musicians and music venue employees get a paying gig. The Chronicle spoke with the artists we\u2019re most excited to see this weekend \u2013 two of which play our own showcase, Jan. 10 at the 13th Floor. <\/p>\n

As spring follows winter, Little Mazarn\u2019s Lindsey Verrill spins life into song. For 10 years now, the multi-instrumentalist songwriter has been playing under the Little Mazarn title, borrowed from her grandparents\u2019 address, joined by longtime avant-garde instrumentalist Jeff Johnston and prolific road dog Carolina Chauffe.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really saw a shift this year into: This is what we do,\u201d says Verrill. \u201cLike a farmer, it\u2019s a constant practice, a nature. To move to that attitude, it took 10 years.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Somewhere along the way, someone told the soft-spoken singer that the relentless pace and burdensome insecurities that come with musicianship would ease after a decade, in one of those pat-on-the-back adages that both soothes and irritates a frustrated upstart.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember just being like, agh,\u201d Verrill says, admitting that now, the aphorism holds true. \u201cIt\u2019s time devoted towards something and then you are just too busy being an artist to be concerned with who\u2019s checking it out or why.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Jacob Dapper<\/p>\n

On Mustang Island<\/a>, the triad\u2019s third full-length album, that immersion is palpable. The haunting whistles, delicately tailored lyrics, and intricately lucid strings that reverberate through the 10 tracks are extraterrestrial: both deeply rooted in this planet and endowed with otherworldly magic. Enchanting additions by Felt Out<\/a>, who will join Little Mazarn at the Chronicle\u2019s Free Week showcase<\/a> at 13th Floor, bolster the record\u2019s sincere serenade.<\/p>\n

The hearty seeds of Little Mazarn\u2019s vocal-led, definition-resistant sound were planted many moons ago, when Ethan Azarian<\/a> offered Verrill a gig accompanying him on cello at a Hole in the Wall residency. On the other side of the expansive songwriter sat Johnston, expertly wielding his bow and saw. It was the beginning of an animating and supportive friendship.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like we were born to do this together.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Little Mazarn\u2019s Lindsey Verrill<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had really good chemistry playing together,\u201d Verrill says. \u201cIt was always just very jokey and fun and casual between us. That inspired me to start thinking about writing songs myself or doing my own music.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnston stuck around, patient and stocked with Austin lore and lessons, as Verrill meandered through experimental Guy Clark renditions and a stint on guitar, plucking her way to the sparse, strings-forward style that distinguishes a Little Mazarn song today.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The pair found Chauffe, who also plays under the name hemlock<\/a>, in 2019 and convinced them to tag along on a monthlong tour that quickly bled into a longstanding, interstate collaboration, finalizing the intergenerational freak folk trio.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re [each] exactly 17 years apart,\u201d says Verrill, a sign, one among many, that the group was meant to be. \u201cIt\u2019s like we were born to do this together.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

True to the mystical fluidity of their music, Verrill notes that each bandmember is poised on the cusp of two generations, born between two identities. The swirling combination of novelty and nostalgia so expertly captured in their tradition-waxing, innovative sound is representative of these influences, and symbiotic growth from many years of collaboration.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve learned so much from Jeff and Carolina. I get the benefit of being right in the middle,\u201d Verrill says. Surrounded by Johnston\u2019s five decades of Austin experience and Chauffe\u2019s devotional songwriting practice, encountering new acts through the silver-haired sawist\u2019s encyclopedic memory and the nomadic younger artist\u2019s internet-informed philosophy, Verrill finds herself with inspiration aplenty, ripe to be plucked and attentively served.<\/p>\n

\nLittle Mazarn\u00a0<\/p>\n

Saturday 10, 9pm, the 13th Floor\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Join\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tArt-punk trio mines rich sonic textures from unfamiliarity and collaboration\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Life\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tLifelong pianist opens up on funky new material\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

This article appears in January 9 \u2022 2026<\/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","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The national music industry grinds to a halt in the wintertime. Good thing we\u2019ve got live music at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":115201,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133,50649,39199,50650,50651,44374],"class_list":["post-115200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news","tag-carolina-chauffe","tag-free-week-2026","tag-jeff-johnston","tag-lindsey-verrill","tag-little-mazarn"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115200"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115200\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}