The Austin 100: Thunder Dreamer

NPR | By Stephen Thompson

Published March 1, 2018 at 6:00 AM EST

Hometown: Evansville, Indiana

Genre: Indie Rock

Why We're Excited: There's a yearning, searching quality to Thunder Dreamer's majestic rock that lands somewhere between The Shins and My Morning Jacket — which is to say, it soars beautifully in songs that pack real emotional heft. Thunder Dreamer's music would sound terrific in a bar, to be sure, but songs like "Capture" are even better served ringing out into the open air.

SXSW Schedule:

March 15: Valhalla (710 Red River St.)

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Stephen Thompson

Stephen Thompson is a writer, editor and reviewer for NPR Music, where he speaks into any microphone that will have him and appears as a frequent panelist on All Songs Considered. Since 2010, Thompson has been a fixture on the NPR roundtable podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour, which he created and developed with NPR correspondent Linda Holmes. In 2008, he and Bob Boilen created the NPR Music video series Tiny Desk Concerts, in which musicians perform at Boilen's desk. (To be more specific, Thompson had the idea, which took seconds, while Boilen created the series, which took years. Thompson will insist upon equal billing until the day he dies.)

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