Based in Austin, The Hudsons (Hudson Mueller, Brian Hudson, Phoebe Hunt) are the self-proclaimed hardest working band in Texas, performing most nights of the week, working diligently on their third album, writing and arranging new music, and catching the live music of Austin on their nights off. Though their grass-roots success in Texas has come about naturally, the Hudsons credit their dedication to music and the community that supports it. The Hudsons’ sound is constantly evolving and thus difficult to pigeonhole. Some say its bluegrass, some say its party music, some say it’s the best folk music around Texas, but the Hudsons describe their sound simply as folk-rock. Two acoustic guitars, a fiddle, an upright bass, and three singers define a traditional folk set-up, but the Hudsons are delivering a hot-pickin’-high-energy performance, seasoned with ballads, and marinated in beautiful three-part harmonies. Having played over 1000 shows together, in the intimate settings of the historic Cactus Café and legendary Gruene Hall, to performing before five thousand college students at Bass Concert Hall, they handle the stage, despite their youth, like old pros. In 2001, before the Hudsons were the gigging engine they are today, Hudson Mueller and Brian Hudson played together in a rock-and-roll band called Boomer and also performed as a duo every week at Austin’s Waterloo Icehouse. With acoustic guitars slung around their necks, they played the songs they wrote that didn’t suit Boomer. While struggling to get the rock band off the ground, the crowd for their acoustic duo grew to exceed the room’s capacity, and when the rock band fell apart, Hudson and Brian began focusing their energies on their acoustic side project. After winning the Kerrville Folk Festival songwriters’ contest at UT, which set them up with some studio time, the duo decided it was time to make a record. They spent nine months and invested all their savings in their first recording project Songs About People (2003). Phoebe Hunt (who appeared on Songs) joined the band and brought along a creamy voice and fiddle skills beyond her twenty years. Phoebe also added her tastes and influences to the mix and the Hudsons began sounding less like Simon and Garfunkel and Adam Carroll, to whom the duo was compared, and more like Uncle Walt’s Band, Robert Earl Keen, and Todd Snider. With the fresh sound accorded by Phoebe’s presence and Songs About People just about sold-out, the Hudsons made another album in 2005, recorded live and thus titled Live Album. The Live Album departed from the previous album’s pensive mood and delivered the energy of a Hudsons performance, yielding a faithful glimpse of the group’s talent and showmanship on stage. Free from the yolk of school and already experienced performers, the Hudsons are ready to step out from the local music scene in Texas and into the national circuit. With the next album due in the Summer of ‘06, Bassin’ Jason Vopni playing upright bass, a performance scheduled at the 2006 International Folk Alliance, and a steady buzz building around the band’s sound, the Hudsons are poised to take their dedication to music on the road.