Sophie Allison has taken Soccer Mommy far beyond Music City, but on 12.15, she'll come home for a show at Mercy Lounge to wrap up her fall tour. It'll act as the beginning of a little holiday siesta for the now world-famous songwriter before she takes off on a tour through Australia, plays a show in Japan, and traverses the western states this winter. For her Mercy Lounge show, Sophie has a couple of friends joining her on the bill. The first is Motiongazer, the experimental indie rock project of Soccer Mommy guitarist Julian Powell. The second is Dream Wave, the songwriting outlet of Kelton Young, who has collaborated with Sophie on many Soccer Mommy projects. The night at Mercy Lounge should be a fun one for anyone who's followed Sophie rise up through the Nashville scene. Take a listen to her latest single, "Henry/I'm On Fire", below. - Will Sisskind

No surprise, SXSW 2018 was busy. With over 2000 acts from 63 countries performing this year, Austin was jam-packed with industry professionals and music fans all week. Downtown was a human ocean in the wee hours, the crowds were rowdy at venues like Dirty Dog and tamer at the Central Presbyterian Church. I waited in line for many of our favorite NYC artists at venues that were filled to capacity hours before they were meant to go on (I'm looking at you, Anna McClellan). Here's a short recap of my favorite performances from this year's SXSW. 

Beshken's Ben Shirken adeptly took us far away from the noise of 6th street and into an ethereal world of eclectic dance music with a nifty setup and bassist/guitarist Ian White at Burnside's Tavern on Wednesday. 

Jukebox the Ghost is currently based out of NYC recording their fifth album Off To The Races at Studio G in Brooklyn. The band put on a stunning show at the StubHub Stage on Wednesday night, playing old songs such as "Girl" and "Somebody," and also debuting "Fred Astaire" and "Everybody's Lonely," two singles from their upcoming record. Their final song of the night was a cover of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" that had everyone, sober and not-so-sober, singing along every word.

Soccer Mommy played songs from her acclaimed new album Clean in a great set at Cheer Up Charlie's on Friday, followed later that night at the same venue by Brooklyn's Topaz Jones, whose soulful, crowd-pleasing performance had us laughing and dancing alike. "Has anyone seen Stranger Things?" he asked, introducing his 2016 song "Winona."

Finally, my absolute favorite performance of this year's SXSW was Kitten's at Mohawk Outdoor (pictured above). Originally from LA, the band recently moved to NYC and enrolled local musicians BITS (Blu and Rex Detiger) in the live lineup. Kitten's frontwoman Chloe Chaidez was a delight to watch: an unusual burst of energy and incredibly agile gymnast, all without missing a note or a beat. She finished out the night with a 20-foot jump (more or less) into the audience and then sitting down at the drum kit, completely nailing the rhythm section of the last song and taking us all by surprise. -Geena Kloeppel

Soccer Mommy’s music is starkly intimate. Frontwoman Sophie Allison’s writing pairs personal stories with bedroom pop honesty, but if you ever doubted that intimacy would translate to a live setting check out the band’s recently released Audiotree Live session. It’s proof that Soccer Mommy’s music works just as well live and evidence for the band’s recent buzz, fed - among other things - by her full length released on Fat Possum Records and by Allison’s participation in a New York Times discussion on women in rock music. Experience it for yourself on November 14^th when Soccer Mommy headlines at Baby’s All Right.  – Cameron Carr

Contrary to her bedroom pop musical style, Soccer Mommy’s new music video is all outdoors, featuring different shots of lead singer, Sophie Allison, strolling out near the water, woods, and her car over the delightful single, “Allison”. This is one of two songs released off their upcoming album, Collection, set to release on August 4th. “Allison” and “Out Worn” both share similar aspects, an introductory reverbed guitar riff, accompanied then by echo-y, dreamy layers, but the directions of both songs evolve differently, "Allison" bringing forth blissful yet melancholic aspects, and “Out Worn” sounding more upbeat, drum-driven. Soccer Mommy will be touring this summer, which will include a show at Terminal 5 with The Districts--the Philly quartet featured on the Cover of the Deli Magazine's SXSW issue a few years back, who are also set to release their album, Popular Manipulations, the following week. Come celebrate with both bands at their show on August 16th in NYC. – Pearse Devlin

Not only Soccer Mommy's name is striking - her music is really something else. Her new single "Out Worn" demonstrates that sweet combination of maturity and innocence, with a lot of lyrical depth but still not taking herself too seriously. Sophie Allison is comfortably grounded in her songs; the lo-fi vocal processing is soothing and the whole thing feels like a real musical treat. She's releasing a mini-album called "Collection," out August 4th on Fat Possum after a string of self-releases. Soccer Mommy is on tour with Slow Dancer this summer; catch her live at Baby's (June 6th) and Mercury Lounge (June 7th). - Geena Kloeppel