grackles

Some bands are born from necessity. Others are just too stubborn to quit. Somewhere between desperation and delusion, Grackles, an Austin-based collective of top tier studio and touring musicians, return with Grackles Deux: The Grackling.

What began as a session without any expectation transformed into a creative wellspring that would take the form of their second full-length album. The earnest lyrics in songwriter and singer Noah Lit’s trademark baritone voice paired with vintage guitars, pedal steel, Hammond B3, string arrangements and dense background vocals combines rock, Americana and blues and brings to mind artists like Tom Petty, Orville Peck, The Magnetic Fields, and The Mountain Goats.

Grackles crossing his arms and wearing a guitar

Helmed by Lit, Grackles began as a side project of sorts for collaborators Jimmy Paxson, Kyle Crusham and GRAMMY Award winning blues artist Jason Mozersky. The outing’s first album emerged, last year’s Grackles, during a rare window of downtime—Jimmy on break from touring with The Chicks, Kyle between sessions with Paul Simon.

In December 2024, the stars and schedules aligned once more. The band regrouped at Arlyn Studios, the iconic Austin studio frequented by Willie Nelson, Neil Young and the late Ray Charles, and launched into a four-day recording marathon—18 tracks, played live in the round, with tequila flowing, fajitas sizzling, and creativity pouring out. “2024 was a stressful year. I crawled into a creative bubble and really don’t want to come out,” says Lit. “The songs were snippets, ideas, or feelings that came to be as soon as Jimmy added a beat. From there it was easy… the songs just kind of revealed themselves to us.”

And as happens in a proper jam session with creative juices flowing, word got out to the Austin music community and the collaborators started pouring in: Jack Montesinos and Joe Roddy (aka The Point) on lead guitar, upright and electric bass and Hammond B3; Aaron Herbster on additional electric bass; Noah’s brothers Joshus and Gabriel Lit on keys and vocals; David Grissom, Eric Zapata (Gary Clark Jr.) and Kevin McKinney (Soulhat) on guitar; vocalists Lauren Harris (Passiflora) and Sowmya Somanath (Felt Out); string arrangements from Invoke; and horn work from Bat City Brass Band.

Mixed in Nashville by GRAMMY Award winning producer Vance Powell (Chris Stapleton, Sturgill Simpson), Lit looks back now at the four month period from inception to masters in awe. The stars and schedules again aligned. “It was the fastest record I’ve ever been a part of,” says Noah. “A creative blizzard that started right before Christmas and finished in March only because Vance had time for us then, otherwise we could have gone on forever! Working with Vance was a dream, and going out to Nashville added some serious gravitas. I love Austin, but they ain’t messing around in Nashville.”

Grackles wearing sunglasses and playing guitar

But Lit, who moonlights as the owner of the popular Austin East Side bakery and brewery Batch Craft Beer and Kolaches, knows this project could have only emerged from the Lone Star capital city. “Austin is creativity – in music, in food, in culture. It’s only fitting that we tapped into the spirits at Arlyn with a group of off duty Austin musicians. I always heard tales of how the records I loved were conceived. This cat or that one was available or this guy crashed a session. It was such a joy to be a part of something like that and to be able to include so many friends and musicians I’ve looked up to for so many years.” And ironically, on the first single from the project borne out of aligning schedules, titled “There Will Be Time,” Lit sings, “Life is just a series of uncomfortable obligations, then you die…”

Grackles Deux: The Grackling emerged from a break in a series of uncomfortable obligations. In their off time, Grackles found the inspiration they didn’t know they were looking for, and the result is 12 genre-spanning tracks of expertly performed arrangements and songs delving beyond the mundane of day to day life into a deeper beauty.