If Rochester rock quartet Austin Hollow’s debut album “The Fisherman” occasionally sounds like praise and worship music, it’s for good reason.
Singer-guitarist Scott Austin can regularly be heard leading the musical portion of services at the non-denominational Artisan Church, where he is the pastor (note: Austin is also a co-creator of CITY’s monthly crossword puzzles). And while the auspices of organized religion aren’t present in Austin Hollow, the music and overall message aren’t all that different.
Austin Hollow’s keyboardist-singer Mel Muscarella and her husband, the album’s co-producer and sound engineer Mike Muscarella, have played music with Austin at Artisan for years. Add bassist Jona Chartrand and drummer Sean McGinnis Scanlon to the lineup — both of whom play with Austin in the Irish rock outfit Sisters of Murphy — and you’ve got a group of band members more familiar with one another than most musicians who are releasing their first record together.
And for those who already love indie rock dipped in Americana, there’s something oddly familiar about the music of the Rochester quartet, even if you’ve never heard any of them play before.
Austin’s conversational baritone voice and B3 organ-infused country-ish rock songs recall the impassioned music of the Austin, Texas-based band Okkervil River and its frontman Will Sheff — a similarity immediately apparent on the opener “A Man Like That.” Austin is bolstered by singer-keyboardist Mel Muscarella, whose strength and control as a vocalist comes through loud and clear on “Fly.”
Austin Hollow plays its vinyl release show for “The Fisherman” on Saturday, Aug. 12, at Lovin’ Cup, 300 Park Point Drive in Rochester. The music starts at 8 p.m. with Fables and Fools, followed by Austin Hollow and The Ribbon Project. $10 cover. For more info on Austin Hollow, go to austinhollow.com.
Daniel J. Kushner is an arts writer at CITY. He can be reached at dkushner@rochester-citynews.com.
This article appears in Aug 1-31, 2023.
