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Watch BAILEN perform an enchanting 3-song creekside set

BAILEN perform a set of songs at a private residence in Austin, Texas, during SXSW 2019.
BAILEN perform a set of songs at a private residence in Austin, Texas, during SXSW 2019.Mary Mathis | MPR

March 17, 2019

As part of The Current's programming from the South By Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas, sibling band BAILEN performed a set of songs at a private residence nestled along Waller Creek.

Songs Performed


"Something Tells Me"
"Rose Leaves"
"I Was Wrong"
All songs from BAILEN's album, Thrilled To Be Here, releasing April 26, 2019, on Fantasy Records.

Song By Song

About BAILEN

BAILEN's debut album, Thrilled To Be Here, doesn't release until April 26 of this year — but don't let the "debut" thing fool you. These siblings — Julia, Daniel and David Bailen — have been enjoying and exploring music all their lives, starting from the time they began digging into their classically trained-musician parents' record collection.

The three formalized their musical aspirations in 2014, when they formed BAILEN. Combining their precisely honed instrumental and vocal talents with their familial predisposition to collaborate, the members of BAILEN have crafted a collection of tunes that comprise lush harmonies, percussive guitars, captivating arrangements, thoughtful lyrics and soaring choruses that invite comparisons to Fleetwood Mac or to fellow New Yorkers, Lucius.

"I Was Wrong," the first single from Thrilled To Be Here, was released in January and just happens to be The Current's Song of the Day for Thursday, March 14.

The album was produced by John Congleton, a prolific studio talent who has worked with St. Vincent, Lana Del Rey, Strand of Oaks, Angel Olsen, Phoebe Bridgers, The War on Drugs and many others. Julia Bailen credits Congleton for letting the band stretch creatively while working on Thrilled To Be Here. "First records are special because you've spent your whole life writing them," she says. "Recording our album in a month at the same studio with one producer meant that we kept the creativity, but also found the cohesiveness."

     – Luke Taylor

About the venue


The residence belongs to the mother-in-law of KUTX program director Matt Reilly — who, coincidentally, used to work with The Current's program director Jim McGuinn when Reilly and McGuinn worked at WXPN in Philadelphia.

The home is in a residential neighborhood that backs up against Waller Creek, which winds its way into downtown Austin — really into the heart of the SXSW experience; for example, Stubb's, one of the showcase locations, also backs up to the creek.

     – Brett Baldwin

BAILEN - official site

Video Credits


Cameras: Nate Ryan, Mary Mathis
Video Edit: Minju Kim, Helen Teague
Audio: Veronica Rodriguez, Corey Schreppel
Production Manager: Erik Stromstad