Neck and the Heads
Neck and the Heads blend traditional blues with fast, danceable rock and roll, so they can play the 6th Street favorites and still sound fresh and original. Dancing with the crowd, laughing together on stage, big solos, their band chant, and the interactive tip song that has made them one of the best-tipped bands in the city all add up to a show that turns first-timers into regulars for the bar that books them. Above all they bring the party 6th Street wants, and stay professional doing it. This lineup has played together since July 2026, holds residencies at the Dizzy Rooster every Thursday and Saturday night, and has grown into a close-knit band whose love for the music reaches every kind of crowd. They're just getting started.
Three-Hour Gig Analytics
First hour
Second hour
Third hour
Bar length: what each hour brings in, as a share of the busiest hour (Saturday, 12–1 AM).
View as table
| Hour | Thursday | Share | Saturday | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First hour | 9:30–10:30 PM | 66% | 11:00 PM–12:00 AM | 85% |
| Second hour | 10:30–11:30 PM | 62% | 12:00–1:00 AM | 100% |
| Third hour | 11:30 PM–12:30 AM | 48% | 1:00–2:00 AM | 89% |
Members
- Guitar and vocalsNeck
- Known around Austin as a blues expert, with deliveries that are one of a kind and unapologetically real.
- Guitar and vocalsErik Mathews
- The "6th Street jukebox": polished downtown Austin classics, from SRV to Jimi Hendrix to Chuck Berry standards.
- BassistAlejandro Cardenas
- This past year he became the most-booked bassist in Austin, for his range and his stage presence and stamina.
- DrumsAdam Diaz
- One of the most in-demand drummers downtown, regularly playing with some of Austin's best-regarded artists.
- HarmonicaRetro
- Austin's homegrown harmonica maverick, and the finishing touch on the band's one-of-a-kind sound and show.
EXPERIENCE
- Bourbon Street Music Club - SP, Brazil
- Dizzy Rooster - Austin, TX
- Metropolis - Austin, TX
- Billy Reid Georgetown - Washington DC
- Twins Jazz - Washington DC
- Mexican Embassy to the United States - Washington DC
- Eaton Hotel - Washington DC
- Barking Dog Bar - Bethesda, MD
- Tenley Bar and Grill - Washington DC
- Comet Ping Pong (With Strathmore Levine Music) - Washington DC
- Le Kavacha Bistro - Washington DC (Residency)
- The Green Mesquite - Austin, TX
- CCAA Festival - Guaruja, Brazil
- Patuscada Livraria & Cafe - SP, Brazil
- Bossa Bistro Lounge - Washington DC (Postponed)
- World of Beer - Rockville, MD
- RedSpace Studios Coffee House - Rockville, MD
- Twin Valley Distillers - Rockville, MD
- Redfest - Rockville, MD
- ShipGarten - Arlington, VA
- Capoeira Universal Angola - Washington DC
- Harp & Fiddle (With Strathmore Levine Music) - Washington DC
- The Bridge Cafe (American University) - Washington DC
AND MORE
BLUES PHILOSOPHY
Neck has always held that to play the blues you have to know the blues: not from a classroom, but by grasping it through your own life and your own empathy. He came to understand it by listening while playing live around the city, and by living through tragic, amazing and ridiculous situations. He is also a philosopher, and he used his time as both a student and a teacher as another way into the music.
He spent ten months with American University's philosophy department: first as an interning instructor at Roosevelt High School, teaching ethical theory and how to apply it, then redesigning the rules and curriculum of a national ethics bowl tournament. After that he turned his training as an ethicist on the pre-war blues, researching the philosophy inside it under the university's College of Arts and Sciences. To him, moving his own music forward is a way to spread the philosophy of the blues while bringing its ghosts back to life.
You can read some of his work below.
READ MOREGALLERY
CONTACT
SERVICES
Live Performance
Bring Trap Blues, or authentic delta and ragtime blues, to any event.
Instrumental Feature
Add rustic blues, country or jazz to music in any genre.
Ghost Writing
Prices negotiable.