These aren’t the guys who backed Austinite songwriter James McMurtry at his Gravity show a couple years back — rather, it’s a critically acclaimed Ohio rock trio whose record deal was brokered by the like-minded Black Keys and whose forthcoming album incorporates hillbilly string instruments just as readily as it does buzzing garage-rock guitars. Current tour-mates include the Keys, Andrew Bird, and The Gaslight Anthem — all at other dates, sadly.

The Heartless Bastards - The Mountain

Check ‘em out the night before on Letterman.

Nashville quartet The Deep Vibration opens with a set of buzz-inducing modernized Americana that garners lofty comparisons at every turn: Wilco, Radiohead, Crazy Horse, Springsteen, the Stones, Gram Parsons, the Band, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Ryan Adams… shall we continue? Or is the fact that Gillian Welch makes an appearance on the album enough to convince you?

The Deep Vibration - Tennessee Rose
The Deep Vibration - Oklahoma City Woman Blues