When I first went to SXSW in 2012, I think i saw JR JR three times. It could have been four. Regardless, I fell in love with the band. Not in a weird way. Their music – a kind of jazzy, dancey rock with soul – just hit my sweet spot.

That was a time when the main guys – Josh Epstein and Daniel Zott – were wearing some sweet fluorescent multi-colored dinner jackets and just after they got out of their racing suit-wearing phase.

Oh, and they were still called Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. Now, they’ve shortened their name to just JR JR. But the music is still phenomenal, as evidenced by their new self-titled album. You should listen to “Break My Fall” and “Hypothetical” like right now. Those songs are great examples of their original style that continues to keep me guessing – in a good way.

On my actual birthday this year, they happened to be playing at the phenomenal Teragram Ballroom in DTLA, so of course I went. Blown away, as always. It also just so happens that I wrote a feature on JR JR just before they came to town, which you can read here over on Fender.com.

~ Featured photo goes to Travis Shinn ~