On their debut CD, "Songs About People," Brian Hudson and Hudson Mueller, two UT students, wax on life through stories about (mostly) fictional characters. So it isn't just a clever title, it's also a running theme.
"Some [songs] are based on real people and some are imaginary," said Mueller. "I figure out what the story is or could be and tell it in the song."
At least that's one reason for the title.
"Really, the reason we came up with that title was because we have such a great follow-up title," jokes Hudson. "Which will be 'Other Songs About Things and Stuff.'"
Both Hudson and Mueller (collectively known as The Hudsons) played guitar, sang vocals, and wrote songs for their first recording. For the album, they have a couple of guests which add a few more instruments, but for the most part they keep it pretty simple. Just two guys with two guitars.
The album was recorded mostly at private residences, due to a small budget. Consequently, the resulting debut CD isn't too ambitious, but rather charming, which suits the duo perfectly.
"Making this record was like being pregnant," recalled Hudson.
The Hudsons live shows are constantly being supplemented by the duos latest material, which showcases their talent for writing and vocal range more so than the songs that were recorded on "Songs About People," which are about two years old.
"They're the most creative songwriters in Austin right now," said musician Darren Appelt.
Appelt recorded a couple of the songs for "Songs About People," and has made numerous live recordings for Austin favorite Uncle Walt's Band.
Hudson and Mueller write songs separate from each other and when performing usually split the singing duties according to who wrote the song.
"I try and sit down at least a couple of hours a day and write," said Hudson, which explains the bands abundant catalog of songs.
"For me sometimes it rains and pours, and then it's dry for a while," said Mueller.
Hudson and Mueller met in 1999 at a battle of the bands at Westlake High School. Both are originally from Austin. Back then, Mueller was in a band called Shades of Blue. The two eventually began playing together
At the Kerville Folk Festival Student Songwriting Contest in 2002, Hudson and Mueller entered separately but ended up tying and playing the festival together.
"I believe we officially became the Hudsons when we won that contest," recalled Mueller. "We'd played together before but not under that name."
But you won't find any "traditional" folk songs on The Hudson's "Songs About People." Their album recalls everything from older folk music like Simon and Garfunkel ("Anna's Song") to more contemporary, folk-influenced material like Jack Johnson ("The Problem Song"). The classification of their music is hard to pin down, but the guys like to say they've created a new genre called "acoustic-folk-pop-singer-songwriter-power-duo."
The Hudsons have certainly come a long way in the past year. Their potential is impressive and so is their product to an extent. This "power duo" will hopefully have many more stories to tell about the people that live inside their heads.
The Hudsons perform every Thursday at Waterloo Ice House
at Sixth Street and Lamar Boulevard.
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