South Austin Song Circle: Matt Heckler, Zach Aaron, Hayden Karchmer & Molly Ruth

MATT HECKLER is a solo multi-instrumentalist that barely fits into any ordinary musical category. He tends to keep to the darker side of Appalachian mountain music and early bluegrass but listen long enough and you’ll soon be transported to the mountains of Eastern Europe or a dimly lit bar in Ireland where they honor those who have passed with a gently swaying a cappella ballad. After touring almost nonstop for years in support of bands like Devil Makes Three, Lost Dog Street Band, Flogging Molly, and others, HECKLER, like the rest of us, got sidelined by the ongoing global pandemic. With the newfound time off, he set to pushing creative boundaries in his home recording studio as far as his mind would allow. Each fiddle, banjo, and guitar track carefully put in place all the while retaining the grit and energy reflected in his live shows. Paired perfectly as the sequel to After The Flood, the Blood, Water, Coal album is a defining release in his career. Blood, Water, Coal was performed and recorded by MATT HECKLER with upright bass and backing vocals provided by Jeff Loops (Lost Dog Street Band). While recording Blood, Water, Coal, MATT HECKLER released The Magnolia Sessions outdoor live set – the maiden release for the now popular series – which made it to #9 on the Bluegrass Billboard Charts. The Magnolia Sessions was still charting upon the release of Blood, Water, Coal, which debuted at #3, leaving HECKLER with two albums running on the Billboard Charts simultaneously. With the release of his last album, "This Town Is Killin Me", HECKLER signed off on his fourth album with a national tour. Fans filled the venues for a rowdy solo act, and he held true to the grit of his live shows reputation. Moving forward, HECKLER has a new album in the works, which he says is his best yet. Keep your ears peeled for future recordings, videos and performances near you. ZACH AARON: It’s beyond cliché to call someone an “old soul,” but Zach Aaron might just embody the phrase like no other. Hailing from Cleveland, Texas, this singer-songwriter blends timeless authenticity with a rugged edge. With an elegantly tarnished tenor voice, intricate finger-picked guitar melodies, and lyrics that dance between raw honesty and poetic abstraction, Zach Aaron crafts music that feels both grounded in tradition and strikingly original. Zach’s story is as colorful as his music. He’s lived, performed, taken on odd jobs, served 4 years in the U.S. Air Force as a fighter aircraft mechanic, and currently is a horseshoe farrier and rides in the amateur Texas rodeo circuit as a saddle bronc rider. These experiences have shaped not just the man, but the storyteller. Through the years, Zach has channeled his life’s trials, triumphs, and wanderlust into a growing body of work, releasing four studio albums and one live solo album set to be released in summer 26'. Falling under the broad Americana banner, Zach’s music is a masterful blend of influences that fans of Townes Van Zandt, Adam Carroll, Doc Watson, Willie Neslon, Justin Townes Earle and Guy Clark will appreciate. His songs resonate with an authenticity that transcends time, weaving tales of heartache, grit, and the beauty found in life’s quieter moments. Whether on stage or in the studio, Zach delivers with a soul-stirring presence that lingers long after the last note fades. With each song, he invites listeners to take a journey—a journey rooted in his own lived experiences yet universally relatable. HAYDEN KARCHMER: Hayden Karchmer, known by his moniker The Hill Country Devil, is a Texas-raised songwriter whose music embodies raw honesty and unflinching reality. With a life marked by both intense highs and gut-wrenching lows—including a period of homelessness—Karchmer channels his experiences into songs that resonate with desperation and profound emotion. His work is a reflection of a nomadic existence, having lived in places as diverse as Tennessee, Texas, Georgia, Ohio, Colorado, and New York. Each…