The Secret Sisters still make great music

The Secret Sisters typically have been described as being a female version of The Everly Brothers. It's not quite as evident that they wear the mantle quite the same way five albums and 14 years into their recording career, which has nothing to do with the music at hand.

Good music is good music, whether it's the influence of the Everlys or not. The Secret Sisters - Laura Rogers and her sister, Lydia Slagle - have expanded their sound, going into more of an Americana feel with their latest, "Mind, Man, Medicine," which dropped in March.

That became evident over the course of the nearly 90-minute set. However, it started with more of an Everlys feel on the opening "Paperweight" from the new disc with a distinct country feel.

One aspect of the music that remains no matter the genre is the vocal harmonies of Rogers and Slagle. Slagle tended to take most of the lead vocals with Rogers backing her up. Together, they make beautiful music, such as on "Space" where their harmonies particularly stood out, or "Planted," which performed along with only Rogers on acoustic, was more like their traditional style. Sibling music doesn't get much better than that.

They were on the more soulful side with "All the Ways," which was recorded with Ray LaMontagne, and sounds like it was right up his alley. Slagle more than held her own.

Slagle also is about as funny as ever in a very organic way. Rogers pretty much played the straight person to Slagle's jokes, including some aimed at her.

Despite the humor, Slagle also freely talked about the tough times the duo have faced, almost giving up music (at one point, they thought about quitting music altogether and were faced with lawsuits in a managerial dispute), while also talking about the joy of both being mothers (that was evident on the lovely "I've Got Your Back" and "I Can Never Be Without You Anymore").

While The Secret Sisters occupied center stage, they were also joined by a backing trio, who were top shelf. Slagle indicated that this was not typical, but having a drummer, guitarist and bassist fleshed out the sound more ("Cabin").

Well into their career, The Secret Sisters may have had their ups and downs and changed direction some, but one constant both on recordings and especially live is that Slagle and Rogers make great music.

Chances are very few in the house had ever heard of opening act Jon Muq, who seems to have karma on his side. Muq was born in Uganda and posted some songs, which led to him playing on a Norwegian Cruise Lines journey to South America (he didn't believe the offer was real and waited two weeks to respond, he told the crowd). His luck continued when he moved to Austin to work with migrants, while also living with a married couple, who decided to befriend him. Somehow Dan Auerbach of Black Keys fame caught wind of him and his music and wanted to produce him. Muq's debut came out in May on Auerbach's label.

Luck only goes so far, however because ultimately it's about the music. And Muq has a surfeit of that. Armed only with an acoustic guitar, Muq's quiet presentation was most effective with the crowd listening intently, not a given at this club, which serves food. When he sang, "I've been through the pain" in the song "Dark Door" mid-way through his set, you had the feeling he had lived it. The sadness was palpable.

Muq also had a lot of well-written songs at his disposal. He didn't rush the songs at all, but let them play out. Closing out with the musical outlier, "Shake Shake," (it's the kind of song that you gets you, well, shaking and moving unlike the rest of the set), Muq was most deserving of the big hand he received.