My wife and I have lived since 1984 in Austin, TX, the "Live Music Capital of the World." This rather ambitious tagline, adopted a decade or so after we arrived, was posted at the airport, where anyone arriving would see it when they deplaned, and soon was used all over town. The live music scene was quite active, mainly through the numerous (60 to 70) live music venues in town, mainly centered around the Sixth Street entertainment district.
South By Southwest, now better known by the acronym SXSW, was initiated in 1987 by a group consisting primarily of the founders of the Austin Chronicle, an alternative newspaper in Austin. With a stated mission to increase exposure for bands that were unsigned by record companies, SXSW used existing clubs as venues. In this way it was a win-win for both the musical community and business base, and has exploded in popularity, as well as in scope. The festival(s) now consist of SXSW Interactive, SXSW Film, and SXSW Music, completely dominating the hip scene in Austin for three consecutive weeks as the three themes run in series, culminating with the wildly popular music event. An excellent history rundown can be found at:
or here, at Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_by_Southwest
There are, literally, hundreds of official and unofficial events in play at any time during the music festival, with all the clubs featuring one band after another every night, as well as almost innumerable other showcases and private parties. In addition, official award ceremonies are held at high profile evening events.
Even people of my age (approaching the big 71 in a week), with a wife now recovering from a serious stroke, still want to feel like we are "with it" and hip to a modest degree. After all, we are Austinites. One of the events we treasure and try to attend yearly is a large musical showcase sponsored by KUT, our NPR radio station, which recently "cloned itself" into a full time news/information version, and a similarly full time music outlet, KUTX, on a different FM frequency. KUTX has taken over the sponsorship of the station's special SXSW music showcase, hosting a wonderful program Monday-thru-Saturday mornings at the large ballroom at the Four Seasons Hotel. Yes, you read that right. The word is morning, however four bands show up bight and early to play great sets in front of a SRO crowd of nearly 500.
My wife, Diana, and I drove to the hotel early Saturday and were treated as usual to three groups we had never heard of, but who were tremendous, and one band with local cachet and popularity. Kelly Hogan, a long-time backup singer on the national level, led off the program. She commented that she has specialized in complex harmony backups, has begun to do her own work now, and it is clear that her wonderful voice represents a veteran of many years.
Kelly Hogan
The next group was a local band that has the sound and charisma to break out. Keep an eye out for "My Jerusalem," which features a killer front man and lead guitarist, plus a great drummer and a super-versatile keyboardist/trombonist/trumpeter. Get all that?
My Jerusalem
The third performer had an interesting story, since he was a last-minute replacement for a performer who fell ill and lost her voice. By chance, the previous evening Billy Bragg happened to stop by the restaurant table of Jeff McCord, the Music Director of KUTX, to say hello, and lo and behold, got a late call asking if he could fill in at 10 a.m. the very next morning. I'd never heard of Bragg, but he nearly stole the show with his folksy lyrics and chitchat between songs. The quirky Englishman with his neat-o Cockney brogue is well known in the U.K. for his politically charged protest songs, and he resonated well with the early morning crowd here. It was a pleasant surprise to sit down later Saturday at home with the weekend edition of the Wall street Journal and find a full half-page write-up of Mr. Bragg in the paper. Small world indeed.
The final group, which had been hyped on the radio and in the newspaper, was a "reunion" band of sorts, a group that was a big hit in the Austin of the 1980's. The True Believers, or Troobs in local cool-speak, consisted orignially of John Dee Graham, Denny Degorio, and Alejandro Escovedo, and each has gone on to significant renown in fields of hard-core rock and roll. The group had received rave reviews for several performances at major SXSW award shows, and it was a coup for KUTX to get them. Unfortunately, some feedback loops and a persistent low hum from some aspect of the cables put a damper on the spaces between the songs, but their playing was fantastic when they were in motion.
There aren't many places like this town, with book clubs, live music everywhere, and creative types representing (perhaps) the largest collection of integrated circuit designers, video game developers, and software gurus in the world. But it takes events like SXSW and its fall brother, the Austin City Limits Music Festival (ACL) to cap it off with a sort of personality and lifestyle that's hard to match. If that's not enough, throw in the Texas Longhorns and a vibrant scene of quite a few additional colleges, the new Formula 1 race, a bunch of rodeos and festivals, and this is a happening place.
The living's interesting, but the growth rate is scary, since the Austin metro area was the fastest growing urban complex with a population in excess of a million people in the entire U.S. of A. last year. Traffic is terrible at rush hours, and now plenty of times in between.
But it's never dull. Just stay away in July and August, when people hibernate or head for the hills in New Mexico or Colorado.