Austin Music Scene, Austin Music Stores And Austin Musicians
Austin Blues Society
Austin Federation of Musicians
Austin Music Foundation
Austin Music Foundation (AMF) is a non-profit started by two long-time Austin music fans with the goal of uniting the Austin music scene with information, mixers and the Austin Industry Music Boot Camps, a free educational seminar series which includes panel discussions and audience questions and answers. Research papers or handbooks on music related topics are distributed at most Austin Music Industry Boot Camps and handbooks from past Boot Camps can be obtained through the Austin Music Foundation website. The Austin Music Foundation provides Austin musicians with information on how to navigate a career in Austin music scene including promotion, marketing and general business aspects of the music industry. Austin Music Foundation’s programs are free to attend and open to the public.
Austin Symphony
Bob Schneider
Austin, Texas-based musician and artist Bob Schneider has won more than 24 Austin Music Awards including Band of the Year; Musician of the Year; Song of the Year for "40 Dogs (Like Romeo And Juliet)"; Album of the Year for “Lovely Creatures”; Male Vocalist of the Year; and Songwriter of the Year. Besides appearing on the soundtracks of a number of movies and making national television appearances, Bob Schneider maintains a vigorous touring schedule while still appearing regularly in Austin live music venues.
Born in Michigan, and raised in Munich, Germany, Bob Schneider dropped out of the University of Texas at El Paso in the early 1990's and moved to Austin where he started his first band, Joe Rockhead. Joe Rockhead released three albums. Bob Schneider went on to front The Ugly Americans and The Scabs, which became well known in Austin, particulary for playing at live music venue Antones, and become solid touring bands.
In 1999, Bob Schneider began to perform as a solo act under the name Lonelyland. Lonelyland was later dropped by Bob Schneider as a band name, but became the title of his first major record album release and has been followed by a string of album releases and hit songs.
Bob Schneider is also known for having at one time dated the actress Sandra Bullock, who also maintains a home in Austin. Bob Schneider's songs have appeared on a number of film soundtracks including "Miss Congeniality," "Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back," "40 Days & 40 Nights," and "Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood."
Bob Schneider tours frequently across the United States, but regularly appears in Austin at smaller venues. His Austin shows include a long standing Monday night solo residency at the Saxon Pub as well as Antone's where he appears both his band and The Scabs.
Almost all of Bob Schneider's live shows are recorded and sold to his audiences after the performances. These recordings are released under the label "Frunk" and are usually available for download on his website. Bob Schneider appearances and tour dates are also available on his website and he is currently on tour in support of his latest release “A Perfect Day” although he still has a number of appearances scheduled for Austin in 2011.
Breakaway Records
Cheapo Discs
Continental Club Austin
Thought to be the first location in Travis County to sell liquor by the drink, the Continental Club opened on South Congress Avenue in 1957 as a private supper club hosting touring bands like Tommy Dorsey and Glen Miller. During the 1960's, the Continental Club became the first burlesque strip club in Austin featuring performers like Candy Barr and Bubbles Cash. It was during the 1970's that the current reputation of the Continental Club began to be established as performers with guitar driven blues and rock bands such as Joe Ely, Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Cobras, Jimmie Vaughan and WC Clark began to appear on a regular basis, as well as punk and New Wave Bands like D-Day, The Skunks, The Butthole Surfers and The Explosives. The current owner, Steve Wertheimer, took over the club in 1987 and remodeled it to resemble the original Continental Club as in appeared in the fifties. The Continental still hosts touring bands like Igor and the Red Elvises, Southern Culture On The Skids, Hank Williams III, Bill Kirchen and Jonathan Richman and some of the most popular Austin home town performers with a variety of music including rock, rockabilly, blues, singer-songwriters and swing. Regular performers on the calendar include Junior Brown, Jon Dee Graham, Toni Price, Alejandro Escovedo, James McMurtry, Dale Watson and the LeRoi Brothers. The Continental is often a great location to spot celebrities both visiting and resident to Austin like Johnny Depp, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, Matthew McConaughey and Dennis Quaid. The Continental Club is also home base for a custom car and hot rod shows like the Lonestar Rod and Kustom Roundup in April.
End of an Ear
HONK! TX Festival of Community Street Bands
An outgrowth of the Honk Festival established in Somerville, Massachusetts in 2006, Honk!TX brings together a nationwide community of activist marching bands and community-rooted union of art, activism, and music for a three day event in several different venues located in East and Central Austin. Austin’s own Minor Mishap Marching Band organized the first HONK!TX along with other local arts and culture groups for it's debut in 2011 and continues to be the driving force behind this annual event. Community street bands range in size from 4 to 40 members usually performing in public spaces without amplification or stages wearing band colors and home made uniforms and playing original, traditional, and borrowed music on a wide variety of instruments while encouraging lively audience participation. The repertoire and inspiration for community marching band music comes from a diverse set of folk music traditions, including New Orleans second line brass bands, European klezmer, Balkan and Romani music, and Brazilian Afro Bloc and Frevo traditions, as well as the passion and spirit of Mardi Gras and Carnaval. The 2012 Honk! Texas festival is scheduled for Friday, March 23 through Sunday, March 25.
La Zona Rosa
Momo's
One World Theatre
Paramount Theatre
Parish
Ray Hennig's Heart of Texas Music
Red Eyed Fly
School of Rock
SIMS Foundation
The SIMS Foundation provides mental health and addiction recovery services for Austin-area musicians and their families. SIMS was founded in 1995 by the friends and family of Sims Ellison, a talented young Austin musician whose battle with depression ended in suicide. Late night hours, the rising cost of living and increasing competition for jobs in the Austin music scene and proximity to alcohol and drugs can result in depression, anxiety, relationship problems, and alcohol and drug abuse for the musicians who make Austin their home and perform at the over 200 live music venues in Austin. Many musicians are uninsured or underinsured and cannot pay for counseling or addiction treatment. Treatment is arranged for professional musicians or their immediate family members living within a 50-mile radius of Austin from a network of 60 therapists and treatment centers after an in-depth clinical assessment from the two on-staff licensed counselors at SIMS. Musicians needing help can call the SIMS Confidential Clinical Line (512) 494-1007 or reach SIMS through the clinical intake form on the SIMS website.
South Austin Popular Culture Center
The South Austin Popular Culture Center is located behind the Planet K on South Lamar just south of the Zilker Park and Barton Springs area. Presided over by Henry Gonzales, whose paintings and murals graced the walls of the famous Austin landmark music venue of the 1970's the Armadillo World Headquarters, the museum presents art shows, exhibits, and music events related to Austin art and culture of the past 50 years. Formerly known as the South Austin Museum Of Popular Culture and founded in 2004, most of the original board of organizers for the museum were in some way connected either as employees, poster artists or musicians at the Armadillo World Headquarters, which was in an old Quonset hut located on Barton Springs and South First behind the current location of Threadgill's South. The South Austin Popular Culture Center not only showcases artists of the pasts, but also current Austin artists. Over 40 exhibitions have been presented at the Museum featuring work by Austin artists and painters such as cartoonists Jack Jaxon and Gilbert Shelton, photographer Allan Pogue, poster and visual artists Michael Priest, Bill Narum, Guy Juke, Henry Gonzalez, Danny Garrett, Kerry Awn, Powell St. John, Jesse Taylor, Bob Daddy-O Wade and the originator of the icon Armadillo images associated with the "cosmic cowboy" era of Austin in the sixties and seventies, Jim Franklin. There is also a memorial wall that spans the length of the property that honors deceased artists, writers and performers, philanthropists and others who have been important to Austin’s culture. The launch of almost all exhibits is paired with an opening party with live music on the outdoor stage in the back parking lot that starts at the magical time of 7:09 PM.
South by Southwest (SXSW) Music and Media Conference
The 2012 South by Southwest (SXSW) Music and Media Conference is scheduled for March 14 through 18.
Southwest Regional Folk Alliance Conference
Texas Box Office
Texas Music Office
Unplugged at the Grove Presented by KGSR
Unplugged at the Grove is a free, all ages Austin outdoor music series that runs each Thursday night from April to September at Shady Grove restaurant on Barton Springs Road adjacent to Zilker Park. Sponsored by KGSR Radio for over sixteen years, Unplugged at the Grove has presented some of Texas most accomplished musicians. Tables fill up fast, but folding chairs and blankets to sit on the lawn are okay to bring into Shady Grove for the free Austin concert. Parking available in the Shady Grove parking lot, but do not park in the nearby neighborhoods. It's always a good idea to get there early for this free thing to do in Austin to get a good parking spot and a good seat. The 2012 free music in Austin series includes April 12, Bruce Robison and Kelly Willis; April 19, Hudson Moore; April 26, The Gourds; May 3, Carolyn Wonderland; May 10, Dirty River Boys; May 17, Slaid Cleaves; May 31, James McMurtry; June 7, Dale Watson; June 28, The Wheeler Brothers; July 5, Uncle Lucius; August 2, Quiet Company; August 9, Ed Jurdi and Gordy Quist Of The Band Of Heathens; August 16, Cari Hutson; August 23, Nakia ; August 30, Hot Club Of Cowtown; and September 6, Cody and Willy Braun Of Reckless Kelly.
Waterloo Records
Independent music retailer Waterloo Records has been part of the Austin music scene since since 1982 and has won the Austin Chronicle “Best Record Store” almost every years since it opened. Besides being a great place to buy music, one free thing to do in Austin regularly presented by Waterloo Records is free live appearances and performances by both local and nationally-known artists. Most performances and CD autograph signings begin at 5:00pm and feature free refreshments courtesy of Shiner Beer. No flash photography is allowed during the in-store performances and the use of recording devices is prohibited. Waterloo Records carries an extensive selection of music of all styles and always has a exhaustive selection of local and regional Texas artists located at the front of the store. The staff can be very knowledgeable about the music carried by Waterloo and records are arranged alphabetically without division into genre. Waterloo has listening booths to listen to CDs before purchase and a liberal ten day return policy.
