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, 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 including a regular gig at The Saxon Pub.
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.
The Paramount Theatre is a classical revival style movie and live theatre built in 1915 located in downtown Austin. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the Paramount been home to vaudeville, silent movies and "talkies," music, dance, and Broadway shows for almost 100 years and the performers that have appeared there include Houdini, the Marx Brothers, Helen Hayes, Orson Welles, Sarah Bernhardt, the Ziegfeld Follies, the Metropolitan Opera, Lillian Russell, John Philip Sousa, the Barrymores, Lillian Gish, and George M. Cohan to such modern-day favorites as Billy Joel, Willie Nelson, Jerry Jeff Walker, Sarah Vaughan, Lyle Lovett, Gregory Hines, and Mandy Patinkin. The Paramount currently operates along side the State Theatre next door under The Austin Theatre Alliance, anon-profit organization strives to bring the widest variety of entertainment to as many people as possible in its two historic theatres. The Paramount presents comedy, drama, music, dance, spoken word, children’s programming and films including it's classic summer film series and is home to Austin’s red carpet film premieres and is an integral part of SXSW and the Austin Film Festival.
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.
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.
Ticket box office for concerts, sports and other events at Frank Erwin Center, Texas Longhorn Athletics, Texas Performing Arts and other events associated with the University of Texas at Austin.
The Texas Music Office is part of the Office of the Governor of Texas and promotes and provides information on musicians and music related businesses in Texas. The Texas Music Office maintains an online and published directory on the Texas music scene with approximately 16,000 listings totaling over 3000 printed pages including 7,300 Texas music businesses in 96 music business categories, Texas music events, Texas talent, Texas recording artists and Texas radio stations. The Texas Music Office also assists Texas musicians with individual projects and is liaison to worldwide press inquiries. The Texas music office was established in 1990 and was the first state agency created in the United States to promote the commercial music business. Since then, more than a dozen cities and states have created similar offices. Casey Monahan, a music journalist with the Austin American-Statesman at the time, was appointed the first director of the Texas Music Office and has remained the director through four Texas gubernatorial administrations.
Unplugged at the Grove is a free, all ages Austin outdoor music series that runs each Thursday night from April to September at the Shady Grove restaurant on Barton Springs Road adjacent to Zilker Park. 2013 marks the 20th anniversary of free music in Austin at Shady Grove Restaurant from Unplugged at the Grove. Sponsored by KGSR Radio, Unplugged at the Grove always presents some of Texas most talented and accomplished musicians. Tables at Shady Grove Restaurant 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 is 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 2013 free music in Austin series licks off on April 11 with Austin favorite Bob Schneider. The tentative 2013 schedule for Unplugged at the Grove is April 11 - Bob Schneider; April 18 - Suzanna Choffel; April 25 - Dirty River Boys; May 2 - Alejandro Escovedo; May 9 - Jimmy Lafave; May 16 - Carolyn Wonderland; May 23 - Whiskey Myers; May 30 - Special Guest To Be Announced; June 6 - What Made Milwaukee Famous; June 13 - The Trishas; June 20 - To Be Announced; June 27 - Reckless Kelly; July 4 - Alpha Rev; July 11 - Ruby Jane; July 18 - To Be Announced; July 25 - Cari Hutson; August 1 - Ray Wylie Hubbard; August 8 - Lincoln Durham; August 15 - James McMurtry; August 22 - Band Of Heathens; August 29 - Special Guest To Be Announced; September 5 - To Be Announced; and September 12 - To Be Announced.
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.
