Music Archives - Page 17 Of 22

WobeonFest Brings World Beats to Austin Streets

Posted on August 18, 2014 by Guest Blogger

Hoba Hoba Spirit and their “wild partying music” (Credit: Wobeonfest.com)

Guest article by Megan Renart

We are a city teeming with festivals. Just about every other weekend, they are spilling off the pages of Austin’s event calendars. Mostly they are centered around two of the human population’s greatest loves: music and food.

We may get into a fight over this, but I’d like to go out on a limb here and say that the world music genre doesn’t get a whole lot of attention. Sure, it’s visible. It’s out there. There are many diverse bands playing all over this fair city. But we have not really had a festival devoted solely to the sounds of the world until recently, when longtime Austin resident and musician/music aficionado Jakes Srinivasan decided to do something about it by founding WobeonFest, a one day festival happening September 20, 2014, featuring world music. [Read more…]

Homegrown White Denim Makes Austin Proud at ACL Taping

Posted on August 14, 2014 by Matthew Champion

Although less than a decade old, Austin band White Denim has managed to sprawl from its homegrown roots in Austin to touch fans of all kinds across the world. The group members’ approach to the psychedelic rock world and extensive touring schedule have helped them spread their name far and wide.

White Denim rocks ACL at The Moody Theater (Credit: Scott Newton, courtesy of KLRU-TV)

White Denim began in early 2006 when two local Austin groups, Parque Touch and Peach Train, came together after a show at Beerland to become one. Over the course of time, one member moved to Russia. But the rest stayed behind to eventually form what we know today as the progressive rock quartet. [Read more…]

Which 3 Austin Bars Are Immortalized in Song?

Posted on August 4, 2014 by Guest Blogger

This guest blog article is by Kip Sikora.

Austin’s musical heritage is a well-worn, groovy tapestry woven with a kaleidoscope of sonic threads that make it worthy of a lone star. Not even a mixed up box of chocolates from Forrest Gump’s mama could match the musical diversity here. And in a town where you can’t swing a dead cat without hitting a musician, it’s inevitable that some of its watering holes wind up immortalized in song.

Here’s a list of three Austin beer joints with such a connection. Check them out. Perhaps you too can draw a little nectar from their boozy wells of inspiration. [Read more…]

Improv Instructor Kacey Samiee Teaches Acting Set to Song

Posted on July 18, 2014 by Guest Blogger

Kacey Samiee, musical improv master at Hideout Theatre

This guest article is by Debbie Stanley.

If you think you couldn’t possibly write song lyrics off the top of your head, in front of a live audience, and sing them too, well…yes, you could. And Kacey Samiee would love to teach you how.

Samiee teaches musical improvisation – improv for short – at the Hideout Theatre on Congress south of 7th. The Hideout is both a performance venue and school where improvisers of all ages learn to invent and act out stories without scripts, often based on suggestions called out by the audience during live shows, and reading each other’s cues in the moment. Performers work together to build narratives, develop fictional relationships, and, in Samiee’s classes, set it all to music. [Read more…]

Funk Filled Evening with Soul Track Mind

Posted on July 3, 2014 by Samantha Champion

Soul Track Mind bringing the funk

In a city known as the Live Music Capital of the World, it can be challenging to stand out from the droves of truly talented musicians.

Unless you’re Soul Track Mind.

In celebration of their sixth anniversary, the funky guys of Soul Track Mind threw an even funkier party on—where else?—Sixth Street last Saturday night. The Parish dubbed the evening a “modern soulful night,” a perfect characterization of the dancey throwback affair packed with topnotch opening acts and surprise guests. [Read more…]

The Long Center Hosts Free Fun All Summer Long

Posted on July 1, 2014 by Edgar Barguiarena

Bring a blanket, grab your favorite trailer food, and have yourself a picnic.

Summers in Austin are divine. That is, if you’re brave enough to put up with the sweltering heat, or are simply accustomed to it by now.

Those of us who have lived here long enough have found ways to deal with it, usually through a combination of live music, refreshing drinks, and food trucks.

For the third year in a row, Austin’s backyard, aka The Long Center, will be hosting several free and family friendly events that allow us to embrace the heat together, against one of Austin’s most picturesque backgrounds. [Read more…]

Summer Jam 2014: Cajun, Afro Latin, Psych Dub, Craft Beer

Posted on June 17, 2014 by Edgar Barguiarena

Audiences listen to Body Rock ATX at MapJam 2014 (Credit: Gabriel Cristóver Pérez for KUTX)

On January 2, 2013, KUTX, now owned by The University of Texas, began to pump out 29,000 watts of what they dub “The Austin Music Experience.”

98.9 FM had gone through numerous musical reformats before finally settling on a winning formula for a musically diverse city like Austin. That’s no small task for a public radio station in the Live Music Capital of the World, with competing stations offering the usual mix of pop, Spanish, and country programming.

But a diverse musical playlist isn’t enough to stand out in Austin, so KUTX stepped up their game and started offering unique and free concert events that highlight our musical culture. [Read more…]

Black Fret Prepares to Give 100,000 Dollars to Austin Musicians

Posted on April 17, 2014 by Brittany Highland

Quiet Company performs at the Black Fret launch party

Quiet Company at the very first Black Fret launch party

I first heard about a new non-profit called Black Fret at the beginning of 2013, when I attended their first launch party at the 29th St. Ballroom.

The Black Fret team wasn’t afraid to aim big from the beginning. Their stated goal was to gain 1,300 members who each donated $1,500/year. This would allow the organization to give away 50 grants of $25,000 each to Austin artists, every year. Yes, that adds up to more than one million dollars to promote the local music scene we all love.

Black Fret founders Colin Kendrick and Matt Ott (Photo credit: Black Fret on Facebook)

For all of us who had never heard of Black Fret before, one million dollars sounded like – dare I say it? – an impossible goal. But, like many other Austinites, Eric and I caught the vision. Supporting local artists is part of our hyperlocal mission at the Austinot, so it was a natural partnership. And the more we got to know co-founders Colin Kendrick and Matt Ott and learned about their past laurels, and the more amazing Black Fret house parties we attended, the more tangible the vision became.

Milestone: First 100 Members

Only one year after that first launch party, Black Fret earned their first [Read more…]

Mini Pony Gallops to Garage Country Sound With Psychedelia Thrown In

Posted on April 15, 2014 by Guest Blogger

Mini Pony L-R: Ross Woods, Robert Franco-Tayar, Steve Zamora, Walker Pickens

This guest blog article is by Joana Ortiz.

If mother nature decides to make up its mind, we are nearly approaching the stinging rays of the Texas sun. When I think of summer, I think of air conditioning, the indoors, beer, live music and some more live music!

I’m here to do the hard work for you, recommending bands and shows you should keep an eye out for, as music venues bloom alongside the bluebonnets you’re taking pictures with for the umpteenth time. [Read more…]

Blue October Members Bring Orb Recording Studios to Hill Country

Posted on March 31, 2014 by Matthew Champion

It was a sunny, windy Sunday and I was exhausted. I’d been SXSW-ing all over Austin for a week and was ready to curl up with my hound dogs and sleep for a few days. But as bad as I wanted that Pawn Stars marathon from my couch, I wasn’t about to miss out on an opportunity to see the Grand Opening of Orb Recording Studios, Austin’s newest place to produce music that had been visited by Lil’ Wayne, Erykah Badu and Justin Bieber during SXSW.

Founders Matt Novesky and C.B. Hudson at Orb Recording Studios (Photo credit: 78triple6.com)

Orb Recording Studios was founded by a couple of the guys from Blue October – C.B. Hudson (lead guitarist) and Matt Novesky (bassist). Their vision was to capture everything they loved about East and West Coast studios and bring it all to the pretense-free vibe of Austin. [Read more…]

Milestone: First 100 Members

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