Austin Music

Introducing the latest podcast from KUT and KUTX Studios: Pause/Play, a podcast about live music, a global pandemic and what comes next.

Businesses across Austin were temporarily forced to close their doors at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

From Texas Standard:

Most Texans have likely experienced some hardship because of the pandemic. But it's hit some harder than others, including those who've actually had COVID-19.

Ray Benson is a guitar player, singer and frontman for the band Asleep at the Wheel, and he has recovered from the disease. He told Texas Standard host David Brown on Thursday that it took a toll, but he's feeling better.

From Texas Standard:

Write, record, mix and master a full-length album in 30 days. That was the goal the Austin band White Denim set for itself in March. And they've done it: a digital download of the album "World as a Waiting Room" dropped Friday.

The South Austin Museum of Popular Culture – a local institution that preserves visual aspects of the city's music scene – has relocated to a new home behind Threadgill’s Old No. 1 at 6416 North Lamar Blvd. The museum is also rebranding itself as the Austin Museum of Popular Culture.

From Texas Standard:

Sara Hickman is known for her contributions to Texas music. In addition to her own recordings and performances, she served a term as Texas State Musician. Now, she's celebrating the Lone Star State's music in a new way – by publishing a coloring book. 

From Texas Standard:

Sonny and Cher, Simon and Garfunkel, John and Paul, Mick and Keith – music history is full of legendary collaborations. And the next one might just come straight out of the Texas capital city.

When Steven Galindo moved to Austin, it wasn't ATX.

Its hip-hop scene thrived, but not on a large-scale. And as DJ Southpaw, Galindo helped bring hip-hop to the forefront in Austin and build ties between the scene's underground-minded era and its present-day.

For the better part of three decades, Joe Ables was on an island, surrounded by used car lots and some dilapidated apartments.

He says when he opened Saxon Pub on South Lamar, it had little competition. The only other music venues nearby were the Broken Spoke and the Horseshoe Lounge. But over the last 15 years, South Lamar has filled in. There are more apartments, restaurants and businesses – and most of those car lots are gone. The Saxon looked like it would be headed out, too.

From Texas Standard:

Colorado rancher Michael Martin Murphey was inducted into the Texas Music Legends Hall of Fame earlier this month. Why? Well, Murphey has a bit of a history with Texas music.

From Texas Standard:

On September 26, in the stately Thomas Jefferson building of the Library of Congress, a Texan from Beaumont will receive one of the highest honors awarded to folk and traditional artists, a national heritage fellowship award from the National Endowment for the Arts. 

But "folk and traditional artist" does not come to mind when you see Barbara Lynn doing her thing on stage.  She slings a Fender Stratocaster, left-handed, playing blues-infused Gulf Coast soul with the presence of a pop star. She's had hit records, been invited to perform on American Bandstand, and her songs have been covered and sampled by the likes of the Rolling Stones, Lil Wayne and Moby. But she never cultivated the whole celebrity thing.  Indeed, Barbara Lynn has never been much for playing by the rules.

From Texas Standard.

Actor and musician Kevin Bacon is busy touring the Lone Star State with his brother Michael. The two are promoting their self-titled album “The Bacon Brothers,” their seventh studio record. Many Hollywood stars juggle various side projects with their careers, but Kevin Bacon insists his fraternal musical endeavor is serious business. He says it’s typically a challenge for actors to be taken seriously as musicians.

From Texas Standard.

Just as thousands of musicians are descending upon Austin in hopes of getting that big break at South by Southwest, one of the city’s most beloved performers has packed his bags for Tennessee. Texas honky-tonk legend Dale Watson is putting down new roots in Memphis, in a house just a mile from Graceland.

All this week, KUTX will profile the Ones To Watch: seven must-see artists at SXSW 2018. 

Mélat is an Austin-based artist who’s influenced by a little bit of everything: Ella Fitzgerald, Mariah Carey, even the Ethiopian music she heard around the house growing up. It makes for an interesting mix on her latest album Move Me II: The Present.

From Texas Standard.

It might sound a little different than you remember, but there’s a new version of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” going around online. With 2 million views online, it was finally taken down for copyright reasons.

The Parish nightclub on Sixth Street in downtown Austin is going up for auction Friday – on eBay, no less. The company ATX Brands is selling the lease, the audio-visual equipment and the Parish brand, with a starting bid of $1.

ATX Brands CEO Doug Guller spoke to KUT about the sale and his plans after the Parish.

Musician Chris Thile made his first appearance on "A Prairie Home Companion" just over 20 years ago when he was 15. Performing live was not new for him; he had been playing the mandolin for about 10 years already.

Long story short: He took over from "Prairie Home" host Garrison Keillor in October last year.

What's in a name? Well, a lot – at least for those in Austin’s vibrant restaurant, live music and condiment scenes.

Earlier this month, Stubb's Austin Restaurant Co. settled a trademark dispute with McCormick and Co., and its subsidiary One World Foods, so that McCormick will be the only company that can use the name Stubb's.

Texas Standard interview by Jody Denberg.

Bill Collings dropped out of college to start making guitars.

Little did he know that his passion for exquisite craftsmanship would earn him the respect of musical talents who would help set a new standard for the quality of acoustic sound, and earn him a place in the Texas music scene for the Collings guitar.