Community street bands from across the US—plus one from Russia—gathered in Austin last weekend for the sixth annual HONK!TX. Over 25 bands participated in the three-day festival. I watched the Saturday afternoon performances centered in and around Hemphill Park, including stages at the nearby Spider House Cafe and Ballroom and Wheatsville Co-op.
Now in their 105th season, the Austin Symphony performs at Dell Hall in The Long Center. The orchestra performs classical programs about one weekend per month from September through June. Their season includes three other concerts (The Messiah, Halloween, and Young Composers) as well as four Pops performances (most recently, Lights, Camera…the Oscars!). They also play free concerts on July 4th and on Sunday evenings in the summer. Peter Bay has directed the Austin Symphony for 18 years.
Musician Alejandro Escovedo apparently likes to celebrate his January birthday with a lot of friends. This is the fourth year in a row that he has produced a January concert at the ACL/Moody Theater. All four have been quite different, but Bill and I have enjoyed each one. This year’s show was called A Thousand Kisses Deep: The Leonard Cohen Influence.
Temperatures here are arisin’ as we head into the month of August. But Austinites are lucky to have lots of free music options to keep our minds off the weather during the hot summer months.
The Austin Record Convention turned out to be a good indoor choice for the stormy Memorial Day weekend. Covered parking was available next to the Palmer Event Center (desirable in case of tornados or hail) and the admission fee was only $5. In-between thunderstorms, Bill and I joined a decent-sized crowd there on Sunday afternoon.
Last Saturday afternoon, The Big Squeeze accordion competition was held on the plaza of the Bob Bullock Texas History Museum. Musicians competed in three categories: Conjunto, Cajun/Zydeco, and Czech/German/Polish Polka. Non-profit Texas Folk Life sponsored this annual competition to encourage young accordionists.
MJ&M stands for Mack, Jack, and McConaughey—former UT football coach, Mack Brown, musician Jack Ingram, and actor Matthew McConaughey. Last week this trio hosted their third annual fundraiser to benefit several children’s charities. The two-day event included a fashion show, a golf tournament, a gala dinner, and evening concerts at the ACL-Moody Theater.
The fifth annual HONK!TX blasted into town last weekend. This festival of street bands kicked off with performances on South Congress on Friday evening and continued at the Adams-Hemphill Park (north of the UT campus) on Saturday. The festival concluded Sunday afternoon with a parade and band revue in East Austin.
This is the third January in a row that Alejandro Escovedo has produced a concert at the ACL Live-Moody Theater. Bill and I have attended all three shows. The first one in 2013 was a retrospective of his career and included local musicians Rosie Flores and Amy Cook. Last year’s show, The United Sounds of Austin: A guided journey through over 60 years of Austin’s history, was an ambitious undertaking with even more musicians joining him on stage. (Joe Ely and Lucinda Williams, to name a few).
Now that we live closer to Zilker Park, the Zilker Summer Musical has become one of my favorite summer traditions. This year’s show is Oklahoma! by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein. This is the 56th consecutive year for summer musicals at the Zilker HIllside, which has the distinction as being the longest-running outdoor donation-only theater in the country.