I’m not a fan of the hot Texas summers, but I do look forward to Austin’s live music during this time of the year. There’s a wide variety of great, mostly-free concerts practically every day of the week. Here’s some of my favorite music events so far this summer….
The Big Squeeze is a statewide accordion contest for players under the age of 21. The finals were held on the patio outside the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum last Saturday. The competition is sponsored by the non-profit Texas Folklife.
Since Bill was busy with the Moontower Comedy Festival, I decided to attend Friday’s MJ&M Presents Jack & Friends at the ACL-Live Moody Theatre. MJ&M is short for Mack Brown (former UT football coach), Jack Ingram (singer/songwriter), and Matthew McConaughey (2014 Academy Award winner for Best Actor). These three have teamed up to host an annual set of fundraisers to benefit children’s charities. In addition to the Friday event, earlier in the week there was also a golf outing, a fashion show, and a concert featuring Sheryl Crow.
We had just barely recovered from SxSW, and already it was time for another music event! Last weekend Austin hosted with HONK TX, an annual festival of community street bands. Over 20 bands from around the country converged here for three days of parade-marching, costume-dressing, and, most importantly, music-making.
Sixty years of Austin music history is tough to squeeze into one evening, but Alejandro Escovedo managed to accomplish this feat in The United Sounds of Austin. Held at the ACL Moody Theatre, the program featured 30+ numbers representing wildly diverse musical genres: gospel, jazz, blues, country, folk, Mexican-American, rock, and even punk. As musical curator and master of ceremonies, Alejandro pulled together an impressive group of friends—Joe Ely, Terry Allen, Lucinda Williams, Rosie Flores, and more—for this overview of Austin’s music and musicians.
The 2013 Austin City Limits Music Festival is underway in Zilker Park. The festival now spans two weekends with after-shows in Austin, Dallas and Houston. Bill and I weighed the pros and cons of each weekend, considering factors such as the UT football schedule, probable weather (hot or very hot), and park grass conditions, and decided to attend the first weekend.
Last week’s All ATX concert at the ACL-Live Moody Theater was a benefit for HAAM, the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians. Bill and I love these local benefit concerts. Besides supporting worthwhile non-profit organizations, we enjoy hearing a variety of talented musicians and frequently become fans of performers that we probably wouldn’t know otherwise.
Every other Wednesday evening from late May to early August, thousands of Austinites head over to Zilker Park for Blues on the Green. This free concert series is sponsored by local radio station KGSR 93.3. The bands start around 7:30 PM and play about two hours. Some people bring lawn chairs, but most just sit on blankets or on the grass.
Sometimes you just know that a concert is going to be great…and Thursday’s KLRU All-Star Celebration did not disappoint! The evening at the ACL-Live-Moody Theatre honored musician/producer Lloyd Maines and was a fundraiser for local PBS station KLRU, which produces the long-running Austin City Limits TV show.
Patty Griffin played a free in-store concert at Waterloo Records on Friday evening. Only the first 150 people in line were permitted into the store. Bill and I had made a last minute decision to walk the mile over to Waterloo, so we were fairly far back in line. Luckily, we were among the last ten people allowed inside the store.