AUSTIN
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FALL 2014
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LETTER FROM THE SHANNON SCHMITZ GROUP
Thank you for picking up our magazine! We are a small group of luxury home Realtors® located right here in Austin, and LOCALE Austin is very simply an expression of our love affair with this great metropolis! We live in a city of festivals, so what could be better than dedicating this fall issue to one of our favorites - ACL Festival. From years of mud wrangling to dust bowls to perfect weekends of music-loving bliss, the festival has come a long way since it’s inception in 2002 as a two-day event. Last year, the festival was broken up into two fun-filled three-day weekends. The dates for this year’s festival are: Weekend One - October 3-5, 2014 Weekend Two - October 10-12, 2014
We are THE Austin experts! If you are thinking about making your move, give us a call! We can help! WHAT DOES BEING A “LUXURY REALTOR” MEAN?
In the following pages we’ll share some of the international artists we are looking forward to seeing at this year’s festival, as well as highlighting some of the great local bands that Austinites have grown to love. We’ll spotlight Austin local, Rod Nielsen, from Big House Sound, who shares stories from working the stage at ACL and what it’s like touring with Blondie. Lisa Rodman of Rodman Associates talks about one of her favorite non-profits: Austin’s Sustainable Food Center (We think you should check out their cooking classes, too). And our friends at Four Hands share interior design tips and tricks for the new season.
When we say we are luxury Realtors®, we are referring to the quality of service we provide our clients, not the value of the houses we help our client’s buy and sell.
No matter if you are an old-school local or just getting your feet wet in Austin, we hope you enjoy this issue.
For more information, call or text us at (512) 466-5224, or visit ShannonSchmitzGroup. com.
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Everyone on our team has earned the certification of Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist, and we are members of Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate - a selective group of realtors made up of the top 10% of Realtors® in any given area.
CONTENTS MIX IT UP
GET HOME DESIGN TIPS FROM THE PROS AT FOUR HANDS
BIG HOUSE SOUND
ONE OF ACL’S ORIGINAL SOUND GUYS, ROD NIELSEN, TELLS US WHAT IT WAS LIKE THEN & HOW IT FEELS TO TOUR WITH BLONDIE
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TRENDING AT ACL
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FIND OUT WHICH BANDS YOU NEED TO GET TO KNOW BETTER AT THIS YEAR’S ACL FEST
A LITTLE DITTY ABOUT SOME HOMETOWN FAVES YOU WON’T WANT TO MISS
ACL SURVIVAL GUIDE
RACHEL AHRENS SHARES HER SECRETS ABOUT HOW TO MAKE THIS YEAR’S ACL FEST THE BEST FESTIVAL EVER
COOK IT UP FRESH
Photo Credit: Evan Gearing
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LISA RODMAN SHINES A LIGHT ON AUSTIN’S SUSTAINABLE FOOD CENTER A GREAT PLACE FOR COOKING 2014 | LOCALE AUSTIN MAGAZINE | 3 CLASSES AND SOFALL S HMUCH A N N O N SMORE C H M I T Z G R O U P. C O M
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mix it up
Top 5 Style Tips from the Design Team at Four Hands Home
Love the eclectic look? From objects that reflect your passions to colors and textures that soothe your mood, the art of mixing and matching can bring warmth, depth, and variety to any space. So where to begin? Start with five quick tips that will help you pull it all together as you get in touch with your inner mixologist.
1. Just Say No to Matchy-Matchy. Steer clear of sets. You don’t have to use all the same styles, colors, tones, or finishes to create a room that feels confident, cohesive, and comfortable. Just balance the scale of your pieces and create a few focal points to direct attention in the room . 2. Find Your Inspiration. Select one or two anchor elements - such as exposed beams, an ornate fireplace, or a chair or rug that inspires you — and work from those strengths to create both continuity and contrast. Layering in hues, textures, and shapes informed by your anchors.
3. Love it or Leave it. Our most powerful design instincts are just that — instinctive. As you look at furnishings, keep a read on your emotional reaction. If you love it, snag it. If you aren’t sure, give it a few days and go for it if it keeps coming back to mind. If your gut instinct says no, listen. FALL 2014 | LOCALE AUSTIN MAGAZINE | 7
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4. Use It Your Way. Don’t be bound by the stated purpose of a beautiful piece. A nightstand may be the perfect accent for you’ve been wanting for your living room. If you fall for an ornate cabinet, who says it can’t display your art supplies ... or your shoe collection?
5. Just Move It. If you are tired of a piece in your living room, just shift your thinking. Try a bedroom chair with your sofa, instead — take a lazy Sunday afternoon and just experiment! Moving things around your own home can inspire fresh thinking or create room for a special piece you’ve been dreaming about.
Whatever you do, give yourself permission to evolve your décor over time. Anything from an exotic trip to a special hand me down or a fantastic flea-market find provides new opportunities to express your style. In creating your own personal, eclectic look, the magic comes from the details you curate as you experience life. If you need help styling your home, visit Four Hands Home to gather ideas. From contemporary to modern and rustic to industrial, Four Hands Home can help 8
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you transform your space with timeless, hand-crafted furniture. Four Hands Home is located one mile east of South Congress, tucked away just off 290 at 2090 Woodward Street. Open 10am-6pm Monday-Saturday and 12pm5pm on Sunday. Fourhandshome.com. Mention this article and receive a free in-store consultation and 20% off your purchase! (valid for one-time use, expires 12/31/2014)
KNOW ANYONE MOVING HERE?
? r e tt e b n i t s u A w o n k o t t e g o t t n a w r do you just
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C A L L T O D A Y F O R Y O U R F R E E guide to A ustin
5 1 2 - 4 6 6 - 5 2 2 4 METRO TRANSIT • SCHOOLS • SHOPPING • FESTIVALS • NEIGHBORHOODS • THEATER • HISTORY OF AUSTIN • HOSPITALS • OUTDOOR GUIDE • DOG PARKS • POOLS • GOLFING • MUSEUMS • CINEMA • SPAS • BREWERIES • WINERIES • DAY TRIPS • GREEN AUSTIN • AND MUCH MORE!
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BIG HOUSE Sound
An interview with Rod NIElsen By Adrienne Foreman Rod Nielson and Roy Kircher run Big House Sound, the leading provider of production services for concerts and corporate events in central Texas. They’ve provided the best technicians and the best production equipment for everything from Presidential events to music festivals and beyond. Rod still tours with Blondie regularly, but he has made time to speak with LOCALE Austin about working in Austin and helping with ACL from the very beginning.
How did your business start?
We started in 1991. It’s been 23 years now. Roy and I met when we were engineers working on Sixth Street. I had one small clubsize PA at the time, and I was thinking about buying another. He had two partners, but we got together and ended up building something bigger than I was originally planning. 14
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“I worked with Charlie Jones back when he was carrying a bag of ice at the Backyard and working as a production assistant.”
How many PAs do you have now? Ha! It depends on how many shows we have. I’d say we have more than a thousand times as much equipment now. We can do as many as eight shows a day and between 60 to 80 shows a month in spring and fall. They’re all pretty much in central Texas—Austin, Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, and along the border. We have clients in lots of small towns too, at festivals that people are doing.
How did you get from there -with one PA -- to here? First we had to figure out a business plan. I went to several banks asking for a $50,000 loan and got declined or offered $5,000. I didn’t want to just be in debt, and I couldn’t make any money off of such a small loan. I wanted to make it and not just break even. Eventually the business plan evolved to the point where I decided what I needed to do was book six shows a month to pay off the bills and save some money. That was the goal: six shows a month. It wasn’t easy, but we slowly and steadily grew the business for the first six years. We basically doubled our business each year, and couldn’t add PAs on fast enough. Don’t get me wrong, this was a hard business with so many logistics. We 16
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have to be able to move all of the gear from place to place, and we would have one type of show on one day and the next day have a completely different show, which meant all of the gear had to come back in, get rearranged, and then go back out.
When did you figure out that you were going to be much bigger than you first thought? Huh…. Maybe yesterday? No, I guess it was when we weren’t just having to do everything by ourselves. I could focus on more necessary things -jobs would get handled and I wouldn’t have much to do with them. In a small business, you do everything. Seriously everything. And we eventually got to a point where we could hand off tasks. That was important.
How different was Austin and your work back then? We had one competitor when we first started. This was back before The Backyard in Bee Caves opened. At that time, nobody thought people would ever drive out that far to go to a show. It opened and held about 1,200 people or so, and everyone parked out on the road. We got the deal and really focused on that place. I still work today with some of the people that I met back then.
The growth here doesn’t bother me. Some of the venues come and go, ownerships and bands come and go, but we have weathered through all of the changes and growth. I’m proud of that. We’ve survived and succeeded. I like that there are more people involved now. More venues and more event planners catering to different things. You don’t have one type of Austinite anymore. Sixth Street used to be all types of music, and now it’s primarily college rock and country. But that’s because there are now so many other places in Austin. We have Moody Theater, Rainey Street, East Austin, trailers, and small restaurants outside of Sixth Street, all putting on shows with more variety.
“When I’m standing there in the open sky, under the stars with a big show going on and thousands of people around listening to a great band, and the sound is great. Those moments are at least part of the dream I had when I was a kid and thought about doing this.”
So with all this change, you’ve gotten to do more types of events? Yes! I’ve mic’d up a brand new Ferrari. We were at hanger where they were introducing it. The doors opened up, the smoke came in, the car started revving, and then it came in. It was very exciting. We’ve also done a lot of Presidential stuff. We’ve done events for President George H.W. Bush, President Clinton, and President George W. Bush. When Obama was running for office, we did a lot of his events, and we’ve gotten to do a bunch of them since he’s become President. They’re really interesting events. We have to be worried about a lot more -- communication officers, satellite uplinks, and Secret Service. Every one of those events is run by central command out of the White House. They’re linked in, and observing to make sure that everything goes right. Additionally, anytime the President speaks, it goes to the national archive, so that’s part of the mix. FALL 2014 | LOCALE AUSTIN MAGAZINE |
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“I don’t know how many people know this, but we play the theme to Star Wars every year when we open the gate. It’s a big pristine park that is ready for this big thing. We start playing the music, and people come running… RUNNING in. It always gives me that feeling of “we did this.” That’s a great feeling.”
What have you been working on recently? I’ve been touring with Blondie. We do lots of overseas touring at least a couple of times a year. I’m gone a month at a time, but I get to see a lot of other parts of the world and get paid to do it!
How’d you get that gig? The guy mixing before me got a job with The Beach Boys. He recommended 18
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me for the job. He was a close friend from Austin, and we’d given each other a bit of work. It worked out really well. Blondie is a great band to work with because they’re a true band. They regularly put out new material and they love to play shows that they want to play. They’re not too big that we’re burdened with over a dozen trucks, but big enough that we travel well and do great stuff.
up 16 weeks at a time. I didn’t have the desire to do it anymore. I wanted to focus on my family, friends, and the business. Blondie came up, and it was only two tours for four weeks each. That worked well. Don’t get me wrong, there’s still sadness, but it’s doable. My wife’s always been so great at handling it.
Do you tour with anyone else?
How long have you been working with ACL?
I used to. Now, I’m married and I have two kids, Tess and Ava. Tess came along, and I decided that I wasn’t going to do it all anymore. I loved it, but big tours usually take
I’ve been doing it since the very first day. I worked with Charlie Jones back when he was carrying a bag of ice at the Backyard and working as a
production assistant intern. He was getting paid nothing or next to nothing. I’m so proud and happy to see him go from that to running a huge company doing amazing events like Lollapalooza all over the world. Now he’s too busy and we never get to hang out anymore! Before they were C3, they were Capital Sports and Entertainment, and they hired me as the technical director for ACL. I worked on any issues that there would be in the park—where the stage would be, how they would interact, how to ensure they wouldn’t play into each other— everything from power, sight, lighting, and budget for the first two years. That wasn’t something I could continue to do because the festival got really big, really fast. They needed more full-time staff that were completely focused on it. I also had a bit of a conflict of interest as technical director and owner of a production house.
We’ve continued to do major stages at the festival since then. I’m really proud that we still do more stages than any other sound company.
What’s the best thing about ACL? It’s just such a well-run festival. The vibe is really great, and the festival is beautiful. I’m not patting myself on the back, it’s just C3 and ACL. They handle the mounds of
trash and the recycling so responsibly. They hand rake that park every night. Santiago, who runs the cleanup crews, has also been with them since the beginning and met Charlie and me at the Backyard back in the day.
What’s your favorite ACL memory? Each year, it’s the start of the festival. It’s a big deal. I don’t know how many people know this, but we FALL 2014 | LOCALE AUSTIN MAGAZINE |
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play the theme to Star Wars every year when we open the gate. It’s a big pristine park that is ready for this big thing. We start playing the music, and people come running… RUNNING in. It always gives me that feeling of “we did this.” That’s a great feeling. I’ve had that at other shows too—when I’m standing there in the open sky, under the stars with a big show going on and thousands of people around listening to a great band, and the sound is great. Those moments are at least part of the dream I had when I was a kid and thought about doing this. I didn’t know what that dream meant or what it would take, but if there was any real part of that dream… it’s those moments .
What about major mishaps?
I had recent one, but it wasn’t at ACL. We were in Berlin on Blondie’s tour, and we’d checked 20
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everything. Speakers, mixing, microphones, console’s up… everything is working. We ran sound check. Everything is working. I send the call that we’re okay at the front of the house, and we’re ready to go. The walk-on music starts, and halfway through I try to unmute the console—it’s a giant digital computer—and it won’t unmute. Audio is still passing through, but everything else is locked. The band is already on and have no idea what is going on. They start playing, but no sound. Birds are chirping. I’m trying to fix the problem, and I hear “Running with the Devil” start to play because it’s stuck on the console. Finally the song ends, and all I hear is 8,000 Germans booing SO loudly. Blondie goes off stage while we reboot the console. Finally, they come back on, apologize, and restart. The show went awesome after that, but now I can say that I’ve been booed by more people than you have. There was just nothing that I could have done. Everything was working great until then, but with digital you can have a sudden freeze. That was the first and only time that has ever happened.
Do you have any advice to small business owners? Don’t give up. Ugh, that sounds so cheesy. But really, if I’d given up the first few times I’d gone to banks then I wouldn’t be here. Don’t believe them, but learn each time. Figure out what their objections are to your business plan, and use those meetings to build a better plan. Figure out how to sell them on your idea through their own speak. Different bank have different criteria for how to lend money for different reasons. Find someone who truly understands what you’re doing. Part of what has made our business so good is that Roy, my partner, and I aren’t the same. We don’t have the same ideas about things. This leads to disagreements and not liking decisions sometimes, but it’s a big asset to have another person who cares and puts in real work into making business successful. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a breeze. I’ve heard that a lot of the reason bands are successful is because they’ve learned how to stay together. That’s stuck with me. I can have my disagreements with Roy. There are days that I don’t like Roy. But you have to get the big picture. Do I like the
result? I do like what we have become. I don’t feel like I’ve had to give away my soul either. I also think the people who work here really like what they do. I’m helping to make their dreams come true. It’s definitely for our benefit too, but it’s really great to see people be as excited about sound and production as I am. Sometimes they’re more excited because they’re out on more shows. They have ideas about how to create even better shows and better events. I’ve seen a lot of people who’ve worked here doing big things and touring the world themselves. They wouldn’t say it was all roses either. It’s a lot of work. For the most part, I really enjoy it.
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What’s your favorite and least favorite thing about Austin? My wife is one of those kind of person who is ready for Austin to stop growing. She likes the old Austin and hates to see anything old go away. I think we all have a little bit of that in us. I like the growth. I grew up in the Midwest -- Peoria, IL. When I moved away it was 260,000 people, and Austin was only slightly bigger. They’ve shrunk since then, and we haven’t. Be careful what you wish for. I’m glad that I’m not living in a city that didn’t grow. I think it’s been amazing. The skyline is more beautiful than ever. My biggest worry is how to support all of those people with the water we have. I used to spend so many days out at Lake Travis, but my kids haven’t. It feels like it may never get filled up again. I’ve been to a lot of different cities and experienced a lot of different types of people. I still love Austin best, and there is no other place I would like to live.
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Trending bands you don’t want to miss
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve heard of this year’s ACL Festival headliners. OutKast, Beck, Pearl Jam, Eminem, Lorde and Iggy Azalea are pretty much household names, spanning a wide variety of genres and musical tastes. But what about all of those other artists? One of the most exciting parts of the big ACL line-up announcement each year is finding out about all the amazing acts from around the world that will be coming to Austin. We want to spotlight a few of the artists we’re most excited to see this year. If you don’t already know these acts, you will...
written by Brenda Johnson
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LAKE STREET DIVE Lake Street Dive has one of those stories that gives you goose bumps. They met in school and formed a unique, musically rich sound that evolved as they wrote and performed together. In 2012, they were experimenting with some cover tunes, and posted a low-fi video of themselves performing “I Want You Back” by the Jackson 5 on a Boston street corner on YouTube. This caught a lot of attention (over 2 million views as of August 2014), including that of the legendary producer T. Bone Burnett. Burnett invited the band to participate in Another Day, Another Time, a concert featuring music from and inspired by the Coen Brothers’ movie Inside Llewyn Davis. The band’s performance was hailed by Rolling Stone as the evening’s “unexpected showstopper.” The New York Daily News raved that the band’s lead singer, Rachael Price, has “the soulful howl of a young Etta James.” What has followed has been a fast-moving ride for Lake Street Dive, including appearances on The Colbert Report and The Late Show with David Letterman, and a new, devoted set of fans to go along with the band’s already obsessed core following. “We are named in homage to dive bar bands. We were, are and always will be a dive bar band. Whether we’re playing for 10 people or 10,000 we want them to have that feeling.” Lake Street Dive is comprised of singer Rachael Price, upright bassist Bridget Kearney, drummer Mike Calabrese and Mike “McDuck” Olson on trumpet and guitar. It’s hard to pigeonhole the band’s sound into just one category – jazz-country-indiepop with a throwback soul vibe? You may not have heard of Lake Street Dive yet, but we think they’re going to steal the show on both Fridays at ACL . Check out their latest release Bad Self Portraits, as well as the EP Fun Machine, which features five covers (including “I Want You Back”), and watch their videos on YouTube – you won’t want to miss this show.
October 3 & 10 | 3:15pm – 4:15pm | Austin Ventures Stage
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YOUNG & SICK
Young & Sick is a combined art and music project from the wonderfully quirky mind of Nick Van Hofwegen, a Dutch transplant who now lives and creates in L.A. Van Hofwegen writes, performs and produces all his own music, all of which includes signature animations that he releases with every track. Originally known as a visual artist, Van Hofwegen has done artwork for a number of well known entertainers like Foster the People, Maroon 5, Robin Thicke, Mikky Ekko and Andy Dick. His playful, squiggly creations have become well known in both music and art circles – you may be familiar with the cover art for Foster the People’s Pumped Up Kicks or last summer’s Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke and Pharrell. If you go to his website, youngandsick.com, you will find a series of Young & Sick singles posted with accompanying artwork. If the project sounds kind of precious and artsy – it is, but in a totally unpretentious way. Van Hofwegen himself is very down-to-earth, casual and friendly, with a great sense of humor. His music is a mix of R&B, electronica and synth-pop, and his vocals are downright dreamy. He has a Prince-like range, mixing a soulful falsetto with complex harmonies. His style is vaguely reminiscent of great 80’s synth pop, but it feels completely original and new. His live performances are compelling, whether he’s performing solo acoustic or plugged in with the full band. Young & Sick performed in several showcases at SXSW this year, including one show at Austin Pets Alive! with Ryan Hemsworth and Mahaut Mondino that was performed exclusively for an audience of dogs. With a full tour schedule and a dual role as professional artist and musician, Van Hofwegen has spent 2014 creating enormous buzz around his work. Stereogum dubbed Young & Sick 2014’s Band To Watch. Prior to this year, all of Young & Sick’s music has been independently released. Earlier this year he signed with Harvest Records and in April 2014, released his first self-titled album. The album was released as a vinyl LP, with 50 of the original run selected at random to contain a unique drawing by Van Hofwegen. Collaborating with other musicians to flesh out the live performance earlier this year seems to have added another layer to an already multilayered project. The band had its first live performance last January. “Right now we’re just going to let the music speak for itself and just be a band first and not worry too much about presentation — just play music the best we can, and then fully build it out and let it grow slowly. By the end we want it to be a big visual stage show. That is going to grow over time.” We can’t wait to see what they bring to ACL, and we look forward to seeing how Young and Sick evolves. October 3 & 10 | 11:30am – 12:15pm | Miller Lite Stage 28
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ANA TIJOUX
French-Chilean singer/rapper Ana Tijoux is an amazing woman, a thrilling performer and one of the most respected MCs worldwide. Somebody should make a movie out of Tijoux’s life. The daughter of Chilean political exiles under Pinochet’s regime, Tijoux was born and raised in France, returning to Chile as a teenager where she performed in a series of hip hop and pop groups, gaining much success in Latin America and France, most notably the group Makiza, one of the only Latin hip hop groups to be signed by Sony Entertainment. As a solo artist, Tijoux has paid her dues and gained success the hard way through touring, performing, and recording. After experimenting with more melodic, soulful pop, in 2009, she recorded her solo debut “1977,” which is still making waves in the hip hop world five years later. In 2010, Tijoux was invited to play SXSW, which spurred a North American tour. After a shout out from Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke, Tijoux’s unique musical style got the attention of a much wider audience, gaining even more mainstream success after being featuring on AMC’s Breaking Bad. This year Ana Tijoux is touring on her new album Vengo, which is a wild ride of lush lyrics set to Latin rhythms, calling up both the sounds of old school hip hop and a classic Latin feel. Rolling Stone called her SXSW showcase “one of the best concerts of this year’s festival,” while The New York Times has called her “South America’s answer to Lauryn Hill.” In concert, Tijoux takes the stage with a full band that brings to life the intricate arrangements of the new album, a whirlwind trip through hip hop, jazz, and funk, spiced with a bit of politics and her great sense of humor that has led audiences around the globe fall in love with her. October 3 | 4:15 - 5:15 PM | Bevintel Stage October 10 | 4:15 - 5:15 PM | Zilker Stage FALL 2014 | LOCALE AUSTIN MAGAZINE |
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PHOTO CREDIT: ASHLEY GORMAN
LOCALE FAVORITES
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w ritten b y Bren d a J ohnson
Sometimes we Austinites forget how spoiled we are to be surrounded by so much great local talent. That’s why when we talked to music industry types from around the country about which acts they were most excited to see at ACL this year, we were pleasantly surprised to hear people talking about local Austin bands. With some of the world’s best and most eclectic, artists descending on us in October, it might be tempting to overlook the home team. Don’t do it! These three Austin bands are all creating national and international buzz. These shows will round out your festival experience with a little hometown pride... and you can say you knew them when.
Mike
and the Moonpies
These guys would have fit in nicely with Willie and the boys at Armadillo World Headquarters back in the day. This is real country, y’all, not cutesy, over-produced pop country, but foot stompin’, beer drinkin’ honky tonk music. Ever since their epic residency on Thursday nights at The White Horse in East Austin, Mike & the Moonpies have been earning a name as the hardest working band in honky tonk – with miles and miles on the road and two albums under their collective dinner-plate-sized belt buckle. Mike & the Moonpies bring their own modern twang to classic country dancehall anthems and barroom ballads with Mike’s raspy, somehow addictive voice, pedal steel that will break your heart, and guitar riffs that feel like home. The Austin Chronicle calls the band “Rugged…a stomping rhythm straight out of the Waylon Jennings playbook.” While on tour in Tennessee, the Moonpies were signed by Austin/Nashville booking agent Red 11, who has taken the band to the next level, playing iconic venues like Luckenbach, TX, the Broken Spoke, Wormy Dog, and John T. Floore Country Store. In addition, the band has made a film documenting their rigorous touring schedule and the making of their new full-length album, the follow up to their 2012 release, The Hard Way. Put on your boots and come ready to dance. Mike & the Moonies’ set at ACL is sure to blow you away and score a major one for the home team! October 4 | 12:00pm – 12:40pmFALL 2014 | LOCALE AUSTIN MAGAZINE | 31 S H A N N O N S C H M I T Z G R O U P. C O M Austin Ventures Stage
SAINTS OF VALORY If you’ve been out to see live music in Austin lately, you’ve probably seen or heard Saints of Valory. The band kicked off KGSR’s Blues on the Green this summer, and seems to be on every major local bill lately. Saints of Valory first came together in Rio de Janeiro, where lead vocalist and bass player Gavin Jasper and guitarist Godfrey Thompson met as kids. They began writing and playing together in Rio, and, in need of a space to record, reached out to friend and keyboardist Steven Buckle, who had a studio in Boerne, TX. When the three came together, it was magic, and the band has called Austin home ever since. “When we all got together, that’s when I first felt this could work,” Jasper said. “We played Providence and there was this feeling in the room. It was the same feeling I had when I first heard Where The Streets Have No Name, where things just click chemistry-wise and it lifts you up. You feel happier. And I thought, ‘If I can feel this in this room, then we can actually offer this to people and they will feel it, too.’” On their first EP, Possibilities, every song is more playable than the next. Powerful vocals overlay a full, sometimes anthemic sound. Saints of Valory have a supremely likeable sound, reminiscent of the soundtrack to a really great story. You’ve probably heard the single, Neon Eyes (Into the Deep) on Austin radio. The new EP, V, features Long Time Coming -- a catchy, rhythmic tune you want to put on repeat all day. Check out the EP, and then watch the incredibly fun acoustic cover of Lorde’s Royals, which the band recorded live at Red Rocks. Saints of Valory’s onstage performance is nothing short of a blast. Whether you’re a fist-pump-in-the-front-row type of fan, or a hang-back-and-take-in-the-music kind of concert goer, you’ll love Saints of Valory. October 10 | 1:15pm – 2:15pm | RetailMeNot Stage 32
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WOOD AND WIRE This Austin band was founded in 2011 by singer/guitarist Tony Kamel and mandolin player Matt Slusher, who came up playing with acts like Graham Wilkinson, the South Austin Jug Band and Rodney Hayden. Wood & Wire’s sound is pure bluegrass at its best with a country soul, tight harmonies, and intricate instrumentation. The band is comprised of Tony Kamel on lead vocals and guitar, Dominic Fisher on bass, and Trevor Smith on banjo. If you love bluegrass like we do, these guys will make you weep with joy. Since the band’s first self-titled album released in 2013, they have been touring their hearts out, playing clubs and huge festivals like Old Settler’s, Telluride Bluegrass Festival, and Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival and have opened several times for bluegrass legend Yonder Mountain String Band. The guys are currently working on their second album, set to be released in early 2015. While Kamel pens most of the songs, he says the process is truly collaborative. He comes in with an idea and the band fleshes it out. Wood & Wire’s songs are an organic mix of the old and the new – traditional old-time style with contemporary subject matter and quintessential modern skills. From the raucous, tongue-in-cheek Rollin’ in the Washingtons, a hilarious take on the financial woes of being a touring bluegrass band, to the broken-hearted lament, Setting the World on Fire, Wood & Wire songs always tell a great story. To put Wood and Wire’s bluegrass talents in the words of a little, old three-piece rock-and -roll band from Texas, these folks “work it from one end to another and all points in between”. At a Wood & Wire show, it’s hard to say who’s having more fun – the audience or the band. If you’re not sweaty and hoarse from dancing and singing along, you might have missed the point. October 12 | 12:00pm – 12:40pm | Austin Ventures Stage FALL 2014 | LOCALE AUSTIN MAGAZINE |
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tips from a pro to have theBybest fest ever Rachael Ahrens What’s the best way to survive Austin City Limits Music Festival? Everyone has a recommended “a survival kit” a.k.a. a list of supplies to haul around.. This list may contain a sampling from the shelves of CVS that spans all manner of hygiene, first aide, feminine products, and skin care. Only you can decide what items are essential for your particular festival needs, but in my experience, aside from baby wipes, you probably won’t use any of it.
“Here’s the truth of the matter: ACL, like life, depends more on what you do than what you bring. You will require a plan.” Let’s begin. First, assemble your team. You’re going to need good people, the kind you can trust with essential Team ACL 34
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tasks like remembering where you parked and letting you know if you’ve tucked your dress in your underwear upon leaving the port-o-john. These folks must be musically coherent, obviously, but more importantly must have impeccable resilience, stamina, and good sense. You don’t want to end up babysitting a whiner (“It’s too hot, too loud, too crowded” – unacceptable). Sharing memories with your BFFs is lovely, however, nobody’s got time for divas, jerks, or wimps at ACL. Select your team wisely, and everyone will still like each other on Monday morning.
Next up, logistics. Make sure your phone is completely charged! You’ll probably end up with a dead battery at the end of the day anyway, but go in fully powered up. Determine a meeting place outside the festival grounds (at least 1/4 mile or more). If you are driving, take a picture of cross streets AND write down the location of your car (in case of aforementioned inevitable dead battery). It’s a good idea to designate your initial meeting place as the rally point in case you get separated or to meet at the end of the day. The dizzying mixture of sun, music, crowds (and potentially alcohol) may affect your ability to keep everything straight.
Use the time walking to Zilker Park to compare schedules, hydrate, and strategize. As the festival engulfs you in its loving embrace, you may find this is the last time you are able to meaningfully connect with these folks all day, so use your walk wisely. Do not split up your supplies, money or IDs (your awesome ACL Teammate may have a great backpack, but hold onto your own essentials, you may never see him again).
entirely and unabashedly. If you feel tired, put your palms up and let the vibrations of music and energy fuel you. Don’t let the accidental elbow throw or toe stomp get you down. Stand awestruck at the talent that exists. Blow a kiss to the skyline of our pretty city. Make new friends. Follow your plan, but remain flexible - you never know what luck you may have or what magic you may uncover.
At the end, if you feel euphoric, exhausted, and Eat something substantial ready to buy your early-bird ticket for next year, you before heading out into did it right. It isn’t what you the bright, hot, musical had. It isn’t what you forgot sunshine; this is not the or lost. It was what you did time to jump on the kale bandwagon. Slather on that that made it good. And, like most things in life, it was SPF and chug a coconut what you did that you’ll water. remember. Ducks in a row? Ok. Grab RACHEL AHRENS A Nebraska a map and off you go! It farm girl with a devastating case is nice (and safer) to stick of wanderlust, Rachael has drank, with your team but there danced, and stumbled home in some is no need to cling to the of the world’s coolest cities. 78704 is same ship all day. You’re her zip du jour and she now bribes no barnacle. You’re an her Zilker neighbors with lasagna to avoid noise complaints. Find her on insatiable, fearless music bar patios across Austin or wherever pirate out to claim your festival booty! Let music be live music is sold. When she’s not risking permanent hearing loss, your compass. she is helping some of the nation’s Devour your festival best non-profit organizations fund experience like you did their missions and make the world a the latest season of your better, more interesting place. Follow favorite show on Netflix her blog: notbeige.blogspot.com
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Austin’s Sustainable Food Center BY LISA RODMAN
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Austin seems to breathe the motto that healthy lives are happy lives. From the runners on trails around Lady Bird Lake, to the bikers whizzing through scenic roads, health is a central piece of the Austin lifestyle. All that exercise means Austinites have a lot of healthy eating to do and lots options for it! By all accounts, Austin’s foodie scene is quickly rivaling its live music scene. Austin’s food trucks have become a worldwide phenomenon and locally sourced meats and produce is one of the hottest trends in 2014. Nowhere combines both aspects of the city as well as Austin’s Sustainable Food Center, a 501-3(c) nonprofit founded on the belief that local, sustainable foods and farms are the best for fueling a healthy community. The Austin nonprofit runs four o urban farmers’ markets in the nation. Each Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday you can find Austinites strolling through marketplaces loaded with local produce and artisans goods from over 100 local vendors and taking advantage of opportunities to connect with local producers in the community. Providing access to fresh, healthy local foods is a tenet central to Sustainable Food Center. Every farmer’s’ market accepts payment from governmental food assistance programs such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP - formerly food stamps) and Women,
Infants, and Children (WIC). Through grant funding, it runs a Double Dollar Incentive Program (DDIT), doubling SNAP and WIC up to $20 each week. This ensures that everyone can truly get access to the incredibly diverse harvest central Texas has to offer. In addition, through their Sprouting Healthy Kids project, the SFC partners with local schools to promote education about healthy eating, provide locally grown produce in school cafeterias, support school gardens and provide cooking classes for parents. The best way to teach a child is to have them be involved: if they will eat an apple they picked out from the grocery store, imagine their excitement about a carrot they grew themselves! From cooking classes to community outreach to primary school programs, the Sustainable Food Center is making an impact on Austin’s food culture and landscape. For more information about the center you can visit their website at www.sustainablefoodcenter.org. Lisa Rodman is a 20 year veteran of the nonprofit world and the Founder of Rodman & Associates, LLC where she advises and supports individuals, businesses, and family foundations on philanthropic initiatives and partnerships. As a contributing columnist Lisa shares her motivating and practical advice with our readers. For more information about her and her company, you can find more at www.RodmanAssociates.com
ready to shop Fresh and lOCAL? Saturdays Republic Square Park in downtown Austin Toney Burger Center in Sunset Valley
TuesdayS
Martin Luther King Blvd & Miriam Ave.
WednesdayS
The Triangle at 46th Street & N. Lamar
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LEAVE IT TO THE EXPERTS! IF YOU ARE THINKING ABOUT LISTING YOUR HOME OR EVEN IF YOU ARE JUST CURIOUS HOW MUCH YOUR HOME IS WORTH, GIVE US A CALL TODAY! 512-466-5224
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Shannon Schmitz Group
tried and true methods that get the best price f or your home
BEFORE YOUR HOME LISTS MARKET PREPARATIONS
COMPLETE LISTING CAMPAIGNS Custom marketing plan for each home includes: Inclusion in quarterly LOCALE Austin publication, a Shannon Schmitz Group original that is mailed to targeted areas of Austin & the US Printed Flyers Virtual Tours Inclusion in Area Tours Open House Events Just Listed Postcards Lifestyle Video “Movies”
Recommendations for repairs or upgrades Comprehensive Market Assessment Professional Staging Professional Photography Email Flyers Sent to Targeted Agents Emails sent to potential buyers Pre-List Marketing Plan
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AUSTIN
SHANNON SCHMITZ GROUP
AT AUSTIN POR TFOLIO REAL ESTATE
KIMBERLY MONTONATI BUYER’S AGENT / REALTOR® DESIGNATIONS: CLHMS®, CNE®
KIMBERLY@SHANNONSCHMITZ.COM (512) 431-8338 Facebook.com/HilllCountryLiiving
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SHANNON T. SCHMITZ GROUP FOUNDER/ REALTOR® DESIGNATIONS: CLHMS®
SHANNON@SHANNONSCHMITZ.COM (512) 426-9069 Facebook.com/ShannonKnowsAustin Facebook.com/LakePointeATX Facebook.com/SpanishOaksBeeCave
1611 W. FIFTH STREET, SUITE 100 | AUSTIN TEXAS 78703 WWW.SHANNONSCHMITZGROUP.COM | (512) 466-5224
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MORGAN SMITH
PARTNER/ REALTOR®, DESIGNATIONS: CLHMS®
MORGANSMITH@KW.COM (512) 466-5224 Facebook.com/AustinHipZip