Inside the Austin Music Scene by Xavier Castellon

AUSTIN MUSIC

S C E N E

BEHIND THE SCENES OF AN INDIE AUSTIN BAND

By: Xavier Castellon

In the heart of Texas, the ‘Live Music Capital of the World’ produces hundreds of shows every single week of the year. Live acoustic guitars, glimmering stage lights, bass felt all throughout your body, thousands of musicians playing their passion to the public. These musicians draw the attention of millions at Austin’s annual festivals like Austin City Limits and SXSW. Kelly Barnes, the lead singer of the band ‘Darkbird’, is in a local band and has been in the music industry for many years. They’ve brought hundreds of performances and several studio projects to the scene throughout her career. Kelly takes us behind the scenes on the music industry. She along with thousands of other musicians live for what they do on a daily basis. They are the powerhouse of Austin’s musical scene. This is an inside look into the Austin music scene. Kelly Barnes is the lead singer of the Austin-based band ‘Darkbird’. Her along with her husband Brian, the lead guitarist. They both fill up venues throughout the Austin- metropolitan area with their unique style of music. She moved from Los Angeles to Austin after the disbandment of her former band back in California. “I was looking to start a new band here. I had a band back there but things kind of fell apart. People change. Pe-

ple move on from certain lifestyles.” Kelly states. It’s fairly simple to start a band. You need at least two or more people and a passion for music. The hardest part of being in a band is keeping it all together. It takes a lot of dedication and cooperation to be able to be in this industry and be successful. Kelly took a new step in her life by completely changing her environment and ambitions, “I didn’t really know a lot of people here. I just kind of blindly moved here to start new beginnings.” She came here to make music since Austin is most famously known for it’s live music friendly environment. She had met her husband and future bandmate on a Craigslist meetup. “I just went on Craigslist, and I had no expectation of finding anything cool at all… I found Brian, and he had some demos of some of his music. I checked it out and showed him some of my old stuff… Then, I went into the studio, and we started playing around with songs.” Kelly explains. The beginning of a band was about to be established. It took two people with a love for music, some guitars, and a singer for Darkbird to be born. “It all worked out, and ‘Darkbird’ has been a band since.” Kelly’s passion for music started a long time ago. She had grown up in a music studio as her mom was music studio owner. Since she was stuck in a music studio day in and day out, she had learned to dance. In order to dance, you obviously need some music to dance to. She had to incorporate music into her life in order to execute her dancing skills. “I grew up in a dance studio that my mom owned, so my first experience with music was really as a dancer… I started having to put music into practice as a dancer at a very young age.” Kelly explains. Her passion in dance ultimately shifted towards music as she

grew older. “As a dancer, I was always auditioning from music videos and musicals… I was a singer at the same time while dancing due to auditioning for musicals.” She’s had a lot of musical influence in her childhood growing up. It only takes a spark for anything to turn into something much bigger. In this case, it was a girl introduced to dance and theater, and it all ending up in a yourself. You need the perseverance to stay in this competitive industry while doing what you still love. It takes a lot of hardwork and determination to be in the music industry. If you don’t have one of those three traits, it will be hard time competing in the industry amongst your peers. “I would say be really honest with yourself about your ability. If you know that you’re good and have got Artists who live in Austin are fortunate enough to live in a city full of musical opportunities. Austin is one of the most musically driven cities in the world. It’s annual festivals and daily concerts in hundreds of different venues are very beneficial to these musicians. The shows these artists perform at are extremely crucial to their image. This how most Austin artists gain

Brian Barnes, the lead guitarist of the band ‘Darkbird’, performing live at the ‘2022 SXSW Showcase for Artists’. Photograph taken by Derek Jones

music career. A lot of what it takes to become a musician has a lot to involve with creativity, criticism, and perseverance. You need the artistic creativity to captivate people to your unique sound and help distinguish yourself from your peers. You need the tough skin to take criticism from strangers you don’t know and most importantly, what it takes, you just don’t give up. It’s a very, very, very tough business, and you can’t do it for just the business aspect.” Kelly explains. She’s one of the many artists in the Austin area that’s had to put their absolute most effort into their careers. It’s a very hard business, but in the end, “It’s one of the best thrills of your life.” Kelly very strongly believes. their recognition through these crowded events. Kelly’s band, Darkbird, has been very present in the music scene throughout Austin,“I’ve performed a lot of shows. It’s in the hundred’s of the amount of nights I’ve spent performing.” Musicians are a business people. They are a brand. They promote their brand. Their brand has it’s own reputation. Repu-

tation is everything in the music industry. Their career is in the hands of public perception and media. Darkbird had the opportunity to perform at the Austin City Limits this year, “This is a big moment, but I’m going to treat this show like any other show.” It takes confidence to be able to pull of a performance in front of a large crowd, “Your mind can really screw you up if you let nearly a decade ago. They have had a lot of experience with both up’s and down’s throughout their music career. A lot that goes into being a musician is being self aware and very open minded. Many new musicians struggle to find out the formula of keeping up with themselves and their music. It’s common to make mistakes while being a new musician, and it’s common to way you’d imagine it if you put in all your effort. It can be very tough at. The music industry is very tough. But at the end of the day, it’s all worth it… You do it all because you love it.”

In the heart of Texas, musicians work day in and day out trying to complete their dreams. It takes determination and the qualities of a very hard worker to make

Kelly Barnes, captivating the audience with the performance of their song, “Heartbeat”. Photographed by Derek Jones

it… I don’t know what shows can make or break the band, but I try my best to keep my confidence for every show.” Local musicians have to learn to adapt the confidence in their daily lives, or else they won’t ever make the scene here in Austin.

Darkbird has been in the music industry for awhile now. Their first song was released in 2015 which was learn from them both correctly and incorrectly. “Don’t sweat the small stuff. If it’s a good song, it’s a good song. Don’t worry about everything all around it. It’s the big stuff that matters. The lyrics and the core of the song is all that matters. If those things are there, then you could see it through. You will make mistakes along the way and very questionable decisions, but it all ends up the it into the music scene. Darkbird continues to play at venues every week and work hard to get the recognition they deserve. Music is one of the only things that can bring everyone from different backgrounds together. We use music for many occasions and will continue to do so until the end of time.