Rockin In AUstin

The live music capital of the world. By: Jack Nguyen

Imagine yourself in a music club. The music is blasting and the lights are flashing. You’re dancing with your friends and having a great time. The club is packed and there is a great atmosphere. Music has been around since the beginning of time. Since there can be no music without Arts In Austin | 20 musicians, its place is virtually assured, even if lucrative recording deals and a place in the limelight will continue to elude even the most gifted artists. As it is often not talent but advertising that guarantees success, talented musicians will have to invent ways of selling themselves and their music to the public. Musicians able to compose music, play several instruments, and arrange music will find more employment opportunities open to them. Musicians include rock stars, opera singers, folk guitarists, jazz pianists, violinists, drummers, or anybody who creates and performs music. Musicians

consist of a broad group of artists who play instruments, sing, compose and arrange music in a variety of settings. They perform before live audiences or record in music studios. Instrumental musicians use items such as the saxophone, guitar, drums, and piano. Conductors lead orchestras, bands, and choral directors direct choirs, singing clubs, and other vocal ensembles. It’s a challenging field, but individuals in it usually feel an inner compulsion to play and share their music. Some lucky musicians, orchestra members, opera singers, and even a few pop artists make a living in their profession. Very few actually become rich and famous, though. Frank Sinatra, Micheal Jackson, Paul McCartney, and Elvis Presley are rare examples, but most musicians are happy just to be able to play an instrument and to create music. Serious musicians spend a lot of time practicing and rehearsing. They also spend a substantial amount of time on the road, traveling to and from performances, or just seeking performing opportunities. Since most musicians’ gigs are at night time and on weekends, they often take day jobs to cover the bills.

No, I mean, it’s just like you don’t want to eat the same thing every day,

Right? You know, variety is, is, is tantamount to learning and, and, you know, and, and literature and, and, and every art form.

- Bruce Hughes

There is a wide variety of music in Austin, Texas. The city is known for its live music scene, which includes a variety of genres such as country, rock, blues, and jazz. Austin is also home to a number of music festivals, including the Austin City Limits Music Festival and the South by Southwest Music Conference and Festival. Musicians can play and compose for a variety of sources. The television, motion picture, and advertising industries employ musicians to perform live shows, score music for movies, and compose and arrange theme songs for television programs and advertisements. Theater orchestras provide live music for plays and other productions. Live audiences and auditions are a fact of life for musicians seeking to establish a reputation or find a niche, so they must be able to deal with their anxieties and deliver a quality performance in front of any gathering of people. Musicians face rejection all the time, but the most disciplined individuals maintain confidence in their abilities; they can never allow themselves to become complacent if success is the goal. Most musicians work small-time gigs whenever they can, whether it be in clubs, churches, weddings, birthdays, or bars. Bruce Hughes is an Austin native and lifelong musician. He has played with a few notable musicians before, including Jason Mraz, Bob Schneider, the scabs, and the Ugly Americans. He is currently in two bands: the Teratoma and Sly Curtis. “One of the beautiful things about being an Austin musician and being an Austin working musician is that I get to do several of the things that I really, really love to do close to home.” Hughes also brought up the point of how much Austin, Texas itself has grown in the past decade. “[What] I would say about working in Austin is that…it’s still far away from the industry, but… the industry [in] Austin [has been] narrowing, espe Arts In Austin | 21

cially in the last…probably the last decade…Austin really has become a place to be reckoned with and a place that people recognize.” Jeff Smith is the owner of Saex Records and Entertainment LLC. “You have to march on in the recognition that that’s probably not going to happen to you and you might starve to death… while you’re trying. And again, if you travel a lot and you don’t have…the opportunity to start a family or have a family.” Once I really started touring, I’d really, you know, I really came to love that part of it, and it’s just been kind of a part of the fiber of who I am

-Jeff Smith

val, SXSW convinced the Austin Chronicles to help him launch SXSW. “What do we have to do? And then finally we came up with the name, South by Southwest. And sort of once we got over that hump, then we decided, ‘Okay, let’s go ahead and announce it.’ And I was as surprised as any- body that it was suc- cessful really from the start. And we got all these people from Nashville and New York, and Los Angeles to travel. To see bands and bands get record deals, was a big deal. So you know, I thought, “Oh, I guess I should keep doing this.” And then, 33 years later here I am, still doing that.”

Smith also said that musicians not only make money from only playing music, but they also make money from many other sources too. “Not the people that tell you that they’re making a living, but the people who are actually making a living, they’re doing a lot of different things every day. Oh, they’re either doing sessions or giving lessons. You know, it’s not just the stage time, it’s…the way most people are making their living.” Roland Swenson, one of the co-founders of the music festiArts In Austin | 22 Covid has also affected many industries over the pandemic, including the music industry. The pandemic has had a devastating effect on the music industry. Venues have been forced to close, tours have been canceled, and musicians had been left without work. The industry was expected to lose billions of dollars in revenue in 2020. As a record store owner, Jeff Smith found it easy at the start of the pandemic. As the pandemic continued to affect many businesses, it became difficult to stay open. “It was good because everybody was trapped at home and they had free money coming in. Yeah. And they were spending it very freely. But as it wore on you know people. The money dried up and it became difficult.” As the Executive Chairman for SXSW, Swenson explains how the pandemic’s start affected SXSW. “You know, we had never really contemplated having to cancel the event, and so we held out as long as we could thinking that, well this will go away, and life will just go back to normal, but literally the Two days before we were supposed to start, the city said, ‘No, no, we’re not gonna let you do that.’”

According to an article that was published by Austin American Statesman, In 2022, SXSW had a $280.7 million dollar impact on Austin’s economy. The 2022 economic impact was about 21% lower than SXSW’s pre-coronavirus festival in 2019, which had an estimated impact of $355.9 million, according to Greyhill Advisors. As we start moving away from the pandemic’s “scary phase” and as clubs are opening for more capacity, some notable clubs you should visit are the Continental Club, Elephant Room, The Saxon Pub, Speak Easy, and Cactus Cafe.

Top circle is Roland Swenson, Executive Chairman for SXSW. Small Circle is Bob Hughes, lifelong musician. Bottem Circle is a music set up.