"Austin Weird" (Houston, Cleveland: appointed, hotel, high school)

[Thorga]

BTW, as to your earlier post about your hometown my answer is: I have no idea but I hope someone figures it out. My situation is almost the direct opposite of yours. Seattle is now too expensive to live in. I woke up an realized that even though I have a great job and make good money for my position, have great benefits....I literally cannot afford to buy an 800 sq ft "condo" (that listing was for 169,000 and it's in a bad neighborhood). Forget having kids or even planning for a retirement. Our economy is great, housing sales here haven't slumped even a little but many of us can't afford to stay here.

I hope someone figues something out before all the good places are gone....

[TheHarvester]

Originally Posted by twange

This is an interesting discussion.

Your entire post was excellent!

Originally Posted by twange

...I completely understand the mistrust towards the highly-paid,corporate, upwardly mobile, professional types and the over-gentrification of interesting neighborhoods...no disrespect to any one who fits in that category, it's just not my world. And of course the whitewashing of regional culture(warts and all) in favour of new, trendy, expensive, edgy-in-a-trendy-safe-way exclusivity is totally infuriating and disgusting.

I agree, and I wish for there to simply be safe places where people can enjoy the warts and local flavor without this trendification, I do NOT judge those who want to live in trendy areas! There are no good guys and bad guys in this conflict, it's simply an evolutionary process that naturally occurs wherever unusual, creative people generate unique culture and spaces. The less-creative people who appreciate these things want to experience it, and it ends up being like a beautiful park that is over-crowded and full of problems because people love it to death. There's nothing wrong with taking your family to the park! Yet your use of the park harms it. These types of conflicts are inevitable, but you suggest possibilities:

Originally Posted by twange

However, I think that what Austin may have going for it, are it's many colleges and universities that keep the city young. Young people are adventurous by nature and seem to keep things interesting...

It might surprise you to learn that most of what makes Austin unique is completely disconnected from the universities. What the universities provide is a source of financial support for musicians and artists and funky coffeehouses, but for the most part the best areas of Austin are inhabited by older (30s and up) people who preserve traditions and have a sense of history of the place. The student population is largely composed of kids who don't have any concept of what old Austin culture is about, they have no interest in it, they're more into partying, shopping, studying and generally living the way they could live in Dallas or any other city. JUST MY OPINION!!!

Originally Posted by twange

Let's hope Austin keeps evolving and that new folks feel a sense of place there and want to add to it instead of changing it and taking it over completely.

So, how does a city accomplish this?

I think there is always a flavor that carries on, but some social movements simply die. Look at the beatnik/hippie scene in San Francisco --- it was thriving until it made national news and people flocked to SF in 1967 and 68, effectively destroying the very thing they came to be part of. That aspect of SF is gone forever. What carries on is the liberal tradition, it morphs into new forms because it's a city that loves the fringes of society, welcoming every type of nutter with open arms.

I think this is perhaps what will happen with Austin. The tradition of "live and let live" and "support local business" will live on, but the old funky music venues are dying out and being replaced by trendy ones, and a lot of the Texas folk music, outlaw country, "new sincerity" and other music scenes that were thriving here 2 decades ago are being pushed out of the city in favor of music that isn't rooted in local culture. So, yes, we'll still be a live music mecca but it won't be the same ever again. Many of our best locally-grown musicians are dead, and that doesn't help. When Willie Nelson dies, that will be a serious blow, maybe worse than the loss of Stevie Ray Vaughan. I'm sure there will be streets and monuments dedicated to him, especially out in the small towns near his ranch.

[twange]

Originally Posted by TheHarvester

It might surprise you to learn that most of what makes Austin unique is completely disconnected from the universities. What the universities provide is a source of financial support for musicians and artists and funky coffeehouses, but for the most part the best areas of Austin are inhabited by older (30s and up) people who preserve traditions and have a sense of history of the place. The student population is largely composed of kids who don't have any concept of what old Austin culture is about, they have no interest in it, they're more into partying, shopping, studying and generally living the way they could live in Dallas or any other city. JUST MY OPINION!!!

Good point. Yea, most college kids are ambivalent to local historical roots. Of course there are exceptions, and I would hope that the music/art students would be a bit more interested in that sort of thing. Thinking back to my college days however, I was primarily concerned with my studies and social activities so...

I think the gradual loss of local music roots is an global trend in general. With the incredible access to different musical genres/cultures that the digital world provides, I think there is less connection to place in terms of art and music. It will be up to individual artists to mine for interesting links and regional traditions.

I agree about the Willie Nelson/SRV comparison as Nelson has simply outlived SRV and has therefore been around for many of the different phases of Austin's music scene.

[TheHarvester]

Shortly after I posted my comments about "the death of the roots Austin music scene" I watched about an hour of the Austin Music Channel (now called ME, which stands for music and entertainment, I guess... but it's still a local show.)

Anyway, what I saw of NEW stuff coming out of Austin was very encouraging. Yes, a lot of the old outlaw country and down-home boot-scootin' scene is dying out or moving to the small towns, but a lot of the new stuff is amazingly good.

One of the best music scenes in Austin is a unique form of Latin roots-rock, integrating styles from Spain, Cuba, Mexico, Brazil and other Spanish and Portuguese-speaking cultures, with American and Texican styles. I've seen the band Del Castillo twice in concert, they're absolutely mind-boggling, like a cross between Santana and a traditional flamenco group. Los Lonely Boys are very good as well. These are the two most commercially successful of the local groups in this genre, but if you go to the clubs that have Latin-style music, you can hear that it's almost as good in Austin as it is in Miami. Not quite, nobody will ever beat Miami for blending cultural music from the islands and Europe, but we do have a thriving scene that's very exciting. I just have to let go of the past and embrace the future.

In addition, there are many new "Stevie Ray Vaughns" blossoming. For some odd reason, Austin has an absurd wealth of incredible guitar players. What is lacking from most of the music scene is SINGING. We can't get a scene like Seattle's grunge music going because grunge was spirited by strong lead singers and dynamic performances coupled with a style that was unique but coherent. Austin has tended to attract musicians who simply want to play their instruments and they don't care much about how they look or act on stage. It prevents them from achieving pop success in spite of their skills.

I'm torn about this latter issue because I'd like to see some of the amazing local musicians achieve more success, yet I have to admire artists for refusing the pop stylings of a Nashville or LA or Seattle in order to relate to an audience on socially dynamic levels rather than simply playing good music without all the trappings of pop culture.

Looked at in this way, there are probably great music scenes in many places in the USA that we don't even hear about because nobody is publicizing it, nobody is making a fuss over it. When it comes to Country music, I think Nashville is the WORST of that style, yet it's called Music City. It should be called Commercial Recording Contract City. Country musicians I've met say that Tulsa, OK, has a better music scene than Nashville. I was stunned to hear this, but I'll take the word of the musicians over the word of Tee Vee and pop culture magazines.

[twange]

Originally Posted by TheHarvester

I'm torn about this latter issue because I'd like to see some of the amazing local musicians achieve more success, yet I have to admire artists for refusing the pop stylings of a Nashville or LA or Seattle in order to relate to an audience on socially dynamic levels rather than simply playing good music without all the trappings of pop culture.

Looked at in this way, there are probably great music scenes in many places in the USA that we don't even hear about because nobody is publicizing it, nobody is making a fuss over it. When it comes to Country music, I think Nashville is the WORST of that style, yet it's called Music City. It should be called Commercial Recording Contract City. Country musicians I've met say that Tulsa, OK, has a better music scene than Nashville. I was stunned to hear this, but I'll take the word of the musicians over the word of Tee Vee and pop culture magazines.

This is why I and uprooting my *ss and coming to Austin instead of a place like Nashville. I have zero interest in that kind of thing. I like a great pop song like anyone else but I'm really interested in the more artsy stuff and I like Austin's independant attitude. It is unfortunate that more Austin musicians don't achieve national prominence but hey, I know of bands in NYC that are amazing and still aren't known outside of that area but they go on and on and have good careers doing what they want. That's the important thing in my opinion. From my place hear in the Great Lakes, Austin has a pretty strong reputation for having a robust music scene...and most people I know have never been there so it's perception only. You guys must be doing something right!

I'm not a country musician specifically, but I grew up listening to all the old-time greats like Hank Sr., Johnny, Merle etc... I can't even call that stuff now coming out of Nashville "country". It's just pop with a little twang and some cowboy boots I know of some really great singer/songwriters that have been all but ignored by Nashville's machine because of their less-than-glamorous appearance. Never-the-less, they keep making music and touring etc...My best friend and former music partner is moving to Nashville this very weekend to get closer to the songwriting "industry". That sounds so offending to me But I wish him well.

[TheHarvester]

Originally Posted by twange

It is unfortunate that more Austin musicians don't achieve national prominence but hey, I know of bands in NYC that are amazing and still aren't known outside of that area but they go on and on and have good careers doing what they want.

So true. The number and variety of great musicians now compared to 40 years ago is overwhelming, in spite of the bleakness of what's played on the radio. You can go to a bar in a small town in almost any state and hear guitar playing that would have blown away a lot of the top pop guitarists of the 1960s. And when it comes to musicianship and pure chops, country music is hands-down the place where they're concentrated the most. People may not like the music, but those dudes can PLAY. I've seen Merle Haggard's former guitarist, Redd Voelkert, a few times in Austin and he can play everything from Hendrix to Van Halen to bluegrass. The guy totally OWNS his guitar. Yet he plays in small bars to audiences that number in the dozens. I just wish I'd get out more and take advantage of the wealth of talent that's on display every night of the week here, but I've become a recluse lately...

Originally Posted by twange

...I can't even call that stuff now coming out of Nashville "country". It's just pop with a little twang and some cowboy boots

Very well stated. But the backup musicians for those shiny-faced pop stars are amazingly good, almost without exception. There's no doubt that Nashville is PACKED with incredible talent, the problem lies in the commercialization of it and the focus on stardom, show biz, glitz and marketing. I bet there's an underground music scene in Nashville where the backup musicians get together and jam without the restrictions of the mainstream bands they're involved with, and they probably crank out some stuff that would blow our minds. It's like our Kerrville Folk Festival, it's not the shows on stage that have the best music, it reaches its peak around midnight around the campfires as the musicians get together and spontaneously create sounds that are never recorded. The lucky folks who find the best campfire jam sessions are hearing REAL music!

[love roses]

That's like the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. It's fantastic music onstage, but it was so great camping there and hearing music being played all night at peoples campsites

[Stevedawg]

Yeah Keep austin weird is kind of like support local business but yes I agree as a newcomer I don't really get what is so weird about austin.

[OzzyRules]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Daniel Johnston yet. (Sorry if I missed it.)

[love roses]

Maybe they don't want to have it turn into conservative Dallas.