[Doug Freeman, friend of the blog and editor of the supercool Austin Sound, on his book-release and all-star rock show at Antone’s tonight.]
Austin Powell and I will be hosting the official release party for The Austin Chronicle Music Anthology, being held at Antone’s with all proceeds benefiting HAAM. The lineup spans over three decades of Austin music, with reunions, special guests, and one-time-only collaborations (see below). Yeah, this is gonna be one helluva night.
So what is this book, you say? Well first off, it’s a thing with pages that you can actually hold in your hands and flip through, kind of like an iPad or Kindle except heavier, and only holds a single volume’s worth of content. I know, weird. But it’s also the product of more than 3 years of work on the part of Powell and myself, digging through every issue and piece of music writing in the Austin Chronicle archives. Online, the Chronicle currently only extends back to the late Nineties, one of the reasons Powell and I were interested in surfacing some of the amazing history contained in the paper’s pages as it celebrates its 30th anniversary.
Inside the book is 30 years of music coverage and photography of the Austin music scene, a history that largely has not been officially written. While the legacies of the Armadillo and Stevie Ray Vaughan are inextricably (and rightly) associated with what Austin music is, there is so much history and so many more “Austin Sounds” that have made our hometown here the Live Music Capital of the World. The narratives we have inherited of Seventies progressive country and Eighties Sixth Street blues only scratch the surface, and don’t even begin to explain the chaos of the Big Boys or Butthole Surfers, Daniel Johnston or Trance Syndicate or even the past decade’s rise of bands like Okkervil River, Spoon, Octopus Project, Explosions in the Sky, or Trail of Dead. The Austin Chronicle Music Anthology can’t pretend to be that kind of comprehensive history, but we hope that it can re-ignite the conversation of what is the legacy of Austin music, where is it headed, and how can we better preserve and celebrate it inclusively.
For more information on the book, join us on Facebook, and come out tomorrow and pick up a copy at Antone’s and see an amazing lineup showcasing some of the history represented in the book’s pages. General admission tickets are only $10, or you can purchase entry plus a softcover copy of the book for only $25, with all proceeds benefiting HAAM. Doors open at 7:00pm with music starting at 7:30 with the reunion of Standing Waves. See the full lineup below, buy tickets here, and hope to see you tomorrow evening! More info here.
Lineup for The Austin Chronicle Music Anthology book release party:
Standing Waves reunion
Kathy McCarty
The Skunks reunion
The Gourds
Poi Twang (a special collaboration with David Garza, Abra Moore and members of Poi Dog Pondering)
The Crack Pipes
and a special appearance by DANIEL JOHNSTON
You can also purchase copies of the book from the University of Texas Press or at Book People, Waterloo Records, and other fine local retailers.
