City Council passed a resolution earlier this month accepting the results of Sound Music Cities’ 2022 Greater Austin Music Census for publication on the city’s online data portal. Music Commission Chair Nagavalli Medicharla says hosting the data via the city’s portal will allow outside groups to better examine the state of Austin’s music scene. A push for a similar census to be conducted every five years also stemmed from this resolution, encouraging a more reliable indicator of the city’s musical ecosystem, whereas the last music census was conducted in 2014.
The Health Alliance for Austin Musicians raised a record-breaking $255,000 during its annual Corporate Battle of the Bands, outnumbering last year’s donations of $227,000. Hosted at ACL Live, employees of six Austin-based companies formed bands and competed in a talent showcase for accolades like Best Band and Fan Favorite. The money raised during the event translates to “nearly $1.8 million in healthcare services for Austin-area musicians,” per HAAM’s website. The nonprofit also declared plans for HAAM Day 2023 on September 19.
Jeff Tweedy and Joan Baez crossed paths while on a walk in the Texas capital back in March, according to a selfie and recent Substack post from the former. Side by side with the folk singer, the Wilco bandleader donned a trippy Hi, How Are You Project hat bearing Daniel Johnston’s famed frog. Tweedy revealed via voice note that he was in town to promote his episode of Audible’s performance/storytelling series Words + Music. He’ll return to Austin with his band on September 29 for a headlining performance at Moody Amphitheater at Waterloo Park.
Scott Schinder, longtime national music journalist who particularly loved Austin, has died at age 61. Friend Randy Haecker told Variety he passed following an unspecified long illness. Over a three-decade career, Schinder wrote for a list of publications like Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, Billboard, and Creem – as well as festival and album reviews for The Austin Chronicle from 2013 to 2014. He moved to Austin in 2011 after enjoying many South by Southwest Festivals, including the first in 1987.
Christian Bland, the Black Angels’ guitarist, gave Instagram a sneak peek of his latest dwelling – the Sixties home of 13th Floor Elevators founder Tommy Hall and Clementine Hall – complete with cheeky reference to the band’s “Slip Inside This House.” Loaded with history, Bland’s recently purchased Hyde Park home was also the practice space for the Austin psych rock pioneers and the location of their 1966 marijuana drug bust.
Crosstalk: City Council Calls for a Music Census Every Five Years, and More Music News
A version of this article appeared in print on Jun 16, 2023 with the headline: Crosstalk: City Council Calls for a Music Census Every Five Years, and More Music News
This article appears in Best of Austin 2023 (Insert).