“We can’t have an article in the Chronicle every month, can we?” joked Troy Dillinger as he began Monday’s meeting of Save Austin Music. He was referring to the fact that attendance was down from the previous month when it had been given a boost by last month’s cover story on the city’s reaction to Dillinger’s claim that the Austin music scene was in crisis. After stating the goals of his project for the newbies in the house, Dillinger’s big news was the progress made in producing public service announcements featuring Mayor Will Wynn, Marcia Ball, and Rosie Flores. Lyle Lovett, Matthew McConaughey, and, possibly, Willie Nelson were announced as having signed on for future PSAs.
David Sullivan of the Live Music Task Force reported on their information gathering, urging input before an upcoming report to the City Council. Dillinger stressed that such feedback was needed for an upcoming Musician’s Wages Survey put together by the Task Force. A representative from Amplify Credit Union was in attendance, as well, explaining their recent decision to support the project and offering financial advice to the local music community.
By meeting’s end, it was apparent that the project is on its way to achieving some of its goals. There certainly needs to be a central galvanizing point for the Austin music scene and Dillinger seems to have gotten things rolling in the right direction. If he can get the government task forces and commissions in town focusing on music to work together, while achieving his stated goals of growing the audience and increasing the musician’s wages, it will be an impressive accomplishment. One that, at the moment, seems to be in sight.
This article appears in August 15 • 2008.