Austin musicians helped kill the live music scene

[VonBonfire]

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/aus...ing-scene-feel-live-music-capital-is-no-more/

Paging @DanTravis62 I'd def like your thoughts on this one LOL.

A classic case of whining once you get what you wanted I.e progressive policies and COVID lockdowns. Now they want city funding "to keep the scene alive" LOL, freakin' dumbasses, that ain't how it works. Austin was an arts capital because it was cheap. It ain't cheap anymore. It's been a downhill ride since I first set foot there in 2011.

Many of the working musicians I know do not live in Austin anymore. A basic 2/3br home in south Austin can easily run 9k-10k in yearly property taxes. A lot of bands are made up of retirees whose dream was to play live music and can afford to not get paid. Most of them sound accordingly mediocre.

Most bands I know are playing for $50 a man plus tips in 3 and 4 piece bands. I did a lot of that but after the pandemic I said no more and cut it way back unless the gig could throw down $100/man which almost doesn't exist now. You can still make good tips but it's based on having premium timeslots. I know pre-pandemic many of the 6th Street clubs were paying 15-20k monthly rents which have undoubtedly risen since then. A lot of venues have folded since 2020, many others quit hosting bands.

I think the place is almost done. All the money is down south now or out in the hills but not in the suburbs and sure as hell not in San Antonio....

 

[S̷͖͑m̵͎͂á̵̺s̸͚̈́h̴̬̑]

I have been telling people for years that this is a sad place for live music. It may have been special once, but not recently

 

[DanTravis62]

I'm honestly surprised they are surprised.

I know a handful of people from Austin, and they've been saying exactly what you said (that she has gone completely downhill since covid, and the austin music scene is basically headed to an inevitable crash - most of them are super left wing btw)

And I can't help but wonder "well what did you think would happen when you gentrified this place and turned it into the hipster capital of the south?"

 

[VonBonfire]

I'm honestly surprised they are surprised.

I know a handful of people from Austin, and they've been saying exactly what you said (that she has gone completely downhill since covid, and the austin music scene is basically headed to an inevitable crash - most of them are super left wing btw)

And I can't help but wonder "well what did you think would happen when you gentrified this place and turned it into the hipster capital of the south?"

Yup, super left wing. Most of them were screeching about making sure clubs closed during the pandemic and berating dissenters on social media. Not sure how they can square that with playing live music, but they were that dumb.

I know a few guys who've been here since the 90's and early 2000's who told me most of the 6th Street gigs were $350-400 a night and you could pack up and walk down the street and hit a second show and have a pretty good $ night factoring in tips. That changed around 2010 when it dumped down to 150-200 night almost universally. I was making it work in late 2017-2018 by doing three shows a week at the same club, two of which were back to back on saturdays, plus grabbing whatever other gigs I could land there and elsewhere. I actually did six three hour shows in two days once, LOL

 

[skoora]

Yup, super left wing. Most of them were screeching about making sure clubs closed during the pandemic and berating dissenters on social media. Not sure how they can square that with playing live music, but they were that dumb.

I know a few guys who've been here since the 90's and early 2000's who told me most of the 6th Street gigs were $350-400 a night and you could pack up and walk down the street and hit a second show and have a pretty good $ night factoring in tips. That changed around 2010 when it dumped down to 150-200 night almost universally. I was making it work in late 2017-2018 by doing three shows a week at the same club, two of which were back to back on saturdays, plus grabbing whatever other gigs I could land there and elsewhere. I actually did six three hour shows in two days once, LOL

Didn’t even change strings, did ya….you fuckin’ savage!

 

[VonBonfire]

Didn’t even change strings, did ya….you fuckin’ savage!

I would usually change out the high E to avoid breakages since I was operating with one guitar. Paging Sharvell-Dan I had my hand truck setup to haul two twin reverbs, cable/mic bag, personal bag, plus my mic stand. Park on 7th and trinity by the homeless shelter, buy a discarded parking pass from my contact in the homeless community, and hit my gigs. Sucks cause I enjoyed getting down there and seeing friends and burning one on the venue roof before the show.

 

[dstroud]

Sad to hear - I’ve been considering moving and Austin was a possibility. Maybe I’ll stick with Florida - I know some people doing really well there. Sorry about Austin, that’s too bad

 

[DanTravis62]

Sad to hear - I’ve been considering moving and Austin was a possibility. Maybe I’ll stick with Florida - I know some people doing really well there. Sorry about Austin, that’s too bad

Yeah it's not just VBF I've heard this from a whole bunch of people too, about Austin

 

[dstroud]

Yeah it's not just VBF I've heard this from a whole bunch of people too, about Austin

man that’s really too bad. I know a killer drummer there that stays busy but she does a combination of worship bands and touring bands, so that’d be way different.

 

[VonBonfire]

Sad to hear - I’ve been considering moving and Austin was a possibility. Maybe I’ll stick with Florida - I know some people doing really well there. Sorry about Austin, that’s too bad

With your chops you will do as well as anybody can wherever you go D. You can make $300-500/man+ per night on the weekends doing bro country outside city limits in an established top 40 country band. 2.5k-3.5k for a Friday or Saturday pro level band. I know dudes who are locked into that for life, if you call that a life....

To make any money in Austin you have to have a premium time slot and that's usually based on being a senior band+being liked by management. That's still a $200 guarantee for the band but the tips can be substantial in those instances. Like 600-1000 bucks tips in some cases. I wasn't willing to do 3-5 years in a shit time slot to get it and it also requires being a hang around which costs time and money. Some of the managers there are notorious assholes and I'm not gonna be told I can't take a piss break cuz customers. Bob Woody has 20 clubs and all of them pay horrible and treat you like a sub human but hey he's the "mayor of 6th Street" smh.

 

[VonBonfire]

@dstroud I would give New Braunfels a serious look, which still puts you an hour of Austin. Trade secret, it's the actual live music capital in Texas now. The guarantees are better and people tip well. It's basically an Americana/country/red dirt/songwriter scene but cost of living is better and less traffic and headaches. Changing rapidly like the entire area. I don't like to be a naysayer cause people told me don't do it when I moved to the area and I still made something happen it's just taken a lot of time and plenty of grinding.

For what it's worth I've lived here twice and was working in the St. Pete/Tampa area before moving back permanently in 2016. Definitely more opportunity here overall, but lots of driving...

 

[dstroud]

With your chops you will do as well as anybody can wherever you go D. You can make $300-500/man+ per night on the weekends doing bro country outside city limits in an established top 40 country band. 2.5k-3.5k for a Friday or Saturday pro level band. I know dudes who are locked into that for life, if you call that a life....

To make any money in Austin you have to have a premium time slot and that's usually based on being a senior band+being liked by management. That's still a $200 guarantee for the band but the tips can be substantial in those instances. Like 600-1000 bucks tips in some cases. I wasn't willing to do 3-5 years in a shit time slot to get it and it also requires being a hang around which costs time and money. Some of the managers there are notorious assholes and I'm not gonna be told I can't take a piss break cuz customers. Bob Woody has 20 clubs and all of them pay horrible and treat you like a sub human but hey he's the "mayor of 6th Street" smh.

Thanks for the info!! I did the Country thing in Colorado for a couple years. It would depend how hard up I am for money if I would do that again lolol

 

[dstroud]

@dstroud I would give New Braunfels a serious look, which still puts you an hour of Austin. Trade secret, it's the actual live music capital in Texas now. The guarantees are better and people tip well. It's basically an Americana/country/red dirt/songwriter scene but cost of living is better and less traffic and headaches. Changing rapidly like the entire area. I don't like to be a naysayer cause people told me don't do it when I moved to the area and I still made something happen it's just taken a lot of time and plenty of grinding.

For what it's worth I've lived here twice and was working in the St. Pete/Tampa area before moving back permanently in 2016. Definitely more opportunity here overall, but lots of driving...

gotcha thanks for the heads up!! I had not heard of that place, will do some checking

 

[Mike Oxhuge]

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/aus...ing-scene-feel-live-music-capital-is-no-more/

Paging @DanTravis62 I'd def like your thoughts on this one LOL.

A classic case of whining once you get what you wanted I.e progressive policies and COVID lockdowns. Now they want city funding "to keep the scene alive" LOL, freakin' dumbasses, that ain't how it works. Austin was an arts capital because it was cheap. It ain't cheap anymore. It's been a downhill ride since I first set foot there in 2011.

Many of the working musicians I know do not live in Austin anymore. A basic 2/3br home in south Austin can easily run 9k-10k in yearly property taxes. A lot of bands are made up of retirees whose dream was to play live music and can afford to not get paid. Most of them sound accordingly mediocre.

Most bands I know are playing for $50 a man plus tips in 3 and 4 piece bands. I did a lot of that but after the pandemic I said no more and cut it way back unless the gig could throw down $100/man which almost doesn't exist now. You can still make good tips but it's based on having premium timeslots. I know pre-pandemic many of the 6th Street clubs were paying 15-20k monthly rents which have undoubtedly risen since then. A lot of venues have folded since 2020, many others quit hosting bands.

I think the place is almost done. All the money is down south now or out in the hills but not in the suburbs and sure as hell not in San Antonio....

Fuck, We were getting $50-$100 a piece per gig 20 years ago in small town Wisco.

 

[rsm]

It's been downhill since Eric Johnson tore it up.

 

[rsm]

Sad to hear - I’ve been considering moving and Austin was a possibility. Maybe I’ll stick with Florida - I know some people doing really well there. Sorry about Austin, that’s too bad

I'd imagine parts of Florida, like here in Savannah, GA, there are plenty of gigs if you play covers from the '60s - '80s for retirees. We have a small indy music scene here, of various genres. Most places with live music cater to the retirees and vacationers...no idea on the pay scale, but there are a few bands/musicians with a local rep that seem to do quite well, and can probably get 3-4 gigs a week, more if they include Hilton Head, SC and Charleston, SC

Couple of jazz clubs, one brings in regional+ acts IIRC.

I haven't been out to clubs/bars for live music for about 5+ years now...but if you search for live music in Savannah you can get an idea. Remember that local bands /musicians with history here get the lion's share of gigs. I know one local bass player who has a few bands, with different / same locals, and they switch it up...that is, they have 2-3 bands playing jazz, blues, or classic rock, and get a few gigs a week with different bands and are known to please the vacationers and have local following, so they bring in / keep the clubs full.

I know a few local musicians that are making a living playing music; two recently married in the last 5 years, and both have young kids...and can support themselves doing music here.

 

[dstroud]

I'd imagine parts of Florida, like here in Savannah, GA, there are plenty of gigs if you play covers from the '60s - '80s for retirees. We have a small indy music scene here, of various genres. Most places with live music cater to the retirees and vacationers...no idea on the pay scale, but there are a few bands/musicians with a local rep that seem to do quite well, and can probably get 3-4 gigs a week, more if they include Hilton Head, SC and Charleston, SC

Couple of jazz clubs, one brings in regional+ acts IIRC.

I haven't been out to clubs/bars for live music for about 5+ years now...but if you search for live music in Savannah you can get an idea. Remember that local bands /musicians with history here get the lion's share of gigs. I know one local bass player who has a few bands, with different / same locals, and they switch it up...that is, they have 2-3 bands playing jazz, blues, or classic rock, and get a few gigs a week with different bands and are known to please the vacationers and have local following, so they bring in / keep the clubs full.

yeah that kinda sounds ideal! I’m cool with rock covers for retirees - that’s what one buddy of mine is doing in Fla.

 

[Geo]

I knew a guy who used to travel to homes to fix television sets ........

 

[VonBonfire]

gotcha thanks for the heads up!! I had not heard of that place, will do some checking

Couple other $ thoughts asides just your own band:

solo/duo acts. I know a few different guys who do extremely well in and around Austin and New Braunfels doing solo/duo stuff. It's economical for clubs so many of them are doing that now, or have solo/duo acts earlier in the p.m. Alternative and/or some country covers can make a lot of money. The pay scale per person usually works out better than bands. Some of the guys are sharp players like yourself but wind up doing mostly solo stuff cause $.

church gigs: One of the guys in the band makes $250-300 playing mega church services. Two services back to back playing like 3 songs at each service. Just brings his instrument. That was def a thing with some FL guys I knew also. They can sight read so if you can it'd be an option.

the sub: You're a sharp player and could probably pick up a lot of sub work with other bands. Once your name got out there you'd probably get bombarded with calls based on your abilities plus good attitude. At first you might get a lof of dudes wanting you to play short notice for $50 plus tips. In time you'd move up the chain though and probably get those more premium calls with your chops I.e you are a better player than the vast majority of guys here. The bar is way higher in Nashville, not even close actually.

And you could always build a roster of guitar students though not sure on the going rate.

Good luck D.

Fuck, We were getting $50-$100 a piece per gig 20 years ago in small town Wisco.

Yeah...I usually get better money than that but play much less now. We calculated that we doing a whole lot fewer gigs and only making a little less money. After COVID I started demanding more, but then added another player just cause I've always wanted a five piece.

 

[SFW]

Covid pretty much destroyed what was left of the Houston music scene. It really died in 2015, but there were still some cool places to play. These days you have maybe three real venues left. 2006-2009 were really the last cool years here.