Although I have lived here long enough to feel like a local, I actually became an Austinite by accident. I came to town on a whim in the mid-90s, fresh out of college. I was planning on spending a year or so in the Texas capital and then moving on to somewhere else, but life in Austin, Texas is like the stories you hear about a Celtic fairyland. You go to a party with the fairies and you feel like you’ve been gone for hours. In fact, it’s been 10 years, all your friends are married and have kids, and you’re still bar-hopping in the Red River cultural district, your skin sparkling with fairy dust.
I was drawn to the music, the show every night of the week, wandering from bar to bar, trying different sounds. In my early years in Austin, I remember going to hip-hop shows at the Mercury Lounge and reggae shows at the Flamingo Cantina. One night, Austin’s top notch cumbia Grupo Fantasma went off the air at the Empanada Parlor with an unstoppable barrage of funky brass and killer beats.
The only one of those clubs that still exists is the Flamingo. Its main program is still built around reggae and ska, and it’s a fantastic place to hear the island sounds of international artists. It is also home to underground hip-hop artists and other up-and-coming musicians. These days, you can find sounds south of the border on Sixth Street at the new Mala Vida Club, which specializes in regional Mexican music and prides itself on “all Latin vibes and gang.”
If you’re new to the city, as I once was, and are looking for where to start your live music journey, or if you’re a lifelong person with the intention of seeing more concerts in the New Year, here’s a guide on where you can hear live music in Austin today. This is not a complete list, but it’s a great roadmap.
Over the past couple of decades, as “Sixth Street Live Music Center” has evolved into “Dirty Sixth Street, the Shot Bar Capital of the World,” the Red River Cultural District has evolved into the city’s premier pedestrian music aisle.
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Look for big tours at the area’s outdoor venues, Stubb’s BBQ Bar, Mohawk, Empire Garage, and the 5,000-seat Moody Amphitheater at the city’s newly renovated Waterloo Park oasis. Look for even bigger shows at the new 15,000-seat Moody Center on the University of Texas campus. Pro Tip: The two biggest booking agencies in town are C3 Concerts and Resound Presents. Subscribe to their mailing lists or follow their social media accounts to get hot tickets before they sell out.
If your favorite superstar isn’t coming to Moody Center or Waterloo Park, you can find her at the Germania Insurance Amphitheater on Circuit of the Americas, a race track in Far East Travis County. Also keep an eye out for downtown ACL Live, which hosts major tours when the Austin City Limits TV show isn’t taping.
Stubb’s, Mohawk and Empire also have small indoor venues where you can watch intimate shows and sets from local artists, while ACL Live operates the nearby 3Ten small room. A real conversation, this is a real live music experience in Austin: stand a few feet from a young artist who touches your heartstrings, exposing his soul, or watch a completely unknown person ignite a crowd of 100 people before they explode for real.
Cheer Up Charlies is also a great Red River spot for you to snag new talent. The club has a small indoor space and a beautiful outdoor patio with a natural stone wall where amazing LGBTQ dance parties take place. Speaking of which, Tuesgayz at Barbarella is one of the hottest weekly LGBTQ dance parties in town.
It would be remiss if I didn’t mention Elysium, the home of the vampires and goths of Austin for over two decades and the main lair of Austin drag sensation Louisiana Purch (of Dragula fame). My favorite Elysium story exemplifies the “welcome everyone” spirit of the Red River Cultural District as a whole. One night, after the Insane Clown Posse show at the Empire, a group of Juggalos (ICP fans with painted faces) appeared at the regular club drag show, PooPoo Platter. Nervous about how the two subcultures would interact with each other, the club owner decided to hang out nearby. Transvestites gave Juggalo make-up advice.
Twice a year, clubs in the Red River Cultural District open their doors to mini-festivals with no cover, featuring mostly local talent. Free Week takes place in the first week of January and Hot Summer Nights is celebrated in July.
But maybe you’re looking for a taste of classic Austin. The blues has been at the heart of local music for decades. Austin’s blues sound was first created by black artists in East Austin. Stop by the historic Victory Grill on 11th Street – now serving chicken and waffles – to see one of the places where sound was born. While you’re there, check out the weekly Monday Night Blues Jam hosted by one of the scene’s elders, Harold MacMillan, in the outdoor area of Kenny Dorham’s Backyard next door.
In the 70s the blues floated down Interstate 35 with artists like Stevie Ray Vaughn and Antone became the home of the Austin blues. The club’s fourth location, on Fifth Street downtown, is its most elegant, stylish venue with a classy vibe, trendy cocktails and great sound. The club’s calendar includes plenty of blues as well as indie rock, hip hop and more.
Nestled among upscale hotels, boutiques and eateries in Congress South, you’ll find the Continental Club. The serious grandfather of Austin’s music venues is a mixture of country, rock, blues and jazz. Watch out for free club happy hour shows. Before he became an international guitar hero, Gary Clark Jr. had free accommodations at the club. If you stop by on a Monday night, head to the back room to say hello to Dr. Honky Tonk, Dianne Scott, the club’s longtime publicist and self-help guru.
For one of the most intimate music listening experiences in the city, slip upstairs to the Continental Gallery, where you can see outstanding artists in silence. Also visit Continental’s sister location, C-Boy’s Heart & Soul, further down Congress South.
While C-Boy’s is a great place to catch up-and-coming artists, Adrian Quesada once told me that starting a new project can be very stressful because it’s a favorite hangout for top-tier Austin musicians. The project he started? Grammy-nominated rock and soul phenomena Black Pumas, who played their first four shows in a month-long residency at the club.
If your boots are designed for cycling, you can head further into South Austin to the famous Broken Spoke honky tonk. For a more modest two-step experience, check out the White Horse in East Austin, where the lonely Casey Musgraves roamed the bar with local legend Willie Nelson in the video for “Are You Sure.”
Speaking of East Austin, a little more than a decade old, the Vegas Hotel isn’t exactly a classic place, but the club’s owners are committed to keeping the city’s long tradition of psycho-rock and garage punk alive and well.
Don’t forget the strange and the beautiful. Tucked away in what used to be far east Austin, Sahara Lounge is a quaint old establishment with an indoor stage and a spacious backyard with a fire pit. The club prides itself on a variety of bookings, and its signature event is the weekly African Night party every Saturday. The concert is organized by Niger-born Ibrahim Aminou’s house band Zumountchi. Other global beat artists perform regularly, and admission includes a free African buffet.
Tucked away next to the auto shops on Airport Boulevard, Skylark Lounge will take you back in time with its chic interiors and classic blues and soul based music program.
On Burnet Road, the tiny honky-tonk Little Longhorn is a great place for double-stepping and country singing, but the club’s signature event is the Chicken Sh*t Bingo from 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm every Sunday. And yes, bingo masters are actually real chickens.
The circus murals on the side of the Carousel Lounge beckon you to a kitsch carnival. This is a local living room with smaller bills. And forget the craft cocktails; The bar has a Bring Your Own Spirits bar program selling wine, beer and mixers. But as far as Austin’s real weird vibes, it’s an impressive (and Instagram-friendly) big pinnacle of weirdness.
Austin’s festival season concludes with the music, film and tech industry South by Southwest in March and the fall’s giant Austin City Limits music festival at Zilker Park.
Even if you don’t have a bracelet or SXSW badge, it’s worth heading downtown during the festival. In addition to free activations and events, many of the official SXSW launches charge an entrance fee, and some obscure events feature top talent from around the world.
ACL Fest occupies Zilker Park for two weekends in October and features both chart-topping superstars and trendy newcomers. Tickets (which will set you back over $100 a day and somewhere in the $300 range for a three-day pass) usually go on sale in May when the line-up is announced.
If these events are too big or too corporate for you, you might like Austin Reggae Fest, a celebration of laid-back sounds and joyful vibes at the Auditorium Shores in April, which is also Central Texas Food Bank’s largest annual fundraiser.
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Set in the Red River Cultural District over Halloween weekend, Levitation is another Austin indie original. The festival, formerly known as Austin Psych Fest, is a series of club shows dedicated to adventurous and experimental music.
If you don’t mind a trip, Tilmon hosts the Old Settler’s Music Festival every April to celebrate the music of the roots; The Kerrville Folk Festival takes place in May; and Float Fest, a summer rowdy party that combines music with tubing down the river (a very summery Texan tradition), takes place in Gonzales.
Wow, that was a lot. And to be honest, this is only a small part of Austin’s music. Now go and find your new favorite band.
