Aw, we're honored. 🏆🏆🏆
Our book "Austin's Music Scene" has been named a Gold Award Finalist in THREE categories at the 2026 IBPA Book Awards — one of independent publishing's most prestigious honors, with nearly 2,000 entries this year alone:
✨ Best First Book
✨ Best Gift Book
✨ Best Cover Design
Three nominations. One debut. This is among the strongest showings for any first title in this year's field, and it belongs to the artists, DJs, music teachers, venue owners and operators, festival organizers and volunteers, and all the fans who help make this the Live Music Capital of the World every single night.
Huge props to our creative team, of course: @chrisritchiecoa , @davidbrendanhall , @emmacschmidt , @joyful_thomas , @jakerabinphotography , @byericwebb ,@mcguckinpr !
Special shout-out to @myhaam for believing in this project from the get-go. Half of all proceeds go to further their mission.
Winners announced later this month, so stay tuned! 🤞
Link in bio to grab your copy. Onward!
#AustinMusicScene
#IBPABookAwards
#BestFirstBook
#GiftBook
#LiveMusicCapital
#HAAM
#MusicBooks
🎸
“It’s about the music.”
Terry Lickona has been producing “Austin City Limits” since 1978 — quite possibly the longest run in television history. Nearly 50 years in, he’s not looking for ways to fix what isn’t broken.
“The format has not really changed from the beginning,” he told us. “The whole idea was to build a stage and invite an artist to come in and do their show. We don’t approve a playlist. Artists can play what they want and bring whoever they want.”
The skyline stays. The sound comes first. That’s the deal. That’s always been the deal. And it’s the reason the show has outlasted almost everything else on television.
Our full conversation with Terry is now live — including why he moved to Austin and never left; how he’s guided the show through five decades of music; and behind-the-scenes tidbits like these:
...how Kendrick Lamar hit the stage and never dropped an F-bomb (!)
...the time they made it rain for Tom Waits
...and how Finneas grew up watching ACL on a little TV in his parents’ kitchen.
Most important, we hear Terry’s plan for making sure the next 50 years of “Austin City Limits” are as good as the first.
Thanks for supporting our book project. Half of all proceeds benefit @myhaam . More bonus content soon.
Link in bio. Photo by Matt Sayles.
@terrylickona@acltv
#austincitylimits
#atxmusic
#austinmusicscene
#terrylickona
#austinpbs
🎙️ Episode 24 is here!
In this episode of What Makes Austin Weird, we sit down with Mitch Baranowski, author of Austin’s Music Scene, to talk about the sounds, stories, and spaces that define Austin’s ever-evolving music culture. From music and beer to wisdom from Monte Warden, this conversation dives deep into what keeps Austin’s creative pulse alive. 🍻
Austin’s Music Scene profiles 160+ local artists across genres—rock, country, hip hop, electronic, and more—plus 50+ venues shaping the city’s sound. It’s a first-of-its-kind snapshot of Austin’s vibrant “micro-scenes,” and 50% of proceeds support @myhaam (Health Alliance for Austin Musicians).
🎶 Music by Conner Stephens
🎧 Listen now and discover what makes Austin weird.
#AustinMusic #WhatMakesAustinWeird #AustinTX #LiveMusicCapital #Podcast SupportLocalMusic
Ray Benson's Birthday Bash benefiting @myhaam has been an Austin institution for years. This one's celebrating his 75th — and it will be his last at the helm.
We're proud to join the night's sponsors. And thanks to @myhaam , we're giving away 4 tickets to this invite-only evening on March 17!
Enjoy live music by Asleep at the Wheel & special guests, cocktails, bites, silent auction, the whole deal. Plus a signed copy of our book on Austin's music scene.
How to enter? Just follow us on Instagram (link in bio).
Enter the sweeps before 11:59pm CT on Thursday March 12. Must be 21+ to enter. All entrants will be notified via email on Friday, March 13.
Ray Benson’s 75th Birthday Bash
🎸 Tuesday, March 17
Benefiting @myhaam
Thanks for keeping music in Austin alive and well.
Ray Benson learned this one the hard way:
Early '73, the Wheel is playing the Farmer's Daughter in San Antonio. Six-foot cutout of Bob Wills behind the stage. The crowd calls for "Cotton-Eyed Joe." And Ray starts singing it, just like Bob does or so he thinks. But nobody moves. Nobody dances. They want Al Dean's instrumental version, no vocals, and so the whole floor clears.
Next day, he asked Alvin Crow. Learned the version the crowd wanted. Never made that mistake again. Always read the room, always.
Ray turns 75 later this month. Happy early birthday, Ray! Read our extended interview and unlock early access to win tickets to his final Birthday Bash benefiting @myhaam .
Link in bio.
Photo by @davidbrendanhall@raybensonaatw
#asleepatthewheel
#austinmusicscene
#livemusicaustin
#atxmusic
#haam
The other night @samstownpoint
We paused to admire the marquee.
After all, these changeable letter boards inspired our book's cover.
Did you know marquees first emerged outside vaudeville theaters and movie palaces in the 1920s?
Anyone can arrange the board.
Each letter gets its groove.
The arrow points.
Lights blink.
Blink again.
The colors glow.
And the names stay put until the show is done.
When the board shifts again.
(Now online: Bonus photo essay on Sam's Town Point. Link in bio.)
Our book would not have been possible without the steadfast coverage provided by outlets like KUTX, Sun Radio and The Austin Chronicle. So it meant a lot to have The Chronicle's Music and Culture writer, Caroline Drew, review "Austin's Music Scene" just before the holidays.
"Like trying to catch a cloud and pin it down." We agree.
In her thoughtful review—titled "Flipping Through 'Austin's Music Scene'"—Drew shares what makes documenting the current scene so tough: "Music scenes, already difficult-to-define entities, are neither neatly divided nor reliably stable."
She notes the book's up-to-the-minute approach, the deep-dives across genres and the guide to resources for sustaining the local scene. As such, she calls the book "an important almanac for those of us living in its pages" and recognizes that while it may look good on your coffee table, it's really meant to help you discover new music.
As she writes: "My copy is already stained and dog-eared, its binding stretched unforgivingly, as a good reference book should be."
We're grateful for the close read and kind words.
Full review link in bio.
Now available at ACL Live Shop, BookPeople, Prima Dora, Waterloo Records, Whole Earth Provision Co., Wild About Music, and many more. Half the book's proceeds benefit @myhaam .
Here's to keeping Austin music alive and well.
@carekdrew@austinchronicle
#atxmusicians
#austinmusicscene
#austinchronicle
#texasmusic
#livemusicatx
Taméca Jones—known as Austin's “Empress of Soul”—has been a fixture in the music scene for more than 15 years.
A native Austinite and fourth-generation Texan, Jones built her reputation through legendary Thursday night residencies at the Continental Gallery, where intimate performances created magical connections with audiences.
After a challenging stint in Los Angeles, she returned home to find an Austin music scene that had evolved dramatically. Now she‘s navigating the post-pandemic landscape while staying true to her roots, returning to the pure soul sound that first moved her.
As part of the digital companion to our book, we’ve posted our extended interview with the one and only Taméca Jones.
Link in bio. More soon. Stay warm.
Photo: Jon Currie
Creative Director: Isa Sofía Mikhail
Stylists: Isa Sofía Mikhail and Mel Tiller of Austin Tea Party
@tamecajonesmusic
#austinmusicscene
#atxmusic
#austinmusic
#atxmusicians
“You’re trying to capture something ephemeral, something that only exists in that moment.”
That’s @davidbrendanhall on music photography.
You might know him from his 10+ years of documenting Austin’s music scene. No surprise he’s up for Best Music Photographer in @austinchronicle ’s Music Poll. Today is the last day to vote, btw, so please do before midnight: vote.austinchronicle.com
We were lucky to work with David on our book, the first-ever field guide to the scene today. He served as co-curator and photo editor (peep the carousel for a few of his vibrant images).
“There’s an energy to live music that’s unlike anything else,” he says. We couldn’t agree more.
So vote for David. And vote for @myhaam , too, while you’re at it. Half our book’s proceeds go to further their mission, and they’re up (again) for best music nonprofit.
#austinmusic #austinmusicscene #atxmusicians #austinmusicawards #austinchronicle
Everyone’s got a Hole in the Wall story.
The night you had too many. That time you saw Spoon or Blaze Foley or some other show that changed your life. Your first time on that stage. Maybe the night you proposed.
Doug Cugini gave Austin that, a place where musicians had a home and everybody felt ownership.
This past week we lost the man who started it all in 1974 (it was just a little restaurant in an old dry cleaner’s back then). But walk into Hole in the Wall today, and you’ll see what he built: a crowd that runs from 21 to 71, genres that shift every night, legends on the walls and emerging artists finding their sound in the same space where Nanci Griffith played her first residency.
“The soul of this place is comprised of all that nostalgia, all those memories,” general manager Clayton England told us when we interviewed him for our book on Austin’s music scene. “Everyone feels like they have ownership of this space. You can’t say that about a lot of places, where fans from different generations feel ownership. That's really special.”
The Hole is still here. Still for everybody. Thank you, Doug. Rest easy.
Photos by @jakerabinphotography
#hitwatx
#austinmusic
#atxmusic
#holeinthewall
#austinvenue
Some days you get an unexpected masterclass in Austin music history.
At the Armadillo Christmas Bazaar last month, we had the honor of sharing the book-signing booth with Jim Franklin—the artist who first drew an armadillo for what would become the legendary ‘Dillo posters—and Eddie Wilson, co-founder of the Armadillo World Headquarters.
“I turned him on,” Jim said, grinning not at Eddie but his joint-smoking armadillo, the one that started a poster art movement just trippy and weird enough to help put Austin’s music scene on the map.
Eddie described his search for the building, the old armory that would become the ‘Dillo. How he booked everyone from Waylon and Willie to AC/DC and Bruce Springsteen. How, when it came to posters, he left that to Jim and the Art Squad. Except one time. He had a vision for a poster promoting Willie’s first concert at the venue, which took place on August 12, 1972. “I wanted a lonesome cowboy at the bar, crying into his beer, with ‘Hello Walls’ playing on the jukebox behind him,” he said. It turned out to be Micael Priest’s first concert poster. “He captured it perfectly,” said Eddie.
Stories like these remind us we’re standing on shoulders—like Eddie and Jim’s.
(You can find our profile on the Armadillo World Headquarters on pages 142-143 of “Austin’s Music Scene.”)
#armadilloworldheadquarters #armadillobazaar #austinmusicscene
Here’s to a new year of showing up early / staying out late / keeping it live / keeping it great. Photos by @jakerabinphotography and @davidbrendanhall . #austinmusic #austinmusicscene #hny2026
