Can the Bands Play On?

The Live Music Task Force tunes up to protect Austin’s claim to fame

 

Hizzoner jams with Brandon Tapp (center) and Troy Dillinger.

Photo by Traci Goudie

“Live music in Austin is facing a life-or-death crisis.”

That’s the alarm sounded for 2008 by Troy Dillinger. The longtime Austin musician organized the Year of Austin Music to call attention to the dire economic realities of the local music scene. In a nutshell, says Dillinger, the supply-and-demand dynamics affecting Austin’s live music venues are wildly out of whack. The supply of musicians eager for gigs far exceeds the number of venues that reliably pack a paying house; as a result, bands play for free or at a net loss. Respected bands and artists – not the famous names, but the town’s many talented and dedicated midlevel working musicians – struggle to earn even a half-decent living. In a steady pattern of attrition, says Dillinger, clubs have been closing, audiences shrinking, musician income dwindling to a dangerous all-time low. Bands that formerly supplemented their limited local audiences and income by regional touring have seen the ever-rising price of gas devour the thin profit margins on out-of-town gigs. Once slacker-friendly, Central Austin is no longer affordable for a singer-songwriter eking out a living with a dream and a guitar. Could the famed Austin music scene be losing its vitality?

Among those taking these concerns seriously is Mayor Will Wynn, who issued a proclamation in January making 2008 “The Year of Austin Music.” When speaking around town, the mayor carries the group’s audience-building message: Get off the couch, and go out to see at least one Austin band each month in 2008. (His mayoral self is a Band of Heathens fan, setting a good civic example with his frequent clubbing.) Together with Council Members Mike Martinez and Sheryl Cole, Wynn also launched in January a separate city initiative, the Live Music Task Force. Its charge: A holistic, searching look at the woes of our local music industry and recommendations for workable solutions.

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