Known as the live music capital of the world, Austin is a must-see for melody lovers and also foodies.
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00:00 My name's Foy Vance, I'm a singer-songwriter from Northern Ireland and I've toured all
00:03 over the world, but there's one place where the music keeps pulling me back for more.
00:08 The USA.
00:09 So I'm on a journey to visit different cities across the country to experience the best
00:13 music, food and culture that's on offer.
00:16 This is Notes From The USA.
00:22 Today I'm in Austin, Texas.
00:24 Known by many as the live music capital of the world, Austin is home to hundreds of live
00:29 music venues and some premier music festivals like South by Southwest and Austin City Limits.
00:36 One of the country's most popular travel destinations right now, it's a city brimming with life
00:41 with so much to explore, I thought it best to find some local guides to help me out.
00:46 So I caught a ride with Clementine and Bethany from Twisted, Texas, a unique tour bus experience
00:52 that could only exist in Austin.
00:55 I don't know what they expect.
00:56 It's literally a wild time with never a dull moment, combining everything that we love
01:00 about Austin, the craft beer, the food, the live music.
01:03 So if you're ready to hop on board, we want to show you around.
01:06 I love it.
01:07 Let's get going.
01:08 You're going to get twisted.
01:09 Yeah, yeah, let's go.
01:10 Let's go.
01:11 We are Austin's only concert on wheels.
01:23 We are one of a kind and we strive to make every single tour feel special.
01:27 And we are the live music capital of the world.
01:29 And so it just makes sense to have a funky, musically based tour right here in the heart
01:35 of all of it.
01:36 Our backbone of this city is artists, music, dance, poetry, painting.
01:42 You will see murals all over the city.
01:44 Oftentimes the best things that happen in this city, you just trick into some of the
01:48 weirdest stuff, some of the most entertaining music that you'll ever see.
01:52 You just walk into a bar and see what happens.
01:55 Follow your ear.
01:56 Follow your ear.
01:57 We pride ourselves on having live music everywhere.
02:05 And the 6th Street obviously is going to be where everyone knows to go.
02:09 You can wander up and down the streets and hear music.
02:12 When I first moved to this city, I remember thinking, where do I find all of it?
02:16 And someone telling me what I thought at the time was terrible advice, you'll just know.
02:20 And surely that is how you find music in Austin, is just going out and wandering and waiting
02:25 until you hear something.
02:27 Well welcome to Seaboys.
02:29 This is one of my favorite live music establishments in the city.
02:39 This club is kind of an homage to Seaboy Parks and Jimmy and Stevie and Denny Freeman and
02:46 all these great, great blues players.
02:48 Is it predominantly blues venue?
02:50 A lot of blues and soul, R&B, funk.
02:54 I try to create kind of this 60s juke joint kind of feel.
02:59 You know, it's a must-see club.
03:01 The variety and different genres of music here in town, it's unbelievable.
03:07 I mean, there's something for everybody.
03:11 After my whirlwind introduction to the city, I wanted to learn more about how it came to
03:26 be the iconic music hub that it is today.
03:29 So I headed to South Austin Hangout, the Armadillo Den, to talk with the mayor himself, Kirk
03:35 Watson.
03:36 Foy, very nice to see you.
03:37 Joe, nice to meet you.
03:38 Thanks for taking the time.
03:39 I'm glad to do this.
03:40 I'm excited about it.
03:41 What do you think it is about Austin that makes it such a draw, musically?
03:45 There's a high level of creativity, and a lot of people want that creativity, so Austin
03:50 works to encourage that.
03:53 And when we talk about why we're a music capital, you can't forget South by Southwest.
04:00 It's pretty easy to fall into music.
04:01 Now, if you want to eat, you can do anything from lots of food trucks to, you know, starred
04:08 restaurants.
04:09 Yeah.
04:10 But, damn it, the number one bumper sticker, the number one T-shirt in Austin, Texas, is
04:16 not what it ought to be.
04:18 Kirk Watson for Austin mayor.
04:20 Instead, it's Keep Austin Weird.
04:23 Hi, Jeff.
04:24 Well, I, well, yeah, yeah.
04:26 That's a really good point.
04:27 You just wrote a bumper sticker.
04:30 When I hear Keep Austin Weird, what I hear is keep Austin open to new thinking.
04:36 I don't know if you'll be running around all night.
04:52 Even meeting the mayor, you're never far from a performance.
04:56 I've barely been in time more than a day, and I've lost count of the different acts
05:00 I've seen.
05:01 To round off my visit, I head to local spot La Barbecue to chew the fat on Austin's music
05:09 scene with an old friend of mine, Grammy award-winning songwriter.
05:13 Bonnie Bishop.
05:14 Hi, Dan.
05:15 How you doing?
05:16 Hi, darling.
05:17 Good to see you.
05:18 Hi, good to see you, too.
05:19 It's been a minute.
05:20 Yeah, is it hot enough for you?
05:21 You can't come to Texas without having barbecue, so it's like coming to Texas and not hearing
05:25 live music.
05:26 The thing that's really special about La Barbecue is it's owned by females, and it's female
05:30 pit master, which is really unusual.
05:33 Everything about this is non-traditional, which is kind of how Austin is.
05:36 It's like a non-traditional enclave within Texas.
05:40 And weird.
05:41 For keeping it weird.
05:42 Yeah, well, let's start with non-traditional.
05:44 All right.
05:45 Willie Nelson is considered the godfather in Texas.
05:48 We have bumper stickers that say Willie Nelson for president.
05:51 So 1971, Willie comes back to Texas, and so he decides to throw his own festival, and
05:57 he calls it Willie Nelson's Fourth of July Picnic.
06:02 And I actually got to play Willie's picnic, I want to say, like 2007, 2008.
06:12 And your words, like, what's it like being a musician in Austin?
06:16 I wasn't playing live music.
06:18 That wasn't even a thought in my mind that I could do that.
06:20 I think that my style did develop as, you know, across between the country and the blues,
06:27 which I don't know if I have a genre at all.
06:29 I don't think you do.
06:30 Somebody called me Americana soul one time.
06:32 Like, okay, I'll take that.
06:34 At night, you got to go see music in Austin.
06:36 So there's lots of places to go.
06:38 Obviously, they call it the live music capital of the world for a reason.
06:41 Two of my favorite old, like, clubs that have been here forever, at least 50 years, to listen
06:46 to singer-songwriters, you got the Continental Club on South Congress, and then you have
06:50 the Saxon Pub, which is over on Lamar.
06:53 Really, when you come to Texas, you can't avoid country music.
06:56 We still have dance halls, you know, and like the Broken Spoke, where I hope to take you
07:00 later, there's going to be live music and a live country band.
07:03 So I'm going to go and get me some cowboy boots and a cowboy hat then.
07:07 Okay.
07:08 Yeah, you need some cowboy boots if you're going to be dancing.
07:10 Well, I might go change into something a little more dancey.
07:12 Let's do that.
07:13 Yeah?
07:14 I'll see you later tonight.
07:15 All right.
07:16 Sounds good.
07:17 [music]
07:18 Austin is weird, and locals here will say it loud and proud.
07:42 Creating a live music capital is no joke for the people in this city, and after taking
07:45 it all in, I understand why this iconic place stands out the way it does.
07:50 With so much to see, hear, eat, and experience, Austin lets you create a soundtrack all your
07:55 own.
07:55 [MUSIC PLAYING]