This is a microphone.

Ahhhhhh!

Come one, come all.

This is City of Songs, Austin, Texas.

I'm your host, Stephanie Hunt.

Is anybody listening?

[music] -His poetry was born here.

-Okay, here you go.

For all the little boys that grew up in Texas.

This song will be real close to your heart.

-First thing to know about Austin.

Forget everything you think you know about Texas.

Here in Austin, Breakfast tacos are sacred.

Live music is a way of life.

And being weird isn't just accepted It's celebrated.

-You guys see the tiny aliens that they brought into the Mexican Congress this year?

It's a strange melting pot where cowboys and tech geeks share bar stools and food trucks, serve world class barbecue.

This city is a green and blue oasis in the heart of Texas, with parks, rivers and lakes to enjoy year with parks, rivers and lakes to enjoy year round and plenty of sun to soak it all in.

round and plenty of sun to soak it all in.

[music] Well I wished I was in Austin.

-But Austin isn't just the state capital.

It's been dubbed the live music capital of the world.

Legends like Willie Nelson and Janis Joplin got their start here and shaped the scene into something bigger than just country music.

Though don't worry, we've got plenty of that too.

On any given night, you can hear blues, rock, country, jazz, gospel and anything in between at venues like The Continental Club or Antone's, or even on a random street corner.

And for me, it's home.

That makes me a unicorn.

A rare native and one of the fastest growing cities in the world.

But no matter how much the skyline changes, there's one thing that keeps this city feeling like home.

The music.

[music] I know when the road is not my own is the time...

I'm Stephanie Hunt, a musician, actor, artist, and a professional people watcher.

Funny to have such a deep conversation in a bikini shirt.

Mostly, I'm just someone who's deeply curious about music and the people who make it.

So I'm setting out on a journey to explore different music scenes around the world.

-So you have your own Grammys?

It's called “Grammys.” It's more fun.

Yeah.

-First I have to start at home because to know where you're going, you have to understand where you're coming from.

-So how long have you been waiting here?

Oh, we got here yesterday.

You lying?

I am.

What is this show?

It's the Black Pumas.

Black Pumas.

Old school It's great.

[music] -If you want to understand Austin's music scene.

Adrian Quesada is a perfect starting point.

-With the Oscar-nominated song “Like a Bird.” [music] -He's a Grammy winning musician and producer best known for the Black Pumas, but his impact on Austin goes way deeper.

[music] He moved here in the 90s and immediately started shaking things up, bringing Latin influences into the scene in a way no one had heard before.

He spent his career evolving, collaborating and following his creative instincts.

I've known Adrian for years, so getting to explore Austin with him feels like a full circle moment.

-Growing up, when I was a little kid, I thought you either were like a rock star on MTV or like you weren't doing any- like, you did in your garage.

I didn't realize when you moved to Austin, you realize there's like a really healthy middle class of musicians here paying the bills and working, and it's a whole industry that growing up, I didn't know existed.

[music] Friends, that I know that in the music community in like, say Nashville or LA, like when they play a show always feels like a showcase.

Selling yourself to try to get further along.

And what I love about Austin, it's not as cutthroat.

Like, it really feels like a community, like everybody supports everybody.

Everybody's in each other's bands and on each other's sessions and going to see each other play at Sagebrush and and wherever else.

And people, like, genuinely really take their craft seriously.

Here.

[music] I woke up to the morning sky first.

Baby blue, just like we rehearsed -When friends come into town and they're like, there's anything happening tonight, we just want to go to, like, a cool dive bar and just see any band.

I'm like, oh yeah, there's like 100 places like that.

I've been in Paris, I've been in Mexico City, I've been in... Um, I'm not flexing.

I'll get to a point here, but, we've been in those cities, like on in Paris on a Tuesday night and with friends and like, hey, can we can we go see some music tonight?

And they're like, well, there's really nothing tonight.

And I'm like, there's nothing in Paris, France on Tuesday night?

There's literally something in Austin, like every night.

From hearing you talk It seems like you do believe that we are the live music capital of the world.

Is that true?

I do believe that Austin is the loud music capital of the world.

Yeah, I.

[music] All my favorite colors.

All my favorite colors... [music] Yeah, I can break.

I can bend.

I can say, “I was here when...” Oh, I can break.

I can bend.

I can say, “I was here when...” -So, Shakey Graves, where do I even start?

[music] Oh, yeah.

Well so it goes.

Yeah, so it goes.

-He is one of Texas' finest songwriters.

And.

Okay, full disclosure, I'm married to him.

[music] As long as you're here with me... -But even if I weren't, I'd still say he's a hometown hero.

He has carved out his own lane in the industry, doing things his own way, which feels very Austin.

[music] We're already telling a lie.

Why not make it two?

-We sit down at Hole in the Wall a legendary little dive that's been a launching pad for so many local musicians.

It's the kind of place that makes you fall in love with Austin.

All over again.

[celebratory whistling] -Yay!

Thanks, baby.

It's good.

Really good.

You've got something.

Well, it's crazy to see you here, Alejandro.

I know.

Where are we?

We're at the Hole in the Wall in Austin, Texas, established in 1974.

Says so on the door.

-Says so on the door.

So I thought it would be good to interview you here because our house is really messy.

Yeah, This looks a little like our house.

It does look like our house.

It's somehow cleaner in here.

The first time I heard about you as a musician was because of your residency at hole in the wall.

There's a big tradition of, really important singer songwriters in kind of Austin, Texas and Texas Greats like Townes Van Zandt played here and would lurk around.

[music] Living on the road, my friend, is going to keep you free and clean.

Now you wear your skin like iron and your breath's as hard as kerosene.

-But yeah, So I came back here and I got a really sketchy Wednesday slot.

And the bartender most Wednesdays was a guy named Dennis O'Donnell.

Dennis.

He had to be here, technically, but he made it seem like it was a front row seat to something.

If there weren't venues like this that had history and a vibe that felt like a Mount Rushmore, to be able to play because of the legacy behind it, there wouldn't be a place to start, really.

No, no rooms feel better than small, weird rooms.

You can't, like, replicate that, you know, places like this and the Cactus Cafe and traditional places or more legendary places just have that feel to it.

I think that is actually kind of the spirit of this town in general, is that it kind of shifts conventions, in very weird ways.

It's fun talking to you like this, as if we don't know each other.

I'm going to pretend that we're not married.

Yeah, like I haven't told you this story a thousand times.

Yeah.

I mean, I'm nostalgic about this place, and I don't want things to change.

And I want it all to change.

It's very duplicitous, the duality of it all.

You know?

[music] That's the way you'll come in handy.

If you're a musician in Austin, you probably have a deep connection to Waterloo Records.

It's more than just a record store.

It's a second home.

They host in-store performances, championed local artists and have been a cultural hub since 1982.

-I'm going to give both of these to Alejandro for Christmas, might as well -And a lot of that comes down to John Kuntz, the owner.

He's the kind of music fan who genuinely cares about the scene and keeps his finger on the pulse, even as Austin changes.

I've grown up coming here as my record store and my.

How old were you when you first came in here?

Probably 11.

11.

The first time that it meant something.

You know, where you're like, I'm going to get a CD And then there was CDs.

Right, right.

You know.

Right.

Yeah.

How do you keep a record store open for 41 years?

especially with the principles that you guys have that's more about music lovers rather than just, you know, music profiteers,.

“Music profiteers,” right.

Right.

Well, we wanted it to always be the, the town square meeting place for Austin Music lovers and makers.

Yeah.

And, the community responded to it.

So in your many years of knowing Austin, how would you describe the sound of Austin?

It's changed so much.

[music] That's the way it goes.

All the Federales say... -Back in the 70s, it was Willie Nelson.

It was Michael Martin Murphy, then the Fabulous Thunderbirds with the opening of Antones and them being the house band.

But then kind of Liberty Lunch picked up their mantle and it was all still a very laid back scene.

How has South by Southwest it affected the store?

Yeah, it definitely has.

-South by Southwest, how are you?

[music] It's been great for us because it would bring in the music labels and artists and managers and press from eventually all over the world.

But because of South by Southwest, they would be here.

If I had to pick my favorite place in Austin, it might just be Barton Springs.

I learned to swim here, and to this day, there's nothing better than jumping into that 62 degree spring fed water on a hot day.

It's a natural oasis right in the middle of the city.

A place to reset, cool down and take a breath.

Austin has always been evolving.

And yet, for as long as I can remember, people have been saying, you just missed it.

But the truth is, Austin isn't just a place, it's a community.

A tight knit web of freethinkers, taco connoisseurs and diehard music lovers.

That's what makes this city what it is.

Oh, and our beloved radio DJs.

If you live in Austin, you probably know Laurie Gallardo's voice before you know her face.

She's an award winning DJ on KUTX 98.9, and her show is like a masterclass in cool.

She introduces listeners to their next favorite bands, always with the kind of deep knowledge and enthusiasm that makes you want to listen closer.

You have to rediscover.

For me, it's been nothing but discovery.

-Things are always changing.

-Always.

In ways that you didn't think were possible.

In terms of the future of Austin, you talking about there's always going to be new bands and always new things to hear.

Does that still feel completely true?

Here's the thing we need to keep in mind.

No matter what, the creativity is not going to stop.

It's not a faucet.

You can't turn it off.

That goes for every artist you could possibly imagine.

You you don't turn it off with a switch.

This is in you.

It's in your blood.

It's going to keep going.

Is there's a sound of Austin that you could define.

I really don't think in terms of here is the Austin's at all.

Because you are the Austin sound.

Your husband is the most insane.

Multiplicity.

An acceptance, I think, of an environment that allows an artist to feel free and grow.

that allows an artist to feel free and grow.

And that's a large part due to the community of listeners like you.

Yeah.

And people who care and the audiences that show up ready to accept change.

We can change together with support.

Absolutely.

You have to move forward.

You're the first person to say that.

There's a sort of nostalgic air to Austin of you just missed it.

Those memories can be kept alive.

You've got the music to back you up, too.

That's never going to go away, right?

But the nostalgia is not always a healthy thing.

It turns into something else.

While nostalgia could make you miss what's actually happening.

Yeah.

There you go.

This is big.

I feel like I'm understanding things I hadn't quite understood.

I can relate.

Yeah, I know, and I'm going to keep going on that because I need, I feel the need to understand so much more.

Or at least take the time to listen.

The truth is, Austin's soul is still here.

It's just evolving.

And if you take the time to really listen, to pay attention beyond the stereotypes, you'll find that the music, the creativity and the spirit of this place are still alive.

Hello?

Yo.

Hey.

What's this?

The one with the Texas flag?

Yeah.

This is it.

Yeah.

How's it going?

You just walking by or what?

How long have you had that tan pumpkin that it's not dead?

I've had that about I don't know, a year?

[music] Rolling fast down I-35.

Through the day and past the night -Psychedelic music has deep roots in Austin.

Back in the 60s, The 13th Floor Elevators pioneered the sound, setting off a ripple effect that still shapes the city's music scene today.

One band that's carried that torch, The Black Angels.

The Black Angels, have been playing together since 2004, gaining international success while staying true to Austin's underground psych scene.

They didn't just ride the wave, they helped build it.

They founded Levitation Fest, a haven for psych rock fans and a launching pad for new artists in the genre.

I'm lucky to call them friends, and for a brief moment, even bandmates.

There's some of my favorite people to talk to.

And hands down, one of my favorite bands ever.

-They claim psychedelic rock and roll started here in Austin, and that means it started in this very house that we're sitting in.

-Brace yourself!

Yeah, so which is pretty nuts.

This used to be Tommy Hall's house.

The guy that made the “dukaduka” sound.

-Wow.

This was his house.

-You've made it, Christian.

You came all the way to the sound!

[music] Psychadelic Sounds album was released in mid ‘66, so they would have been writing that album here in this house.

In early January, the police were staking this place out, and they, they busted The Elevators and this very picture there was them sitting there, when the police had stormed into the house, because they were kinda the rebels.

-Yeah.

-of town.

Like they're the ones who started the “Keep Austin Weird” I mean, I think The 13th Floor is the one who like, were the first weirdos.

[music] -Because I lived with you guys.

Sort of vicariously through Chris Catalina.

I mean, I was 20, I was a young buck.

You guys were established and impacted me in ways that I didn't realize at the time.

That moment when we recorded.

Yeah.

I don't know if you remember, but we were, like, talking about we needed a different verse, and then you just grabbed a book off the shelf, like, I don't know.

Yeah, Walt Whitman or something.

Say it out loud.

And then you thought of it in different ways and just came up with a verse.

Yeah.

And it was so instant and playful and, like, not pretentious.

And it was like, oh, you can just you can do that.

Be like that.

Like, that's the real way to create.

When you grow up in a place, it's easy to get stuck in nostalgia, holding on to the way things were instead of seeing what's right in front of you.

[music] It don't matter who's in Austin.

Bob Wills is still the king.

-Take the skyline.

When I was in high school, it was practically nonexistent.

It still doesn't feel right.

I'm looking at it.

I'm like, wait, wait wait wait.

Who are you?

Yeah, yeah.

Austin's music scene isn't just homegrown.

It's shaped by artists from all over the world.

Lou Lou Ghelichkhani is one of those artists, with roots in Paris and Iran.

She has spent her life on the road.

She toured the world for 20 years as a member of Thievery Corporation, and has called Austin home for quite some time.

She fronts her own band, Night Glitter, and also is a local DJ.

Her journey proves that Austin's music scene is as global as it is local.

-I moved here about 12 years ago because there was this feeling every time we played in Austin.

I didn't want to leave.

I fell in love with Austin because of that.

Like, the whole like Linklater weird, spacey, cinematic sound of Austin.

How would you describe the sound of Austin?

Colorful and dynamic.

Warm.

It almost feels like there is this constant, like, low tone that's you're like, it's a drone.

That's a bed for everyone's music.

Do you feel concerned at all or not concerned about how the growth is affecting the creative community of Austin?

It's kind of like natural evolution.

Like the world is growing.

We keep moving away from, like, dense areas because for a studio and for making music, you kind of want a little more space.

And silence.

-Yeah.

And silence.

And I find that a lot of our musician friends want to kind of go further out towards, like, the Hill Country.

I mean, I watched it happen when I lived in D.C., saw it in New York, and even in California.

It's kind of the evolution of cities.

But I do hope that we keep Austin weird.

That's part of why I feel like traveling around the world and seeing how other communities are living and thriving or not thriving, to try and learn and gather.

or to somehow, like share knowledge [music] If there is anyone who has seen every band play in this town, it's Kevin Curtin.

He's a music journalist for the Austin Chronicle and one of those people whose enthusiasm for live music and random things is absolutely infectious.

To me, he embodies the classic Austin spirit, the kind that reassures me that this place is still weird in all the right ways.

When I'm going through, somebody's like trash or something like that -Right, as one does...

I want to be the possum character, you know?

Wow.

When somebody like comes, you know, being like, oh, like, we want to buy your house and develop it, you know?

Yeah.

I usually come out, you know, trying to see what they want, like this, you know?

How can I help you?

Not for sale.

We like it.

Austin's city All ******.

-it's like eclectic artsy stash.

So you lived in here, right?

Yeah.

This was your first home.

This is my first home.

Yeah.

It's, You know, your first home in Austin?

Yep, yep.

This is it.

My life changed drastically when I moved to Austin in the late aughts, because I always was wearing people's because I always was wearing people's because I always was wearing people's ears off, talking about music and bands I like.

But, you know, there wasn't always the mutual interest, right?

And then when I moved to Austin and I was going to 300 shows a year, you know, I remember when I first started 300 shows a year, you know, I remember when I first started writing the music column for The Chronicle, I was like, what if I go to 250 shows a year and I think my editor or something was like, yeah, that's crazy.

my editor or something was like, yeah, that's crazy.

Don't you have anything else going on in your life?

You know, people who I'm from here maybe don't know how much having like a little bit of media that pays attention to people's art matters, you know?

Yeah.

The saddest day that I ever had as a journalist was breaking the news of Daniel Johnston's death.

Huge national publications are calling the secretary You know, the front desk and being like, we want to talk to Kevin.

To confirm this is true, see who we talk to, da da da And it's like, man, talk about being the bearer of bad news.

My son is named Casper after his song.

You know?

[music] Casper the friendly ghost He was always polite... -This is still where your weird dreams can come true.

Maybe we don't have as many band managers and booking agents and and major, larger, record labels within our reps here.

But maybe it's better because we don't have those people being like, you have to conform to this and da da da a lot of people are able to do their weird little thing and find the people who like it enough that they'll keep doing it.

And for time, people appreciate it to whatever degree, you know?

And it's like, find your weird little dream, you know?

So is Austin still the live music capital of the world?

I don't know, was it ever?

[music] Growing up in Austin gave me a sense of curiosity, open mindedness and a deep love of music.

And no matter where I go, I'll always have a home to come back to.

[music] Life is more than a dream ya'll [music] It's more than a fantasy [music] More than a little bit This is, one of my most prized, worthless possessions.

When Mojo Nixon was, performing at The Hole in the Wall front stage in the 80s, and, he had the song called “Don Henley Must Die,” and Don Henley from the Eagles came in.

They were not friends.

It was not pre- I've talked.

I've interviewed Mojo Nixon about this when I did a history of The Hole in the Wall.

It was not like preordained.

Don Henley came in to Mojo Nixon playing at The Hole in the Wall and jumped up and sang “Don Henley Must Die” with him.

And this is the only photographic evidence of it that that exists, as drawn by my friend Jamie Drake.