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These less-commercial bars and nightclubs frankly don’t look like much, but they’re where Austinites and music aficionados, mostly in their 20s and 30s, go to hear local bands and dance the night away. Red River Street, between Sixth and 10th streets, is for those seeking out the local underground music scene. is usually the least crowded bar on the main strip. Sixth St.), a German bakery and beer garden, provides a slight respite from the fray, and Jackalope (404 E. Sixth St.), where the crowd is older and the volume of the music much lower. Sixth St.), to a fun piano bar, Pete’s Dueling Pianos(421 E. This strip has all kinds of bars-from noisy saloons catering to college students, such as the Library (407 E. When locals talk about Sixth Street, they generally mean a 5-block portion of East Sixth from Congress Avenue to Red River it’s often referred to as Dirty Sixth for its blaring music, drunken crowds, and after-dark debauchery. Let’s hope that it’s not too little too late, and that Austin doesn’t become a victim of its success in one of the arenas for which it’s best known.
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Visit Austin has a music division devoted to getting musicians paying gigs at the conventions, luncheons, and other receptions that come through town. Austin has made attempts to support its local talent through organizations like the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians (HAAM), which provides insurance and runs an annual benefit concert. This makes it hard for musicians to survive in this increasingly high-rent town-you get the sense that the city is getting a lot more from this arrangement than it’s giving. Some really good bands play for tips on weekdays and for starving-artist pay at other times. When big events occur, such as SXSW (see box below), the Republic of Texas Biker Rally (June), or the Lonestar Rod & Kustom Roundup (April), barhopping becomes a competitive sport. You might come across the next Janis Joplin, Stevie Ray Vaughan, or Jimmie Dale Gilmore, to name just a few who were playing local gigs here before they hit the big time. Many popular venues don’t fall inside these districts. The city has since become an incubator for a wonderfully vital, crossbred alternative sound that mixes rock, country, folk, blues, punk, and Tejano.Īlthough the Armadillo is now gone, live music in Austin continues to thrive in bars all across Austin see box p. And the Armadillo World Headquarters, a music hall known for hosting all the 1960s rock bands, became the center of events and symbolized the marriage of country with counterculture. Local boy Willie Nelson became its principal proponent, along with several other Austin musicians. Music was always important to life in Austin, but it really became a big deal in the early 1970s with the advent of “progressive country” (aka redneck rock).