Themed Song News Today

Art by Zeke Barbaro Not throwing an epic wing-ding after the dreadful and disillusioning last 12 months remains a bitter pill to pop. This community deserves one. That said, not having an in-person Austin Music Awards is a no-brainer. No traditions worth risking the health of people we care about – not even a homegrown legacy show. So instead of orchestrating a diminished version of something weve done for 38 consecutive years, the Chronicle decided on something totally dif...

Our man with a van, Kevin Curtin, surprised this years Austin Music Award winners with a novelty check, gifts, and the appreciation from a thankful city. You voted and were celebrating your choices with a little help from our sponsor, Cap Metro. Below you can find video proof of that celebration thanks to some production assistance from Arts & Labor. Thanks also to photographer David Brendan Hall who not only captured his trademark incredible images but also distracted our winners while Kevin d...

At 11am on a Monday, at the corner of Guadalupe and Dean Keeton, its quiet. UT classes remain predominantly virtual, so a lot fewer students mill about. Theres still enough, however, to stop and gawk when a white van emblazoned " Austin Music Awards Winner Wagon" pulls up honking. A bow-tied Kevin Curtin then hops out with a wireless mic to deliver the award for Best Radio Personality to Laurie Gallardo. "I was like, Those people are [coming] to kill me!" laughed the deejay afterward about t...

Bandcamp In October, Austins brooding balladeer Bill Callahan teamed with equally enigmatic auteur Bonnie Prince Billy to release a surprise cover of Cat Stevens "Blackness of the Night," with arrangements by Drag City labelmate Azita Youssefi. The singles have continued weekly since, each a new cover and collaboration, ranging from pop busters (Steely Dans "Deacon Blues" with Bill MacKay; Billie Eilishs "Wish You Were Gay" with Sean OHagan) to more obscure (Johnnie Friersons "Miracles" filtere...

Hotel Free TV, Thursday 28, 8pm Clubs are closed, but dance magic transcends YouTube. Austin pop princess p1nkstar and performance artist Y2K team with cinematographer Hannah Varnell for a live music video experience celebrating the trans and queer artists who ground Texas nightlife. Lorelei K, Belladonna, and Quentin Arispe star, while Katherine Vaughn, Charlie AB, TC Superstars LB Flett, and more make special appearances in a 16-clip feature shot in 24 hours. Although free to stream, a GoFund...

Austin Music Awards, held at the Moody Theater on March 11, turned out to be the final show I attended in 2020. That also proved the last time I dressed up with a tiny purse, saw those friends you only run into at shows, and went out on the patio to talk shit about Austin music. While the 40th annual Austin Music Poll cant account for such nuances, it addresses the ongoing pandemic head-on. Detailed last week in "The Austin Music Poll Got COVID-19," (Music, Jan. 8), the ballot winnowed down t...

Facebook/YouTube, Monday 18, 6:30pm Martin Luther King Jr. Day makes for a memorable cleanup project in CenTex this year. An obelisk celebrating the Confederate Army and a headstone commemorating 22nd governor of Texas and Confederate Army Officer Joseph Sayers on the Bastrop County courthouse lawn call for relocation (or worse), so with $28,000 of $50,000 raised for the endeavor, a whos who of song activists livestream on Monday to bring home the remaining $22,000. Huge headliners Natalie Main...

Jackie Venson and Chris Cubas hosting the 2019/2020 Austin Music Awards last March at ACL Live at the Moody Theater (Photo by David Brendan Hall) For hundreds of locals, the 2019/2020 Austin Music Awards transpired as the last big show they attended before life turned upside down. Wednesday, March 11, 2020, ACL Live at the Moody Theater: We were so naive, passing joints backstage on the "Willies Place" balcony while getting and giving all the hugs and handshakes you could ever...