1st comprehensive field guide on Austin music scene being released this fall, benefitting HAAM

AUSTIN (KXAN) — A new book on Austin’s music scene is coming out this fall. And while there are countless books about the “Live Music Capital of the World” and the artists that have come from it, the creators of this one say it’s different from the others because it’s a current field guide to the scene.

The book is called “Austin’s Music Scene: Your Guide to the City’s Most Iconic Artists & Venues.” Thunderhouse Media and the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians (HAAM) created the book to mark HAAM’s 20th anniversary. Half of all proceeds from sales of the book will benefit HAAM, too.

According to Thunderhouse, this will be the first comprehensive field guide dedicated to Austin’s contemporary music scene. Many books out there chronicle individual Austin musicians and the historical development of the music scene, but Thunderhouse said this guidebook will fill a gap where there hasn’t been something capturing the “diversity, vibrancy, and resiliency of the current landscape.”

Mitch Baranowski, founder and chief creative officer of Thunderhouse Media Group, said he hoped it’d be the first of many editions that’ll chronicle Austin’s music scene, since “in today’s digital world, any print book is dated the moment it comes off the press,” he said.

“When you look at the market, there are a number of history books, there are a number of memoirs, there are a number of biographies, but there isn’t a really great snapshot of the scene today,” Baranowski said. “And so that really was our operative challenge.”

The guidebook is 222 pages and was put together by a creative team of about 10 people over the course of nine or so months, Baranowski said. It includes exclusive artist interviews, behind-the-scenes insights, and hand-drawn maps of music venues — as well as bonus content online — and it features around 150-160 artists across seven genres.

“In addition to shining a spotlight on all of these artists, we are elevating the venues and the venue owners who work so hard to provide spaces that are — not really bar-like bars and restaurants — these live music venues are places that cultivate culture and community, and they’re really special in that way,” Baranowski said. “So we have a whole section on the venues, and then we have a section on festivals too. And then in the very back of the book, we have a sort of a section on the essentials, the essential radio stations, the essential record stores, etc.”

While the book isn’t centered around the history of Austin’s music scene, Baranowski said that history plays a major part in how the scene has evolved into what it is today.

“We’ve conducted about 70 interviews total this summer with a variety of artists and venue owners and operators and festival organizers,” Baranowski said. “And, you know, one of the big themes that has emerged in those conversations is that we are standing on shoulders in the Austin music scene. There have been so many greats who have come before us… and there wouldn’t be an Austin City Limits Music Festival without, you know, the great Sunday picnics and concerts of the 70s.”

“And you know, if you talk to, say, Kris Kimura, the owner and woodwind expert, who you know, plays at Parker Jazz Club… he nods to Tony Campisi and his legendary residency at the Elephant Room,” Baranowski continued. “So, you learn history through engaging the contemporary artists and owners.”

Baranowski said Campisi’s residency is an example of something that’s distinctive about Austin’s music scene as a whole — the residencies, consistency, and regularity of musicians. He pointed to James McMurtry, who often performs at the Continental Club, Brian Scartocci’s regular Monday night sets at White Horse, and Monday nights with Bob Schneider at the Saxon Pub.

And that’s just one of the areas of Austin’s music scene covered by the field guide.

“There’s a great book by the late Michael Corcoran, the great journalist, you know, and he sort of cribbed this expression for his title, ‘Austin music is not a sound, it’s a scene,’ and in doing this, this work, and unearthing these stories and talking to these artists… what I’ve learned is there’s not just one scene, there are multiple scenes,” Baranowski said. “The scene is what you want it to be. Scenes are highly personal, and… we have to recognize that as music fans, that we can have all these wonderful scenes coexisting that make up the idea of an Austin music scene.”

“On any given night, it’s an embarrassment of riches,” Baranowski said.

The book is available for pre-order and is set to hit store shelves (at places like Book People and Waterloo Records, among others) later this fall.

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