New Movie About Austin Music Scene Has No Artists from the Austin Music Scene
The Austin, TX music scene is in such a death spiral, I’m not sure if it’s even worth composing scathing rants railing against the injustices it continues to suffer, or if to save the energy for when it’s proper to pen the eventual epitaph. That’s no disrespect to the holdout artists and venues clinging to their last little bit of real estate as gentrification impinges upon them more and more every day until you can count the safe creative spaces in the city by the square inch.
Even after much talk in the city about what to do to save the dying music scene and special studies and super committees, last week it was revealed that the massive Westin Hotel who purposely chose a location right beside Austin’s long-standing and historic 6th Street entertainment district is suing the tiny Nook nightclub that it towers over for $1 million dollars due to noise issues. The Westin says the music noise bothers guests, even though the Nook has all the proper permits and registers their noise levels every 30 minutes to make sure it stays within city codes, and was there way before the Westin was built. It’s a true David vs. Goliath situation that is currently illustrating the pitfall of Austin’s urban redevelopment boon: it’s killing the very thing people come to Austin to experience.
But there’s another story that came out this week that is just as irking. Famous director Terrence Malick is getting set to release a new movie on March 17th (when Austin’s SXSW is raging) called Song To Song starring Ryan Gosling and Natalie Portman. The movie is centered around the Austin music scene, with a heavy musical component to the film. Many big-time music names are said to appear in the movie, including Patti Smith, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Iggy Pop. Florence + the Machine, Lykke Li and the Black Lips are all said to make cameo appearances. And Arcade Fire, the Fleet Foxes, St. Vincent, and Iron & Wine have also been tied to the film in the past. The movie is a scripted romance about two entangled couples that include a couple of songwriters and a “landscape of seduction and betrayal.”
No offense to any of these music artists, but isn’t it a little bit strange that a movie about the Austin music scene would not include one single artist actually from Austin, or with significant ties to the Austin scene itself? I can understand if you weren’t featuring any actual musicians in the film how you could make this oversight. But they are—just not artists from Austin. It’s almost a too-perfect illustration of just what an artifice Austin music has become—how people love to use it in their branding and how there’s still nothing more hip than talking about Austin music. But when it comes to actually highlighting talent on a big stage, people look elsewhere, even when it’s supposed to be about Austin.
Of course this has been going on for years in Austin’s own institutions. Austin City Limits highlights almost everything but local musicians, except for a few here and there each season, when the whole point of the program was supposed to be showcasing and promoting Austin music to the rest of the world.
What’s going to eventually happen is a few select remaining Austin musicians will all be transferred to government subsidized housing and given daily stipends, and each evening they will trek out to musical safe spaces peppered throughout the city to play music to people almost like reenactors of what Austin music used to be. But the sad part will be everyone in the city will feel happy about this because they passed the right laws, and put plenty of money in the budget to support these enterprises in an effort to preserve the city’s musical identity, not even aware that the creative inertia that made Austin music known worldwide has long since moved to Nashville, Los Angeles, and other ports of call where the support for the music isn’t just symbolic and driven by guilt instead of passion.
It’s pretty simple: You want to use “Austin” or “Austin music” to promote your stuff? Then possibly actually consider using actual Austin musicians as part of it. Do that one simple gesture. Otherwise, you’re just being opportunist, if not exploitative.
Janice Brooks
January 5, 2017 @ 10:09 am
Thankful to “Friday Night Lights” who did use local folks.
Kross
January 5, 2017 @ 10:35 am
It sounds like they also use some real country and Americana people in the movie as well, no matter where they come from.
Jacob Ware
January 5, 2017 @ 10:52 am
Yeah, you basically nailed that. I’m as progressive as the next guy but man Austin is trying to turn into San Fransico (I mean going green, and gentrification wise, not in any hateful way). They charge you for plastic bags, you can’t park ANYWHERE, you can’t smoke anywhere, and man do they have a problem with homeless people. They have become so progressive from hosting sxsw and the remnants of the hippie culture, they would rather tear everything down and start new than let one person be dissatisfied… Oops I mean one person representing the upper echelon of society.
Bands move there so they can put the Austin brand on top of their brand (Midland), and really that’s ok. But trying to sell this brand in a movie without the artists that built that brand(Dale Watson, he’s a good actor too, or at least good at acting crazy), screw them.
Austin is still really cool and if I had a choice it’s where I would probably retire, but I ain’t payin for no plastic bag!
Elizabeth
January 5, 2017 @ 11:50 am
San Francisco stopped being San Francisco about 10 or so years ago. It has always had a progressive bent but like other urban centers in the US it has an extreme and growing income gap and a corresponding decrease in weirdos, artists and musicians. I have lived in the area for 20 years and it gets more boring and crowded each year. I have a feeling the best new music will be made under the radar and outside of urban centers.
Corncaster
January 5, 2017 @ 11:53 am
amen, and that’s as it should be
David Byrne has some good thoughts about music “scenes” in his book about music, I forget what it’s called, something like “About Music”
for starters, creativity needs freedom and minimal cost of living. if Austin is too expensive and hounded by the bizgov borg, then skip town and head for the hills
breathe easier
Orgirl1
January 6, 2017 @ 9:25 pm
I agree, it’s heartbreaking what’s happened in San Francisco. Tech and homeless people, that’s it. Looks like Austin may be going the same route. ?
Kevin Broughton
January 6, 2017 @ 10:57 am
And don’t forget outlawing Uber. Uber, after all, is a brilliant, capitalist innovation. Can’t have that, because traditional cab drivers would have to — I dunno — COMPETE for business.
It’s the logical conclusion of Leftism.
it just is.
PuffaloPhil
January 6, 2017 @ 12:49 pm
They didn’t outlaw Uber, they just made a law that held them to the exact same standards as traditional cab drivers, having fingerprint-based background checks.
If you actually cared about competition then you’d realize the need to have a level playing field. It sounds like you’re more into some notion of techno-corporatist rule and not the American traditions of a democratic republic.
And I ain’t no damned Progressive, that’s for sure!
Dusty
January 14, 2017 @ 10:15 pm
Not paying for plastic bags because you wish to be an obdurate idiot? Simple thing-buy reusable bags, and use them next time you go shopping.
Aaron
January 5, 2017 @ 11:10 am
I’ll keep coming to Austin every year or so until as long as the Continental Club, the Saxon, and the Whip-In are open. Barfield the Tyrant! Tuesday nights at the Continental!
It’s a fucking shame though, because I feel like all of those places are doomed. Hopefully the boom dies, the condos get repossessed and Austin goes back to being a backwater outpost of wierdness in the Mega-church dominated Texan landscape.
Tunesmiff
January 5, 2017 @ 8:27 pm
Byrne’s book is titled _How Music Works_ (for those interested…)
Whiskeytown
January 5, 2017 @ 8:59 pm
Yep, these places don’t have a chance with all the corporate BS that’s coming into Austin. I understand there will be change and growth can be good, but everything in moderation. Why does an outside venue that has been playing music for 40 years with no complaints, have too shut it’s doors because a builder build condos next door? How can a BBQ trailer sale out day after day but now you have to have a special ventilation system so the BBQ smoke doesn’t bother anybody. There has to be a point where Austin and other cities in this situation stand up and say enough is enough. But all the elected officials are getting their pockets filled to look the other way.
It’s sad to see it turn this way. I love Austin and it’s truly a unique place. There’s a little bit of everything for everybody.
Corncaster
January 5, 2017 @ 11:50 am
“you’re just being opportunist, if not exploitative”
trig I love ya but this post is insane
by this logic, every film with a significant setting (NYC, Rome, Paris, etc) is “opportunist, if not exploitative”
if a director as talented as Terrence Malick thinks your town is significant enough to suggest lots of other things he or she wants to explore in a film (“if I can make it there,” “open city,” “we’ll always have Paris, etc.), then good for your town! how can this possibly be *bad* for your town? cultural homogenization is a different issue
plus, good for Austin that the city didn’t make it cost-prohibitive for Malick to shoot there
what we need is a good documentary about Austin made in the way those hippies back in ’69 made the film about Nashville
Kevin Smith
January 5, 2017 @ 12:28 pm
But is Malick really paying tribute to the true Austin music scene as it has been? Or is he creating some alternate reality fit for hollywood? And why not use locals or artists who paid their dues there? In choosing the big Rock names who have nothing to do with Austin except maybe they played Sxsw at the behest of their labels , Malick is clearly creating a misleading representation of Austin. Austins real music history is in the blues players and the great country singer songwriters like Willie and Robert Earl Keen and Ray Wylie Hubbard and Guy Clark and Billy Joe Shaver as well as artists influenced by them. Yeah, a film is being made about Austin that touches on the music scene but leaves out the country entirely!! Really??????!!!!!
I guess the real Austin music just isn’t hip and mainstream enough for discerning filmgoers. Yeah, better to put approved pseudo hipster bands in like Florence and the Machine !
Corncaster
January 5, 2017 @ 1:44 pm
it doesn’t sound like a documentary
it looks like fiction about musicians and songwriters
set in Austin
I can see the argument for local cameos, which would be fun
Trigger
January 5, 2017 @ 12:37 pm
“by this logic, every film with a significant setting (NYC, Rome, Paris, etc) is “opportunist, if not exploitative””
This isn’t a movie about Austin. It’s a movie about Austin music. There’s a bit of a difference there, as is the relative size of Austin (less than 1 million) to the the largest and most historically-significant cities in the world. All I’m saying is that if you’re going to put a concerted effort out to put musicians in your film about Austin music, maybe include one or two who are actually from Austin.
Coop
January 5, 2017 @ 12:04 pm
Man, I’d love to hear Jon Dee Graham go off on this.
Ryan
January 5, 2017 @ 1:00 pm
It would be an interesting study to see which burgeoning cities/communities are in some regard a result of Austin’s gentrification. The artists are going somewhere. From what I can tell, New Braunfels/San Marcos and Lubbock are trending up.
Jacob Ware
January 5, 2017 @ 5:15 pm
I totally agree with this, San Marcos and New Braunfels are really fun towns and probably foster that creativity another poster mentioned. Plus that whitewater amphitheater is probably one of the coolest venues in TX that constantly hosts great artists. I don’t know a lot about Lubbock, but Dalton Domino is from there and he is working his way up, has a great rock show.
Rob
January 5, 2017 @ 9:09 pm
Not just Dalton, people like Flatland Cavalry and Charlie Stout and especially William Clark Green (among tons of others) make Lubbock seem like it’s got a great scene
Ryan
January 5, 2017 @ 9:40 pm
Yes, this is what I’m talking about. LBK has a culture, history, college town setting, and a reasonable cost of living. Plus that flatland mystique that gives songwriters the muse.
Whiskeytown
January 6, 2017 @ 9:09 am
That’s the key, reasonable cost of living. Lubbock and San Marcos for the most part are affordable. They also have music venues where artist can play every night and not have to travel very far if at all. I know many artist outside of Austin pass up Austin because they can’t make enough from the gig to pay for gas and pay the band.
As the cost of living goes up in Austin , this pushes people to move out of Austin. This is one reason why SM and NB are having success with their music scene. As Asutin grows, so does NB and San Marcos and they are growing very quickly because of this and I would hate to see them get stuck in the same position Austin has. But it’s happening and happening quickly. Enjoy it while you can and go out and support local music and art.
Corncaster
January 6, 2017 @ 1:12 pm
hey Rob, thanks for those names. I checked out all those folks on youtube during some down time here at work. liking those sounds, especially WCG’s guitar player.
DJ
January 5, 2017 @ 4:13 pm
Malick at least has some sense of Texas. I don’t disagree with the OT but since he’s lived here (in Texas) and in Austin specifically, maybe it won’t be a complete flop by painting an inaccurate picture.
I might watch it if it’s ever on TV but I won’t pay to see it, especially since it has no one in it I want to see.
JD
January 6, 2017 @ 11:13 am
Trigger, what Austin bands would you say should be included? Are you talking Spoon/Quiet Company type stuff?
Scott S.
January 5, 2017 @ 6:41 pm
Natalie Portman is hot. Nothing to do with music, but thought I would point that out.
Mike
January 6, 2017 @ 2:35 pm
To be fair, Iron & Wine live in Dripping Springs. Neon Indian is also in the film and while he lives in NYC now he is a Texas native and lived in Austin when his band started to take off.
Still, point well taken.
Paul
January 7, 2017 @ 6:32 am
Well at least they got one actor that lives in Austin, Ryan Gosling who lives in the rich hippie section, Tarrytown. And Gosling should know better! Iron and wine has Dripping ties at least. Gosling knows the atx has well known musicians like Gary Clark JR, Shakey Graves, Jerry Jeff, Cory Morrow, Kyle Park, Hayes Carll. Hell the Band of Heathens or the icelandic guys who play Americana that just moved here, Kaleo. What the Butthole Surfers were too busy? Just put Willie in for 30 seconds. I don’t mind some like Florence + Machine or iggy Pop who both had legendwry SXSW shows to jump start their respective careers. Premiering at SXSW might not be bad considering few Austinites attend now Due to the badge only/wrist band only rackett.
Living in Austin since 1999, I witnessed initially a subtle slide to a shadow of it’s once iconic self in 2017. The Whole Live Music Capital is almost a joke now for us 15+ year And life long Austinites. Several forces were in play that brought this spiral. 1. Venues for years took advantage of musicians and payed them peanuts because of its reputation, playing in front of an active high music IQ crowd and being the town that helped discover Janis, Stevie Ray, and Townes. During the same time, San Marcos’ Cheatham St Music district, new Braunfels, Ft Worth, San Antone, Lubbock and Waco double downed on music and knew Austin was a dead man walking. Not only those cities started to pay more $$ to lure musicians, but also were much more hospitable. 2. Californication has turned Austin from a weird, Willie way vibe to a pretentious narcissist bubble. I don’t even recognize the city where I lived for 17 years for the most part. With Californication comes sky high cost of living that is driving out the working, middle class, some upper middle class and sadly musicians and songwriters. Many are heading to San Marcos, NB, Wimberly, the texas hill country and San Antonio. we are losing are our Iconic venues due to gentrification and high rents. Stubbs, mowhawk will survive due owning their property. Saxon is on solid ground but they might have to move down south Lamarz. Red 7, Emo’s and Gyspy lounge where Delta spirit and Chris Brokaw were resident alums closed. That’s just to name a few. Just a handful still play country like Stubbs, Moody, Saxon Pub, Continental club, white horse, moontower saloon and north Austin spots like Wild West, and Wagner’s backyard. scoot Inn hasn’t booked a country show in almost a year. This is a place where Turnpike and Dirty River Boys would often play. Once the Mecca of Texas and Soul Country is no more. 3. Californiacation has brought on a huge emergence of EDM, trance, and hip hop. I love some Frank Ocesn jam, but not this. Most of 6th street today is EDM, dubstep, trance, house music or just plain douche bag joints. It’s sad that R&B artists, Janis, Townes, and Stevie Ray once played in those same buildings. The new Mayor, Steve Adler, is the first pro musician Mayor in years. He is taking a lesson out of the Seattle playbook with Co-Op rent controlled apartment buildings and villages for musicians, extending the hours live music to be played to 1:00-1:30, setting new standards for ceiling based sound mitigation systems which aren’t cheap. Psychedelic Rock/prog is probably the last one standing in the Austin sound. It’s still strong. Adler is trying, but he is coming in too late. Austin should look no further than New Orleans- the birthplace of American music with Jazz and Rock N roll. Even their big native born artists had to eventually leave. Nola is a nat of what it use to be. Today, Nola is doing well with its rebirth with Frenchmen st. Nola officials made it known its a music town and noise is inevitable. Conversely, their new ordinances reflect it. And now their music scene is actually good. With the rich and Californiacation moving in, musicians and our middle and working class are moving out. Fourth and final point: Sadly, native Austinites are selling their homes that doubled/tripled in value heading for the hill country. Austin has become Everything it has long hated, Dallas.
Thanks SCM for all you do to promote and defend the authentic Country, western and folk sound.
Dusty
January 14, 2017 @ 10:23 pm
Wish that our mayor here in Toronto would do that, too.
Eric J
January 9, 2017 @ 2:08 pm
this reminds me of the film SLC Punk, which did not feature any SLC punk
Mike
January 14, 2017 @ 7:45 pm
There’s a Youtube with some of the unsung greats with guy named Calvin Russel and Michelle Murphy Ater, anyone know more resources for me to listen to them? I’m so hungry to make that music.
Anyway, I only really started writing after I lived in Austin for a while. My official theory is that there is some sort of mana-pool there, and it’s a power place as far as global region, magnetics, and my personal astrocartography, as I’m the bellwether being an Aries (cardinal point) and all, with Aquarius ascendant.
Anyways, I’m looking to team up with any resistance over there in Austin or SM, or NB if y’all want to join and fight. Will provide references, and please check out my Soundcloud:
http://www.soundcloud.com/missionshowcase
~Mike
Hilo, Hawaii 2017
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