Austin, Texas: Fiercely Independent Live Music Capital

Embassy of the United States of America U.S. CITIES Austin, Texas: Fiercely Independent Live Music Capital AUSTIN ©Shutterstock.com ustin, the 11th-largest Then and Now “Father of Texas” and the repub- city in the United States, lic’s first secretary of state. The When Spanish missionaries has adopted the slogan city was a collection point for the A began settling in the area in the “The Live Music Capital of the famous Chisholm Trail, used to 18th century, the future site of World” because it’s home to many drive cattle from ranches in Texas Austin was variously inhabited musicians and live music venues. to Kansas railheads. By 1860, by the Tonkawa, Lipan Apache Each March, musicians, filmmak- Austin’s population had grown to and Comanche tribes. Settlers ers and social media entrepre- 3,494 citizens. from the United States began neurs converge on Austin for the arriving in the 1830s, while the Key dates include: South by Southwest (SXSW) festi- area was still part of Mexico. In val. Its countercultural ambiance • 1845 — The Republic of Texas 1836, the settlement was incorpo- contrasts with Austin’s identity becomes the U.S. state of Texas, rated into the Republic of Texas as the capital of a U.S. state better with Austin as its capital. after Texan colonists fought a known for rodeos, barbecue and war of independence against the • 1883 — The University of Texas, other hallmarks of traditional Mexican government. eventually an important center of culture. academic research now serving The new republic made the settle- more than 50,000 students each ment its capital, naming it Austin year, is founded. in honor of Stephen F. Austin, the Austin, Texas • 1888 — The State Capitol, mod- eled on the U.S. Capitol and then the seventh-largest building in the world, opens. • 1970s — Music stars like coun- try icon Willie Nelson and blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan move to Austin and help establish its renowned music scene. The People The musical group French Horn Rebellion performs on the Doritos #BoldStage at the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin. ©AP Images Austin’s diverse population reflects both its history as a state capital and its emergence as a cultural center, with • 1976 — The television show UFOs, ghosts and other legendary booming high tech, pharmaceutical Austin City Limits brings the city’s creatures. and biotechnology sectors. The black live music to a national audience. In all but the coldest months of community of Clarksville is the oldest surviving settlement west of the • 1987 — The South by Southwest the year, the Ann W. Richards Mississippi River founded by former (SXSW) festival begins as a regional Congress Avenue Bridge is home slaves. musical event, later expanding to 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed to include film, multimedia and bats. So many bats emerge at sunset According to the 2010 census, Austin is 68.3 percent white; 35.1 percent Hispanic emerging technology. that they can be seen on weather or Latino; 8.1 percent African American; radar. and 6.3 percent Asian. In 2012, the city’s “Keep Austin Weird” Film fans might recognize Austin population was estimated at 842,592. Residents of Austin, known as as the location for Richard The Land “Austinites,” are very proud of Linklater’s films Slacker, Dazed Austin lies along the banks of Texas’ their city’s diverse, somewhat and Confused and Waking Life, Colorado River (not to be confused with eccentric culture that promotes while history buffs will enjoy Colorado’s Colorado River). The original creative expression. In 2000, a the Lyndon Baines Johnson town was a 259-hectare site called local librarian coined the motto Presidential Library, which houses “Waterloo” between two creeks. It was at “Keep Austin Weird” in response many important documents and the crossroads of trade routes between Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Galveston to worries the city’s culture was artifacts from the American civil Bay, and between northern Mexico and threatened by overdevelopment. rights movement and the Vietnam the Red River. Bumper stickers, T-shirts and store War era. windows now trumpet that slogan. The Climate Nature lovers can enjoy more than Austin is sunny, averaging 300 days of Hundreds of live music venues 50 walking trails or join locals sunshine per year with temperatures dot the city, interspersed with tat- escaping the summer heat at Barton in July and August in the high 90s too parlors, art galleries and cafes. Springs Pool, considered the larg- Fahrenheit (24–36 degrees Celsius). Its The famous Austin City Limits est U.S. swimming pool. It’s fed by winters are mild and relatively dry, with venue is not far from where the springs and remains a steady tem- January and February its coldest months, Museum of the Weird, which calls perature of 68 degrees Fahrenheit averaging temperatures of 49 degrees Fahrenheit (9 degrees Celsius) and 53 itself “America’s strangest attrac- (20 degrees Celsius). degrees Fahrenheit (12 degrees Celsius), tion,” offers exhibits on monsters, respectively. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF STATE August, 2013 BUREAU OF INTERNATIONAL INFORMATION PROGRAMS.

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