The slow death of the Austin music scene

[bigjohn]

The closing of the Cactus Cafe made the NY Times today:

Inside the intimate listening room at the Cactus Cafe, arguably the most storied of the storied sites left standing, a sense of invulnerability has developed through three decades of performances.

Positioned on campus inside the student union building, sheltered to some extent from boomtown costs, the Cactus nurtured the early careers of Lyle Lovett and Lucinda Williams. It still books such luminaries as Loudon Wainwright III, Butch Hancock and Patty Griffin. And lesser-known acts like Matt the Electrician, Terri Hendrix and the Austin Lounge Lizards, all on the calendar this month, can expect to play to a full room of 150 reverentially quiet listeners.

So a sense of shock and dismay, as measured in the breathlessness of radio news reports and the size of a virtual rally on Facebook, has attended the announcement last month that the university plans to close the Cactus in August, citing, of all things, the university’s own contraction. Under orders from Gov. Rick Perry to identify potential spending cuts of 5 percent, officials say the closing could save the university $66,000 in its $2 billion annual budget.

“I was in the van crossing Texas on the way to a gig when I first heard of the proposed closing of the Cactus, and after the first wave of sadness a familiar despair set in,” wrote Guy Forsyth, widely regarded as the hardest-working bluesman in Austin, in a post on his blog. “This was not the first club I have seen close, nor the first home I have lost. And I wondered of the battle of Art vs. Cash, and the sad history of that long war.”

Musicians and their admirers have hardly been alone in their sporadic clashes with the university, which spent much of the last century gradually displacing the black population of East Austin by building a baseball stadium, fueling station and facilities maintenance buildings over the neighborhood once known as Blackland.

But in relation to the city’s much-acclaimed music scene, the university has evolved into a sort of double agent. Its undergraduate student body of about 30,000 provides a continually replenished source of clubgoers, while its research laboratories incubate new lines of business that draw downtown condominiums, soaring rents and, eventually, noise complaints.

Any respectable accounting of lost and lamented music sites opens with the Armadillo World Headquarters, the onetime armory that hosted concerts by The Clash, Willie Nelson and the Vans — Halen and Morrison — in the 1970s. Since the Armadillo closed in 1980, the Austin metropolitan area has grown to a projected population this year of 1.7 million, from about 846,000, gaining plenty of new clubs while losing such beloved haunts as the Black Cat Lounge, the Electric Lounge, The Back Room, Steamboat and (temporarily) the Hole in the Wall.

On that rock ’n’ roll murderers’ row, the Cactus found its niche with thoughtful lyrics, lilting melodies and gently strummed acoustic guitars. University officials said their decision to end its run was not solely financial; rather, the cafe was “largely used by nonstudents.”

The suggestion that perhaps the younger crowd was just not that into the folk scene has done little to ease tensions. On Tuesday, the university president, William Powers Jr., told a public forum that the decision to close the Cactus was made in deference to the student union advisory council.

“They would like to reconfigure the use of the Cactus Cafe to something that, in their view, is more responsive to the needs and the interests of the students,” Mr. Powers said, adding, “I think they made a reasonable decision, and I’m supporting it.”

For the next two hours, speakers at the forum offered to raise money, called for marches in the streets, made pointed references to the university’s lucrative athletic programs and, in one case, suggested that executives of Starbucks, which has a coffee bar in the student union building, were actually pulling the strings on the decision. (They were not, Mr. Powers said.)

State Representative Elliott Naishtat, a Democrat who attended the hearing in a leather jacket, started the discussion on a positive note, saying, “Let’s work together.”

But the tenor quickly shifted as he ceded the floor to Reid Nelson, who described himself as a lawyer, political consultant and musician at heart.

“Irreplaceable, legendary, iconic, a treasure,” Mr. Nelson said of the Cactus, characterizing his view as a mix of sadness, disbelief and anger. “You know, words do not really capture the depth of the loss in this community, this feeling over this decision. This is tantamount to paving over Barton Springs. This is like tearing down the Texas Tower. That’s the place this cafe holds in the community.”

As the forum wore on, Mr. Powers held his ground. At one point, though, he entertained a suggestion to move the Cactus into an alumni center across campus, calling to mind for seasoned observers the long-ago farewell attributed to Frank Zappa: “Goodnight, Austin, Texas, wherever you are.”

[jon]

I can't be that cynical... but I did wear black for a week after they closed Liberty Lunch... life goes on

[Swells]

When I came to Austin in 1976 they hadn't built the Student Union building yet, so we had a coffee house somewhere on campus more towards the Stadium ... the students demanded a place to go listen to music and drink beer. I distinctly remember Joe Ely jamming out there.

The Student Union finally opened and we were aghast at how luxurious it was, although the bowling, pool tables, and ping pong room downstairs and the theater was considered way cool. But the bar area was sorta of a strange pickle, not really designed for shows. The accoustics were atrocious, and huge pillars got in the way ... one almost figured that the place was designed to prevent a riot (we think it was).

But it grew on us even though there were cool joints like Soap Creek, Armadillo, Liberty, Continental Club, the Hole in the Wall, Texas Chili Parlor, and all the others even Hut's Hamburgers. Heck it was OURS. UT spent untold millions on that edifice of fake Dallas luxury just to make us happy, and we were. I'd hate to estimate how many gallons of cheap beer we bought there, LOL.

So all this is confusing to me ... there was almost a riot to force UT into building a temporary beer joint while the big one was being constructed ... and now it sounds like that spirit is coming back. Local humorist John Kelso wrote that the hundred grand a year they're saving could be more than offset by the football team, an economic engine worth hundreds of millions, a good point for a funny-man. Football and beer ... heyhey! But all this is political, just a show to make Governor Perry happy, and shows a remarkable degree of shortsightedness by the UT administration. It sucks.
sammie

[bigjohn]

The more I think about it, the more it bothers me. Perry orders they find 5% in cuts and so they respond by giving Mac a $2million raise, closing the Cactus, raising tuition and cutting student services. I realize football brings in a lot of money, but in the face of making cuts, a $2 million raise to anyone doesn't seem like good economics. Why do you suppose the student body took closing the Cactus under consideration-just on a whim? More likely, because they were presented with the option of cutting budget by closing the Cactus. It's just frustrating to see so many great venues close or move further from town, sound ordinances becoming stupidly low, forces wanting to turn 6th street into a retail center and watching the city maintain that is is the live capital of the world. Sure, we still have SXSW, but that is 4 days out of the year (as far as the music festival).

[Swells]

Agreed ... the problem with UT is that the sports program is self-funding, and isn't part of the operating budget. The operating budget comes from tuition, fees, state money, and some federal programs and grants. There is a massive construction fund and an equally large endowment, as well as an investment house known as UTIMCO, worth billions. However because of the separate accounting, none of these funds can be used for operations. How silly is that? Starve the University while making millions of football and investor scams? I don't get it.

The problem with the Austin music scene is of a different sort, complicated. Many joints went out of business simply because the price of land went sky high. The Armadillo became a bank tower. The recession didn't help. So many musicians moved to Austin it is almost a joke, and iPod and ripping off songs on the Internet became a horrible problem. Several operators such as Cliff Antone ended up in jail, or were such horrible accountants they ran the place into the ground (Steamboat comes to mind). Finally, the buzz created by original artists such as Stevie Ray Vaughn and Beto (Beto y los Fairlanes, Paul Ray and the Cobras, everyone has their favorite "pioneers") simply wore off.

If it wasn't for people like Jody Denberg at KGSR, Austin City Limits Fest, and Louis Black of SxSW, the Austin music scene would have crashed harder and faster. The Austin Parks and Recreational Department also put on free concerts at Barton Springs. But even the bloom is coming off that rose. I listened to KGSR recently, since Jody left, and they're playing imported hard metal - and not the passable Austin grunge music we had at Emo's or at Riverside. For shame! Finally, the yuppies and trendy bars like Fado (a faux Irish bar) cluttered the scene and out-competed the musician bars.

Then Austin banned smoking in all joints. This put several places out of business right off the bat, and caused some drop-off in attendance. It turned out that non-smoking shows LOST money, good as their intentions were.

To add insult to injury, the Parks and Recreation Department did something really stupid at Zilker Park. Concerned about the grass getting wiped out by 70,000 fans at the ACL Fest, the town put down several inches of "Dillo Dirt" made from recycled waste water treatment plant pooh and East Austin soil. The grass looked fine until 70,000 people got out there in the rain and turned it into something resembling a cattle feed lot, pooh about a foot deep in places. Another competing company tried to do something at Waterloo Park and turned that land into gumbo, too.

I am not sure if the unions had anything to do with it. There were "union shops" and the "indies." The union joints commanded the big bucks as to musicians, equipment rental, and running the boards. If you were an indie, you played cheap and for the hat, and probably had a day job, sometimes living out of a van or old beater car. If you were union, you got about $100 an hour and went on the road in high style. The big acts priced themselves out of the regional market, and large venues in Houston, Dallas, big casinos, and elsewhere made the real money, with high-flying agents, bookers, producers, and so forth.

Back when we started in the business, all you needed was a venue and to get a good poster designer - Jim Franklin was the best but there were many. There were no bookers or agents and you hauled your own PA system. If we couldn't find a venue, we'd have a party in somebody's backyard or one of the university co-ops (from with the Arc Angels were born). I still remember playing guitar with "Little Stevie" (SRV) at several of these impromptu parties - and nobody played for hardly no money; it was all for the fun.

Perhaps there's just no inspiration, buzz, newness, and "Austintateous" feeling like in the old days. And true, the average age of the rock concert goers is still about 23 years old because of all the universities and computer tech ompanies, and their tastes changed. Like all that rap music. Many would rather listen to DJ so-and-so than Reverend Gordon Heat or the Womack Brothers. The Spring Break line-up at South Padre Island during Texas Week is mostly all nasty rap.

Sorry to ramble, but as they say, "she's complicated." -sammie

[bigjohn]

You summed things pretty well. The venue operators refuse to advertise and then wonder why they struggle. People don't go out and listen to music like they used to. We have a good following and it's even hard for us to make any money in this town because so many venue operators are afraid to charge a cover charge. Saxon, Antones, Poodies, and the backyard are exceptions and they do well. If you are in the music business for any reason other than the music you are in it for all the wrong reasons, but that doesn't preclude wanting to make money. There are so many "musicians" both talants and not so talented, that clubs have taken to expecting bands to play for free or in some cases to pay to play. The result is a ton a junk in clubs that no one wants to see that simply diminishes interest in going to see live music. Rarely do you see jams like used to happen at the old Antones before Clifford went to jail. Times have changed. The union rates are basically $75 a head...variations based on band leader and cartage. Few can command that rate. Bands are lucky to get $250. We make money on cover charges and swag sells. You are so right about the change in music on KGSR since Jodie left...he is missed. There have been forces at work for some time, sometimes under the guise of saving Austin music, that are working towards shutting down the music scene in anything other than an indoor setting. There are bright spots-Roadhouse Rags is a great little venue, although not well known yet. Armadillo Hall in Taylor is a way cool spot. Poodies is still going strong despite Poodie's death-his tradition is being carried on. SXSW is anything but a boom for Austin musicians. I will be putting on a showcase with mostly Austin musicians and there are a few good good alternate showcases for the Austin musicians, but you will find few Austin musicians in the SXSW lineup. It's a good boom for sound engineers though. The closing of the Cactus is clearly a sign of the times, but it is a shame to see UT shun part of what makes Austin Austin.

[jon]

man, ya'll making me miss Austin... I'm definitely younger and can only imagine some of those older joints... have heard more than a couple crazy stories about the Armadillo... never lived there but was in/out of San Marcos for about 10 years and spent a lot of time in Austin... these days I can do without the traffic...one thing that is for sure, Austin has a world class music scene... the artists through the years has put the spot light on it off and on but SXSW, ACL and a lot of self promotion keep Austin in the limelight... but music scenes fade in and out naturally I think... Athen, GA, Manchester, Seattle, etc...

[Swells]

You're right about the up-and-down in any "music scene" and I believe that once the economy busts out of this funk and recession, people will pay to go out more ... the toll on local restaurants and bars has been pretty steep, too. I think that Austin has more restaurants and music joints per capita than anywhere in the world, not counting Karaoke of course. Slightly over capitalized, think?

But things will come around, maybe slightly different but this foul economic weather has to blow itself out sooner or later. And I read in Sunday's Austin paper that over 20,000 Facebook fans have supported saving the Cactus Cafe at the student union ... they've had some meetings and are trying to put together an economic plan to rescue the operations, and cover any revenue losses (which really are only about 70K a year).

I mean gee, the UT alumni could come up with 70K just by passing the hat and getting online donations, I truly believe. The whole thing seems crazy, and I bet the Aggies are laughing about "them stupid Tea-Sips."

Time to Hook 'em Horns.

[squidmotion]

i agree with everything being said here, for sure.

i think when they labeled the 'austin sound' and the cashing in on that popularity back in the 90s, it was a done deal for me... it's been over-saturated for a while now. even back when i was in a gigging band, it was funny that a lot of the austin bands were going to houston and dallas to get gigs. back then, i was pretty harsh, and was always thinking of how austin was so stuck on itself... keep austin weird? whatever. just another attempt on the COC to cash in.... i liked austin when it was more 'under the radar' so to speak....

maybe i'm older now, but when i go to austin the last thing i want to do is go to 6th street... last year, i was there for a convention, and the wife tagged along, as we used to go there every now and then, when we were dating...... i groaned when she said, 'let's hit 6th street, babe'

we had a good time, but it has changed a lot.

[jon]

oh man, last time I had a good time on 6th was probably 1989 at The Loft... lots of good times in Austin thru the years but if I head north these days its generally for a show at Stubbs or to hang at some dive with friends

[dbarham]

too many weirdos