Austin Outer Limits

While studiously avoiding anything related to the Austin City Limits Festival, I attended the Wyndham Garden Hotel’s grand opening for its Austin Music Project.

Project Manager Allan Reagan contacted me midsummer about writing a few of the biographies for the designated musicians being honored. Local tech writer Dave Raum was already on board so I drafted by brother Stephen, who knows much, much more about local music than you’d guess, and my longtime friend John T. Davis, who feels as much like a classmate as a peer because we both started at the Austin Sun in the mid-Seventies. I wrote some of the biographical notes for the exhibit but ended up editing all 52 of them, which was a fantastic experience, an annotated trip through Austin’s musical history.

The evening itself was low-key, but it was a lovely chance to leisurely stroll the Wyndham’s upgraded grounds, admire the granite counters in the rooms, and lounge by the poolside casitas. I was tickled to be able to introduce Ray Wylie Hubbard to Blues Boy Hubbard. The latter Hubbard was honored that evening, as was W.C. Clark, and later they performed together and gave the audience a sweet taste of hard Texas blues.

I missed Dylan. And Lucinda. And all the cool young bands I am currently enamored of, like LCD Soundsystem (too quirky to resist), M.I.A. (I love her feistiness and musical vision), and … well, I may as well admit it … Arcade Fire (I can’t help it. Should I not mention I secretly want to see Fall Out Boy when they come? Shoot me now!). But since I despise outdoor concerts, this cool, air-conditioned reception with sublime Texas blues was my ticket for a great evening.