Austin Band of the Year 1964-2022

Input sought for this work-in-progress to be included in new history book

With Austin Music Is a Scene Not a Sound: the First 100 Years taking a redshirt year at TCU Press, for an early 2024 release, I’ve got two other Austin music history books on the way. I’ve told you about Overserved, the personal history of Austin, which picks up on my 1984 arrival. Completing the trilogy will be Austin On the Map, which profiles the musicians who made “the live music capital” cool, and eventually unaffordable. It’s an Austincentric sequel to All Over the Map: True Heroes of Texas Music (2017 UNT Press).

A key feature will be declaring Austin’s Band of the Year from 1964, when the Geezinslaws were Austin’s first band on a major label to the current landscape. This is a list of bands, not solo-billed artists, who had the greatest impact, or creative achievement, in each year. I would love to hear from you, especially if you’ve been going out to hear music before I got to Austin, or after I stopped writing about current bands for a living (2013). Some of the acts I’m considering, but never saw, were Three Faces West, Frummox, and Fools. I want find a slot for Octopus Project, but which year and who do they replace.

AUSTIN BAND OF THE YEAR

1964: Geezinslaw Brothers
1965: (tie) Baby Cakes, the Wig
1966: 13th Floor Elevators
1967: Conqueroo/ Bubble Puppy
1968: Lavender Hill Express
1969: Mexican Revolution
1970: Shiva's Head Band
1971: Krackerjack
1972: Freda and the Firedogs
1973: Greezy Wheels
1974: Electromagnets
1975: (tie) Cobras, James Polk Quintet
1976: Balcones Fault
1977: Lost Gonzo Band
1978: (tie) Beto y Los Fairlanes, the Lotions
1979: Fabulous Thunderbirds
1980: Joe King Carrasco and the Crowns
1981: Joe Ely Band
1982: Big Boys
1983: Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble
1984: Dino Lee and the White Trash Revue
1985: (tie) True Believers, Zeitgeist
1986: Timbuk3
1987: Butthole Surfers
1988: Wagoneers
1989: Poi Dog Pondering
1990: (tie) Dangerous Toys, Two Hoots and a Holler
1991: The Arc Angels
1992: Alejandro Escovedo Orchestra
1993: Don Walser and the Pure Texas Band
1994: Soulhat
1995: (tie) Sincola, Storyville
1996: Sixteen Deluxe
1997: (tie) Damnations, Vallejo
1998: Fastball
1999: (tie) The Scabs, Asleep at the Wheel
2000: Gourds
2001: Bob Schneider and Lonelyland
2002: (tie) Del Castillo, Trail of Dead
2003: Explosions in the Sky
2004: Los Lonely Boys
2005: Spoon
2006: Ghostland Observatory
2007: (tie) Okkervil River, Grupo Fantasma
2008: Band of Heathens
2009: Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears
2010: (tie) Black Angels, Nick Curran and the Lowlifes
2011: Bright Light Social Hour
2012: Wild Child
2013: White Denim
2014: Brownout
2015: Riders Against the Storm
2016: The Sword
2017: A Giant Dog/ Sweet Spirit
2018: Shinyribs
2019: Sir Woman
2020: Black Pumas
2021: Spoon
2022: BLK ODDYSY

Photo of Big Boys at Raul’s by Bill Daniel.