Hot August Idea: 'Austin Music History Month'
It's too miserable outside to do anything else
Austin in August is a month that opens and closes with tragic anniversaries: a sniper on the tower on Aug. 1, and a shattered helicopter on the side of a mountain on Aug. 27. But the 8th month also gave us Armadillo World Headquarters (1970) and Victory Grill (1945), and an hour of live Austin music on MTV (1985). Willie Nelson first brought the ropers and the dopers together in August ‘72, ushering in an “outlaw country” movement solidified the next August by Viva Terlingua!, Jerry Jeff Walker’s black box recording of what was going down in Austin. The same wretchedly hot month, country station KOKE-FM added “progressive” to its format and changed country music for… well, a couple years at least.
Muddy Waters was first blown away by his future producer Johnny Winter at the Vulcan Gas Company in August ‘68 (“He white, I mean he REALLY white!” Muddy shouted into the phone while Johnny was wailing away.) And we can thank the hottest month for the gift of Sextons, Charlie and Will, born in ‘68 and ‘70 (good work Kay!)
August is a time to remember Aquafest, that yearly endurance test for contact lens-wearers and the turkey leg intolerant, which was the biggest annual event by far until SXSW said “hold my Shiner Bock,” next to a long table of free barbecue.
August is Austin’s most-hated calendar page, but maybe we could lighten the mood by celebrating our massive musical heritage with daily “Austin Music History Minutes” on radio and TV. During this 8th month, Joe Rogan goes on vacation, and nothing in Austin is named “Moody”!
Austinites love to bitch about the heat, and brag about how cool this town was when they were skinny. Why don’t we combine them? That’s right, I’m suggesting we bring back Aquafest, but as a hip-adjacent, two-day event like Fun Fun Fun Fest for families on a budget. For $8 a ticket, you don’t get Yeah Yeah Yeahs, you get Sugar Ray. But you’ll be partying on SRV Auditorium Shores, muthafucka!
Nobody knows why August gets 31 days, but musicians loved it way back because it gave them an extra 24 hours to get together the $79 rent.
Let’s rename our streets in August (with GPS-ignoring honorary signs) after some of the local music icons we’ve lost along the way. Chicon St. would be Dr. Hepcat Stroll, acknowledging KVET’s Lavada Durst, from E. 11th (Charlie Gildon St.) to E. 12th (Grey Ghost Lane). Guadalupe from 29th- 30th would be Denny Freeman Street, running parallel to Albert Collins Alley. Roky Road would wind through the Barton Hills neighborhood. The section of I-35 that you take from Manor to West Fifth would be called the Ian McLagan B3 Expressway every Thursday. And the month that the E. 300 block of Sixth St. become E. Sessums, hot dogs are free!
Let’s make friends with August, and tell it we’ll put it on the guest list! (“Maybe it’s under my wife’s name. Could you please check ‘July?’)
This has been your Monday Muse, a new feature of Austin In August.
Great Idea MC! And what a great photo of Steve & Denny in their band T-shirts, thanks for sharing.
Remember TX summers before the open container law? You had to drive around with a beer between your legs just to keep your balls from overheating. And that was when 100-degree days were rare, relatively.
Back when we were skinny? What the hell happened?