Got up this morning in Seattle and caught a bus to the airport. Flying on Alaskan Airlines I landed in Austin Texas at 3:30pm. When I stepped out of the airport I ran into some folks from Seattle whom I had met at the Freemont Coffee House a few years ago! We were all heading to the Hostel (www.HIaustin.org)so we traveled together taking a bus part way and walked a few miles. It was nice to finally arrive and check in for the night.
We walked back into town and found our way to my new "Heaven on Earth" Iron Works BBQ! No, seriously HEAVEN! We finished eating to our hearts delight and headed up to 6th street where we ran into a horse and carriage driver that told us where to find a pool table and recommended we check out some of the underground artist scene at SouthAustinSoul.org. We walked a little farther up to Buffalo Billiards where I left them to play them to play a few games and went on a coffee mission.
I immediately ran into a busker named Steve walking and playing a classical guitar. After listening to a song I tipped him and asked about the whole street performing scene in Austin. I followed his recommendation and found my way to the Hideout Coffee Shop where I got a long awaited americano and found out about their open mic on Tuesday's. I was able to meet the host and said, "I'll be back!"
I ran into another busker named "Drummer". He was walking while performing and I was beginning to notice a trend. Drummer was appropriately named playing one bucket with the broken off end of a crutch and improvising lyrics over his beats. I had to tip him twice I loved it so much! He also gave me some good tips for when I came down to perform.
Meeting back up with my friends from Seattle and we checked out the band performing at The Chuggin' Monkey.
Out front I met a performer down from New York named Michael and his friend Kiko. He invited me to perform a song during his set at the Chuggin' Monkey the next afternoon. We went on to three other bars with bands playing called Friends, Nuno's, and Jackalope, before catching a cab back to the Hostel and calling it night.
**Welcome to Austin!** My first night here and I am thoroughly convinced that it truly is...
"The Live Music Capitol of the World"!
Tuesday February 2nd
I awoke my first morning in Austin TX on a top bunk in a room with six beds at the Hostel. My newly re-found friends and I took a bus to Congress Ave and when we got off were chased down by another singer songwriter that had noticed our instruments. Addie was her name and having recently moved to Austin from Idaho, working hard in the music scene, invited us to an open mic in South Austin. We walked a mile or so South on Congress Ave and then parted ways. I took a bus to the Hideout Theater where the coffee shop was from the night before and got to work on craigslist.com looking for a room to rent or a van to buy. I was interviewed for a radio show inquiring about people's purpose on laptops in coffee shops. At 4 pm I went down to the Chuggin' Monkey to catch Michael Katz set and he was true to his word in letting me get up and perform my first song on stage in Austin. I invited him to the open mic and headed back to sign up around 7:30. The night started off kind of slow but there were some excellent performances and things picked up as the night went on. There was a man named Donald that drew this portrait of me while I waited to perform a second set. With a slightly larger audience I got a tremendous response! Afterward I received a name and number to potentially perform at the Paradise Cafe during SXSW, an invite to perform at an open mic the next night, and slew of new friends all out to do what they do and be encouraged by seeing others doing the same.
Wednesday February 3rd
Wednesday morning came early and proved to be cold, windy, and wet. I continued my search for a room to rent, a van to buy, and figuring out which would be a better option with the the resources at hand. I met up with an old friend from Seattle who had moved to Austin three years earlier and we went to several music stores looking for a particular kind of percussion instrument that I use in my show. After not being able to find what I was looking for we grabbed some coffee and peach cobbler with ice cream at Tread Gills before parting ways. I walked a couple of miles through the wind and the rain up 1st Ave back to downtown. I accidentally took the wrong bus on later that night on my way to an open mic at Kick Butt Coffee. I finally got there but not without putting another mile on the feet walking through a town still unfamiliar to me on a dark and stormy night. It was worth meeting up with some good people from the night before and experiencing some new ones. I heard a poem that brought me to tears, some guitar work that inspired me to further explore what I do, and a one man beatbox/classical guitar/rapper that reminded me of my hearts journey and purpose in life. I met Saul Paul who invited me to perform on Saturday at International Heritage Festival. This guy was awesome www.myspace.com/ryanah89. Derek Washington (the host from the night before) continued to shine (I can't wait to be able to share a bit of his amazing talent). The host, Nate, was very welcoming and supportive, he had me cracking up with a few of his songs. After all was said and done several of us went to IHOP to get some late night eats before getting a ride home to the Hostel and calling it a night.
Thursday February 4th
Almost proved to be completely uneventful. I spent way to many hours searching craigslist.com again weighing the pros, cons, and possibilities of a room to rent or a van to buy. I thought about trading my Martin guitar for a van and using my money to buy a cheaper/acceptable one to use in the weather. Eventually, I went back downtown to the Hideout where I ran back into Derek and met his friend Andrew Stone whose CD I had to pick up and really enjoy, check him out! Back to the Hostel and it was time to replace the toiletries that I couldn't bring on the plain with a quick trip up to Walgreens.
Friday February 5th
Today I followed up on a potential room to rent. Looking at google maps for the last week it didn't seem that far away (only an inch or two). It proved to be seven miles deep in the culdesac jungles of South Austin and a little to far from the action to be feasible. I got a hold of my friend from Seattle and rescued from the outer limits. We went to the Strait Music Company where I was finally able to find the shakers I was looking for. From there we met up with other friends and grabbed dinner at Chuy's on North Lamar in Austin. Afterward I headed back downtown to check out the busking scene. I had my guitar with me just in case but was a little nervous to perform without my hula hoop. A man walked up to me when I had reached the end of the block and asked me if I was a Busker. He was a traveler from England and working on a documentary about busking. He filmed me answering a few questions and talking about the life. When I pulled out my guitar to show him my "play it while it's balanced on my chin" trick, Ryan from the open mic at Kick Butt Coffee two nights earlier just happened to be standing there with his friends and said hello. So I made my first dollar busking in Austin from Alan Andrews! I spent the rest of my time taking in the scene and getting a little more comfortable with the lay of the land. I got back to the Hostel late and had a hard time sleeping in anticipation of tomorrow's performance.
Saturday February 6th
Morning came too soon jumping up with time to wash my face and call a cab to get to the festival. I managed to get there on time and met up with Saul Paul who was running the sound and stage. There were several great speakers and I got to play just before the award ceremonies recognizing leaders in the community. I was prepared to play three songs and ended up getting to perform six! The over all reception was great and there were local television cameramen there filming for the news! Another performer that went on and that I really enjoyed was Gidon the Mighty Warrior. He has a great message and even better delivery. Check him out! I left the festival and walked a couple of miles back to downtown and checked in at the Hideout. I planned to perform that night but when it came time it was a little too cold and I was feeling a little to manic and worn out to go through with it. I got on the bus feeling a little overwhelmed and frustrated by all the changes and stimulation of being in a new place. Chock it up to culture shock. Halfway home a man got on the bus and sat next to me. For whatever reason, I was feeling down and holding back the tears. He looked at me and said, "How you doin' man?", "Hangin' tough", I replied. "Austin loves your music.", he said, and got off at the next stop. I finally got back to the Hostel and went to bed.
Sunday February 7th
It felt good to sleep in a little bit. Super Bowl Sunday seemed like a good day to just stay at the Hostel and relax. So that's what I did. But first I walked up to the thrift store to get another pair of jeans and a shirt since I only came to Austin with the clothes on my back. It was time.
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