Why is Austin so good for music?
Someone put that question to the lovely Suzanna Choffel, who the Austin CVB had serenade us over a farewell lunch at local restaurant Moonshine.
I didn't have a pad with me (I know - bad blogger) so I'll paraphrase all but one of her answers.
1. Music as a way of life
People say that all the time. But the support for musicians is such that nobody rolls their eyes when you say you're a musician - it's seen as a stable, worthwhile career choice.
And the support consists of...
2. Health Alliance for Musicians
Yeah, seriously.
3. Untold venues
"A lot of cities say they're big on music, and they have maybe eight or nine venues," said Suzanna (in the one bit I can remember verbatim).
"But you come to Austin and there are literally hundreds, and it goes on all the time."
She's not kidding. Later she and our tour guides talk about 'playing the airport'. Because there's even a stage there, for crying out loud.
4. The authorities support it
This is a nice one. Getting a gig playing to guests of the city isn't a rarity - Suzanna said she gets two or three similar spots a week.
Clearly, not to support and highlight local musicians would be marketing suicide on the part of the CVB. But looking around the table it's clear the Austin tourism reps have a genuine, and not just commercial, appreciation of this stuff.
Here's a stream of Suzanna's track Hey Mister... and thanks our to hosts Austin CVB, San Antonio CVB and Continental
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