Every year for the last 35 years, Austin Chronicle has hosted the Austin Music Awards, celebrating the best local music and musicians. But what might sound like a “local” award show to those not knowing the Austin music scene, is a fierce competition to win among some of the best musicians and artists in the USA. This year the award show was held at the ACL Moody Theatre, the home of the weekly TV show Austin City Limits.
Ray Benson’s birthday is March 16, and every year he celebrates it the Tuesday before the Music festival at SXSW starts, if that be the right date, or not. This year the 65 year party, a combination of a concert with prominent guests and a fundraiser for HAAM was celebrated at the GSD&M building in Austin. (Photo above: Ray Benson and Carolyn Wonderland)
Tuesday night was a real treat for us who like hand-played high quality music with good songs and even better playing. The main event for the evening at the Saxon Pub was Asleep At The Wheel. Milk Drive opened the show, and after the Wheels, Carolyn Wonderland played, before Insects vs Robots closed the night. (Picture above: Ray Benson from Asleep At The Wheel)
One of my favorite festivals started yesterday. Or rather, they started on Thursday, but yesterday was the official opening. with a full blues night on two stages. When one of the stages is a Magic Mirror tent, you can’t complain about the venue. There is also nothing to complain about with the artists, on the contrary. And for the nimble-minded, Hell is a place in Norway, and it means a cave in the mountain side, not a hot place somewhere else! (Picture above. Candye Kane)
I have written about Carolyn Wonderland before, and will probably do it again. During SXSW she played two official gigs, and I saw one of them, the closing act on the Continental Club Friday March 15th. Carolyn is playing the Blues in Hell festival in Norway in September, and for my Norwegian readers who are going there, look forward to it and be prepared for an even better show than the last time.
This year I have seen something between 150 and 200 concert at some 15 festivals, and at different venues, and I have had the chance to photograph most of them. Concerts in many different styles: jazz, folk, country, metal, classical, rock, hip-hop, pop. Here are my Top 15 concert experiences of 2012.
This will also be the last posting here at Artist Pictures Blog in 2012. More to come in 2013.
One of the artists I look most forward to see at the Notodden Blues Festival this year, is Ruthie Foster. This will be her first time playing in Norway, and it’s about time!
There are many excellent female musicians in Texas, and on Thursday March 22nd, some of these were gathered at Antone’s to celebrate the birthdays of Marcia Ball, Nancy Kaplan and Nancy Fly. The concert was also done in the spirit of Etta James.
Carolyn Wonderland is a well known and celebrated artist in Austin, Texas. She moved from her hometown Houston to Austin 13 years ago, and has built a gradually bigger and bigger reputation. Saturday March 10th she played at Antone’s, Austin’s famous blues venue, and it was a great pleasure to see her and her trio on stage once again.
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