Whether you're an Austin native or a brand new transplant, diving into the music scene here is inevitable. Shows every night, incredible live music venues and seriously talented artists mean that if you weren't a music buff before, you're on your way to becoming one. But aside from attending ACL and listening to some exceptional blues at Antone's, there are a handful of experiences you'll need to have before calling yourself a true Austin music lover. Here's your unofficial Austin music checklist:
1. Go hard during all 10 days of SXSW, then sleep for a month.
2. Cram into Ginny’s Little Longhorn Saloon for some Chicken Shit Bingo and music by Texas country singer Dale Watson.
3. Win your way into an ACL taping, then post a picture of the program before your friends do.
4. Bring a cooler full of adult beverages to Zilker Park, then take in live music via 93.3 KGSR’s Blues on the Green.
5. Take an ill-advised dive into the crowd from the stage or second level at the Mohawk.
6. Let go and get rowdy with “beer, music, liquor, beer, music” at Beerland.
7. Get weird looks for standing directly in front of the stage and not to the side (or at least 10 feet away from it).
8. Cut out of work or school early and go to an in-store performance at Waterloo Records.
9. Make a rare stop at Central Presbyterian Church. Pray a lot while you’re there so that your soul is covered until the next show.
10. Non-ironically learn how to two-step at either the White Horse or the Broken Spoke.
11. Start at the back of the HEB Center, and then ninja shuffle yourself from empty seat to empty seat until you’re up close to the stage.
12. Get into a fight over whether or not anyone should ever bring a fold out chair to any of Austin’s music festivals.
13. Go all the way out to the Austin360 Amphitheater, have too much fun, get stuck, start working there, never return home.
14. Find a kick ass flag for ACL, then panic when you arrive at Zilker Park and see someone else with the same one.
15. Get high enough to see an actual dragon at Sound on Sound Fest.
16. Schmooze your way into a live session at Do512, KUTX or the like.
17. Roll the dice on agreeing to house a touring band you don’t know.
18. Fight for an extension of the noise curfew even though you know you don’t like staying out past 11pm.
19. Go to Barbarella on one of their theme nights and find yourself.
20. Tour with a local band as their merch person.
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