Heading to Austin.........give me the scoop

If you're still in town Sunday and Red Voelkert is playing at the Continental you might want to check him out. 6th street is full of live music although kind of touristy. There are some guitar stores on S. Lamarr including Austin Vintage Guitar http://www.austinvintageguitars.com/ Austin is a great town!!

 

If your into guitar stores guitar resurrection aint a bad one.

 

I'm moving there once I'm done in Maryland...can't wait!

 

I'm waiting to hear if I'm subbing for a friend on friday or saturday. What's your band? If I'm free Saturday I'll come out.

 

My wife and I are thinking about flying out to Texas in April to attend the Dallas guitar show, visit some friends in Dallas, and then head down to Austin.

What are the chances are attending an Austin City Limits taping? How do you go about getting tickets?

The last time we visited Dallas, we rented a car and drove all the way to San Antonio. It was an 8 hour drive. I won't do that again. if I remember correctly, Austin was about 3 hours south of Dallas.

drive-south

 

redd won't stop playing until 7ish, sometimes later, if you're planning on being there for the whole thing. what time is your gig? you may need to hang in the south congress area and there's plenty to do there and a few good restaurants, too.

there's plenty more if you want to venture away from that area for dinner or something.

what time you get in town? 3?

 

The Austin Motel is across the street from The Continental and they have musician friendly checkout times.

 

The Continental is 13 blocks south of the River. There are several hotels downtown, on (embassy suites?) this side, and a couple (Radisson?) just across the river. Those are the closest. There are also a few the other direction, on Oltorf & I-35, which is also quite close (not quite walking distance, though) - Clarion, La Quinta, and a few others there.

You'll enjoy Two Hoots - a very good band that has been around Austin forever - should be a really good crowd there for you to open. And Redd's Saturday shows are great, I might be there myself.

Tex-Mex - Guero's, just across, and a few more blocks south of the Continental is pretty good. I also really like (prefer) Curra's grill, on Oltorf between Congress & I35.

BBQ - if you have time and a car, you must take the drive out to Driftwood (southwest of town, not quite an hour from downtown) to the Salt Lick. They have a map/directions on their site. And BYOB, they don't have a license, but encourage you to bring whatever beer or wine you want. Excellent food, fun place. If you don't have time/ wanna stay close, The Iron Works, or the Green Mesquite are both pretty close to downtown, and good.

If you're cruising guitar stores, South Lamar (parallels Congress, about 15 blocks or so west) has Music Makers, Ray Hennig's, Austin Vintage, and South Austin Music from north to south, all in a stretch of about 10 blocks or so. If you're tight on time, Austin Vintage and South Austin usually have much more interesting stock.

If you wanna get some local music, just across (north) of the River on Lamar, are Waterloo Music (on 6th) and Cheapo discs (10th) - Cheapo has a huge selection of used CDs, but they also have a pretty good selection of local stuff.

Holla if there's anything specific, or that I left out.

 

+1 for Curra's!

 

Definitely make sure you eat some Tex-Mex while you're there.

Also, make sure your gear is secure. Don't be stupid like me and leave an '85 Les Paul in your vehicle for some crackhead to break into and rip off.

 

i'd steer clear of guero's. the scene is pretty fun, but there's much better food and better margaritas to be had.

jo's coffee is what you're thinking of and there's usually some kick-ass local music there on sunday mornings.

 

Austin in only 80 miles down I-35 from SA, so you really aren't saving much on the trip. It only takes me 4 hours to get to ATX from DFW, but I drive in the 75-80 range and don't normally stop.

ACL tickets can be a pain in the butt. The studio is on the University campus and is much smaller than you would think looking at the show. You have to listen to the radio and they announce when the tickets are available. Locals know the routine and will usually beat you to the tickets.

The good news is that the new ACL theatre is under construction downtown and will be much larger and open year round as a club. And Austins finest citizen Willie Nelson is involved in the project.

The bad news is that huge developers and Live Nation are also involved. I'm picturing a House of Blues kind of place. The location is fantastic anyway.

 

You must, must, must go to The Salt Lick in Driftwood. If there's better BBQ I've yet to taste it. All in all, Austin's a pretty cool town. It's a bit too hip for a guy like me, but I've never had a bad time visiting there.

http://www.saltlickbbq.com/

 

I don't know how long you have or where yr heading after but when we were on tour, we went to the Salt Lick BBQ in Driftwood (about 40 minutes away...AND TOTALLY WORTH IT). The best BBQ I EVER had!
http://www.saltlickbbq.com/

Edit: Oops...just saw the above post.
Do it!

 

As great as Salt Lick is (and it is) Iron Works is a fine second option for BBQ with out the driving. At 2nd and Red River, it is in the heart of downtown. My favorite thing about Austin is that I don't drive much here.

Other cool things near downtown:

Waterloo Records (6th and Lamar) One of the last of a dying breed of great record stores. Across the street is Book People. If you are a big reader, you have to see this place.

And don't forget to go for a walk on the Town Lake Trail. The best urban hike and bike trail I have ever seen. The Stevie Ray statue is about 200 yards west of the 1st street bridge.

 

iron works is quite snazzy.
Rudy's is a good one for the budget. there's a couple of em. one on capital texas and a bit west of mopac on the north side.

good mexican downtown- man so many options. I work at Serrano's at 11th and Red River. Good question and fajitas.
El Arroyo at 5th under mopac - good outdoor atmosphere - cute waitresses

umm lots of options. Beer gardens is a great place to sample beers with some decent food. Opal Divine's on 6th, great beers- food so so.


+1 for vintage on south lamar - my favorite place to shop and just talk shop