Austin is well known as being the Live Music Capital of the World. There are dozens of venues throughout the city featuring live music nightly. Austin also hosts several world renown music festivals including South By Southwest, Austin City Limits, Fun Fun Fun Fest, Old Settlers Music Festival, Austin Reggae Festival and many more.

South by Southwest Festival

South by Southwest is a music, film and emerging technology festival hosted annually in March by the city of Austin. Main events are held at different venues throughout the city such as the Austin Convention Center, JW Marriott, Alamo Lamar A, Cheer Up Charlie’s, Empire Room, Auditorium Shores Stage and many more. The majority of events are held in the downtown area. While tickets are available for visiting main acts, there are many free events offered to the public. For more information on South by Southwest Festival please visit: www.sxsw.com

Austin City Limits

Austin City Limits is a music festival that takes place annually in October in beautiful Zilker Park. For two weekends, over 130 bands and artists come from around the world to perform on 8 stages. Apart from the music, patrons can also explore the Art Market. Zilker Park offers 351 acres of natural terrain along the Colorado River for ACL goers to explore. For more information, please visit: www.aclfestival.com

Open Microphone

Many of Austin’s local music venues host weekly open mics for aspiring musicians. Sunday through Thursday, one can find several venues to perform at throughout the Austin area. For an updated list of Austin’s open microphones, please visit www.openmicaustin.com. Always be sure to call the venue ahead of time to ensure the open mic is still running.

Music Recording Studios

For musicians looking to record, Austin has many A-list recording studios available. See below for a list of links:
Fire Station Recording, Arlyn Studios (Willie Nelson’s place), Tequila Mockingbird, 
Terra Nova Mastering, Yellow Dog Studios