In Tune

Providing music news, tips, and tricks for anyboy and everybody.

ACL vs. SXSW Which famous Austin music festival will win?

Learn about the Evolution of Brass

How to Survive

Summer Band tips and tricks indside.

An inside look at the LBJ Band!

4 5 9 10 11 14 19 20 23

TABLE OF Letter from Editors/Bios

The One The Only, LBJ Band

How to Survive Summer Band

Brass Facts

History of the musical Instrument

Feel the Noise

ACL vs SXSW

Rock with a Passion

Jazz to Pop

CONTENTS http://www.sxc.hu/

19 20

Picture provided by Heykiki.com

9

Picture provided by AISD

Picture provided by ACL™

15

11 5

Picture provided by ACL™

Picture provided by AISD

LETTER FROM THE EDITORS Dear reader,

Thank you for picking up our magazine. It shows that you appreciate music knowledge and news. Thats why as fellow musicians we strive to bring you the best and most up to date music knowledge and news.

Zach Stence has been interested in music ever since sixth grade. He

started playing tuba at Kealing Middle School in beginning band. He plans to learn to play all of the brass instruments in the future. Zach is a member of the LBJ Symphonic Band, and the LBJ marching band. Zach isn’t very interested in actively listening to music, but he will listen to anything thats playing.

Carter Pace has been playing the guitar for almost three years. Aside from

listening to classic rock, he has played in a church band for a year and also plays a little bit of piano, banjo and drums. In sixth grade he played the oboe for one year but never continued after that. Carter’s all time favorite bands include the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, The Black Keys and The Police.

Claire Morrison has been involved with music every since she was

young. She started playing piano when she was 7 years old and played for four years.

In sixth grade Claire played saxophone but later switched to percussion, which she has been playing ever since. Claire is now a proud member of the LBJ Drumline and marching band. In her freetime she enjoys being a ninja and listening to bands such as Imagine Dragons, The Black Keys, The Lumineers and Mumford and Sons.

Matthew Harris

has listened to music since he was little. He started mixing music in sixth grade and is currently learning guitar. The artists he listens to include Macklemore, K’naan, Nas and the Specktators.

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Spring 2012

The One The Only O

ut of the many school bands in the Austin area, few have the rich history of the LBJ Jaguar Band. For almost four decades the Jaguar Band has been the powerhouse highschool band of the northeast Austin area.

Story by Claire Morrison

The LBJ Band forms the shape of a Texas during the Travis football game.

Photo by Rich Gramann

F

orty years ago they were just a new high school band in northeast Austin, unknown and hardly even heard of. Now they’re The One The Only LBJ Jaguar Band, one of the most prestigious and recognized bands in the state, country, and even across the globe.

Over the past 40 years, the band has represented Texas in places all over the country and all the way across the globe. In 1996 the band represented the United States in the New Years day parade in London. The band returned to London and toured Paris in 2000, and in 2006 went halfway around the globe to China. There the band wwserved as ambassadors of music in a week long tour of Beijing, playing concerts on the Great Wall of China. Just this past spring break, Haynes and the band took a week long trip in Italy, once again representing Texas and the United States.

The accomplishments LBJ Band has made outside of the country are just as impressive in the states. The band has won first-place honors in Texas, Florida, Oklahoma, California and Colorado in the areas of marching, jazz and concert contests. Throughout the years the band has been one of the only bands in all of Austin to consistently win Division One sweepstakes honors at UIL concert and marching performances.

All these accomplishments capture the fact that the LBJ Band is one of the finest in the state. It’s no wonder the band is so accomplished when the director is someone who has an extremely strong passion and love for teaching music.

In 1975 Don T. Haynes was named Director of Bands at LBJ. In his 38 years of working at LBJ he has influenced thousands of students and shaped the LBJ Jaguar Band into one of the most renowned celebrated bands in the Austin area.

Haynes’ achievements include the prestigious “Denius Award” presented only to the top Texas UIL educators, being named teacher of the year four times at LBJ, and even having a theater named after him. Haynes is constantly invited all around the country to help conduct and judge other high school bands.

Photo by Rich Gramann

Junior Axel Jessin warms up for the halftime show at the New Braunfels Canyon football game.

“I knew band directing was for me when I fell in love with high school band,” Haynes said, “My reasons for being a director are simple. I love teaching and I wanted to teach band directing because I love the experiences we have. I enjoy conducting! and hanging out with my students of the present, as well as over the past. Getting to conduct wonderful young musicians is a very unique treat that I get every day!”

Even with the best director out there, no band would be successful without determined students.

Students give their time and energy because the band is where they find great love, great friendship and other really cool people like themselves.

- Don Haynes

“When students enter the band they realize they matter a lot!” Haynes said.

Haynes is committed to creating a “band family” which may be one of the many factors that sets LBJ apart from any other high school band.

According to Haynes, the students and faculty of the band are a family. The band attracts talented, excited, goaloriented students who want to be a part of something extremely glorious.

This major part of the LBJ Band is making all members feel like they are an important part of the band, even including freshman who are completely new to high school marching band.

“When freshman enter our band they instantly fall in love with the ‘old men’ and what the band does for their lives,” Haynes said, “It’s very special to watch.”

Ally Martin is a freshman who went through just that experience this year.

“I really liked my first year in band because it was a great experience to be part of The One The Only Jaguar Band,” freshman clarinetist Martin said, “It was

a lot of fun being part of the marching band because being on the field and seeing the huge crowd gave me a good feeling.”

Martin and her twin sister Lynnsey both play in the band. Lynnsey started playing saxophone in seventh grade at Kealing and joined marching band after coming to LASA. “I really like the band members at the school. They’re all really nice,” Lynnsey said, “Everybody just feels like a family, and it’s awesome.”

For freshman Abigail Boswell, her fellow bandmates have become her closest friends.

“I like walking down the hallway and seeing people I already know,” Boswell said, “and that they’re really cool and fun to be around.”

Along with the unique and rare relationships that the LBJ band has between students and directors, there are other factors that also contribute to the success of the LBJ Band. Since the band opened, Haynes says the school has been gifted with directors who are terrific visionary leaders. In the past decade Brian Mayer and award winning percussionist Tyler Dempsey were hired to the school.

Mayer, who used to be a drum major of the LBJ Band, has highly contributed to the marching and concert aspects of the band. He has turned the marching band into an even higher caliber band than it previously was. Just this past year, Mayer led the band to win first place in the Hendrickson marching competition, beating all the other 4A high schools.

Mayer directed two of LBJ’s three bands this year and led them both to straight ones across the board at concert UIL. After Tyler Dempsey started taking charge of the LBJ Drum Line they’ve been almost undefeatable.

“While the dedication of the mem-

The band lines up in formation for a set in their halftime show.

bers is ultimately what drives us forward, the drum line has seen a new level of excellence under the direction of Tyler Dempsey,” senior member of drum line Henry Kellison said, “Beyond his writing, Mr.Dempsey has a singular gift as a teacher. He knows exactly what he wants to hear and how to get his students to perform at the high level that this activity demands. He always rewards us for our success but never stops pushing us to greater heights, which is why I look forward to seeing what the LBJ Drum Line will do in future years.”

When Dempsey first arrived in 2008,

Photo by Rich Gramann

the drum line took first place in the Lonestar Classic drum line competition for the first time ever. In the following years, the LBJ Drum Line won first in the same title two more times, along with gathering a host of caption awards and the coveted title of Caldwell Cup. At the Lonestar competition in 2011, the drum line dealt with member dropouts, sickness, and a broken trailer, yet threw down one of the best performances of the season and won first place and took the caption awards of best snare, tenor and bass sections.

“It was a storybook ending to a season

The LBJ Drumline quickly runs to a set during a halftime show.

“The relationships I’ve made over the past four years are what I’ll remember and miss most about the drumline.Between the afternoon rehersal blocks in the August sun, weekend sectionals, and long bus rides to shows, we get plently of time to laugh together during the fall season. It’s what makes us one of the tightestknit sections in the entire band.”

-Henry Kellison Photo by Rich Gramann

Spring 2012

7

FROM STUDENT TO DIRECTOR In 2006 Brian Mayer was the Drum Major of the LBJ Band.

Six years later he is now a band director at LBJ. Photo by Rich Gramann

Q: Why did you want to be a drum

major when you were in the LBJ Band?

A: “Because I knew I loved music and I am never okay with not trying to be the best at everything I do” Q: Why did you come back to LBJ to be a band director? and did you know you wanted to come back after you graduated?

A: “Well I didnt know I wanted to come back here after college. I knew I wanted to teach high school, and Mr.Haynes gave me a call at the beginning of the summer right after I graduated from college saying that they might have an opening, and that’s about all it took.”

Q: How do you think the band has changed from when you attended LBJ to now?

A: “I don’t think it’s changed that much. The foundation of what the band is about I think is still the same.”

Q: What is your favorite part of being a band director at LBJ? A: “My favorite part is definitely interactions with kids, and being able to make an impact on someone’s life.”

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Spring 2012

Photo by Rich Gramann

The LBJ Drum Majors walk on to the field before a halftime show.

that had its share of low moments,” Kellison said, “It was the first time we had taken first since I had come to LBJ. Simply put, I’ve never been prouder of the drum line than I was in 2011.”

At PASIC, one of the toughest drum competitions in the nation, the LBJ drum line placed ninth, competing against drum lines with two times as many people.

No matter what instrument a member plays in the LBJ Band, the pride and commitment put in is all the same.

“My favorite part about drum line is the dedication that each of it’s members bring to the fall show each year. Learning and cleaning our eight-and-a-halfminute marching repertoire is a huge undertaking that requires weeks of tireless commitment on the part of directors and musicians alike,” Kellison said.

Putting together these extensive, elaborate marching shows wouldn’t be possible without the undivided dedication of the four Drum Majors, who are responsible for leading the entire band through the whole season.

“I always felt like band was my thing,” head drum major Hannah Bangs said, “ I loved it and I loved encouraging other kids and making it a good experience for everyone. Being drum major was the perfect way to be able to do that. I felt like leadership was my way of giving back to

the band that I gained so much from”.

Band has been a major part of Bangs’ high school life and will continue to be a part of it through college. She will be studying clarinet performance at the University of Colorado at Boulder’s School of Music in the fall. Even though she is moving on to big things, Bangs is still heavyhearted about leaving the LBJ Band behind.

“I will miss the unique bonds and friendships that only come from working and playing hard together year after year,” Bangs said. “I think that band is special because it forces so many people to understand each other in ways that nothing else I know of can, and that’s not something you get the privilege of partaking in often. Band has been nothing but a positive influence on my high school experience. In fact, I don’t really want to imagine high school without band. It has made me more outgoing and confident, has taught me how to manage my time and priorities, and has been the source of most of the fun I’ve had in the past four years”, Bangs said.

Along with Bangs, thousands of LBJ Band students from the past and the present have been positively affected by the unique experiences and relationships that the LBJ Band offers, and thousands more students will get to experience this in the generations to come.

HOW TO SURVIVE SUMMER MARCHING BAND If you’ve ever been through summer marching band you know how intense the heat can be.

Being in high temperatures for long amounts of time can be dangerous if the right precautions are not taken. Here are a few easy tips to beat the summer heat during marching band season.

DRINK WATER DEHYDRATION CAN BE FATAL So stay safe by drinking plenty of water IN

ONE

DAY

you need

BEFORE EXERCISE DRINK 3 CUPS OF WATER

ABOUT 10 CUPS TO MAINTAIN HEALTH DURING EXERCISE without exercise

DRINK 1 CUP OF WATER EVERY 15 MINUTES

AFTER EXERCISE

per hour

DRINK 3 CUPS OF WATER

LIMIT SUN

EXPOSURE

PUT ON SUNGLASSES

Radiation from the sun is DAMAGING

U to the eyes N So wear glasses SPF 15 or HIGHER with C UV PROTECTION, R EAPPLY also Every 2 hours WEAR A HAT to E provide more protection N for your face and eyes

OTHER HELPFUL TIPS - Pour water on specially designed chilling towels and wear them around your neck.

- Pour cold water in your hat and put it back on your head.

- Avoid caffeine because it promotes dehydration - Along with water, drink sports drinks to replenish electrolytes.

- Keep brass mouthpieces out of the sun

Sources

-http://www.medicinenet.com -http://sportsmedicine.about.com -http://www.huffingtonpost.com -http://www.healthunit.org -http://www.banddirector.com -http://www.nourishinteractive.com -http://www.mayoclinic.com

LIGHT COLORED CLOTHING wear LIGHT COLORED CLOTHING to REFLECT THE SUN avoid COTTON because it does NOT BREATHE WELL INSTEAD LOOK FOR

SYNTHETIC FABRICS that are specially designed

FOR HOT

WEATHER EXERCISE

will wick away sweat which helps your skin do a better job of cooling your body

NUTRITIONA L U N C H

Stock up on Fruits and Veggies for Nutrients and Water Content

Reduce High Sugar Food and Drinks because they promote dehydration Get healthy fats from SEEDS and NUTS

SNACK IDEAS

- Peanut butter and apple or banana sandwich - Turkey wrap with lettuce and cream cheese or avacado - Fruit salad - Crackers and cheese with grapes - Egg salad sandwich

5 Brass Facts Brass instruments are very interesting pieces of technology. There are 4 different types of brass instruments you will find in the average band. Each instrument is a little different. Here are 5 things you probably didn’t know about brass instruments.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

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Spring 2012

Brass instruments can also be called labrosones which means lip-vibrating instruments.

There are two different types of brass instruments. Valve instruments include tuba, baritone/euphonium, french horn, cornet, mellophone and trumpet. There is only one slide instrument, the trombone.

If a B-flat tuba were stretched out the tubing would be about 18 feet long.

There are several different variations of tubas including the sousaphone, the bell front tuba, and the contrabass.

Playing a B-Flat on a tuba arouses male alligators beacause it closely resembles their mating noise.

Pictures from: trevorjonesltd.co.uk interstatemusic.com

tubaexchange.com images.miretail.com static.musiciansfriend.com

Information from: www.upi.com musical-instruments.tradetang.com

The Evolution of Brass From Renaissance to modern.

T

he brass instrument has been around quite a while and is a very common instrument. They are seen in all band and orchestras today, with many different variations.

The very first brass instruments were straight and trumpet shaped and made of wood, animal horns, silver, and bronze.

In the Renaissance time period, brass instruments started to become the modern instruments we use today.

In the 15th century, the earliest known S-shaped trumpet was created. After, other trumpets were created like the slide trumpet, which later developed into the trombone (sackbut).

During the 16th century the trumpet was used almost exclusively for heralding (when messengers brought messages). These small ensembles eventually evolved into 5 part music.

In 1597 we first see brass instruments being used for musical purposes when composer Giovanni Gabrieli and the organist at Saint Mark’s Cathedral composed the first known piece that calls for certain brass instruments, Sonata pian’ e forte.

When the 17th century came around, there started to be some major innovations and improvements in the design of brass instruments. Instrument makers in Nurem-

berg, Germany bettered the design of the trumpet by adding valves to help with pitch in the upper registers, small pieces of tubing to extend the mouthpiece and tune the instrument.

The sackbut started to be commonly used in ensembles combined with shawms (an ancestor of the oboe). The sackbut was also regularly used with softer instruments to blend the sounds.

The trombone began to be used as a vocal-like style of playing music in contrast to the style of the trumpet at the time, which greatly influenced the trombone and made it what it is today.

The horn (French horn today) was still not an instrument actively played. It was mainly used for hunting.

During the 18th century, the horn started to change into an instrument of expression.

At this time in history, horns were still played without the hand in the bell (contrary to today).

Around the time of 1750, a horn player from the town of Dresden, Germany started using different techniques to change tuning and add pitches to the overtone series.

He used hand stopping (the player putting his hand in the horn to stop the air), which then became a common practice of all horn players.

Once musicians changed the horn to be a more musical

Picture from nartiss.lv

instrument, Reinhard Keiser was one of the first musicians to compose a piece that used horns with the orchestra in his 1705 opera Octavia. Composers then commonly used the horns.

During this time of change for the horn, composers started writing solo pieces for the trombone. Most solos for the trombone were for alto trombone, written by Christoph Wagenseil, Johann Albrechtsberger, Michael Haydn, and

(Top) A tenor sackbut created after those used in the 15th century.

(Bottom) A slide trumpet similar to those played in the 15th century.

Picture from music123.com

Spring 2012

11

Leopold Mozart, along with others.

During the time of 17001750 Bach began composing pieces for trumpet. The clarino style (which peaked in the 16th century) started to decline.

In 1788, an instrument maker by the name of Charles Claggett created a chromatic trumpet which was made using two instruments and one mouthpiece with a switching mechanism to direct the air to one side or another. However, this crazy instrument did not gain much acceptance.

In the 1800s, the most amount of brass instrument design and literature improvements were made, greatly evolving the brass instrument. During this cen-

Picture from band-supplies.co.uk

12

Spring 2012

tury, the valve instruments we know today were created.

With this great accomplishment there is a lot of controversy over who invented the valved brass instruments.

The creation was around 1826 when a German trumpet with valves was brought to Paris and copied. This new instrument then began to gain wide acceptance and be used in compositions.

The first known composer to use valve trumpets was Hector Berlioz. He used them in his overture to Les fransjuges, composed in 1826.

In 1835, the first composition to call for all valve horns was Halevy’s La Juive.

Then, around 1828, a relative of the trumpet, the cornet, was created by Jean-Louis

Antoine. The cornet gained wide popularity for its revolutionary chromatic ability.

Around 1828 the valve trombone was created to be used in bands.

Shortly after, in 1835 the first tuba was created, a fivevalved instrument pitched in F. It was created by instrument makers in Berlin, Wilhelm Wieprecht and Johann Gottfried Moritz. Then, in 1838 a tenor tuba was created

by Moritz.

After the tuba, Sommer of Weimer invented the euphonium in 1843. The tuba and euphonium are now two of the staple instruments in bands today.

In 1890, the most common key today, B-flat, became more commonly used.

Also, orchestral trumpets became more common with piston valves in France, England, and the US, and rotary valves in Germany, Austria, and Italy.

As brass instrument designs improve, the playability of the instruments improved thus allowing them to have more solos and compositions for just brass.

Ludwig von Beethoven was the first composer to use trombones in his symphony compositions. This influenced other composers to include trombones in their works more.

During the 20th century, brass instrument development continued to improve trumpets and trombones.

The Belgian firm of Mahillon

A modern day cornet like those created in 1828.

made a B-flat trumpet in 1905 to help trumpet players with clarino style pieces. American bass trombonists added another rotary valve to produce the standard bass trombone musicians use today.

In the 1920s, jazz styles of trombone and trumpet became more popular and influenced how European writers wrote music for brass.

Louis Armstrong (trumpet) and Tommy Dorsey (trombone) were two famous jazz musicians that greatly raised the standard of brass musicians’ technical abilities.

Today, brass instrument players and composers continue to evolve brass instruments and music.

Picture from euphonium.com

-Story by Zach Stence

Jukka Myllys playing the euphonium. This instrument, commonly used today, evolved from the tuba, created in 1838. Photo by Eric Richards.

Scott S. Hanna - Longhorn Band Assoc. Director Scott S. Hanna has been teaching at the University of Texas at Austin for the past 13 years. He is the associate director of the Longhorn Marching Band and a very well known director.

Prior to working at UT he worked taught in public schools of New Braunfels and Austin.

He first started playing a musical instrument in fifth grade, the trumpet. Then in seventh grade he switched to the euphonium.

Over the time of his life he has seen music and the musical instrument evolve and change into what they are today.

“The euphonium has probably undergone the most change,” Hanna said, “mostly

in the areas of improved design and production,” while the piano “has changed very little.”

The euphonium, along with other brass instruments have evolved a lot since their creation.

Instruments will continue to change and evolve in the future. “There will always be some incentive for improved production technique,” Hanna said.

Throughout Hanna’s life, he has experienced “huge advances in electronic instruments and electric sounds.”

“The big advances will be in the area of technology and electronics,” Hanna thinks.

Most instrumental improvements in the future will be in

the area of music synthesization.

With instruments evolving more towards electronics, Hanna said “While I do think this has some negative aspects, it has made certain aspects of music-making more

“Musical instruments give us an endless variety of potential sounds with which we can express ourselves.”

-Scott Hanna, Assoc. Director of the Longhorn Band

Scott Hanna, Associate Director of the Longhorn Band.

widely available.”

Even though all instruments evolve and change, Hanna thinks that musical instruments will always “give us an endless variety of potential sounds with which we can express ourselves.”

Spring 2012

13

Feel The Noise

14

Spring 2012

All pictures provided by ACL™

T

he bass of a speaker pounds the crowd. Thousands of voices erupt into cheers. This is Austin City Limits. Since 2002 Austinites have enjoyed local and international music.

Whether you like country or rock Austin City Limits has changed so that every ones tastes are accommodated to. Although many are finding it hard to attend.

Spring 2012

15

LASA senior Jacob Cantu sat in the middle of the crowd as the artist Deadmau5 walked on stage. He and the crowd erupted in to cheers. Security guards hold back the crowd as music erupts from the speakers.

“It was crazy and super packed,” Cantu said, “The biggest problem was that there were so many people.”

Austin City Limits has become something bigger than just a music festival to many Austinites. Over the years the festival has morphed into a rite of passage. For many Austinites, Austin City Limits marks the beginning of the fall music festival season.

Known for its wide variety of music selection even the pickiest music lovers can find a band that they like. Austin City Limits is also one of the first music festival many Austinites attend.

“I was towards the front of the crowd,” LASA freshman Miles Kersten said, “it was kind of hectic there were people shouting and shoving everywhere.”

He said that many of the band he likes have begun coming to Austin City Limits and he decided to take a chance and go. Since then he has been to Austin City Limits twice, and went last year to see Coldplay.

Due to many of the attendees at Austin City Limits being generally younger college students, some parents have been hesitant on sending their kids to the festivals. This year is turning out to be different though. Many of the fans who will go to Austin City Limits this year are going to be teens and families. This has caused many of music’s biggest per-

16

Spring 2012

Guitarist, Gary Clark Jr. , plays at the 2012 Ausitn Limits. Described as the “New voice of Texas blues” he annouced his new tour at ACl.

formers to start coming to Austin City Limits. In past years performers like Kanye West and Florence + the Machine have made trips to Austin City Limits.

With new bands and local artists many more Austinites will

make the pilgrimage toward Zilker Park this fall. Austin City Limits has already reported record ticket sales for 2013. LASA freshmen Nick Green has his doubts though.

“I go to South by Southwest instead of Austin City Limits

because there is usually more bands and generally better performers. It’s also a lot longer and has a lot more to do.”

Green said.

Green, who is usually backstage at Austin City Limits, said that even though Austin

City Limits is shorter, many people still go to Austin City Limits because of the lower prices. Tickets for Austin City Limits can average around $250 while SXSW tickets usually average around $350.

The price difference is mostly due to SXSW having twice as many concerts and conventions than Austin City Limits.

“It was crazy and super packed. The biggest problem was that there where so many people” - Jacob Cantu In 2012 the Austin City Council voted in favor of extending Austin City Limits another weekend making it two weeks long. Austin City Limits also leaked information to the Austin American Statesmen saying that there is a possibility that they may add a type of film competition similar to the one at SXSW. If a film portion of the festival was added was added to the festival it would put Austin City Limits in a small group of festivals that not only have music but also have film. The thought is

that the influx of tourists and Austin City Limits fans will cause more people to attend, meaning that the city would bring in more revenue from local businesses and hotels.

Many downtown hotels have already begun taking reservations from tourists coming to town for Austin City Limits. Austin City Limits ticket prices can skyrocket to $450 and often sell out within days. Many hotels often offer inflated prices weeks before the concert so that Austin City Limits attendees end up spend more than they usually would. Hotel rooms can be up to $500 for the one week trip.

Coupled with airfare a trip to Austin City Limits can end up costing more than $1200 per person. With tickets that cost well into the hundreds some Austinites and tourists are finding it hard to find the money to attend.

“I’ve never gone to Austin City Limits because the tickets are too high and the bands that go there, I don’t really listen to,” LASA sophomore Elexus Hargis said. “If the tickets were cheaper and the bands I like went there I would go, because it seems like the place to if your favorite bands are there.”

People like Hargis and Green

Artist Bassnectar pumps up the crowd during Austin City Limits 2012.

M83 guitarist Anthony Gonzales lifts his guitar after a 2 minute solo. It was M83’s first appearance at Austin City Limits.

are the main people being targeted by Austin City Limits ads. The goal is to lower prices and bring in local bands so that more Austinites will be attracted to Austin City Limits. Currently Austin City Limits competition is the more popular Fun Fun Fun Fest and the SXSW festival.

The difference between Austin City Limits and more popular festivals is that Austin City Limits does officially not offer free concerts. So far this method has been very effec-

tive at bringing in austinites as well as tourists. In the long run unless Austin City Limits changes its fate will always be decided by the its critics.

“It’s [SXSW] overall better,” Green said. “The music, the food and the people are nicer and generally are more helpful.”

-Matthew Harris

Spring 2012

17

vs $$$ $168 million

285,000

Which makes more money? $

-Represents $50 million

Who has more attendees?

$

$53.55 million

210,000

- Represents 100,000 visitors

Which has more bands?

- Represents 300 bands

2,286 10 days 18

Spring 2012

130-140 How long are the festivals?

- Represents 1 day

3 Days

Sources: Igoyougo.com, sxsw.com, cleanfreshmedia.com, austincitylimits.com

Never be out of tune again...

Picture provided by zzounds.com

The Korg CA-1 clip-on chromatic tuner is an accurate compact tuner that works up to 15 hours on one battery charge. Working on various instruments this $15 tuner is just the thing you need.

Place Orders at tunethat.com Spring 2012

19

Rock with a Passion

Written By Carter Pace

A story about the music scene in Austin, Texas and all who have experienced it.

T

Photo by Jack Edinger. Courtesy of ACL.com

he local music scene in Austin has long been recog- ing as a hobby, Koons would visit maybe a few students every nized and accepted throughout the world. Whether week. Today however, Koons teaches roughly 20 students in a it’s from the nightclubs on 6th street like Maggie single week.

Instead of having a studio where students would come to Mae’s, or the intense music festivals like Austin City Limits (ACL) and SXSW, Austin has rightfully earned its title of The learn, he visits their own houses so that each pupil has their own friendly environment to learn in. “Parents are so busy Live Music Capital of the World.

A large portion of Austin’s early musical history began in these days,” Koons said, “they have like 27 things per day for German Beer Gardens, or places where accepting place where each kid to do, so if you can go to their house instead of them young musicians would gather to see small live performances. having to take the kid to another place, it’s convenient.”

Koons’ love for his guitar and musical abilities has shaped As the years went by, Austin became more of an accepting place and led Koons’ life to be the way it is now. “I make my living where young musicians could start their careers.

One person who has helped musicians start their careers is with my guitar and instruments, so that is a very big thing because my livelihood is based on my guitar.” Koons said.

Josh Koons, a music teacher who But teaching music has not aldoes things differently. Koons has “Music has given me an outlet to ways been a part of Koons’ life. been a guitar teacher for close to express myself both lyrically and “The other important thing is that 17 years now, and started teaching it has given me an outlet to express when he worked at a music store in musically” both lyrically and musicalBelmont.

-Josh Koons myself ly” Koons said.

A few years later, Koons moved This ability to express himself his teaching career to Belmont Hills School for Boys in Belmont. There, Koons began to teach the whole ensemble. “I had through music and guitar has led Koons to many achieveto kind of teach what I knew of the other instruments” Koons ments, one of which is playing in a band. Sputnik, the name of his band, came together around January of 2010. As the lead said, “So I started teaching piano and drums a little bit.”

In the summer of 1999, Koons moved down to Austin to guitarist there are many other members to the band including a begin his own music teaching career. Koon began to teach kids former student of his. “…The other instrumentalist is a former who were interested in learning how to play the Guitar. Start- student of mine who I started teaching when he was twelve,” Koons said, “now he is 18.”

20 Spring 2012 This band has been focused on rock and roll, and each of the

learned to sing and played the drums at the age of 12, while Kati sang gospel with her local church.

Kati’s interest in singing goes back all the way to when she was very young. “I started singing when, my mom says, I was baptized in church, an infant screaming,” Katie said, “but I have been singing since I was very little.”

After graduating from college, both Joey and Kati con-

“

tinued to play in bands. Most of the bands Joey played in were rock and roll while Katie continued to sing gospel music. As the years went on, both Joey and Katie started to become interested in mentoring young musicians into bands.

In college, Kati minored in youth ministry and was constantly working with the church. So mixing her two passions of music and the youth ministry was very fun

I started singing when, my mom says, I was baptized in church, an infant screaming, but I have been singing since I was very little.

-Katie Strong

“

members is a combination from Koons’ past. The drummer played with Koons for a long time before they created the band and continues to play with the band. The bass player was previously a drummer but took up the bass to be in the band, and of course there is the previous student as well.

Besides playing and teaching music, Koons also listens to it. “In middle school,” Koons said, “I listened to primarily old Elton John, the Beatles and James Taylor, three of my favorites.” To this day, Koons has continued to listen and admire the Beatles as his all-time favorite band.

Though Koons teaches students the art of playing music, which is only the first step in becoming a professional musician, there is still much more to do. The next big step towards becoming a local hit musician is to start your very own band. That’s where Joey and Kati Strong step in.

Joey and Kati are both musicians themselves but they also help young musicians, like the ones Koons teaches, start a musical group.

Joey and Kati met in 1998 at Belmont University where they both shared a common love for music. They both played in many bands at a very young age. “I started playing in small groups when I was about 14 or 15 years old,” Joey said.

One such group that was very special to both Kati and Joey was a band called Destination Soul, a soul band with a little bit of R&B. “We played a little around Nashville with that group and our friends in college,” Kati said.

Before meeting each other, Kati and Joey came from different environments. Joey

for her.

Joey’s love for music and being with Kati was Joey’s big push for youth bands. “That whole idea of being able to create music, but do it as a group, and do it together, that’s always appealed to me,” Joey said about the youth bands.

While youth bands and the ministry have always been an important factor in Joey and Kati’s lives, they both still have their respects for music at its basics.

“Obviously there are rules and instructions within music which you learn in the first few years of music theory,” said Kati, “then you get to the last year and they say throw

Photo from Austinot.com Alejandro Escovedo, a local musician from Austin Texas, gives tribute to SXSW giant Brent Grulke.

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all those rules out the window now, it’s about making it mean something.”

Though starting a band might sound fun, it’s not all that easy. Both Joey and Kati warned of some possible struggles one might face in a band.

“The hardest thing about any kind of music is holding yourself to the highest possible standard,” said Joey, “It’s hard to get a group together and it’s hard to keep a group together.”

Many people who want to become musicians, dream of becoming a famous rock star, but according to Kati, that shouldn’t be the case. “There’s lots of people with lots of talent out there who are never going to be famous, rich musicians,” said Kati, “So if that’s your pie in the sky, why you’re doing it, the likelihood of you ultimately getting satisfied in that goal is pretty slim.”

When not mentoring young, ambitious bands, Joey

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Spring 2012

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Photo by Claire Morrison

finds himself using music to bring his family together.

“I’ve had family get togethers,” Joey said, “where literally 60 people are sitting in a room together, with someone playing piano, and we’re singing hymns.”

So even if becoming a famous rock star doesn’t appeal to you, there are other uses and ways that music can be applied. As seen previously, local music in Austin is very

present in many ways. Music teaching can be a fun and interesting way to turn your passion into a way to make money. “The guitar is a way of melding [passion and work], and actually expressing how I feel about life,” said Koons.

But if you’re not into teaching then, you can take the path less traveled, as Kati and Joey did. They chose to take local music to the next level and also were able to incorpo-

A serene photo of the Austin skyline. Photo courtesy of George Miquilena.

rate their passions into their work. “If you love it and that’s why you do it,” Katie said, “then you’re going to get satisfaction out of being involved in music, one way or another throughout your whole life.”

The take-home message for all of this is that no matter what you do, if you have a love and passion for music, then follow your dreams into the future.

From jazz to pop Ragtime, a combination of West Indian rhythm and European musical form, is born.

After moving from its southern rural roots, jazz establishes Chicago as its capital.

The city is home to jazz greats like Louis Armstrong.

The Beatles, a British band composed of John Lennon, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney, take Britain by storm.

The Beatles break up. By the end of the year, each member had released a solo album.

Sony introduces the Walkman, the first portable stereo.

Eminem releases his first album, The Slim Shady Lp

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‘Adolph Rickenbacker’ invents the electric guitar. Known as the Frying Pan.

With many hit singles including , Elvis Presley emerges as one of the world’s first rock stars.

In August, more than half a million people attend the Woodstock music festival in Bethel N.Y.

The Sugar Hill Gang releases the first commercial rap hit, “Rapper’s Delight,” bringing rap off the New York streets and into the popular music scene.

Michael Jackson releases Thriller, which sells more than 25 million copies, becoming the biggest selling album in history

Psy’s, Gangam Stlye, Passes one billion views on YouTube.

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