Making Music in Austin, Texas; JUST THE JOB

Hannaford, Alex, The Evening Standard (London, England)

Byline: ALEX HANNAFORD

IT IS small, green, hilly, surrounded by lakes and rivers and very, very cool.

Boasting more live music venues per square mile than anywhere in the US, it is no wonder Austin plays host to the most eagerly-anticipated yearly music industry conference and festival on the calendar. Home to the State capital and the University of Texas (the largest in the US), the city supports a politically charged and culturally rich environment. It has a population of one million.

WHO'S DOING BUSINESS?

Apart from pretty much every record company on the planet sending a representative or two to Austin at the end of March each year for the annual industry shindig South by Southwest (SXSW), the city is one of the fastest-growing centres of computer development in the country.

IBM, Motorola, Texas Instruments and Dell have been here for years, it is the legislative centre for Texas and was once home to a certain George Bush, who still likes to spend time at his ranch near the city.

The University of Texas (UT), which now boasts more than 55,000 students, is a major research institution.

American Airlines (via Dallas), United (via Chicago), and …

Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information: Article title: Making Music in Austin, Texas; JUST THE JOB. Contributors: Hannaford, Alex - Author. Newspaper title: The Evening Standard (London, England). Publication date: June 2, 2003. Page number: 18. © Not available. COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group.

This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.