There’s no better feeling than when you’re surrounded by live music. That feeling becomes even greater when your entire day is spent surrounded by live music which includes watching two of your best friends perform. That sums up the Saturday I spent on 6th Street in Austin, TX during SXSW.
Earlier in March, I had traveled to Apalachicola; where I would spend my entire weekend supporting my friends, The Living Street, as they performed around Apalachicola and St. George Island. We were back at the same place I had first met them just three years prior. The following week, I was set to go to Austin to support some unofficial showcases they were a part of during the week of SXSW. However, I became sick from all the travel. As the days progressed and I felt worse, I was not able to travel and meet up with them. I was disappointed but nevertheless, I felt so proud watching their fun and excitement online.
Once I started getting better though, I realized I could make it to their last show in Austin. So with every bit of excitement I had in me, I ventured off to Austin on the morning of the 18th. I could feel the excitement and anticipation building up as those two hours went by and before I knew it, I was in Austin.
First, going to the San Jac Saloon, I met up with Edward and Nick. It had only been two weeks since I last saw them at that point but seeing them again had me just as excited. I was introduced to three incredible people, Becky, Kayla , and one of The Living Street’s managers, Maddy. I really loved being around Maddy that day. (Huge shoutout to her.)
San Jac Saloon had been hosting a day dedicated to women in music, which - right off the bat - I knew was up my alley. The first act I managed to catch there was a trio called Century lll. The vibe and the sound of the music immediately reminded me of one of my favorite bands, The Runaways, so with that alone, I was hooked. They were my first artist introduction of the day and I knew they would be on my radar.
After Century lll’s set, Edward and Nick had a show at the Blind Pig Pub, which was right across the street. I headed over to the pub with them for their performance. If there’s one thing I know, it’s that every performance of The Living Street’s always brings a huge smile to my face and always makes me feel so beyond joyful. Watching them perform, in that moment I realized just how proud I was of them. Just to be watching them perform during Austin’s biggest event of the entire year and seeing people enjoy their performance. Words cannot even begin to describe how proud I am of them and seeing how far they’ve come in the last few years.
This was originally supposed to be their only performance of the day. However, they ended up booking two other shows - one at Shakespeare’s and another one at San Jac Saloon, so after the Blind Pig Pub, we went to Shakespeare’s; where I was introduced to yet another incredible act: McKayla Prew.
McKayla Prew is a young country artist from Detroit, Michigan - with a very bright future ahead of her in the music industry, I should add. When listening to her perform her originals, my mind shifted to Taylor Swift’s earlier work. She was giving me the vibe of 2006-2008 Taylor Swift and it only made me want to hear more of what she had to offer.
After McKayla’s set, The Living Street performed their second set of the day; in which for this one, I got up and danced around to bring in some additional energy.
Advice: When supporting friends at their gigs, dance your hearts out and bring in that energy.
Once that set ended, we went back to San Jac Saloon. Some time after getting back to the saloon, I found another amazing act named Lauren Rose Thayer. Her sound was especially incredible and she was another act that I couldn’t help but think that there was something special about her. I loved her instantly. Another artist on my radar? Oh, absolutely.
Next up after Lauren’s performance came one of my favorite discoveries from that day: Katie Toupin. Up until that day, I had never heard of her but one thing I caught onto quickly once she began to perform: She filled up the room. It was probably the biggest crowd I had seen all day long and the energy really packed the room fast. That energy? Infectious!
The biggest honor of her set though? I was her muse. It was during the second or third song when she pointed her hand towards me. In fact, after she finished her set, she came up to me and said, “Thank you for being my muse! You’re so pretty, so I wanted you to be my muse!” I had never been a muse before, so to hear that? I was surprised but I felt super honored.
Did I mention that I reunited with a friend during Katie’s set? During her set, a good friend named Tess (who a lot of you may know as @safetytess) came to the saloon after I had invited her. I had only met her once in person at a Greta Van Fleet concert in 2019 and we became friends after that. This was our first meeting since that concert and man, it felt so good to see her again after such a long time.
The Living Street had one more full set to do; in which, Tess and I enjoyed the show together. Since first seeing The Living Street, I had always been one to tell my friends about them and encourage said friends to listen to them and to see one of my friends enjoy their set? It made me so happy.
It was another moment where I felt so beyond proud of them. So proud, I could probably cry. Nothing made me happier than watching two of my best friends do what they love doing and seeing them bring joy to others through the music that they create and the joyful performances that they bring in through performance as well.
The last full set I watched after The Living Street’s last performance was a musician named Lincoln Foley. He was absolutely fun to watch perform. Edward and Nick joined him halfway through his set and performed some songs with him, which was cool to witness. And just like that, I knew I found yet another artist to add to my radar.
The rest of the night was just filled with conversations with Edward and Nick, along with all the new people I had met that day. I found myself getting along with them all rather quickly. It was a moment where I thought of what music has done for me and the people it’s led me to. Because of Nick and Edward, I had my “Almost Famous” William Miller day. I felt like I was having that William Miller moment just being around them the entire day. Hell, I even looked down at my “it’s all happening” tattoo a few times because I kept thinking of that.
I talk a lot about how much these two mean to me and everything I credit them for. They continue to inspire me and bring joy into my life. That day in Austin especially made me so happy because of them. I mean, someone that day told me I really had to be their #1 fan to know all of their songs.
In just two weeks, I went from only watching them perform only three times to ten times. That’s the first time any artist/band had ever reached the double digits on the amount of times I had seen them.
In just one day, I discovered a handful of new artists that are now on my radar and I now know I’ll be writing about in the future. Those discoveries were definitely a huge highlight as well and overall, the day was fantastic.
One last shoutout: To Edward and Nick - thank you guys for one of the best days of this year. I’m grateful to say that you two are some of my best friends and my favorite band. Not only that, thank you guys for the fun.
Okay, I lied. This is my final shoutout: To every artist I had discovered that day - You are amazing. You guys have a bright future ahead of y’all in the music industry and I look forward to talking about every new release and giving you guys all of the promotion and continuing to attend y’all’s shows anywhere.
This is the power of music, folks.
