Which Austin music festival is right for you? Here are four options in April
Austin's music festival season is bookended by the big dogs: South by Southwest in March and Austin City Limits Music Festival in October. For casual music fans, spring is a fine time to fling yourself into a musical experience. Are you into the blues? Americana and roots? Psych music and spectacular lights? Reggae and cannabis? We've got fests for that.
Here's what you need to know about four festivals happening this month:
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April 20-23: Old Settler’s Fest in Tilmon
A brief history: Through its 36-year run, the annual gathering has served as a launchpad for up-and-coming Americana artists. Grammy winner Sarah Jarosz was an early winner of the fest’s youth talent competition, and the band of local bluegrass pickers Wood and Wire grew out of one of the fest’s welcoming campfire jams. It’s also a showcase of top tier talent from the roots music world.
Known for its laid-back vibe, the festival has weathered four venue changes and the global pandemic on the strength of a community of “diehard Old Settler's festies and lifelong volunteers” who “come home” to the festival to “experience the magic” each year, festival director Talia Bryce says. “There are countless stories of human connections made at Old Settler's, from family reunions to weddings. … There’s really nothing else out there like this,” she says.
The 2023 lineup: Yola, The Wood Brothers, Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, Shovels & Rope, Elephant Revival and more.
“We have so many ladies on this lineup!” Bryce says. In the guest exit survey from last year’s festival “there were several requests for more women and specifically more female-fronted bands in headlining spots,” she says.
The ladies power block is on Saturday night when bluegrass breakouts Molly Tuttle and Golden Highway open for soul sensation Yola, who headlines the mainstage. Tuttle was scheduled to play the COVID-canceled 2020 fest. Last year her band took home the Grammy for best bluegrass album. They also received a nod for best new artist.
If you go: The event takes place on a ranch in Tilmon, a tiny unincorporated town just south of Lockhart and roughly an hour from Austin. Camping is the best way to experience the fest, and it’s included in the fee for two-day ($175), three-day ($250) and four-day passes ($300). This year all daytime music will take place on the campground stage, where there is a more intimate atmosphere and more shade. The entire fest is BYOB, but they will have beer, wine and food for sale. Children 12 and under are free and there is a reduced rate for teens. More info at oldsettlersmusicfest.org
April 21-23: Austin Reggae Fest at Auditorium Shores
A brief history: Launched in 1994, the celebration of one-drop rhythms and irie vibes is the longest running festival at Austin’s city center park, Auditorium Shores. From its inception, the festival has partnered with the local food bank and over the past five years, festival organizers say Reggae Fest has helped Central Texas Food Bank provide $2.5 million in meals to hungry families in the Austin area. Beyond the music, the event is also a massive celebration of, ahem, cannabis culture.
The lineup: The Skatalites, Kumar & the Original Fyah, Jesse Royal, Perfect Giddimani. Inner Circle, Nattali Rize and more
“This year we are bringing back a couple of legends that have been favorites over the last couple of decades,” festival organizer Pat Costigan says. “The Skatalites will bring their big horn sound Friday night and the ‘bad boys of reggae,’ Inner Circle, will close out the festival Sunday night.”
If you go: Tickets are $20 Friday, $30 Saturday and $25 Sunday. Gate time is 3 p.m. on Friday and noon on Saturday and Sunday. The event features an art market with over 50 booths and an international food court that includes Creole, Jamaican and Greek selections alongside Texas barbecue. Chairs are permitted and the festival provides chair rentals at the front gate. More info at austinreggaefest.com.
April 28-30: Austin Psych Fest at Far Out Lounge
A brief history: “Austin Psych Fest started as a wild idea in The Black Angels tour van: to create our version of a music festival, a platform for the emerging psychedelic rock and indie scene of the mid 2000s. We had no money and no idea what we were doing," says fest founder Rob Fitzpatrick, who also worked with the band to found the Reverb Appreciation Society record label.
Along the way the fest has seen "a lot of ups and downs, but 15 years later that idea is still going strong,” he says. Originally programmed in the spring, Psych Fest grew into a music and camping destination event for psych rock fans from around the globe. The event rebranded as Levitation in late 2014. After stormy weather forced a cancellation of the fest in 2016, organizers reimagined Levitation as a club-based fall fest. The two-stage bash at the far south Austin venue brings back the vibe of the original event.
Programming Levitation and Psych Fest, the Reverb Appreciation crew has hosted many of their favorite bands while creating “a sustainable model that helps keep our music and art community thriving,” Fitzpatrick says.
The lineup: Toro Y Moi, Yves Tumor, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, the Raveonettes, the Black Angels, Cuco, Los Bitchos, Vieux Farka Toure, Night Beats, Melody’s Echo Chamber and more.
The Sunday lineup offers a rare chance to see Melody's Echo Chamber in their first ever Texas performance, a booking that’s “been at the top of our wishlist for over a decade,” Fitzpatrick says. Malian singer Vieux Farka Touré — son of guitar great Ali Farka Touré — is also on the bill for Sunday. He has “big shoes to fill obviously, and he does it with incredible musical virtuosity,” he says.
If you go: Three-day passes begin at $195. Single-day tickets start at $75. Gates are at 2 p.m. daily. Beyond the music, “the visuals at Austin Psych Fest have inspired light shows all over the world. We're hosting some world class visual artists and projectionists who will accompany the music,” Fitzpatrick says. “The best thing about Austin Psych Fest has always been the crowd — a giant gathering of music lovers and chill people ready to take it all in.” More information at levitation.fm.
April 29: Austin Blues Fest in Waterloo Park
A brief history: Around the turn of the millennium, Clifford Antone launched the Antone’s Blues Festival. He wanted to present blues greats who were too big to play his namesake venue to the Austin community. The godfather of Austin blues rock hosted Ray Charles, John Lee Hooker, Susan Tedeschi, Buddy Guy and more in Waterloo Park over a three-year period that began in 1999.
Current Antone’s co-owner and operator Will Bridges is building on his predecessor’s dream “to do something on a larger scale, outside of the walls of our 400-cap club,” he says.
The lineup: Los Lobos, Booker T's Stax Revue, Robert Randolph Band, Adrian Quesada's Jaguar Sound, Blk Odyssy, The Glorifying Vines Sisters, C.J. Chenier & The Red Hot Louisiana Band.
“You can't beat Jimmie Vaughan playing with Booker T. Jones. They are both masters of their craft and such good friends. It is pure magic when they're together,” Antone’s talent buyer Zach Ernst says. The festival will also host the first live performance of Quesada’s “Jaguar Sound” album and "The Glorifying Vines Sisters will tear the roof off during their first Austin show ever. They're an incredible gospel group from North Carolina,” Ernst says.
If you go: Set in the park’s amphitheater, this is not a free-roaming festival. General admission tickets for the front and back lawns are $85 and $60 respectively (blankets are permitted, chairs are not). Reserved seats start at $135. Gates are at noon and music begins at 1 p.m. The caterer for the event is Lamberts Downtown Barbecue, but the festival is allowing re-entry so fest-goers can slip out and grab a bite at nearby restaurants and food trucks. The festival has a clear bag policy (small clutches are permitted). More info at moodyamphitheater.com.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Four Austin music festivals in April. Who's playing and how to go
