Live music from local acts: Bastrop Music Festival, KUTX Rock the Park and more

Here are our top picks for local acts playing live music in the Austin area Sept. 22-28. For touring shows this week, see our extensive fall music guide.

Thursday-Sunday: Bastrop Music Festival

It's not Austin City Limits Music Festival, but it might be better if you like local music at a bargain price. The Bastrop Music Festival features dozens of area musicians playing at a handful of venues along the Colorado River in downtown Bastrop. Performers include the Peterson Brothers, Pat Byrne, Mike & the Moonpies, Deezie Brown, Shelley King, the Watters, Donovan Keith, PAACK, Phil Hurley and Micky & the Motorcars. Performances run from 6 p.m. to midnight at Neighbor's (with deck and yard stages), Old Town Restaurant, Gracie's and 602 Brewing Company. Several other venues will present free shows in the morning and afternoon, including 5 p.m. sets at Astro Record Store by Madam Radar on Sept. 23 and Sour Bridges on Sept. 24. Other free-show venues are Copper Shot Distillery, Bastrop Beer Company, Bastrop Farmers Market, Sugar Shack (for a children's show) and Kerr Community Center. Four-day passes $40 ($100 VIP). bastropmusicfestival.com.

— P.B.

More:Our 2019 interview with Pat Byrne

Friday: KUTX Rock the Park with Nuevo at Mueller Lake Park

KUTX 98.9 FM returns to this East Austin park on Sept. 23 for the fall edition of the public radio station's Rock the Park concert series. The free shows pair a family-friendly act for the littles with a top Austin artist who will make the whole family groove. Friday’s kickoff event presents children's artist Andy Sprouts plus Tejano soul band Nuevo, featuring David Jimenez and Dante Schwebel. Subsequent concerts feature Primo the Alien and Karate Dance Party on Oct. 21, and Deezie Brown plus Parker Woodland on Nov. 11. Food trucks will be onsite, and between sets the fabulous drag queens from Extragrams will perform. 6:30 p.m. kutx.org.

— D.S.S.

Friday: Wammo’s second annual 60th birthday party at ABGB

Before moving to Pittsburgh a decade ago, Wammo was a ubiquitous presence around the Austin music scene. He played washboard with Asylum Street Spankers, was a DJ for a local radio station, appeared in the Richard Linklater film "Slacker" and crossed over into spoken-word with enough chutzpah to score a spot on a Lollapalooza tour. Born on Christmas Day, Wammo planned to celebrate his 60th birthday over the holidays last year, but a winter COVID-19 surge intervened. So he’s back in town this weekend for what he’s whimsically calling his “second annual” 60th birthday bash, with performances by the Wannabes, Living Pins, Kathy McCarty, Bruce Salmon, his Spankers bandmate Guy Forsyth and more. Free. 7 p.m. theabgb.com.

— P.B.

More:How I lived the 'Slacker' life in 1990s Austin

Saturday: Back to the Basics Music Festival at Luckenbach

When Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson sang about getting “back to the basics of love” in Luckenbach, they made the tiny Central Texas hamlet a household name. So it’s only fitting that Luckenbach has launched the Back to the Basics Music Festival, with more than a dozen acts playing at an outdoor stage and in the town’s historic dancehall. Performers include the Flatlanders, Hayes Carll, Cory Morrow, Chris Knight, Cody Canada, Gary P. Nunn and Django Walker. 11 a.m. to midnight. $20-$200. luckenbachtexas.com.

— P.B.

Sunday: Carrie Rodriguez’s Laboratorio at Stateside at the Paramount

Austin violinist and singer-songwriter Carrie Rodriguez started her Laboratorio series a few years ago at Cactus Cafe as a way to collaborate with fellow Latin artists. After a two-year pandemic break, she brought it back earlier this year at the Paramount Theatre’s smaller sister venue, the Stateside. Her guests this time are Amalia Mondragón, Tereso Perfecto Contreras and poet ire’ne lara silva. $25-$50. 7 p.m. austintheatre.org.

— P.B.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Live music in Austin: Bastrop Music Festival, KUTX Rock the Park, more