Austin, TX
RealMusic Events 7th Seismic Dance Event Is In Austin November 15-17
The Concourse Project in Austin, TX
Kelly Gray and Andrew Parsons founded RealMusic Events. Like many entrepreneurs, they set up in their town, in this case Austin, Texas. They began as promoters, putting acts into other people’s venues and built from there. This is the essence of how to build a business. Find a niche, build a community and establish trust with both your suppliers and your consumers. Kelly and Andrew have been at this for 15 years now, since 2009. They started with small events of 100 or so in attendance and built it to the point where their 3 day Seismic Dance Event is now drawing thousands and could soon max out The Concourse Project, their own venue with the capacity to hold 10,000 in attendance.
Theirs is an unusual partnership in that Kelly and Andrew are building this business together as a married couple in an industry which is an ongoing 24/7 commitment. Their task list is long between booking artists, hosting shows and handling the myriad details which lie between success and calamity on any given night.
2024 Seismic Dance Event lineup
In the crazy world of live entertainment, the flywheel spins fastest around two axes: your history of successful shows and whether you control a venue or are always working in someone else’s room.
Slowly, and perhaps in retrospect very slowly, Kelly and Andrew worked up to having The Concourse Project which is their own 18,000 square foot warehouse which can be configured as a modular venue. The Concourse Project sits on 15 acres and is home to what will be the 7th annual Seismic Dance Event this November 15th-17th.
Seismic Dance Event is their festival brand. It is a house and techno boutique festival. Kelly describes it this way: “it is electronic dance music, but even more narrowed down to the house music and techno subculture, kind of like a lifestyle and music festival.” This year’s event includes such acts as Disclosure playing a DJ set, Eric Prydz, Gesaffelstein, Carl Cox and a long list of other interesting players. Link to tickets is below:
I had such a fun conversation with Kelly and Andrew. They have such a comfortable way of interacting with each other. They’ve clearly mastered how to contain the frenzy of putting on shows and festivals while maintaining a normalized home life. Part of that comes from the way they’ve divided responsibilities between themselves, and part comes from the way in which they’ve honed their partnership so each focuses on what they are responsible to do.
The Concourse Project is interesting because it was such a risky undertaking. Kelly and Andrew have David Brinkley as the third partner in The Concourse Project. David’s role is CFO in addition to input related to design elements of the facility.
Their venue is near Austin’s airport which although it is not far from the heart of Austin, it is also not downtown. Locating an event center away from the city core adds complication to attracting audiences. A second challenge for The Concourse Project team is the lack of parking at their location. That is in part offset by the ever growing use of rideshare apps by music fans who would like to party without having to think about how to get home.
The list of events which Kelly and Andrew take on is long. In addition to Seismic, they host Boiler Room, ACL (Austin City Limits) after parties, events which occur alongside the F1 race when it runs in Austin, and a full calendar of stand-alone live music events throughout the year.
When I asked Kelly to explain how they managed so many events she said: “RealMusic Events started as just a promo company. We would produce shows at other venues, and it was basically just Andrew and I for many of those years, and it was kind of like a side hustle and just like a hobby that became our full time passion and job. And we have a big list of promoters, so a lot of the promoters help promote the shows, and there’s like 80 or so of those. When it comes to the actual working team, we started having full time team members once we were able to open the venue, which is The Concourse Project. There are about ten or so full time employees, but when we talk about part time employees and contractors, it gets up to more like 100.”
I only had one significant question for Andrew: “Which of you is in charge and why is it Kelly?” He was good natured in his answer: “She is the boss, but I guess it depends on how you look at it, too. I do all the talent buying and all the bookings, She’s definitely more of operations. She also comes more from the corporate world so she’s just better at that kind of stuff. I’m just kind of like, do what you do best, you know?” (edited for brevity)
Kelly further clarified: “I couldn’t tell you what exactly is in the future, but it’s always just about growth momentum and what feels like the natural next step. And I feel like one is maybe expanding upon our land, whether that is at our current property or an additional property, so that we can have larger festivals with a little bit more area, room to breathe and play with infrastructure and parking and all of that.”
The RealMusic Events team specializes in electronic dance music. It’s their specialty. Austin is known as one of the live music centers of the world. Formerly, Austin was more traditionally known for traditional live music with guitar, drums and a singer. The world has shifted in favor of EDM music. It is core music in Europe and around the world. And, it is blowing up in the US as well.
Kelly also said: “Fundamentally, the culture of enjoying electronic dance music is a journey and a progression. So the music itself, if you’re talking about one specific track it builds. So even throughout the night whether it’s a show or a festival, you’re building from one DJ to the next. And we always prefer when they mix into each other and it’s like a seamless transition versus a stop and start.”
The entire experience of discussing the Austin EDM scene with Kelly and Andrew was enlightening. Their long residence in Austin and the roots they’ve established have made them expert in their field and with their audience. They are succeeding as promoters and venue operators because they are well established in their field and with their audience.
Kelly’s summary to me of her core ethic was particularly on point: “Southern hospitality really is a thing. I mean, I always go back to that, but, I mean, it really is.”Go see The Concourse Project when in Austin, get a taste of that Southern Hospitality, and get your tickets to the Seismic Dance Event while they’re still available.
AUSTIN, Texas – This week’s rainfall across Central Texas could help to bring a much-needed boost to the region’s aquifers, which have been operating at dangerously low levels.
The backstory:
On Tuesday, the Austin area saw over an inch of rain while Georgetown received close to six inches, as the San Gabriel River rose over six feet throughout the day.
But the heavy downpour was a welcome sight for Shay Hlavaty, the communications and outreach manager at the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District.
Created by the state of Texas in 1987, the District oversees segments of the Edwards and Trinity Aquifers, stretching from South Austin to southern San Marcos.
In total, the portions of the aquifers they oversee provide water to around 100,000 people.
“Groundwater is a significant water source, you know. It’s kind of the unsung hero of Texas,” says Hlavaty.
But over the last few years, the region’s groundwater levels have been in decline.
“Since January 2022, we are missing over a year’s worth of rainfall. So, in the Austin area, we get about 32 to 34 inches a year. And so over that time, we have, you know, a 30-plus inch deficit,” says Hlavaty.
Since October, the District has been under a stage three exceptional drought. Those conditions are determined by two indicators: spring flow at Barton Springs and groundwater levels at the Lovelady Monitor Well.
If either of these locations drops below a drought threshold, the District could declare a more intense drought stage.
By the numbers:
Some of the latest data shows that Barton Springs isn’t performing as it needs to support the ongoing growth of the region.
“To put it into reference, the average since about 1978 at Barton springs is 60 CFS. That’s cubic feet per second. And one cubic foot is about the size of a beach ball, an average beach ball. So, 60 beach balls of water coming out every second from Barton Springs. Before this rainfall, we were closer to 12 CFS, so only 12 beach balls coming out every second, so that’s less than a quarter of average,” says Hlavaty.
That same data also shows that the Lovelady Well is 453.8 feet above mean sea level. That’s only 5 inches above the Stage 4 Emergency Response Threshold.
“This isn’t something that’s going to go away. Even if we busted this drought and get out of it, the next drought is going to be around the corner,” says Hlavaty.
Dig deeper:
But this week’s rain did provide a small boost, helping to prevent the district from potentially falling into a deeper stage of drought.
“So, we’re still in that stage three exceptional level, and this rainfall will help us stay out of that stage four emergency,” Hlavaty told FOX 7. “It’ll help stabilize, if not increase groundwater levels and spring flow.”
The total rainfall for the Austin area in April so far is 4.14 inches, well above the typical total average for the month, which is 2.42 inches. But that sort of above precipitation must continue if there is to be any chance of drought levels decreasing.
“We really need to have above average rainfall for months, if not years, to bust this drought,” says Hlavaty.
What you can do:
As May approaches, which typically brings the most rainfall throughout the year, Hlavaty urges people to cut back on water use when they can, especially watering their lawns, which can consume large amounts of drinking water.
And as Central Texas continues to see a boom in population, combined with hotter than average temperatures for February and March, conservation is as important as ever.
“It’s important to remember that a little bit of rain here, a little bit of rain there, isn’t going to best the drought. So, we all have to do our role to help conserve resources in the meantime,” says Hlavaty.
The Source: Information from interviews conducted by FOX 7 Austin’s Marco Bitonel
Austin, TX
Appeals court rules Texas can require public schools to display Ten Commandments in class
DALLAS (AP) — Texas can require the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public school classrooms, a U.S. appeals court ruled Tuesday in a victory for conservatives who have long sought to incorporate more religion into schools.
WATCH: Texas school board approves new course material that includes Bible passages
It sets up a potential clash at the U.S. Supreme Court over the issue in the future.
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals said in the decision that the law did not violate the First Amendment, which protects religious freedom and prevents the government from establishing a religion.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, called the ruling “a major victory for Texas and our moral values.”
“The Ten Commandments have had a profound impact on our nation, and it’s important that students learn from them every single day,” Paxton said.
Organizations representing the families who challenged the law, including the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement that they were “extremely disappointed” by the decision.
“The court’s ruling goes against fundamental First Amendment principles and binding U.S. Supreme Court authority. The First Amendment safeguards the separation of church and state, and the freedom of families to choose how, when and if to provide their children with religious instruction. This decision tramples those rights,” the statement said.
The law is among the pushes by Republicans, including President Donald Trump, to incorporate religion into public schools. Critics say it violates the separation of church and state while backers argue that the Ten Commandments are historical and part of the foundation of U.S. law.
The ruling, which reverses a district court’s judgment, comes after the full court heard arguments in January in the Texas case and a similar case in Louisiana. The appeals court in February cleared the way for Louisiana’s law, requiring displays of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals voted 12-6 to lift a block that a lower court first placed on the law in 2024.
Texas law took effect on Sept. 1, marking the largest attempt in the nation to hang the Ten Commandments in public schools. About two dozen school districts had been barred from posting them after federal judges issued injunctions in two cases against the law but went up in many classrooms across the state as districts paid to have the posters printed themselves or accepted donations.
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