I know I talk a lot about Austin changing, some of it good….some of it not so good.  I realize what a special place Austin is, especially when I spend any amount of time in another city.  However, you can’t deny the fear that is all over town that Austin is changing…and not for the better.

I am amazed at the number of people who live in Austin…who were not born and raised in Austin.  My wife and I are two of them. She is from Dallas and I am from Uvalde.  At least we are from Texas right?    (Which is kind of rare as well in Austin)  A lot of people from out of state have moved in.  Some may say for the better, others for the worse…

So should we be scared Austin as we know it is going away? 

You will be surprised to hear me say a big fat NO.  Aside from the great people I have met and become friends with that have moved to Austin, I say this for another reason….

One thing that is happening is the huge amount of people in Austin who are having children.  All these kids are going to be native Austinites.  (Our son will be born and raised here!)  And it is amazing to see all these native Austinites enjoying the city and it being shown to them at a young age that Austin has a lot of cool places and a lot of cool music. 

There are people running with their kids around Lady Bird Lake, at Zilker Park playground, at Barton Springs pool, at Eeyore’s birthday festival, at Spamarama, at Reggae Fest, at ACL fest, at SXSW functions, at Central Market eating and listening to a band, volunteering at benefits, just sitting and reading in the park, hiking, riding bikes, etc..etc..etc…

I truly believe all these kids (including mine!) are realizing what a cool place this is, how important music is to the city, and do everything to keep Austin the cool and special place that it is.  

They are realizing that in order for their hometown to remain the great city it is….they will do whatever they can to keep the soul of this city alive. 

I just know it….

See you at the show.

Beginning with the band The Mother Truckers in 2005, Mark has been involved in road management, merchandise management, street team management, tour development, press and publicity, and band management. With his wife Sarah, he started an Artist Development firm in 2007 (M&S Artist Development, which is now M&S Music Management) that currently includes Grammy winning Joel Guzman and The Mother Truckers.