At the
Cactus Cafe
Songwriters’ Open Mic, regular performer and long-time political activist Daniel Schaefer climbs on stage, turns towards the audience and
introduces himself
.
“I have another useless protest song tonight.”
He’s met with whoops and cheers. People clap along spontaneously with lyrics like,
“Once again, the richies / have climbed out of their holes.
Their petulant behavior / totally out of control.”
The Cactus Cafe Songwriters’ Open Mic is an example of how many of the locally organized and homegrown events that make up Austin’s music scene are inherently political. By making space for creatives to express themselves, organizers are contributing to a cultural resistance against conservative ideology.
Recently, the
89th Texas legislative session
rolled back free speech protections by
restricting student protest
on university grounds, and
removed recognition
of trans people across state lines in an attempt to police individual identity. In the wake of increasingly fascist ideology being written into Texan law, it’s more important than ever to support spaces where people can express themselves without fear, create connections and organize community action.
“Revolution is driven by art,” said Schaefer, who marched against the Vietnam War in the ‘60s. “We have to have a cultural change to make a political change.”
Jake Farr, the host of the Cactus Cafe open mic, encourages attendees to actively listen to each performance and stay after to connect and build the songwriter community.
“The Cactus naturally draws a crowd of both artists and listeners who are open-minded,” Farr said. “It’s a space designated for expression, and I think a university should be a place where people can share different ideas and perspectives and have that free speech.”
Outside of UT, there are plenty of organizers putting on DIY shows that showcase bands with a message. Mat Zuniga is an organizer with
Tiny Sounds Collective
and has partnered with West Campus bookshop
Alienated Majesty
to put on punk shows, earning them the title of “Best Bibliophile Emo Booker” by the
Austin Chronicle
.
“Punk, in nature, is almost always leftist,” Zuniga said. “(We rarely have) a band playing that’s not calling for trans rights or free Palestine, and that’s the way we want it.”
The Tiny Sounds Collective regularly incorporates community action into their events. They held a
benefit show
to fund a high school scholarship, work with
Keep Austin Beautiful
to keep streets clean in east Austin, and one of their
artists helped raise money
for the recent flooding in Kerrville.
“We have anti-consumerist and capitalist ideals behind pretty much everything we do,” Zuniga said. “It’s not about making money.”
Historically
, political protest has always coincided with provocative music and art. Events like open mics and local shows give the mic to the community.
“When we give an artist a stage, it’s their stage to do as they please,” Zuniga said. “We don’t tell them what to say or what to do.”
If you’re feeling isolated and glued to the 24/7 news cycle, go check out the next open mic you hear about. You’ll not only be supporting the performers by showing up, you’ll also be contributing to a sense of community and solidarity in a time of divisive and dehumanizing politics.
Kate Windsor is a PhD student in molecular biology from Austin, Texas.
