Austin 101

This week in Austin

Upcoming music and comedy. Updated Oct 2.

Upcoming music

• Sat Oct 3ACL Festival Weekend 1 Lorde, Bleachers, Lola Young — Zilker Park
• Sun Oct 4ACL Festival Weekend 1 Twenty One Pilots, The xx, The War on Drugs — Zilker Park
• Tue Oct 6Lola Young ACL Nights — Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater
• Wed–Thu Oct 7–8Kacey Musgraves Moody Center
• Thu Oct 8The War on Drugs ACL Nights — Fair Market
• Fri Oct 9Noga Erez ACL Nights — Scoot Inn

Upcoming comedy

• Sat Oct 3Carmen Lynch Comedy Mothership (Fat Man), 10:00 PM
• Sat Oct 3Comedy Mothership Showcase Little Boy, 7:30 & 10:30 PM
• Sun Oct 4Comedy Mothership Showcase Little Boy, 5:30 & 8:30 PM
• Mon Oct 5Mothership Open Mic + Crew Show Little Boy, 7:00 PM
• Tue Oct 6Open Mic Night Cap City Comedy Club, 8:00 PM
• Wed Oct 7Tony Hinchcliffe and His Current Friends Comedy Mothership (Fat Man), 7:00 PM

Why Austin

More live music venues per capita than anywhere in America, and since 2020, one of the hottest comedy cities on the planet. If you perform for a living, Austin is where the stages are.

• The music never stops. Austin's official slogan is the Live Music Capital of the World, and it earns it: hundreds of venues run live sets every night of the week, from honky-tonks to clubs to taco trucks with a PA.
• Comedy moved here. When Joe Rogan opened the Comedy Mothership on 6th Street, the center of gravity in stand-up shifted. National headliners now route through Austin, and the open mic scene is one of the deepest in the country.
• The cost is negotiable. Rents dropped in 2025 and 2026 as new supply hit the market. Renters have real leverage right now: free months and waived fees are on the table if you ask.

Music: where to play

Start by going out. These rooms are the curriculum.

The legendary rooms

• Antone's (Downtown). The home of Austin blues since 1975. Stevie Ray Vaughan's old room. If you play guitar, you pilgrimage here.
• Continental Club (South Congress). Running since 1955. Roots, rockabilly, and honky-tonk seven nights a week.
• Broken Spoke (South Lamar). A genuine Texas dancehall since 1964. Two-step lessons, chicken-fried steak, the real deal.
• The White Horse (East Austin). Honky-tonk with a young crowd. Free two-step lessons most nights.
• Saxon Pub (South Lamar). The songwriter's room. Intimate, listening-first, a great place to test new material.

The club circuit

• Red River Cultural District. Stubb's BBQ, Mohawk Austin, Emo's, Cheer Up Charlies, and Hotel Vegas sit within a few blocks. This is where touring indie bands play and local bands level up.
• 6th Street. Dirty 6th is chaotic and loud, but working musicians play here every night. Good reps, thick skin required.
• C-Boy's Heart & Soul (South Congress). Soul, funk, and R&B. A musician's hang.

The festivals

• Austin City Limits (ACL). Two weekends every October in Zilker Park. One of the biggest festivals in America, and ACL Live at the Moody Theater runs year-round shows downtown.
• SXSW. Every March, the whole city becomes a showcase. Hundreds of unofficial day parties mean you can play SXSW without an official badge if you hustle.

Comedy: where to watch and perform

Austin is a top-three comedy city now. Here is the circuit.

The clubs

• Comedy Mothership (320 E 6th St). Joe Rogan's club in the historic Ritz Theater. The Fat Man room seats about 250 and hosts national headliners; the smaller Little Boy room runs showcases. Kill Tony tapes live here on Mondays. Tickets start around $40 and big weekends sell out fast.
• Cap City Comedy Club (11506 Century Oaks Terrace). The longtime Austin institution, up north. Touring headliners, clean club experience.
• Sunset Strip Comedy Club (214 E 6th St). Right in the thick of downtown.
• Esther's Follies (6th St). Austin's legendary sketch comedy troupe, running for decades. A different kind of funny.
• Fallout Theater (616 Lavaca St) and ColdTowne Theater. The indie and improv scenes live here.

Get on stage: the open mic circuit

Austin runs comedy open mics nearly every night of the week. The standouts for new comics:

• The Creek & The Cave (611 E 7th St). Multiple mics a week, the East Side comedy home base.
• Comedy Mothership open mic. Mondays, lottery signup. Three minutes on the most famous stage in Austin comedy.
• Kill Tony bucket pulls. Monday nights at the Mothership. One minute, high stakes, the most-watched open mic in the world.

Mic schedules change constantly. Check badslava.com/austin-open-mics.php for tonight's list before you haul your gear across town.

Where to record

Austin studios run cheaper than LA or Nashville flagships, and the session players are world-class. 2026 ballparks with an engineer. Always confirm before you book.

Where to live

Average one-bedroom rent by neighborhood, September 2026. Rents fell in 2025 and 2026 as thousands of new units delivered, so these are softer than the 2022 peak, and negotiating is expected.

Source: apartments.com, September 2026. One-bedroom averages across listed units. Ask for a free month or waived fees, especially in newer buildings. Roommates cut these numbers roughly in half.

The honest advice

• You probably need a car. CapMetro covers downtown, East Austin, and the UT corridor, but the rest of the city is car territory.
• Live near your scene. Comics cluster east and central. Musicians spread across East Austin, South Lamar, and the far north. Pick the side of town where your people already are.
• Negotiate. New supply means leverage. One to two months free and waived fees are common asks right now.

How to plug in

Austin rewards people who show up every night. Here is the starter circuit.

For musicians

• Go to shows four nights a week. The Red River clubs, the White Horse, Saxon Pub. Introduce yourself to the bands. Austin runs on hang.
• Sit in at jams. Weekly jams are the fastest way to meet players and get stage time.
• Play SXSW season. March unofficial parties need bands. Start asking in January.

For comics

• Hit the mics nightly. There is a mic somewhere in Austin almost every night. Five mics a week for six months will change your act completely.
• Watch the rooms. See shows at the Mothership, Cap City, and the indie rooms. Learn what kills in each room.
• Take a class. ColdTowne and Fallout run improv and standup classes. The fastest way to meet your first comedy friends.

Bring something to the table

Musicians: ten finished songs and phone recordings of everything. Comics: five tight minutes. Austin does not need another person with potential. It needs people with a set.

The Studio's take

We believe the entertainment industry should be radically open: every song, every set, every lyric, every dollar, in public. Austin is where that idea meets the hardest-working performers in America.

If you are a musician or comedian moving to Austin, or already here: use our free music tools, hire a vocalist or producer for your next record, and follow along with everything we are building at the dashboard.