KUTX 5th Birthday Celebration

by Jacquie Fuller

We’re Five!

KUTX turns five this year, and we’re celebrating all year long (because we’re that guy) with special features on-air and online, fun events, and concerts – some of which we’re still cooking up, and some of which might become annual traditions.

  • Sat., Jan. 6 & Sun., Jan. 7: Kick off our yearlong celebration with a musical trip down memory lane! From 6 A.M. to 6 P.M. each day, you’ll hear songs from artists that reflect and capture the past 5 years at KUTX.
  • Mon., Jan. 15: On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we’ll spotlight black artists and their contribution to rock-and-roll (and by “contribution,” we of course mean, INVENTION OF IT.)
  • Jan. 22-26: Midday host Susan Castle will celebrate a special week of “Ocho Loco”, with opportunities to win very cool things. This week Susan will be giving away tickets to see Bon Iver, Trevor Noah, Dan Auerbach, and St. Vincent. Plus, one lucky listener will get the chance to play guest DJ for a future episode of “Ocho Loco”.  Play along and check for our daily “Ocho Loco” topics on our Facebook page.
  • Thur., Feb. 15: Think you know more about music than us? Come out and prove it! The Cactus Cafe will host a Music Trivia Night where teams of listeners can take on a team of KUTX hosts and staffers. Supported by AFS Cinema.  GET TIX HERE
  • Thur., Feb. 22: KUTX 5th Birthday Concert Series: Blitzen Trapper at Antone’s 
  • Fri., Mar. 23: KUTX 5th Birthday Concert Series: Broken Social Scene at Stubb’s (on sale Friday 2/2 @ 10 a.m.)
  • Fri., Jun. 15: A screening of “High Fidelity” on Bass Concert Hall’s big screen, followed by a live conversation and audience Q&A with John Cusack, regarding his career and the making of the film.
  • Sat., July 14: Jamila Woods & Sarah Jaffe at Hogg Auditorium. Tickets are on sale now.
  • Tue., July 31: KUTX 5th Birthday Concert Series: Beach House at ACL Live (sold out!)
  • Sat., August 25: KUTX 5th Birthday Concert Series: Jason Isbell at Bass Concert Hall
  • ICYMI: My KUTX producer Art Levy selects his favorite My KUTX guest DJ sessions from the last five years.
  • Coming soon, IRL: more concerts and fun events. Stay tuned!

 

And all of this is, of course, in addition to the stuff we usually do, like KUTX Live at The Four Seasons, KUTX Live at The Paramount, our spring and fall concert series at Mueller, and all the features and music you find on KUTX every day.

Wait. Only Five?

If it feels like we’ve been around for decades (or that some of our hosts have), you’re partially right. KUT (90.5) was launched by The University of Texas in 1958, and for decades, served Austin listeners with news and great music. But KUT wanted to provide Austin with 24-hours of news and information, which required launching a second station for music.

In January 2013, KUTX was born at 98.9 on the FM dial (or, we guess you could say, reborn.) In the years to follow, we’d develop our own identity: one that honors its musical roots on KUT, but embraces an even wider array of sounds and artists, with a strong commitment to Austin’s dynamic music scene. (Scroll down for a list of KUTX milestones from the last five years.)

Here’s a list of what KUTX listeners and members have made possible since our launch in 2013:

  • Approximately 1200 music performances in Studio 1A, from legends like Allen Toussaint, Patty Griffin, and Lyle Lovett to emerging artists like The War on Drugs, Father John Misty, and Alt-J.
  • Events in the community, from our annual KUTX Live at The Four Seasons benefits during ACL Fest and SXSW, to our biannual, family-friendly music series at Mueller Lake Park.
  • Specialty shows on the air, like Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child (indie music for indie kids), My KUTX, the Old School Dance Party, Left of the Dial, Horizontes, Uptown Saturday Night (which carries the torch of Twine Time), and The Breaks.
  • Support of Austin music, via the playlist, live events where artists are paid fairly, features like our Artist of the Month initiative and the Austin Music Minute,
  • The launch of our podcast, This Song, which has profiled over 100 artists from Austin and around the world about the songs that transformed them.
  • In 2017, a celebration of Eklektikos host John Aielli’s fifty years on the air.
  • The launch of the KUTX Street Team in 2015, which built on the base of our longtime volunteers and expanded our reach at events in Austin.
  • A rebranding in 2017, where KUTX got a brand new look, independent from KUT, and launched our first-ever billboard campaign.
  • Doubled listenership since KUTX’s launch (with recent months showing our strongest ratings ever.)
  • A bigger staff! We welcomed hosts Elizabeth McQueen, Paul Carrubba, Confucius Jones, and Fresh Knight, as well as Live Music Producer Deidre Gott and Assistant Program Director Jacquie Fuller.  Some KUTX interns – Taylor Wallace, Jack Anderson, and Ryan Wen – became staffers you now hear on air regularly. We also said goodbye to friends who moved on to new adventures, including John Parsons, Trina Quinn, Audrey Morton, Haley Howle, Tyler Pratt, and Katie Bradley.
  • Your stories and support also helped KUTX through a difficult time: when we lost Twine Time host Paul Ray in 2016.

Thank you for your ears and support over these last five years. We hope to see you in 2018!

 

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