Graceful Parenting in Austin

I said a while back, when explaining why my family watches 6,000 movies a year from NetFlix, BlockBuster and Movies on Demand, when I’d rather see music, that there isn’t a lot of infant-friendly live music around, even in Austin, the Live Music Capital of the World. And I’m sure a lot of people would say that the SXSW music conference, with its expensive wristbands, overwhelming schedule of hundreds and hundreds of bands, and late night shows in crowded bars, isn’t infant-friendly, but I’m not so sure…

Baby Girl, Noel and a few friends went to a free SXSW show yesterday, in a park near downtown on the river, under sunny skies, with a cool breeze. When I asked one of my friends if she wanted to go, she asked who was playing and I said I didn’t know. Because SXSW may be infant-friendly, but it is definitely different with a baby.

The wristband wouldn’t stay on Baby Girl’s wrist and the price doesn’t fit in our budget. So I looked for a day time show that didn’t require wristbands. It had to be outside, instead of a crowded bar. It had to be after a nap time, so she might miss one nap but not two. And by the time I had all that figured out, there were two places we could go. And then, I have to admit, I don’t see music like I used to and I didn’t know the bands playing in either place, so I just picked one.

It took forty-five minutes to get Baby Girl, Noel and myself ready. Then we had to pick a place to meet one of our friends, since she also had a baby with a car seat and a stroller that won’t all fit in my car. We decided to meet at Run-Tex, since we needed shoe inserts for Noel, so that took a while too.

We finally got to the park and it was nice.

Photo courtesy of AustinParks.org.

Austin feels like a really large, really extended family. I don’t know why, it’s not like we’ve all shared dinner together or something, but it just feels that way. Austin’s beautiful skyline was in the background and the Colorado river ran between the park and downtown. There was a good energy in the mix of families, babies, dogs, frisbees, funnel cakes and music.

We heard fusion jazz from Christian Scott…

Photo Courtesy of JazzPolice.com.

Christian Scott felt a little out of place, like he might be more at home in a bar late at night, but I loved the different landscape, without the verse-chorus, beginning-to-end-in-three-minutes structure of rock-n-roll, the different sounds moving and changing, coming and going.

We listened to hip-hop from Lyrics Born…

Photo Courtesy of CityPages.com.

Lyrics Born had a lot of energy and songs that had us dancing a little. He got the crowd going, as much as you can, playing hip-hop for a mostly white and nerdy crowd. We can’t hear the words, but my friend explains that Lyrics Born is part of the progressive hip-hop movement, with the really good beats and without the gangsta lyrics, which aren’t for me. I’d like to hear more from this guy.

We weren’t right up front, where we could have heard the music the best, we are off to the side, sitting on a blanket under the shade, so the babies can be away from the crowd and play. I listened some of the time, in between feeding Baby Girl, changing her diaper and getting food for Noel.

I wasn’t immersed in the music like I used to be, taken away to a different place. It felt more like Christian Scott’s music, with the kids, the people, the outdoors and the music all coming and going, in and out of view, all part of something bigger that has a different feel that each of the parts by themselves. It’s a nice way to spend an afternoon.

So, we’ll still see more movies than music, it is easier all round, but I won’t forget the music, because it isn’t as hard as it seems and we’ll back next year. Thanks SXSW.