Austin’s power
Pat Wooding visits the weird and wonderful Texan capital of live music
Mick Jagger is a fan of global music powerhouse Austin, Texas, so I decided to rock up there too and get some Satisfaction.
The capital of the Lone Star State is a huge draw for American travellers, with its Tex-mex cuisine and Southern cowboy charm.
Add to that the Formula 1 track and legendary SXSW Music Festival, all blending easily with the stunning 21st century glass towers of firms such as Google and Indeed.
It even boasts Tesla’s global HQ, and it was
buzzing with crypto currency experts heading for a conference while my tour group was there.
Visitors can also enjoy the Lone Star quality of its 250 bars and clubs with daily and nightly performances of everything from jazz and blues to country, rock and hip-hop.
And don’t miss the line dancing. Many venues give on-the-spot lessons. You don’t need a partner – just join in.
So many reasons to visit... and now it’s even easier to get there with new Virgin Atlantic flights from Heathrow. I was on board the inaugural journey, heading deep in the heart of Texas.
Seats are selling fast and visiting Brits will be helping to Keep Austin Weird – the city’s slogan which you can find on everything from mugs to T-shirts.
Talking of keeping Austin weird – don’t miss the bat signal as the sun sets!
The city has a huge bat population living under its Congress Avenue Bridge and they come out at night looking like the comic book call for the Dark Knight. They live in ‘batcaves’ which were accidentally formed when the bridge was renovated in 1980.
Name-dropping time – Robert Redford learned to swim in the