Austin 360
Austin360 On The Record is a weekly roundup of new, recent and upcoming releases by local and Austin-associated recording artists. Typically we include only full-length albums and EPs, but because many artists have been releasing individual songs during the pandemic, we’re also occasionally presenting a “Singles Spotlight” overview of selected recent singles.
Hard Working People Project, “Salt of the Earth.” We missed this one upon its release in October, but it’s worth reaching back to its inspiring message, which remains relevant in the new year. Renowned singer-songwriter Sara Hickman says she organized the recording of the 1968 Rolling Stones classic, which took six months to complete, “as a way to honor all the nurses, doctors, EMTs, farmers, grocery clerks, field hands, computer techies, shop owners, mail carriers, you name it all the hardworking people who have kept life going during this pandemic. She recruited an extraordinary cast of 32 fello
The Voice and later became a “voice” of local music advocacy, tells the
Chronicle he’s dialing back his day-to-day duties as president and unofficial spokesperson for nonprofit Austin Texas Musicians. Nakia addresses a Come & Save It rally at City Hall on September 28, 2020 (Photo by John Anderson)
He’ll remain an involved board member in the organization he founded as a Facebook group in 2009 and has since grown to include almost 5,000 members, but will step down as its leader sometime this year. He wants to spend more time focusing on music, theater, and scoring, and looks forward to not doing interviews about music politics every day. It’s a transition he originally planned to make in 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic forced music representatives to double down on funding efforts.