Dissonant identities

Austin, Texas, is widely regarded as one of more than a dozen American cities whose bars and clubs gave rise to a distinct musical scene. Barry Shank, a working musician who lived and performed in the Texas capital, traces the history of that city's popular music along with the economic and cultural forces that shaped it.

The book concentrates mainly on progressive country and rock, though Shank also addresses traditional country, blues, rock, disco, ethnic, and folk music. He treats these sounds as more than entertainment, examining how music can serve as a means of meaning-making that reshapes the people who make and hear it.

Drawing on close attention to concrete local detail and a broad body of theory, Shank argues that Austin became a place where two opposing pressures met: the strong urge to reinvent oneself through playing music, and the equally strong effort to justify that music's worth within a late-capitalist market.