Using Local Music to Expand Your Space

By Harriet Bernard
Local Music Journalist

Finding a space where you feel included and motivated to explore an unfamiliar place is important for college students. Whether you moved from 1,000 miles or just 10 minutes away to your school, everyone deserves to find their community. After coming to Texas State and living in San Marcos, I found that local music has given me some of the most exciting opportunities to take on as a music journalist for KTSW. Therefore, I think the local music scene in San Marcos is a hidden gem that many more students should explore further.

Local central Texas bands like Window Shop, Soma Jerome, Crash Test Girls, and Being Dead will often play at the same handful of small venues that San Mo has to offer, such as The Porch and Earle’s Basement. At these events, such as KTSW’s monthly Third Thursday, you can find San Marcos residents and students gathering to enjoy good music and conversation for a few hours. New connections can be made and bring more than just supporting local artists. The larger this community of musicians and listeners gets, the stronger the push for more venues to come about in San Marcos becomes. Texas State’s local music scene amplifies the student experience and benefits its community to a greater extent while also giving back to the small city that some of us call home.

It’s good to point out the obvious: that going to local shows helps support artists who are “on the come up” or just there to share talent. However, when attending a show, you are doing more than just supporting; you are finding a potential community for you and those around you, as well as finding new musical genres you may not have known about. I encourage those interested in going to these local events to bring your friends; spread the word to students who might be afraid to venture out and experience local music.

By joining together in support of artists in our community, we can do our part in helping the bands and organizations around us visualize the future of local art and music. I have been attending local shows my whole life. Growing up in Austin where music is the main attraction, I can say there is no other feeling than hearing original music performed live by people you grow up with; and what better way to get involved then right through our school?

If you love music but are more interested in the behind-the-scenes of it all, going to local shows can also easily open doors for you. Coming early to a show, or even staying after, is where you can see a band set up and prepare for a performance and get a chance to talk to KTSW students, interview an artist, and get to know the ‘ins and outs’ of local music.

Joining KTSW 89.9 is the perfect gateway for students who feel music is an important aspect of their lives to get involved in San Marcos. Students are encouraged to come out to our hosted events around town to see how hard we work to help keep the local music alive; giving students an opportunity to dress up and go out together to hear inspiring, raw, and original music. Through KTSW socials, @ktsw899 on Instagram and Twitter, you can stay up-to-date on the latest events, pop-ups, and music news. All in all, local music is an amazing outlet for finding a welcoming community and new interests. Regardless of where you’re from or how you express yourself, there is a spot for you in San Marcos’ local music scene.