Unlike in the Midwest, which is my home, the word "barbecue" is generally a noun in the South.  It's meat, cooked slowly, via smoke.  Regionally, there are plenty of unique twists.  In some places, if they use sauce, it is vinegar based.  In some places, mustard based.  Some use a white sauce.  Others would tell you that sauce only covers up inferior meat, and it shouldn't be touched.  Depending on where you are, the local specialty may be ribs... or pulled pork... or chicken.  In Texas, brisket is what they tend to do.  They're quite proud of it.  Since I was in Austin last year, and a place that some experts call "the world's best barbecued brisket" is there, I had my heart set on getting some.  Alas, for this particular place, you need to plan ahead a lot sooner than I did, so it wasn't going to happen.  That said, I wanted to get brisket somewhere... but where?

The first person I asked was Simon Tam.  No, not the medical doctor on the run trying to keep the evil government away from his sister.  I mean the bassist and founder of The Slants.  He was a presenter at the conference I was attending, and has done extensive global travel.  He is also very much into delicious food.  His answer was lightning fast and definitive:  go to Terry Black's.   The second person I asked was a local Uber driver.  People that live in the community, they are going to know where the good brisket is, right?  I explained my disappointment that a visit to my first choice wasn't able to happen, and asked for a recommendation.  Terry Black's was the first of three recommendations given.  In fact, this particular person said he liked it better than my first choice.  There was definitely a third person who got the query from me on brisket, and I don't really remember much about her, but I certainly do remember that Terry Black's was the call.  Ok, Terry Black's it would be.

My wife and I made sure we were extra hungry one day, and went off to find brisket.  When it comes to the meats here, you pay by weight.  There is an army of professional meat cutters there, gloves on, knives at the ready, slicing pieces of brisket (and other meat products) to order.  I got plenty of brisket... some burnt ends, some extra fatty, some extra lean... you know, a variety.  I got some sausage as well.  For side dishes, I opted for mac & cheese, and "Mexican" rice.  Looking back on it, this was a tactical error.  Sure, the rice was just fine (not outstanding), and the mac & cheese was tasty enough, but all the sides do is take up valuable real-estate that could be better served by brisket.  I made sure to get some of the free accompaniments... pickles and onions... you know, some acidity to cut through the fattiness of the sausage and brisket.  Here's what you want to know:  Is the brisket good?  Well....

This was the best brisket I have had in my life, and it wasn't even close.  Sauce, though it was available, was not at all required.  The meat was replete with flavor from whatever these folks used for their dry rub, and from hours being exposed to smoke.  It was moist... even the "lean" pieces were juicy.  It was melt-in-your-mouth incredible.  The sausage was good too, much fattier than I expected, but in all the right tongue-coating ways.  My wife and I didn't get remotely close to finishing our food, so we packed it up, went back to the hotel, put it in the room's refrigerator, and finished it for breakfast the next day.  Get this... Terry Black's brisket was great even served cold first thing in the morning.  Trust me, you want this.

If perchance I make it back to Austin this year (not a guarantee, what with COVID-19 and all), I intend to go to Franklin's... but Terry Black's was great, and I wish to re-live this experience, so I'll head back there as well.  You can't have too much brisket, can you?

Straight talk, a few days before this conference, I really didn't want to go.  I was tired.  Mentally and emotionally tired.  However, I already made the plans, and had already taken vacation days from my corporate job, so yeah, I went.

This year's DIY Musician Conference sponsored by CD Baby was held in Austin, Texas.  The dates were 16 to 18 August.  This was my third conference, and by far the hottest... because it is crazy hot in Texas in August.  

I won't go on a lengthy description of the delicious brisket I had there, as that's another blog post.  I won't talk about the migas breakfast tacos, either.  I had a very interesting cultural experience watching people sing Russian karaoke, but maybe we'll save that for another blog post as well.  Let's keep this one focused on music stuff.

When I say "music stuff", I mean the work.  Writing music and lyrics is work of course, but that's enjoyable work.  Recording is work, but that's also enjoyable work.  There is a great deal of other business stuff that has to be done when you're an independent artist though... these are the things I was there to learn, and these are the things that make a very long to-do list for me going forward.

A nice benefit of this conference is being surrounded by a bunch of other musicians from all over the world.  Many genres.  Many languages.  Different points in their careers.  Making those personal connections is something that helps me get through the weekend without being wilted by social anxiety (as opposed to just being wilted by the Texas heat).  Now, I met dozens of interesting people over the weekend, and had many interesting conversations... but let me tell you about two specific people whose company I enjoyed.

First, Jessica.  She sat next to me during the first session on Friday morning.  That first day is tough, especially if you're like me and you don't like crowds.  In this case, my neighbor was even more anxious than me possibly, as this was her first conference.  It turns out that Jessica is a pianist from Los Angeles.  I would describe her as very much like a shorter version of Fiona Apple... well, that was until I looked up Fiona Apple's height, and they're probably about the same stature-wise.  At any rate, think piano-based pop music with interesting lyrics, and a beautiful voice.  Jessica performs as Bellorage.  You can listen to her music here. 

We were treated to a Bellorage performance at the post-show music shindig.  It was great. That part at 3:19 of "Terribly Lovely" gave me goosebumps when I saw it live.

Ok, so a second story about a person.  At the conference, they have these tables set up to help all of us anxious musicians to break the ice and start conversations.  There is a line of tables that each has a sign based on a region... Austin, New York, Midwest, South, West, Europe, Canada, etc.  There is another line of tables broken up by music genre... hip hop, country, edm, pop, rock, etc.  So, I head to the rock table.  When I mention that I am from Dayton, Ohio, someone points to this other fella and says "he's from Dayton as well"... the other fella had "Austin" on his badge, so I was skeptical.  Turns out he is from Dayton, but moved to Austin for his music career a couple of year ago.  Since we're from the same area, I figured I'd tell him specifically that I grew up in Xenia.  He says "dude, I'm from Yellow Springs".  Yes, we're both from the same county, and don't meet until a music conference in Austin.

His name is Brandon, and he's in Westerly Station.  What's more, he and his wife happened to be in Ohio last week, where they went on WYSO to talk about their music with Juliet on Wednesday night, then they stopped by Reel Love Recording Company on Thursday to do some tracking with me.  You'll be hearing some sweet mandolin that Brandon played before the end of the fall. 

In summary, an enjoyable conference, despite the work.  I hope to attend again next year.