The beginning of the Austin music scene
An integral seed of the Austin music scene from 1967 to 1976, Sonobeat’s prodigious output introduced Johnny Winter, Eric Johnson, Rusty Wier, James Polk, and dozens of luminary Texas musicians to the world.
Austin’s music scene in the 1970s was all about “progressive”
By the early 1970s, Austin’s booming music scene had produced psychedelic rock (Austin’s 13th Floor Elevators were genre pioneers), progressive country (Willie Nelson, Rusty Wier, Gary P. Nunn, and a host of other “outlaw” country artists made Austin their home base), and progressive jazz (The David Flack Quorum and James Polk come to mind). And, morphing right along with the Austin music scene, Sonobeat Records accepted the inevitable, focusing its energies and resources primarily on the dozens of progressive acts – country, rock, and jazz – that populated Central Texas. But Sonobeat didn’t wholly ignore other acts that performed traditional music styles and continued to record a wide range of genres. Our Milestones page is a quick, visual way to scan through Sonobeat recording history in the ’70s.
In the Spotlight
Nasty Habit
In 1975, Nasty Habit recorded at Sonobeat’s Blue Hole Sounds studio in Liberty Hill, Texas. Jesse Sublett, a fleeting member of the band, went on to co-found The Skunks and The Violators, pioneering ’70s Austin punk and new wave bands. But Nasty Habit itself was a seminal Central Texas proto-punk band formed in 1974 by students at Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State University) in San Marcos, Texas. Sonobeat never released the band’s recordings, but in 2013 Nasty Habit drummer Gary Dry packaged the tracks into a private edition CD entitled Nasty Habit - At The Too Bitter.
Unidentified Artists
From 1967 to 1976, Sonobeat recorded hundreds of Austin, Central Texas, national, and international singers, songwriters, and musicians. We’ve spent years culling through the Sonobeat master tape archives, identifying most of those artists. But a few have eluded us because of unmarked or mis-marked tape boxes and missing session notes. Maybe you can help us figure out who some of these unidentified artists are that Sonobeat recorded?
Explore our history
Sonobeat Records was founded in Austin, Texas, in May 1967 and operated in Central Texas until September 1976, releasing two dozen stereo 45 RPM singles and half-a-dozen albums recorded by Austin, Central Texas, and international singers, songwriters, and musicians. Journey back in time with a scrolling list of Sonobeat’s 1960s and ’70s milestones or dive right into Sonobeat’s year-by-year story.
