Crystal clear Visions

The spectacular digital remaster of Lavender Hill Express' Visions is here now. Celebrating its 50th anniversary, Visions is Austin sunshine rock at its best by one of Central Texas' premiere '60s bands. Originally released as a vinyl 45 RPM single in December 1967, this was Lavender Hill Express' first of three singles for Sonobeat. Our fresh remaster brings out its amazing sonic subtleties. Get Visions and its flipside Trying To Live A Life now on iTunes and other digital services worldwide.

A Picture of Me, reframed

A Picture of Me by one of Austin's hottest college party bands, the Sweetarts, launched Sonobeat Records in 1967 and became an instant garage rock classic. In celebration of the single's 50th anniversary in 2017, we lovingly reframed A Picture of Me in a bright and sparkling Mastered for iTunes digital frame that brings out its original sonic goodness. You'll find A Picture of Me and its country-rock flavored flipside, Without You, on iTunes and dozens of digital services worldwide.

Sonobeat's historical archives

Sonobeat's vault – sealed for decades until Sonobeat Historical Archives unlocked it in 2004 – holds Sonobeat's hundreds of original master tape recordings, photographs, and documents that provide an evocative flashback to the dynamic and diverse Central Texas music scene from 1967 through 1976, when Austin was just beginning to stake its claim as "The Live Music Capital of the World". The vault door's open, so join us on a journey back in time.

Back in time 50 years

In 1968, Sonobeat is entering its second year as Austin's only independent record label, releasing eleven 45 RPM stereo singles and its first album. But while the music's playing, Austin, America, and the world are in turmoil – it's the height of the Vietnam War – but it's music that holds the world together and feeds its hunger for peace and love. Take a brief journey with us back to Austin and the world in 1968.

Austin's music scene starts here

Where else but Austin would you find Austin City Limits, SXSW, and an A-to-Z musical night life... Back in the late 1960s, Austin music was already red hot with its own brand of Southern rock, the outlaw country movement, and a solid jazz scene, all fed by more than 35,000 University of Texas students and a thriving high school garage rock scene. Austin's here and now all started there and then.

Sonobeat Seasons • Spring 1968

Winter '67-'68 ends and spring '68 begins for Austin's Sonobeat Records. And spring ushers in a new batch of Sonobeat stereo 45 RPM releases by The Conqueroo, The Thingies, and Lavender Hill Express, along with Sonobeat's first album release, Jazz To The Third Power by Colorado's Lee Arlano Trio. Time for some trippin' with us back to the warm and windy days that made spring 1968 so special in Austin.