{"id":1113,"date":"2026-03-08T21:29:34","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T21:29:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/?p=1113"},"modified":"2026-03-08T21:29:34","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T21:29:34","slug":"how-the-austin-blues-festival-is-keeping-antones-legacy-alive-at-waterloo-greenway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/?p=1113","title":{"rendered":"How the Austin Blues Festival is keeping Antone\u2019s legacy alive at Waterloo Greenway"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Editor\u2019s note: KXAN+ host Esmeralda Zamora spoke with Antone\u2019s co-owner Will Bridges and Waterloo Greenway Conservancy CEO Dr. Colette Pierce Burnette for an in-depth discussion about the Austin Blues Festival. Watch the full interview on our free KXAN+ streaming app, on KXAN\u2019s social media channels or in the video embedded in this article.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

AUSTIN (KXAN) \u2014 The Austin Blues Festival is more than a weekend of music. It\u2019s a bridge between Austin\u2019s musical past and a rapidly changing city.<\/p>\n

Rooted in the legacy of Antone\u2019s and revived at Austin\u2019s evolving Waterloo Greenway Park, organizers say the festival is working to preserve the blues as both a cultural touchstone and a communal experience. This year, the festival returns on April 24-26 at the Moody Amphitheatre. <\/p>\n

\u2018Surviving to thriving\u2019: Antone\u2019s locks in decades-long deal to stay on 5th Street <\/div>\n
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Austin\u2019s blues beginnings<\/h3>\n

For Antone\u2019s co-owner Will Bridges, the story started half a century ago. The iconic downtown venue, which celebrated its 50th anniversary last year, has long called itself \u201cAustin\u2019s home of the blues.\u201d Bridges said that identity traces back to the vision of founder Clifford Antone, who opened the club back in 1975 to give young musicians and aging legends a place to meet, learn and play.<\/p>\n

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\u201cClifford, who was very passionate about the blues and kind of the blues family of genres,\u00a0took it upon\u00a0himself to create that home, and that was Antone\u2019s,\u201d Bridges said. \u201cPreserving the Blues\u00a0is a big part of our mission here at Antone\u2019s, and it was a big part of Clifford\u2019s mission all the way back when he started the club in 1975.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Antone launched his own blues festival at Waterlook Park in 1999 and 2000, it brought national names like Buddy Guy and Susan Tedeschi to Austin audiences. More than two decades later, Bridges said reviving that tradition felt not only natural but necessary. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt sort of\u00a0became\u00a0a goal of ours, a dream of ours, really, to take the magic of Antone\u2019s outside of the four walls and pay homage to the Blues Festival that Clifford had started,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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That revival found a partner in Waterloo Greenway, where the newly built Moody Amphitheatre created the perfect outdoor home for a modern blues festival. \u201cWe were welcomed with open arms,\u201d he said. \u201cThey said, not only do we want to do this with y\u2019all, but let\u2019s become partners.<\/p>\n

Austin Blues Festival announces 2026 lineup <\/div>\n

New space meets legendary genre<\/h3>\n

To help understand the significance of Waterloo Greenway\u2019s role, CEO Dr. Colette Pierce Burnette said it helps to see the 35-acre park system as more than green space. <\/p>\n

\u201cI hear people call it\u00a0a green\u00a0zipper through the eastern side of downtown, but it\u2019s really, in my mind,\u00a0a green\u00a0ribbon, connecting, eventually, Lady Bird Lake all the way up to where Waller Creek goes into UT,\u201d Dr. Pierce Burnette said.<\/p>\n

She added that the partnership with Antone\u2019s is natural. \u201cThe mission\u00a0of Antone\u2019s and the mission\u00a0of Waterloo Greenway are very parallel, very similar,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s to bring people together in a very united way and what better way to do that is with music.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Austin grows, Dr. Pierce Burnette said public spaces like Waterloo Park are essential for keeping culture accessible. She shared that the partnership makes sense because it\u2019s for the public and it gives public access. <\/p>\n

When the venue is quiet, the park is still alive. \u201cWhen it\u2019s not operating as a venue, the park itself, you\u2019ll see\u00a0people eating\u00a0lunch, on break from work, you\u2019ll see children playing, you\u2019ll see people just walking around, pressing pause for a bit,\u201d Dr. Pierce Burnette shared. <\/p>\n

She added that festival weekends transform that open space into something magical. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be wrapped in music and magic,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s going to be a lot happening, a lot of memories being made, a lot of unity and family.\u201d<\/p>\n

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    Why blues still matter<\/h3>\n

    Bridges described blues as the \u201croot genre\u201d that shaped nearly every major American style, rock, jazz, gospel, R&B, and even hip-hop. Its simplicity, he said, creates space for creativity and connection. <\/p>\n

    \u201cBlues is\u00a0incredibly simple and that\u2019s kind of the beauty of it, it leaves lots of room for expression,\u201d Bridges said.<\/p>\n

    At Antone\u2019s, the tradition of passing down the blues is still alive. \u201cThe best way\u00a0to preserve the blues is to actuate it, to do it, to play it, and to play it in front of an audience,\u201d he said. Many club nights at Antone\u2019s feature what he calls \u201cClifford-approved show,\u201d where artists carry the genre forward in real time.<\/p>\n

    Dr. Pierce Burnette echoed that emotional power. Growing up in the 1960s, she said blues was \u201cthe soundtrack to life\u201d in her home. Today, it remains universal. \u201cEverybody\u00a0gets the blues,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

    It\u2019s also an antidote to the rush of modern life, she said. \u201cMusic has a way of\u00a0letting us relax, letting us press pause for a little bit and kind of just dance and feel vibrant and it\u2019s one of those moments that people can really come together as a community.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Eastside Kings Festival showcasing Austin\u2019s African American Blues, Jazz, Gospel artists <\/div>\n

    A festival made for Austin<\/h3>\n

    This year\u2019s Austin Blues Festival returns April 25-26 at Moody Amphitheater, with a lineup that includes Parliament Funkadelic, George Clinton, Jimmy Vaghan, BadBadNotGood and many more artists and bands. <\/p>\n

    Both Antone\u2019s and Waterloo Greenway highlight the presence of Houston-Tillotson University\u2019s Jazz Orchestra, a meaningful addition for Dr. Pierce Burnette, who once served as the university\u2019s president. \u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0like a dream\u00a0come true for me, and so that makes it an even more special moment for me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

    Festival goers can expect a single-stage setup, long sets, breaks to explore the park and an event Bridges calls \u201ca real good time.\u201d <\/p>\n

    For Dr. Pierce Burnette, the festival is becoming something even bigger. \u201cThis is going to become an iconic event in the life of Austin\u2026 and who wants to miss out on an iconic event,\u201d she shared.<\/p>\n

    Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/i> <\/p>\n

    For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Editor\u2019s note: KXAN+ host Esmeralda Zamora spoke with Antone\u2019s co-owner Will Bridges and Waterloo Greenway Conservancy CEO Dr. Colette Pierce Burnette for an in-depth discussion about the Austin […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1114,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1113\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}