Singer Tam茅ca Jones stepped up to the podium at a meeting of the Austin Music Commission earlier this month to speak about her experience as a Black female artist working in Austin and to encourage commissioners to approve .
She also shared her plans to leave the Live Music Capital of the World.
鈥淚 will be moving to Los Angeles, a city that's less affordable and more crowded than Austin,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat is how disenchanted I am with Austin and its music scene.鈥�
Jones has been playing live music here for well over a decade. She started at the Elephant Room, interpreting other people鈥檚 songs. Then she moved to the Continental Club Gallery, where she gained a following and began playing original music. She eventually became known as Austin鈥檚 Queen of Soul and was able to make a living as a musician.
鈥�100% of my income was definitely live music,鈥� Jones said.
Jones was born and raised in Austin, but moved to New Braunfels about 20 years ago after becoming pregnant with twins. Music provided her the flexibility to maintain a career.
鈥淚 really appreciate what [Austin] has done for me,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t's made it possible for me to raise twins as a single parent with that income.鈥�
But it hasn鈥檛 been easy.
鈥淚t has been a struggle in this town as a Black woman, as someone who doesn't play guitar, as someone who doesn't sing the blues,鈥� she said.
Her experience is reflected in data from the .
Of the roughly 2,100 musicians who responded to the census, only 80 said they played hip-hop; 43 played dance or electronic music. The biggest genres represented were rock, Americana and alternative -- all of which emphasize guitar.
Only about 20% of the respondents were women. Only 4.4% identified as Black. In contrast, 10.4% identified as Hispanic, and 66% identified as white.
As an independent artist, Jones said, she鈥檚 simply burned out.
鈥淲hen you're a DIY artist, when you have no manager, when you have no agent -- you have to do everything yourself,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just all these hats you have to wear, and it just breaks your neck, you know? The weight of all these hats.鈥�
Jones said she鈥檚 been looking for support and opportunities outside of playing live, but she hasn鈥檛 been able to find that in Austin.
鈥淭here's a very low ceiling here in Austin because there's no industry,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the Live Music Capital but there is very little industry or sync or licensing or record deals or managers or booking agents.鈥�
Jones will be playing one of her final shows in Austin on Friday at the .
To hear more of Tam茅ca Jones鈥� story, listen to the latest episode of Pause/Play by clicking the listen button above.
