Preserving Austin music from the 60's and 70's

When I'm not producing audio at Audiobag, I'm working on a pet project of my brother's and mine. I'm digitizing tapes from the Sonobeat Recording Company library. My father, Bill Josey, Sr., and brother, Bill Jr. (also known by his radio name of Rim Kelley), founded Sonobeat in 1967. My brother left the company in 1970 to go to law school and my father kept running it until his death in 1976. The nine-year history of this little recording company in Austin, Texas produced over a hundred tapes of Texas' up and coming musicians ... folks like Johnny Winter, Eric Johnson, Gary Nunn, Rusty Weir, Allen Damron, and Cody Hubach (Willie's good friend).

I am amazed at not only the variety of artists Sonobeat recorded, but also of the talent they had. I believe Sonobeat recorded almost every worthy musician living or spending a little time in Austin from 1967 to 1976. And what impresses me most is the transition that was going on from the early fraternity rock sound of the Sweetarts and Lavender Hill Express to the harder "Austin" blues rock sound -- the Stevie Ray Vaughn sound, if you will. Even the Sweetarts and Lavender Hill Express moved into a more progressive sound with Lady and Country Music's Here to Stay. Music was changing in Austin in the late 60's and early 70's and Dad was there to record it for history.

If you'd like to read and hear more about Austin music in the 1960's and 1970's, check out the Sonobeat Historical Archives website my brother and I put together.