$3 Shows Mixes Arts and Social Issues, Like Ben Buck’s Album Release and a DAWA Fundraiser

Originally posted on the Austin Chronicle’s website. Read here

$3 entry for Como Las Movies, KVN, Suzanna Choffel, and more on Sunday

$3 Shows' next event at the Far Out Lounge on Sunday, August 20

Inspired by Latin Grammy-winning trumpeter Spencer Ludwig, who started hosting $2 shows as a high schooler, Austin-based organizers $3 Shows has been fundraising for various causes since 2009. Cutting down a typical door fee, director Lauren Bruno’s past concerts have benefitted local nonprofits Ten Thousand Villages and Groundwork Music Project.

“[Ludwig] was connecting the arts community with the social issues community through a live event, and so he started these events in his backyard, and they grew into something really big in L.A.,” says Bruno, filmmaker and musician of Les Rav and Slooom. “Me and my partner at the time [became] friends with Spencer. We were so inspired by what he was doing and wanted to do something similar. We were just like, ’We might as well just bring $2 shows to Austin.’”

Upped to $3 entry over the years, the next installment at the Far Out Lounge – on Sunday, August 20, at 5pm – benefits DAWA (Diversity Awareness and Wellness in Action). The organization, founded by Jonathan “Chaka” Mahone of Riders Against the Storm, provides financial support for BIPOC creatives and frontline workers in Austin. DAWA’s small grants assist with rent and other expenses, aiding artists at risk of having to give up their passions in order to make ends meet.

“DAWA itself is just so important in society, today and always, and we should continue to support nourishing the creative community,” says Bruno.

The concert doubles as an album release party for Austin hip-hop artist Ben Buck’s latest, Back Burner ’97. The show will also feature genre-spanning artists Como Las Movies, KVN, Global Octopus, Pajama Sam, Vermin the Villain, Midnight Navy, Joseph Salazar, and Suzanna Choffel. Alongside a defense class offered by Girls Rock Camp, a vendor market will feature tarot card readers, jewelers, and more.

“The lineup, it's a mix of everything, and that's what I do at $3 shows,” adds Bruno. “Our main mission is to connect the arts community with the social issues community, but that's a very big blanket statement. … It’s not only incredible to see the community come together for a nonprofit, but also see the community support all these artisans, and then in turn support one another.”

In 2009, the first show in Bruno’s series raised money following the tragic passing of Bankrupt & the Borrowers member Jon Pettis. Since, the director has held dozens of shows in Austin. Despite the cheap entry, $3 Shows commits to paying artists what they’re worth.

You see the live music world and how musicians – who are a lot of times playing until three in the morning – they're offered drink tickets. They're not always paid what they deserve, or what they asked for,” says Bruno. “Everybody is paid [at $3 Shows]. I just want to make that very clear.”

This sentiment of paying artists fairly for their work is reflected in the album celebrated at Sunday’s show, Back Burner ’97.

“The whole title is reflective of having to put your creative aspirations onto the back burner to try to become a functional member of society, to be able to pay rent on time and to be able to sustain yourself,” says Buck. “A lot of times it will start to kind of choke out your creative energy.”

With over a decade in the game, Buck’s new project explores the Austin music scene through the lens of a financially stifled artist. The record features production from Statik Selektah, Butcher Bear, and Flobama – as well as the turntable skills of Trackstar the DJ, known for touring with Run the Jewels. One track is titled “Velvet Rut (Austin, Texas).”

“A lot of times it feels that hip-hop is overlooked in the grand scheme of a city that is focused on psych rock, EDM, country, or any other genre besides hip-hop,” says Buck of the song. “So in a way, [hip-hop] kind of feels like the black sheep of the Austin music scene, and I know a lot of my friends that also make music have felt, you know, overlooked.”