The Society of American Archivists‘ annual conference is in full swing this week and I’ve been attending a few roundtables (and getting some cute swag — “Archivists make it last longer” lanyards, for example). I’m a bit drained as a result, but I thought I’d shine a light on a couple of archival resources we have in the music capitol, as well as some neat little treasures they have that you might wanna check out.
The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History - Did you know that they’ve got quite a music collection? A couple of gems include:
Recordings of Janis Joplin performing at Threadgill’s from the early 1960s.
An educational program Selena did on Tejano music made for children. She was killed shortly after taping and her family decided not to release the program, so this is a real find.
The Blues Family Tree Project – This group is dedicated to preserving the rich but largely uncharted history of Austin’s blues scene, particularly on the East side. Sandra Carter and Harold McMillan put together an invalueable documentary about the East Austin’s blues scene. Thanks to them, I know who Ernie Mae Miller is. You should too.
