Excerpt from: Austin Gripped By Musical Heatwave

By Steve Pond. Excerpt from “Austin gripped by musical heatwave; Texas city boasts one of the country’s most active and diverse scenes.” Rolling Stone, Oct. 10, 1985 p9(3).

When Kim Longacre moved to Texas, she figured the cowboys down there would be mighty impressed by a California girl who knew how to rock & roll. “I thought I was gonna be so hip,” she says with a sheepish grin. “Instead, I found more going on here than in California.”

That was six years ago. Now Longacre is the singer-guitarist for a critically acclaimed band called Zeitgeist– and the Austin music scene is hotter than ever.

…Record companies are starting to listen, as well. I.R.S. Records, which produces The Cutting Edge, has been scouting local talent regularly and is actively pursuing Zeitgeist, for one….

…Much of the attention has been aimed at a small group of bands headed by Zeitgeist and the True Believers. Zeitgeist, which recently released an LP called Translate Slowly on the small but influential DB label, plays dreamy, tough, guitar-laded music, while the True Believers, who feature a former member of Rank and File, play country-spiked guitar rock. These two groups have received so much acclaim that they’ve already sparked a local backlash and have been somewhat cynically dubbed the “New Sincerity” bands….”

(On the cooperation of the city officials)- Local musicians are skeptical but appreciative. “Any time politicians get involved in music, things get screwed up,” says Zeitgeist guitarist and vocalist John Croslin. “But it’s real cool that they’re making an effort. I can’t think of any other town that would do that.”