Austin Musician to Know: Joe Pug
I get a lot of the small picture things wrong. But life can be very forgiving if you get the big picture things right, and that’s always been a guiding force for me. In creative pursuits, sometimes there’s a group of gatekeepers that you feel like you have to impress. But I’ve found that if you just focus on making a work of art — or any work that’s inspiring — it’ll build an audience. And that’s the most important thing you can do, is to connect with that audience — with strangers who don’t know you but who admire and are inspired by your work. If you have a good idea that people want to participate in, nothing can stop it from continuing on. I think back on times in my life where the easiest responsibilities — my job or school — were sometimes the hardest things for me to do. Because I was totally bummed out and totally uninspired. And some of the things that have been the hardest to accomplish in my entire life, I did without a second thought. Because I enjoyed them so much that it just seemed like second nature to pursue it. If you’re not where you want to be and you know where that place is, just go…get there immediately.
Joe’s Austin Must: The best taco in town is at a food cart on South 1st called El Primo. The fastball down the middle is the Al Pastor, but you pretty much can’t go wrong. If you’re looking to drop a few bucks and have a nice proper sit down down dinner, there’s a place on the Eastside call Launderette that’s fantastic.
Joe’s Austin Listen: I moved here for the music. I’d say give a listen to Dale Watson, James McMurty and a great local singer/songwriter named Dana Falconberry. They all play in town quite a bit.
