Resounding revamp

Austin music promoters band together to relocate venue and open new bar and listening lounge

Parish will settle into its new location on the east side next month.

Photo by Daniel Cavazos

In an effort to amp up the vibes in the Live Music Capital of the World, some longtime champions of Austin’s music scene are fine-tuning a cherished local venue and simultaneously launching a new bar and listening lounge that’s sure to strike the right note with Austinites.

Independent concert promoter Heard Presents and live-music booking agency Resound announced Thursday, February 10 that the businesses will collaborate to rebrand and relocate one of Austin’s most noteworthy music venues — The Parish — from its home in the historic Sixth Street District to the near east side, and open an adjoining concept dubbed My Oh My.

The Parish, which will now be known simply as Parish, will move from its 214 E. Sixth St. location to 501 Brushy St., in the space that formerly housed the North Door. The COVID-19 pandemic caused that music venue to close in the fall of 2020. (It has since reopened in a smaller space at 500 San Marcos St.)

The new Parish venue and accompanying My Oh My bar and listening lounge concept — which the project’s partners are creating in the attached back area of the complex — are set to open March 10, just in time for South By Southwest.

The idea to refresh and relocate the Parish venue came about when the partners heard the North Door was closing and saw an opportunity to boost their collective booking, promoting, and branding business while also reviving the Brushy Street complex and concurrently breathing new life into the Parish brand.

And considering their combined experience, they’re hardly just playing it by ear; indeed, both companies are jam-packed with experts who have a storied history in the Austin music industry.

Central Texas-focused Resound was founded in 2021 by Graham Williams and Ian Orth, whose Margin Walker Presents shuttered in 2020. And Williams was also previously a partner in Transmission Entertainment and Austin’s Fun Fun Fun Fest.

Likewise, Stephen Sternschein and Dave Machinist, the co-founders of and brains behind Heard — which has long operated Austin’s Empire Control Room & Garage and The Parish — have been producing live music for the Austin community since 2012.

While the partners comprise a powerhouse group of Austin music industry pros, this is the first time they have partnered as owners of a venue.

“I’ve been in love with the 501 Brushy space for well over a decade. Being a native Austinite, I can remember when it was all soundstages back in the ’80s,” says Resound’s Orth. “It’s such a unique and special place, both in its feel and location. From throwing countless shows and DJ events there over the years, I’ve always dreamed of being able to transform the space into its full potential. To be able to finally have that dream realized with this team we have behind it is beyond exciting. Fully rebranding Parish and building My Oh My have also been a dream come true. It’s become a project I’m deeply passionate about and we can’t wait to share our vision with everyone.”

The new Parish venue will feature a 350-person capacity, a modernized look, and a lighting setup that should make for excellent photographic moments. The goal, the partners say, is to “create a vibrant and welcoming place that provides the kinds of experiences that fans and artists continue to come back for.”

Joining Parish at its new home is My Oh My, which aims to be “a small bar for big hangs” and will evoke a modern lounge vibe, with wood finishes, smoky mirrors, LED and neon lights, and a slew of colorful fixtures. More tweaks will be made to the décor and structure this year and next, according to a release.

The bar’s menu will include classic and batch cocktails, beer, and wine. Food will also be available from the kitchen connecting the complex out front. My Oh My will be open daily, and programming will be planned for the complex most nights of the week.

Additionally, Resound and Heard are partnering with Eastside Music School to incorporate AV recording capabilities into the space so it can be used as a soundstage.

“For the last 10 years, we’ve established ourselves as passionate music entrepreneurs who, at the core, want to sustain and enrich the community around us,” says Heard’s Machinist. “The rebirth of Parish on Brushy Street is our phoenix rising. We have the opportunity to create a space from all of the wisdom earned promoting and producing thousands of events in Austin. Doing this with expert partners like Graham and Ian makes it easy to transcend from visions of an ideal to a reality, and we couldn’t be more excited.”

The venue and new bar will open on March 10, with the already listed show featuring TWRP and Rich Aucoin as the first performance at the new spot. That show will be followed by performances from Soft Kill with Alien Boy and Topographies on March 22, Lala Lala on March 30, Chori Boy on April 4, Naked Giants with Wombo on April 7, and Carl Craig on May 6. More scheduled spring shows will be announced soon.

Official SXSW shows start March 14 and will be announced in the coming weeks. Any shows booked at the former Parish location after March 10 will take place at the venue’s new home. Additional shows, along with specifics about grand opening events, will be announced at parishaustin.com.

Parish will settle into its new location on the east side next month.

Photo by Daniel Cavazos

Parish will settle into its new location on the east side next month.

concerts nightlife openings music east-austin cocktails fun-fun-fun-fest

High Score

Austin named the nation's pickleball capital in industry report

Photo by Henry Selis Photo

Other Racquet Social Club is back after city woes.

It's no secret that Austinites love pickleball. A new study proves just how much by ranking Austin the No. 1 city for pickleball in the whole country. Dallas and Houston also made the top 10 at Nos. 3 and 8, respectively.

The report was published by TeachMe.To, an online marketplace for learning sports (and sometimes music) from private instructors. It used data from its own platform, USA Pickleball, Places2Play, local pickleball associations, and more. It also referred to the Sports and Fitness Industry Association (SFIA), which named pickleball the fastest-growing sport in America, with a growth rate of 223.5 percent over three years.

Similarly, TeachMe.To ranked Austin as the fastest-growing city for pickleball, and citing this as the main reason for the overall title of "the nation's pickleball capital."

It name-checked the Austin Metro Pickleball Association (AMPA) — with approximately 3,000-3,500 members — and the Austin Pickleball League (APL), estimating that overall, "15,000-20,000 people play pickleball at least occasionally in the greater Austin area." About half of those players — about 8,000-10,000 people — play at least twice a month.

The report did not include gender data on Austin, specifically, but it did note that not only are two-thirds of pickleball players female; women's involvement in the sport is also growing 50 percent faster than men's.

New courts everywhere
This probably isn't a surprise to people who have noticed the number of courts opened around Austin in recent years. By 2024, TeachMe.To's data shows 32 dedicated courts in Austin, and thanks to with a utility rate of 92 percent it doesn't look like that'll be slowing down.

In the summer of 2023, the online booking platform Swimply noticed how many pickleball courts there were in Austin compared to such great demand, and added courts to its service. In fall 2023 and summer 2024, at least two important developments expanded that availability: Other Racquet Social Club opened as a friendly, country club-like neighborhood option, and national chain The Picklr announced it's bringing five locations to Austin and Round Rock.

Perhaps because Austin is such a food-obsessed city, there seems to be some growing opportunity for food and beverage hospitality around pickleball, too. Other Racquet recently started hosting the Bill's Dips food truck, a spinoff of the popular downtown restaurant Bill's Oyster; and a pair of bars with pickleball courts, Drifters Social Coffee & Cocktails and The Pickle Pub, also opened in South Austin this year, with strong online ratings already.

The trend has even reached into real estate (see this cute house with its own pickleball court) and inspired athletes to introduce similar sports to the local market, as in the case of the padel club Paddle39. TeachMe.To's report also mentioned tech companies adding pickleball to their campuses.

Aside from growth, the study also considered lesson activity (including information about teacher availability and diversity of clinic offerings), infrastructure, community vitality, the tournament scene.

Austin had the highest concentration of all the cities of players under 40 (65 percent), as well as the highest share of national lesson bookings. At 16.90 percent, that means about one in six of the pickleball lessons contracted through this platform were in Austin. Lesson demand, the report says, is growing 125 percent year-over-year.

Elsewhere in Texas
Dallas was No. 3 thanks in part to its "central location" according to the report.

"The city's 45 dedicated courts and 85 [percent] public accessibility rate have fostered one of the most active competitive scenes in the country, with 8,500 registered league players," it says. "The combination of strong tournament presence, extensive infrastructure, and a 112% growth in lesson bookings solidifies Dallas as a powerhouse in the national pickleball landscape."

Houston made No. 8 with an emphasis on integrating pickleball with other sports.

"The city's 22 dedicated courts have seen a 92% increase in lesson bookings, driven by innovative programming that includes the nation's first corporate league system," it says. "Houston's success in integrating pickleball into existing sports infrastructure while maintaining 72% year-round utilization demonstrates a sustainable model for rapid growth."

Overall predictions
After laying out data about the top cities in pickleball, the report made some predictions. As the Austin newcomer mentioned above believes, the report also thinks padel is the next big thing. It also guesses more cities will act like Houston by focusing on hybrid facilities.

It also expects to see an expanded professional circuit and mainstream coverage, more technology used on the court, a rise in the prevalence of young players, and more opportunities in corporate wellness and real estate. "Dedicated pickleball facilities will become as common as swimming pools in luxury developments," it says. Texans will be the judge of that one.

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