Music for a Cause

Star-studded Hurricane Harvey benefit concert coming to Austin

SXSW Supermensch Shep Gordon After Party Willie Nelson

Willie Nelson will be one of many stars at Harvey Can't Mess With Texas: A Benefit Concert for Hurricane Harvey Relief, taking place on September 22 at Frank Erwin Center.

Photo by Shelley Neuman

Hot on the heels of George Strait's Hurricane Harvey benefit concert in San Antonio, plans have been announced for the star-studded Harvey Can't Mess With Texas: A Benefit Concert for Hurricane Harvey Relief on Friday, September 22, at Frank Erwin Center.

The four-hour concert will feature performances from a variety of music heavyweights, including Willie Nelson, Paul Simon, James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt, Leon Bridges, Lyle Lovett, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, Ryan Bingham, Ha*Ash, and other special guests. The evening will also include special appearances by Matthew McConaughey, Dan Rather, Renée Zellweger, Luke Wilson, Austin Mayor Steve Adler, Houston Chief of Police Art Acevedo, and many more.

The concert will also be broadcast without commercial interruption on 11 TEGNA stations and stream internationally on YouTube.com/TexasStrong from 9-10 pm Central time. TEGNA stations airing the broadcast concert include WFAA in Dallas; KHOU in Houston; KVUE in Austin; KENS in San Antonio; KBMT in Beaumont; KCEN in Waco-Temple-Bryan; KAGS in College Station; KIII in Corpus Christi; KYTX in Tyler; KIDY in San Angelo; and KXVA in Abilene.

Google will match the first $500,000 of donations through a pledge challenge. Volunteers from Google's Austin office and TEGNA employees will staff the phone banks at select station locations across the state. All viewers can support the relief efforts in post-Hurricane Harvey Texas by donating via telephone or online at www.RebuildTX.org.

Proceeds will benefit Rebuild Texas Fund, which was created by the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation in collaboration with the OneStar Foundation. The four focus areas of the fund include health and housing; schools and child care; workforce and transportation; and capital for small businesses. The Dells are working to raise a total of $100 million for the long-term relief, recovery, and rebuilding efforts for all affected communities in Texas.

Tickets for the concert, ranging from $30-$199, will go on sale on Wednesday, September 13, at 3 pm at www.RebuildTX.org.

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Reexamining Don Draper

Jon Hamm, Henry Winkler, and more headed to Austin for TV festival

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Jon Hamm is coming to Austin to talk about Don Draper.

From May 29 to June 1, 2025, the ATX TV Festival will take over downtown Austin, and this year Jon Hamm will be joining the festival for the first time.

Hamm will be here for an event called A Mad Men Retrospective, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the show's finale. In this panel (the moderator of which is not yet announced), Hamm will reflect on his Emmy-winning performance as Mad Men's Don Draper, the uniqueness of the character in the TV canon, and the show's influence 10 years after it ended.

Jon Hamm may be best known as Draper, but he's also given celebrated performances in several movies and other shows like Fargo, Black Mirror, and — fun fact! — Gilmore Girls.

Celebrating TV is what the ATX TV Festival is all about. This annual summer event is put on by ATX TV and consists of screenings, Q&As, and panel conversations; plus all sorts of parties, live music, happy hours, and other events. It's known for reunions of classic series and cult hits, and according to the website, it's like "TV camp for grownups."

Jon Hamm isn't the only heavy-hitter in this year's lineup.

Programming also includes an acting class and Q&A with Henry Winkler himself, a live script reading of classic episodes from The Golden Girls and Designing Women (guest actors to be announced), a reunion of the creatives and cast of the HBO hit series The Leftovers, a live recording of the podcast Sidebar: A Suits Watch Podcast with Suits stars and co-hosts Sarah Rafferty and Patrick J. Adams, and much more.

Additionally, the festival's annual Pitch Competition is still accepting open pitch submissions through January 17. This gives creatives in Austin a chance to pitch their show idea in front of some of the industry's biggest showrunners and executives. Those in the top 10 will receive a year of support to make the next steps in their TV careers.

Festival badges and passes ($150-535) are on sale now.

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