Power to the people

Spectacular scenes from Formula 1 weekend’s thrilling return to Austin

The international Formula 1 racing series returned to Austin’s Circuit of the Americas last weekend as the United States Grand Prix was held for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began. After spending last season racing behind closed doors, F1’s Austin stop hosted more than 400,000 people throughout the three days of race activities. --- Having placed second behind Max Verstappen during qualifiers on Saturday, British legend Lewis Hamilton quickly took the lead as the big race began Sunday afternoon.

Photo by Daniel Cavazos

The international Formula 1 series returned to Austin’s Circuit of the Americas last weekend as the United States Grand Prix was held for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in 2020. After spending last season racing behind closed doors, F1’s Austin stop hosted more than 400,000 people throughout the three days of race activities.

The international Formula 1 racing series returned to Austin’s Circuit of the Americas last weekend as the United States Grand Prix was held for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began. After spending last season racing behind closed doors, F1’s Austin stop hosted more than 400,000 people throughout the three days of race activities. --- Having placed second behind Max Verstappen during qualifiers on Saturday, British legend Lewis Hamilton quickly took the lead as the big race began Sunday afternoon.

Photo by Daniel Cavazos

Big Loud Texas

Miranda Lambert's Austin record label launches new songwriting arm

Photo by Brayln Kelly Smith

Brendon Anthony (VP, Big Loud Texas), Lizzy Rector (Publishing Director, Big Loud Texas Publishing), Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall

Texas’s next generation of musical talent is signing onto an expanded Austin record label by famous entertainers from the Lone Star State. Big Loud Texas, backed by Grammy-Award-winning country artists Miranda Lambert and Jon Randall, now has a new publishing division, growing the label’s focus past recorded performances to the songwriting behind them.

Lambert and Randall joined forces to launch Big Loud Texas in Austin in 2023. The record label is an expansion of Big Loud Nashville, which boasts big names including Morgan Wallen and Ernest.

The new publishing arm, which launched this May, is led by Lizzy Rector, who previously served as creative manager at Big Machine Publishing. Rector had a hand in more than 50 top 40, country, and rock hits, according to a press release. A core goal within her new role will be getting the Austin and Nashville markets more connected.

Big Loud Texas has already signed two emerging artists: Dylan Gossett from Austin and Jake Worthington from La Porte near Houston.

“Austin for a long time has been an incredible place to make live music and most of the emphasis has been focused on supporting live music and the musicians that make it,” says Big Loud Texas VP Brendon Anthony. “But all of us in the industry are keenly aware that that's not where wealth is built in the commercial music industry. That's through publishing and their intellectual property.”

Big Loud Texas Publishing’s first songwriter is Timothy Allen, a multi-instrumental singer-songwriter and producer from Rockwall, who caught Randall’s attention while performing at the Texas Music Revolution country festival. The publishing division hopes to sign up to seven more Texas-based writers in the next several months.

Lambert and Randall are hands-on founders, providing their industry experience to sign and develop artists for the Big Loud Texas roster.

“I grew up listening to incredible storytellers like Guy Clark and Emmylou Harris,” Lambert said in the release. “Hearing their music made me realize I wanted to be an artist who poured my own truth into songs and said something meaningful through my writing. With Big Loud Texas Publishing, I’m proud to help nurture that same spirit in a new generation of writers, and I’m so excited to welcome Timothy Allen as our first signing.”

Gossett has already released two studio EPs and seven singles and is touring around the country this year, while Worthington has opened for popular country artists, including Hank Williams Jr. and Lainey Wilson. Anthony said the label has signed three other unnamed artists who are getting ready to release their debuts.

“I think it’s very important that a new label has taken root in Austin, and Texas, led by Big Loud, is taking this sort of investment in the state seriously,” says Anthony. “The formation of [a] publishing company to be anchored in Texas, supported and integrated into the national songwriting machine is an incredible step for the industry.”

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