JOE NICK PATOSKI GEARS UP FOR ‘AUSTIN TO ATX’ BOOK LAUNCH AT AUSTIN CENTRAL LIBRARY WEDNESDAY, FEB. 13

Patoski’s book profiles the ‘Hippies, Pickers, Slackers & Geeks who transformed the Capital of Texas’; announces new SXSW panel ‘Who and What Makes Austin Austin?’ this March 10
(AUSTIN, TEXAS – Feb. 4, 2019; source: Juice Consulting) – “Austin to ATX: The Hippies, Pickers, Slackers, and Geeks Who Transformed the Capital of Texas,” the tenth title by writer Joe Nick Patoski, officially launches at the Austin Central Library downtown at 710 W. César Chávez St. on Wednesday, Feb. 13. “Austin to ATX,” published by Texas A&M University Press, is a collection of origin stories explaining how Austin became Austin. Kirkus Reviews says, “Fans of the place where ‘anybody who’s a little different runs to…as fast as they can’ will find much to like here.” The event, part of The Library Foundation’s atCentral series, presented in partnership with BookPeople, will feature an in-depth discussion with the author led by Austin American-Statesman writer Michael Barnes, along with live music (naturally) from the legendary Jon Dee Graham featuring songs from different Austin eras, followed by a book signing. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. with the discussion kicking off at 7 p.m. This event is free and open to the public; to RSVP, please see here. To listen to Joe Nick Patoski read the chapter on South by Southwest in a preview of the audiobook, go to www.joenickp.com or see here. To order “Austin to ATX” at Book People, go here. To order on Amazon, go here. For more information on Joe Nick Patoski, check out www.joenickp.com.
Patoski is moderating the Who and What Makes Austin Austin? panel at South by Southwest on Sunday, March 10 from 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. at Hilton Salon K. Panelists are Heather Brunner, CEO of WP-Engine, Aaron Franklin, owner-operator of Franklin Barbecue and Sandra Adair, film editor for 17 Rick Linklater films and director of “The Secret Life of Lance Letscher,” which premiered at SXSW Film in 2018. Each will share their own startup story and discuss the impact and influence of Austin on their respective fields of expertise, determining what role place – this place called Austin – has had on their work and personal lives. Attendance is limited to SXSW attendees.
In his book, Joe Nick Patoski delves into the city’s creative heart and traces Austin’s transition over the past fifty years from funky small city to the global metropolis of international importance it is today, keeping on institutions ranging from the Armadillo World Headquarters, Austin City Limits, Whole Foods Market, the Austin Film Society, Esther’s Follies, Antone’s, Liberty Lunch, Capital Factory and the Cathedral of Junk, and the people who created them. “Austin to ATX” answers the questions: How did it get so weird? Why is it called the People’s Republic of Austin? Who declared Austin the Live Music Capital of the World? What’s the dang deal with moontowers and bats? How did the worldwide phenomenon of women’s roller derby get hatched in a Sixth Street bar? And why do locals always tell you that you got here two years too late?
“‘Austin to ATX’ is a deep dive into alternative Austin through the lens of the outsiders, musicians, free thinkers, artists and entrepreneurs who shaped the city,” said Joe Nick Patoski. “Creatives, drawn by Austin’s counterculture and music scene in the 1970s, developed communities and institutions that have led to film, food and tech becoming cornerstones of the modern, forward-thinking city Austin is today.”
An eclectic mix of innovative outsiders are profiled in “Austin to ATX,” including Stephen Harrigan, Willie Nelson, Terry Lickona, Marcia Ball, Kenneth Threadgill, Eddie Wilson, Rick Linklater, Shannon Sedwick, Richard Garriott, Heather Brunner, Patty Lang Fair, John Mackey, Liz Lambert, Clifford Antone, Steve Wertheimer, Aaron Franklin, Merlin Tuttle, April Ritzenthaler, Roland Swenson, Louis Black, Daniel Johnston, Nick Barbaro, Dewey Winburne, Hugh Forrest, Nancy Schafer, Robert Rodriguez, Elizabeth Avellan, Vince Hannemann, Cecilia Balli, John Mueller and Joanna Wu.
About Joe Nick Patoski:
Patoski has written biographies of Willie Nelson (“Willie Nelson: An Epic Life”), Selena (“Selena: Como La Flor”) and Stevie Ray Vaughan (“Caught in the Crossfire,” with Bill Crawford), and an 800-page history of Dallas and football, “The Dallas Cowboys: The Outrageous History of The Biggest, Loudest, Most Hated, Best Loved Football Team in America.” He has written books about the Texas mountains, the Texas coast and Big Bend National Park in collaboration with photographer Laurence Parent, and has also authored the books “Generations on the Land: A Conservation Legacy” and “Texas High School Football: More Than the Game,” based on the exhibit he curated at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum. Patoski wrote major essays for the books “Homegrown: Austin Music Posters 1967-1982,” edited by Alan Schaefer; “My Guitar Is My Camera” by Watt Casey; “Conjunto” by John Dyer; “The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll;” and “Pickers and Poets: The Ruthlessly Poetic Singer-Songwriters of Texas,” edited by Craig Clifford and Craig D. Hillis. In addition, Patoski has recorded oral histories of musical powerhouses B.B. King, the Blind Boys of Alabama’s Clarence Fountain, Memphis-based producer and musician Jim Dickinson and Tejano superstar Little Joe Hernandez for the book “My Soul Looks Back In Wonder,” and for the Library of Congress and AARP’s Voices of Civil Rights project. A staff writer for Texas Monthly magazine for 18 years, and one-time reporter for the Austin American-Statesman, Patoski knows Austin intimately. His work resonates far beyond Texas, with bylines in publications such as the New York Times, National Geographic, National Public Radio Music, the Oxford American, TimeOut New York, Garden and Gun and No Depression magazines. A hardcore Texas music nut, he hosts the Texas Music Hour of Power on KRTS FM Marfa Saturdays from 7 – 9 p.m. CST. For more information please see www.joenickp.com.
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MEDIA NOTE:
For general press inquiries on Joe Nick Patoski, or to RSVP for the Austin Public Library event on Feb. 13, please contact the team at Juice Consulting:
Heather Wagner Reed
713 208 3891
Madison Snelling
210 213 8934