Free Music Download: Almost as Good as Being at Bonnoroo

We all know that Austin is the center of the music universe. We have SXSW and the Austin City Limits Festival every year.

But you have to give credit to the organizers of the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. It just might be the biggest and bestest music festival in the country. It’s huge. And it always has a terrific, eclectic line up of bands to see.

It’s happening this weekend in Manchester, Tennessee. Unfortunately, I’m not going, and apparently neither are you.

Too bad. But there is a nice little consolation prize for us. National Public Radio is offering a free sampler of songs from performers scheduled for this year’s Bonnaroo.

Yes. It’s free. If you don’t already have an iTunes account, you’ll have to register for one in order to download. But other than that, there are no strings attached.

It’s eleven tracks by eleven excellent bands that are among the up-and-comers of the festival, including The Black Keys, Ozomatli,  The Dodos, and others. Don’t worry if you don’t know these bands. I’m reasonably hip, and I only knew two of the artists on the list. The music is all at the very least interesting, and it’s FREE. You have nothing to lose but a few minutes of bandwidth.

NPR’s Bonnaroo music sampler will be available for download through July 31. Click –> here <– to go to the relevant NPR web page.

(Photo: Some rights reserved, Amy L. Riddle)

A Fun Day Trip: Head to Wimberley

Let’s do a road trip. And I know just the place to go.

We’re heading out to Wimberley to look at lots and lots of cool stuff at the Wimberley Lions Market Days.

It’s a giant outdoor market with an amazing array of merchandise.  You can expect to find antiques, oil paintings, homemade salsa, leather goods, wind chimes, pottery, baskets, furniture, sun catchers, stained glass… and who knows what else.

It happens the first Saturday of the month, March through December in Wimberley. That’s about an hour drive from Mosaic at Mueller. It’s mostly through some very pretty Hill Country scenery. It’s going to be a good day trip.

Check out the Wimberley Lions Market Days website for more information.

Have you been to the Wimberley Lions Market Days? Are there any other markets around Austin we should know about?

Don’t Miss the Peak of the Roadside Flower Show

There’s a wildflower show going on right now.

Yep. I’m talking about the wildflowers currently on display along the roads and highways of Texas.  This year is turning out to be one of the best wildflower seasons in years, and this weekend could be just about the peak.

Take a drive. Take a camera. And update your bluebonnet photo collection.

For inspiration, take a gander at Texas Wildflower Pictures.com. It has some wildflower reports, and some AMAZING photos.

Wildflowerhaven.com also has some very good reports with some detailed information on where to drive, as does lone-star.net. Perhaps the best source for bluebonnet reports this year is the Facebook fan page for the excellent blog 365 Things to Do in Austin.

(Image: Some rights reserved, Sam Wilson)

Wordless Wednesday’s: Getaway’s Edition