CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Residents here in the Coastal Bend are feeling the pain of Austin canceling it's massive SXSW festival because of coronavirus concerns.
Musicians who play here locally were ready to take their music to Austin for SXSW, but now they're left wondering what's next.
Every year thousands of people travel across the globe to celebrate music and film at SXSW.
"We got selected. It's like a less than two percent chance of getting selected to play and we were selected," said Adam Stern of local band Voodoo Logic.
Adam Stern and his band live and play in Corpus Christi. They were preparing to play at Indie Fest, one of the many sub-festivals going on in Austin during SXSW, when they learned the news that the festival had been canceled.
"It's like we won a lottery ticket and we lost it because it was getting us out in a venue that is going to be seen by untold thousands and thousands of people worldwide," said Stern.
On Friday, Austin Mayor Steve Adler declared the city a local disaster and canceled the festival amid the international spread of coronavirus.
"You know, you think with your mind and your heart so our mind says yeah its probably a good idea, our heart is aching so what are you gonna do?"
Other musicians that were set to take the stage said it came as a surprise.
"It's a sudden shock that we're still kinda digesting I guess," said Jelly Ellington of Dancing Days.
But there's a silver lining; some are saying this might take the festival back to it's roots. While the official shows are canceled, there was always a subculture of unofficial shows during the two week period that will now have the spotlight.
"It seems that a lot of them are gonna stick and there will be opportunities to showcase what Austin musicians can do," said Ellington.
Regardless of the cancellation, these musicians won't skip a beat.
"It goes back to this is rock n roll and there's always going to be risk with rock-n-roll." said Silas Parker of Dancing Days.
"Our plan is just to make music," said Stern.
