Local StoriesFebruary 21, 2023

Daily Inspiration: Meet Tyson Swindell

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tyson Swindell.

Hi Tyson, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?

I grew up in a music family, my mom played piano, and my dad was a jazz singer. I started music training at 3, playing classical violin, viola, and piano. As a teen, I discovered the magic of playing guitar, punk music, and DIY culture, which led me to learn how to book shows, route tours, and play in touring bands. Eventually, I ran nightclubs and other music industry businesses. Fast forward to 2023, where you can find me working for music/tech start ups, helping build automated tools for music industry folks and music fans, all the while supporting the musician communities and helping venue proprietors as well. There’s a lot more to it than that, but that’s the basis of it. One thing I am especially proud of is my side hustle which is building and growing an aggregated list of shows for cities with bustling music scenes; we call this Showlist. We operate in Austin, Portland, and Seattle thus far. https://www.showlists.net/ can show you what this is and how it works, but essentially, it’s a free tool for each community to help spread the word about local and touring concerts. My goal has always been to represent the music communities that helped raise me, to make sure musicians are being paid, to offer support to the music venue proprietors where I can, and to go out of my way to see that underrepresented communities are getting these gigs as well.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It could have been smoother! I have made thousands of mistakes, some many times in a row! Being overworked, underpaid, unappreciated, and surrounded by an alcohol and addiction culture can have endless negative feedback loops for anyone. However, music people such as myself often find that they are drawn back into the work. I have to troubleshoot issues in real-time, learn on my feet in the most stressful work environments imaginable, and I often have to wear both the creative and administrative hats simultaneously to have successful ventures.

Thanks for sharing that. So, you could tell us a bit more about your work.
I own and manage Showlists.net with Reggie O’Farrell. Its a web-based tool for aggregating concert listings in Austin, Portland, OR, and Seattle. We build the back-end and front-end infrastructure that helps support the artist communities in those cities with the User Experience held in the highest regard. We keep it simple and don’t inundate the user with pop-up ads, auto-play music, polls, or the like in a way that keeps them coming back. I am very proud of this little company!

Please talk to us about happiness and what makes you happy.
I am fulfilled professionally by being able to help give artists a safe place to showcase art, allowing fans a safe place to experience art, and attempting to represent and lift up underrepresented talent, whether a business or a person.

Showlist Ad Pricing:

$200 per month advertising on showlists.net: https://austin.showlists.net/advertising/
$1-$20 patreon subscriptions for helping support showlists: https://www.patreon.com/showlistaustin

Contact Info:

Website: https://www.showlists.net/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/showlistaustin/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/showlistaustin
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tyson-swindell/?original_referer=
Art Projects: https://www.tysonswindell.com/

Image Credits
Joe Salinas (my portrait)

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