3TEN ACL Live, a 350-person venue, is set to open in downtown Austin next month.
The venue will be set in the same building as the regular Austin City Limits Live production facility, but contains a much smaller seating capacity than the latter’s 2,700, according to an article from the Austin American-Statesman.
The new venue on Second Street will offer musical performances, events and music programming.
Kevin Johns, the director of the City of Austin’s economic development department, said ACL Live created the venue to improve the city’s music and creative sector since many other local concert spaces are closing down.
“We need more replacement venues, and such highly visible ones like the Second Street location are critically important to our creative future,” Johns said. “Now, if we can only replicate that throughout our urban regeneration strategy regionally, the musicians will have economically sound streams of revenue to support their families and our great interest”.
Erica Shamaly, director of marketing at ACL Live at the Moody Theater, said the new space will offer a more relaxed and close atmosphere between the audience and performers.
“We always knew we wanted a smaller capacity room close to ACL Live. … This venue will be a state-of-the-art showcase listening room, which will present emerging and established talent from both Austin and beyond. 3TEN is about discovery as well as an intimate experience between the audience and artist — both hallmarks of the original ACL TV Studio 6A,” Shamlay said.
Johns said he hopes the new venue will help improve Austin’s musical infrastructure by supporting local musicians.
“I believe that new music television and radio programming for different generations and ethnicities would be a welcome enhancement to our Austin musical marketing and prosperity,” Johns said.
Jack McFadden, senior talent buyer at ACL Live, said the new venue will expand and nurture the musical culture of the city by being “a safe haven for local and national touring bands,” as well as adding to the excitement of downtown Austin.
“We had the extra space here at ACL Live/Block 21, so we decided to use it as a mixed venue for private events and concerts,” McFadden said. “There is nothing more exciting than seeing bands play a small room and having them, years later, headline a big festival like ACL or something. We hope we can be part of their career in that way — a stepping stone."
