Holy mackerel! We’re putting shows together like it’s our job over here!

Why wait until Sunday night like some kind of sucker when you can hear the big big show right now?

Just click the play button to start hearing cool stuff like The Sunshine Hotel, The Harmonica, The Decisions Project, Views and Brews, and our specialty, more!

KUTX 98.9, The Austin Music Experience, and Four Seasons Hotel Austin invite music fans to “KUTX Live at the Four Seasons,” which connects music fans to some of the SXSW Music Festival’s most anticipated artists.

Produced by KUTX 98.9, the four early-morning music broadcasts will feature 25-minute sets. Performances will be broadcast live on KUTX 98.9.

The event is open to the public on a first-come, first served basis; no SXSW badges or wristbands required. Admission is $10, which includes a breakfast taco, granola bar and unlimited coffee. All proceeds benefit the Seton Shivers Cancer Center.

Sure – Austin’s weird.

The weirdness, however, extends past Austin’s musical oddities, its borderline-unhealthy obsession with breakfast tacos (431 results on Yelp!), the stray cryptid museum and even the occasional mystery cake decorated with a zombie Ben Franklin.

The city is full of weird little tics that make Austin Austin. And thanks to a thread on the Austin page of social-sharing website Reddit, citizens are sharing the semi-arcane Austin knowledge that separates the natives from the newcomers.

The original poster of the 400-comment thread confessed he recently learned that Austin thoroughfare Mopac stands for Missouri Pacific — the name of the railroad line that shares parallel space with the oft-congested roadway. (And here we thought it stood for Mostly Packed.)

Last week, students at Eastside Memorial High School delivered a letterinviting the state’s top education administrator for a visit to hear how the threat of the school’s closure for poor academic performance affected them. It was a long shot, but yesterday Michael Williams spent almost two hours at Eastside Memorial. Students welcomed his visit, but the threat of closure remains.

As Williams’ visit approached, school administrators darted through the impeccable hallways shooting instructions to each other over walkie-talkies. Some students wore ties and sported fresh haircuts.

Williams first visited a college-level English class. Nancy Castañeda, 17, led him through a short-story reading exercise where she had to find how a character is central to a story’s main idea.

“I chose to write about ‘The Red Convertible,’ how, like characterization — how at first his character is really happy and crazy,” she started.

But then, he goes off to war and comes back a changed man. The character ends up committing suicide.

What is unique about the way we understand and experience depression today? What does it mean to be creative? What are the links between depression and creativity? During this one hour program we’ll explore the various layers of these questions and more.

Listen, we know you’re probably as eager to start your weekend as we are, so we’re not going to waste your time with all kinds of nonsense. Let’s just get right to it, shall we?

We’ve got three totally different pieces of radio goodness for you today. First off, it’s The Perfect Storm, from the fine folks at This Land Press in Tulsa. It’s a historic look back at the Dust Bowl; it’s really done and informative, so we know you’ll like it.

Then it’s a portrait of musician Corn Mo. Maybe you’ve never heard of Corn Mo, and just think that he’s some dude with an improbably odd name. Well, he is that, but there’s more to him than just that improbably odd name. He’s a pretty interesting guy and you’re gonna enjoy hearing his story.

And then we’ll wrap it all up with For Libertarians and Anarchists Holiday Giving is… from O’Dark buddy Emily Corwin. It’s an interesting look at holiday giving that’s chronologically inappropriate for late February, but hey, who cares?

For El Tule, making music is something of a family affair. In 2003, guitarist Bobby “Miklo” Baca moved to Austin and looked to put together a band. Interestingly en…

Women’s Health programs may be getting more funding this legislative session.
A group of senators led by Health and Human Services Committee Chairwoman Jane Nelson is recomme…

AUSTIN, Texas—Feb. 21, 2013 – KUTX 98.9, The Austin Music Experience, is one of five top public radio stations presenting a special concert and live radio broadcast and webcast from the SXSW Radio Day Stage at the Austin Convention Center on Friday, March 15.

The live concert and broadcast start at noon and will feature performances by Charles Bradley, Dawes, Divine Fits, Emmylou Harris with Rodney Crowell, Iron & Wine, Pickwick and Vampire Weekend. KUTX 98.9 will provide listeners with opportunities to win tickets to see the show live.

“We’re enthusiastic to partner with some of the country’s top public radio stations to produce this exciting live music showcase for music fans across the country, as well as people in Austin attending the SXSW Music Conference,” said KUTX 98.9 Music Director Jeff McCord who along with his colleagues from the other stations, helped to curate the lineup.

Public Radio Rocks SXSW Day Stage, presented by ASCAP, brings the live musical experience of SXSW to public radio listeners — as it happens. In addition to KUTX 98.9, participating public radio stations include: WXPN/Philadelphia, KXT/Dallas, WFUV-FM/New York and The Current/Minneapolis. Each station will broadcast the concert live on its airwaves and websites.

U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) and 14 other Senators sent a letter to President Obama today, calling on the President to withdraw Chuck Hagel’s nomination to be Secretary of Defense.

The letter is signed by Sens. Cornyn, Inhofe (R-OK), Graham (R-SC), Wicker (R-MS), Vitter (R-LA), Cruz (R-TX), Lee (R-UT), Toomey (R-PA), Rubio (R-FL), Coats (R-IN), R. Johnson (R – WI), Risch (R-ID), Barrasso (R-WY), Coburn (R-OK), and Scott (R-SC).

Read the full text of the letter below:

Dear President Obama:

Last Thursday, the Senate voted to continue its consideration of your nomination of former Senator Chuck Hagel to serve as our nation’s next Secretary of Defense.  While we respect Senator Hagel’s honorable military service, in the interest of national security, we respectfully request that you withdraw his nomination.

It would be unprecedented for a Secretary of Defense to take office without the broad base of bipartisan support and confidence needed to serve effectively in this critical position.  Over the last half-century, no Secretary of Defense has been confirmed and taken office with more than three Senators voting against him.  Further, in the history of this position, none has ever been confirmed with more than 11 opposing votes.  The occupant of this critical office should be someone whose candidacy is neither controversial nor divisive.

The first-ever international Modern Quilting Convention—QuiltCon—starts right here in Austin today. So what exactly is “Modern Quilting”?

Quilting has moved out of the attic and into the realm of cool. Just ask the millions of people on websites like Pinterest and Etsy.

QuiltCon organizer Heather Grant says the craft started its internet revolution in 2005… when it became easier to share photos online.

“People really started to share their work online and started to find each other online through blogs and Flickr,” QuiltCon Director of Marketing & Programming Grant says. “Flickr was a very popular gathering place for quilters. So that started the social media component of the modern quilting movement which was the main component to get modern quilting where it is today.”

The deadline to apply for the commission that will draw Austin’s city council district lines is Friday.

The city auditor’s office is making one last call for applicants.

“Commission members will make history as the first citizen-initiated, independent entity to establish the boundaries for the 10 new City Council districts,” City Auditor Kenneth Mory says.

According to Austinites for Geographic Representation—the group that spearheaded the 10-one movement—more than 300 people have applied to be on Austin’s Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission so far.

Fourteen people will be chosen to serve on the redistricting commission and the city wants a group that reflects Austin’s diversity. Earlier this month, the auditor’s office said 90 percent of the commission applicants so far were white and 80 percent were male.

She’s the first lady of Texas rockabilly, and remains one of the state’s finest six-string slingers.

It isn’t everyday that citizens stay late into the evening to tell the Austin City Council what a good job it’s doing. But that was the case last week.

“You’ve guys have won awards – dozens and dozens and dozens of awards – for being the most innovative, green, efficient, well-managed, best customer satisfaction utility in the state of Texas,” environmentalist Tom “Smitty” Smith with Public Citizen told the council. “And you want to change this?”