KUTX 98.9's Rock the Park free music series returns

So many parents want to enjoy Austin's live music scene and having kids certainly shouldn't stop them. That idea back in 2016 has now become a family tradition and tomorrow the community invited once again to celebrate 10 years of music and family fun. Joining us this morning to talk about it, Jackie Fuller, Assistant Program Director at KUTX 98.9. Talk about Rock the Park. Congratulations on a decade of this fun event. Tell us a little bit about how it got started and kind of the thinking behind it. Yeah, so back in 2016 we wanted to launch a new event. We knew that we wanted it to be Austin-centric. We didn't wanna compete with the Red River Club, so we needed to do something different. So we were looking at our ratings, and we saw a strong showing in the 18 to 34, and the 55 plus, but there was a huge chunk missing. And ratings will only tell you so much, you have to do a little bit of guesswork. And a lot of us had young children at home at the time, and we thought, maybe that's what's happening there. When your kids want to listen to the Paw Patrol soundtrack or whatever, you're not listening to KUTX. Yeah. And as parents, we also knew that it's very difficult to get out and see a super late show down at the club. It's just not happening sometimes. Yeah, right, right. So you've done this, and the idea was some family-friendly entertainment and bands, but also just at a decent hour. Yes. And some stuff for the kids and some stuff that the parents and the adults are gonna enjoy as well. Yes, absolutely. in some ways that's a tall order to make sure that program comes together well you know we have a kids show that airs on sunday nights called spare the rock spoil the child so we tapped the host of that show to book the first act the opener of each show which is kind of geared towards the younger younger kids and then the headliner is you know bands that you might hear on kutx or emerging artists that we want to champion and it's still family friendly so you can you know you don't have to leave with your child they can stick around and learn about austin music it's such And then the venue is cool. Like I said, Austin has no shortage of great venues, but the Miller, Mueller, whatever you want to say, development over there, that's a wonderful space as well. You're maximizing that. It's a wonderful space. And the neighborhood and the developer has been essential to the event. They've been so supportive of it over the years. And Dell Children's, which is also in the neighborhood, is our presenting sponsor. We wouldn't have been able to do this without them. So it's a great space. You can just bring a blanket, hang out on the lawn. it's really casual and it's just this great community event we know how quickly time goes i mean obviously you look back now over a decade you realize you've done something right that's become as big as it was i assume all the people in that current back in 2016 who needed to babysit or try to figure out that didn't matter anymore they can go to the shows now a whole new crop is is appreciating what you're doing for them yeah well my kid was two when the event started and so she's grown up with it and so i see her walking around you know cool teenager with her friends and you know so she's she's grown up with that a lot of kids have all right so again year 10 what's what's coming up as we start things off this year we've got uh on friday night we've got eddie angel playing with the capastas and then november 6th is the last show of the fall season that'll be with a band called almost almost heaven and then we'll start up again in march yeah wonderful time of year to do that in the fall and also in the spring that we get to enjoy around here uh i guess the station website or where's the best place to kind to keep touch of what's going on. KUTX.org, and the event is, in addition to being family-friendly, it's totally free. Yeah, that's wonderful to be able to present that and offer that to so many people. Kind of a cool introduction to Austin music, too, for people who will graduate on to maybe some later shows at some point in time, but getting out and seeing all the great bands and stuff. Yep, you can get a taste of Austin music at an early hour. Wonderful. I told you, anybody on a morning show appreciates that, too, even if the kids are holding out of the house. Jackie Fuller from KUTX, congratulations again on 10 years and best of luck as the show goes on this year as well. Thanks. Appreciate it.