Music is the language that connects us – to our guests, to our spaces, to one another. Our Director of Music, Lauren Bucherie, is a champion of creating unforgettable music experiences at our hotels and restaurants, bringing guests up close to hip, new sounds and within earshot of musicians’ personal stories.
So, naturally, we went BIG for the ultimate musical experience, SXSW 2018 in Austin, Texas!

A set list from Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats’ performance at Geraldine’s (Photo credit: Timothy Clancy)
Throughout the week-long festival, Kimpton Hotel Van Zandt was bustling with music at every turn, from live bands in the living room to listening sessions in the Presidential Suite. We even partnered with local non-profit Austin Music Foundation to put on a music meet-up in Café 605.

Love, Abbey performs with Brother Sundance in the Kimpton Hotel Van Zandt’s lobby (Photo credit: @beardandthelady)
Not stopping there, fans had a front row seat to two legendary events hosted inside Geraldine’s intimate live-music venue.
First, 100 lucky concert-goers were treated to a sneak peek of Shakey Graves’ upcoming album, Can’t Wake Up, due out in May. Shakey was thrilled to introduce this record for the first time ever to this special audience. Along with the record playing in full via BEATS headphones throughout the event, Shakey also took to the stage to play a handful of never-played-before songs.

Shakey Graves performed during his album listening party in Geraldine’s. (Photo credit: Timothy Clancy)
Then, the week and festival came to an epic close with a concert dreams are made of featuring Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Nikki Lane and The Band of Heathens. Just one night before, Nathaniel and his band performed for over 10,000 festivals-goers in downtown Austin. But a giddy crowd of 400 were in rapt attention as he took the stage at Geraldine’s, along with special guest Margo Price.

Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats brought the house down for an epic closer to SXSW. (Photo credit: Timothy Clancy)
Simply stated, we love bringing your concert dreams to life. Here’s to more once-in-a-lifetime musical nights and we hope to see you at SXSW 2019.