Pre-Order the Austin Music Issue

Austin Music Issue

Following last year’s issue-length exploration of Memphis, the 2025 edition of the Oxford American’s annual Southern Music Issue is devoted to another fascinating and complex American place: Austin, Texas. We’re exploring the historical context that gave rise to the city’s reputation as “the live music capital of the world,” paying special attention to the spaces—nightclubs, saloons, festival stages—which allowed that culture to flourish. But we're also investigating the factors that threaten Austin’s vibrancy, and celebrating the folks who work to keep the sounds fresh and the venues packed through so many seasons of change.

We want to know if the psychedelic rock movement has pre-California roots in Austin and what role Lucinda Williams’s time busking on the Drag played in her trajectory from unknown songwriter to Americana icon. We want to see what gems have been uncovered by the Austin Fanzine Project’s meticulous digitization of the city’s counterculture periodicals, and to visit the spaces where Latin dance music’s vitality has persisted, from the long-gone ’90s clubs on Congress Avenue to the present-day hotspot Mala Vida. We want to find out why Guy Clark yearned to be “... in Austin, in the Chili Parlor Bar / drinking Mad Dog Margaritas and not caring where you are,” and what it meant when Kacey Musgraves sang that she “made it all the way past Austin City Limits / and maybe for a minute I got too big for my britches.” We want to learn what magic’s in the dirt at Luck Ranch, the one-time movie set and current Willie Nelson home base that his son Lukas Nelson memorialized in a 2010 song: “Just outside of Austin, higher than I’ve ever been / Just outside of Austin, I think I fell in love with you again.” No Austin subject is too great or small.

We’re eager to consider mature drafts of up to 5000 words or well-crafted proposals. Enthusiasm, surprise, and originality are essential to an OA music piece. We are interested in publishing: essays, short stories, meditations, Q&As, photo portfolios, narrative criticism, poetry, and other work that does not fit neatly into a specific genre or form. In our attempt to assemble a love letter to Austin music spaces past and present, we’re also seeking short essays of 500–1,000 words focusing on a specific venue. The magazine’s accompanying compilation album—a limited-edition vinyl—will also honor the emotion and electricity of performance; shorter, liner-note-style essays about a specific song, artist, or live recording are welcome, too. Please send submissions or pitches our way by July 21st. The issue will be on newsstands in December. Compensation will depend on the length and complexity of the story; all writers will be paid.

Submit drafts or proposals via Submittable at this link or by emailing [email protected]

Digital Submissions

 

The Oxford American has launched a digital imprint designed around our mission “to explore the complexity and vitality of the American South,” which complements the print magazine. The OA has long documented the outsize impact of the South: a global exporter of food, music, and culture—and home to the most exciting cultural shifts in the country.

Our imperative is to meet readers where they are and offer thoughtful coverage of our region that “cuts through the noise” of traditional news media by centering real people and writers working from within their communities. 

Hurricane Katrina 20th Anniversary Series:

In recognition of the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the Oxford American invites submissions from writers, journalists, photographers, and community members to share their work that reckons with the storm’s lasting legacy.

We are seeking essays, reported dispatches, profiles, and photography that explores the themes of displacement, the storm, and the ongoing impact of Katrina, both within and beyond the Gulf Coast. 

Submissions are open through Thursday, July 31, 2025. 

How to Pitch:

Email us directly at [email protected] with the subject line, “Katrina Anniversary Pitch.” There is no fee associated with an email pitch. In the body of email, please include a clear and concise explanation of the story and how you plan to make it happen. 

This series pays a flat fee rate of $300 per article. 

For photographers, please submit your work for free at this link. (Please select that you are submitting work for Hurricane Katrina anniversary coverage.)

This series pays an honorarium of $100 per photography project.

OA Now:

We are seeking dispatch pitches for OA Now. Dispatches identify and draw attention to the space where “policy meets people,” centering human impact and celebrating counter-narrative. At 500 to 2,000 words, this series offers the flexibility to respond to current events as they happen with adequate speed and requisite attention. The OA seeks stories of the American South that are neglected by national news media.

We’re looking for reported, journalistic pieces that respond to what is happening right now in the communities you’re based in or connected to, with a hyper-focus on extraordinary stories that are specific to locales.

This series pays a flat fee of $300 per article.

How to Pitch:

We encourage you to directly email us at [email protected] with the subject line, “Dispatch Pitch.” There is no fee associated with an email pitch. In the body of the email, please include:

• A clear and concise explanation of the story

• A plan to make your story a great read (is there an interesting figure at the center? A narrative arc to the story?)

• A headline (even if we don’t end up using it, it can help us understand the essence of the story you’re trying to tell)

• A very short argument for why this story is interesting, unique and needs to exist

• A note on why you should be the person to write it

• A plan to make it happen

Eyes on the South:

Eyes on the South is the Oxford American’s online series highlighting photography and visual art. You can find examples of Eyes on the South here. In addition to artists, non-profits, galleries, publications, and museums are all welcome to submit with permission from the artist.

This series pays an honorarium of $100 per project.

How to Submit:

We encourage you to submit for free at this link.