Austin’s East 12th Street corridor fills with blues, jazz and gospel music this weekend as the Eastside Kings Festival returns October 17-18, 2026, celebrating the Black musicians who shaped the city’s sound for generations. The festival includes a Saturday night jam session at the King Bee, where local and visiting artists are expected to share the stage.
Eddie Stout, a board member of the Eastside Kings Foundation, joined Sierra Waggoner on We Are Austin to talk about the weekend, according to a report from KEYE. Stout is also the founder of Dialtone Records, which he started in 1999 to record Austin’s Black blues artists, many of whom had never set foot in a recording studio, according to the Austin Chronicle. That same year, Stout recorded the Eastside Kings album that would eventually give the festival its name, as KUTX has reported.
A Festival Born From a Record
The idea for an actual festival didn’t take shape until 2013, when Stout — a bassist, producer and longtime fixture of the Austin blues scene — launched the event, per the Texas Standard. Jason Moeller, a co-founder of the festival and former drummer for the Fabulous Thunderbirds, helped bring the vision to life alongside him, the Austin Chronicle notes. KEYE’s report frames the festival’s purpose simply: preserving Austin’s musical legacy while introducing new audiences to the artists who built it.
East 12th Street holds a special place in that history, according to KEYE’s report, and the corridor remains the festival’s spiritual home. Stout has recalled discovering blues music himself at East Side Lounge and Chester’s, per the same KEYE segment, memories that trace back to an era when the neighborhood’s clubs were the beating heart of Austin’s Black music scene.
The Musicians Who Shaped the Sound
T.D. Bell and Henry L. “Blues Boy” Hubbard are credited with influencing Austin’s distinctive blues sound, according to KEYE. Hubbard, a mainstay of the Austin blues scene for decades, began playing at the legendary Victory Grill while stationed at Bergstrom Air Force Base, according to the Texas Music Museum. His band, The Jets, went on to become one of the biggest draws on Austin’s East Side…