LOCAL MUSICIANS
Established musicians provide platform for breakthrough artists
As a breakthrough musician, or any type of artist for that matter, it can be hard to find an audience, but San Marcos has a place where one can show off their creative offerings to quite a large crowd. Jason Weems and EZ Maldonado host a talent show, with a Muse Magnet Songwriter Showcase housed within it, at Tantra, located at 217 W Hopkins Street. The songwriters night previously occurred every other Monday but will be increasing in frequency to every Monday and expanding to other talents that are not just musical. The showcase will highlight a particular artist every other week, which will be broadcast on Weems’ podcast of the same name, Muse Magnet, that should be up by the end of January. Open mic sign up is at 6 p.m. Open mic starts at 6:30 p.m., and the showcase occurs at 8 p.m.
“My community of musicians that are strewn around the globe, they almost always tour through the region, and this gives them another stop that they can count on having a really welcoming crowd that’s interested in what they’re offering,” Weems said.
Weems has an extensive musical background and comes from a family that is filled with musical talent. Straight out of high school, he found that he could make money doing what he loves, and that would be far more fulfilling than anything else he could be doing for the same paycheck.
“There was a band called Bowling for Soup that was making it big, and they took me under their wing and gave me my first recordings … and were real mentors to me,” Weems said. “The Kerville Folk Festival kind of created a foundation for me as a musician, and I was the production manager. I rose through the ranks of being a stage hand to a stage manager to running the different stages, and I got to be really deeply involved in production.”
In Austin, Weems toyed with the format of an open mic night mixed with a curated event when he worked on the Austin Songwriters Showcase. He then took to the production side of his career even further.
“I cofounded the Island Folk Fest, which was basically a bridge between the Austin Kerrville Folk Fest songwriter community and the South Padre Island [songwriter community]. And we did that successfully for three years,” Weems said, adding that despite the festival’s success, it had grown a bit too large for the support that they had. He made the decision to end that festival for that reason.
Weems has also dabbled in the literary arts, publishing the History Lovers Guide to Austin and the Texas Barbeque Adventure Guide, but he said that music has always been his central focus. He feels particularly fulfilled when providing a platform for other musicians to reach a larger audience.
“I’ve been so fortunate to have been told that the things I do have had a positive effect on the people around me,” Weems said. “Music is a very special part of the service that I provide for the world, and it also gives me, personally, so much back.”
Weems spent the majority of his adult life in Austin but would also take refuge in San Marcos, even for months at a time. He was very good friends with one of the original owners of Tantra Adam Lilley, and he loved the venue so much that its reopening even influenced his decision to move here.
“He has always been really supportive of my music, and he’s always given me a stage. Tantra has always been my musical home, to me and many people in my peer group,” Weems said. “I knew that I could come to San Marcos because I heard Tantra was opening back up.”
The new owner of Tantra Jeff Colasurd brought on Lilley when first opening back up, which in Weems’ opinion was to “bring that continuation of energy.” Lilley knew Weems’ background with the Austin Songwriters Showcase and asked him if he’d be interested in starting one at Tantra.
“And I, of course, said yes,” he said.
As for the current state of the Muse Magnet Songwriter showcase, Weems said they are just “warming up.”
“We are about to have a really incredible, really immersive visual show. We’re going to be not just doing my podcast, but doing live video streaming and accessory interviews and accessory recordings outside of the Monday night stuff,” he said. “Because our mission, truly, is to get up and coming musicians a path that, frankly, wasn’t available to me when I was their age.”
Learn more about Weems and the songwriters showcase at jasonweems. com and check the schedule at tantrasanmarcos. com/general-4.
