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(Lizzie Chen/Moody College of Communications)
DJ McConaughey's kind of got a ring to it, especially when it's being used for a good cause.
In a showcase of Texan solidarity, Austin gem and celebrity Matthew McConaughey has cooked up an all-star lineup of "Texas talent" for his virtual benefit, "We're Texas," to help pay for damages caused by Winter Storm Uri.
The event will be hosted on Saturday by McConaughey and his wife, Camila. It's the only time you'll find McConaughey DJ'ing an event with Texans like George Strait, Megan Thee Stallion and Joe Rogan all side-by-side in attendance.
All proceeds will go to McConaughey's just keep livin foundation as part of its Texas Relief Fund. The fund will provide support for charities including the Austin Disaster Relief Network, Meals on Wheels Central Texas, Salvation Army of Texas, Save the Children, St. Bernard Project and Team Rubicon.
Alongside Strait, country legends Willie Nelson, Randy Rogers, Gary Clark Jr., Lyle Lovett and Miranda Lambert will perform, while music's next generation will be showcased with performances by Kacey Musgraves, Leon Bridges and Parker McCollum. The event is set to please any music taste and will hold additional performances from Kelly Clarkson, Khalid, Kirk Franklin, Lukas Nelson, Post Malone and Don Henley.
Here's some other native Texans and transfers set to make an appearance:
- Angie Harmon
- Chip & Joanna Gaines
- Clayton Kershaw
- Dak Prescott
- Dr. Phil McGraw
- Jamie Foxx
- Jennifer Garner
- the Jonas Brothers
- Marcus Lemonis
- Renée Zellweger
- Selena Gomez
- Troy Aikman
- Woody Harrelson
In a statement, McConaughey said he hopes the event will work to "restore Texas" after the weeklong freeze that left many without power or water for days.
"A lot of Texans are hurting right now," McConaughey said. "After the disaster of the worst freeze here in over 70 years, so many are still without clean water and unable to repair water damage that has made their homes unlivable. One of my favorite things about Texans is that we like to help ourselves, and while that spirit is still alive and well, a lot of Texans can't help themselves right now unless we help them."
Austin brands sponsoring the event include Dell, ACL Live at The Moody Theater, Austin FC and Bumble. Other Texan sponsorships include Reliant Energy, H-E-B and Dallas sports teams including the Dallas Cowboys, Dallas Stars and Texas Rangers.
McConaughey first announced the event in what looked like a politian's message, complete with an American flag background, in a video on the Monday after the storm.
The Feb. 22 announcement may have been foreshadowing: McConaughey has made headlines recently for saying he's seriously considering running for governor of Texas.
Whether governor-to-be or just an Austin icon, McConaughey will use his platform to help his fellow Texans. The "We're Texas" event begins at 7 p.m. on Saturday. Those interested in watching or donating can log in at Youtube.com/MatthewMcConaughey or visit jklivinFoundation.org to donate before and after.
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Popular
Miami and Austin are going head-to-head for tech transplants. (Pexels)
California expats and industry experts say Austin remains the bigger draw for Californians, especially those in the tech sector, but warn that this advantage could shift to Miami if the city doesn't address the policy challenges that prompted the migration in the first place: housing affordability.
"If Austin doesn't accommodate this influx, I think all the talent will come to Miami," said Peter Yared, a tech entrepreneur who moved to Miami from San Francisco in September. "I think Miami's going to be the one that sucks it all up."
Push factors
Both Texas and Florida promise business-friendly state tax policies, and their governors tout the relocations of companies such as Tesla and Oracle from California. But Darien Shanske, a law professor at the University of California Davis whose specialties include taxation, said this is a red herring because corporate taxes are based on where sales occur rather than headquarter locations.
This is not to say other state policies are irrelevant. "The area in which California regulatory policy has been, in my opinion, not a complete failure but problematic … is housing policy," Shanske said. Austin and Miami can offer "not cheap, just cheaper" housing than what is available in Silicon Valley. Plus, both cities are developing a critical mass of talent, which further draws Californians in. "If you're a software engineer, you want to live near other software engineers," he added.
But not every Californian is motivated to move. "San Francisco is a fantastic place to live if you can afford it," said Brandy Aven, a professor of entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business. As a result, it's more common for what she called the labor—engineers, programmers and even company founders—to relocate to cities such as Austin and Miami than the monied venture capitalists. Burgeoning tech cities may find that they need to develop homegrown investor networks to support local ventures in the absence of Californian transplants, but she believes this is doable.
Pull factors
Paul O'Brien, CEO of the Austin-based MediaTech Ventures and a startup veteran, moved to Austin from California in 2009, during the Great Recession. "I'm a firm believer that the world has been seeking an alternative to Silicon Valley for a long time," he said, pointing to Austin as the natural heir for myriad reasons.
Austin has regional appeal as the epicenter of three of the country's largest cities—Houston, Dallas and San Antonio—and their respective industry niches. Tech entrepreneurs could cater to the local consumer goods industry or Houston's oil and gas sector. Plus the city has cultural appeal, thanks to the Red River District and South by Southwest, which made it attractive to job seekers. "The whole reason everyone moved to Silicon Valley is opportunity," O'Brien said. "The whole reason people are now looking beyond Silicon Valley to somewhere else is opportunity."
It's less clear what Miami's key industries are, O'Brien said, but the city offers other selling points, including the mayor's buy-in and "a tremendous depth of wealth" to support a technology and startup ecosystem.
Although Yared didn't consider moving to Austin, he is aware of its appeal to engineers, especially now that their hero, Elon Musk, has moved there, shunning California. "Austin has a lock on tech," he said, but Miami draws a different crowd, including financiers from New York. This parallel migration, coupled with the city's more outwardly pro-growth building policies, gives him hope that Miami could supplant Austin in the coming years. "In the end, communities get to choose what they want," he said.
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