To hear Jon Muq tell it, it is pure coincidence he got to Austin just as South by Southwest — the long-standing showcase for artists from all over the world, which unfolds each spring — was underway.
Born in Uganda, the now-singer-songwriter, producer and sound engineer was not arriving in the Texas capitol to play showcases and make industry connections. Instead, he was landing in America for far more charitable reasons.
“I ended up here as a volunteer for a refugee home called Casa Marienella,” Muq (pronounced mook) said during a recent conversation from his Austin home. “It’s based in east Austin, and I think I arrived in the right time. It was during South by Southwest, which I didn’t know about. I got to know about that when I was here, and yeah, I decided to stay.”
Muq’s decision was a savvy one. Having arrived, as he puts it, barely able to “speak proper English,” he has fast become a notable talent in Austin and beyond, thanks to his arresting debut LP Flying Away, released earlier this year and co-produced by the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach for his Easy Eye Sound.
Muq will bring his eclectic, engaging style to Oak Cliff on Oct. 18, opening for the National Parks at the Kessler Theater.
“[Auerbach] discovered me from a video I had posted on Instagram,” Muq said. “When I moved here, there was this couple [who] took me into their house to live with them, and I made a video of me seeing ‘Blackbird,’ which is a song by the Beatles. It was my first time to ever hear that song. …
“It really struck me, but I couldn’t play the melody, so I created my own authentic melody the way I understood the song. That’s the video that he picked up and reached out to sign me on his label.”
Muq, who said he has finished writing his second album, has already landed gigs opening for the likes of Billy Joel, Norah Jones, Mavis Staple, Corinne Bailey Rae and others. The language of music has opened doors to him in the West he could have never foreseen.
“Moving from a country where people had nothing, but people were happy, and then I moved to a Western world where I think there is plenty of stuff, but I would talk to friends and they [were] not happy about stuff — I’m like, ‘Why are you not happy?’” Muq said. “I think you have everything a person would need in this world. So, it drove me to create an album with happy songs, just to make someone stay happy.”
Jon Muq at Kessler Theater, Dallas. 8 p.m. Oct. 18. Tickets are $20.
Preston Jones is a North Texas freelance writer and regular contributor to KXT. Email him at [email protected] or find him on X (@prestonjones). Our work is made possible by our generous, music-loving members. If you like how we lift up local music, consider becoming a KXT sustaining member right here.
