Portrait by Ismael Quintanilla.
ABOUT
Cody Cowan is a seasoned music industry veteran with a demonstrated history of success working in the civic, hospitality, and live events sectors. He also acts as a longtime community leader and vocal advocate for preserving the cultural identity of his hometown in Austin, Texas.
Born and raised in the Live Music Capital of the World, Cowan immersed himself at a young age in the city’s vibrant live music and arts culture by playing, recording, and touring in bands as a teen and young adult. In 1997, he built his bottom-to-top live music career in iconic venues and festivals in Austin - like Emos, Mohawk, Fun Fun Fun Fest, Free Week, and Hot Summer Nights.
In 2015, Cowan co-founded the Red River Cultural District, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization dedicated to preserving the cultural district in downtown Austin as a world-wide cultural tourism destination. Under his leadership, the area was awarded state cultural district status, delivered $1.4M in public infrastructure funding, distributed $255k in charitable food grants through Banding Together ATX, and helped obtain $17M in CRF disaster relief funding for local musicians, music workers, promoters, and venues.
Cody participated heavily in the federal, state, and local disaster relief campaigns for the live entertainment industry through 2022. Those grassroots collaborative efforts delivered national model policy and programs, like Austin’s Live Music Fund and the Texas Music Incubator Rebate Program, and delivered the Shuttered Venue Operator Grants ($16.25B) - the largest arts grant in the history of the United States of America.
In 2022, Cowan joined the National Independent Venue Association, the first ever independent live entertainment trade association, as its chief operating officer. Committing two years to help stand up the nascent organization, his duties included building org standards, services and governance, overseeing finance, delivering administrative functions, and filling human resource gaps.
Cody continues to serve the live entertainment industry by providing thought leadership, organizational development, and creative direction to small businesses and nonprofit organizations - all the while photographing the scene, the people, and the culture which has fostered him since the beginning. Cody Cowan holds a BA in History from the University of Texas at Austin.
“Live entertainment brings us together”
