SXSW’s Brent Grulke Dies

Brent Grulke, head of SXSW’s music division, died of a heart attack following oral surgery Aug. 13, according to the Austin Chronicle.

Grulke, 52, was creative director of the annual event since 1994 and was in charge of booking South By Southwest’s conference.

Grulke was an Austin, Texas, sound man and tour manager when he joined the Chronicle in the mid-’80s, becoming its music editor.

The principals of the paper’s music section became the founders of the then-modest SXSW event, and Grulke joined in the inaugural year, 1987, as a stage manager. He is survived by his wife and a son.