Senior economics major Connor Lehman watched intently from the corner of the backyard his organization, Longhorn Artists Connect, was using to host their Farewell Summer Show as local band The Ramparts began their first song.
He looked relaxed, a calm smile on his face as he chatted with some of his friends. Nothing about his demeanor suggested that, just an hour prior, he had been zipping around tackling one task after another, from gathering snacks and drinks to standing in a chair to hang decorations, even as light rain threatened to postpone the show.
10 minutes before the event was scheduled to begin, Lehman and his co-organizers had still been debating whether the rain would force them to cancel. Then the weather cleared, and the show went on.
The crowd was small at first, consisting mostly of Longhorn Artists Connect’s executive members, but the backyard gradually filled with people there to listen to student musicians and experience what Lehman and the rest of the organization had spent weeks putting together.
Longhorn Artists Connect was created in April 2025 to solve a problem that its founders — radio-television-film students Elliott Saiontz, Aiden Weinstein and Quinn Graves — had noticed across UT Austin: Creative students often have trouble finding one another. Film students need actors. Musicians need managers and people to book their shows. Creators need photographers and videographers. LAC’s purpose is to make finding those connections easier.
That mission turned out to be the perfect opportunity for Lehman, who was looking to use his event planning skill set to provide settings for creatives to meet and interact with each other.
“I really like building community and seeing other people excited about stuff,” Lehman said. “Before, when I was doing artist management, I got to see one artist excited about growing themselves. Now I see 200 people at a concert that I helped put on and it’s like, ‘oh, cool, everyone loves it.’ That’s awesome.”
Saiontz, a junior and LAC’s president, first met Lehman while trying to recruit an artist he managed. Saiontz said Lehman quickly became an important part of building LAC because of his combination of music experience and business knowledge.
“He comes from a background where he has been managing artists, and having an economics background gives him an important business sense,” Saiontz said. “It is so important to understand those things when you’re doing this, and Connor has an amazing understanding of it. He understands not only what things you need to develop an artist and put them in a place where they can succeed, but he also understands the numbers behind that.”
But how does an economics major get involved in Austin’s music scene in the first place? For Lehman, it started long before he arrived on the Forty Acres.
As a high school freshman, Lehman remembers a friend of a friend wanted to get his music onto Spotify. At just 14 years old, Lehman figured he could help.
“I was like, ‘yeah, I bet I can do that. I got you,’” Lehman said.
That small favor turned into managing releases, talking with producers, and eventually signing artists throughout high school. During his sophomore year, Lehman said he helped organize a show outside Philadelphia that drew around 100 people.
“I was like, ‘oh, that’s really cool, people like what I’m helping with doing,’” he said. “That’s when I decided I can do this. I can stick with music and events, and I can actually make things happen.”
Lehman took that interest with him to Loyola University in New Orleans, where he initially majored in music industry studies. During his year and a half there, he led two campus organizations, one that booked live events around New Orleans and another that provided live sound for events. He also joined Grammy U, a program designed for college students seeking a career in the music industry, and was mentored by Fred Croshal, a former general manager of Madonna’s Maverick Recording Company.
But being surrounded by people who had spent years in the industry also made Lehman question whether music was actually where he wanted to end up.
“When I was in New Orleans at Loyola, so much of what was there was doom and gloom,” Lehman said. “They were all so sick of the music industry, and there were people who failed out of it. I was like, ‘oh, maybe they’re right.’ So I transferred to economics (at UT) thinking I would leave music, and I was done.”
That turned out not to be the case. “I only lasted, like, six months,” Lehman said with a laugh.
Instead Lehman jumped back into music soon after coming to UT and eventually found his way to Longhorn Artists Connect. Now, as the organization’s vice president of music, he organizes events where creators can meet each other and showcase their talents. LAC regularly puts on concerts and showcases, often in backyards or spaces near campus, while keeping events either free or as inexpensive as possible.
Outside of LAC, Lehman runs Paradise Music Group, an independent record label management company, as well as his own small t-shirt printing shop that he and his girlfriend, senior youth and community studies major Carleigh Clark, operate out of their apartment. However, he said his main goal is to continue supporting Austin’s creative community, even after he graduates.
As for LAC, Lehman hopes the organization becomes something bigger than the students who started it.
“I hope LAC is this center of music and creativity at UT,” Lehman said. “We want to bring music and make UT artists central here. They’ve always existed. They’ve always been a really important part of the university, and we want to just make sure it’s at the forefront and kind of in everything.”
At the Farewell Summer Show on Sept. 11, that vision came to fruition in the form of a friend’s backyard, decorations hanging from trees and a lineup of student performers. After The Ramparts opened the event, they were followed by second-year advertising major Emma Grace. As Lehman once again watched from the back of the crowd, she gave him and Clark a shoutout for putting the event together.
“My goats,” she said between songs.
As the day turned into night and the show continued, the lanterns Lehman had hung earlier in the day finally had a purpose, illuminating the backyard as third-year music major AB Brown took the stage. And still, Lehman stood toward the back, watching the artists perform and people smile and cheer at the event he organized.