Focusing on social relations within the local field of musical production, this paper explores popular music-making as practice and process in the context of Irish austerity. Drawing on ethnographic research on the local music scene (2010-2013), it argues that local music producers, in their everyday practices, evidence a deep sense of commitment to music-making, to others within the music-making community, and to the city, which acts as a buffer to the welfare-diminishing impacts of creative labour in post-crisis Cork. Belonging within the music-making community therefore presents a defence against feelings of rootlessness and social isolation that are the typical outcomes of living in what is purported to be an anomic and increasingly atomistic society. Moreover, it posits that, in their commitment to the autotelic and social values of music-making, and to supportive, collaborative practices, their solidaristic ethos signals a more optimistic future, indicating a rejection of competitive, individualistic neoliberalism, and a desire for a more active citizenship model of participation, which promotes individual and collective well-being.