F-ck this shit!

 

Austin in the long, long ago: 1985 Episode of MTV's 'Cutting Edge' about the Austin music scene

I was skimming through Austin 360 today and came across an article highlighting this cool video that just got posted to Vimeo about Austin's music scene in 1985, when there were only 713 people living in the city and "Tito" was still the chubby brother from the Jackson 5 and not some vodka czar (pun intended)!

I.R.S. records produced this show, which I don't recall at all despite being 14 in 1985 and watching MTV with a fair amount of regularity. But check out some of the names highlighted (per the 360 article):

"The hourlong show captured around a dozen acts who were all the rage in the local clubs at the time. There's footage of the True Believers, Zeitgeist (later known as the Reivers), Timbuk3, Joe King Carrasco & the Crowns, Doctors' Mob, Glass Eye, Tail Gators, Poison 13, Dharma Bums, Wild Seeds, Toshio Hirano, Dino Lee's White Trash Revue — and, making his national TV debut, Daniel Johnston."

The Cutting Edge - July 1985, Austin Tx from ASPHALT SERENADE on Vimeo.

Speaking of Daniel Johnston, apparently a new mural is going up featuring a bunch of the late "outsider music" icon's doodles. From the early pictures, it looks pretty interesting to me and definitely captures the spirit of DJ's art. Go check it out!

credit: Austin.CultureMap.com

A pause for DakhaBrakha (in Austin)

I just randomly heard this brilliant group on Pandora and on the first web search I did, the first video that came up is this one of the band performing the same song during SXSW 2017. I think they're playing at the same Hilton we stayed at on our second visit to Austin in 2006, a year before we moved here.

UPDATE 11/8/2022: I posted this JUST BEFORE Ukraine was invaded, just coincidentally. So definitely pause for DakhaBrakha. ☮

Black Pumas Live at Stubb's: Live (In Person) Music is Back!

Went to go see the magnificent Black Pumas last Saturday night, one of five straight sold-out shows at Stubb's here in Austin, which is a pretty big place to sell out for five nights. But hey, hometown band featuring a key member (Adrian Quesada) of an iconic local music group (Grupo Fantasma) and a great underdog story (Eric Burton), a song that caught fire, and live music in person for the first time in many, many months for a lot of people was the recipe for a fun night.

We set ourselves up for the show all the way in the back. The main disadvantage is obvious: we were pretty far from the stage and despite being on high ground did not have a great view. But there were advantages to our spot. Since we were up against the deck for the VIP lounge, we could lean back when needed to give our feet a rest. Better yet, the doors between the inside of the lounge and the deck were open, so air conditioned cool air was flowing toward us on a hot night.

But best of all was the unexpected treat during the encore, when suddenly there was a lot of excitement around us in the back. We looked up, and Eric had set up a mic on the VIP deck to do a solo version of Tracy Chapman's Fast Car. He nailed it, and we had a great view for the affair. Here's a shot I got:

So this morning, I was curious if there were any videos from the show posted on Youtube and found the following. If you look closely starting at around the 1:00 mark, you'll notice a guy in a grey Low Cut Connie t-shirt and glasses with his arms folded right in the front of the crowd shot. That guy is me, with my wife in front of me and friends Jeff and Becky next to me. Look carefully at other times and you may spot a sweaty bald-headed guy down in the crowd near us. If you know Jeff and ever run into him, try to remember to ask him about that guy and the bar towel.

SXSW 2019: A Few Music Selections

South by Southwest 2019 is around the corner already, which is a good thing here, because that's usually when the weather becomes reliably beautiful in Austin for a month or two before gradually becoming more and more oppressively hot. I don't always have an opportunity to dip in to the festivities, but there are a few musical artists coming that I will try to check out, if the right opportunity arises.

The Beths - Rockers from New Zealand.  I put their tune "Future Me Hates Me" on my top 2018 songs list.



The Bright Light Social Hour - Austin's own throwback rockers. They killed at the Austin Music Awards in 2011. They got a bit of press when it released "Tear Down That Wall" on the day of President Donald Trump's inauguration.



Cha Wa - Mardi Gras Indian-style brass and funk from New Orleans, featuring the grandson of Golden Eagles Big Chief Monk Boudreux. These shows should have a party atmosphere.



The Comet is Coming - Modern jazz from London, featuring the searing tenor sax of prolific lead man Shabaka Hutchings and the "a tuba can do that?" tuba player Theon Cross. This one's at the top of my list.



Ezra Collective - More modern jazz from London. Another good bet for a fun show. This track has a bit of an afrobeat feel.



The Nude Party - More throwback rock ("Chevrolet Van" screams '70s), but seem like they'd be a fun show.



Warmduscher - Not sure who they sound like. Which is a compliment, natch.

Fantastic!

Who's going to go see Fantastic Negrito at Antone's on July 5.



Not you?

Tsk.  Don't miss!

My First Tortilla Española

I made my first ever Tortilla Española a few days ago and it game out great.  The local farms are hitting a peak time of year (there are two in central TX), so I used fresh farmer's market ingredients.  The eggs were from Farmer Chris of Milagro Farm and gold potatoes were from Phoenix Farms.  I used Mark Bittman's recipe.  Want it?  It's below.

Tortilla Española (Spanish Tortilla)

INGREDIENTS

1 ¼ pounds potatoes, 3 or 4 medium

1 medium onion

1 cup olive oil

 Salt and freshly ground black pepper

6 extra-large or jumbo eggs

PREPARATION

1. Peel and thinly slice potatoes and onions; it's easiest if you use a mandoline. Meanwhile, heat oil in an 8- or 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. After 3 or 4 minutes, drop in a potato slice. When tiny bubbles appear around its edges, add potatoes, onions, a good pinch of salt and a liberal sprinkling of pepper. Gently turn mixture in oil with a wooden spoon, and adjust heat so oil bubbles lazily.
2. Cook, turning potatoes gently every few minutes, until they are tender when pierced with a small knife. Adjust the heat so they do not brown. If potatoes begin to break, they are overdone; stop cooking immediately. As potatoes cook, beat eggs with some salt and pepper in a large bowl.
3. Drain potatoes in a colander, reserving oil. Wipe out skillet, and heat over a medium flame for a minute. Add 2 tablespoons oil. Gently mix warm potatoes with eggs, and add to skillet. As soon as edges firm up, after a minute or so, reduce heat to medium-low. Cook 5 minutes.
4. Insert a rubber spatula all around edges of tortilla to make sure it will slide from pan. The top will still be runny. Carefully slide out onto a plate. Cover with another plate, and holding plates tightly, invert them. Add another tablespoon oil to skillet, and use the spatula to coax tortilla back in. Cook 5 minutes, then slide from skillet onto a clean plate. Serve warm (not hot), or at room temperature. Do not refrigerate.

Credit: Mark Bittman/New York Times

From Boston to Austin ... looks like we're not alone (Part 2)

A couple months ago I posted about how people are bolting from my old home state of Connecticut, whereas the reverse is true in Texas as people flood into the urban centers.  We all know Austin as an urban center is booming.  Connecticut's urban centers are not faring nearly as well.

How bad is it?  Estimates released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau show that Connecticut's primary urban counties - Hartford, New Haven and Fairfield - lost about 20,000 people to other U.S. areas just from July 2013 to July 2014.  According to this Hartford Courant article, "Hartford ranks 20th on the list of counties with the most domestic out-migration. New Haven County ranks 22nd, and Fairfield County ranks 24th. Each of them lost more people than 99 percent of the rest of the counties in the United States."  Pretty gloomy.

And their destinations?  "The biggest gainers were the Phoenix, Houston, Las Vegas, Dallas, San Antonio, Austin and Palm Beach metro areas."  Yup, three of those big gainers are here in Texas.

Yes, Austin is Booming

From an article on Slate titled All Hail Austin, Texas, the Boomingest Big City of Them All:

Credit: Jordan Weissman

First gay couple is legally married in Texas, and Texas Republican leaders freak out!

Congratulations, Suzanne Bryant and Sarah Goodfriend!

Yesterday morning, two women from Austin tied the not, becoming the first gay couple to be legally married in Texas.  The story is pretty heartwarming (I hate that word, but it is what comes to mind).  A state court judge ordered that the Travis County Clerk issue the couple a marriage license.  The judge, David Wahlberg, recognizing that one of the two women had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer, found that the state law against same-sex marriage was causing irreparable harm and waived the 72-hour waiting period to perform a wedding.  The couple got the license and pounced.

That was probably a wise move.  Immediately fearing the major threat to humanity the marriage of these two women (who have been together for 31 years by the way) will cause, Texas Republican leaders sprang into action.  Attorney General Ken Paxton got the ball rolling by petitioning the Texas Supreme Court, which issued an "ambiguous afternoon order" purportedly blocking the ruling by Wahlberg.  Of course, the couple had already wed at that point, so despite possible arguments to the contrary, the more reasonable view would appear to be that the couple is indeed legally married.  Other top Republican leaders pledged to save non-gay Texans from suffering the wrath of married gay people.  Governor Greg Abbott pointed to the Texas Constitution, which was amended by voter approval in 2005 to define marriage as consisting only of the union of one man and one woman.  Said Abbott, "I am committed to ensuring that the Texas Constitution is upheld and that the rule of law is maintained in the state of Texas."  Added Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, "The rule of law must be upheld," he said.

In other words, "For the sake of humanity, we cannot let the nice lady marry her cancer-stricken companion of 31 years and live together happily.  We can't!"

They just do not get it.  The Texas Constitution can state anything, but if something is held to be in violation of the United States Constitution, it means squat.  So if Texans approved an amendment by 110 percent of voters to define marriage as "only the union of one non-handicapped person and another non-handicapped person," it would only stay on the books until a court could rule that the clause violated the equal protection clause of U.S. Constitution.

The U.S. Supreme Court has not yet ruled on gay marriage, but plans to issue a ruling this summer after hearing four cases in April.  I am putting my money on gay marriage.  It seems that the Brown v. Board of Education moment is coming for non-hetero people.  What side of history do you want to be on?

The Year in Music 2014, From an Austin, Texas Perspective

These days, I do not have nearly as much time as I would like to spend following the music scene, let alone write about it in this here little blog. It mostly has to do with working a full time job and helping to raise twins, but I do not care for excuses. Lucky for me and other music lovers that are in similar boots, there are a lot of great sources putting out "best of 2014" lists around this time of year. I use some of these lists as guides to explore music that is new to me. While no two people have exactly the same taste, I have found ways to zero in on people and publications that veer closer to my POV. There are always things like Acclaimed Music and Metacritic if you are interested in finding out what a very wide demographic thinks, or Pitchfork and the like for the hipster perspective. But honestly, you probably will not find all that many smaller, overlooked artists even there.

Instead, I focused on the Austin Chronicle's Best of 2014 lists this year, and in particular, those that focused on local Austin music. After listening to a bunch of songs from the Chronicle's many top ten lists, I think it was a pretty darn good year for Austin music. Check out some Austin music from 2014 on this list we made. You will find some familiar names like Spoon and Willie Nelson in there, but I promise there are a bunch of musicians you have never before heard of.

Yäktoberfest 2014: Coming to a Dead-End Near You (If you're lucky, that is)

October is a great Austin month.  The weather is great almost every day.  Fall harvest means the local grocers, markets and restaurants are stocked with tons of good food things.  This year, the ACL Festival is in October too. and tons of musicians head down this way for gigs this time of year because, well, the weather is great almost every day, and it's Austin.

And of course, there's Yäktoberfest!  The fifth edition of our little neighborhood home brewer's celebration / contest / fundraiser is taking place on Saturday, October 25.  We expect to have a half dozen or so brewers, each with one, two, three or more different beers to sample.  For a donation, you get one year's membership in our Yäktoberfest organization, a tasting glass and a ticket to vote for your favorite beer.  We're also selling t-shirts this year for the first time.  If it goes well, that will be another yearly feature.  There's also food, possibly music, and a ga-ga ball pit in our host's front yard!

For more info:

• www.yaktoberfest.org
• Twitter: @Yaktoberfest

Them Some Glorious Pickled Peppers

I walked by a vendor at the Austin downtown farmers market who had a basket full of beautifully colorful baby bell peppers.  Two young men were scooping handfuls into a paper bag.  I asked them if they had something planned already, and one responded that they were going to pickle them.  "Good idea, " said I, and I meant it, because I promptly purchased a bag of my own, went home, and pickled the suckers.  I had a few stray banana peppers growing in my garden, so I tossed those in as well.  I used the recipe below from a website called Taste of Home with a little extra garlic.  After a week or so in the fridge, my wife and I tasted them, and good golly they are tasty.  I'd say they're a lot like a pickled Italian cherry pepper.  Just great on sandwiches or salads.

Pickled Peppers

Ingredients

4 quarts long red, green or yellow peppers (Hungarian, Banana, etc.)

1-1/2 cups canning salt

4 quarts plus 2 cups water, divided

10 cups white vinegar

1/4 cup sugar

2 garlic cloves, peeled

Steps

1. Cut 2 small slits in each pepper. Dissolve salt in 4 quarts water. Pour over peppers; let stand 12 to 18 hours in a cool place. Drain; rinse and drain thoroughly.
2. In a Dutch oven, combine the vinegar, sugar, garlic and remaining water; bring to a boil and simmer 15 minutes. Remove garlic. Pack peppers into hot pint jars, leaving 1/2-in. headspace. Carefully ladle hot liquid over peppers, leaving 1/2-in. headspace. Remove air bubbles with a non-metallic utensil. Adjust lids. Process 10 minutes in a boiling-water canner. Yield: about 8 pints.

Austin in August: Too Darn Hot!

Today's forecast ...

equals ...

Green Tomatoes: Not Just for Frying

When presented with a green tomato, most folks in the southern United States think one thing:  Fried.  Not me.  My family (and my wife's) have Eastern European roots, and our people like them pickled. This past Saturday, I picked up a few from Lightsey Farms at the downtown farmers' market.

For the recipe, I basically used this one, without the dill and with a bit less chili.  The only ingredients are salt, sugar, white vinegar, garlic, coriander seed and chilies.  I heated the brine before pouring over the tomatoes, which I left whole.

They will rest in the fridge for a week or two before I give them a try.  Expect them to take a bit longer than a cucumber.  You can slice them if you want to speed things up, but they won't last quite as long before becoming over-pickled.  Wish me luck!

.

Welcome to Austin, X-Games. Keep it Weird.

It isn't somewhere in Southern California, but no matter.  Austin is hosting the X-Games for the first time.  Most of the festivities are taking place in deep southeast Austin at the new Circuit of the Americas F-1 track, but for a few days, the organizers set up a nice, big half-pipe in the heart of downtown Austin.

More coverage:

• X-Games on espn.com
• Official website: Tickets, schedule, etc.
• Coverage from the Austin-American Statesman's Austin360
• Facebook
• Twitter

Black Belt Willie

Willie Nelson turned 81 this week, and he looks it.  He's a wiry man with wiry hair and the complexion of a wicker chair.  But he's fit.  Real fit.  How much?  Like 5th-degree-black-belt-in-gongkwon-yusul fit.  So don't hassle Willie.  If he sings a little off key, or exhales a big cloud of purple kush in your face, let it slide. Not because he's a living music legend (he is).  Not because we should respect our elders.  No, because Willie might put his country-singing, NORML-supporting foot up your ass if you don't watch it.

Good thing he seems like a pretty nice guy.

My SXSW 2014: Another Low Key Year, But Barrence Whitfield and Radkey Rocked

Better get this posted before South by Southwest 2014 becomes a memory and people start tweeting about SXSW 2015.  Well, it's only 50 weeks away!  I'm probably already too late.

But anyhow, like last year, my 2014 SouthBy experience was pretty limited in scope, but I still had a great time.  At first, I doubted I would make a single event.  Busy at work, busy at life.  Meanwhile, hundreds and hundreds of talented musicians were gigging in Austin this week.  (Even the buskers were great -- I guess they figure thousands of industry VIPs are in town, and just one of them needs to dig their stuff.)  So finally, at the end of the week I decided I had to take Friday afternoon off work to see a little live music.

Knowing that the areas where the clubs are thickly clustered like Red River St. would be packed, my friend Jeff and I decided to check out a few free unofficial side parties on South Congress Avenue. I got to South Congress early afternoon, and things were indeed mellow by SouthBy standards.  Still, several parties were underway over a stretch of about ten blocks.  Enough people were milling around to make people-watching interesting.  I grabbed a great bowl of veggie chili at a food trailer called Fat Cactus on Gibson St. and a cup of coffee and the buzzy Toms, which had just opened its Austin store two days earlier.  Then to kill a bit of time while waiting for my friend to arrive, I ducked into a couple of small parties happening in parking lots right on Sought Congress to survey the scene.

I didn't bring my camera but just my small handheld HD video recorder.  It was a practical decision, since the camcorder is a quarter the size and weight.  I just got the thing and thought it would be fun to shoot a few scenes and maybe a band or two.

Sorry for the barely-audible narration.  Obviously have some kinks to work out.

Jeff arrived mid-afternoon.  We had an hour or two to kill before hitting our target shows: Lydia Loveless followed by Barrence Whitfield & the Savages at the Bloodshot Records party in the alley behind the buildings on the west side of South Congress.  I was particularly excited to see Barrence, an old Boston garage rock legend who used to play regularly around where I went to college, and I first (and last) saw live almost 25 years ago.

Back page of the Sept. 6, 1990 issue of the Tufts Daily

We ducked into a half dozen or so small parties up and down South Congress.  We saw a few decent bands we'd never heard of, and one or two clunkers.  These guys, the Soft White Sixties from the Bay Area, were pretty good I thought:

Finally, a bit before Lydia Loveless hit the stage, we worked our way to the Bloodshot party.  Lydia played a solid set of American rock music, veering from pure power pop a la Fleetwood Mac to more country and bluesy material.  But Barrence really stole the day.  He might be a bit older than he was back in the 80s, but the lungs are still there.  The Savages, especially the impressive Peter Greenberg on guitar, flashed more than a bit of punk snarl as they tore through a set of mostly blues rock romps with a ballad or two thrown in.  And Barrence himself?  I love this portion of his website bio, which is an apt description of his performance at the Bloodshot party: "Whitfield is a performer so consumed with satisfying his audiences that he has been called ‘crazed, frenetic and completely unhinged.’ Barrence, the singer made up of equal parts Arthur Alexander, Nolan Porter and James Carr this mofo burns."

And of course, the battery on my camcorder died when I left the thing shooting without knowing it for, well, long enough the kill the battery.  So I snapped a quick, meh shot on my phone.

Barrence Whitfield satisfying his audience at the Bloodshot Records party, SXSW 2014

Inspired by the fun day on South Congress, I checked some of the schedules for the many Saturday parties and decided to run down to Waterloo Records in the early afternoon to check out Radkey.  This band of three young brothers from Missouri caught my attention recently when a local DJ played a tune and talked them up.  I saw a few videos of the band and had a hunch they'd be a fun act.  Turns out I was right.  Lead guitarist and singer Dee has an impressive voice that I've heard more than one critic say evokes Glenn Danzig, and shreds on guitar (if you're into that).  Isaiah on bass plays hard throughout and provides strong backing vocals, plus he acts as the emcee during shows and is rather amusing.  Solomon, the youngest brother, holds his own on drums.  I filmed 20 minutes of the show, and its been getting a fair number of views since I uploaded it.

That's it.  Told you my SouthBy wasn't epic.  But I think quality beat quantity any day, and I'm more than satisfied with the music I got to see this year, free no less.  As long as the festival is back next year, I suspect I'll be dipping in the waters at some point to catch a concert, film or some other event.

The Bright Light Social Hour + Wendy Davis + SXSW = Texas. AUSTIN, Texas.

Yesterday I was watching a few videos from showcasing musicians at this year's South by Southwest.  Luckily I stumbled across this one from local faves the Bright Light Social Hour, who I am glad to see is showcasing again this year.  I don't know how I missed the song/video when it came out, but anyhow, I think it somehow captures the essence of what makes Austin a unique place.

Oh, and go Wendy!

Thanks Austin - 2013: Relax! You're in Austin!

Keeping up an annual tradition on FBtA, this post is about thanking Austin, as in six years it has become a rather beloved hometown for not only the two of us bloggers but our Texan-born twins as well.   Last year we thanked Austin for being reliably blue in a red state.  This year, after watching a short video from NYTimes.com that my stepmother sent me that highlights Austin's laid back style, I would like to give thanks to Austin for being warm, comforting, relatively accepting and cool all at the same time.  Hard to think of many cities of over half a million people that qualify as "mellow" and "laid back," but Austin is certainly both of those things.