San Antonio Current — April 22, 2020

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CURRENT | April 22 – May 5, 2020 | sacurrent.com

in this issue San Antonio Current

Issue 20-09 /// April 22 – May 5, 2020

20 Food

Publisher: Michael Wagner Editor-in-Chief: Sanford Nowlin

We Work on the Front Lines Providing Your Food: Here’s What You Need to Know

Editorial

Digital Content Editor: Kelly Merka Nelson Contributing Arts Editor: Bryan Rindfuss Contributors: Ron Bechtol, Chris Conde, Daniel Conrad, James Courtney, Jade Esteban Estrada, Dan R. Goddard, Lance Higdon, Steven G. Kellman, Hannah Lorence, Kiko Martinez, M. Solis, Gary Sweeney, Leah Thompson Editorial Interns: Brianna Espinoza, Trevor Flynn, Steven Hargis, Katie Hennessey

Cupboard Cocktail

Advertising

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Don’t let quarantine cramp your style. Two ingredients is enough to make spectacular cocktails.

Marketing and Events

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Creative Services

Graphic Designer: Samantha Serna

24 Music

Circulation

Circulation Manager: Justin Giles

Deep Listening

Time on your hands? Try diving in and unraveling these dense, multilayered albums

Euclid Media Group

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Stream Scene

10 Feature

SA musicians figuring out how to pivot to virtual performances during the pandemic

Courtesy of the San Antonio Fire Department

Underlying Conditions

San Antonio’s problems with generational poverty endanger its most vulnerable residents during the coronavirus crisis

07 News

The Opener Glitter Political

Local Democratic Party Chairwoman Monica Alcántara Aims to Unite Party Amid a New Political Normal

Film Club

San Antonio’s Planet X Cinema returns with online film screenings featuring commentary

Saturday Night Live Stream

Texas comedians get in on the livestream action during quarantine

Current Events

Texas’ Roadblock to a State Income Tax Couldn’t Have Come at a Worse Time

Jumping the Gun

Gov. Abbott shares plan to reopen Texas’ economy, but critics say he’s putting politics ahead of safety

15 Arts

Budget Bloodbath

Defunding San Antonio arts organizations will save money during the current crisis, but at what cost?

19 Screens

Lifelong Friendship

Local filmmaker Duane Graves looks back 20 years on his directorial debut Up Syndrome

One of San Antonio’s most recognizable landmarks gets a quarantine facelift. Cover design: Samantha Serna.

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CURRENT | April 22 – May 5, 2020 | sacurrent.com

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A federal appeals court handed a defeat to Gov. Greg Abbott, permitting medication-induced abortions — which terminate a pregnancy with prescribed pills — to continue in Texas during the pandemic. Abbott had tried to temporarily ban all abortions in the state, saying the move would preserve medial resources.

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Weeks into the COVID-19 crisis, the Texas Workforce Commission is still unable to handle the waves of incoming calls from unemployed residents. Monday of last week, 2 million of the 2.3 million calls made to the commission received busy signals, an agency spokesman told the Texas Tribune.

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A Travis County district judge signaled he’ll ease the state’s voting restrictions, allowing people concerned about COVID-19 to send in ballots by mail. The decision comes in response to a suit filed by Texas Democrats. An appeal by state Republican officials is all but certain.

An outcry erupted after American Prospect reported that San Antonio-based financial services firm USAA was seizing veterans’ and military family members’ stimulus checks to cover existing debts. Hours after the move was made public, company officials miraculously realized it was a bad idea and paused the collections. — Sanford Nowlin

YOU SAID IT!

“There will be blood on the floor of every classroom in the state.”

— Cal Jillson,

Southern Methodist University political science professor on budget cuts Texas is likely to implement in response to the pandemic.

ASSCLOWN ALERT

Ken Paxton Nobody will accuse Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton of sitting on the sidelines during the pandemic.

After Gov. Greg Abbott banned abortions to free up resources for fighting COVID-19 — never mind that they’re largely done in specialized clinics and don’t require much protective gear — Paxton quickly swooped in to beat his chest. Any provider who didn’t stop offering the procedure would be “met with the full force of the law,” the AG announced.

When Abbott issued another order telling judges they couldn’t release people in jail on personal bond if they’d ever been convicted of a violent crime, even offenses years in the past, Paxton stepped up again, defending the measure.

And now it’s clear the ever-vigilant AG will pack up his briefcase and head to the courts yet again. This time, defending Texas Republicans’ argument that Texans are a hearty enough breed to cast ballots in crowded polling places during a pandemic.

Last week, a Travis County judge said people worried about exposure to COVID-19 should qualify under the disability portion of the state’s existing vote-by-mail rules. In a statement, Paxton fired back that the Dems’ request to expand mail-in voting somehow “diminishes voting protections the Legislature has made available to Texans with actual illness or disabilities.” An appeal of the judge’s forthcoming order looks imminent.

In case it wasn’t clear by now, Paxton’s more interested in using the law to protect Republican power players than his constituents. That

Mayor Ron Nirenberg and County Judge Nelson Wolff last week issued an update to their Stay Home, Work Safe order that requires all people 10 or older to wear a cloth covering over their nose and mouth in places where it’s difficult to keep six feet away from other people. A second addendum to the order requires essential businesses such as groceries and gas stations to limit the number of people allowed inside to 25 percent of the limit on their certificate of occupancy.

news

That Rocks/That Sucks

Texas Attorney General’s Office

may help explain why he could only scratch out a 50.6% majority in 2018 — even running as an incumbent in a state that hasn’t elected a Democrat statewide in more than two decades. Plus, it’s a safe bet the Paxton’s 2015 indictments for securities fraud probably didn’t help either.

Let’s see how this assclown fares in 2022.

— Sanford Nowlin

San Antonio colleges and universities will receive $70 million in emergency funding through the federal coronavirus relief package known as the CARES Act. At least half the total will be passed on to students needing aid for expenses such as food, housing, class materials, technology, childcare and health care. — Sanford Nowlin

As the number of COVID-19 cases in the Bexar County Jail rises, Gov. Greg Abbott is fighting to defend an order that stops judges from granting bail to some inmates and Texas prisons are refusing to intake new prisoners from county lockups. County Judge Nelson Wolff said the state’s actions are hurting the jail both “on the front end and back end.”

Pexels / Anna Shvets

Find more news coverage every day at sacurrent.com

news GLITTER POLITICAL

Local Democratic Party Chairwoman Monica Alcántara Aims to Unite Party Amid a New Political Normal

BY JADE ESTEBAN ESTRADA

O

n a late Monday afternoon, Monica Alcántara pops onto my computer screen from her home office.

Over the past two years, the first-term chairwoman of the Bexar County Democratic Party has been at the center of a tumultuous political scene. On one hand, she’s been the controversial house-cleaning successor to former party head Manuel Medina. On the other, she’s among those leading the local charge to oust President Donald Trump in November.

In six weeks, Alcántara, 47, will play that latter role at the Texas Democratic Convention, the first to be held virtually. The change is yet another reminder of the daily life hacks Texans have made amid this disruptive season of social distancing.

Even without the biennial convention to prep for, Alcántara’s hands are full. She’s in a runoff for her seat against designer Grace Rose Gonzales, she’s had to redraft her outreach strategies and she’s keeping antsy party members galvanized while keeping an eye on the evolving coronavirus crisis.

When it comes to the convention, Alcántara — who has a 24-year background working on personal injury cases as a litigation paralegal — has already hit the ground running. She recently appeared on Facebook Live promoting a drive-through voting procedure for the Democratic State County Convention.

“The rules state that we still have to go on,” she says.

The Texas Democratic Convention, rescheduled for June 4, will take on a heightened significance during this pivotal election year. Even so, for many area Democrats, the switch to a virtual gathering carries a sting — this is the first year the event would have taken place in San Antonio.

“We were so proud,” Alcántara said. “It was going to be an amazing time for Democrats here locally.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is scheduled to deliver a keynote speech online, and Alcántara is thrilled.

However, she’s concerned that a virtual event may not offer Texas Democrats the emotional punch it otherwise might have had.

“The problem is it takes a little bit away from the feeling of everybody coming together and energizing our group for the general [election],” she adds.

Still, an advantage to a virtual convention is that it can accommodate more speakers and encourage more participation from rural Democrats and those who usually couldn’t afford to travel. Some political observers argue that those factors could be a gamechanger for Texas Democrats this cycle.

Because a majority of its volunteers are 65 and over

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CURRENT | April 22 – May 5, 2020 | sacurrent.com

Jade Esteban Estrada

— the population most vulnerable to the coronavirus — COVID-19 concerns hit Bexar Democrats right away.

When the party headquarters was forced to shut down, a feeling of loss spread through the tight-knit organization.

Beyond that, social distancing creates new challenges for one of the group’s key objectives: energizing voters.

Alcántara says Bexar County residents still read their physical mail, which is why she advocates reaching them with personalized postcards. The voters she can rely on, rain or shine, tend to be over the age of 65 and aren’t necessarily online.

“Those are the voters that we know have been voting for years. But if we’re not communicating with them, then we lose them,” she explains.

When I ask her how she feels about the Republican Party of Texas holding an in-person convention, she doesn’t miss a beat.

“They’re crazy,” she says flatly. “So, we’re not even expected to peak [with the spread of COVID-19] until mid-May. And then we don’t know if we’re going to have a second [wave] of this. To put thousands of people in that confined space in July?”

Alcántara’s expression of solicitude could stem from the fact that she was a mother before she was a politician. She and her husband of 15 years have four daughters, 14 to 28 in age. During times of crisis, whether political or facing the family, she relies on her faith.

“I had a daughter who was extremely premature: she was born one pound, nine ounces,” she says. “We pretty much lived in an ICU for three months. At that point, I’d learned where to pull from and who to rely upon. If I can get through what I went through with my young one when we were going through those horrible times, I — we — can get through anything, as long as we have faith.”

Two years as party chairwoman have allowed Alcántara to make new observations about her tribe.

“I’ve learned that our Democrats — we are a passionate group — and the positives in that is that we are passionate, and we want to fight for what is good and for the needs of our people,” she says. “The downfall, sometimes, is that we are a passionate group. I think the main thing that I’ve learned to understand is that passion can be amazing and terrifying all [at] the same [time], and as long as we focus on where that passion needs to be, then we’re all OK.” She sees similar passion in party members who hoped for a Bernie Sanders victory.

“My hope is that those people who had vowed never to vote for [Joe] Biden would understand that at this point in time, if you choose not to vote for Biden, what is the alternative?” she asks. “We’ve seen the alternative. We are living with the alternative. We cannot handle another four years.”

She can speak about party splits from experience, since there’s also been a Democratic divide in Bexar County — one Alcántara maintains predated her arrival as chairwoman.

“I think because I unseated Mr. Medina, I think that a fraction [of the party] felt harmed,” she says, seeming to search for just the right words. “I really believed that if they had been able to meet me or have a sit-down, I believe that [they would have found that] their ideas and my ideas and what we’re all fighting for [are] the same.”

A bit of advice from state Rep. Diego Bernal, D-San Antonio, gave her some perspective on the unending challenges of holding office.

“He said, ‘Monica, no matter what you do there will always be 25% of the folks that don’t care for it. But just know that if you plan on doing something, set on doing it. There’s always 75% percent of the folks who will stand right behind [you].”

news CURRENT EVENTS

Texas’ Roadblock to a State Income Tax Couldn’t Have Come at a Worse Time

BY SANFORD NOWLIN Editor’s Note: The following is Current Events, a column of opinion and analysis.

W

ith businesses shuttered and unemployment hitting levels unseen since the Great Depression, Texas is in desperate need of tax revenue. Make no mistake, political watchers warn, cuts to state services are coming.

They will be deep. They will be painful.

“When you’re talking about the state’s revenues right now, the big picture is dire,” said Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University.

Texas’ Republican-controlled Legislature’s traditional approach to riding out economic turmoil is to whittle away at budgets. And the first victim is likely to be the state’s educational system, which got a badly needed cash infusion last legislative session, boosting its per-student spending from 49th in the U.S. to roughly 38th.

Be prepared for us to slide back down that scale.

“There will be blood on the floor of every classroom in the state,” Jillson said.

Too bad Texas voters overwhelmingly voted last November for an amendment to the state constitution all but eliminating the possibility for the Lege to enact one of the few available tax measures that could have stave off the most draconian cuts.

Roughly three-quarters of Texans voted for Proposition 4, which bars lawmakers from imposing an individual income tax, including a tax on an individual’s share of a partnership and unincorporated association income.

Prop 4 didn’t make a future income tax completely impossible, only damned near impossible. Under the amendment, any future income tax resolution would need two-thirds support in both legislative chambers

Flickr Creative Commons

before it could go to voters, who would ultimately decide its fate.

“To be honest, the reason we’re doing that is because we don’t know what future legislators might do, so we want to, while we have to vote, forever ban a state income tax in Texas,” GOP state Rep. Phil King told his hometown paper, the Weatherford Democrat, while working to sell the amendment to voters.

So, there you have it.

Texas’ coming budget cuts are unavoidable, experts say. But if lawmakers had the ability to institute a state income tax — something already in existence in 41 other U.S. states — they would likely be far less severe.

Oh, legislators could fiddle with closing the state’s many sales loopholes or stack on a few additional business taxes, but those aren’t likely to add up to much, experts point out.

In the absence of an income tax,

Texas lawmakers’ next-best option is hiking the sales tax, which is already the 13th-highest in the nation, according to the Tax Foundation. Even a half-cent hike would nudge us closer to the top five.

Let’s not fool ourselves into thinking the recovery will be quick and that the severe cuts will be over in a matter of a few months. Revenues from big generators like tourism and the oil industry will take considerable time to come back.

The Texas Taxpayers and Research Association estimates that for every dollar decline in the price of oil, the state loses $85 million in revenue.

What’s more, Texas property owners hurt by the coronavirus pandemic are not eligible for a temporary state tax exemption created for disasters, state Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a recent letter.

Like those property taxes, sales taxes are regressive, meaning they tend to

hit low- and middle-income residents the hardest. Income tax, on the other hand, forces those with the deepest pockets to shell out more while taking considerably less from the lowest wage earners.

Texans aren’t stupid, but in voting for Prop 4, they allowed themselves to be played by lawmakers such as King and its champion — State. Sen. Pat Fallon, R-Prosper — lawmakers beholden to the monied interests who stand to pay out the most under a state income tax.

Now, with the budget ax poised, low and middle-income Texans have the most to lose. The safety net that protects the poorest in the state and the public schools that educate our children are among the most likely casualties.

The sad reality is this: Texans had a potential out to those nightmare scenarios, but guided by cynical elected officials, they painted themselves into a corner. sacurrent.com | April 22 – May 5, 2020 | CURRENT

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San Antonio Fire Department

Underlying Conditions

San Antonio’s problems with generational poverty endanger its most vulnerable residents during the coronavirus crisis

BY SANFORD NOWLIN

S

an Antonio’s demographics almost seem tailor-made to put people at risk for the worst outcomes of COVID-19.

It’s a city that’s long struggled with generational poverty, where people of color make up the majority and certain underlying health conditions, most notably diabetes, are higher than the national and state averages. Data collected by states during the pandemic suggest race and socioeconomic status can make significant differences in survival rates of those who contract the virus.

So far, the numbers suggest San Antonians infected with COVID-19 may face worse outcomes. The percentage of known infections in Bexar County that ended in death reached 3.8% on Sunday, April 19, higher than the rates reported by officials in Dallas, Harris and Travis, the state’s three other most populous counties. (See accompanying chart.)

Those preliminary numbers would hardly stand up to scrutiny in a scientific journal. It’s unclear how many untested cases are still in each community, for example, and they’re not statistically significant enough to take other factors into account.

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CURRENT | April 22 – May 5, 2020 | sacurrent.com

But we do know this: San Antonio’s high poverty rates for black and Latino residents have contributed to the health problems facing those communities.

Our city’s high poverty rates account for lower health outcomes in the city’s disproportionately poor areas, a 2019 study by San Antonio Area Asset Funders Network and Texas Appleseed found.

One in seven people in Bexar County have diabetes.

In one of the city’s most vulnerable zip codes, 78205, that number is closer to one in five. That’s above both the Texas average of roughly 10% and national average of around 9%.

“It’s quite clear that the risk of contracting COVID-19 doesn’t appear to be higher in older people and people with diabetes, it’s just that the health outcomes tend to be a lot worse,” said Curtis Triplitt, director of diabetes research at the Texas Diabetes Institute, part of University Health System.

Triplitt points out that diabetes can also lead to cardiovascular and kidney diseases which also put people at higher risk for death from a COVID-19 infection.

Beyond having higher rates of higher rates of chronic illnesses such as diabetes and hypertension,

black and Latino communities also tend to be uninsured at higher rates than Anglo populations.

Nationally, the early data suggest that African Americans are especially vulnerable to the disease.

Surgeon General Jerome Adams, who is black, has even weighed in on the way the virus is having poor and minority communities particularly hard.

“I have heart disease and spent a week in the ICU due to a heart condition, and I actually have asthma and I’m pre-diabetic,” Adams told CBS News in an interview. “I represent that legacy of growing up poor and black in America and I, and many black Americans, are at higher risk for COVID. It’s why we need everyone to do their part to slow the spread.”

Blacks make up 7% of San Antonio’s population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, but as of April 19, they accounted for 28% of Bexar County’s COVID-19 deaths. Non-Hispanic whites, which make up 27% of the city’s population, accounted for just 23% of local deaths. Latinos, which represent roughly 62% of the population, accounted for 46% of deaths.

Working Poor Compounding the risk for San Antonio’s low-income residents is their higher risk for exposure to the coronavirus where they work. Poor people are less likely to have jobs they can work from home, experts point out, while grocery clerks and food service workers are frequently forced to work in conditions where maintaining six feet of social distance is difficult if not impossible.

San Antonio and Bexar officials recently made it mandatory for people to wear masks in public places,

and local employers appear to be respecting those rules. However, Fred Campbell, an internal medicine specialist with UT Health San Antonio, warns that employees at retail businesses are often at the mercy of customers’ respect for social distancing rules.

“There’s nothing to prevent somebody from crowding an employee to complain about service or selection, which seems to be happening a lot right now,” Campbell said.

Many of those workers are also forced to make tough choices about staying on the job when they worry they may be becoming ill. A study by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, and promoted by the Working Texans coalition, found that 39% of workers in the state don’t receive paid sick time.

“From a health professional standpoint, during a pandemic like this, there should be some kind of accommodation for sick leave,” Triplitt said. “I say that because we can’t be sending a mixed message that we want people to stay home if they’re displaying symptoms yet we’re expecting them to suffer economic consequences if they do.”

Triplitt also worries people with diabetes and other health conditions may be vulnerable to worsening their condition during quarantine if they fail to keep up with exercise and can’t get access to the healthy food they need. Recent studies show that as many as one in five people in Bexar County live in food deserts, or urban areas where it’s difficult to find fresh food at low costs.

A Question of Numbers While San Antonio’s Metropolitan Health District has been fairly transparent about the data that breaks down how minority communities are affected by COVID-19, that’s not necessarily the case for the rest of the state.

Part of the problem, observers say, is that three years ago Texas defunded an office specifically created to examine racial inequities in health issues.

The state created its Office of Minority Health Statistics and Engagement in 2010, charging it with studying and resolving racial disparities. Its two dozen full-time employees were charged with tackling institutional racism in the state’s health systems.

While small, the agency counted successes. After researching Child Protective Service numbers, for example, it discovered that state-provided transportation services the didn’t accommodate larger families or fit in with their schedules. After addressing those issues, the number of cases where mothers passed up medical care for their kids dropped, according to a report by Austin public radio station KUT. However, facing a budget shortfall during the 2017 legislative session, lawmakers defunded the $2 million-a-year program. While there’s been little public discussion of the decision, at least one advocate for the office told KUT that lawmakers justified the defunding by saying individual state agencies could track the numbers on their own.

“I think that defunding that office was cosigning for all these health outcomes to get worse in communities of color across the state,” former Office of

Minority Health Statistics staffer Lauren Lluveras told the radio station.

Last week, state Representative Shawn Thierry, D-Houston, drafted a letter to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott asking that he appoint an emergency COVID-19 racial disparities task force to examine how racial bias figures into who gets testing and access to treatment.

“As we know, data collection is lacking, and so one of the things I asked for in the letter is the task force would study the impact of these demographic factors on the morbidity and mortality rate,” Thierry said.

Into the Neighborhoods Metro Health officials say they understand the importance of making sure San Antonio’s black and brown communities understand their elevated risks from COVID-19. Earlier this month, the district’s Community Health and Prevention team began visiting low-income neighborhoods to do community outreach.

Before Easter weekend, liaisons were walking parks in low-income neighborhoods to let people know of pending closures and also answer questions about the pandemic. Last week, they delivered more than 5,300 door hangers to households in the East Side’s Council District 2.

During one outing, a team encountered two separate gatherings of residents clearly not observing social distancing recommendations, said Mario Martinez, Metro Health’s assistant director of environmental health and safety. One needed a reminder that their proximity put them at risk, while the other claimed to be completely unaware of the guidelines.

“This is all coming down rather quickly, so it’s very difficult to change these behaviors,” Martinez said.

Beyond those with diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, Metro Health also recognized that COVID-19 poses special threats to people with asthma, another disease with high prevalence in San Antonio. In 2015, 14.7 of 10,000 children 17 or under were hospitalized for asthma in Bexar County, compared to just 8.3 per

10,000 for the whole state.

Several weeks ago, Metro Health began rejiggering its SA Kids BREATHE asthma program to include wellness checks with any person ever referred to the program to ensure they understand the risks posed by the pandemic.

Martinez said his team’s work has been centered on East, South and West San Antonio neighborhoods defined in an “equity atlas” of U.S. Census tracts showing the city’s highest rates of poverty and most tenuous access to health care.

“All of our efforts are focused on these communities of color because of the risk underlying conditions such as diabetes and hypertension represent,” he said.

History of Inequality During a recent conference call with reporters, black Texas lawmakers pointed out that the state’s repeated refusal to expand Medicaid and its efforts to overturn the affordable care act have left minority residents especially vulnerable to the effects of the pandemic.

The sweep of COVID-19 through the state merely highlights issues that have existed for years in the state’s minority communities, said Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis.

“By not expanding Medicaid, people don’t have access to insurance,” he said. “[R]espiratory problems in neighborhoods hurt blacks and Hispanics to a great extent, there are more environmental issues [and] environmental racism is creating problems. One of the biggest industries before the coronavirus hit was opening diabetes clinics in minority communities.”

Kandice Webber, a critical care nurse and Black Lives Matter organizer, said she hopes the pandemic wakes people up to the fact that Texas’ black and brown residents have borne the brunt not just of this health crisis but others before it.

“COVID-19 is just the way it manifests this time,” she said. “There will always be another COVID-19 until we address the structural racism this county has forced on us.”

sacurrent.com | April 22 – May 5, 2020 | CURRENT

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news Pediatric Expert Warns Parents Not to Delay Kids’ Vaccinations During Pandemic

M

Instagram Gov. Greg Abbott

Jumping the Gun

Gov. Abbott shares plan to reopen Texas’ economy, but critics say he’s putting politics ahead of safety

BY SANFORD NOWLIN

A

fter hinting for days about a grand plan to restart the state’s economy, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday announced he’d formed a “strike force” to oversee a phased opening of businesses.

During a news conference, Abbott said he’d seen “glimmers that the worst of COVID-19 may soon be behind us,” thanks to residents’ social distancing efforts.

Infections are “leveling off” and the death toll isn’t as dire as once predicted, the Republican governor added.

“We have demonstrated that we can corral the coronavirus,” Abbott said.

Critics quickly pounced on the vagueness of the plan and warned that Texas’ slow rate of testing for the coronavirus — among the worst in the nation, according to multiple analyses — gives an incomplete picture of the severity of the crisis.

To date, the state conducted just 3,660

tests per 1 million residents, according to the independent COVID Tracking Project.

“It’s akin to saying, ‘The parachute has slowed our rate of descent, so it’s now safe to take it off,’” State Rep. Julie Johnson, D-Dallas, said of Abbott’s eagerness to reopen businesses.

During the news conference, Abbott said within the next week he’ll reopen state parks, free hospitals to resume surgeries and allow retailers to provide curbside pickup services. He also promised to announce additional steps on April 27 and again in May. While Abbott pledged that medical experts and data will guide the rollout, critics charge the membership of his “strike force” suggests he’s more beholden to business and political interests.

Austin banker and top Republican donor James Huffines serves as chairman of

the group, while lobbyist Mike Toomey, former chief of staff to GOP Gov. Rick Perry, will lead its staff.

While the task force boasts medical experts including former U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Mark McClellan, it also includes Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who last month said on a Fox News broadcast that elderly people should be prepared to die from COVID-19 if it means protecting the economy.

U.S. Rep. Julian Castro, D-San Antonio, said the appointments suggest the governor is more eager to reward political allies than listen to public health experts.

“He’s been very vague about everything,” Castro said of Abbott. “It’s not a plan. It’s a hope.”

On Friday, Abbott also said the state was preparing to dramatically ramp up testing with private-sector assistance.

He was otherwise vague on details other than saying the expansion would come in late April or early May. “We have heard for weeks that there are ‘encouraging signs’ more testing is coming, but it never seems to happen,” said state Rep. Chris Turner, D-Grand Prairie, who chairs the Texas House Democratic Caucus. “We need to dramatically increase testing right now.”

any of us are postponing routine medical visits while we wait for the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic to pass, but a local pediatrician warns that putting off vaccinations for children right now is a risky move.

Dr. Illeana Silva, pediatric director for San Antonio’s University Health System, said delaying well-checks and vaccines for babies and toddlers could create a “vaccine gap” exposing a vulnerable segment of our community to life-threatening but avoidable diseases.

“We don’t want to start seeing rises in serious diseases like measles and whooping cough that are vaccine-preventable,” she said.

With residents hunkered down, Silva worries vaccinations may not be top of mind for many parents. Others may think bringing a young child to the doctor during the outbreak is dangerous.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Association of Pediatrics have made recommendations to help doctors avoid contagion during the pandemic, including scheduling visits for healthy kids during one part of the day and those with symptoms during a different part.

Some pediatricians also have dedicated separate clinic space, including separate entrances for sick and well kids, while others are asking visitors to sit in their cars instead of the waiting room until it’s time to be seen.

Even if parents aren’t worried about their child running the risk of developing a serious disease while quarantined at home, Silva cautions that it may be difficult to get in for an appointment once stay-at-home orders are lifted.

“There’s still going to be a catchup period when pediatric offices are overwhelmed,” she said. “We’re only able to take in so much volume at one time.”

— Sanford Nowlin

sacurrent.com | April 22 – May 5, 2020 | CURRENT

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arts

Budget Bloodbath Defunding San Antonio arts organizations will save money during the current crisis, but at what cost?

BY KELLY MERKA NELSON

G

iven the scope of the coronavirus pandemic, San Antonio arts groups were expecting budget cuts. But the city’s recent decision to slash arts spending through the end of the year opened deep and painful wounds.

On Wednesday, April 8, the city furloughed 270 municipal employees and canceled the remainder of this year’s funding for local arts organizations. Institutions including the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center, the San Antonio Symphony and Ballet San Antonio lost 20% of their allotted city funding for the year.

Members of the arts community warn that the cutbacks are likely to run deeper than a few canceled shows or concerts. They’re a deep blow to San Antonio’s rich local culture.

“We’re not about just entertaining,” said Graciela Sanchez, director of the Esperanza Center. “We’re totally connected to our communities.”

City officials made the draconian cuts to offset lost tax revenue from San Antonio International Airport, the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, the Alamodome and local hotels, all of which have languished as people stay at home.

Since the cuts were announced, some arts organizations put on a brave face.

“We all must be dedicated to both helping contain this virus and to being ready and able to resume everyday life with the joys and pleasures that include live music performances across our city,” the San Antonio Symphony said in a statement.

In that same statement, the symphony said it will soon announce its 2020-2021 season.

“Announcing in this time of uncertainty is important,” the organization added. “Despite the realities the pandemic has made for today, we know that life will revive and continue.”

The Public Theater struck a more somber tone, acknowledging both the city’s proven commitment to the arts as well as the undeniable effect the cuts will have on cultural institutions.

“Without the city or Area Foundation support, the landscape of our arts community (and for sure our professional arts community) will look different in 2021,” theater

Shutterstock

officials said in a statement.

“Our partnerships with many of the departments in the city are essential to The Public Theater’s survival and growth. We are saddened for those that will be in limbo and [are] working diligently to keep the ship sailing. We can relate. Our hearts and thoughts are with them, and we know we will all appreciate each other more when we overcome this.”

Bracing for More The Esperanza’s Sanchez said local arts organizations can struggle through the current round of cuts. However, she cautions that the belt tightening may not be over.

“I think probably all of us will survive with that cut now, but nobody’s telling us what the future is like,” she said. “It’s March, April, May, and then the summer months that are going to be hit the hardest. That’s probably the largest revenue the city gets for hotel-motel funds — my assumption, again, I don’t know. So, what does it mean next year, from October? Do we get half of that amount that we all got, do we get 25%, do we get nothing?”

To be sure, San Antonio is already seeing casualties. On Friday, April 17, Luminaria announced the cancelation of its 2020 Contemporary Arts Festival.

“With the overwhelming health concerns and the projected insecurity of funds resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, we believe this is the most responsible way to proceed during these unprecedented times,” Luminaria officials said in a statement.

‘A Drop in the Bucket’ It’s almost certain other cancellations will

follow as arts groups reshuffle their finances and adapt to a new normal where social distancing makes programming difficult to present. Given the cultural vacuum that’s likely to create, how much the city is actually saving?

The cuts — which affect 37 local arts and music programs — amount to $995,000 in savings for the remainder of the 2019-2020 fiscal year, according to a recent analysis

by KSAT News. When compared to earlier cuts of $82 million, or 2.8% of the total $2.9 billion budget, the city is clawing back what amounts to a paltry sum.

“That’s really a drop in the bucket,” Sanchez said.

With many facing unprecedented financial insecurity, it’s natural to prioritize funds with an eye on what does the most good. However, Sanchez argues that institutions such as Esperanza are doing more than staging concerts or art shows.

As the COVID-19 crisis escalated, Esperanza staff members made a point to keep in touch with at-risk community members, including the elderly, the financially insecure and people with disabilities. Those efforts go beyond simple phone trees: staffers have stood in line, shopped for groceries and done other tasks for those in need.

“A lot of our folks aren’t even on social media, so we’ve kept staff calling — from the beginning — our list of elders, our list of people that are just low-income that we know,” Sanchez said.

Ultimately, as San Antonians shelter in place — passing the time by reading books, watching films, listening to music — it should be readily apparent that the arts have immense value. While city’s cuts are understandable, for many in the arts community they still feel like a knife in the back.

Find more arts coverage every day at sacurrent.com

arts Public Theater of San Antonio Introduces Daily Streaming Classes and Performances

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DreamWorks

Film Club

San Antonio’s Planet X Cinema Returns with Online Film Screenings Featuring Commentary

BY KELLY MERKA NELSON

P

lanet X Cinema is back, baby!

After entering hibernation last year, the boisterous brotherly team Blair and Drew Hicks have caved to the demands of friends and fans in quarantine and found a way to restart their Planet X Cinema film screening series. This time, in a way that can be enjoyed from home.

Unlike the prior format, in which the brothers gave pre-show and post-show chats but stayed shut up during the film proper, their new virtual screenings will feature live commentary, ranging from obscure film facts in “Drew’s Hollywood Corner” to MST3Kstyle witticisms, all delivered in their

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CURRENT | Apri 22 – May 5, 2020 | sacurrent.com

jocular style.

Unlike Mystery Science Theater 3000, though, the movies are always ones the brothers love and hope audiences will equally enjoy. The pair marked their return on April 18 with an apropos title, given the format update: the 2001 kooky sci-fi comedy Evolution.

But how do the screenings work?

Viewers can join in on the fun by jumping onto Planet X’s trusty Discord server either via Discord’s desktop or web apps. To watch the film, pull it up on a streaming service like Netflix or Amazon Prime — or even pop in a DVD or VHS copy — and pause it at a timestamp provided by the hosts. At the 8 p.m. start time, the bros will count

everyone in to begin the film on their devices.

Anyone late to the game won’t be left out, though. Blair and Drew plan to periodically drop timestamps into the text chat throughout the film, allowing watchers to join in, or resync if need be.

Audience members can park in the chatrooms and talk amongst themselves, or even eschew the brothers’ commentary completely and yak in a free-for-all “Bartertown” voice channel.

Plus, if the commentary gets too much, Discord has a handy mute feature. You can just tune out, enjoy the film and check back in for the post-mortem, if that’s your jam.

For now, the brothers plan to host virtual screenings every other Saturday, with the next entry — Jean Claude Van Damme’s Lionheart — slated for May 2. For updates, keep your peepers on Planet X’s Facebook and Instagram pages.

7:30 p.m. pre-show, 8 p.m. film start Saturday, May 2, Discord, facebook.com/ planetxcinema.

ike many local arts organizations, the Public Theater of San Antonio closed its doors due to the pandemic, but also found a way to pipe performances into people’s homes while we shelter in place.

Now, local theater-lovers can enjoy daily programming livestreamed

by The Public as part of its new selection of “by PUBLIC demand” online offerings.

On weekdays, students of all ages can tune in to virtual classes led by theater staff or contracted teaching-artists. Classes for gradeschool students are free, while teen and adult masterclasses are $5. The streams also feature opportunities to chat with artists and theater staff.

Under the new series, weekend streaming is reserved for performances.

Saturdays feature $5 cabaret sessions from the Encore Lounge, while Sundays exhibit donation-based youth showcases and professional readings with discussion. The Public kicked things off April 18 and 19 with a live reading of More Better Beautiful, an offbeat comedy noir commissioned from playwright Robert Caisley in 2018, and a set of movie tunes sung by local actress Lauren Esquivel.

Content for “by PUBLIC demand” is available at thepublicsa.org/bypublicdemand.

— Trevor Flynn

Public Theatre of San Antonio

arts Saturday Night Live Stream Texas comedians get in on the livestream action during quarantine

BY LARRY GARZA

D

uring quarantine, artists are going live on a variety of platforms, be it your favorite musician playing acoustic guitar or your cousin DJing in your aunt’s garage. The options can seem overwhelming.

If you’re looking to lighten the mood right now — and who isn’t? — plenty of Texas comedians are looking to make you laugh from the comfort of your couch.

The beauty of this new online approach is that it presents comedy in a truly live format. There’s no 10-second delay, so anything can and will happen.

That’s especially true because the crews of these shows are all working remotely due to the pandemic.

Some comedians also see this crisis, scary as it is, as an opportunity to perform in front of more people than an average open-mic audience.

But be warned, not every comedic approach is going to translate well to livestreaming. Austin stand-up Jay Whitecotton, who just released his special Jazz Funeral on YouTube for free, thinks the format is harmless, with one exception.

“I think it’s terrible for stand-up comedy,” he said. “As far as funny live streams in general, I find the ones that are run by people who already had pre-existing content to be perfect for quarantine entertainment.”

Experience also plays a role in quality. Artists that have been using online platforms before the pandemic have already built an audience and an ability to connect with them, while others seem to have trouble figuring it all out.

But in this new normal, aren’t we all?

Here’s a rundown of Texas comics who have made the jump:

Roxxy Haze

Houston-based comedian Roxxy Haze has been creating online content for years. With more than 14,000 Instagram followers, finding her online is nothing new for her fans. Since the

quarantine, she’s participated in a few online standup showcases. “I didn’t do it like a standup show like I see people doing,” she said of her approach. “I did it the same way I do my live stream, which is more of a conversation with the people watching.” Follow her on any platform @ roxxyhaze.

Avery Moore

San Antonio native and popular Austin-based comic Avery Moore has been using her Instagram stories to produce hilarious absurdity such as the adventures of Panama Brad, Panama Jack’s little brother, and her popular Quarantine: The Musical. She promises to “do something stupid every day for our amusement until we’re allowed to leave our homes.” Follow her on Instagram @lilmisspopovich.

Jerry Karnes

Jerry Karnes hosts “Quarantine FB Live Comedy Showcase” Tuesday nights at 9 p.m. for El Paso Underground Comedy. Having done the live-streamed open mic “World Famous Comedy” before the pandemic, Karnes decided to expand his online activities to chronicle the El Paso comedy scene.

He started with comics performing out of his garage until the stay-athome order hit, then he began reaching out to comedians from outside his local scene. Karnes still hosts the show from his home, then turns the camera to a monitor where comics perform via Zoom. While Karnes says the feedback from the audience has been phenomenal, he has words for his critics, mostly other comedians, who bash his outlet. “I don’t know why, other than the fact that it is harder to perform since there’s no live audience,” Karnes said. “I see it as practice for a televised event, which is the ultimate goal for any comic.” The show runs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. at facebook.com/ malkreadcomedy.

Instagram / @RoxxyHaze

Live From Your Living Room

The brainchild of Canada-based Steven Berry and San Antonio’s Chris Zaiontz, Live From Your Living Room premiered April 3 on Facebook and YouTube.

Using programs Vmix and caster.io, the variety show aims to feature artists across the U.S. and Canada, including San Antonio’s Tori Pool, David Sangiuliano and Tram Trinh. Zaiontz, manager of Wizard Broadcasting, has produced live broadcasts for concerts and the San Antonio Runners Soccer

Club, so he hopes that experience will translate into a professional-looking show. If the venture is successful, look out for more Live From Your Living Room shows on Facebook and YouTube.

Larry Garza is a San Antonio-based standup comedian. His group Comedia A Go-Go’s six-year old interactive podcast Public Axis has also jumped to the world of livestreaming. The show runs every Friday at 10 p.m. on Facebook Live. sacurrent.com | April 22 – May 5, 2020 | CURRENT

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screens

DEFYING DISABILITIES

11 More Docs to Stream About People Facing Life’s Challenges

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tream Up Syndrome first. Then, consider some of these other great documentaries about individuals confronting their disabilities head-on.

Duane Graves

Lifelong Friendship

Local filmmaker Duane Graves looks back 20 years on his directorial debut Up Syndrome

BY KIKO MARTINEZ

I

t’s been 20 years since San Antonio filmmaker Duane Graves first sat in the director’s chair, calling the shots on the documentary Up Syndrome. The 2000 film tells the story of Rene Moreno, Graves’ childhood friend who was born with Down syndrome.

Even after two decades, the independent film still resonates with people, he said.

“I still get messages from people all over the world that are seeing [Up Syndrome] for the first time,” Graves, 44, told the Current during an interview earlier this month. “I never could’ve imagined people would still be talking about it.”

Up Syndrome is an intimate portrait of a young man Graves still considers his best friend after more than 30 years. He even named his daughter after him — Phoebe Renée Graves.

“We really connected over our love of movies when we were kids,” Graves said. “We watched horror movies just like any other kids and really had a lot of fun. We brushed off all the negative stuff like bullies, and focused on what we enjoyed.”

One of Graves’ earliest movie memories with Moreno is counting down the days until Ghostbusters II hit theaters in June 1989. Both were around 14 years old.

“The week before it came out, I drew the Ghostbusters II logo on a giant poster board for him and colored it and he hung it up in his room proudly,” Graves said. “We were first in line at the theater the day it opened.”

Moreno, who’s worked at a local Peter Piper Pizza for almost 20 years, is happy his friendship with Graves has lasted so long.

“I love Duane,” Moreno said. “We’ve known each other a long time — since we were crazy little kids. I love his wife, Shara, and their daughter Phoebe Renée too. They are my best friends and I love to spend time with them doing fun things.”

Graves said that when he watches Up Syndrome today, what stands out most about the film is its honesty.

“There’s something to be said about making a movie where you just turn on the camera and let it do its thing,” he said. “Sometimes, you just can’t recreate that magic.”

He hopes first-time viewers see how rewarding and impactful his friendship with Moreno has been over the years. He also wants viewers to understand people with Down syndrome are just like everyone else.

“I’ve gotten so many letters from parents with kids who have Down that tell me that this film eased them by giving them a glimpse of what the future may hold,” Graves said. “That’s something I didn’t see happening when we were making it.”

Up Syndrome is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.

Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable (2018) — A surfer pursues her dream to ride the biggest waves after losing an arm to a shark attack at the age of 13. Streaming on Netflix.

The Crash Reel (2013) — A snowboarder attempts to recover from a life-threatening injury although doctors tell him returning to the sport may kill him. Streaming on Amazon Prime (with HBO subscription).

Crip Camp (2020) — A summer camp for teenagers with disabilities in the 1970s becomes the birthplace for a revolution for disability rights. Streaming on Netflix.

Dealt (2017) – An in-depth look at the life and career of sleight-of-hand illusionist and San Antonio resident Richard Turner, who also happens to be blind. Streaming on Hulu.

Gleason (2016) – Former NFL player Steve Gleason’s journey through life before and after he is diagnosed with ALS. Streaming on Amazon Prime.

Glenn Campbell: I’ll Be Me (2014) – Late country music legend Glen Campbell goes on a farewell tour while fighting Alzheimer’s disease. Streaming on Hulu.

The Horse Boy (2009) – A family travels to Mongolia to meet with nomadic shamans who they believe can help their autistic son. Streaming on Amazon Prime.

Life, Animated (2016) – A young, autistic boy finds his voice by connecting to the world through animated Disney movies. Streaming on Hulu.

Murderball (2005) – Wheelchair-bound athletes push themselves to the limit during full-contact rugby matches. Streaming on Amazon Prime.

My Beautiful Broken Brain (2016) – A 34-year-old London resident turns the camera on herself to show how her life changed after she suffered a stroke. Streaming on Netflix.

Unrest (2017) – A Harvard Ph.D. student documents her daily struggle with chronic fatigue syndrome. Streaming on Netflix.

— Kiko Martinez

Find more film stories at sacurrent.com

Katie Hennessey

We Work on the Front Lines Providing Your Food: Here’s What You Need to Know

BY KATIE HENNESSEY

I

Find more food & drink news at sacurrent.com

n my 15 years in the food industry, I have served customers by waiting tables, making coffee, decorating deserts, serving counters, delivering sandwiches and stocking shelves. Whether in a warehouse, kitchen or racing through downtown delivering sandwiches on my bicycle, one universal objective summed up all of my food service jobs: the customers’ needs come first.

The grocery store chains, restaurants and delivery services that value customer retention over the bottom line go out of their way to adhere to this golden rule. They eat the cost when service is unsatisfactory, they work overtime during holidays to give consumers stress-free gatherings, they stop what they’re doing to hunt down products on packed storage shelves.

They put themselves last, so customers’ needs can come first.

But even the best of those businesses can’t keep up with coronavirus consumerism.

Panic-buying has created product shortages, stay-at-home orders have put pressure on delivery services and demand for curbside

orders have caused unusual waiting periods for food providers otherwise known for their timeliness.

On Easter Sunday, a line stretched from Smoke BBQ Restaurant’s East Commerce St. location all the way to the Alamo as customers waited for curbside takeout. Many turned to social media to vent about their wait.

“Poor planning Smoke BBQ,” one wrote. “This line is outrageous,” said another. “Even if we wanted to cancel, there is not even a way out of this line,” yet another complained.

What the customers didn’t know was that 61 of the restaurant’s almost 400 Easter orders were dated for the following Sunday — mistakes made by customers when ordering online, its owner said.

“We tried to service these people, but we were ultimately giving food to people who didn’t have an order for Easter,” Smoke owner Adrian Martinez told the Current. “Things kept going from there. It fell apart.”

Even so, Martinez did what any good food service provider would do, he busted his ass to make things right.

“We started calling everybody to tell them to come an hour later,” he said. “I got on Facebook Live to explain what was going on.”

The restaurant owner even gave out his personal number so those in line could call or text for an honest explanation. Meanwhile, runners rushed ice-cold drinks to those waiting in their cars.

A reprieve came the following day, when loyal customers came to Martinez’s side, thanking him for cooking for everybody during the crush, even though he didn’t have to.

“Less than 20% of the big-name restaurants are still operating,” Martinez said, “We had a chance to say, ‘We’re going to close the doors, put everybody on unemployment and call it a day.’”

Instead, the restaurant opened a pop-up grocery market, altered its menu to meet consumer needs and hosted a free 400-meal giveaway for the community.

Panic Buying H-E-B employee Jacob Alexander Henson has also wrestled with the tension of customer demands and product shortages. Once a bakery worker, Henson temporarily shifted to curbside grocery service when less-essential departments paused operation.

“H-E-B is definitely here for the customers first and foremost, but because of the pandemic and items that are limited and shorted, it has put employees behind regular production schedule,” Henson told

Instagram / La Gloria

the Current.

“Panic-buying disrupted supply and demand, especially around products like toilet paper and cleaning items,” he added. “We’re doing everything we can, but sometimes customers don’t understand.”

Curbside customers have become upset when their orders weren’t delivered with 100% accuracy or delivery was not as timely as they expected, Henson said.

5Meanwhile, employees are shopping for those orders as early as 5 a.m., three hours before stores open, to meet demand.

It doesn’t take an insider to know San Antonio-based H-E-B has staked its reputation on quality and customer service. But even companies with good reps are in new territory right now.

Grocery stores can only work with the supplies made available to them.

And even though food providers are doing heroic work, at the end of the day, they’re still human. They aren’t immune from making mistakes in such a high-pressure environment.

If there is ever been a time to lighten up on service workers and give them our support, it’s now.

Local Support One way we can repay food workers who put themselves on the front line is supporting locally owned restaurants, establishments that are often started by people who worked up the ranks.

Chef Johnny Hernandez’s La Gloria

A La Gloria staffer runs the cashier’s station at the restaurant’s grocery market.

M

at the Pearl converted its seating space into a temporary market to bring San Antonio citizens necessary resources.

Later, it added convenient hours and online ordering to better serve emergency responders.

“There was a hype in the beginning, then it kind of died down,” Juliana Ibarra, brand communicator for Grupo La Gloria told the Current. “Meanwhile, when I pass by McDonald’s and Burger King, they are just packed.”

He continued: “We keep a lot of people working, plus the owner was born and raised here, and he is completely invested in the community,” Ibarro said. “I would love to tell people, if they can continue to do takeout and curbside from local restaurants, man, it would really help.”

Though food service workers will continue to put customers’ needs first, now’s a good time to return the favor.

They are on the frontlines, choosing to work when the cost is high, prioritizing customer health and safety above their own, strategizing about how they can better serve their community.

Give them a smile, give them an air high-five, give them a big tip. Recognize them for doing the work they know best — serving others before themselves, no matter the circumstance.

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food Cupboard Cocktails Don’t let quarantine cramp your style. Two ingredients is enough to make spectacular cocktails.

BY RON BECHTOL

I

’m writing this on April 9, better known among aficionados as National Gin and Tonic Day. Just for the record, the international celebration of the classic drink is in October, and, no, don’t ask me why it deserves its own day here or abroad. For now, just catch up by having several.

In looking at news releases celebrating the occasion, I happened across several recipes purporting to give an old dog a new life.

One suggests starting with one-and-a-half ounces of gin in a tall glass with ice, then adding half an ounce of Suze, an especially bracing amaro. From there, dump in a quarter-ounce of lime juice and a couple dashes of Angostura bitters. Stir, then splash tonic water on top to taste. I happen to like Fever Tree’s Indian Tonic.

Another approach is to go all-in Spanish by serving your gin tonic — Spaniards omit the “and,” although they otherwise retain the drink’s English name — in a large wine glass with added botanicals such as juniper berries or rosemary sprigs, slices of citrus and the like.

In its basic form — gin, tonic, maybe a squeeze of lime — this is the simplest of two-ingredient cocktails. Scotch and soda, the classic highball, is another.

But you’ve got some time on your hands, yes?

Good. We’re moving on to two-ingredient cocktails, each with a couple of boozy components I’m hoping you have on hand — or can get delivered.

All other ingredients, such as bitters, simple syrups or relative trace amounts of liqueurs don’t count.

They’re kind of like salt and pepper in a cooking recipe.

To start with, you gotta love a drink called the Hanky Panky. Here it is:

Hanky Panky Ingredients

1½ oz. gin, such as Plymouth is good.

1½ oz. sweet vermouth, such as Dolin Rouge 2 dashes of Fernet Branca, an especially intense amaro

Directions Stir with ice, then strain into a chilled coupe glass.

Garnish with a swath of orange peel you have squeezed into the glass and rubbed along the rim.

Feel free to play with other slightly less intense amaros such as Cardamaro or Cynar, especially if you’re using a light red vermouth.

According to Kara Newman in “Shake, Stir, Sip”, the Dandy Cocktail is another classic that made its initial

appearance in The Savoy Cocktail Book, a classic published in London in 1930. The following is a variation that might better be called the Jim-Dandy. It’s that good.

it’s a pretty naked drink. The same can be said for a martini, of course. The gin variety, naturally. Here’s the original:

Jim Dandy

Ingredients

Ingredients

1½ oz. rye whiskey, such as Bulleit 1½ oz sweet vermouth, such as Carpano Antica 3 dashes of orange liqueur, such as Combier Dash of Angostura bitters

Directions Combine in an ice-filled glass, stir to chill and dilute, strain into a chilled coupe and garnish with orange and lemon peels. Or not. Feel free to up the Angostura — especially if using Carpano, a very big, sweet red.

I’m hoping you might have sake in your pandemic pantry. It’s great just served over ice in the summertime if a goad is needed. As initially published, the Midway Fuji is the purest of two-ingredient cocktails — just gin and sake in equal parts — bam! As such,

Midway Fuji 1½ oz. gin (I used Nikka, a Japanese coffey-still gin, but any good London gin will do.)

1½ oz. sake (I used a junmai-ginjo from Arizona, no less, although the recipe suggests junmai-shu.)

Directions This one is shaken — unusually, as two spirits would normally be stirred. After doing so, strain into a chilled Nick and Nora glass or a coupe. As the junmai-ginjo traditionally has a little added alcohol — the junmai-shu does not — the rice flavor is less pronounced, so my preferred proportions veered in the direction of slightly less gin and more sake. I also felt the need for a little salinity, so added just a couple drops of saline solution. But you’re the judge here. It all depends on your base ingredients. Go forth and create. sacurrent.com | April 22 – May 5, 2020 | CURRENT

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Deep Listening

Time on your hands? Try diving in and unraveling these dense, multilayered albums

BY MIKE MCMAHAN

A

s COVID-19 ravages the land, many of us are living in a mashup of Groundhog Day and Outbreak. Music can be an escape from reality, a voyage to an astral plane where an LP may have as much world-building as Dune or Watership Down.

Appreciating albums with that kind of depth demands repeated listens, and that requires a time investment. During the quarantine, many serious music fans now have an abundance of time on their hands.

The Beatles pioneered the concept of a fleshed-out alternate reality with Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band as a way to avoid touring, even though they dropped the concept before the end of the first side. Much more insular is the second side of Abbey Road, a continuous piece that heralded the dawn of progressive rock. They even reprise the opening track “You Never Give Me Your Money” near the end.

So, with a Beatlesesque trumpet fanfare, here are six deep-listening albums to get you through the world pause.

Transatlantic — Bridge Across Forever (2001)

Prog-rock supergroup Transatlantic is led by Neal Morse, formerly of Spock’s Beard, himself heavily influenced by Abbey Road. Also including former Dream Theater skins pounder Mike Portnoy, The Flower Kings’ guitar monster Roine Stolt and Marillion bassist Pete Trewavas, Bridge Across Forever fills 79 minutes with just four tracks. The multimovement suites seem like standard Yes-borrowing prog, but the closing epic reprises virtually every melody and riff of the openers. It’s a hell of a lot to take in but exhilarating once you have internalized the pieces and they pop up like flashbacks. Caveat: some listeners may need to ignore the overtly Christian lyrics.

Dawn of Midi — Dysnomia (2015)

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Dysnomia is like teleporting to the 1950s and looking through virtual reality goggles. Dawn of Midi features a standard trio lineup — piano, bass, drums. But standard thinking ends there, as this album unleashes a continuous piece that unspools more like a DJ set. The band created the album by improvising in an electronic-influenced style, cutting the tapes into a composition, and learning the result to perform start to finish. The result is simultaneously loose and tight, combining the spirit of jamming with the control of a good DJ.

Subliminal Sounds

Phish – Live in Utica (2011)

For almost 40 years, jamband progenitors Phish have played three-hour concerts that pull from their massive, hit-free repertoire and presented them without opening acts to keeping the focus squarely on their music. There’s no particular jumping-off point for Phish, but this gig from 2010 does a good job highlighting their playful sense of continuity with spontaneous, repeated quotes — referred to as “teases” — from their prog rock opus “Guyute,” both before and after a performance of the song midway through the first set. All told, the band teases “Guyute” musically or lyrically in no less than five of the first set’s 11 songs. And if that seems like a lot of tunes for these jam demigods, consider that the show contains 23 songs as a whole — 2010 is one of the versatile band’s least-jammy eras. When you roll in Phish standards such as “Birds Of A Feather,” “Split Open And Melt” and an encore of Zep’s “Good Times, Bad Times,” you’ve got yourself a great intro to a band that may demand further listening.

Afroskull — Monster for The Masses (2000)

Combining the funky horn-driven charts of Galactic or Lettuce with doom-flavored riffs played a bit up-tempo, Afroskull have an immediacy not usually associated with bands that grow with subsequent listens. However, despite the high energy instrumental funk, and one vocal tune, the compositions that make up Monster For The Masses have a complexity not apparent on casual listens or even initial in-depth listens. Music-theory heads may find themselves counting obsessively, particularly on the polyrhythmic, Zappa-esque “Layers,” the album’s kookiest arrangement. Some listen-

ers may wonder what a heavy, nuanced band might do with some of the underlying riffs, sans horns. The whole thing is tied together by hokey, fake news clips about a Godzilla attack.

Despite, you know, the vibe of B-movie monstrous destruction, the music is given its evil juju by tonality rather than kaiju.

Dungen — Ta Det Lungt (2005)

Swedish psych-rockers Dungen are a much more casual listen than virtually any other band on this list. The songs on Ta Det Lungt are drenched in a druggy, late ’60s California vibe that feels comforting right out of the gate.

However, these songs are a tough fit for a random playlist because they’re sung in Swedish.

That, plus the strong sequencing, make a solid argument that the album demands to be listened to straight through. Bonus points to the band for releasing an insular recording that doesn’t require a dissertation to explain.

Drivin’ n’ Cryin’ — Fly Me Courageous (1991)

Radio rock listeners familiar with the anthemic title track may have done a low-level spit take on this choice. It’s true, the Southern rock gems of Fly Me Courageous are not difficult listens. Main man Kevn Kinney’s voice might be a bit of an acquired taste, but anyone able to deal with REM’s Michael Stipe should do just fine. The true brilliance of this album shines once it’s broken in like an old shoe, and the vintage AC/DC-to-Zeppelin-esque riffs are burned into your brain. The songs have stayed relevant in any number of eras, including this one. The imagery is straight out of a classic Southern novel, and the apocalyptic scenes are just as relevant right now as they were — gulp — 30 years ago.

Sanford Nowlin

Stream Scene

SA musicians figuring out how to pivot to virtual performances during the pandemic

BY DARIAN MENDEZ

W

e’re living in strange and uncertain times, and the San Antonio music scene is feeling it. With empty bars and desolate venues, it’s unclear how soon the business of presenting live music will get back to normal.

“How is the local scene going to look? It’s an absolute 100% chance it’ll change, and you don’t know what’s going to happen,” said recording engineer Bob “Bobdog” Catlin, who also plays guitar in the industrial supergroup Pigface. “It’s weird right now.”

Pigface cancelled its most recent tour due to the outbreak. There was talk about livestreaming, but it seemed difficult since the band members live far apart. Plus, Catlin said livestreaming wouldn’t fully capture the magic that comes with playing live. Pigface is a collaborative experience he wants to communicate to audiences.

“It wasn’t going to be the same band as the band from last tour, anyway,” he added.

Catlin’s advice to bands looking to livestreaming is not to overthink things or become obsessed with video quality. Just make it sound good. While Go Pro cameras may be a good option, Catlin said iPhones can suffice, especially because most people already

have one.

“They won’t give a shit! They want to hear you play,” he said. “No one’s going to judge what you did in the quarantine.”

However, does think artists should find creative ways to up the excitement and capture the thrill of live music. To that end, he suggests setting up a green screen to run graphics in the background, because “livestreaming can be so sterile.”

Working Around It Andria Rose, an eponymous dreampop project, is persevering during the pandemic. Rose is almost done with a new EP slated for a summer release and plans to release a new song this month. She plans to do a livestream performance once the song is out. “[The pandemic] just affected timing and shows,” Rose said. “But it’s OK! We’ll work around what we’ve got.”

The full band has livestreamed in the past using a simple phone setup, and Rose said it was well received. She plans to do acoustic sets for the quarantine livestreams, which would feature herself and her boyfriend and bassist Bryan Austin. Because of

Guitarist and recording engineer Bob Catlin (right) says streaming shows need not involve expensive gear.

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the quarantine, the pair haven’t met with their other bandmates in a month.

Hard rockers Donella Drive have kept themselves busy, making collaborative videos with Twin Productions, rehearsing to perfect their new set and writing for a new EP, which they hope to release by October.

To stay connected with fans, the band recently livestreamed a rehearsal and plans on working with Twin Productions to stream a performance along with a lineup of other artists. Until then, the band is rehearsing a new set revolving around its most recent EP, Bloomer, which came out March 14.

Donella Drive bassist Andrew Salazar said the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic became apparent on the night of its release party for the EP. “We definitely felt it the night of the release show,” Salazar said. “At first we heard it was supposed to be no more than 500 people, then it dropped to 200, then gradually to 10, and I thought ‘Oh, no!’”

Despite the turmoil, the band sold out of physical copies of the release that night.

Staying Social For bands unable livestream, Catlin suggests making their social media accounts fun, especially because feeds have been so negative lately. Putting out new music out during the pandemic won’t hurt either, since people stuck at home may be 265 sacurrent.com | April 22 – May 5, 2020 | CURRENT

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Instagram / Andria Rose

25 receptive to checking out new sounds.

Rose is taking advantage of social media. She’s been doing every interview she can to stay relevant and continue growing the band’s following.

She’s also hoping to hustle up listeners on Spotify and Apple music.

“I think we’ll probably do livestreams even after this pandemic passes,” she said. “I think it’s a great way to connect with my fans that live abroad.”

The only difference is those post-pandemic streams will include the full band.

For Donella Drive, staying connected on social media means putting out new content regularly, even if it’s just a photo on Facebook.

The band recently put out a behindthe-scenes clip for their newest music video, which will be released soon. It also did a “Twin Talk” for Twin Productions — a PSA on staying safe during the pandemic.

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Dream-pop singer Andria Rose is using social media to stay connected with listeners during the pandemic.

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Also in the works are livestream rehearsals and sets on YouTube and Facebook.

“If you sit stagnant, people get bored and eventually lose interest,” Salazar said, “and I’ve seen it happen all the time with local bands.”

While it’s hard to be sure what the aftermath of San Antonio’s lockdown will be for musicians, they’re clearly not letting it stand in the way of their creativity and connecting with fans.

Despite genre differences, they say they’re feeling empathy for others trying to figure out how to make music during the crisis.

“I do hope all of San Antonio’s local artists stay strong and hang in there,” Rose said.

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3630354

2000

OTHER

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2303475

1975

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1900

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2004

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2007

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2515892

1900

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2000

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