Fort Worth Weekly Holidays 2021 // December 1-7, 2021 by Fort Worth Weekly

December 1-7, 2021 FREE fwweekly.com

SEE SANTA AT CROCKETT ROW Santa Claus is coming to Crockett Row for a Country Christmas Celebration. SEE PAGE 4

FEATURE LAST CALL STAGE MUSIC While you’re out and about Enjoy these delicious It’s actually kind of nice There’s a lot of great tuneage spending, remember to set aside a cocktails courtesy mainly seeing local troupes trot out to look forward to next year. BY JUAN R. GOVEA AND few bucks for our local nonprofits. of local distilleries. chestnuts this time of year. BY EDWARD BROWN

BY C O DY N E AT H E RY

BY KRISTIAN LIN

PAT R I C K H I G G I N S

IN SUNDANCE PLAZA

As We Celebrate Our 74th Anniversary History of the Fort Worth Christmas Tree

The Fort Worth Christmas Tree tradition was started by Amon G. Carter in 1947. The project was adopted by the Fort Worth Jaycees in 1956. In 2004, the Jaycees asked Sundance Square to host and manage the project. The 2021 Christmas tree is a majestic 55’ Norway Spruce. It was harvested in NW Michigan (less than 200 miles from the Canadian border) and traveled 1,250 miles to Fort Worth. Best we know, it’s the tallest live Christmas tree in Texas this season.

Special Thanks to the 2021 Fort Worth Christmas Tree Sponsors: Amon G. Carter Foundation Amazon Visit Fort Worth Wildcat Crane Fort Worth Promotion Fund, Inc.

Tarrant County Special Events Foundation Sid W. Richardson Foundation Dee J. Kelly Foundation North Texas Community Foundation

Fort Worth Chamber Foundation Hillwood Luther King Capital Management Jenner Block Law Firm Green Mountain Energy

Fort Worth Chamber The Eppstein Group Sundance Square Security Sundance Square Management Sasha & Ed Bass

Also, special thanks to all of the Fort Worth’s local artists who handprinted ornaments for this year’s tree!

FREE PARKING WEEKNIGHTS & All WEEKEND LONG in Downtown Fort Worth • Sundance Square Garage #3 (345 W. 3rd Street) • City Center Garage #2 (400 Calhoun Street) • The Tower Garage (400 Taylor Street) • 777 Main Parking Garage (601 Commerce Street) Sundance Square is proud to co-host this project and salutes our community leaders, sponsors and many volunteers who are helping bring “Good Cheer” to all this holiday season.

SUNDANCESQUARE.COM

Vo lume 17

N u m b e r 35

D ecember 1- 7, 2 021

INSIDE Four notable locals recall their favorite memories from the season. By Edward Brown

12 Days of Christmas

There’s a ton of fun stuff to do this season. Peek inside and find out. By Jennifer Bovee

Bob Niehoff, General Manager Ryan Burger, Art Director Jim Erickson, Circulation Director

On Blitzin’

Fort Worth produces a ton of seasonal suds — try them all. By Edward Brown

Stocking Stuffers

New tunes by Son of Stan, Uncle Toasty, The Me-Thinks, Big Heaven, BLKrKRT, and more are waiting. By Juan R. Govea and Patrick Higgins

Cover image courtesy of Crockett Row DISTRIBUTION Fort Worth Weekly is available free of charge in the Metroplex, limited to one copy per reader. Additional copies of Fort Worth Weekly may be purchased for $1.00 each, payable at the Fort Worth Weekly office in advance. Fort Worth Weekly may be distributed only by Fort Worth Weekly’s authorized independent contractors or Fort Worth Weekly’s authorized distributors. No person may, without prior written permission of Fort Worth Weekly, take more than one copy of any Fort Worth Weekly issue. If you’re interested in being a distribution point for Fort Worth Weekly, please contact Will Turner at 817-321-9788.

Anthony Mariani, Editor Lee Newquist, Publisher

Cour tesy Funky Picnic Brewer y & Cafe

Ghosts of Christmas Past

STAFF

CONTRIBUTORS

Edward Brown, Staff Writer

Megan Ables, Christina Berger, E.R. Bills, Jason Brimmer, Sue Chefington, Buck D. Elliott, Juan R. Govea, Patrick Higgins, Bo Jacksboro, Laurie James, Kristian Lin, Vishal Malhotra, Cody Neathery, Wyatt Newquist, Linda Blackwell Simmons, Madison Simmons, Teri Webster, Ken WheatcroftPardue, Cole Williams

Emmy Smith, Proofreader

EDITORIAL

Michael Newquist, Regional Sales Director Jennifer Bovee, Marketing Director Stacey Hammons, Senior Account Executive Julie Strehl, Account Executive Tony Diaz, Account Executive Wyatt Newquist, Digital Coordinator Clintastic, Brand Ambassador

BOARD

Anthony Mariani, Edward

Brown, Emmy Smith

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5 Holiday Intro 6 Features 15 Gift Guide 20 Night & Day

Big Ticket . . . . 19

Last Call. . . . . . 35

26 Screen 27 Stage 29 Eats & Drinks 41 Music 45 Classifieds

Backpage. . . . . 46

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Crockett Row is offering Carriage Rides

Every Thursday – Sunday from 6:00 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. Tickets can be reserved at crockettrow.com Book your holiday event at Crockett Row at one of our many on-site restaurants! Holiday treats and sweets offerings from Insomnia Cookies, Savor, and Cinnaholic Book your corporate holiday gatherings and parties at our NEW HOLIDAY POP-UP EVENT SPACE! Email stuthill@vestar.com to book.

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Welcome to the 2021 Holidays Issue

ADVERTISING CONTENT PROVIDED AND PAID FOR BY BOB WILLOUGHBY Installment #2

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The Mayor Mattie Parker took away our right to speak at city council meeting for exposing corruption and now The City of Fort Worth is threatening to sue me if I run this ad.

The Neighborhood Association are the first to receives zoning information, The NA function is to share zoning information with the Neighbors. JTWNA, do not notify Neighbors.

The Director of Communications & Public Engagement Michelle Gutt oversee the JTWNA will not reply by phone or e-mails.$150,000 a year not to reply to the public.

District 5 Council Member Gyna Bivens is owned by developers controls the JTWNA when it comes to zoning change.

Follow “THE CORRUPTION TRAIL” on the first Wednesday of the month right here in our ad. “Local Voter Education” Sundays from 8 to 9 pm on Blog Talk Radio.com host by James H. McBride, upcoming guests: Dec 5 Dr. Murray Fortner, Psychology and Sociology Dec 12 Tara Wilson Candidate for City Council District 4 Special Election Dec 19 Debbie Adame for JUDGE county criminal court #9

For more info visit us at (fwdistrict5.com) (817) 446-7056 b.willoughby@live.com

DECEMBER 1-7, 2021

this time. Now is especially significant. As one of the benefactors says in A Christmas Carol, “We choose this time, because it is a time, of all others, when Want is keenly felt, and Abundance rejoices.” While you’re gift hunting in person or online, please keep in mind all of the fantastic local music either out now or about to be released. On pg. 41, two of our music writers have amassed a lengthy rundown of upcoming releases from our backyard, including new ones from Son of Stan, Uncle Toasty, BLKrKRT, The Me-Thinks, Arenda Light, Cameron Smith, Phorids, Big Heaven, and so many more. As part of an argument I started 20 years ago when I moved to this town and continue to build on every week in print, why buy major-label music when the homegrown stuff is just as good if not better? And which is always better for the local economy? And your karma? I know it’s karmically incorrect to just say, “Merry Christmas.” It assumes a lot, mostly that everyone within earshot is a Christian, which is inherently offensive considering that it seems that Christians are largely responsible for the divisive condition of our society today. Saying “Merry Christmas” while couching it in a larger spiritual framework insulates me from a #woke counterattack while getting across my message: Be excellent to one another, now and always. Except Nazis. Feel free to punch them as you please. MerryChristmasHappyHolidays! — Anthony Mariani

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Like royalty or an “independent” voter, I can have it both ways. Not content with the uber-bland “Happy Holidays” but also not jerky enough to think “Christmas” is the best of the 14 holidays happening in December (six by non-Christian faiths altogether), I go for the mouth-jamming “MerryChristmasHappyHolidays!” With that, I can broadcast what my (nonChristian) family celebrates (Christmas) while also acknowledging that maybe the person I’m greeting is Jewish or Islamic or Wiccan or whatever else there is. I like covering all my bases. “Happy Holidays” on its own was fun for a while. It seemed to me to be a great way to piss off the Fox News crowd, who seemed to be whining like the snowflakes they are about the cancelation of Christmas or something. I vaguely remember that, just like how I vaguely remember a lot of things now (thanks, Father Time), including what’s in a canela. Good thing that, for that, I can refer to our handy-dandy Holidays Issue! On pg. 35 is a killer cinnamon cocktail recipe using locally distilled product. And that’s not all. Our annual celebration of the season is a veritable cornucopia of great ideas and entertaining information. On pg. 29, there’s another kickass recipe, this one for latkes (“Happy Hanukkah,” mother-hunchers), and in the front of the book, we enumerate a few of the local nonprofits that would not say no to whatever you could carve out of your shopping budget and send their way at

It was on the Amazon when the author finally realized the super-wealthy are in fact pitiable.

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P E T E R

G O R M A N

I sometimes wonder what makes rich people tick. Madeleina, my beautiful daughter, asked me the other day why Napolean wasn’t content with owning/ ruling half the world and risked and lost everything going after Russia as well. I wonder why the Walton family, owners of Walmart, can’t be content with $20 billion each and a couple of billion more coming in every year. Why do they have to put their workers in a position to make you and I pay for their food stamps, Section 8 housing, and such when they could just raise their wages and still make hundreds of millions each per annum? These are serious questions in an age when the internet allows us regular people a glimpse of how much the truly rich really make — in terms of money — and really contribute in terms of society. The best answer I know came to me while on an Amazon riverboat between Iquitos and Jenero Herrera in Peru. It’s a flat-bottomed riverboat, same type — though with stronger engines — that’s plied the Amazon River basin and other major rivers around the globe since internal combustion engines came to be. Hundreds of people bring hammocks and set them up anywhere they want on the boat’s two or three floors. Goods fill the bodega (the hull) and most of the bottom floor. Coming to Iquitos, that means thousands of sacks of cement and rice and toilets and school desks and fresh fish and plantains and such. Going from Iquitos, that means thousands of bricks and tons of soda, beer, three-wheeled tuctuc motorcars, and such. Hammocks are hung everywhere. There’s a spiderweb of them on every boat, and along with them, people from the jungle bring almost everything they own, as leaving your home in the jungle unattended allows anyone who wants to take your things to take them legally, claiming you’ve abandoned them. It’s an old tradition but one that still has people packing up their pots and pans and clothes and such before they head to the big city to get a pension check or new government papers for their kids.

DECEMBER 1-7, 2021

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B Y

So the boat is damned crowded. I always traveled that way until I began to take guests out to the jungle. I discovered that too many were losing cameras and clothes and decided, years ago, to get cabins for them where they could stash their stuff. The cabins are very simple: bed, fan, tiny table, light. They’re not comfortable, but they allow you to protect your stuff while you go up to the bow to take photos of the sunset or night sky. The boat I use has an area that is closed to the public. People cannot walk from the rear of the boat to the bow. There is a closed wooden slat fence/gate that keeps the hammock people away from the three cabins — as well as the captain’s cabin, where the money is kept — and a fence at the bow to keep people from coming in that way. I pay good money for that little space for my guests. We might rent a half-dozen cabins altogether, with most downstairs, where everyone can walk through the cabin space, but upstairs, behind the riverboat’s pilot, no one not with the captain or the people who have those cabins is allowed to enter. So my guests have this 30-by-9foot space to themselves. We line up plastic chairs on the starboard side going upriver, and my guests can put their cameras down on the boat deck, go downstairs to buy a beer or just look around, or go to the small private bathroom and not worry that their things will be gone when they come back. It’s the only real private space on a riverboat in all of Western Peruvian Amazonia. And I take it, because my guests just might be offered local magic mushrooms, and I don’t want their dream interfered with by having to think, Where did I put my camera? Did I put a couple of pieces of fruit somewhere? Where was that? No. Our space is private. People sneak in, of course, but I’m a good watchdog and take a seat by the bow, and when people come in, I let them use our bathroom, our toilet paper, and our soap, but when they decide they want to put a hammock up in our space, I just don’t allow it. And that takes only a word or three from me to get them to realize that I’ve paid for the space for my guests and no one else is allowed. So my guests come up from the cabins on the lower floor and are free to roam, leaving their stuff, for the duration of the 15-hour ride, from bright afternoon sunshine through 3 a.m. stars. The dream I mentioned at the start of this, the one that connects this boat to the Koch Brothers, the Waltons, and some of the other rich, rich, rich people, is this: I had served magic mushrooms, with prayers, to up to a dozen people. I was ripped out of my head from inhaling them. I drank a little ayahuasca to say hello to the river — with full private ceremony — and when all was said and done, I started to fall asleep. Serving medicine always makes me fall asleep. Or fall into a dream.

Christie Fremuth

Angels of Dirt

Maybe the ultra-rich don’t want to be touched by the lower classes the way the author wanted to steer clear of the hammock dwellers on this Amazonian boat.

In my dream, I was leaning against the wooden slat fence/gate in a sitting position. People on the other side of that slat fence/ gate, in the hammock free-for-all section, were reaching through the wooden slats and touching my hair, my face, my clothes. I brushed them away. I brushed them away as cloying hands that were dirty, filthy, trying to touch me, trying to infect me, trying to get what I had, trying to steal from me. But in the dream, I could not move away from the fence. I was stuck to it, and the best I could do was slap them away. But there were so many hands, so many dirty hands trying to touch me that I desperately tried to move away. I did not want their filth near me. I did not want their infection, their sores, their open wounds, on my hair, my face, my neck, my clothes, my being. They were filthy. They would tear me down to their level, down to the level of the hammock people in a second. They would have me as dirty as they were. They would infect me just by being alive and near me! I awoke with a start. I realized I’d fallen asleep sitting up against the wooden fence/ gate. I felt a hand on my hair and another on my infected leg. I turned. Two small children were touching me: one touching my gray locks, the other my wounded, sorely infected leg. Other children were there as well, pointing to my leg, some of them suggesting remedies — though the leg had already started to gangrene and would need four operations with skin graft to heal — to help me. They were beautiful. They were in the hammock space, so they had to crawl under hammocks to get anywhere, so they were all dirty from crawling on the boat’s oxidizing steel deck. Really, they were beautiful. They were curious. They were magic incarnate. In the same moment I saw those angels, I remembered/felt/relived the terror I had in the dream, the terror of not being able to get away from those dirty people, those people who wanted to infect me, to touch me and

slime me and bring me down to where they lived in shit-rotten hovels. And in that moment, that moment between loving those beautiful kids and remembering the dream of dreading them, I had a glimpse of how some of the rich, rich, rich people see us. We are filthy. We carry infections, disease, and any contact with us will make them dirty, rotten, reduce them. And so, for those people — and it is not all the rich people, by any means, but certainly some — the need to accumulate more, build bigger walls and stronger fences to keep us from getting near them, from putting our filthy hands on them, is a real need. And for those people, a billion dollars is not enough separation. $10 billion is not enough. $20, $30, $40 billion, with private islands that only they can access, is not enough to satisfy the urge, the need to be separated from the rest of us. And in that same moment, it suddenly became easy to forgive them. They are afraid. They are terribly afraid that interaction with us, with regular people, with poor people, with even middle-class people, will leave them infected/wounded/ hurt/diminished. They have no control over that fear. They suffer from it but don’t realize it’s a disease. We are the beautiful ones. We are clean with dirty clothes because we work. We are the angels that could save them and would never hurt them. They can’t see that. Their insular world cannot allow that. They suffer, and the way they deal with that suffering causes unimaginable suffering for everyone else. I pity them. I pity the Waltons and the Kochs and others for whom $20 billion, the biggest yachts in the world, more pairs of $2,500 shoes, and more $10,000 suits are not enough to insulate them from our hands sticking through the fence to touch their hair or feel their gabardine. And now, at this time of the year, that chasm between the very wealthy and most of us comes into stark relief. While the A listers jump private jets and take a few weeks in Dubai or on the French Riviera, or in places only rich people know, popping down for $1,000 meals and sleeping in $5,000-a-night rooms, a lot of the rest of us are utilizing food pantries and staying in apartments with no heat, or worse, staving off the winter cold with cardboard. If I were allowed one wish for those rich, rich people this Christmas, it would be the gift of inner sight, an inner light that would allow them to see that by hiding behind that fence on a riverboat in the Amazon or cowing in mansions surrounded only by other mansions, they are missing out on the angels around them. l Peter Gorman, who was a staff writer for the Fort Worth Weekly for 17 years, is the author of the new book Magic Mushrooms in India and Other Incredible Tales.

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Christmas Tales

Blitzen’s Revenge?

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The wintery weather conditions were bleak and growing more dangerous by the minute. Though it happened nearly two decades ago, Jenna Hill-Higgs remembers the night like it was yesterday. Just minutes before her drive home that Christmas Eve, Hill-Higgs had stopped by to visit her father. “When you have parents at two different places, the holidays are always rough,” she said, referring to the years after her parents divorced. Adding to the stressful night was the fact that Hill-Higgs had a contentious relationship with her dad. She recalled leaving her father’s Weatherford home feeling Grinch-like and muttering about how much she hated Christmas and forced family gatherings. By the time she headed home, a mix of snow and sleet was falling heavily, making an already dark and freezing night all the more treacherous. Pulling onto I-20, her headlights were the only source of light on the barren stretch of icy road. As she accelerated onto the highway, a massive buck jumped in front of her compact car, hitting her vehicle and leaving it spinning out of control. “Shit, I just killed a reindeer,” she thought. The timing of the impact and her trash talking of Christmas weren’t lost on the twentysomething. The universe had sent a message. “I was taking back everything I said about Christmas,” she recalled. “It felt like Blitzen was saying, ‘Take this!’ ” There was no sign of the animal or a

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The holidays are the season when we take stock of our lives. Whether we look forward to family gatherings with dread or eager anticipation, the month that closes out the year is always full of new memories and reflections on past years. Now, four movers and shakers offer their personal stories of Christmases past. The recounted memories are a reminder of what makes December a month like none other.

carcass. Shaken, she made her way home. She remembered giving copious hugs to her mother when she finally made it back to Fort Worth. “I know it wasn’t a reindeer, but that was the first thing I thought of,” she said. It makes you appreciate things a little more when you were almost killed on Christmas Eve.” Her relatives didn’t miss the opportunity to crack jokes about HillHiggs killing Christmas. The image of a regal buck standing tall as snow fell remains frozen in her memory, like a beautiful snow globe but, well, more death-like. In the years since, her Christmases have run the gamut of emotions. Raising two kids with her first husband who died several years ago came with years of happy Christmases and family traditions of cooking up pigs in blankets every Christmas morning. “Before my husband died and when the kids were little, my moms came to spend the night so we would all wake up together,” she said, referring to her biological mother and her wife. Now remarried to musician/venue owner Ryan Higgs, the mother of two said holidays are once again festive. Her youngest kid is almost 18. Rather than giving presents on Christmas morning, Hill-Higgs started a new family tradition — scavenger hunts. The idea is to make her kids work for their holiday cash. Hill-Higgs said she also enjoys seeing her grown children prod and poke fun at each other as they try to find their gifts. For the doting mother, those moments bring back fond memories. She now spreads Christmas cheer through her Near Southside bar Liberty Lounge. All are welcome at the neighborhood watering hole that holds regular community events and proudly flies the rainbow flag. Liberty Lounge will be open until 2 a.m. on Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day. Whether you need a break from the fam or simply want to hear Hill-Higgs retell the story of her attempt to off Blitzen, you’ll find a warm and welcoming bar at 515 S. Jennings Ave.

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DECEMBER 1-7, 2021

B R O W N

FO R T WO R T H W E E K LY

E D W A R D

Jenna Hill-Higgs: “It felt like Blitzen was saying, ‘Take this!’ ”

DA Y

B Y

...because people talk to you in the morning.

A reindeer’s revenge (well, sort of), holiday matchmaking, and an unexpected hotel stay round out these festive stories from notable locals.

Christmas in The

Stockyards

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DECEMBER 1-7, 2021

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Beth and Brian Hutson are using December to renew their wedding vows after 20 years. The owners of Elevated Content, a national branded content agency, owe their marriage to a chance holiday party. In 1997, both Beth and Brian had recently gone through tough breakups. Beth’s older brother, possibly wanting to break his sister from her funk, prodded her to go to a holiday party at the home of the owners of a popular Italian restaurant where Brian worked at the time. Beth was sporting overalls and Doc Martens — not the kind of attire she was thrilled to go out in. Knowing that his little sis would enjoy the Sicilian fare once she went, he made her an offer she couldn’t refuse. “If I have to pick you up and carry you, you’re going out,” her brother said. The day-long house party was bountiful, Beth recalled. Tables of vino, pasta, espresso, sambuca, and other Italian offerings nearly overflowed on tables. With each guest came more cases of wine. “The food was amazing,” Brian recalled. “We stretched our legs and stepped outside. Somebody grabbed a football. I remember that Beth had the ball. I’m looking at this girl in blue overalls and Doc Martens and I say,

Luis Lopez (second from left): “It was special because throughout all of the years we had spent touring with each other we had never shared so much and gotten to know each other like that night.”

When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemon Spritzes

Before marrying local singer-songwriter Celestial L’amour, Luis Lopez was part of a professional touring band that booked a Christmas Day show near Fort Worth a few years ago. The gig was expected to pull hundreds of attendees, Lopez recalled. “We were running a bit late since we tried to spend time with our families on Christmas Day, and the weather wasn’t cooperating very much,” Lopez recalled. When the 11 bandmates arrived at the venue, the parking lot was completely empty. Lopez’s dad, who managed the band, went inside to see what was up. The gig had been canceled, and the venue owner had failed to notify the musicians. “We were all pretty bummed considering we couldn’t drive back home

due to the weather,” Lopez said. “We booked a hotel and spent Christmas Day with our 11-member band and made the best of it. We actually had a really good time considering the turn of events.” After the bandmates moped for a bit, the mood changed as Lopez and company started sharing random personal stories. “It was special because throughout all of the years we had spent touring with each other we had never shared so much and gotten to know each other like that night,” he recalled. “It’s one of my fondest touring memories.” Follow guitarist/vocalist Lopez and his new alt-rock quartet on Instagram @ CelestialLamourOfficial. l

EAT SHOP BE MERRY

VISIT DFWI.ORG TO LEARN MORE

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Wintery Wedded Bliss

DECEMBER 1-7, 2021

continued from page 9

‘Throw me the ball.’ I was 20 yards away. She hit me in the chest. I was like, ‘Wow, this girl is awesome.’ ” Beth couldn’t help but laugh at the memory. Throwing perfect spirals wasn’t exactly in her wheelhouse, but the chance perfect throw sparked something that continued throughout the day and into that night. “I saw Beth’s amazing smile and beautiful laugh,” Brian said. The two topped off the night with an outing downtown to The Pour House where Beth belted an applause-grabbing rendition of “Killing Me Softly” on the karaoke stage. Clapping the loudest near the front of the stage was a smitten Brian. The group of friends crashed at a nearby apartment. When the group went out for Mexican food the next morning, Brian was too hungover to join them. “I saved half of my fajitas and gave them to him along with my phone number,” Beth said of the moment that started a 20-year relationship. Beth said that chance meeting has been a reminder to never pass up the opportunity to meet new people even if you aren’t feeling up to it. A few years later, the couple chose December for their wedding date. Their kids now use the holidays to play “Killing Me Softly” for their mom and dad. You can follow this PR power couple’s projects on Instagram @ ElevatedContentCo.

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Feature

Giving Back

Consider supporting nonprofits that support our community 365 days a year. B Y

E D W A R D

B R O W N

The holidays are a time when people of all faiths and non-believers take a moment from their bustling lives to contemplate the meaning of life and the role that family, friends, and acts of kindness play in living a well-lived life. Codified in the teachers of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and other religions in the same kernel of wisdom — that we are our brother’s keeper. Although charities live those values 365 days a year, it is around Christmas and other religious days of significance that those acts of daily kindness and compassion tend to be most appreciated. These nonprofits cannot run on goodwill alone. They require financial or inkind donations, volunteers, and help spreading the word on their charitable missions. As you count your blessings this year, remember that many people were not as fortunate and consider a donation to one (or more) of these local nonprofits.

Funky Town Fridge

United Way of Tarrant County

United Way of Tarrant County stepped up in big ways to support the local community throughout the pandemic. Early into the lockdown, they launched the Creative Industry Fund to give $250 grants to artists, musicians, and other folks in the creative industries who were hit hardest by the closing of concerts halls and other entertainment venues and events. United Way also created the Rebuild Tarrant County Fund to allow them to continue their broad mission of solving the county’s toughest problems while pivoting to meet the needs of Tarrant County residents. The fund helped locals pay rent and mortgages and provided them with other basic needs. Those initiatives literally kept mothers from facing the prospect of homelessness. No matter what challenges Tarrant County faces, United Way of Tarrant County can be counted on to innovate a fast and effective response to those needs. You can support the ongoing effort to reimagine and rebuild our community by

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Funky Town Fridge is not a nonprofit as defined by the IRS, meaning they haven’t

completed the expensive and burdensome process of gaining 501(c)3 status, but they do very much serve a charitable mission and are deserving of being on this list. Here, the vehicles for change are community fridges that are stocked with free food. The aim is to combat hunger and empower our communities. The venture is always in need of volunteers, businesses willing to collect foodstuffs, and property owners who can host a community fridge. Connect with these community visionaries by emailing FunkyTownFridge@gmail.com.

STER

One of the finest chamber music groups in the country, if not the world, calls Fort Worth home and could really use your financial support.

Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas

Government accountability is impossible without government transparency. Compelling local government groups like the City of Fort Worth, Tarrant County, and the Fort Worth police department to

Jubilee Theatre

For 40 jubilant years, Fort Worth’s only Black-led theater troupe has created and produced theatrical works that give voice to the African-American experience.

Texas Jail Project

It’s hard to justify the mistreatment of members of Texas’ jail system once you understand their stories. Poverty is a major driver of jail populations and so is Tarrant County’s practice of requiring deposits (monetary bond) as a stipulation of release from the decrepit and often deadly conditions in Tarrant County Jail. Too often, bond amounts of $100 or $200 keep nonviolent defendants languishing in jail for months or even years. Three out of four men and women in state jails are pretrial, meaning they are legally innocent of the crimes that they have been charged with. Texas Jail Project works to expose inhumane conditions in state jails and to provide resources to detainees and their family members. The nonprofit recently hired a community organizer in Tarrant County.

In the true spirit of the holidays, United Way of Tarrant County is working to bring a bit of cheer and happiness to those in need. 1 in 5 children were already living below the poverty level prior to the pandemic*. The ongoing impact of Covid-19 and the financial burdens of Winter Storm Uri have only exacerbated the issue. Your holiday gift will make a huge difference and help us ensure struggling families have food and support for rent, utilities and other critical needs so they can experience the joy of the season. Please consider making a tax-deductible gift by the end of the year to our Community Fund.

MAKE A GIFT TODAY AT:

WWW.UNITEDWAYTARRANT.ORG/DONATE *Kids Count Data Center *Annie E. Casey Foundation

Tamera Hutcherson is keeping tabs on North Texas jails and documenting human rights violations. You can support this tiny but mighty nonprofit by making a donation at TexasJailProject.org. l

Scan to give!

or text CH to 41444 benefiting

PO Box 471277, FW, TX 76147 817-334-0727

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In a city resplendently awash in world-class piano concerts, orchestra performances, operas, and ballets, you can be forgiven for not knowing that Cowtown has an equally world-class resident chamber music group. The Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth (CMSFW) has filled that important niche between large ensembles and soloists since 1987. Led by renowned violinist Gary Levinson, the nonprofit presents several concerts per year at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. Like other performing arts groups, CMSFW ticket sales are not enough to pay the professional performers, so fundraising is always at the forefront for the volunteers who keep this venerable organization alive. Donations can be made at CMSFW.org.

Along the way, Jubilee Theatre has earned rave reviews and awards from this publication and many others. Fort Worth’s performing arts groups have made strong strides to diversify programming and hiring practices, and while Jubilee Theatre is no longer the lone voice in portraying the Black experience through art, it remains a leading voice in that vital part of our city’s cultural landscape.

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Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth

turn over embarrassing information and documents is no easy task. Our newspaper relies on the Texas Public Information Act, which, while imperfect, provides an important legal framework that allows journalists and residents alike to request copies of government documents. One nonprofit has taken up government transparency as its central mission. The Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas (FOIFT) provides several services that ensure that civic life in this state serves the citizens and not special interests. FOIFT staff educate folks in the media and general public about the often complex process of filing open records requests and appealing rejection attempts. When cities try to pull a fast one on taxpayers by denying public information, FOIFT’s team is there to remind those cities and groups that the law is the law. An open government is an accountable government. To support FOIFT’s mission of keeping public information public, visit FOIFT.org and consider making a contribution.

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making a donation at UnitedWayTarrant. org/rebuild-tarrant.

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Assorted Gifts Doc’s Records & Vintage (2628 Weisenberger St, 817-732-5455) Prices Vary Along with every imaginable CD and vinyl album you can think of, Doc’s has an array of funky vintage items for sale, including in-house merchandise and items in third-party vendor booths. This example is a Beatles collage that you can find in Booth 103.

With supply chain issues happening around the globe, there’s no better time to #ShopLocal. Are you looking for mindful, local gifts for your family and friends? We’ve got you covered! Here are a few arty ideas. Next week, check out our ATE DAY8 A WEEK column for gastronomical gift ideas.

The Art of Giving Art by Rasha

Cour tesy Facebook

Etsy.com Prices Vary Are you as obsessed as I am with the new Facebook-becoming-Meta commercial with the painting come to life? No? Well, you can quit reading. For the rest of you, I did a little googling and found out the original piece is an oil-on-fabric from 1908 by French naive artist Henri Rousseau. To see it in real life, head to the Cleveland Museum of Art (11150 E

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“Combat of a Tiger and a Buffalo” Print

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Cour tesy Etsy

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Fort Worth Zoo (1989 Colonial Pkwy, 817-759-7555) Prices Vary Did you know that new grandmother Rasha, the Asian Elephant, likes to paint? She took up the hobby as part of the zoo’s behavioral enrichment program. When available, her work can be purchased in the Safari Shop just inside the main entrance. Go on a bit of a treasure hunt the next time you visit!

Tom Thumb, Snooze and a collection of 19 other stores, services and places to eat.

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Located at West 7th and Stayton.

@le f t ban kfortworth

w w w.le f t b a n k f o r t w o r t h .co m

@leftbankfortworth

Ando building. If you’re not visiting in person soon, you can also order items at Shop.TheModern.org.

of her favorite recipes in The Kimbell Cookbook. This book is not available in other stores. Pick one up when you visit the museum or order at ShopKimbellArt. org.

Blvd, Cleveland, Ohio, 216-421-7350). Meanwhile, you can buy a print or canvas wrap of the piece from various sellers on Etsy.com.

Nancy Lamb Acrylic Luggage Tag

Artspace 111 (111 Hampton St, 817-692-3228) $32 Local legend Nancy Lamb created a series of stand-out luggage tags featuring some of her iconic paintings. Find these durable, weather-proof tags in the online gift shop at ArtSpace111.com before they sell out.

Cour tesy Ephemera

The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth (3200 Darnell St, 817-738-9215) $18 There is no need to leave The Modern behind when you head home after a day at the museum. Take it with you! This ceramic mug showcases the historic architecture of the renowned Tadao

Cour tesy Ar tspace111

Modern Mug

Gold Geometric Teardrop Terrarium

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Ephemera (1208 W Magnolia Av, Ste 106, 817-3828238) $75 Give the handmade gift of a tiny plant collection by making a terrarium at an upcoming workshop, or buy a readymade terrarium starting at $25. This gold, geometric terrarium with a faceted shape, for example, can hang or sit flat. It measures 6 by 9 inches and includes three plants.

The Kimbell Cookbook

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Cour tesy Kimbell Ar t Museum

DECEMBER 1-7, 2021

Kimbell Art Museum (3333 Camp Bowie Blvd, 817-332-8451) $30 The Kimbell’s first manager of food services, Shelby Schafer, presents 335

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In Christian circles, Christmastime is when the birth of the savior Jesus Christ is commemorated. As my version of the story goes, all the country folk of preIsrael Judea were traveling to the big city to be counted for the census. A very pregnant Mary — Jesus’ motherto-be — needed to rest, but there was no room in “the” inn or any inn for that matter. Luckily, a pre-Airbnb barn situation was arranged for the travelers (3 stars, would stay again). Called the nativity, modern churches reenact this scenario seasonally. From 6 to 9pm Dec 10-12, you can see this Christmas story come to life with actors and live animals at Graceview Baptist Church (1440 S Burleson Blvd, Burleson, 817295-2165). This free event also includes a hayride, homemade treats, hot coffee, and hot chocolate. At 10am Fri, Dec 10, and 8pm Sat, Dec 11, at Bruton Theater (650 S Griffin St, Dallas, 214-743-2440), attend the Black Academy of Arts & Letters’ 29th annual Christmas Kwanzaa Concert featuring classical music, gospel songs, spirituals, and hymns performed by the students of Conrad, Dunbar, Kimball,

Another tradition that dates back to the ancients is celebrating the shortest day and longest night of the year, Winter Solstice, marking the symbolic death and rebirth of the sun. Founded in 1975, the Texas Local Council of the Goddess — one of North Texas’ oldest

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If you are of the Jewish faith and looking for a little road trip, head to the Simpson Plaza right outside Frisco City Hall (6101 Frisco Square Blvd, 972-292-8000) at 4pm Sun for the eighth annual Chabad of Frisco Chanukah Celebration. Along with the giant menorah lighting, there will be Chanukah donuts, hot latkes, dreidels, and crafts for the kids, plus a trackless train ride and a bounce house. There will be a live concert featuring the Kosher Klezmer Band. This event is free to attend, but donations are welcome at ChabadFrisco.org.

The yin to the European Santa-like person St. Nicholas is Krampus, a halfgoat/half-demon entity who punishes misbehaving children during Yule (a.k.a. Christmas). What better place to meet him than at a haunted-house park? On Sat, Dec 11, from 8pm to 10pm,

nature-oriented religious groups (i.e., pagans, Wiccans, and witches) — hosts its Winter Solstice Celebration 2-6pm Sun, Dec 19, at the Arlington Unitarian Universalist Church (2001 California Ln, 817-460-6481). Moon School for kids starts at 2:30pm, and then Yule Rites for adults are at 3pm. There is no cost to attend, but a $5 love donation is suggested. Vendors will be on hand, so it is a shopping experience as well.

DECEMBER 1-7, 2021

For many of us, the holidays mean joining — or avoiding — traditions passed down from our families, including cultural and religious celebrations. While many of these festivals have ancient origins, some have come about in our own lifetime. Below are a few that are happening from December 2021 thru January 2022 to check out. Or not. No pressure.

head to Moxley Manor (510 Harwood Rd, Bedford, 682-231-1313) and witness the mayhem. “Bring a friend, but you may leave alone.” Tickets are $3045 at MoxleyManor.com/ChristmasHaunted-House or at doors.

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Winter Traditions to Embrace or Escape

Life Charter, and Lincoln high schools with guest performances from Charles Rice Elementary School, accompanied by the bands from Kimball and Townview High School. Tickets are $510 at Ticketmaster.com.

NIGHT&DAY

FAMILY FUN TIME Bring your family! NCAA DII Nat’l Championship December 18, 8:00 PM

C o u r t e s y G a y l o r d Te x a n

Get your tickets at: d2mckinney.com

12 Days of Christmas: Top Event Picks This Season B Y

J E N N I F E R

#2 Santa Crawl at the Tub Friday

At 7pm, the Tub Bar (2500 E 4th St, 817222-9500) is hosting a pub crawl — dare I say, a Tub crawl. “Meet at the Tub all dressed in red,” they say. “It’s Friday night, no time for bed!” Along with dressing in red, you should also wear a Santa hat. (Extras will be on hand.) After gathering at the Tub, the group will travel on foot to Martin House Brewery (220 S Sylvania Av, Ste 209, 817-2220177) and Top Golf (201 E 4th St, 817349-4002) and then go back across the bridge to the Tub. Drink specials will be available for purchase along the way, and free snacks are provided. There is no cost to participate.

B O V E E

#1 First Monday Trade Days Thu-Sun

Cour tesy iStock

#3 Lewisville Lights & Holiday Stroll Saturday Cour tesy Facebook

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This week is when you can make your pre-Christmas pilgrimage to the east for First Monday Trade Days (801 First Monday Ln, Canton, 903-567-6556), which happens monthly Thu-Sun before the first Monday of the month. (Get it?) Browse, shop, and trade your way across 450 acres of vendors from dawn to dusk. I need a nap just thinking about it.

The City of Lewisville and its merchants in Old Town Lewisville are hosting its annual Holiday Stroll & Christmas Parade from 8am to 9pm, with the parade beginning at noon. Other holiday-related events include a pancake breakfast with

Santa 8am-noon at Seven Mile Cafe (201 W Church St, 469-444-7055), Selfies with Santa 8-11:30am, and a Motorcycle Toy Run at 8am. After sunset (around 5:30pm), enjoy the Lewisville Lights! Old Town Lighting Ceremony and then head to Wayne Ferguson Plaza (150 W Church St, 972-219-3401) to screen the movie Elf. For a complete list of activities, visit CityofLewisville.com.

and retailers are offering brunch, drink specials, and gift deals. Bring an unwrapped toy for Toys for Tots and be entered into a contest for $500. Tickets are $10 at Eventbrite.com.

Cour tesy Facebook

#6 Go Green Gifty Wraps Workshop Sat, Dec 11

#7 Holidays in the Garden Sat, Dec 11

#4 Cirque Winter Wonderland Sat thru Jan 2

From 11am to 2pm, head to the intersection of N University Dr and W 7th St for Crockett Row’s Country Christmas Celebration. Activities include axe throwing and photos with Santa (book a time slot in advance), kids’ games, live music, an ornamentdecorating station, and a human snowglobe booth. The area’s restaurants

#9 Punks & Painters Festival Thu, Dec 16

At 6pm, Punks & Painters — a local collective of artists and musicians — hosts the Punks & Painters Festival at Killer’s Tacos (424 Bryan St, Denton, 940-514-1920), featuring music by the Wee Beasties with Ashes, Birds Fear Death,

DECEMBER 1-7, 2021

At 8pm, A Drag Queen Christmas: The Naughty Tour will be at the Music Hall at Fair Park (909 1st Av, Dallas, 214-5651116). Hosted by Trinity the Tuck and Monet X Change, this national touring troupe includes contestants from reality television, including Alyssa Edwards, Heidi N Closet, Kylie Sonique Love, Shea Couleé (pictured), Brooke Lynn Hytes, Crystal Methyd, and more. Tickets are $36-$155 at TicketMaster. com. For more information about the tour, visit DragFans.com.

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Cour tesy Crocket Row at West 7th

#8 A Drag Queen Christmas Sat, Dec 11

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From 10am to 4pm, head to the Fort Worth Botanic Garden and Botanic Research Institute of Texas (3220 Botanic Garden Blvd, 817-463-4160) for their annual Holidays in the Garden free event. Artisan vendors will be on hand selling gift items, enjoy snacks and treats from food trucks, and there will be live music from local bands, plus you can sing along to Christmas carols sung by the Fort Worth Opera. (P.S., Santa will also be making an appearance, of course.)

Among the other amazing shows and concerts going on during #ChristmasattheGaylord, you can watch aerial acrobats, balancing acts, and contortionists — plus, the furry creatures pictured — at Cirque Winter Wonderland at Gaylord Texan Hotel (1501 Gaylord Trl, Grapevine, 817-7781000). Performances are at 3pm and 6pm Sat-Sun, plus various dates throughout December (including all Christmas week) and early January. Tickets start at $24.99 at GaylordTexanTickets.com.

#5 Country Christmas Celebration Sunday

If you are ecology-minded, holiday gift wrap is concerning. Rather than filling up the landfills, personally, I love using gift bags that can easily be reused every year. For those who are into arts and crafts, the Welman Project (3950 W Vickery Blvd, 817-924-4000) has a Go Green Gifty Wraps Workshop 10am-noon, where you can learn to make reusable gift bags from cracker boxes and magazines and make DIY holiday cards and aluminum-can gift tags that can also be used as ornaments. This class for those 14 and older is $30 per person but includes all your supplies. Register in advance at WelmanProject. Square.Site/Product/Gifty/157.

Milton Avery THE PREMIER PERFORMANCE VENUE IN THE DALLAS/FORT WORTH METROPLEX

DEC 4

THE GUESS WHO

DEC 2

DEC 8 CHRISTMAS WITH THE BEATLES:

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ABBEY ROAD

WYNONA CHRISTMAS

TEXAS TENORS

DEC 9

DEC 11

CHAD PRATHER

DEC 17

& FRIENDS CHRISTMAS

ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL

Through January 30 Milton Avery is the artist’s first American museum retrospective since the early 1980s and surveys the full career of this master colorist, with some 70 works spanning the 1910s to the 1960s.

BLUE CHRISTMAS (ELVIS TRIBUTE)

DEC 18

SWINGIN’ CHRISTMAS (DFW JAZZ NETWORK FEATURING CHRIS MILYO)

2 24 N C E N T E R ST, A R L I N GTO N , T E X A S 817 - 2 2 6 - 4 4 0 0 W W W. A R L I N GTO N M U S I C H A L L . N E T

MODERN ART MUSEUM OF FORT WORTH 3200 Darnell Street, Fort Worth, Texas 76107 • 817.738.9215

www.themodern.org Milton Avery is organized by the Royal Academy of Arts, London, in collaboration with the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art. Milton Avery, Seated Girl with Dog, 1944. Oil on canvas, 44 x 32 inches. Collection Friends of the Neuberger Museum of Art . Purchase College, State University of New York. Gift from the Estate of Roy R. Neuberger. © 2021 Milton Avery Trust / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York and DACS, London 2021. Photo: Jim Frank

Drifter’s Atlas, Posival, and Remain. Local artists and vendors will be on hand for your holiday shopping needs, including Anastasia Likes Art, CHM Creations, Existential Hans, Kinky Confessions, Lavendelapfel, Local Langston Essentials, Meat Geyster, Storytime Artist, and more. This all-ages event is free to attend, but a $10 donation is suggested at doors.

DEC 2-24

GET TICKETS

Vacations or Staycations

DOGGIE DAYCARE

#10 Pentatonix in Concert Thu, Dec 23

for Small Breeds

Nationally renowned a cappella vocal pop group and hometown favorite Pentatonix — hailing from Grand Prairie — is here for their annual holiday performance at Texas Trust CU Theatre (1001 Performance Pl, Grand Prairie, 972-854-5050). Tickets start at $77 at TicketLance.com.

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#12 The Toadies at Billy Bob’s Thu, Dec 30

Make up your mind. Decide to walk with me. Behind the Stockyards tonight … for the Toadies concert! The Toadies are touring again, this time in support of the 25th anniversary of their seminal album Rubberneck. In celebration, hear them perform the album in its entirety at Billy Bob’s Texas (2520 Rodeo Pl, 817-6247117). Doors are at 6pm, an opening act (TBD) goes on at 9pm, and then Vaden Lewis and the boys hit the stage at 10pm. Pit passes are $40, and general admission is $20 at BillyBobsTexas.com.

Unique curated experiences each month

DEC 7, 6pm

Make & Take Holiday Ornaments + Pam’s Mulled Wine Recipe

DECEMBER 1-7, 2021

Billed as an “English musical hall Christmas carol,” Scrooge in Rouge will be performed at Stage West (821 W Vickery Blvd, 817-7849378) thru Fri, Dec 24, at 7:30 Thursdays, 8pm Fridays and Saturdays, and 3pm Sundays, with additional performances on Tue, Dec 21, and Wed, Dec 22, at 7:30pm. (Note: If pandemic safety is still a concern for you, there will be a unique Safe Sunday performance on Sun, Dec 19, requiring proof of vaccination.) Streaming will also be available from 6pm on Thu, Dec 9, until 10pm Fri, Dec 24. Tickets start at $20 at StageWest.org.

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#11 Scrooge in Rouge at Stage West Thu thru Dec 24

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Cour tesy Stage West

www.DoggieDiggsFortWorth.com

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“A roaring, wondrous whirlpool of a show”

Promotional support provided by

DECEMBER 1-7, 2021

This exhibition is organized by Tate Britain in association with the Kimbell Art Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities and by the Texas Commission on the Arts and the Fort Worth Tourism Public Improvement District.

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October 17, 2021–February 6, 2022

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– The Guardian

The Sharks and the Jets square off at a dance in West Side Story.

Holiday Movie Preview

The multiplexes promise to be more festive this year, the pandemic willing.

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SCREEN

B Y

K R I S T I A N

L I N

When I wrote up this piece last year, Hollywood was giving the popcorn crowd precious little to look forward to. There’s a much more varied crop of films coming to us this Christmas. Do your fellow moviegoers a favor and get vaccinated. You don’t want to be a vector of disease.

If you like musicals, you’ll be in heavy clover this holiday season. Disney’s Encanto already came out last week, and Steven Spielberg’s muchanticipated version of West Side Story has Baby Driver’s Ansel Elgort leading a cast of mostly unknowns and song lyrics by the late Stephen Sondheim. The animated sequel Sing 2 promises a passel of cameos by singers and singing actors as well as a U2-heavy soundtrack, if that is to your taste. If it isn’t, you may be more interested in Cyrano, a musical adaptation of the story of Cyrano de Bergerac, with Peter Dinklage as the French poet and swordsman as well as songs by The National’s Bryce and Aaron Dessner. You’ll also find something to please you if you’re into coming-of-age stories about young men. We already had Kenneth Branagh’s autobiographical drama in Belfast, and Paul Thomas Anderson joins him with Licorice Pizza, about a teenage boy (Cooper Hoffman) growing up in the San Fernando Valley in 1973 who falls helplessly in love with a 25-year-old woman (Alana Haim). Oscar winner Paolo Sorrentino also takes from his own life story in The Hand of God, about a teenage boy growing up in Naples in 1986, when the world’s best soccer player, Diego Maradona, comes to play for the hometown team of SSC Napoli. George Clooney’s The Tender Bar is not based on the director’s life story but rather on writer J.R. Moehringer’s,

Cour tesy 20th Centur y Studios

detailing his childhood on Long Island in the ’80s and featuring a terrific performance by Ben Affleck as the bartender uncle who takes charge of the boy. Those films all have something to recommend them, though none of them is quite as good as The Souvenir Part II, which continues the story of Honor Swinton Byrne’s student filmmaker as she directs her graduation film based on her previous relationship with a heroin addict. It’s opening at Grand Berry Theatre this week. Sports dramas are also the rage this season, with American Underdog telling the story of Kurt Warner’s unlikely rise to Super Bowl champion. Also on the football front, National Champions is a drama about a collegiate quarterback who leads a players’ strike just hours before the national championship game is about to start. If you prefer sports movies about women, The Novice stars Isabelle Fuhrman as a collegiate rower whose desire to be the best leads her down an obsessive path. Meanwhile, the Modern plays Benedetta, Paul Verhoeven’s predictably sensationalistic French-language take on the life of Benedetta Carlini, the 17thcentury Italian lesbian nun and Catholic mystic. Other films aiming for prestige cred during awards season include Being the Ricardos, Aaron Sorkin’s predictably dialogue-heavy dramatization of a week during the shooting of I Love Lucy, with Nicole Kidman doing an eerie

impression of Lucille Ball and Javier Bardem impressing as Desi Arnaz. Netflix’s star-laden entry is Don’t Look Up, a comedy with Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence as astronomers attempting to warn the people of Earth about a planet-destroying comet heading our way. Guillermo del Toro, in a rare non-supernatural outing, remakes a 1947 thriller in Nightmare Alley, with Bradley Cooper as a con man posing as a psychic. Denzel Washington stars in The Tragedy of Macbeth, a brutalist blackand-white take on Shakespeare’s play. He also directs A Journal for Jordan, which stars Michael B. Jordan as an American soldier who safeguards against his own death by writing a guide to growing up for his unborn son. If you don’t care about Oscar bait, Spider-Man: No Way Home sees the web-slinger forced to fight a bunch of villains from previous Spider-Man movies, thanks to his attempts to turn back time. Eighteen years after the last of the Matrix trilogy, Lana Wachowski goes back to the series without her sister in The Matrix Resurrections. Matthew Vaughn also returns to his franchise with The King’s Man, a prequel set during the 1910s. After the new year, Scream (the fifth movie in the series) features Neve Campbell and Courteney Cox counseling a new generation of teens on how to avoid becoming slasher-movie victims. Even January promises more stars than usual as we emerge from the pandemic. l

Holiday Stage Preview

fractured fairytale, as three frustrated actors tell their version of Dickens’ story that includes Rudolph, Charlie Brown, George Bailey, and the Grinch. Maybe the most special production is at Jubilee Theatre, because it runs only during the weekend of Dec. 10. A Phunk Dr.’s Christmas is a musical revue written and directed by the troupe’s own D. Wambui Richardson, with songs and comedy sketches celebrating the festive season. Only three performances of this show will be held at the downtown venue, so be sure to catch one of them. Like the holiday season itself, the concert will be over before you know it. l

Evan Michael Woods

STAGE

reference to the pandemic, although I wouldn’t put it past the production to squeeze in a few contemporary jokes. Lots of drag acts and musical numbers will be a surer bet. In the outer cities, Onstage in Bedford is doing a show that’s certain to be safe for the COVID era: One Christmas Carol is Douglas H. Baker’s adaptation of Charles Dickens’ novella that has a single actor portraying 35 different roles. Ben Phillips will be that busy actor. Meanwhile, instead of one guy playing multiple roles, Runway Theatre’s Every Christmas Story Ever Told (and then some) will jam a whole bunch of holiday entertainments into one

(From left to right) Alejandro Saucedo, Cherish Robinson, Gloria Vivica Benavides, and Jovane Caamaño are the entire cast of Scrooge in Rouge at Stage West.

What are our theater companies putting on for Christmas? L I N

Through JANUARY 9 CARTERMUSEUM.ORG/ IMAGINEDREALISM #GENTLINGART STUART GENTLING (1942–2006), Snowy Owl (detail), ca. 1997, graphite, opaque and transparent watercolor on paper, Collection of Lynda and Grady Shropshire, © Amon Carter Museum of American Art

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Spare a thought for the live theater professionals in our area, who have had to find other work during this pandemic. After all, there’s no chance that Leonardo DiCaprio or the guy moving furniture around on his movie set will infect you with the coronavirus. However, as long as you and the folks on stage have their shots, you should be safe as you attend the shows that our theater troupes are putting on this season. In previous times, we’d be much less interested in troupes that were producing the tried-and-true plays for the holidays, but this year, it’s hard to begrudge them those plays when they’re trying to woo audiences back to the house. Even Texas Ballet Theater’s yearly production of The Nutcracker is going to be comforting to see in times like these. Casa Mañana Theatre has Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, adapted from the Rankin-Bass Christmas TV special, and your kids can sign up for socially distanced photos with Santa. Artisan Center Theater is running the same show as part of its children’s theater season, though their main stage will be occupied by Scrooge the Musical, with songs by the late Leslie Bricusse. And Stolen Shakespeare Guild stages Holiday Inn, with its Irving Berlin songs and homespun tale about show business professionals bringing a bit of Hollywood to their small town. If you’d rather see something new when you go out, Stage West is doing the regional premiere of Scrooge in Rouge, which is about a troupe of actors who are trying to put on A Christmas Carol when most of the company falls ill, leaving three actors to play all the roles. The English music hall-style show was actually written in 2017, so it’s not a

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K R I S T I A N

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Dinner with the Modern Lights

Fridays through February 4 from 5 to 8:30 pm Executive Chef Jett Mora welcomes you with warm hospitality, creative cuisine, and a seasonal menu rooted in Texas ingredients. Create your own holiday memories on Friday nights at Café Modern. Seating is available from 5 to 8:30 pm. For reservations, call 817.840.2157. The Modern trees will be illuminated with an array of festive lights in celebration of the holiday season. The museum galleries are open for FREE until 8 pm on Fridays.

Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth 3200 Darnell Street Fort Worth, Texas 76107 817.738.9215

S T O R Y A N D P H O T O S B Y L A U R I E J A M E S

Hanukkah (“Chanukah,” if you prefer) is one of the dozen-ish multicultural Festivals of Lights that occur yearly around the bleak Winter Solstice. In 2021, Hanukkah lands on Nov. 28-Dec. 5. Jews use a lunar calendar, and some years, this

Don’t try sufganyot at home unless you have an industrial-sized Fry Daddy or own some kind of cast-iron cauldron or perhaps a cleaned-up turkey deep fryer.

minor holiday overlaps Thanksgiving while other years it snuggles up to Christmas. Hanukkah commemorates a victory that essentially celebrates making do with a broken supply chain –– and who can’t relate to that right now? About a century before the birth of Baby Jesus, the Maccabees, a small group of Jewish zealots, fought a war with the SyrianGreeks over monotheism. King Antiochus IV stormed Jerusalem, killed a bunch of

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spuds, a couple of eggs, spices, and a few tablespoons of matzoh meal. If you missed that during Passover and you don’t live by the good Tom Thumb that has the best Jewish food selection (3100 Hulen St.), sub regular flour. If shredding your own spuds is a deterrent, thaw a bag of frozen shredded potatoes, dry well, and proceed. Unlike sufganyot, latkes don’t have to be fully immersed in oil to end up tasty. However, you’ll need at least two rolls worth of paper towels for draining the oil-drenched goodies, along with a fully functional continued on page 31

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The Festival of Lights can be whatever you want it to be, including full of puppies.

Because Hanukkah this year is closer to Thanksgiving than it is to Christmas, the interwebs are flooded with recipes that use stuffing as a binder for latkes instead of the eggs and matzoh meal.

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A New Twist on an Old Hanukkah

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EATS & drinks

Jews (and anyone else in his way), and took over the holy temple. When the temple was reclaimed and reconsecrated, there was only enough olive oil to light the lamps for one night, and it would have taken weeks to press and consecrate more oil. Miraculously, the oil in the temple lasted for eight nights, and we commemorate this by lighting candles and, like most Jewish festivals, by eating traditional food. Sufganyot (jelly-filled donuts) and latkes (potato pancakes) are fried to remind us of the miracle of the holy oil in the menorah when the Maccabees purified the temple after the place was defiled with pig’s blood (messy) and idols (rude). I have attempted sufganyot exactly once in my kitchen. Don’t try these at home unless you have an industrial-sized Fry Daddy or own some kind of cast-iron cauldron or perhaps a cleaned-up turkey deep fryer. Fortunately, Funky Town Donuts (two locations) has sufganyot just like Bubbe used to make on its seasonal menu this month. Manna Donuts (2211 W. Berry St., 817-207-0336) offers creamor raspberry-filled donuts for a buck apiece every day! As far as latkes go, the potato pancakes are easier to semi-home make. You just need an Irish field’s worth of taters, shredded and patted dry –– that’s the key. Wet shredded potato yields a gloopy, messy latke. Most recipes call for grated onion along with peeled

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Eats & Drinks

Tuk Tuk Thai

continued from page 29

During COVID, the author’s family actually foster-failed a puppy for Hanukkah. Just like the song. Willie is an indeterminate breed rescued from under a church in Parker County by Mansfield’s Gracie Lou Rescue & Rehab, Inc.

Thai Street Food

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find a home for our area’s homeless pets during their mega-adoption event SatSun, Dec. 18-19. All animals have been vetted, vaccinated, spayed or neutered, and microchipped. Whatever you do — or make or buy this season — remember, as the Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks said, “Though my faith is not your faith and your faith is not mine, if we are each free to light our own flame, we can banish some of the darkness of the world.” With apologies to Joan Nathan, the acknowledged queen of Jewish cooking in America, the Food Network’s recipe is a lot simpler.

In a food processor, grate the potatoes. Line a sieve with cheesecloth and transfer potatoes to the sieve. Set sieve over a bowl and twist cheesecloth into a pouch, squeezing out some moisture. Let mixture drain for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, pour off liquid from the bowl but leave the white potato starch that settles in the bottom of the bowl. To that starch, add shallots, eggs, flour, and 1-1/2 teaspoons of salt and freshly ground pepper. Return drained potatoes to the mixture and toss to combine. Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Line a baking pan with paper towels. In a large skillet, heat 1/4 inch of oil over medium high heat until hot. Drop heaping tablespoonfuls of potato mixture and cook for 3 to 4 minutes a side — latkes should be golden and crisp on both sides. Eat right away or keep warm in oven. Serve with applesauce or sour cream. l

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1-1/2 Yukon Gold or russet potatoes, peeled 1/4 cup finely chopped shallots 2 large eggs, lightly beaten 2 T flour or matzoh meal (more if the mixture is too thin) 1-1/2 teaspoons salt and pepper Vegetable oil (olive or other heat-stable oil) for frying

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Ingredients

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above-the-stove fan. This year, I attempted latkes made with leftover mashed potatoes and riced cauliflower. They weren’t pretty, but they also weren’t the worst thing ever to come out of my kitchen. Because Hanukkah this year is closer to Thanksgiving than it is to Christmas, the interwebs are flooded with recipes that use stuffing as a binder instead of the eggs and matzoh meal. Take two cups of leftover stuffing, one large peeled and shredded potato, and one egg, mix, and season if your stuffing isn’t already seasoned enough. Drop a couple tablespoons of the mix into hot oil and smoosh, then flip after about five minutes. Google “Thanksgivukkah,” and you’ll find a load of these hybrid recipes. Sadly, neither Carshon’s Deli (3133 Cleburne Rd., 817-923-1907) nor Weinberger’s Deli (604 S. Main St., Grapevine, 817-416-5577) offers latkes. The nearest restaurant serving the traditional potato cakes is Cindi’s New York Deli and Bakery (multiple locations in Dallas). Whole Foods Market (3720 Vision Dr.) and Central Market (4651 W. Fwy.) have chefprepared versions if you want ’em. A final thought for celebrating Hanukkah 2021: Last year, singeractor Daveed Diggs, who’s Black and Jewish, entered the not-very-crowded holiday song market with his adorable tune “Puppy for Hanukkah,” which summarizes the holiday beautifully. During COVID, my family actually foster-failed a puppy for Hanukkah. Willie is an indeterminate breed rescued from under a church in Parker County by Mansfield’s Gracie Lou Rescue & Rehab, Inc. If you want a puppy for Hanukkah (or Christmas), and you’ve paused to remember that animals are a fur-ever commitment, Fort Worth Animal Care & Control is joining with the Humane Society of North Texas to

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continued on page 37

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A factor that shapes a decision for many when seeking refuge in a bar is the nondescript location, like a speakeasy or one that provides a similar feel. The Basement Lounge on Camp Bowie fits that mold. Located behind Oscar’s Pub is a door that opens to a flight of stairs that descends into one of the best cocktail bars in town — although open for years, it continues to soar under the radar. Owner/general manager Jesse Meraz has a thing for the classic Sidecar.

DECEMBER 1-7, 2021

Local distilleries and lounges are ready for the season — and ready to help you get in the mood, too.

The Basement Lounge’s Holiday Sidecar

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Cocktails for the Holidays

Cour tesy The Basement Lounge

LAST CALL

our annual Happy Holidaze Cocktail Compendium. Simply put, it’s cheery recipes for those who need liquid assistance plowing their way through holiday parties and family gatherings. With COVID in the rearview — fingers crossed — we are once again able to don our gay apparel, ride our reindeer of choice (mine being Blitzen — get it?), and joyfully prance into our favorite watering holes to get cheeky with those around us making the best of it, but if you would rather jingle yours bells at home, go forth and find your Christmas spirit on the shelf of the local liquor store because we reached out to local bar owners to enrich our lives with their takes on holiday spirits.

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Last Call

Chas Taipale’s Fa la la la la Canela

continued from page 35

1 oz. Blackland Distillery’s brown sugar bourbon 1 oz. Acre Distilling’s Cinnamon Girl 2 dashes Angostura bitters 2 dashes orange bitters

“We wanted to try to create a modern version that celebrated the holidays, so the Holiday Sidecar came into existence. Patrons often say, ‘It’s like Christmas in a coupe.’ ”

Stir over ice for 20 revolutions, then pour into a bourbon tumbler.

The Basement Lounge’s Holiday Sidecar

Lockwood Distilling’s Café Locktte

Known for hearty spirits and a tastefully crafted food menu, Richardson, Texas’ Lockwood Distilling Company very

1 oz. cognac 1 oz. Grand Marnier 1 oz. lemon juice 1/4 oz. Chambord Combine in shaker with ice, shake, then strain into a sugar-rimmed coupe. Garnish with sage sprig and raspberry.

softly opened its Fort Worth doors on West Magnolia Avenue last month. Although beer is not found here, there is a plentiful array of spirits, from bourbon, liqueur, and rye to gin, vodka, and even hibiscus-flavored vodka. Even pineappleand vanilla-flavored rums, which all sound like appropriate stocking stuffers to us, make the cut. Vice president of operations Sean Saunders elaborated on cocktail creator Stephanie Welch’s Christmas miracle, helped along by Avoca Coffee Roasters. “For the Café Locktte, we were inspired to make a drink that coupled our delicious Bourbon Cream along with everyone’s love for coffee. We enjoy working with

our neighbors and supporting local, so in this cocktail, we marry our Bourbon Cream with Avoca’s espresso. It has the duality of being served warmed or iced.”

Café Locktte

2 oz. Lockwood’s Bourbon Cream 2 oz. Avoca’s espresso 2 oz. oat milk Shaken and served to preference Whichever direction your holiday takes, make sure it goes through our local distilleries. Cheers. l

DINNER, WINE, & MUSIC

Chas Taipale’s Fa la la la la Canela

LIVE MUSIC EVERY NIGHT - 6:30PM 1310 W MAGNOLIA AVE, FORT WORTH • LILISBISTRO.COM

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Cour tesy Lockwood Distilling Company

DINNER WED & THUR 5:30PM - 9PM FRI & SAT 6PM - 10PM FOR RESERVATIONS CALL 817-877-0700

DECEMBER 1-7, 2021

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Chas Taipale, who opened the pizza-tastic High Top Grub and Pub amid the pandy and provided us with a delightful recipe last year, makes a yuletide return with bar manager Edwin Gomez’s creation. Found at both of Taipale’s bar concepts, Bodega and Low Key Tavern, is their riff on a little Christmas tune featuring locally distilled spirits.

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As many craft beer fans know all too well, temperatures and ABV have an inverse relationship. Summer is the time for light beers that won’t dehydrate you — i.e., low-calorie and low-alcohol content. The real fun starts around Oktoberfest, when Märzens and other complex ales start elbowing out those G-rated brews in favor of boozier, bolder delights. By winter, it’s full-on party season as beers with 10% ABV and higher start hitting the shelves. Fortifying these bold suds are ridiculous amounts of barley, malt, and other grains that make them both delicious and filling. Fort Worth is home to some of the best damn winter

Christmas wouldn’t be the same without a sixer of Rahr’s coveted Winter Warmer.

Wild Acre’s Snap’d Gingerbread Strong Ale

brews in the county, and we hope you’ll safely hoist a few of these lovely selections this holiday season.

Rahr & Sons’ Winter Warmer

Rahr’s Winter Warmer is bold yet accessible. The rich brew has mild burnt notes and lively spices. With a medium body, delicious profile, and 8% ABV (twice that of most macrobrews), you’ll want to pace yourself. This beer is deceptively easy to down.

HopFusion AleWorks’ Zombie Crack

Heavy beers come naturally to this Near Southside brewpub. While they’re probably best known for their imperial milk stout Fur Slipper (dark chocolate, nuts, and candy), they will definitely develop a reputation via Zombie Crack

Great Food, Great Ser vice

Gingerbread spices speak to the holidays, and one local brewery had the foresight to capture those flavors in a Christmas-y beer. Snap’d Gingerbread Strong Ale is strong in several ways. There are the forward notes of cinnamon, allspice, ginger, and other seasonal spices, and then there are the fragrant scents and a solid 8% booze factor. The effect is balanced while being bold.

Wintery Brews Roundup

In South Main Village, Funky Picnic Brewery & Cafe is pouring the imperial Berliner Weisse Courage and Pillars with blueberries and cardamom spice, inspired by Denton-based folk-rockers Midlake. … Just north of West 7th Street, Bankhead Brewing offers a deep menu and many winter-friendly brews. Rodger’s Anomaly is a stout that’s brewed with a potent blend of star anise, cocoa nibs, and concentrated cold brew

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coffee. … The Foundry District’s Maple Branch Craft Brewery has a heavyweight beer that boasts primo spirits from nearby Blackland Distillery. Breakfast at Blackland is a boozed-up Russian stout made with maple syrup, brown sugar, and Maple Pecan Bourbon from Blackland Distillery. … Stockyards newcomer Second Rodeo features live music pretty much year-round, a retractable roof, creative takes on pub fare, and exceptional craft beers. The Belgium dark ale is brewed with three types of malts — Munich, caramel, and chocolate roasted — for a flavor explosion of dark, fruity notes and hints of chocolate. … Neutral Ground Brewing Company is bringing delicious brews to Northeast Fort Worth. Ode to Excess oatmeal stout (6.6% ABV) is a roasty, chocolatey delight. l

Down Home Mexican Cooking in The Heart of East Fort Worth

Open Mon-Sat 7:30a-8p & Sun 7a-3:00p

D R I NeK of th Month

Folk-rockers Midlake inspired Funky Picnic Brewery & Cafe’s new Berliner Weisse.

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These local stouts, strong ales, and porters will warm your spirits.

This heavy hitter tastes like the holidays, and you can enjoy a nostalgic joyride of eating peanut butter cups while getting buzzed. Panther Island Brewing’s Sweet Fang (5% ABV) is a sweet, nutty treat that lingers on the lips, thanks to generous amounts of lactose.

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Holiday Suds

Panther Island Brewing’s Sweet Fang

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Cour tesy Rahr & Sons Brewing Co.

LAST CALL

Cour tesy Funky Picnic Brewer y & Cafe

(9% ABV). It’s like Fur Slipper plus bourbon-soaked oak staves and honeyroasted pecans. Be warned: This stuff is addictive.

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MUSIC

LIVE MUSIC

2022 Vision

Son of Stan, Uncle Toasty, Arenda Light, BLKrKRT, The Me-Thinks, Phorids, Complete, and Cut Throat Finches are just a few of the marquee Fort Worth artists set to release new material soon. B Y

J U A N

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A N D

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balladry and country crooning to sparkly pop and hip-hop, our town has them all, and they all are busy. Grab your ropes and your pick and let our music writers be your sherpas as we attempt to climb this giant mountain of great music coming in 2022. Don’t forget your wayfarers because all indications are that the sun-smacked powder at this mountain’s peak, like the future of music in Fort Worth, projects so many lumens you’ve got to wear them shades. continued on page 42

Uncle Toasty’s debut EP arrives in March.

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Cour tesy Facebook

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It seems like every year, our fair burg grasps the next highest rung on the gilded ladder of ascension toward Official Gold Star Nationally Recognized Music City® status, and that Everest-ian climb definitely looks to continue into the coming year. Perhaps due to being afforded some, um, “extra free time,” musicmakers in the 817 have gone into overdrive over the last year and a half, and now rolling, the snowball only looks to be growing. From bratty punk, abrasive metal, and leather-clad rock to sentimental acoustic

H I G G I N S

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U LC H SAT 3/19 G & MORE

SAT 12/4 FRI 12/10 SAT 12/18 THU 12/30 SAT 1/8

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FRI 12/3 SHATTERED BONES & MORE FRI 12/10 HAVE NEAR & MANY MORE FRI 12/31 FABULOUS FREAK BROTHERS

Rober t Chickering

FRI 12/3

Taylor Tatsch is also cooking up new tuneage for our eager ears.

Music

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continued from page 41

Perhaps the most anticipated album due after the New Year belongs to sludge punkers Uncle Toasty. The Mean Motor Scooter side project just made their live debut a few weeks ago, and if attendance is any indication, the 10-inch EP from Saustex Records due in March will sell out quickly. Speaking of MMS, the beloved garage-rock quartet also hinted at a trio of new singles coming soon. Keeping with punkier flavors, Phorids, FTW’s answer to Black Flag, hopes to release their first fulllength soon, and if that isn’t enough to scratch your Travis Brown punk bandassociated itch, his new project, Crucial Times, hopes to release a bevy of singles throughout the year, culminating in a collection toward the end. Haltom City’s heavy-rock heroes The Me-Thinks are set to put out a 20year anniversary EP titled 2112. One of the tracks has already been released as part of a Saustex Records sampler called Keep Haltom High. The Me-Thinks also have a limited edition 12-inch of their 2020 live set at ACL (Austin Corn Lovers) which was tracked without an audience during the pandemic. Arenda Light has started recording a new batch of songs at frontman Nick

Tittle’s home studio. “When You Ran Away” will be the first single with two more tracks, “Buena Vista” and “Rest in Peter,” to follow. A bit more for those who like it loud, proggy metal outfit The Spectacle hope to make a reemergence in 2022, Bruce Mangus offer their third LP Spare Beans, and Royal Sons have more of their signature heavy blues coming in the spring. Dream pop outfit Big Heaven is putting out a single on Christmas Eve “just for funsies,” but the group will be recording a couple of songs starting in January for a proposed EP. Details are still being settled on, but listeners can expect a new “cassingle” soon. Big Heaven drummer Sam Dobbin also teased a track from an EP of his own energetic indie-pop coming in summer. Self-described “divorce pop” icons Son of Stan have a couple of singles due early in the year, and Jackon Eudy, the songwriter normally known as Mouse Trap, has a forthcoming album of his signature emotive bedroom pop in the can. The minor-blues duo Washed Up Rookie, electronic wizards Annafell Lights, and the unnamed indie-rock project fronted by singer-songwriter Chase Johnson also have material ready to go. continued on page 44

ll? Fa

Bes

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W Com ys! ay he a e Pl d i T l To E n j o y ay Yo Ho e h T ur Favo u rite Classic Arcade Games Thr

Phil Ford

BLKrKRT’s Precious Metals, Heavy Gems III is due out next year.

Music

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continued from page 42

Another acoustic-toter with work on the way is Arlington-based Court Hoang, who opened for Jackie Venson earlier this year at his hometown’s Levitt Pavilion. Hoang’s Get Right record is set to come out on June 10. Levi Ray has a new EP set to be released in the spring, and he will promote the collection with the single “Burn the House Down,” which was cowritten with Stefan Prigmore. Fresh off the release of Sur Duda’s sophomore album, frontman Cameron Smith is wasting no time in putting yet more new music out. His forthcoming album Shine, on which he collaborated with fellow singer-songwriter Eric Osbourne, is due in late February. The set of songs was originally intended as a soundtrack to a documentary by the late artist Jeremy Joel, but plans for the film have fallen apart after Joel’s untimely death. Osbourne could put out a few new songs of his own as well. Matthew Broyles, under his Matthew Show banner, is aiming for January for new singles, three of which will ultimately be combined with previous releases from this past year and last into an album. Dani and Kris are also planning new tunes, and so are Clint Niosi and Wayne Floyd, who has embraced electronics and

blazing guitar solos courtesy of Michael Doty (Son of Stan, Duell) as part of a new sonic direction. If flava is more your flavor, you shouldn’t feel left out. The local king of sample-based boom-bap, BLKrKRT is working on dropping a previously unreleased tape every month for the entire year (!), and hip-hopper Ladi is set to release a single on New Year’s Eve. Young cat Neo Soul looks to build on the success of 2019’s “Pacing,” while veteran MC and Fort Nox alum Complete is dusting off the mic with new jams in the coming year and “hippie-hopper” Sage Mode Wrex has more of his mindexpanding, laidback flow on the horizon as well. Add to the pile a whole mess of projects being recorded by producer Taylor Tatsch (including his own band, Shadows of Jets), starting with a pair of albums from country maverick Joe Savage, five (yes, five!) EPs from smokybar rockers Cut Throat Finches plus new material from both Spencer Wharton and Dead Vinyl’s Hayden Miller. Don’t forget about new stuff from the Yucca Men, Johndavid Bartlett’s Humans from Earth, Grady Spencer & The Work, Cotinga, and Ayden Trammell, and 2022 looks to put Fort Worth so high on the music mountain we’ll need a telescope to see other Texas cities looking like ants from our height. l

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