10
Anniversary Issue
YEAR
AU S T I N A R T S + C U LT U R E
T HE M A RCH 2011
Music
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david haynes e
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MAR C H
2 011
T R IBE Z A
features TRIBEZA at 10 Willie's World Ben Kweller & Family Pretty Young Things Inside Austin City Limits Live Stories From the Road All in the Family 8
March 2011
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d e pa rtm e nt s
18 52 56 66 72 76 82
Willie nel son | cover photogr aphy by dan winter s
Communit y
Style
Social Hour
24
Product Pick
88
Kristin Armstrong
32
Creatively Speaking
93
Exposed
34
Style Pick
96
Perspective
36
Nerd Alert
98
My Life
101
Arts
An Audience With...
43
Dining
Arts & Entertainment Calendar
46
Dining Pick
104
Behind the Scenes
50
Restaurant Guide
105
Our Little Secret
108
illustration by joy gallagher; ACL live, photography by cody hamilton; ruby jane, photography by bryan rindfuss; junior brown, photography by matt rainwaters; agent ribbons, photography by alexandra valenti; ring, courtesy of laced with romance.
Contents
A IN NKL TE E RE ST
AUSTIN 512.231.3700 © SAKS FIFTH AVENUE 2011 ONLINE: SAKS.COM FACEBOOK.COM/SAKS TWITTER.COM/SAKS SAKSPOV.COM
For spring’s most foot-flattering trend from
JIMMY CHOO
AUSTIN
PUBLISHER
George T. Elliman EDITOR
Lauren Smith Ford DESIGNER
Avalon McKenzie Editorial Assistant/ Events
Carolyn Harrold
Senior Account ExeCutives
Ashley Beall Kimberly Chassay
Account Executives
Erin Miles Dylan Sack
principals
Chuck Sack Vance Sack Michael Torres
116 i s s u e s o f th e m ag a zi n e . 7 TRIBEZA Style Weeks. Over 250 photographers’ work showcased. Those are just a few of the milestones we have hit in the past decade. What we love to hear most about TRIBEZA is that it saw and captured where Austin was going before anyone else did. Deciding who to put on the cover of this celebratory anniversary Music issue was not a difficult choice. Willie Nelson is a true outlaw or better yet, “the godfather of Austin,” as a dear friend of mine admiringly calls him. Meeting Backstage with the man himself at ACL Live :: 02.13.11 a man who has crossed so many boundaries, who is loved by people of all walks of life was beyond surreal—a true once in a lifetime experience. Get a front row seat at my interview with him in his dressing room before his grand opening performance at the ACL Live in “Willie’s World.” In putting together this issue, we enjoyed taking a moment to reflect on where we began. The magazine’s founder Zarghun Dean remembers those early days when TRIBEZA launched in 2001. The concept for it was born out of a conversation he had with a friend about Austin and what a creative town it was, but that it lacked a media outlet that reflected the creative community. He started the magazine when he was in law school at the University of Texas. As a grad student, he didn’t have the budget to hire anyone, so he went out and bought a Mac computer to teach himself how to design a magazine. “That was a really exciting time," he says. "I was splitting my time between my final semester of law school, learning design, selling ads and recruiting content contributors." The first printer he hired filed for bankruptcy forcing him to regroup and pay back the first advertisers whose money was lost. But Zarghun was persistent and launched TRIBEZA the next year with a new printer. He says: “We filled a void for photographers, writers, readers and some businesses that were hungry to advertise in a place where their ads would look great.” TRIBEZA started because of Zarghun’s vision and his desire to capture the movements and the people who were shaping the city. We have continued because our publisher George Elliman and his partners are excited to document the next phase of our beloved city. We hope you enjoy our redesigned, updated look and new department pages that we are debuting for the first time this month like Street Style (our favorite looks from South Congress), My Life (a retrospective of photos from the glam life of Austin-based photographer Alexandra Valenti growing up in Hollywood) and Behind the Scenes (the desk of SXSW Film Producer Janet Pierson). We feel more excited about Austin and where it’s going than ever before and feel honored to be able celebrate it every month in our pages.
interns
Autumn Ashley Ayanna Estelle Jenika Gonzales Stephanie Kuo Valerie Lai Lisa Siva
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Lauren Smith Ford lauren@tribeza.com
photo by michael thad carter.
Editor’s Letter
spring 2011 Isda Eileen Fisher Yansi Fugel Bell by Alicia Bell Johnny Was Collections Nicole Miller Tracy Reese Lauren Vidal Paris Lundström Collection Three Dots Marisa Baratelli Robin Kaplan Designs BL^NK
1601 w 38th st at 5 jefferson square (512) 458–5407 gardenroomboutique.com monday–saturday 10am to 5:30pm
A Special Anniversary Note from our Publisher H appy B i r t hday TRI B E Z A !
Wow, I can hardly believe that TRIBEZA is celebrating 10 years in Austin because the time has gone so fast. Certainly we must thank our many advertisers, sponsors and loyal readers that have supported TRIBEZA through the prosperous and less prosperous times this decade has brought. And there are a few advertisers that deserve special thanks because they have been with us continuously since the beginning, including The Garden Room, Wally Workman Gallery and The Davis Gallery; and the many that followed soon after, including Adelante, By George, Eliza Page, First cover of TRIBEZA, Haven Gallery, Kennady Shadeworks, Truluck’s, Texas Sun & Shade, March 2001; photographed by Andrew Shapter. Turnquist Partners and Urbanspace. I am excited and honored to be a part of guiding this iconic brand into the future. Speaking of the future, know that we are making investments so that we can offer even greater visibility to our editorial features, easier access for our readers, and even more ways for our advertising partners to reach our readers and fans. We have recently launched a new website that not only publishes and archives each magazine as printed, but it also features editorial content from the magazine as well as new content on our blogs, party pictures and more. Similarly, we have a newly designed TRIBEZA eNewsletter that allows us to keep over 5,000 subscribers up to date on the city’s events and share news and specials from our advertisers and sponsors. If you have not already, be sure to check out our new website at tribeza.com, sign up for the eNewsletter, follow us on Twitter and “like us” on Facebook where we have almost 4,000 fans. As for the future I would not want to be in any other city but Austin, Texas right now. Austin is a strong, vibrant and growing city and there will no doubt continue to be many great stories for TRIBEZA to discover and share with you. We are very fortunate to have a talented team and a wonderful network of contributors that share my enthusiasm for this great city and for the magazine, so we will continue to bring you more of what has made TRIBEZA great so far. Please never hesitate to reach out with your ideas or thoughts on what we cover or should cover. We love hearing from our readers, fans and advertisers.
Warm regards,
Copyright @ 2011 by TRIBEZA. All rights reserved. Reproduction, in whole or in part, without the expressed written permission of the publisher is prohibited. TRIBEZA is a proud member of the Austin Chamber of Commerce. mailing address 706a west 34th street austin, texas 78705 ph (512) 474 4711 fax (512) 474 4715
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George T. Elliman george@tribeza.com
www.tribeza.com Founded in March of 2001, TRIBEZA is Austin's leading locally-owned arts and culture magazine.
Featuring over 30 independent designer jewelry collections, including AUSTIN’S fINeST
SHOP ONLINe
elizapage.com
229 W . 2nd S t. | A ustin, T exas 78701 | 512.474.6500 free 2 hr parking at city hall m-f 8-5, free sat-sun 8-5
Contributors
COLUMNISTS
Kristin Armstrong Tim McClure Carla McDonald James Moody Illustrator
Joy Gallagher
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Kenny Braun Matt Conant Cody Hamilton Jake Holt Mimi Klasson Jessica Pages Chris Patunas John Pesina Matt Rainwaters Annie Ray Bryan Rindfuss Alexandra Valenti Adam Voorhes Dan Winters Molly Winters WRITERS
Adi Anand Curtis McMurty James McMurty Phillip Pantuso Jackie Rangel Caitlin Ryan Karen O. Spezia
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Dan Winters is undeniably one of the best portrait photographers in the world, and lucky for us, he lives right here in Austin. Dan has won over 100 national and international awards and regularly shoots for just about every major magazine. TRIBEZA is beyond honored that we get to collaborate with him on special projects. “The allure of TRIBEZA for me is its simplicity. The ability to design for a magazine that doesn’t have to fight for attention on a newsstand is liberating. This freedom to explore is rare in the world of magazines these days,” he says. “I admire the willingness to run photographs consecutively over numerous pages. It is thrilling as a photographer to have a canvas like this.” This month, he photographed the musician, Ben Kweller, his stunning wife Liz and their two sons. “I have been a huge fan of Ben’s music for quite some time. He is a profound talent and a true national treasure,” Winters says. “I was honored and humbled to photograph him and his beautiful family.”
Robin Finlay Robin is a fifth generation Texan, art director, designer and stylist. She is obsessed with obtaining the perfect shade of orange hair. We enlisted Robin with redesigning the magazine from cover to cover. “I was excited by the challenge of redesigning TRIBEZA and giving it an updated look while maintaining everything great and unique about the magazine," Finlay says. Now that this issue has wrapped, she’s back to the shanty of a studio she shares with her husband, Adam Voorhes, in East Austin, struggling to get through all the fish sticks left over from a recent Men's Health photo shoot.
James Moody Austin is the 15th city Moody has lived in thus far , and he plans for it to be the last. H e is a self pro claimed music nerd and entrepreneur who travels a bunch , loves queso and has a fondness for whiskey. Moody co - founded a creative agency called G uerilla Suit, and loves to collaborate on projects of all shapes and sizes . usually find him at the
You can Mohawk,
Fun Fun Fun Fest or hanging out at El Primos taco cart on South First. This month is the debut of his monthly column , N erd A lert, where he will interview a different creative working in a different arena in that
Moody style we all
know and love.
Dan winters, image courtesy of dan winters; robin finlay, image courtesy of matt rainwaters; james moody, image courtesy of james moody.
Dan Winters
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The red Design Within Reach chair was held up by a string above the model's head.
TRIBEZA at 10 It’s not only the city we get to cover, but the people who have made the magazine what it is, as we reflect on the contributors and supporters in the community who have been fans of TRIBEZA since it first began.
This April 2010 cover by Dan Winters is TRIBEZA editor Lauren Smith Ford's favorite of all 116 issues.
“If you were to jump into a time machine and get dropped
TRIBEZA won a John G. Flowers Award for our promotion of architecture in 2003.
off next to Stevie Ray Vaughn on the shores of Town Lake 10 years ago, the physical landscape might make it hard to believe that the Austin of today was born of what could be seen back then. There’s no SoCo district, no high-rise downtown lofts, no Long Center for the Performing Arts or Blanton Museum of Art. There’s no East Austin Studio Tour or ACL Music Festival. Whole Foods Market is tucked away next to Book People across the street from an abandoned car lot. But as you walk around Austin, you realize that there’s an energy that will take Austin down a special path. Whether you talk about music (Nick Barbaro and Louis Black), architecture (Charles Moore), entrepreneurship (Michael Dell) or many other topics, there were visionaries who had cultivated this energy before most of us even made it to Austin. This energy was the inspiring force behind TRIBEZA more than a decade ago. Over the years, it has shaped the substance of every issue that we produced. Go out today and take stock of what you see around you. In 10 years, it will certainly be unrecognizable once again. I look forward to seeing Austin’s next creative explosion unfolding in the pages of TRIBEZA.” -z a r g h u n d e a n , Founder of TRIBEZA
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Model Britt Maren (January 2008) can now be seen in the pages of Vogue & W.
Photographers
Photography by: yang photos, Peter Yang; Shapter photos, Andrew shapter.
Beautiful photography has been an essential part of what has made TRIBEZA unique over the years. We asked a few of our favorite shooters from the early years to share their thoughts on why the magazine has been a preferred place to showcase their work.
a n dr e w sh a p t e r pe t e r ya ng Photographer
Peter Yang currently spends his days photographing people ranging from President Obama to rock stars for covers of Rolling Stone as he travels the world from his home base in Brooklyn, shooting for almost all major magazines and many advertising campaigns, but he got his start in Austin shooting for the Austin American Statesman and then TRIBEZA. He remembers seeing the magazine for the first time in 2001.
“I thought it was new and really cool because Austin didn’t have anything that covered fashion. I was a young photographer, so it was a big deal for TRIBEZA to give me a shot. I was developing my style, and I was really proud to shoot for the magazine. I got to work with great models and stylists, and the photography got stronger and stronger and the magazine looks better and better every year.”
Photographer / Director
Andrew Shapter was one of TRIBEZA's very first photographers. Now, he is directing movies (Before the Music Dies, 2006; Happiness Is, 2009; and is currently working on his first narrative The Teller and the Truth, 2012). Keep up with Andrew on his regular music and film column for the Huffington Post.
“Being a ‘fashion photographer’ in the 90s meant that there were few outlets to showcase my work in Austin, so to make ends meet I had to travel back and forth to New York and Europe. In the late 90s I gradually took on gigs shooting ads for local clothing stores such as By George that were running weekly ads in The Austin Chronicle. It was fun, but at the same time it was frustrating because the ads were often small and printed on mostly black and white newspaper. In late 2000, a guy named Zarghun Dean came to me with an idea for a magazine (with an interesting name) and he asked if I would be interested in shooting covers and editorials. A few months later, TRIBEZA was born and it just took off...” tribeza.com
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The Community
—m i c h a e l
“Tribeza hit the streets about the same time that I joined Pentagram. I design a lot of magazines and I’m a bit of a magazine junky. I clearly remember seeing Tribeza for the first time and thinking what a great idea it was. The unique square format, and the gorgeous photographs, printed on that beautiful white paper, really caught my attention. It seemed like everywhere I went people were reading it too. It made me a little jealous that I hadn’t designed it.” —d j s t o u t
—t y s o n c o l e
partner, Pentagram Design
chef/owner, Uchi + Uchiko
Social Columnist, Austin American-Statesman
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"I've worked and lived in Austin for the last 20
years and over that time this place has undergone an unmatched evolution of sorts. From a small tight knit town of creative people and musicians, it's become a mecca for talent all over the country to move to and plant roots and help improve this young town into the aspiring city it has become today. During this time lots has happened, and one of the main signs of the maturation was in the media. Tribeza started 10 years ago with a tight vision of what it wanted to provide and represent, and did that with dashing ease, great writing and gorgeous photgraphy and design. The first time I picked one up and saw it was free, I was astounded! How can they do this? It's too quality to be free. It'll never last I thought. But over the years Tribeza has lasted and has become a mainstay for local flavor and businesses alike, representing the astounding diversity and talent this city has to offer. A symbol of how Austin has become the Monte Carlo of America for the new millennium, Tribeza remains at the forefront and assumes that responsibility with ease and grace. "
barnes
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photos by: DJ stout, kenny braun; Tyson Cole, Matthew Mahon.
“Tribeza pioneered social publication. Every issue was linked to a tantalizing social opportunity. This practice put Austinites from various tribes—style, food, arts, business, etc.—in the same place at the same time, enjoying each other’s company, as well as dollops of fashion and refreshments. This may seem like a small thing, but it created a community that did not exist before. It remains a community among the most vibrant in New Austin.”
Photos by: anne elizabeth wynn, matthew mahon; stephen mills, kwnny braun.
anne elizabeth wynn on her buzz worthy tribeza appearance:
“it looks like a woman breaking out.” He wasn’t referring to the dress and…um, a couple of other things. My dear love meant that he saw little wings sprouting on shoulders that had been carrying quite a bit for quite a while but were holding up nonetheless and beginning to trust their own strength in so doing. That he saw corners of a small mouth turning up, encouraging the still sad eyes above that they too had every right to start smiling again. And, that a quirky new light was not just emanating from a strange flash attachment. He was right. Taken six years ago under powerful oak trees that envelop my home, this image shows more than I knew at the time. Within a month, I would be 40-something and divorced. I had been asked to write the Perspective column for the September Fashion issue. Given my penchant for promoting art and artists in Austin, I wore a gown custommade by local fashion phenom Cat Swanson along with bracelets made from melted bits of vinyl records from AMOA’s gift shop and multiple LiveStrong bands. A quiet way of yelling, “Live! Live! Live!” Tribeza has always looked like someone with a lot going on as well, and goes about it with an ethos of honoring complexity rather than merchandising it. That is Tribeza’s best contribution…recognizing Austin’s style as spirit and energy and aspiration and celebration, not stuff. Thanks. And, thanks for a little light on little wings.
This December 2004 cover is the most memorable photograph for long-time TRIBEZA art director, Stephen Arevalos.
“Both Tribeza and I are celebrating 10year anniversaries this year. As the magazine was created, I became artistic director of Ballet Austin. While there are many special things Tribeza accomplishes with each issue, to me the most impressive one is the high quality of photography. Tribeza has always been ahead of the curve in the way they use visual art to communicate and support ideas. Aesthetically speaking, the magazine has been one of the most consistently beautiful pieces for 10 wonderful years. Congratulations!” —s t e p h e n m i l l s Artistic Director, Ballet Austin
“Austin and Tribeza have grown up together, maturing in sophistication and substance. But for all we’ve grown, both our city and our magazine have retained the playful irreverence that makes everyone feel immediately at home.” —k r i s t i n
a r m s t r o n g Author tribeza.com
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“I love that from
"From the beginning,
I always liked not just the look but the shape of TRIBEZA— maybe it's because I'm such a square myself. Boy, does this picture prove it." —e va n
smith CEO & Editor-in-Chief, The Texas Tribune
—pa t t i h o f f pau i r Owner of The Garden Room & TRIBEZA's First Advertiser
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—k e n d r a s c o t t J ewelry Designer
TRIBEZA came along at a really important time.
The "town of Austin" was becoming a city and there was no design, fashion, food, arts, literature, music, etc. publication available. With TRIBEZA, Austin immediately had a slick, informative, and arty monthly publication. And it was free! Delivered to your place of business! Since its inception TRIBEZA has helped inform and bring together the concerned, active, creative, and curious people of the city. With TRIBEZA many artists, architects, restaurants and designers of everything gained a platform to show their work and readers got a great source of information. My own experience has been that on many occasions new clients have told me they became aware of Dick Clark Architecture by seeing one of our projects profiled in the magazine. So TRIBEZA, congratulations and let's keep growing together for another 10 years! —d i c k c l a r k ARCHITECT
photos: kendra scott by ha lam; dick clark by jeff stockton; evan smith by matt rainwaters.
“I still remember when Zarghun [ founder of TRIBEZA] came in the first time to tell me about the magazine. He had such a vision for this new publication with a fresh focus, a different shape and a new direction unlike anything we had seen before. I don't like the word fashion...I like to think of it more as style, and TRIBEZA has continued to well represent Austin’s style over the past decade.”
the beginning of TRIBEZA, there was a vision to bring a new perspective to Austin—a vision of creativity that included art, music, fashion, and above all else generosity to our community. I am so happy that this vision became a reality, and we are all blessed with a magazine that gives so much to this great city we get to call home. Happy Anniversary TRIBEZA, and thank you for believing and supporting your Austin businesses and dreamers!”
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Social Hour
A selection of party pics from happenings in every corner of the city.
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Flow Nonfiction at the W Hotel
As the sun set over Austin, the city’s hottest young media company, Flow Nonfiction, hosted a private screening and cocktails at the W Hotel. Guests enjoyed views of the city, while celebrating Espwa, the company’s latest short documentary. Faith Hill provides narration, with a moving original score that features the Tosca Strings. Founding partners, Matt Naylor, David Modigliani and David Rice were introduced by PR guru Lisa Pearson and guests got a first look at the film before it screened during the Sundance Film Festival.
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Women & Their Work's Art Divas Party
Art Divas hosted one of their quarterly soirees at the home of fine contemporary art consultant and former gallerist, Debbie Schneider of Deborah Page Projects. Art jeweler Christy Klug showed a selection of baubles, donating 10 percent of the sales to the Divas, while Sherry Matthews previewed her poignant and provocative book, We Were Not Orphans, due out from UT Press. Women & Their Work’s creative all-women membership group, Art Divas provides special opportunities to connect with a cross-section of dynamic, talented, smart women in Austin.
Flow Nonfiction: 1. Michelle Guzman, Suzanna Choffell & Mahshad Vakilli 2. Deb Lewis & Paul Stekler 3. Elise Zahtila & Alisa Weldon 4. Matt Naylor, David Modigliani & David Rice 5. Chris Steiner & Katy Dunlap. Art Divas Party: 6. Vickie Dunlevy & Chris Cowden 7. Rachel Haggerty & Denise Prince 8. Abigail King & Henley Sims 9. Pat Epstein, Beau LeBoeuf & Gretchen Hicks 10. Leslie Begert & Jessica Nicewarner.
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P h oto g r a p h y by j o h n p e s i n a
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social hour
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The Blanton Gala Lumiere
The Blanton Museum of Art hosted their biennial Gala honoring Robert Wilson, a native of Waco and former University of Texas at Austin student. Over the past 40 years, Wilson has produced and exhibited work all over the world, becoming one of the most dominant figures in the avant-garde theater world. The gala was chaired by Janet Allen, Kelli Blanton and Jeanne
Klein. Guests dined on an exquisite menu created by the Four Seasons at tables adorned with pink orchids arranged by David Kurio. They also had the chance to get an up-close look at a special installation of Robert Wilson’s video portraits, including the famous one of Brad Pitt clad in just underwear and socks with a water gun in hand. DJ El John Sector closed the night with a musical set.
Blanton Gala: 1. Meghan Blanton & Julie Aldrich 2. Liz Lambert & Amy Cook 3. Griff Aldrich, Bill Powers & Eddy Blanton Jr. 4. Cerón & Mark Sullivan 5. Joaquin Avellan & Anne Elizabeth Wynn 6. Jeanne & Mickey Klein, Ursula Davila-Villa 7. Lois Stark & Jörn Weisbrodt 8. Samantha and Stuart Bernstein 9. Lisa Jasper & Julia Smith. P h oto g r a p h y by m i m i kl a s s o n
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Fashion Freakout
Despite freezing temperatures, Austin's fashionistas turned up and turned it out at the Mohawk for Fashion Freakout Four, emceed by the always entertaining Matt Bearden. The ladies from Prototype Vintage Design, Audrie San Miguel, Sarah Evans and Emily Larson, managed to top last year’s show, producing quite possibly the best Fashion Freakout yet. This year they added South First newbie, Laced with Romance, to the roster, and after the show Laced put on—from the avant-garde masks and helmets to the
feathers to the knives—it is guaranteed to be on every vintage-lovers' radar. New Bohemia impressed the crowd with looks ranging from the 60s to the early 90s, and Avant Salon and Spa handled the hair and make up, creating styles that perfectly complemented the array of looks the three stores created. Leaders of the Gang, a Gary Glitter cover band, performed during intermission for those tough enough to brave the cold.
Fashion Freakout: 1. Megan Perry & Mark Tonucci 2. Lauren Downing & Candice Geiger 3. Cynthia Camacho & Vikki Camacho 4. Robin Graybill & Stjepan Boban 5. Austin Fields & Emily Wingard 6. Jane Ann Duddleston & Nick Yaklin 7. Laura Clack & Kaley Carmichael 8. Leda Ginestra & Rocky Smith 9. Diya Liu & Briana Johnson 10. Larissa Buglewicz & Ali Hibbs 11. Sheridan Butler & Ashli Wittmuss 12. Tom & Kat Larson 13. Ashley Reed & Adrienne Oaks.
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Kendra Scott Grand Opening Party
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Friends, fashionistas and fans of Kendra Scott Jewelry gathered at her new South Congress flagship retail store to celebrate the grand opening and launch of the spring collection. The space was bejewelled in a spectrum of candy-colored decor for the evening—an homage to the store's impressive Color Bar, boasting a ninefoot wall of drawers brimming with jewels. Guests came dressed in their "defining colors," as they perused the newest Kendra Scott designs, sipped candy-inspired SAVVY vodka cocktails, created by Lucky 13 Cocktail Co. and nibbled tasty bites by Perla's, Hopdoddy and Guero's at this event planned by Camille Styles Events.
Valentine's Too 10-Year Anniversary Party Valentine’s Too celebrated their 10Year Anniversary at the home of owner Teresa Windham and her husband Darrell. Quincy Adams Erickson of Fête Accompli deliciously catered the pink-and-green themed event as guests sipped champagne and toasted one of Austin’s chicest boutiques.
Kendra Scott: 1. David Garza & John Hogg 2. Laura Kagay & Marshall Curtis 3. Kendra Scott & Luke Wilson 4. Warren Wills & Ophelia Talley 5. Davie Vaughan & Denise Chumlea 6. Kaki Gaines & Brandon Strey Valentine's Too: 7. Marcus Hersh & Marques Harper 8. Darrell & Teresa Windham 9. Kendle Windham & Sara Ashley Hernandez 10. Christina Dodds, Stacy Albrecht & Angela Filardi. P h oto g r a p h y by j o h n p e s i n a
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TOMMY MORGAN General Manager Town North Nissan
things you’ll like about the
Nissan Leaf 5 It’s 99% Recyclable In fact, 60 percent of the plastic on the Leaf’s interior is already recycled material — much
of it comes from used water bottles — and at the end of the Leaf’s lifespan, 99% of the 3375-pound vehicle weight is recyclable and can be transformed back into water bottles or other Leafs. The Batteries Have a 100,000Mile Warranty The Nissan Leaf’s lithium-ion pack comes with an eight-year, 100,000-mile warranty. Even after a decade of use, the Leaf’s batteries will likely maintain 70 to 80 percent of their capacity. The Leaf Can Text The Leaf communicates with your cell phone using an e-mail system that manages the charging system. It will notify you when the batteries are charged, at which point you can control the air-conditioning system so the cabin reaches a specified temperature before you get in the car. The Nav System Displays Your Reachable Area in Real Time It displays the range in graphical form, with a halo around the car’s current location, providing a visual estimate of how much farther you can go before recharging. The price is the best part Starting at $25,280 (after a $7,500 federal rebate), the Leaf costs less than the average new car sold in America.
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--Popular Mechanics October 22nd, 2010
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SHADEWORKS
KENNADY
SHADEWORKS
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Hey Mr. DJ BY K R I S TI N A R M S TRO NG I AM NO LONGER the DJ of my own life. ease my fraying nerves. When I was feeling nosI used to be of the mind that whoever opertalgic, I’d opt for an 80s station and freak my ates the vehicle gets to be the mixmaster. Every holiday season I kids out with all the random lyrics I know. When I got a car with played all-Christmas, all the time. When I was late, anxious or the Sirius XM radio, I became a Spectrum or Coffeehouse girl. kids were fighting, I would find a classical or Christian station to I cannot pinpoint exactly when I lost control. It was likely some-
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i l lu s t r at i o n by j oy g a l l ag h er Fo r a limite d e dit i o n p r int , c o nta c t jo ygall agh e r@g m ail .c o m
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I feel so young that I worry I might start feathering my hair, padding my bra or wearing frosty lipstick again.
time soon after my son Luke started riding shotgun. We got a new car and he quickly mastered all the dashboard controls, beating me to it, becoming the all-access copilot. It was a subtle power shift, and looking back I see that I willingly gave it away. Luke, can you open the sunroof? Luke, can you charge my phone? Luke, can you turn on the DVD for your sisters? Soon after he had usurped power, he discovered 96.7. Now my morning prayer on the ride to school requires turning down the Bobby Bones show. The rest of the time it’s rap music—either from the radio or from Luke’s iPhone, which of course he knows how to connect as a media source. At first it drove me crazy, the music itself with the brainless lyrics, but even more so, the fact that it drove me crazy drove me crazy. It makes me feel old to think that my kids’ music doesn’t sound like music. It reminds me of listening to my Purple Rain cassette on my walkman to drown out my Dad’s country music in the car. I thought his music was horrendous, totally old school. Today I love Johnny Cash. What’s happening? In the beginning, right after school drop off, I would silence Eminem or Usher and switch over to seek solace in the all-acoustic Coffeehouse XM station, breathing deeply, finding respite in artists and lyrics I already know. Then, at pick up, Luke would immediately, adroitly, switch back, faster than I could utter the classic maternal line, “Hi honey, how was your day?” The rapping pulse would propel us through town, from activities, to friends’ houses, to sports until
Rihanna, Taio Cruz, Ke$ha, Pink and Katy Perry could call it a day when I finally parked the car in the garage for the night. But they would be waiting for us again in the morning. I ran a marathon back in October, and needed new music for my tiny, runner-friendly iPod Shuffle. Knowing my limitations, I went straight to the expert, and asked Luke to load me up with some motivating tunes. I took my playlist out for a test run (literally) right before my race. And wouldn’t you know it, Mommy got her groove on, hauling up the Tarrytown hills with a little Luke inspired jam. Maybe the lyrics weren’t that bad after all. Whiny John Mayer and pining Sarah McLaughlin never picked up my pace in the past, hmmm, maybe there is something to this rap thing? Then one day, shortly after my race (at which I ran my fastest-ever time, by the way) I realized something as I pulled into pickup after school. 96.7 was still on. I had been singing along with the songs, all day. I am now officially brainwashed with pre-teen music. I have regressed completely back to middle school. I feel so young that I worry I might start feathering my hair, padding my bra or wearing frosty lipstick again. If you hear me saying things like, “Luke, do your homework or I’ll tell everyone you like so-and-so,” please pull me aside and quietly but firmly recommend good counseling. In the meantime, if you see a middle aged woman rapping and rocking at stoplights, don’t worry, it’s just me. tribeza.com
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Harmoni Kelley BASSIST
W
hen Harmoni Kelley was in high school, all she wanted to do was start a band and emulate the inspiring musical stylings of her all-time favorite—Guns N’ Roses. “I was a really big fan, and for some reason, I really wanted to be like the bass player, Duff,” Kelley says. “He sort of became my idol.” And instead of falling halfheartedly into that transient teenage dream, Kelley turned fantasy into fact, making a full-time career out of bass playing and becoming one of the most acclaimed female bassists in Austin, playing with the likes of Bob Schneider and Bruce Hughes. And while the industry has historically given rank to the men in her field, she’s showing Austin that whatever they can do, she can do better—her innate talent and passion earning her top accolades as Best Bass Guitar at last year’s Austin Music Awards. “I do take power in being different. I struggle with that. But, I think that it makes me special in the music scene,” she says. S. KUO
9 Questions f o r HARMONI
Who are your favorite bands right now? Lately, I’ve been listening to Delta Spirit, Dr. Dog, Josh Rouse, Kathleen Edwards, Justin Townes Earle, and The New Pornographers. What smell always makes you nostalgic? I love the smell of my grandmother’s brown gravy that she makes in her old cast iron skillet. It makes me think of spending time at her house in East Texas when I was little. What city’s character best represents your own personality? It’s the city that I know best—Austin. Austin is my comfort zone, a foodie haven,
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the beautiful outdoors, a place where you can always find something new and exciting to do, a small town, and a growing city all in one. What three songs are the soundtrack of your life? These are some of the songs that I always go back to, no matter where I am in life: “Young Americans" by David Bowie, “Feats Don’t Fail Me Now" by Little Feat and “Don’t You Mess Up a Good Thing” by Ry Cooder. What has been the most memorable live music performance of your life? My recent performance with Bob Schneider on Austin City Limits. That’s a show that I remember watching as a kid, so it was pretty amazing to be performing on that same stage.
What is your favorite song to play? I think one of my favorites to play is James McMurtry’s “Choctaw Bingo.” If you weren't in your current career, what else would you try? I have a degree in Radio/TV/Film from UT and have always loved production. I think I would probably go back to audio or video editing. What do you miss about childhood? My Mom. What are you most proud of? The fact that I was able to leave my day job about six years ago to pursue music full-time. It’s a rewarding to know that I’ve been able to make a successful career in music.
P h oto g r a p h y by CO DY HAMILTON
MANDY
community
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in H I S own wor ds
James McMurtry MUSICIAN
From the big city to a home base to just home, Austin has meant a lot of things to James McMurtry, and for now, “it’s still a good place to leave his stuff.”
I
played my first Austin area gig in 1987 at a now long gone joint called Breezy’s, out on 620 near Lake Travis. I lived and played in San Antonio then, and Austin seemed exotic and out of reach, though I’m not sure why. San Antonio has given the world some great musicians, Doug Sahm and Flaco Jimenez, to name two. But in the mid-80s, Austin seemed more like a step towards the big time. Stevie Ray Vaughn had broken out. South by Southwest was in its infancy, but already had a bit of a buzz. I had no idea how to get into the Austin scene, but it so happened I was among the winners at the 1987 New Folk contest at the Kerrville Folk Festival, a lucky break which gave me just enough visibility for my friends and champions, Kathleen Hudson and Tim Henderson, to finagle me the Breezy’s gig. I remember rolling up to Breezy’s and being thrilled at seeing my name spelled correctly on the yellow rollaway sign with the black blow away letters. I’ve since seen my name in giant lights on the side of a Nevada casino, and on many theatre marquees, but no such sight ever quenched my narcissism the way the sight of that yellow sign did. I don’t remember if anyone actually came to that show, but I remember thinking, “I’ve played Austin.” I didn’t know that I had actually only played Lakeway or Oak Hill. It
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was close enough for me. I had a record deal when I moved to Austin in 1989. I didn’t move for the music, Elena, my fiancée, was in graduate school at UT at the time, but I liked the scene. I played a few gigs at clubs whose names I can no longer remember and some that I can, Headliners East, Ravens. When my first tour looped back through Austin, I got to play Liberty Lunch as the middle act, wedged in between the Del Fuegos from Boston and The Beat Farmers from California. I was nervous and played badly. The Beat Farmers scared me, and it’s likely that one of them left a scratch on my old Guild guitar. Funny, now that the Beat Farmers are no more, since their legendary front man, Country Dick, collapsed and died onstage. I treasure that scratch. Ronnie Johnson, my bass player, used to say, “Austin is a good place to leave your stuff.” The town is perfectly located for touring the U.S. as it is almost equidistant from either coast. One can work either coast economically in three and a half to five weeks and get home in time to still have a life. Had I chosen to live on one coast or the other, I would have had to tour for much longer stretches and might have missed a lot more of my son’s growing up. I can’t imagine a better place for a musician to grow up than Austin. There are so many live music venues. A kid with ample
talent and drive can find a gig here. Curtis has both, and when he’s home, he tends to have more gigs around town than I do. I had lived here more than 10 years before I really became part of the local scene. Except for a brief stint at La Zona Rosa, I never had a regular gig here until I started playing with my band on Wednesday nights at the Continental Club sometime in 2002. It was and still is a good night of music, with Jon Dee Graham on at 10:30, us at midnight. Our audience has expanded due to the regular gig. A lot of people show up just to hear who’s playing at the Continental Club. Recently, I’ve started playing a solo acoustic show upstairs at the Continental Gallery early on Tuesday nights. I like that little room, wooden floor, great sound. After my Tuesday night show, I usually hang around to hear the Ephraim Owens Trio—three incredible jazz players. I don’t know what they’re doing, but I like it. Through the plate glass window, I can see our rapidly changing skyline, new glass high rises climbing skyward. The remains of Liberty Lunch and countless other clubs are buried somewhere under that glass, metal, and stone. Ronnie Johnson leaves his stuff in Marfa now, Austin having grown expensive for a sideman. It’s not the same town, but the music carries on. I’ll stay a while yet. P h oto g r a p h y by k en n y b r au n
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community
perspective
in H I S own wor ds
Curtis McMurtry MUSICIAN
This son of an Americana music legend didn't exactly find music right away—it found him.
I
used to want to study cheetahs for a living. They could run at 70 mph and had spots and were about the coolest thing in the world to a seven-year-old. Then my father bought me a guitar for my birthday instead of a cheetah. Naturally, I was disappointed, but I had just enough sense to say, “Thanks, dad,” and ignore the guitar completely for a number of years. Note: a large box that turned out to contain a guitar could probably have contained a cheetah if it was curled up and okay with being put in a box. I liked music. It was nice enough. My father and I sang songs every night before I went to bed, and this tradition continued until my teens. By age six I had written a few songs myself, most of which were blues numbers concerning Godzilla and King Kong’s destruction of Tokyo and Hollywood, respectively. However, with the acquisition of my second guitar (my father was persistent), my perspective on music and the city I grew up in changed irrevocably. I discovered, slowly, that I might be in love with music, and that because music had always been around, I hadn’t really noticed it. I had taken it for granted, like the pretty best friend in some romantic comedy where the lead guy spends most of the film chasing after a shallow but more exotic girl. However, P h oto g r a p h y by m o l ly w i n t er s
I was ready to remedy this mistake and take on the necessary commitment. By the time I was in sixth grade, I had stopped considering that I could be involved in anything except the music industry. My science and math grades suffered accordingly. In middle school, I began to realize that living in Austin and being my father’s son both had some perks. For instance, the awesome guys at South Austin Music trusted me to buy a guitar I couldn’t afford, and pay them back with my allowance over the course of a year. Also, I was able to hang around some of my favorite musicians and not feel like I was bothering them too much (I probably was though). Alejandro Escovedo would tell me about running track in high school—“The 800 is a man’s race”— and Danny Barnes let me play his banjo so I could see if I wanted to get one just like it. I used to babysit Matt the Electrician’s kids, and I tried not to let him know how much I loved his music so that he wouldn’t be too creeped-out to let me watch his kids. Austin saturates you with music. There aren’t too many genres of music you can’t go out and see some night of the week. Eddie Collins plays bluegrass at Artz Rib House, The Brew play salsa at the Oasis, and the Elephant Room and the Continental Club Gallery have Jazz almost every night of the
week. Not to mention the abundance of Texas swing, alt-country, Americana, metal, indie pop and blues. Austin gave me a taste of most every kind of music, and a taste for most every kind of music. Growing up in Austin, it felt like even people who didn’t play music (all three of them) loved it more than anything else. Austinites talk about music the way people that know engines talk about cars: like it’s something familiar but perpetually interesting, and possibly the most important thing in life. Additionally, finding people my own age to play music with has never been difficult. Austin breeds phenomenal musicians, as well as children with excellent taste. It was fairly easy to find another kid who liked John Hiatt and start a band in his basement and begin writing John Hiatt-ish songs. There are so many great music venues in Austin that finding a place to play has never been too hard either. Most club owners are happy to have new bands playing at their establishments, which has not always been my experience elsewhere (I go to school in New York now...). Austin is a brilliant place. I couldn’t be more proud to be from Austin, and the city’s influence will be in my ears forever. Of course, I do still think about cheetahs from time to time. tribeza.com
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IMAGE COURtesy of viewpoint la.
An Audience with…
O
Kyle Chandler
BY c arla mc donald ne of the most unforgettable Night Lights, which wrapped production reperformances I’ve ever seen cently after five seasons. on television is award-winning actor Kyle ChanI had the chance to meet Chandler last year when I was seatdler’s performance as the ill-fated bomb squad ed next to him at a dinner and learned that he is as down-to-earth leader on the medical series, Grey’s Anatomy. It was and gracious as he is talented. When I found out that he would be riveting and earned Chandler the first of two Emmy nominations. accepting The Star of Texas Award for Friday Night Lights at this Chandler’s second nomination came last year for his work as month’s Texas Film Hall of Fame Awards, I had to ask for an audiCoach Eric Taylor on the critically-acclaimed TV series, Friday ence with Kyle Chandler. tribeza.com
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Q &A with kyle
Connie Britton [Kyle’s wife on Friday Night Lights] says that you like to start conversations with “Did you know?” So let’s start this one with: Did you know that Kyle Chandler is… ...one of the worst golfers in his own Beyond the Lights golf tournament here in Austin. This year’s event will be at Lost Pines on May 13. Hard sell included!
ABOVE: After five seasons as Coach Eric Taylor of Friday Night Lights, Austinite Kyle Chandler and his TV wife, Connie Britton (who have both been nominated for Emmys for their roles), appear the perfect couple on screen and on set. For information about Kyle Chandler’s Beyond the Lights Celebrity Golf Classic, visit beyondthelights.org. For information about the Texas Film Hall of Fame Awards, or to buy tickets to attend, visit austinfilm.org
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Is it true that many of the scenes in Friday Night Lights were improvised? It’s not so much that our scenes were improvised as much as they were broken down and rebuilt. It was like the first days of working on a play where the actors try to go beneath the words and hit the meaning right in the heart. Having an intimate knowledge of your character is the key to being able to find scenes the way we did. And it didn’t hurt that the writing was fantastic. I’m always worried about not giving credit where it’s due. There is a lot to go around on Friday Night Lights. What has starring in Friday Night Lights meant to you both professionally and personally? FNL was an incredible opportunity because of the quality of the people and their work. Everyone was invested in doing what they did best and loved it and it showed. Quality, quality, quality. What a crew! I’m just for-
tunate that I was called into a meeting with [producers] Pete Burg, Sarah Aubrey and David Nevins and asked if I enjoyed the game of football. It was a great opportunity but even better is the fact that it was with people who revere, respect and create quality work. That becomes infectious. Your performance on Grey’s Anatomy was one of the most powerful television performances I’ve ever seen. Tell me about that. Grey’s Anatomy was a blast, literally. The episode was called “Pink Mist.” You get the idea. I actually perished in three different projects in a very short period of time. I blew up on Grey’s, I blew up in The Kingdom and then I was eaten alive by micro-robotic, mite-like things in The Day the Earth Stood Still. I thought I had found a new niche for myself—the Die Guy! In fact, I suggested to the network and the FNL producers that maybe Coach Taylor should die and I offered a variety of versions. I was creative! But no one shared my excitement. Oh, except my TV wife, Connie Britton. Not only was she supportive, but she was angry that I hadn’t come up with the idea earlier. Much earlier. What a gal! You’ve lived in New York, Illinois, Georgia and California. Why did you choose to settle in Austin? There are many reasons and stories behind my settling my family near the great city of
Austin. To be succinct, I’ll simply refer back to an earlier question and say it’s the quality of the people. And the Continental Club doesn’t hurt! What does it mean to you to be receiving an award for Friday Night Lights from the Texas Film Hall of Fame? It means that I, Kyle, get to accept an award that represents the hard work of hundreds of people, all of whom were vitally important to our success. It also means that I get to say thank you to them and for them and that their quality as people and craftsmen and craftswomen has been observed. Ultimately, it means that it was a damn good show and we should have won at least 23 Emmys! What are you currently working on? I just finished working on J.J. Abrams’s new film, Super 8, which has a June release date. A lot of folks may have seen the trailer during the Super Bowl. And, as far as this J.J. Abrams thing is concerned, once again I find myself involved with quality people. Both professionally and personally. So fortunate I am!
images courtesy of NBc.
arts
March Calendars arts & entertainment
Entertainment Calendar Music Colin Hay
March 1, 7pm One World Theatre The Walkmen with The Head and The Heart
March 4, 7pm Stubb’s
Ray Price with Dale Watson
March 4, 7pm & 9:30pm One World Theatre Doug Burr with Winter’s Fall and Dark Water hymnal
March 4, 10pm The Mohawk
Donell Jones with Calvin Richardson and Anthony David
March 5, 8pm The Paramount Theatre
The Preservation Hall Jazz Band
March 5, 8pm The Long Center The Trashcan Sinatras
March 5, 8:30pm Cactus Cafe Bowfire
March 6, 7pm The Long Center Nathan Gunn with Julie Gunn
March 9, 8pm Bass Recital Hall
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Chris Botti
Lisa Lampanelli
Bernadette Peters
Local Natives with Gayngs
TNM Main Stage
West Side Story
Alex Koll
August: Osage County
March 10, 8pm Riverbend Centre
March 11, 7pm Stubb’s
Benedetto Lupo
March 11-12, 8pm The Long Center
Two Door Cinema Club with Royal Bangs
March 15, 8pm La Zona Rosa Raul Midon
March 24, 7pm One World Theatre SFJAZZ Collective: The Music of Stevie Wonder
March 4, 7pm The Paramount Theatre March 5, 9:30pm The New Movement Theater March 9-12 Cap City Comedy Club Paul Varghese
March 16-19 Cap City Comedy Club Kevin Nealon
March 25-26 Cap City Comedy Club
Theater Fiction
March 24, 8pm Bass Concert Hall
Through April 10 ZACH Theatre
The Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma
The Elementals: AIR
March 28, 8pm Bass Concert Hall
Los Lonely Boys
March 29, 5pm Waterloo Records
Comedy An Evening With Garrison Keillor
March 2, 8pm Paramount Theatre
Through March 20 Vortex
Physical Language: Dance Repertory Theatre
March 5, 2 & 8pm March 6, 2pm B. Iden Payne Theatre Ed Asner as FDR
March 9, 8pm The Paramount Theatre New Works Festival
March 28- April 22 University of Texas at Austin: The Winship Drama Building
March 25, 8pm The Paramount Theatre March 29-April 2 Bass Concert Hall March 31-May 22 ZACH Theatre
Children Reagan Elementary Carnival
March 5, 11am Ronald Reagan Elementary School Storytime: Hungry Caterpillar
March 22, 11am Barton Creek Mall Ugly Duckling
March 26, 12pm One World Theatre
Film Dig Presented by Austin Film Society
March 2, 7-9pm Alamo Drafthouse Village
Texas Film Hall of Fame Awards presented by the austin film society
March 10, 6-11pm Austin Studios
Red State, USA Tour
March 28, 8pm The Paramount Theatre
Other Texas Medal of Arts Award Show & Starlight After Party
March 1-2, 8pm-1am The Long Center
Texas Independence Day Parade
March 5, 9:30am Congress Avenue Bridge
Celebrate Urban Birds
Marchch 5, 10am Austin Nature and Science Center
Merce Cunningham Dance Company
March 8, 8pm Bass Concert Hall
Zilker Kite Festival
March 11, 10am Zilker Park
St. Patrick Day’s Festival
March 17, 2pm Cover 3
Statesman Capitol 10K
March 27, 9am Congress Avenue Bridge
Arts Calendar M a rch 1 Russell Collection Fine Art
Reception: Mar 4, 6-9pm Through April 9 M a rch 3 Women & Their Work
Beili Liu: The Mending Project Reception: 6-8pm Through April 2 M a rch 5 Wally Workman Gallery
Jill Carver & Seth Hudson Reception: 6-8pm Through March 26 M a rch 5 Lora Reynolds Gallery
Teresa Hubbard/ Alexander Birchler Through May 7 M a rch 7 Arthouse at the Jones Center
Conrad Ventur: Screen Tests Through May 8 M a rch 10 AUSTIN DETAILS art + photo
Art from the iPad Reception: 6-9pm
image courtesy of grahm hudson.
M a rch 11 Gallery Shoal Creek
Workshop Through March 27 M a rch 26 Arthouse at the Jones Center
Sanford Biggers Through April 29
Ongoing Arthouse at the Jones Center
February 3 – April 10 The Arthouse at the Jones Center
Nathan Baker: Let it Shine Through March 6 Michelle Handelman: Dorian, a cinematic perfume Through March 20 Lisa Tan: Two Birds, Eighty Mountains, and A Portrait of the Artist Through March 27 Austin Museum of Art
New Art in Austin: 15 to Watch Through May 22 Blanton Museum of Art
Recovering Beauty: The 1990s in Buenos Aires Through May 22 Gallery Shoal Creek
Milt Kobayashi Through March 5
grayDUCK gallery
M a rch 17 Blanton Museum of Art
UT Visual Arts Center
M a rch 25 Gallery Black Lagoon
The Painting Experience
Graham Hudson
Rehearsal at the Astoria
Jill Lear Reception: 6-8pm Through April 2
Public Tour; European Prints: 12:30-1:30pm Third Thursday: 5-8pm Book Club: 7-8pm
Arts pick
Modern Civilization Through Mar 27
Natasha Bowdoin: The Daisy Argument, Womanscape: Race, Gender, and Sexuality in African Art, New Prints 2010/Autumn International Print Center New York, Daniel Rudin: The Working Homeless Through March 12
G
raham Hudson never paid much attention to London’s iconic Astoria Theatre until he learned that it was going to be torn down in 2009, but the British artist will build his first solo exhibition in the U.S. in reference to the theatre. Hudson wanted the opportunity to provide an inimitable, transitory experience for musicians, and Austin’s own Arthouse at the Jones Center offered to house his installation from February 3 until April 10. So in just two weeks, the award-winning artist completed a colossal installation—his largest yet—that serves as a public rehearsal space complete with basic sound equipment and instruments. Like the Astoria, which showcased rock bands like U2, Radiohead and The White Stripes as well as lesser-known musicians and dance club acts, the space invites bands of all genres to rehearse for the public. The exhibit opened with a rock band called English Teeth, and already a mariachi band, a group of 12-year-old musicians and a beginner cellist have signed up to use the space. Hudson’s installation is essentially a scaffold made of steel, plastic and timber, giving it an intentionally unfinished, almost rough appearance. “This is clearly made by an artist and not an architect,” Hudson says. “It’s like the Astoria Theatre crushed into this space, and the scaffold is supposed to be a signifier of time.” Hudson, though renowned for making large, profound sculptures from everyday materials, also strongly supports the music scene and, in a way, envies the advantages musicians have over artists. “I respect music— it’s like the first art. It’s emotional. If we could approach art like music, maybe there would be a better understanding. Visual art can do things intellectually, but it can’t compete with music,” he says. Hudson’s work has also popped up in group exhibitions throughout the U.S., and he received the Design Miami/Basel W Hotel’s Designers of the Future Award last year. Hudson thinks we live in an “overly didactic world” and hopes that his installation with leave viewers with their own interpretations. “Art should be complicated. It shouldn’t give you answers; it should ask questions,” he says. V. Lai tribeza.com
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Museums & Galleries
Art Spaces Museums Arthouse
700 Congress Ave. (512) 453 5312 Hours: Th–F 11–7, Sa 10–5, Su 1–5 arthousetexas.org Austin Children’s Museum
201 Colorado St. (512) 472 2499 Hours: Tu 10–5, W 10–8, Th–Sa 10–5, Su 12–5 austinkids.org AMOA Downtown
823 Congress Ave. (512) 495 9224 Hours: Tu, W, F 10–5, Th 10–8, Sa 10–6, Su 12–6 amoa.org AMOA Laguna Gloria
F e at u r e d g a l l e ry
Domy Books
D
an Fergus envisioned a space where literature, art, music, and contemporary culture could intersect. In April 2006, Domy Books Houston was born, and two years later, Fergus, along with creative director Russell Etchen, brought their bookstore/art gallery concept to Austin’s East Side. “We don’t want to just end up being a museum bookstore. We want to reflect street culture,” Fergus says. Domy Books offers a singular experience for those who love to discover new zines, limited edition books, music and even hard-to-find toys. Fergus and Etchen certainly fall in that group, and their unique tastes are reflected throughout the store. They promote interactivity within their community by hosting readings, workshops for adults and children and concerts. During SXSW, Domy will host a photography exhibition with works by world famous skateboarder Ed Templeton, as well as a number of live musical performances. “We got instant approval from the art and cultural community and ever since then I’ve been trying to branch out and host events for different pockets of Austin,” Etchen says. V. Lai
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3809 W. 35th St. (512) 458 8191 Driscoll Villa hours: Tu–Sun 10–4 Grounds hours: M–Sa 9–5, Su 10–5 amoa.org
Blanton Museum of Art
200 E. MLK Jr. Blvd. (512) 471 7324 Hours: Tu– F 10–5, Sa 11–5, Su 1–5 blantonmuseum.org The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum
1800 Congress Ave. (512) 936 8746 Hours: M–Sa 9–6, Su 12–6 thestoryoftexas.com Elisabet Ney Museum
304 E. 44th St. (512) 458 2255 Hours: W–Sa 10–5, Su 12–5 ci.austin.tx.us/elisabetney
French Legation Museum
802 San Marcos St. (512) 472 8180 Hours: Tu–S 1–5 frenchlegationmuseum.org George Washington Carver Museum
1165 Angelina St. (512) 974 4926 Hours: M–Th 10–9, F 10–5:30, Sa 10–4 ci.austin.tx.us/carver Harry Ransom Center
300 E. 21st St. (512) 471 8944 Hours: Tu–W 10–5, Th 10–7, F 10–5, Sa–Su 12–5 hrc.utexas.edu LBJ Library and Museum
2313 Red River St. (512) 721 0200 Hours: M–Su 9–5 lbjlib.utexas.edu
Mexic–Arte Museum
419 Congress Ave. (512) 480 9373 Hours: M–Th 10–6, F–Sa 10–5, Su 12–5 mexic–artemuseum.org O. Henry Museum
409 E. 5th St. (512) 472 1903 Hours: W–Su 12–5
Umlauf Sculpture Garden & Museum
605 Robert E. Lee Rd. (512) 445 5582 Hours: W–F 10–4:30, Sa–Su 1–4:30 umlaufsculpture.org
image courtesy of carling hale.
arts & entertainment
arts & entertainment
Galleries Art on 5th
1501 W. 5th St. (512) 481 1111 Hours: M–Sa 10–6 arton5th.com Artworks Gallery
1214 W. 6th St. (512) 472 1550 Hours: M–Sa 10–5 artworksaustin.com
Austin Art Garage
2200 S. Lamar Blvd., Ste. J (512) 351-5934 Hours: Tu–Sa 11–6, Su 12–5 austinartgarage.com Austin Art Space Gallery and Studios
7739 North Cross Dr., Ste. Q (512) 771 2868 Hours: F–Sa 11–6 austinartspace.com Austin Galleries
1219 W. 6th St. (512) 495 9363 Hours: M 10–3, Tu–Sa 10–5 or by appointment austingalleries.com B. HOLLYMAN GALLERY
1202-A W. 6th. St. (512) 825 6866 Hours: Tu-Sa 10-5 burnes@bhollymangallery.com Birdhouse
1304 E. Cesar Chavez St. By appointment only birdhousegallery.com Brocca Gallery
1103 E. 6th St. (512) 628 1306 Hours: Tu–Sa 11–5 broccagallery.com
Bydee Art Gallery
1050 E. 11th St., Ste. 120 (512) 480 3100 Hours: Tu–Sa 11–7 bydee.com champion
800 Brazos St. (512) 354 1035 Hours: Tu–Sa 11–6 championcontemporary.com Creative Research Laboratory
2832 E. MLK Jr. Blvd. (512) 322 2099 Hours: Tu–Sa 12–5 uts.cc.utexas.edu Davis Gallery
837 W. 12th St. (512) 477 4929 Hours: M–F 10–6, Sa 10–4 davisgalleryaustin.com d berman gallery
1701 Guadalupe St. (512) 477 8877 Hours: Tu–Sa 11–6 dbermangallery.com
El Taller Gallery
2438 W. Anderson Ln. (512) 302 0100 Hours: Tu–Sa 10–6 eltallergallery.com Flatbed Press
2830 E. MLK Jr. Blvd. (512) 477 9328 Hours: Tu–Sa 10–6 flatbedpress.com Gallery 5619
5619 Airport Blvd. (512) 751 2360 gallery5619.org Gallery Black Lagoon
4301-A Guadalupe St. (512) 371 8838 Hours: W–F 3–7 galleryblacklagoon.com
Gallery Shoal Creek
2905 San Gabriel St., Ste #101 (512) 454 6671 Hours: Tu–F 11–6, Sa 11–4 galleryshoalcreek.com grayDUCK gallery
608 W. Monroe Dr. (512) 826 5334 Hours: W–Sa 11–6, Su 12–5 grayduckgallery.com Haven Gallery & Fine Gifts
1122 W. 6th St. (512) 477 2700 Hours: M–Sa 11–6, Su 11–4 havengalleryaustin.com Jean–Marc Fray Gallery
1009 W. 6th St. (512) 457 0077 Hours: M–Sa 10–6 jeanmarcfray.com
Kathy Womack Gallery
411 Brazos St., #100 (512) 288 0238 Hours: Tu–Sa 11–6 kwomack.com L. Nowlin Gallery
1202 W. 6th St. (512) 626 9301 Hours: Tu–Sa 10–5 lnowlingallery.com La Peña
227 Congress Ave., #300 (512) 477 6007 Hours: M–F 9–5, Sa–Su 9–3 lapena–austin.org Lora Reynolds Gallery
360 Nueces St., Ste. C (512) 215 4965 Hours: Tu–Sa 11–6 lorareynolds.com
Lotus Gallery
1009 W. 6th St., Ste. 101 (512) 474 1700 Hours: Mo–Sa 10-6 lotusasianart.com Maranda Pleasant Gallery
2235 E. 6th St. (713) 922 8584 By appointment only bigmodernart.com Mass Gallery
916 Springdale Rd. Hours: W 7–9, Sa 12–5 massgallery.org The Nancy Wilson Scanlan Gallery
Museums & Galleries
Studio 107
411 Brazos St., #107 (512) 477 9092 Hours: Tu–Sa 1–6 studio107.com Testsite
502 W. 33rd St. (512) 453 3199 Hours: Su 2–5 fluentcollab.org Wally Workman Gallery
1202 W. 6th St. (512) 472 7428 Hours: Tu–Sa 10–5 wallyworkman.com
Women & Their Work
6500 St. Stephen’s Dr. (512) 327 1213 Hours: W–F 9–5 sstx.org
1710 Lavaca St. (512) 477 1064 Hours: M–F 10–6, Sa 12–5 womenandtheirwork.org
Okay Mountain Gallery
Yard Dog
1312 E. Cesar Chavez St. Hours: W 7–9, Sa 12–5 okaymountain.com Positive Images Gallery
1118 W. 6th St. Hours: M–Sa 10–5, Su 11–4 (512) 472 1831 Pro–Jex Gallery
1710 S. Lamar Blvd., Ste. C (512) 472 7707 Hours: M–F 10–6, S 12–4 Russell Collection Fine Art
1137 W. 6th St. (512) 478 4440 Hours: Tu–Sa 10–6 russell–collection.com Stephen L. Clark Gallery
1101 W. 6th St. (512) 477 0828 Hours: Tu–Sa 10–4 stephenlclarkgallery.com
1510 S. Congress Ave. (512) 912 1613 Hours: M–F 11–5, Sa 11–6, Su 12–5 yarddog.com
Alternative Spaces ARTPOST: The Center for Creative Expression
4704 E. Cesar Chavez St. Austin Presence
2785 Bee Cave Rd., #336 (512) 306 9636 Hours: Tu–F 10–6, Sa 10–4 austinpresence.com Big Medium
5305 Bolm Rd., #12 (512) 385 1670 bigmedium.org
Clarksville Pottery & Galleries
4001 N. Lamar Blvd., #200 (512) 454 9079 Hours: M–Sa 10–6:30, Su 12–4 clarksvillepottery.com Domy Books
913 E Cesar Chavez St. (512) 476 DOMY Hours: Tue–F 1–9, Sa 12–9, Su 12–7 domystore.com Julia C. Butridge Gallery
1110 Barton Springs Rd. (512) 974 4025 Hours: M–Th 10–9:30, F 10–5:30, Sa 10–4 ci.austin.tx.us/ dougherty/gallery.htm Pump Project Art Complex
702 Shady Ln. (512) 351 8571 pumpproject.org
Quattro Gallery
12971 Pond Springs Rd. (512) 219 3150 Hours: M–Tu 10–3, W–Sa 11–4 quattrogallery.com Roi James
3620 Bee Cave Rd., Ste. C (512) 970 3471 Hours: By appointment only roijames.com United States Art Authority
2906 Fruth St. (512) 476 4455 unitedstatesartauthority.com To have your gallery considered for listing in the Arts Guide, please send a request to calendar@ tribeza.com. tribeza.com
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behind the scenes
Janet Pierson
Producer, sxsw film festival & conference
J
anet Pierson, the Producer of the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival and Conference since April 2008, has spent over 25 years championing independent films and filmmakers, in a variety of roles including distributor, exhibitor, producer’s rep, investor, workshop producer, executive producer, documentary subject and as co-creator and segment director of the IFC cable TV series Split Screen. Just weeks before the 25th annual SXSW, she took time out of her busy schedule to share a peek at her desk, which is surprisingly orderly considering the many balls she has in the air.
To create the final schedule for the festival, we use these magnets with white labels.
This year, we received around 4,800 submissions; I use this color-coded Google doc to keep track of the programming decisions for SXSW. I was also given these Klipsch earphones by an associate in SXSW Music. They are great!
My predecessor, Matt Dentler, left these South Park figurines in the bottom drawer of my desk. It was a pleasant surprise because not only am I a big fan of the show, but also because I met Matt Stone, one of the creators, years ago while working on his first feature. I had one of my most pleasant SXSW experiences just hanging out with him when we were both here for How’s Your News? This year, we're showing It's About You, a film about John Mellencamp, shot by photographer Kurt Markus and his son, Ian. After I delivered the good news, Kurt's wife sent me this raspberry jam.
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I received this correspondence from Billy Bob Thornton. We’ll be screening the Willie Nelson documentary he directed, at the Paramount Theatre. Behind the letter is press we recently received from the LA Times and The New York Times on our 2011 line-up.
P h oto g r ap h y by m att conant
1 2 0 6 W. 3 8 T H S T .
26
DOORS SHOPPING CENTER MON-SAT 10-5:30
(512)452-5322
TRINA TURK
WWW.ADELANTEAUSTIN.COM
“Palm Springs Eternal ”
W il l ie’ s Worl d by L auren Smith Ford
|
P ORTRAIT b y D a n W i n t e r s
TRIBEZA editor Lauren Smith Ford sits down with the red headed stranger himself on the opening night of his
F
grand opening performance at ACL Live.
or Willie Nelson, there is no better audience than the one he has found right here in Austin. It’s the first night of his two night grand opening concert series at ACL Live at the Moody Theater. It’s time for sound check with a 35-piece orchestra led by David Anderson (who also happens to be musician, Beck’s father, and is working on Spider-Man on Broadway). Willie’s wife Annie proudly looks on from the audience, as she quietly sings along to “Valentine.” An intimate, excited group of about 75 sit in the crowd enjoying the calm before the storm of 2,750 coming to tonight’s sold-out show. The mood is celebratory— this night marks a milestone six years in the making for developers Beau Armstrong and Freddy Fletcher (Willie’s nephew), who are in the audience. “I feel like I am about to give birth!” Fletcher says with a smile. And it is a full circle moment for Willie, who recorded the original pilot episode of Austin City Limits (the longest running music show in television history) on October 17, 1974. He reflects on what has made it work over the nearly four decades the show has been on the air. “No other music show has ever been able to do what Austin City Limits has done. Other people have always had a problem getting the music to sound right on television,” Willie says. “These guys started out right, thinking about how to approach it with the right sound equipment and monitors. That’s why their music is so good—it stands out and is known all over the world.” Willie is loving jamming with the strings accompaniment tonight and is excited to play in such a new facility, but small venues are also something he will always love. “I like to get up close. I like to see people. I grew up playing in the clubs, where folks would come and dance right up to you, and you got to know people. I enjoyed playing that way, still do,” he says. For Willie, each show is special for different reasons, but Red Rocks in Colorado is a favorite venue as is the Broken Spoke. “No audience is any better than another...Some argue that some places might have better audiences, but I have never seen a better audience than in Austin.” Backstage it’s obvious that it’s a family production, as many people have worked with him for decades. How did he find
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the right people to collaborate with? This is when Willie really lights up with excitement as he talks about them. “Fortunately, they found me,” he says. “My sister [Bobbi] and I still play music together and have our whole life. Other folks have just come along….Mickey Raphael came in to sit and play one night. And, we wouldn’t let him leave. Paul English and I have been playing music together for years. One time we were on a radio show in Ft. Worth and Paul’s brother was there playing guitar and the drummer we had didn’t show up, so Paul was there and we handed him a pair of brushes and said do this every now and then. That was his first drumming gig!” At age 77, Willie is spritely and animated. For a man who has done it all as an actor, a songwriter (he’s written more than 2,500 songs), a singer (he’s released 300 albums) and activist for Farm Aid and green initiatives, he’s not sure what he will do next. “I just want to enjoy tonight in this new setting…with the new facilities and the hotel. There’s a lot of new things going on down here, and it’s exciting.” One new addition that went up just before tonight’s show as an ode to Willie is a pair of knitted braids hung from the W sign above the entrance of the hotel. Willie likes to joke that they named the hotel after him—“I thought that was a little over the top. They didn’t have to do that, but thank you,” he says smiling that same warm smile that has won audiences over for years. BELOW: Lauren interviews Willie backstage on February 13, 2011 before his performance at ACL Live.
P h oto g r ap h y by M i c h ael T h ad C a rter
Jill Carver and Seth Hudson
MARCH 5-26 OPENING RECEPTION SATURDAY, MARCH 5TH 6-8pm Wal ly Workman Gal ler y 1202 West Sixth Street Austin, Texas 78703 www.wallyworkman.com 512.472.7428
Family of Rock
THE KWELLERS
The woman behind the man on life in Texas, their secrets to a lasting marriage and working together in the crazy music ‘biz.
Ben and Liz first met in Boston in 1998. Ben and his band Radish were in Boston auditioning a bass player [Josh Lattanzi] who, as fate would have it, happened to be Liz’s good friend. After the audition, Lattanzi asked Liz to give Ben a ride back to his house for an after party. The pair talked all night— “It was as if we were old friends catching up,” Liz remembers. Liz was about to head out for a road trip with her friend Anna, and Ben invited her to stay with his family in Dallas when they passed through town. “We started talking on the phone and developed crushes on each other.” That was 15 years ago—a cross-country move from Brooklyn and two kids later, the Kwellers are at home in Austin. Liz, an art school grad and former jewelry designer for J. Crew, never planned on being in the music business, but the psychic they once met at the Chelsea Hotel in NYC was right—their best work is done when they work as a team. “She [artist Karen Finley] kept saying that we should create and collaborate on big projects together,” Liz says. She fondly recalls memories from their early dating life when Liz moved back to Connecticut, where she grew up and where Ben moved to be with her after a few months of dating long distance. “He was ready to try something new creatively, which ultimately became his solo career. He started writing these really beautiful and personal songs. It
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One thing I'll say about finding your soul mate is this—You have to lose any preconceived romantic notions of who he or she may be. When I met Ben, he was 17, and I was 22! There’s part of a 22-yearold girl’s brain that says: ‘There's no way I could have a serious relationship with a 17- year-old!’ But you have to be open minded and non-judgmental because you never know who that person’s going to be. —LIZ KWELLER— was a very inspiring time for him—new love, new surroundings, new people...” Eventually they moved to NYC where Ben started recording an album in their apartment called Freak Out, It’s Ben Kweller. People like Evan Dando, Jeff Tweedy and Juliana Hatfield were the first to notice Ben as a solo artist and invited him to open up on tour. “I'm a great motivator and coach, and
Lauren Smith Ford PORTRAIT BY Dan Winters BY
it was around this time when my different roles really started to kick in. We bought a bunch of puffy paint and made our own t-shirts, printed up some CDs of Freak Out and toured around in Ben's old Volvo—just the two of us,” she says. “It was fun to watch something so true and organic take off… There was no ego involved. I think his first solo show was at the Handcraft Center in Guilford, CT. He got a couple free art classes in return. He’d play the shows, and I’d sell merch.” Ben signed with ATO Records in 2001 and things really took off. After the tour manager broke his leg, Liz took over as tour manager/merch saleswoman/van driver throughout their travels in the U.S., Australia and Europe. “In the span of about three years, we went from two people in the Volvo to a tour bus with full band and crew. It was exciting to see everything grow,” she says. “Ben and I love to brainstorm ideas and we pass everything by each other. We respect each others’ creative input tremendously.” Today, Liz is still managing the business, the big picture and giving input on the creative side. “I understand Ben's quirks and artistic aesthetic. More than anyone, I know who he is as a person and an artist, and I try to help preserve that in decisions." After nine years in Brooklyn, the Kwellers were ready for a place with more space, na-
previous pages (on liz in liz/ben photo: dress by lanvin $2,300, belt by sd designs $88, by george. on liz in solo photo: tank by joie $198, by george; vintage jacket $128, feathers. on ben in solo/family shot: shirt by pendleton $44, prototype makeup by courtney torkelson.)
UP NEXT FOR BEN?
HE RECENTLY LAUNCHED HIS OWN RECORD LABEL, THE NOISE COMPANY AND JUST FINISHED RECORDING HIS UPCOMING ALBUM, GO FLY A KITE. DURING SXSW, HE IS HOSTING A BLOGGER KEGGER LISTENING PARTY AT THE HOTEL ST. CECILIA FOR MUSIC PRESS WHERE HE WILL UNVEIL THE NEW ALBUM. BEN IS CURRENTLY ON TOUR WITH PETE YORN. CATCH HIM LIVE AT THE STOP AT STUBB'S ON APRIL 16.
THE KWELLER’S
Guide to Austin ENOTECA 1610 S. Congress Ave. “They have the best calamari ever, and we love a place where you can sit outside.” SOUTH CONGRESS CAFÉ 1600 S. Congress Ave. “They have wonderful salads!” ture, less cold weather and no street cleaning/ parking issues. They spent their honeymoon on a road trip in the Hill Country. “I love that you can be hiking in the woods in five minutes. We love swimming in the surrounding rivers and creeks. The people are open and genuinely helpful in this city. It’s a city with a community feel. Plus, Austin has so much for kids and families.” They particularly love the Zilker neighborhood where they live and were thrilled to find a street that is home to 25 kids under the age of 10. Liz says: “It’s almost like a commune…if someone needs an avocado for dinner, they will post it on our street’s listserv, and sure enough somebody has one. We have wonderful block parties, travelling dinner parties, fun birthday celebrations and the most festive Halloween.”
Anyone who knows or even observes the Kwellers can see that their marriage is a special one. How have they made it work over the past 15 years? Liz’s words of advice—“Honesty, communication and know your lover…We like to do everything together. We are best friends and passionate lovers at the same time. We like to be on the same page no matter what phase of our life we’re in. When our children were born, we parented together. We travel together, eat together and include our children in our life. So many people I know send their kids off to bed so they can have alone time with their partner. We just like to be together and do everything full-on. We’re a tight unit and work to keep the unit intact within our crazy Rock ‘n’ Roll lifestyle!”
TRIO AT THE FOUR SEASONS 98 San Jacinto Blvd. “They have one of the best patios in town and their iced tea rules (they make ice cubes out of iced tea).” CASA DE LUZ 1701 Toomey Rd. “The setting is beautiful, the adjoining playground makes eating out with kids easy, and the food is fresh and healthy!” LULU B’S 2113 S. Lamar Blvd. “This Vietnamese trailer makes great vermicelli bowls and bubble tea.”
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From our first ad in TRIBEZA to a lasting partnership. Cheers to TRIBEZA’s 10-year anniversary!
Now Open!
Extraordinary vintage for women
We BUY vintage clothing, shoes, and accessories everyday
high-end designer clothing, shoes, and handbags we accept consignments everyday no appointment necessary
1700 B. South Congress Ave. (enter on Milton) 512.912.9779 feathersboutique@hotmail.com feathersboutiquevintage.blogspot.com
705 b south lamar 512 916 9961 info@mossaustin.com www.mossaustin.com
Now carrying shoes from Jeffrey Campbell and Dolce Vita
Photography: Amanda Elmore
y g u Y N PRett
s
n Thi G
THESE THREE SONGSTRESSES MIGHT BE MAKING THE MUSIC SCENE ON THE NATIONAL LEVEL, BUT THEY STILL CALL CENTRAL TEXAS HOME. BY
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Caitlin M. Ryan
image courtesy of Erik Valind.
a
connective thread runs through the lives of three gifted young artists in Austin: musically appreciative parents, large-scale gratitude, and a shepherding of their careers by industry icons. Ruby Jane, Sahara Smith, and Sarah Jarosz began honing their crafts as folk singer-songwriters at such a young age that they could not have known the destiny that lay before them. Each one of these young women channels an authenticity that seems to have been left behind by their contemporaries in mainstream music; they each have remarkable oldworld voices coupled with authentic songwriting and deft string-work, earning them spots on stage and in studio with industry heavy-weights like Willie Nelson, T-Bone Burnett and Gillian Welch. As artists and young adults, these three young stars are evolving quickly and shouldn’t be discounted for their short stack of years—individually, each has already earned more honors and merits than most musicians hope to achieve in one lifetime.
SAHARA SMITH’S haunting voice has taken her across the country and in front of the camera on The Late Show with David Letterman. tribeza.com
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Gutter Credits
At age 16, starlet RUBY JANE has already shared the stage with Asleep at the Wheel and Willie Nelson.
hair by ricky hodge; makeup by courtney torkelson.
Ruby JANE
could fool you into thinking she’s been in the music industry for decades by the way she’s able to speak to it’s recent transformation with such acuity. But in actuality, she’s a vivacious 16-year-old who has spent most of her life in the limelight. At just two years old, she began her training in classical violin, which quickly shifted into a study of a wide variety of fiddle playing, from Appalachian style to bluegrass, swing, and jazz. Jane ended up in Austin by way of what she calls a “happy accident.” Jane and her mother, Jobelle, rented an RV in the summer of 2007 and hit the road without any plan but to soak up as many music festivals as they could. After talking to Dale Watson backstage at the Continental Club on her first night in town, Ruby Jane—then 12 years old—was invited onstage to play with his band, a rare honor. Within a few days Jane was hooked, and she and her mother decided to permanently relocate to Austin. “We stopped and stayed, and have been here for three years now,” she says. “It wasn’t intentional at all, it just happened.” Though she penned her first song at the age of six (an ode to candy, no less), Jane has refocused her energy into songwriting, writing over the past few years, the result of which she calls “more P h oto g rap h y by B RYA N R I NDFU S S
edgy, rock-country than pure country.” She’s been on the live performance circuit since age eight, providing her with a huge sense of comfort on stage. “I feel when you deliver your own songs—songs that have never been written or performed before—it really is sharing a little bit of your soul,” she explains. “And to me, it’s a special experience and not really a vulnerable experience.” This type of professional maturity rarely found in an adolescent speaks to the same maturity behind her music, as well as the fact that she is consistently asked to tour with the likes of Asleep at the Wheel and Willie Nelson. She some day hopes to take young artists under her wing just as so many did—and continue to do—for her.
Sahara
displays her love for literature and poetry in her genius ability to tell an entire intensely palpable story in just one song. As a songwriter, she often tends towards lyrics so haunting and gripping that you’d expect them to come out of a woman many years her senior. On “The Real Thing,” off of 2010’s Myth of the Heart, Smith earnestly sings, “Why don’t you call my name like you did when you were lonely / Why don’t you shake me loose ‘stead of trying to
SMITH
unfold me / Why don’t we treat it like the real thing” evoking unadulterated emotion. At 22, Smith has placed second in A Prairie Home Companion national songwriting competition, recorded an album under T-Bone Burnett and Emile Kellman, performed on The Late Show with David Letterman and earned rave reviews from a wide variety of audiences from New York to L.A. for her haunting, ethereal folk music. Even with that roster of accolades under her belt, Smith remains modest and admits that she is “pretty much always nervous.” She’s forthright in saying that “there are nights…I feel like I don’t want to be that open, and then there are nights when I feel like there’s a great connection with the audience...And those are the nights that make it worth it, to share that experience.” Though busy touring the nation to give those shared experiences to her fans, Smith is always grateful to return home to visit her artist parents and re-engage in the supportive community for young musicians that bridges her hometown of Wimberly to the city lights of Austin—the Cactus Cafe being one of her favorite venues to play. She may choose her words as carefully as her lyrics, but Smith comes off refreshingly cool, collected, and conscious of keeping a safe distance while she considerately brings listeners deep into her lyrical, indie-folk world. tribeza.com
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Sarah
had to make the tough decision that most teenage artists finishing high school face: to continue onto college or to go straight out on the road. She chose the former—an atypical but highly commendable decision—and enrolled in the New England Conservatory in the fall of 2009 where she now studies contemporary improvisation in voice, a program Jarosz credits for pushing her out of her comfort zone and into Jewish and World music ensembles. Jarosz’s journey began when she borrowed a friend’s mandolin when she was 10 years old and her music-loving parents took her to her first Friday night Bluegrass Jam in their hometown of Wimberly. “I just fell in love with it,” she says. “I would go back
JAROSZ
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every week and learn more and more stuff... and that’s kind of how it all started. That one experience led me to meet other people and then I started going to [music] camps around the country.” By 16, Jarosz had shared the stage with such Bluegrass icons as Ricky Skaggs and Tim O’Brien and was signed to Sugar Hill records. Her latest album will be released this May, coinciding with the end of her sophomore year at the Conservatory. The album took a year to record. It was a long process, which she credits for helping develop and mature the songs over time. Jarosz is the first to admit that it sounds different than her previous, heavily acoustic recordings, owing to the introduction of drums and other sonic elements that may surprise some ears. “The fun thing about
[recording] is the more that I’m growing as a person and the more experiences I have and new people I meet, that whole side of me only gets deeper,” Jarosz says of her current outlook on songwriting. “It’s fun to explore those places and try to represent them in some sort of poetic way. It’s a constant, never ending learning process.” Since 2009, Jarosz may have been nominated for a Grammy in the Best Country Instrumental Performance category for "Mansinneedof " and performed on the legendary Austin City Limits television show, but she counters any acknowledgement of accolades with humility and gratitude. “I’m most thankful for how organically and naturally it all happened,” Jarosz says. “None of it was forced. It all felt like I was in the right place.”
image courtesy of jeffrey Martin.
Balancing college with her music career, JAROSZ manages to excel at both, snagging a Grammy nomination in 2009.
Musical Dream House
pre-listing of beautiful hill country home •
20 min southwest of downtown (just past Y in Oak Hill)
•
8000 sq ft with professional recording studio
•
rare and private 30 acres bordering dedicated preserve
•
miles and miles of uninterrupted views
•
negative edge pool and separate swim spa
•
spacious 3-car garage with shop area
•
35,000 gallon rainwater tank
•
geothermal energy and enhanced air filtration system
$3,450,000 musicaldreamhouse@gmail.com photo: fagan.com
I N S I D E
Austin City Limits
LIVE Jackie Rangel PHOTOGRAPHY BY Cody Hamilton BY
T H E N E W V E N U E B L E N D S LO C A L F L AVO R A N D H I G H -T EC H I N N OVAT I O N I N A N I N T I M AT E E N V I R O N M E N T.
Freddy Fletcher (who is also Willie Nelson's nephew) and his wife Lisa Fletcher stand on the steps leading to the venue. The project they spearheaded is six years in the making for this dynamic duo.
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W
hether expanding on the atmosphere evoked by the original Austin City Limits tapings in Studio 6A, or infusing a new level of intimacy to larger shows by headliners like Diana Ross and Widespread Panic, the new Austin City Limits Live at the Moody Theater hopes to bring audiences and artists together in a unique environment that is entirely, authentically Austin. With an eclectic sensibility and an emphasis on comfort, the venue is a natural addition to a city that prides itself on both its individuality and welcoming hospitality. Officially open to the public since mid-February, the venue is a study in efficient multitasking. Functioning as both a state-of-the-art concert hall and a fully equipped, high-definition production studio, the theater will not only be home to the next generation of Austin City Limits tapings, but it will also host a number of other big-name performances and private events as well. As in the past, tickets to the tapings are free, with a certain number reserved for donors and special guests. Additional funding for the public access tapings will come from ticket sales to ACL Live events (the non-taped performances). With three levels and a maximum capacity of over 2,750 seats, ACL Live can accommodate a variety of arrangements—including the
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“
familiar, pared-down bleacher set-up of the popular Austin City Limits/KLRU tapings. Thanks to the theater’s intelligent wraparound design, even the worst seat is just 75 feet away from the stage. “What people may not realize and will be surprised to learn, is that our new home will have the same capacity as the old 6A space once did [before a crackdown by the fire marshal]. It will just be configured differently,” says Terry Lickona, longtime Austin City Limits Executive Producer. And it’s precisely the flexibility afforded by the new configuration that enables the venue to maintain the essence of an Austin City Limits taping, with a few key elements remaining exclusive to the experience. The iconic Austin skyline backdrop has been re-imagined by a team of artists to reflect the current landscape and was unveiled at the opening night gala fundraiser on February 24. Operating on a unique pulley system, the piece will only be displayed during tapings. To similarly cultivate the intimate ACL atmosphere, the taping stage will be a mere two feet tall and the uppermost balcony will be curtained off, reducing the maximum capacity to only 800. Although layouts and cosmetic attributes can vary depending on the show, the venue’s core architecture aims to enhance the musical experience for both the artist and the audience at every possible turn. Because the design and development process has been at least five years in the making, no detail has been neglected. From the pristine sight lines to the customized flooring and precise acoustic calibrations, each feature has a functional role in the overarching experiential design. “We were really lucky to be able to build the space from the ground up, to take a look at
What people may not realize and will be surprised to learn, is that our new home will have the same capacity as the old 6A space once did.” -T E R R Y L I C K O N A
LONGTIME AUS T I N C I T Y L I M I TS EXECUTIVE PRO DUCE R .
venues across the country and learn how we could offer something different, something really special,” says Freddy Fletcher, who is a partner in the Stratus Properties development along with his uncle, Willie Nelson. With multiple bars on every floor, numerous lobby areas and exterior balconies, the space encourages a laid-back social flow for concert-goers, guaranteeing entertainment even while away from the show. Inspired by a recent exhibit at the Cleveland Museum of Rock and Roll honoring Austin City Limits, the developers transformed a mezzanine corridor into a permanent gallery where fans can enjoy photographs and media installations that celebrate the music show’s storied past. Not to overlook the performer perks, amenities like an oversized load-in elevator, spacious dressing rooms and private access to the W Hotel facilitate smooth transitions from tour bus to stage and back again. And this isn’t even to mention the top-of-the-line audio/video equipment that gives artists the opportunity to record their shows. This thoughtful combination of design and technology is ultimately geared to create an atmosphere where fans and performers feel inherently connected—to each other, to the
Terry Lickona has been the producer of Austin City Limits since 1978 and couldn't be more excited about the show's new digs at ACL Live.
experience and to the city. A crucial part of that connection derives from the theater’s positioning in the heart of the burgeoning 2nd Street District. Adjacent to the new hotspot the W, ACL Live at the Moody Theater is now an integral part of the local landscape and cultural scene. And in a city with as rich a musical legacy as Austin, this particular venue aims to make its mark by bringing in a wide range of programming to cater to different tastes. “Austin is a moving target. It’s certainly a friendly town with a friendly atmosphere, but its identity is continually evolving. It’s that
eclectic variety that makes Austin what it is,” says General Manager Tim Neece. With already over 30 shows booked for 2011, Neece and his team have set high goals, hoping to confirm at least another 70 acts for the remainder of the year. Robyn, John Mellencamp and Janet Jackson are just a few of the diverse talents already on the calendar. “Securing this many shows when there isn’t even one artist out there who has performed on the stage and passed along the story is a rare thing in the industry. The buzz has been great, people are really getting excited,” says Fletcher. In a nod to both a Texas and an Austin City Limits tradition, Willie Nelson will be one of the first major music greats to grace the stage. Specifically requesting Valentine’s Day performance dates (2/13 and 2/14), the country legend will don a tuxedo and perform alongside a full orchestra to christen the venue and herald the start of a new chapter in Austin City Limits history. According to Terry Lickona, the timing is just right for this sort of venue to emerge and flourish. From the rapidly developing downtown area to the ACL Music Festival, celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, there is a tangible momentum to the city’s growth and visibility on the national stage. Having produced the Austin City Limits series for over 30 years, Lickona is a seasoned industry veteran who has witnessed his fair share of change. One thing however remains a constant—“The true depth of people’s love for music here. That’s what makes Austin so unique.”
Glenda Pierce Facemire's
Music in the Kitchen As the Head Makeup Artist for Austin City Limits for over 20 years, Glenda Pierce Facemire has an enviable career. Charged with styling and painting the famous faces of those who pass through the halls of Austin City Limits, Facemire is accustomed to swapping anecdotes with some of the country’s top performers as she readies them for their camera close-up. Her book, Music In The Kitchen: Favorite Recipes From Austin City Limits Performers takes its inspiration from a commonality observed among bus-bound musicians: an acute nostalgia for a homecooked meal. The book features a wide range of eclectic dishes from an array of artists including My Morning Jacket, Willie Nelson, Joss Stone and Ryan Bingham, whose recipe she shares below.
Ryan Bingham’s South Texas Tators 5 large potatoes 5 jalapeño peppers 2 onions 1 stick of butter 1 (12-oz.) can of beer (Tecate preferred) 1/2 oz. shredded cheese of choice • Peel potatoes and cut into any size desired. Do the same with jalapeños and onions. • Cut up butter and place into medium sized casserole dish. Pile on the pepper and onions. Pour in the beer. • Cover dish with foil and bake until potatoes are soft. •Remove from oven and add cheese. Cover again with foil until cheese is melted. Serve. tribeza.com
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by Carolyn Harrold Photography by Alexandra Valenti
Stories from the Road
Four Austin bands share the highs and lows of life on tour.
If
you’re hoping that touring across the country
isn’t as exciting as you imagine, then you’re in for disappointment. Four local bands, ranging in genre from neu-cabaret to outlaw country, attest to the fact that traveling from city to city to play music is definitely all it’s cracked up to be. They shared some of their cleaner tales of debauchery and near tragedy with us, but in the end, it seems that the best part of life on the road comes down to the people that they meet. The Cowabunga Babes say it best: “Our friends and friends of friends are what make touring so special because these people we might barely know gladly put us up for the night in their awesome houses just because they support the music community.” tribeza.com
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Agent Ribbons
A
gent Ribbons began back in 2006 when we met in a record store. And pretty much since our first show in San Francisco, we've put 100 percent of our energies into making the band a way of life. Touring nine months out of the year and spending time at home crafting as much as possible, we really love living for the small stuff and it's hard to talk us out of an opportunity to make new friends and visit new places. In 2009, we were offered a U.S. tour with Camera Obscura after writing them a fan letter and telling them we'd love to play a show with them. They responded within weeks (on Myspace, no less!) saying that they would love for us to support them in the States. So, we had to cancel an extensive European tour, but our label in Spain wouldn't let us cancel our slot at Primavera Sound. In spite of the logistics, we drove from California to Chicago, parked the van, flew to Spain for the festival, and then flew back to Chicago the very next morning for the first show of the Camera Obscura tour! It was totally exhausting, but having the opportunity to travel so much makes this perhaps the best way to live that we can think of. Agent ribbons
Originally from Sacramento, Lauren Hess (drums, percussion, harmonies) and Natalie Gordon (vocals, guitar) of Agent Ribbons picked up and headed south last year. Lucky for us, this talented duo known for their unique cabaret-inspired 60s girl rock landed in Austin. Last year they released their second full-length album, Chateau Crone, which was the largest pre-order to date for their Oakland-based label, Antenna Farm Records, and shortly thereafter they headed out on tour with Girl in a Coma. Gordon and Hess are now back in Austin having fun becoming part of the local music community, and they have tentative plans to put out a 10-inch vinyl record with artwork inspired by Jodorowsky's Holy Mountain. “The music kind of will be too, in our own minds,” Gordon says. Agent Ribbons is scheduled to play on March 18 at The Ghost Room for the not-to-be-missed Antenna Farm Records’ showcase and on March 19 at Cheer Up Charlie’s.
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Most of our driving required six hours on the road, which equates to six hours of restless conversation between long time friends. We returned from tour with intimate knowledge of one another’s thoughts, quirks, and personalities. Games were invented. Crude road collages were drawn. Orville’s road atlas constantly battled smart phones and the GPS. And the phenomenon of “no-navigation” was discovered. No-navigation occurs when everyone believes someone else is navigating, so we drive aimlessly. If a driver missed a turn, he or she was berated by the other four and threatened and harassed until the proper course was found. But being friends since high school, our talks took on an uninhibited character. Most conversation was devoted to sex. The rest of the time we focused on scatological discourse. We learned to survive on salami, Gouda and bolillos, all carved by a pocketknife. We love touring because it gives us the opportunity to play music every night for several weeks straight, tell endless dirty jokes, and meet new, hospitable people who want to party all night. Tour also gave us a chance to appreciate what else is happening out there in the States and to see other bands that we’ve since hosted in Austin. A Giant Dog tour can be summed up in three words—drive, play, party. Our perpetual lack of sleep is relieved nightly with that [expletive]-it moment on stage when adrenaline surges and we are recharged for the night to come. A GIANT DOG
A Giant Dog
With the flood of garage rock pouring out of Austin, it can be hard for a band to rise above the sound, but Andrew Cashen (guitar), Orville Neeley (drums) , Graham Low (bass), Sabrina Ellis (vocals), and Andy Bauer (guitar) of A Giant Dog are howling their way onto the radar of local musicphiles, including Matador co-owner Gerard Cosloy, who chose to include A Giant Dog on his second annual Austin music compilation—Casual Victim Pile II. This group of early 20-somethings, all originally from Spring, TX, started playing as A Giant Dog around two and a half years ago. They have three releases under their belt—all recorded by Neeley in a garage—and they’re promising two seven inches by fall. Catch them playing March 5 at Beerland for the Casual Victim Pile II release party, March 18 at the Art Authority for the Burger City Showcase, March 19 at Beerland and March 20 at Side Bar for the annual Hot Dog Beer Recovery Social. tribeza.com
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Crooks In late February 2010, we hit the road with our close friends Western Ghost House for a West Coast tour with the bold goal of traveling about a fifth of the circumference of the earth in just a week and a half. This was a no frills tour. We had eight dudes riding side by side in the unsung ninth member of our crew, an eight passenger old Dodge Ram with an insatiable thirst for oil and a noticeably receding tread-line. This curmudgeon of a van characterized the tone of the trip, illustrating the natural fragility of a frugally funded cross-country tour; teetering on the brink of total disaster throughout. Yet despite grim presentiments, it carried us all the way without quitting, though not without a few close calls in the process. Maybe the worst was our overnight drive from Las Vegas to Boise. After a relatively uneventful day’s drive, Andrew, our bass player who’d only been a Crook for a month at this point, took the wheel somewhere in Utah. As we approached the mountains and darkness fell, so did the worst snow storm any of us had ever driven in. I woke up to see us barreling down the side of a mountain, at what appeared to be warp speed by the look of the snow coming at the windshield. Josh
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was perched between the two bucket seats, with a white knuckled grip on the head rests repeating the petrified mantra, “Hey man, tell VanVoorhees to slow down…Hey man…” In retrospect it seems pretty funny—eight dudes straight out of Texas, scared [explitive], riding in a broken down old van on four bald tires, speeding down a mountain at night in a snow storm, skidding and sliding with a U-Haul full of gear fishtailing in tow. We ended up making Boise alive, and after about a four-hour motel stay, it was on to Oregon. sam alberts, crooks
Josh Mazour (vocals, guitar), Sam Alberts (electric guitar, mandolin, banjo, trumpet), Andrew VanVoorhees (bass), and Rob Bacak (drums) of Crooks are garnering attention for their unique brand of country that’s as at home on Red River as at The Continental Club. They play gritty Texas outlaw country, with songs about guns, the road, bars and booze. Last year Crooks released an EP aptly titled Lonesome, Rowdy and Restless, and they are currently working on a full-length, due out late this summer. To sample their songs and for upcoming performance dates, visit crookscountry.com.
Cowabunga Babes
w
ell, we have to start off saying that it’s not easy being a Cowabunga Babe. Drinking beers, smoking cigarettes, staying up late and partying all the time only leads to black eyes and bad hangovers. But hey, someone’s got to do it, and it might as well be us. We are all best friends anyway, so any excuse to hang out—even under the guise of band practice— flies. So when it’s time to hit the road, we will jump as fast as we can into whatever tour van we can borrow. In the beginning things start great, driving fast towards the West Coast, listening to the good tunes Mike has selected, fast food doesn’t feel so bad yet and we are all still in good spirits. Little do we know, we’ll get lost and kind of “lose it,” get sick and form a minor addiction to over the counter meds, have an amp commit suicide by beer consumption and our instruments and band members will get left behind. Fortunately for y’all, what happens in the van doesn’t always stay in the van. cowabunga babes
Made up of Clarke Wilson (guitar, vocals), Cassie Hamilton (drums, vocals, bass), Beth Borwell (bass, drums), Mike Bova (vocals, guitar) and Jillian Talley (vocals, drums, bass), the Cowabunga Babes turn out lo-fi beachy garage rock packed with just enough angst to make you “feel like a teenager.” Since three out of five of the Babes hail from California (the other two are native Texans), and their upbeat tunes are the perfect compliment to a day in the sun, most of their touring has taken them to the West Coast, where they’ve played with bands like Vivian Girls, Best Coast and No Age. They say their favorite city to play in was Oakland, CA “because the shows are always in cute houses and packed to the brim.” Check their Myspace page for upcoming shows and to sample their songs, and be looking for a music video for “Beach Babe” directed by Hamilton, who recently won the European Film Festival’s award for Best Non-European Dramatic Short. tribeza.com
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AllINTHE
Family
by Phillip Pantuso // Photogr aphy by Matt R ainwaters
Meet four local musical families, who couldn’t imagine doing the thing they love most without the people they love most.
Facing Page:The PETERSON BROTHERS before their show at Antone's. This Page: JUNIOR & TANYA BROWN often play together Sunday nights at the Continental Club.
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is one of society’s great common denominators:
it starts fights, forges bonds, and inspires people. It is the axis around which so many emotions and experiences swirl, a beacon when we are lost and confused. It is a seam in the fabric of every person’s life, not unlike family, another of society’s great common denominators. There are reasons why some of the greatest musical groups through time and across history have been family acts, from the Carter Family to the Beach Boys to Arcade Fire. Families, like music, start fights, forge bonds, and mutually inspire, so it’s only natural to combine the two.
Junior + Tanya Brown Whether or not you believe in the power of first impressions, you will never forget the first time you see country music guitarist Junior Brown. Invariably dressed in a suit and 10-gallon hat, the gravelly-voiced Brown is the spitting image of a “hardtravelin’ gentleman.” He knew he was born to be a guitar player the day he found a beat-up old acoustic missing several strings in his parent’s attic as a boy. By his teenage years, he was playing in bars across the Southwest. “I was surprised at how easy it was for me,” he says. “Push two or three of those steel strings down, and you can really say something. You can bend and shape the notes to get a dialogue going.” In 1987, Brown was teaching guitar at Rogers State College in Oklahoma, when in walked Tanya Rae, a local girl who just wanted to learn to play guitar better. “He was a good teacher,” she says, laughing. "Though a bit of a taskmaster.” Brown jokes that he just wanted someone to play in his band. He got that and more—a year later, they were married, and shortly thereafter the Browns relocated to Austin. At the time, Junior Brown was perfecting his newly-invented guitar, which melds a standard six-string with a pedal steel guitar to form a doublenecked, double-bodied axe dubbed the “guit-steel.” The idea came to him in a dream and made it possible for him to play both types of
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guitars without switching instruments mid-song. Austin audiences quickly took to Brown’s humorous lyrics and flashy guitar playing, an unhinged mix of country slide and surf-rock riffs heavy on twang and reverb, and crowds were similarly enamored by the “lovely Miss Tanya Rae” and the rhythm section which was, like Brown, dressed to the nines. The Browns haven’t looked back—they still perform every Sunday night at the Continental Club, and Junior is prepping two new releases. “We keep doing what we like, writing songs, keeping those guitar licks going,” he says. “It’s what the people want to see.”
Louis Messina + Sons When Christopher and Louis Messina Jr.’s band, Electric Touch, rocks the stage at Coachella this April, the proudest listener will be their father, Louis Messina, a titan of the concert promotions industry. In their own way, his sons are fulfilling the hope he has for each artist he works with—to take them to the top. “I’m all about the big show. I’m all about asking, ‘how do I take it to the next level?’” says Messina. A cursory overview of his career backs him up. As cofounder of PACE Concerts, he brought the Texas Jam music festival to the Cotton Bowl in Dallas in 1978, which drew such luminaries as Aerosmith, Fleetwood Mac, Heart, and Van Halen in its first year. He opened Houston’s Summit in 1975 with The Who. He co-founded Ozzfest with Sharon Osbourne. After PACE was bought by SFX and then Clear Channel, Messina broke ranks to work for
Pictured from left to right, BARAK, LOUIS, LOUIS JR. AND CHRISTOPER MESSINA at their West Austin home.
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A serene moment between father and son WILLIE & JON DEE GRAHAM in Zilker Park
himself, and in recent years he helped make country-pop sensations of George Strait, Kenny Chesney and Taylor Swift. Being around such exciting spectacles strongly influenced the next generation of Messinas. Even before he started playing music, Louis Jr. says he knew he wanted to be involved with these huge events. “We got to see a lot more than most people: behind the scenes, see the band setting up, all the people pitching in. What draws me to the shows is the energy that everybody brings.” Louis, a drummer, and Christopher, a guitarist, started playing in bands together at age 12, along with their older brother Barak, and haven’t stopped since. Electric Touch was formed in 2007 when Christopher moved to Austin from Houston and “hit it off” with Shane Lawlor, a transplanted Brit who became Electric Touch’s vocalist. Island Records is expected to release the band’s sophomore album this year. Louis Sr. started dreaming big at age seven when he saw Elvis Presley in concert, and that lifelong enthusiasm is easily carried over to his sons’ latest, greatest musical venture. “They’re gonna go to the top,” he says. “I always tell them, ‘You’re not just musicians, you’re in the entertainment business, too. The more you put in, the more other people put in.’ That’s the way it works.”
Jon Dee + Willie Graham Jon Dee Graham has been a fixture in the Austin music scene since he joined the legendary punk band The Skunks, and decided that playing outrageously loud guitar licks and hanging out with the likes of The Clash were preferable to the daily student grind at UT in Plan II. Thirty years later, Graham is a three-time Austin Music Hall of Fame Inductee: for his work in The Skunks, for his collaboration with Alejandro and Javier Escovedo in the True Believers and for his work as a solo artist. Despite such an eventful career, music was never something Graham thought he would pass on to his children. “You just have no control over it,” he says. That hasn’t stopped Graham’s second son, Willie, a wide-eyed 11-year-old, from following in his father’s footsteps. “Willie kept going after my guitars, so we bought him his first acoustic guitar when he was three. He would grab it and jump off of furniture while strumming. He broke it almost immediately.” When Willie was five years old, he was diagnosed with Legg Perthes, a chronic hip disease that has caused him persistent pain. Within weeks of the diagnosis, the Grahams’ health care provider went bankrupt. So “Austin did what it does,” Graham says. "It took care of one of its own.” A benefit concert was organized, with an accompanying CD that features a track penned by Willie himself. Willie says, “I’ll probably always have some pain in my hips but will hopefully be less restricted in my activities.” Six years later, Willie is a Davidson Scholar, taking high school honors classes in Northwestern University's Gifted Learning
Links program, where he is president of the International Architectural Society. He is on the board of Creative Kids magazine, and he's the first kid to present at PechaKucha worldwide. Graham remembers how becoming a father changed his outlook on life and, consequently, his music. “You’re given one yardstick to measure things with, and you think, ok, this is how the world is,” he says. “Then you’re given a child and that yardstick changes. The best things about it are better than anything you could possibly have imagined, and the worst things—the terror that comes with having a child— there’s no fear like it.”
The Peterson Brothers Glenn and Alex Peterson have only been playing guitar for three years, but you’d never know it if you saw them on stage at Antone’s, Saxon Pub or the Victory Grill, Glenn bending his six strings with emotional ferocity and Alex slapping his bass like a young Victor Wooten. The boys channel the blues with a maturity and technical prowess well beyond their years. Glenn and Alex, who are 14 and 11, started on piano, but soon decided to try other instruments. Glenn selected guitar, while Alex played drums before switching to violin and bass. Alex proved remarkably adept at other instruments too—he plays saxophone in the Bastrop Intermediate School band. The boys also sing and write original songs. Deanna Peterson recalls a time when her youngest son walked into a music shop and asked if he could play the balalaika behind the counter. “The owner asked if he knew how to play it, and Alex said he could probably figure it out. Within minutes he had tuned it and was playing ‘Amazing Grace.’” The boys play together in the school jazz band as well, and Glenn has recently started taking vocal lessons to enhance his singing on songs like the folk-blues standard “Sittin’ on Top of the World.” The boys’ musical influences also belie their years. They discovered B.B. King, Howlin’ Wolf and Stevie Ray Vaughan around the house, and soon began exploring the vast historical underground that is the blues. It wasn’t long before they were spending every moment of free time jamming together in their music room. “It comes naturally to us,” says Glenn. “We just seem to know and feel what the other is thinking.” In spite of such early success, the boys have remained humble, which is a credit to the tight-knit Peterson family ethos. They teach music lessons free of charge, rarely talk about their music at school, and always finish their homework before heading to their music room. “But then,” Mrs. Peterson says with a chuckle—“they don’t come out for hours.” tribeza.com
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style
product pick
The Guit-Steel Get up close and personal with Junior Brown's genius musical creation.
J
unior Brown has been rocking the guit-steel since he created it in 1985 out of the need to play both guitar and steel in the same song without switching back and forth. He created it with Michael Stevens, who sells custom guit-steels at stevensguitars.com. This particular version even has a name—“Big Red.” And Red was built in 1995. It sits on a small podium as Junior stands behind it to play for performances. He has brought together the best of both worlds with the guit-steel top being a six-string guitar and the bottom, a lap steel guitar. Brown says: “It plays easily and has great tone— that’s about all you can ask for in any instrument.” Catch Junior and Big Red in action on Sunday nights at the Continental Club. L. Smith Ford P hotog r aph by A da m Voo r hes
Photography: Tom Hines for The Lake & Stars
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Meg Burton ,
David Martin, 27,
31, A former Austinite on a visit. Her kicks are from Nordstrom.
Spaniard visiting Austin on business.
Jeb Russell ,
35, Server at Vespaio. He hearts his new Nikes.
Shae Stuart,
28, Musician. Now this is what we call a hand me down—her boots and pants were passed down to her from musician friends.
SoCo Style a selection of our favorite looks straight from the streets of south congress
Roy Martinez , 26, Artist & Designer. He likes to combine Mexican and American culture into his outfits. Valerie Lowry, 22, Tristin Fowler ,
23, Musician.
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Natania Morrissey,
24, Loves her Madewell belt.
Artist. We bet she got the job—she was en route to an interview. P hotog r aphy by jessi c a pages
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column
Creatively Speaking BY Ti m M c Clu r e CREATURES OF HABIT. I suppose we all are. I the bed do you get up on? When you shower, what cofounder gsd&m certainly am. But what makes us so, what’s the part of your body do you soap first? When you word, predictable? brush your teeth, which teeth do you brush first, If you honestly believe you’re not a creature of habit, ask yourself uppers or lowers? When you put on your shoes, do you put on both these questions: When you wake up in the morning, which side of socks, or a sock and a shoe and repeat? When you drive to work, do i l lust r ation by joy ga l l agher For a limite d e dit ion p r int , c o nta c t jo ygall agh e r@g m ail .c o m
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Are we then, the sum total of our habits, good or bad? Not necessarily. But what is needed is nothing short of an inner rebellion.
you drive the same route most days? When you get your first cup of coffee, do you add sugar or cream or both before you even taste it? When you answer the phone, do you always use the same salutation? When your meal arrives, do you taste it, or salt and pepper it first? Here’s my routine: I get out of bed on the same side every morning—the left side. When I shower, I start by soaping my left arm. I brush my upper teeth first, every time. In accordance with Archie Bunker’s Rules, I put on a sock-and-a-sock and ashoe-and-a-shoe (only a Meathead would do otherwise!) I take the same route to work most days, unless traffic is snarled. I add sugar and cream to my decaffeinated coffee before tasting it. I answer the phone, “This is Tim.” I pepper (but rarely salt) my food before the first bite. Question is, can we break old habits, and in the process become more interesting? English dramatist John Dryden may have said it best: “We first make our habits, then our habits make us.” Are we, then, the sum total of our habits, good or bad? Not necessarily. But what is needed is nothing short of an inner rebellion. Are you up to the challenge? Let’s say you wake up every morning at 7am. Set an alarm for 6:53 one day, 7:11 the next, and so on. Climb out of bed on the opposite side from where you fell asleep, even if it means steamrolling your partner. Better yet, slide off the end if you don’t have a footboard. If you do, jump up and down a few times, execute a perfect belly-flop, and spring off in whatever direction momentum takes you. Drench yourself liberally in the shower, turn off the water and soap yourself head-to-toe, then rinse joyfully (you’ll also save a lot of water!). Brush the inside of your teeth first. Leave your socks (or
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pantyhose) in the drawer, grab your most comfortable shoes, and go commando. Drive, better yet, walk or ride a bike to work, taking (as Robert Frost was fond of saying) a road less traveled by. Give your local barista free rein to make whatever cup of coffee he or she can dream up. Answer the phone, “This better be good!” Let the chef at a restaurant whip up the dish of his or her choosing for you. Believe me, somewhere deep down inside, your habitual creature will start getting very nervous. Now that you’ve begun dropping your old habits, it may be time to perform a little feng shui on your own (no pun intended) habitat. When you walk through your house, does it feel comfortable? Maybe a little too comfortable? That’s because our homes are literally homages to our habits. Does anyone actually live in your living room? How often do you dine in your dining room? We create these seldom-used spaces because we remember them from our childhood, where most of our habits were born. Try this: Take down every picture, every painting in your home and hang it in a new room. Make your dining room your living room and your living room your dining room. Better yet, make your living room a library, fill it with books you bought but never cracked open, and set aside time to read at least one book a month. Paint your front door a different color. Plant a tree in your backyard and nurture it until it blossoms or bears fruit or simply shades a new hammock. While you’re outside, dig a grave and bury your old habits. Replace your creatures of habit with creatures of creativity. Pretty soon, you’ll be on the path to An Unpredictable Life.
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Laced with Romance A reminder not to skip South First Street when on the hunt for great vintage
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P hotog r aphy by c h r is patunas
image courtesy of lacedwithromance.com
S
outh Austin newbie, Laced With Romance, is as eclectic as its owner, Stephanie VillalobosFellabaum. She has been in the fashion industry for over two decades and her latest project, Laced With Romance, born from a successful eBay venture, opened on South First in October 2010. Initially Stephanie was clockwise a bit apprehensive about the transition from chain, and leather from top: Owner, Stephaonline to a physical location—“I was afraid charm necklace. nie Villalobosit would take away from my freedom. That Joel Gammage of Fellabaum, Bad could not have been any further from the Panda Silver 4th Generation is a Trilobite Ring truth. The shop has opened up avenues and fourth generation $180, Racks of given me wings!” In fact, since it’s opening, hatter. His grandfavintage finds. Laced has become completely immersed in ther made hats for Austin’s fashion community, participating celebrities, including in Fashion Freakout 4 at the Mohawk. The shop’s name is a play on the likes of Clint Eastwood. He now refurbishes and creates hats words. “It refers to the idea of something being laced, like a drink, of his own. Bad Panda Jewelry specializes in intricate feather and a cigarette or an idea. I find great beauty in the shadows and dark oversized hoop earrings. Despite curating a unique collection of local corners of the world. This is where you find the forgotten, the underlines, what makes Laced With Romance truly stand out is that it also appreciated, twisted eccentrics and creative geniuses,” she explains. carries Villalobos-Fellabaum’s own line, Dust & Drag, which she creSet in a revamped garage, the store is the perfect balance of ates with her design partner Bekah Dubos. The collection features darkness and light and is teeming with fascinating and outlandish inimitable robes and vests, whimsical hand dyed tops, as well as vintage pieces, including avant-garde silk and fox fur vests. While tie-dye maxi dresses and slips. “thrift stores, garage sales, and second hand shops are great places The store doesn’t follow trends too closely but focuses on being to find vintage clothing,” Stephanie explains, in addition to its assomething of a trend-setter. "Laced is not only a vintage clothing sortment of vintage garments, Laced carries local store, but a place that will inspire new ideas out of old lines such as unique necklaces, amulets and jewelry by ones,” Villalobos-Fellabaum says. With vintage and local Laced with Romance Rima Hyena Sheegog. Via Christa Clothing transpieces, Laced With Romance has something for everyone 1601 S. First St. forms the macabre and antique into beautiful and searching for that one-of-a-kind staple to add to their (512) 567 9693 wearable art, such as an antique gold crest, multilacedwithromance.com wardrobe. A. ASHLEY
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style
Nerd Alert
Music Geek James Moody Interviews Thor Harris of Shearwater
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oday, I am having coffee with my good friend Thor Harris, best known for being one of the most talented and well rounded drummers in Austin—playing for bands like Swans, Bill Callahan and Shearwater. What you may not know is that he built his own house, is a serious hugger, a carpenter, a painter, a zine (Thorzine) publisher, and a well-respected plumber. For these reasons and more, I chose to sit down with one of the coolest nerds I know and discuss politics, porn, music, Austin and nerds.
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M: I’m interested in how one gets a rad name like Thor. T: Thundercloud hired me. That’s where I got my name...In 1985 when I got here and needed a job…I spoke with this cool chick at Waterloo Ice House and she said ‘I know my boss won’t hire you with that longhair, but you should go to this place called Thundercloud because they will hire long hairs.’ It’s funny to think like now, that a long haired person or a tattooed person or dude with a beard or weird piercings doesn’t have to search that hard to get a job [in Austin].
“One of the reasons this column sprouted was that idea, that as this town grows we are becoming so much more than just the live music capital of the world. Images of Stratocasters don’t really represent everything that goes on here anymore, because the creative class is growing in so many different ways.”—Moody
M: I love it that a ‘long-hair’ was actually a term. T: In ways we don’t remember the conservatism that we have overcome. M: You are a killer drummer. How many bands have you been a part of? T: I have no idea. More than 20 for sure. I started playing in the school band when I was 10 and in clubs when I was 20. I’m 45 now, so I guess I have been playing for at least 25 years. M: The music industry has changed so much since you started, what is your take on things? T: When I was growing up in the 80s, we hated the record industry but we knew we still needed a record deal to make it. Now the record industry is disintegrating. The biggest selling indie rock record from last week was Cake, selling 40,000 physical copies, which is super pathetic compared to what it used to be. No one knows what’s going to happen. All you can do if you want to make a living is play shows…and that’s cool. People are going to shows. Nine Inch Nails is giving their music
away online and touring. People continue to go to see them play. Sometimes I think that is kind of smart.”
M: I know that you are a hands-on carpenter, tell me a little bit about your house. T: I don’t have a gas line, I heat it with a wood stove and I cook with propane. I also have a solar hot water heater.
M: Tell me a little bit about Thorzine. Where did your inspiration come from? T: My porn zine? Sexual deprivation while on tour. You don’t have sex for weeks on end. It’s really not healthy to go that long without sex. So when you think about it constantly, you think of weird stuff. So I draw it. In fact I recently dropped some copies off at Mohawk.
M: One of the reasons this column sprouted was that idea, that as this town grows we are becoming so much more than just the live music capital of the world. Images of Stratocasters don’t really represent everything that goes on here anymore, because the creative class is growing in so many different ways. You’re a great example, you are a painter, a carpenter, a plumber, and a percussionist. And so many people are like that here. It’s just the best place in the world to be creative and try new things—to be a nerd. T: It is. If you watch that movie Slackers, it’s about weird people being nerds or geeks pursuing whatever weird passions that they are into. It’s about all of these interesting brainy people, instead of like, making tons of money with their brains, they are just like doing some weird ass something that they are really into. Plus, the people don’t seem to be that good at self-promotion here. And I find that pretty [expletive] refreshing.
Each month, Moody (who is the founder and owner of The Mohawk and co-founder of Guerilla Suit) will have a conversation with a different nerd here in town. In Austin, “nerd” is a term of endearment for people totally consumed with their craft who care about it deeply and are working hard to bring something new to the world. As Moody explains, NERD ALERT celebrates the fact that because Austin is so full of us nerds, “It’s just the best place in the world to be creative and try new things.” P h oto g r a p h y by Ja k e H o lt
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images courtesy of alexandra valenti
Alexandra Valenti While most comfortable behind the camera, photographer Alexandra Valenti shares a rare look inside her life growing up in Hollywood and traveling the world. The daughter of Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association of America for 38 years and creator of the MPAA film rating system, she’s now proud to call Austin home. 1. With Sam Rockwell, in Los Angeles 2. With Kirk Douglas, my godfather and my father’s best friend, 7 years old 3. With my boyfriend, David Clark in Big Sur, January 2011 4. On the set of Rock the Vote, shooting Christy Turlington 5. Self portrait, 2009 6. With my older sister, Courtenay, circa 2000 7. With Minnie Driver, my dear friend and former roommate, and my dogs, Vito and Mogreen 8. In a hotel room with Christy Turlington, after a U2 concert 9. When I learned that I sold my script to Miramax, 1998 10. In New York, circa 1997 11. Josh Brolin, Catherine Kellner and me on the set of the first short film I directed, in Studio City, CA 12. With Dan Winters at my sister's wedding in Los Angeles 13. With my late father, Jack Valenti, at my sister's wedding. tribeza.com
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dining
pick
Second Bar + Kitchen 201 Congress Ave. in The Austonian (512) 827 2750 congressaustin.com Sunday-Thursday 11am-Midnight Friday-Saturday 11am-2am
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L
oved the atmosphere … food was good …definitely would go back…” wrote a friend when I queried about her recent visit to the new restaurant, Second Bar + Kitchen. And after several visits of my own, I couldn’t have said it better myself. Second Bar + Kitchen is one of three new eateries opened by ex-Driskill super chef David Bull in the swanky Austonian highrise. The adjoining spaces are named after the street each fronts: Second is a casual bistro, Congress is a fine dining venue and Bar Congress is an intimate lounge. Each has its own distinctive feel and menu, even though they share a kitchen, executive chef and management team. Second offers something that downtown Austin desperately needed: a gathering spot with multiple uses. It’s a place to meet clients for lunch, colleagues for drinks, dates for dinner or friends for nightcaps and snacks. The clientele reflects Second’s
broad-ranging appeal and even Austonian residents are showing signs of Cheers familiarity, coming down from their luxury lairs to claim their perches like Norm and Cliff. The menu offers a little bit of everything, and many items come with an optional luxury ingredient ‘upgrade’ for a nominal charge. For starters, Chicken Fried Olives were stuffed with pimento cheese. Avocado Fundido was a gooey mixture of Asadero cheese and chorizo. Black Truffle Pommes Frites were dusted with pecorino, served with truffle aioli and offered with a decadent side of seared foie gras. The Petite Green Salad, topped with green beans, white beans and a zingy Clementinemustard vinaigrette, was fresh and bright, while the Arugula and Butter Lettuce salad above: Second was over-dressed. A sophisBar + Kitchen has ticated twist on Bacon and it all—from a grass covered patio for Eggs featured crisp pork dining al fresco to belly, a poached egg, braised luxurious booths escarole and salsa verde. for long dinners. Tender homemade Pappardelle suffered from inharmonious toppings, although the rabbit confit add-on was a winner. Rotisserie Chicken Pizza was pleasant, but the Pizza Bianco wasn’t elevated by the optional addition of flavorless veal meatballs. At Second, the bar is the star, with cocktail veterans like Adam Bryan from East Side Showroom and Billy Hanky from The Good Knight at the helm. The beer and wine list is thoughtful and extensive. And taking a page from some of the hottest wine bars in California and Europe, Second offers house wines on tap, allowing for fresh, high-quality, value wines served by the glass or liter. It’s wonderful to have Chef Bull back in Austin and making us happy at Second. As my friend so aptly put it, I loved the atmosphere, the food was good and I’ll definitely go back. K. SPEZIA P h oto g r a p h y by c h r i s pat u n a s
dining
SXSW special edition
Restaurant Guide WALK ABLE SXSW Eateries 24 Diner
600 N. Lamar Blvd (512) 472 5400 Open 24 hours Get chef-inspired comfort food made from local ingredients all day and all of the night at this stepped up diner. Bess Bistro on Pecan
500 W. 6th St. (512) 477 2377
A French bistro with a southern Cajun flair. The menu offers an eclectic choice of well-prepared European and American favorites like Creole Shrimp Bess, Steak Frites and the wildly popular Tuesday-only special, Chicken Pot Pie. East Side Show Room
1100 E. 6th St. (512) 467 4280
Delicious vintage cocktails served up with loads of local options. Warm, eccentric space with unique design and people watching opportunities. Foreign & Domestic
306 E. 53rd St. (512) 459 1010
With a menu that changes regularly to accommodate fresh local and seasonal ingredients, Foreign & Domestic is the delicious
and creative collaboration between husband and wife duo, Ned and Jodi Elliot. Definitely worth the cab ride from downtown. Frank
407 Colorado St. (512) 494 6916 Open until 2am M-Sa Now, this is our kind of hot dog. Choose from an assortment of artisan sausages like the Jackalope with local antelope, rabbit and pork sausage, or the simple and delicious Chicago Dog. The Good Knight
1300 E. 6th St. (512) 628 1250 Open until midnight
This inviting gastropub now serving lunch as well as dinner is home to both elevated comfort foods as well as gourmet creations. Don’t overlook the stellar drink list. G’Raj Mahal
91 Red River St. (512) 480 2255 A cozy covered patio makes this food trailer feel like a restaurant, and the savory, aromatic dishes don’t hurt either for diners craving a little Indian street food.
Haddington’s
Lamberts
Serving dinner until 11pm Settle into this cozy, rustic lounge for a unique tavern experience. The dark wood and warm lighting complement the sophisticated pub fare, including rabbit fricassee, fish and chips and London broil.
Not your standard BBQ fare, meats are given an Austin twist, like the ribeye glazed with brown sugar and mustard. The upstairs lounge swingswith live music Tuesday through Sunday.
Iron Works BBQ
303 Red River St. (512) 236 9599
601 W. 6th St. (512) 992 0204
100 Red River St. (512) 478 48855
No frills: grab your beer from the ice bucket, rip off your own paper towel and get ready for some traditional dripping ribs. J. Black’s Feel Good Lounge
710-B W. 6th St. (512) 433 6954
Pub fare at its best. Try the Texas Kobe beef sliders and signature thin-crust pizzas. Justine’s Brasserie
4710 E. 5th St. (512) 385 2900 Open until 2am
You won’t find another brasserie in Austin that serves elegant French classics like steak tartare and coq au vin until 2am. Jump in a cab and head east. La Condesa
400-A W. 2nd St. (512) 499 0300 Delectable cocktails, tasty tacos and appetizers, all inspired by the hip and bohemian Condesa neighborhood in Mexico City. Dishes range from street food faves to sophisticated specialties.
401 W. 2nd St. (512) 494 1500
Moonshine
Happy hour specials and fun appetizers, like corn dog shrimp, served on a stick with blueberry honey mustard for dipping. Mulberry
360 Nueces St. (512) 320 0297 Open until 2am Th-Sa Executive Chef and native Austinite Jacob Weaver takes Mulberry’s cuisine as seriously as the restaurants’ extensive wine and beer selection. Standouts on the seasonal menu are the meatballs in a white wine broth and a hamburger with pancetta, Gruyere, tomato and egg. Parkside
301 E. 6th St. (512) 474 9898 Featuring an extensive raw bar and oyster menu, Parkside is a favorite among local gourmands. Entrees include classic staples given an innovative twist, such as the seared scallops on a bed of apple couscous. Perla’s
1400 S. Congress Ave. (512) 291 7300 The latest venture from star chef Larry McGuire. Great selection of oysters, clever cocktails, and
r e s t a u r an t g u i d e
one of the freshest options for seafood in town. Ranch 616
616 Nueces St. (512) 479 7616 Chef Kevin Williamson delivers on fresh and flavorful seafood options like jalapeño maiz trout and gulf fish tacos. Lively atmosphere. Classic Austin cool. South Congress Café
1600 S. Congress Ave. (512) 447 3905 Whether brunch or dinner, this SoCo staple serves continental cuisine reinterpreted with an Austin flair. In addition to specialty steaks and classic southwestern fare, the more daring diners can sample the café’s distinctive menu, featuring wild boar, venison and quail. Shoreline Grill
98 San Jacinto Blvd. (512) 477 3300 The Shoreline Grill is an Austin original, serving up only the best in sustainable seafood, locally sourced produce, and a fresh new approach to American cuisine with a coveted view of Lady Bird Lake. Takoba
1411 E. 7th St. (512) 628 4466 This East Side newbie delivers bold, authentic flavors in its Mexican cuisine with chilies, beans, and herbs imported straight from Mexico. Enjoy handmade cocktails al fresco in the spacious backyard for an incredible meal.
Trace
200 Lavaca St. (512) 542 3600 Set in the new W hotel, this unique concept from Chef Paul Hargrove, focuses on responsibly and locally sourced ingredients from Texan farmers and artisans. It’ s all about classic cuisine reminiscent of European fare, with a New American twist. TRIO
98 San Jacinto Blvd. (512) 685 8300 This sleek space with a lovely trellised patio overlooking Lady Bird Lake in the Four Seasons Hotel serves up clever dishes, with several prime steak and seafood offerings. Truluck’s
400 Colorado St. (512) 482 9000 Dedicated to the sustainable seafood movement, Truluck’ s offers the freshest Florida Stone Crab from its own fisheries and a rotating menu of fresh-catch seafood, in addition to incredible steaks. With an impressive selection of over 100 wines, Truluck’ s is truly a gourmet experience. The Woodland
1716 S. Congress Ave. (512) 441 6800 Sip original handmade cocktails at this SoCo hipster haven, serving up modern comfort food, made fresh daily, in a cozy arboreal space. Bottles of wine are half price on Sunday and Monday nights.
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Use your smart phone to scan this code and buy tickets through Austin Lyric Opera’s online box office! Š2011 david bachman photography
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512-476-TXRx
Studio Theater Project Mar 25 - Apr 3, 2011 ~ AustinVentures StudioTheater Choreography by Nicolo Fonte & Stephen Mills Join us for a night of contemporary works set to a modern day rhythm in the heart of downtown. This is the night we open our studio for a party-like atmosphere consisting of music, drinks and dancers up close and personal.
For Tickets: Visit www.balletaustin.org or call 512.476.2163
This project is funded and supported in part by the City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division and by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts and an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art.
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our little secret
Adi I Anand’s swad restaurant
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was born in India and spent nearly half my life there. Sure I had the occasional lambburger, the odd sausage pizza, as well as many a go at the Talumein soup in Chinese restaurants there, but Indian food was my bread ‘n’ butter growing up, and I will always have a soft spot for the multitude of dishes and variety of styles from the sub-continent. When I moved to Austin in 1995, I started an unending quest all across town to find the best cuisine from India. Initially, my favorites were Sarovar (on Burnet Road, close to 183) and the now defunct Little Bombay (North Lamar and Rundberg). Sarovar is still going strong and continues to serve my favorite curries in town. Once I heard about the demise of Little Bombay, I was quite stressed about where my next delicious dosa or bhel-puri
would come from. Thankfully, Swad arrived in the same vicinity shortly after, offering all my favorite snacks from all over the country, including the always popular smorgasbord that is the thali and a fair selection of the various types of dosa. This place is an example of a restaurant I equate to a taqueria, or what in India is known as a dhaba—i.e. no fancy schmancy décor, no bells and whistles—just authentic dishes, straight from a native kitchen, complete with flavors you’d expect on the streets of the country. My go-to dish at Swad remains the dosa—a fermented crepe made from lentils and flour. A South Indian staple, the dosa is normally served with sambar, a lentil stew, plus coconut and tomato chutneys. I usually just get it “Plain” but it can also be ordered with potato masala or paneer stuffing. Besides being amazingly delicious, this dish has been known to cure my colds and open up my nasal passages! The “Rava” dosa, made with semolina and considered to be the South Indian pancake, is another option. The aforementioned thali is the best bet if you’re looking to try a number of different dishes. This item features lentil dishes, mixed vegetable dishes, salad, raita, rice, bread (naan, puri, or paratha), pickles and a dessert. It’s everything you need in a veggie meal! Bhel-puri, golgappas (a.k.a. panipuri), and papri chaat are veritable sleeper picks that invoke the street-side snack spirit of the sub-continent like nothing else. Look ‘em up on Wikipedia, close your eyes and sail away on a ship to India. Ever popular snacks like samosas and pakoras are also on the menu at Swad. And nothing there will ever break the bank. Check it out the next time you’re feeling adventurous (or have a cold)! ADI ANAND Adi Anand works at Hoover's Inc. by day and Transmission Entertainment by night. He also writes for Austinist and curates an Austin music podcast called River Runs Red for BreakThruRadio. Swad Indian Vegetarian Restaurant is located at 9515 North Lamar. P h oto g r a p h y by a nnie r ay
12989 Research Blvd/US 183 N -North of McNeil Road I johneagleeuropean.com I 512.401.BOND
12989 Research Blvd/US 183 N -North of McNeil Road I johneagleeuropean.com I 512.401.BOND