San Antonio Current — August 11, 2021

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CURRENT | August 11 – August 24, 2021 | sacurrent.com

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sacurrent.com | August 11 - August 24, 2021 | CURRENT

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CURRENT | August 11 – August 24, 2021 | sacurrent.com

in this issue San Antonio Current

Issue 21-16 /// August 11 – August 24, 2021

‘I’ll Sing in Any Language’

Editor-in-Chief: Sanford Nowlin General Manager: Chelsea Bourque

Nina Diaz delved into history with a reimagining of Elvis Costello’s This Year’s Model, but she’s looking to the future

Editorial

Digital Content Editor: Kelly Merka Nelson Contributing Arts Editor: Bryan Rindfuss Food and Nightlife Writer: Nina Rangel Contributors: Ron Bechtol, Chris Conde, Daniel Conrad, Jade Esteban Estrada, Dan R. Goddard, Lance Higdon, Steven G. Kellman, Hannah Lorence, Kiko Martinez, M. Solis, Gary Sweeney, Lea Thompson, Abe Asher Editorial Interns: Emily DiTomasso, Brianna Espinoza, Katie Hennessey, Cristela Jones, Jay Moreno, Dana Nichols, Emily Schmalstieg, Jada Teague

Music Listings

Marketing and Events

Marketing and Events Director: Cassandra Yardeni Events Manager: Chelsea Bourque Account Manager: Nathan Sokul Account Executive: Marian Galvan Marketing Interns: Julia Bentley Social Media Content Creator: Meradith Garcia

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Circulation

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Sanford Nowlin

12 Feature

Here We Go Again

How bad is San Antonio’s latest wave of COVID infections? The choice is yours.

09 News

screen their movies this week at San Antonio’s 48-Hour Film Festival

The Opener News in Brief

Cityscrapes

An Open Welcome Letter to Brenda Hicks-Sorensen, San Antonio’s New Economic Development Director

17 Calendar Calendar Picks

24 Arts

Timely Reinvention

The Texas Biennial lands in San Antonio with a powerful program exploring race, immigration and activism

29 Screens

Race to the Finish

Fast and furious filmmakers will

33 Food

BUILDING TEXAS BIENNIAL | WHAT'S COOKING AT AMBLER | GARRETT T. CAPPS STILL LOVES SAN ANTONE AUG. 11 - AUG. 24, 2021

River-Level Revamp

Hotel Contessa’s upgraded Ambler Texas Kitchen isn’t just pretty to look at

Recognizing Their Worth

The pandemic has forced women in the restaurant industry to reevaluate how it values their work

Hot Dish

38 Music

Country Catalyst

When Garrett T. Capps sings about loving San Antone, best believe he means it

O

n the Cover: In what feels painfully familiar, COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are again on the rise. They’re mostly hitting the unvaccinated. Cover design: Samantha Serna

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CURRENT | August 11 – August 24, 2021 | sacurrent.com

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As COVID-19 again fills San Antonio hospital beds, local leaders are begging residents to get vaccinated. At press time, more than 1,000 people hospitalized here fighting the virus, including an 11-month-old, and medical facilities are pushing back elective surgeries. “If you have any concern about your fellow citizens and the children who are going to be going back to school, I urge you to [get vaccinated],” Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said.

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A federal judge has blocked Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order asking state troopers to pull over vehicles they suspect of transporting migrants who “pose a risk” of transmitting COVID-19. U.S. District Court Judge Kathleen Cardone granted the Justice Department’s request for a restraining order and wrote that Abbott’s order likely interferes with federal immigration law.

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Much-loved San Antonio Spurs guard Patty Mills, the lone remaining member of the team’s 2014 championship lineup, has departed to sign with the Brooklyn Nets. Mills, 32, played in San Antonio for a decade — endearing himself to the city with his steadfast support for social justice causes, most notably last summer, when he donated $1 million of his salary to Black Lives Matter groups.

The Tobin Center for the Performing Arts has launched a new discount program for members of the armed forces. Active-duty members, retirees, veterans and their families will be eligible for discounted and free tickets to a variety of shows and events under the new program.

To become eligible, current and former military personnel need only register on the center’s website and provide a copy of their Defense Department identification or a Certificate of Release or Discharge. — Abe Asher

YOU SAID IT!

“[Y]ou’ll hear the president convey later if you are not going to be a part of the solution, if you’re not going to be a part of saving people’s lives, then get out of the way and let other people do the job.”

news

That Rocks/That Sucks

Twitter / @FloorCharts

When it comes to the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, Sen. Ted Cruz wanted to have it both ways.

One one hand, the Texas Republican delivered a fiery speech last Thursday warning fellow GOP lawmakers the legislation would spur runaway inflation and that it was those sneaky Dems’ “down payment” on the Green New Deal.

“This is reckless, and it’s unprecedented. As Admiral Ackbar said in Star Wars, ‘It’s a trap.’

This is a trap,” the pop culture-obsessed Cruz said, citing a line from Return of the Jedi.

However, two days before aiming his rhe-

torical blaster at the infrastructure bill, Cruz pushed to make the future Interstate 14 — which would extend from West Texas through the Eastern U.S. — a top priority project in the legislation, the Houston Chronicle reports.

Indeed, the famously partisan Cruz even worked across the aisle with Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Georgia, to add the expansion as an amendment.

So, what gives?

Turns out the expanded highway would connect Texas’ oil-rich Permian Basin with the Port of Savannah, the third-largest U.S. port, and Cruz is one of the Senate’s top recipients of cash from the oil and gas industry.

Such cozy relationships with industry are par for the course in Washington, and those contributions don’t necessarily prove Cruz’s motivations. But it sure looks like the assclown is trying to throw red meat to his ideological base while delivering a big wet kiss to his backers.

No one said subtlety is one of Cruz’s strong suits. — Sanford Nowlin

The year’s second special session of the Texas Legislature kicked off last Saturday with an expanded, 17-item agenda that now includes the dissemination of federal COVID-19 relief funds and potential changes to the body’s quorum rules. Texas Democrats are still in Washington, D.C., where they have been campaigning for voting rights legislation, and the special session cannot proceed without them. Gov. Greg Abbott has vowed to continue calling special sessions until they return to the state.

PETA is asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to penalize a San Antonio laboratory after 159 baboons it was holding in captivity suffered amputations due to frostbite from February’s winter storm. Texas Biomedical Research Institute, located in far west San Antonio, receives federal funding to maintain a colony of some 2,500 primates, which it uses to test disease treatments. The USDA is reviewing PETA’s complaint.

ASSCLOWN ALERT

Having It Both Ways With Ted Cruz Assclown Alert is a column of opinion, analysis and snark.

— Jen Psaki,

White House Press Secretary when asked how much responsibility Gov. Greg Abbott has for rising COVID-19 numbers in the state.

Courtesy Photo / Office of the Governor

Another Republican who mocked COVID-19 mask mandates and vaccines has died of the virus. H Scott Apley, a Texas Republican Party leader who served as a city councilman in the town of Dickinson and was a member of the State Republican Executive Committee, died in a hospital last Wednesday after being on a ventilator. As recently as the Friday before his death, he shared a meme arguing against the effectiveness of vaccines. — Abe Asher

Find more news coverage every day at sacurrent.com

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CURRENT | August 11 – August 24, 2021 | sacurrent.com

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CITYSCRAPES

An Open Welcome Letter to Brenda Hicks-Sorensen, San Antonio’s New Economic Development Director

BY HEYWOOD SANDERS Editor’s Note: The following is CityScrapes, a column of opinion and analysis.

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elcome to San Antonio, Brenda Hicks-Sorensen.

Congratulations on your new job as head of the city’s Economic Development Department. You obviously face a great many challenges. But I’m sure the senior city staff have already told you of the enormous opportunities here. You have no doubt heard the forecast that we’ll have a million new residents by 2040. And about the great hordes of international visitors who will be coming since the Missions are now designated a World Heritage Site.

But you should know a little of our history — since the founding of the Missions, I mean — which will bear on your job.

San Antonio’s contemporary efforts at “economic development” can really be traced to the election of Henry Cisneros as mayor in 1981. In September 1982, Cisneros unveiled his so-called “orange book,” formally titled “San Antonio’s Place in the Technology Economy.” The next few years saw the mayor flying off to Silicon Valley and

ultimately Japan in search of new tech firms and new jobs. His efforts were greatly aided by the state’s creation of property tax abatement incentives in the late 1980s.

One of Cisneros’ great successes was persuading William Jovanovich, CEO of HBJ Corp., to build a new Sea World park here. Jovanovich promised our version of Sea World and Shamu would boost the city as a tourist destination, luring more than 3 million annual visitors at the start and creating 1,500 new jobs. Cisneros boasted it could be the “largest single economic generator for the city since the HemisFair era.”

The buzz in San Antonio town was that Disney was eyeing our city — that we would be the “next Orlando.”

But those job numbers assumed a full-time, year-round park. That didn’t work in San Antonio. We ended up with a seasonal theme park, with some 200 full-time jobs. And on the Themed Entertainment Association’s 2019 listing of the top 20 North American parks in attendance, our Sea World didn’t even make the list.

And if Disney decided not to make a home in San Antonio, the city was able to accommodate USAA’s vision of a music-oriented theme park developed in cooperation with the Opryland folks, Fiesta Texas, which got its own abatement deal. Not only did that venture fail to make us Orlando, it ended up effectively competing with Sea World to cannibalize local theme park demand.

With the ability to dole out tax abatements in the name of “economic development,” we subsidized Bausch & Lomb to make Ray-Ban sunglasses on Castroville Road — at least until it moved that work out of the country.

And all those trips to Japan — and another tax abatement — got us Colin Medical devices, which also disappeared. Then there was Golden Aluminum, later Alcoa, recycling aluminum cans, until the plant was shuttered. The same way lottery ticket printer BABN, later renamed Oberthur Gaming, closed up and left town.

All of Henry Cisneros’ courting of high tech got us the Sony Microelectronics plant. Until Sony decided not to make chips here, and the empty building acquired a new use: housing the National Security Agency’s cryptology center. And let’s not forget one of the grandest tax abatement deals of all — accommodating the move of AT&T, then Southwestern Bell, from St. Louis to the former Republic Bank building on Houston Street. That lasted until AT&T got a new CEO who decided that the Dallas area was a better address

— with better air service — for a corporate headquarters.

So, the local track record for “economic development” hasn’t necessarily been stellar. All too often, the city has doled out subsidies in the name of “job creation” and development with a grand set of promises. The PGA/TPC deal that built the JW Marriott was supposed to put us on the map as a golf resort destination, “the next Phoenix,” according to one San Antonio Chamber of Commerce leader. Instead, we just got a big hotel with a 20-plus-year non-annexation agreement to avoid city taxes.

What we end up with all too often is a lot of hot air and empty buildings.

So, a couple of suggestions. You might want to try educating senior city staff and city council about a different, broader vision of economic development. At the very least, we shouldn’t be doling out abatements to move a credit union from Interstate 10 to Broadway.

You also might want to provide for a little more transparency about the economic development deals we do.

A quick look at the “active incentive agreements” on the department’s website shows the latest information is from December 2019. We shouldn’t have to wait years to see if something like the city’s investment in InCube is actually delivering.

Heywood Sanders is a professor of public policy at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

sacurrent.com | August 11 – August 24, 2021 | CURRENT

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Sanford Nowlin

CURRENT EVENTS

Here We Go Again

How bad is San Antonio’s latest wave of COVID infections? The choice is yours.

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

W

e were warned about this.

For months, the nation’s public health experts told us exactly what would happen if enough of us didn’t roll up our sleeves and step up for our Fauci ouchies. And now here we are.

The highly contagious delta variant has led to a new surge in San Antonio-area COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. Alarmingly, that wave comes just before school restarts and children too young to be vaccinated head back to the classroom.

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Compounding the problem, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has banned local authorities from requiring masks in schools, imposing business limits or requiring public employees to get vaccinated. As the Republican governor looks to 2022 reelection and a possible 2024 presidential run, he has repeatedly appealed to his anti-vaccine base by saying shots are matter of personal choice.

So, with local officials’ hands largely tied, San Antonians are on their own to mitigate this dangerous new chapter in the pandemic.

CURRENT | August 11 – August 24, 2021 | sacurrent.com

To be sure, many are stepping up.

It’s encouraging that for the second straight week, new vaccinations are increasing in Bexar County.

As of Friday, more than 1.3 million Bexar residents age 12 and over have now received at least one dose of vaccine. Local pop-up clinics administered roughly 6,700 jabs in July, up 76% from the 3,800 they gave in June.

It’s also encouraging that some local businesses are taking creative steps to get their staffs inoculated. Jody Bailey Newman, owner of Southtown’s The Friendly Spot, for example, offered individual incentives to her employees to get their shots and promised a raffle once they hit a 100% vaccination rate.

Her staff is now fully vaccinated, and her bar has staged two “beer and a shot” pop-up clinics, offering residents a free beer and a tequila shot in exchange for jab from a local medical provider.

“I wonder if the average person who’s doubting the vaccine and debating the science is really thinking about the effect that their choice has on their

Mel Ramos gets vaccinated at The Friendly Spot’s ‘beer and a shot’ pop-up clinic.

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neighbors and friends,” Bailey Newman said.

Running the numbers But even with those efforts, just 63.9% of Bexar County’s total population is fully vaccinated.

While there’s no scientific consensus about achieving herd immunity, public health experts point out that inoculations are key to making the coronavirus a manageable threat. Vaccinations are no guarantee a person won’t contract COVID-19, but they’re far less likely to end up hospitalized.

It’s now time for those who haven’t yet received the vaccine to recognize that doing so is about more than the personal responsibility the governor has repeatedly trumpeted. It’s about responsibility to the larger community.

Courtesy Photo University Health System

Local hospitals are already becoming stressed by the climbing cases, and medical workers say they are being pushed to the brink of burnout.

With the delta variant now accounting for four of five local cases, new data models from University of Texas at San Antonio mathematician Juan B. Gutiérrez suggest San Antonio could experience 50,000 to 200,000 new infections during the current wave. Those infections area likely to bring 700 to 3,000 additional deaths, mostly among the unvaccinated.

“Clearly, 200,000 is the maximum, but we could reach that if there’s no change in behavior,” said Gutiérrez, who has tracked the virus since it arrived on U.S. shores. “Because this strain is so transmissible, we run the risk of overwhelming out hospital systems much more quickly.”

Data also suggests that children are more likely to face serious health outcomes from the delta variant than they did during the earlier stages of the pandemic. At a press briefing last week, city and county officials revealed that

an infant was under hospital care after contracting the coronavirus — a local first — and that a four-year-old was being treated on a ventilator.

“This is different. This delta variant is different,” Dr. Charles Hankins, senior vice president of pediatrics at CHRISTUS Health, warned. “If parents and those 12 and up can get vaccinated, we can protect those who aren’t old enough to get vaccinated.”

Gutiérrez is troubled by the lack of mask mandates in public schools, calling them the “space of susceptibility” that could lead to numbers closer to his worst-case projections.

Shorten this wave While Abbott has told local officials he won’t allow them to impose new restrictions on businesses, it’s almost inevitable that public-facing enterprises and cultural institutions will be further damaged if this wave continues to worsen.

Event cancellations are already beginning to rack up. Pop-culture

convention Celebrity Fan Fest scrapped its latest installment after three of its headliners withdrew amid fears of the rising wave, and the River Rodeo music fest pushed back to 2022, saying it couldn’t guarantee the safety of attendees.

For small businesses and arts institutions already on the ropes after more than 16 months of lockdowns and uncertainty, riding out another severe surge could be devastating. The same goes for the workers who rely on them for their paychecks.

It’s unclear how willing Congress will be to write another round of relief checks to soften the blow for both.

“Maybe you don’t think that you need that shot, but your community needs you to get it,” the Friendly Spot’s Bailey Newman said, summing up the urgency.

To her point, it’s now time for everyone in the San Antonio community — vaccinated and unvaccinated — to do our part to shorten this wave and ensure the numbers don’t reach the grim upper end of UTSA professor

Gutiérrez’s projections.

Those still legitimately concerned about the health effects of getting their shots should step away from Twitter and TV, meet with their doctors and access information based on science, not memes and conjecture.

Those who refuse the vaccine because they’re eager to make a political point, should reflect on the real-world implications of that choice. Surely, there are far more productive and less selfish ways to air their grievances.

Those of us who are already vaccinated aren’t off the hook. We should speak to friends and loved ones who haven’t yet taken the step. Not to scold and ridicule, tempting as that may be, but to express concern for their safety and those around them.

Finally, all of us should also put on our masks — even though those weeks without them in public places were a big relief — because it’s the least we can do to protect the city we call home.

To find a vaccination clinic or pop-up location, visit covid19.sanantonio.gov/ What-YOU-Can-Do/Vaccination.

sacurrent.com | August 11 – August 24, 2021 | CURRENT

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CURRENT | August 11 – August 24, 2021 | sacurrent.com

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Last year has been tough.

Join us for a summer of resilience.

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To register for events, visit tpr.org sacurrent.com | August 11 – August 24, 2021 | CURRENT

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CURRENT | August 11 – August 24, 2021 | sacurrent.com

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The Harold Lloyd Trust

THU | 08.12 FILM

SAFETY LAST!

Texas Public Radio and Slab Cinema are teaming up to

screen the 1923 silent romantic comedy starring Harold

Lloyd. In the movie, Lloyd plays a young man who travels to the big city to find a job, so he can make enough money to

marry his girlfriend. If you’ve never heard of the classic film

before, you’ve probably seen a clip of its most famous scene: Lloyd’s character dangling from a clock on the outside of a

skyscraper. If you haven’t, contemporary actor Christopher

Lloyd (no relation) pays homage to the scene in 1985’s Back to the Future. In 1994, Safety Last! was added to the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry for being “culturally,

historically, or aesthetically significant.” The film also stars Mildred Davis (Temporary Marriage), with whom Lloyd had worked with more than a dozen times on past short films

and features and eventually married in real life. Lloyd was known as the King of Daredevil Comedy at that time, but

after his 1980 death, a stuntman revealed that Lloyd climbed a fake building during the shoot, and that it was he who

did the actual stunt work. Space is limited, so registration

on Eventbrite is encouraged. Free, 8 p.m., Legacy Park, 103 W. Houston St., facebook.com/TPRCinema. — Kiko Martinez

Courtesy Photo / Tobin Center for the Performing Arts

FRI | 08.13 COMEDY

ILIZA SCHLESINGER

Comedian Iliza Schlesinger isn’t about to settle. “It’s easy to vilify women because our voices have been so underrepresented,” Schlesinger recently told ABC News. “It’s easy to make us into the enemy. Women are supposed to be grateful, and we’re supposed to just like whatever we’re given.” Instead, the 2008 winner of Last Comic Standing is calling her own shots. Schlesinger has five Netflix comedy specials under her belt, including 2019’s Unveiled, where she jokes about traditional weddings. Her relationship with Netflix over the past eight years has been a strong one. She also starred in the streaming giant’s 2020 action-comedy Spenser Confidential opposite Mark Wahlberg, its 2020 drama Pieces of a Woman opposite Vanessa Kirby and her own sketch comedy series, The Iliza Shlesinger Sketch Show, which premiered last April.

This year, the comic starred in, wrote and produced Netflix’s Good on Paper. The “mostly true” romantic comedy features Schlesinger as a stand-up comedian and aspiring actress who falls for the perfect guy, then finds out he’s been fibbing about some of his boyfriend credentials. If you think Schlesinger’s brand of comedy is funny, check this box. $49.50-$165, 7 p.m., Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, 100 Auditorium Circle, (210) 223-8624, tobincenter.org. — KM

Courtesy Photo / LOL Comedy Club

THU | 08.12 COMEDY

JESUS TREJO The word “heartwarming” doesn’t exactly spring to mind when it comes to standup comics. Unless it comes to Jesus Trejo. Trejo’s done a Showtime standup special and appears on shows including Mr. Iglesias, Alone Together and Teachers.

Reminder:

Although live events have returned, the COVID-19 pandemic is still with us. Check with venues to make sure scheduled events are still happening, and please follow all health and safety guidelines.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT, SAN ANTONIO!

improvtx.com/sanantonio | 618 Nw Loop 410, SaN ANTONIO, TX 78216 | 210•541•8805

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AUG 12

AUG 13 AUG 15

AUG 20 AUG 21

AUG 26 AUG 28

SEP 3 SEP 5

SEP 9 SEP 11

SEP 17 SEP 19

Jesus Trejo

Corey Holcomb

Jeff Ross

Cristela Alonzo

DeRay Davis

Carlos Mencia

D.L. Hughley

CURRENT | August 11 – August 24, 2021 | sacurrent.com

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That’s standard fare for a successful comedian. The “heartwarming” thing comes in via a documentary the AARP made about the comic when he was at the ripe old age of 33. As the film Care to Laugh reveals, Trejo enjoys telling jokes about caring for his “kids,” actually his parents, both of whom are in their 70s and face health issues. The documentary shows Trejo balancing his career, doing open mics and high-tailing it home to give his mom an insulin injection. Heck, it even shows his parents tagging along to a gig. The film’s director called Trejo an “incredible human.” If that’s not heartwarming, well, you may have a cold, dead heart. $50-$160, 8 p.m., Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club, 618 Northwest Loop 410, (210) 541-8805, improvtx.com/ sanantonio. — Mike McMahan

Courtesy of Tobin Center for the Performing Arts

TUE | 08.17 – WED | 08.18 SPECIAL EVEN T

MAKS & VAL: STRIPPED DOWN Perhaps you remember new waver Adam Ant’s ’80s hit “Strip.” Well, this event has nothing to do with that song, except for one big thing — and we’ll give you a hint: it’s not Adam Ant. Brothers Maks and Val Chmerkovskiy will be, uh, “getting real” with the crowd, baring their souls “intimately” with storytelling, humor and, of course, dancing.

You may know Maks from his 15 seasons on Dancing with the Stars. He found his first taste of success as an instructor when he mentored Val — then age 16 — to win a world junior championship. The brothers first toured in 2016 with Maks & Val Live On Tour: Our Way, a performance that featured their life stories told through a prism of dance. Val recently told E! News, “It’s just a really feel-good evening, and we feel really grateful that we’re going to be the first act a lot of people are going to go out to theatre for [post-COVID].” Stripped Down is billed as “taking you closer to the boys than ever before.” It’s a safe bet that promise is both figurative and literal. $39.50-$75, 7:30 p.m., Tobin Center

WWE

MON | 08.16 SPORTS

WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW

RAW World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Champion Bobby Lashley, RAW Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley, Charlotte Flair, Drew McIntyre and Randy Orton are only a few of the big-name pro wrestlers on the schedule when the WWE comes to San Antonio’s AT&T Center with its popular TV series. The live event takes place five days before the highly anticipated annual SummerSlam pay-per-view event in which Roman Reigns will fight John Cena for the WWE Universal Championship. Also included on the SummerSlam card are a match between Lashley and Goldberg and another with Ripley and Flair jumping into the ring with Nikki A.S.H. for a shot at the belt. We’re not sure if superstars like Cena and Reigns will show up to Monday night’s show — probably not — but there are still plenty of luchadores coming out to give San Antonio fanatics their fix.

And there have been plenty of those fans supporting the league over the past 25 years. In 1997, the Alamo City posted the third-largest U.S. attendance at a WWE event when it hosted the Royal Rumble at the Alamodome with 60,447 fans in the stands. Since then, that number has fallen to 15th in the record books, but the enthusiasm for all things WWE has still remains strong in the Alamo City. $20-$175, 6:30 p.m., AT&T Center, One AT&T Center Parkway, (210) 444-5140, attcenter.com. — KM

for The Performing Arts, 100 Auditorium Circle, (210) 223-8624, tobincenter. org. — MM

sacurrent.com | August 11 – August 24, 2021 | CURRENT

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La Villita, located on the River Walk, offers over 20 galleries, restaurants, and artisan boutiques with unique, handcrafted treasures.

Open Daily

Restaurant hours may vary

La Villita | 418 Villita Street lavillitasanantonio.com @LaVillitaHistoricArtsVillage 20

CURRENT | August 11 – August 24, 2021 | sacurrent.com

calendar

FRI | 08.20

Shout! Factory

FI LM

MARONA’S FANTASTIC TALE

When Marona, a half-Labrador mix, is involved in a tragic accident, her life flashes before her eyes, taking her and the audience through a tour of her memories and the many stories she’s lived in a single lifespan. The telling of Marona’s life isn’t a simple one, but instead filled with lessons of love, belonging and purpose that blur the lines between a cartoon dog’s story and the human experience. Bring along a box of tissues — trust us, you’ll need it — along with blankets and your favorite snacks, and enjoy the film’s unique visuals and beautiful storytelling while relaxing on the lawn of the San Antonio Museum of Art. The screening will feature an English-dubbed version of the film, originally in French. Free, 8 p.m., San Antonio Museum of Art, 200 W. Jones Ave., (210) 978-8100, samuseum.org — Dana Nichols

TUE | 08.24 CLASSICAL MUSIC

AGARITA For the ensemble’s latest collaborative concert, Agarita has joined forces with the San Antonio Museum of Art for a free performance that will be held in the museum’s Great Hall. The program takes inspiration from SAMA’s current exhibition, “America’s Impressionism: Echoes of a Revolution.” Attendees are encouraged to come early and take in the exhibition prior to the performance, which will feature late-Romantic and impressionistic European compositions as well as early 20th-century works that “evoke colorful American scenes and soundscapes.”

Free, 5:30 p.m., San Antonio Museum of Art, 200 W. Jones Ave., (210) 9788100, agarita.org. — Kelly Merka Nelson

Courtesy of Agarita

sacurrent.com | August 11 – August 24, 2021 | CURRENT

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Timely Reinvention

The Texas Biennial lands in San Antonio with a powerful program exploring race, immigration and activism

BY BRYAN RINDFUSS

O

nce upon a time, the term “biennial” applied to the arts elicited one thing only: La Biennale di Venezia, a twice-annual exhibition inaugurated in 1895.

Over the course of its 126-year history, that iconic institution grew into an expansive international affair that birthed its own discipline-focused spinoffs, including the Venice International Film Festival. It also inspired adaptations across the globe — from New York’s Whitney Biennial, founded in 1932, to Korea’s Gwangju Biennale, founded in 1995.

In 2005, Austin artists Rachel Koper, Jon Lawrence, Shea Little, Arturo Palacios, Joseph Phillips and Jana Swec launched the Texas Biennial to showcase artists living and working in the Lone Star State. After three outings, the Texas Biennial merged with Austin nonprofit Big Medium in 2011 and stretched beyond the capital — first to San Antonio and Houston, then to Dallas and Marfa. As its geographic and curatorial scope expanded, its format became unpredictable and unclear, resulting in confusion and even disinterest. Further muddying the waters, the Texas Biennial took a gap year in 2015 — only to reemerge in 2017 with a statewide survey hosted in a head-scratcher of a venue: the KC Grey Home Furniture warehouse in Southeast Austin.

As peculiar and disorienting as it looked upon arrival, that location represented a calculated risk taken by curator Leslie Moody Castro.

“I wanted that space for a lot of reasons,” Moody Castro told the Current in 2019. “I was really fighting [the idea of] being in a clean white cube. It was immediately [after Trump’s election] … and I was seeing the anger about the new president … the race issues really bubbling to the surface and people saying, ‘The white cube is not working for us because we do not identify with those things.’”

In the end, the whole thing worked in an odd but memorable way — once you got past the overstuffed recliners in the lobby.

To state the obvious, the world has changed in overwhelming ways since the Texas Biennial’s last installment. Originally slated to open in the fall of 2020, its next chapter was placed in the able hands of Houston-born co-curators Ryan N. Dennis and Evan Garza.

“The past iterations of the Texas Biennial have focused exclusively on artists living and working in Texas,” Garza pointed out. “That was the first aspect we wanted to change. The real origin point for me and Ryan was that — before we got started selecting artists and doing studio visits — we had a conversation about expanding the parameters for artists.

That’s partly because Ryan and I are both from Houston, which is an incredibly international city. A lot

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CURRENT | August 11 - August 24, 2021 | sacurrent.com

Barbara Miñarro

of the larger cities in Texas are extremely diverse in their makeup — and everything that happens in Texas has a kind of global impact. And so it made sense for us to organize the project in a way that spoke to that diversity but then also spoke to the countless points of entry into a conversation about Texas. [So] we expanded our artist parameters to include Texas natives living and working anywhere in the world and also international artists for whom Texas and its history have been a subject matter for some time.”

Beyond the hurdles presented by the pandemic — which shifted studio visits to a virtual format — both Dennis and Garza moved out of state shortly after their appointments as co-curators. Dennis landed in Jackson, Mississippi, and Garza landied in Washington, D.C. With support from Presa House Gallery co-director Rigoberto Luna, Big Medium curator and programming director Coka Treviño and Texas Biennial co-founder Shea Little, the duo organized the exhibition remotely. After selecting from some 850 open-call applicants, Dennis and Garza extended invitations to roughly 25 they felt complemented the program.

The result is “A New Landscape, A Possible Horizon,” an ambitious project uniting 51 artists and five institutions. Although “intentionally broad in its scope,” the 2021 Texas Biennial centers on timely concerns such as racial and social justice, immigration and border issues, not to mention the increasingly pervasive intersections of art and activism. In hopes of unpacking the various components of “A New Landscape, A Possible Horizon,” we spoke to Garza as he and Luna mapped things out in a still-empty gallery on the second floor of the San Antonio Museum of Art.

How did you and Ryan decide to split the Texas Biennial between Houston and San Antonio?

2021 Texas Biennial co-curators and artistic directors Evan Garza and Ryan N. Dennis photographed at Ruby City’s Chris Park.

M

We didn’t. When we realized that it didn’t make any public health sense to squeeze everyone into one warehouse because of COVID, we immediately started reaching out to possible museum partners to host exhibitions that would make up a larger, sort of iterative choreography of exhibitions and programs. So, we actually didn’t decide to seek out San Antonio or Houston — or Marfa or El Paso. We really cast a wide net, and these were the institutions that came back and said, “We would love to work with you.” And we just had the most support among San Antonio museums. That may have had to do with the nature of our project; it may have also had to do with the nature of their exhibition calendars.

How did you go about distributing work between the museums?

We knew that the presentation at Ruby City would be sculptural. … And then we took a look at our available spaces at SAMA and the McNay and essentially tried to make the most concise presentation of work where artists could really be in conversation with one another.

If Ruby City is sculptural, is there anything that designates the other components? And how are the San Antonio artists distributed?

The answer is no. There’s a purely interdisciplinary conversation happening at SAMA and the McNay. And there’s a pretty even distribution of San Antonio artists. … But in terms of trying to break down what’s happening at each venue, we have two Black wom-

arts

en at Artpace: Kaneem Smith and Alisha B. Wormsley. Kaneem works in site-specific installation and Alisha’s work is more conceptual, with a community engagement aspect.

The presentation at Ruby City is focused primarily on issues of race — the legacy of racism and racial prejudice. At SAMA, there are myriad points of entry into the conversation. … In terms of thematic connections, I would say that the conversations at the McNay and SAMA are actually quite broad and inclusive.

Are there any “wow moments” we can mention?

As the curator, I’m not allowed to have favorites. I guess what I would say to that point is that in order to get the full picture, you really need to see all five venues. They are five distinct conversations with five distinct groupings of artists. And in each venue, there is a different vantage point into contemporary art practice as it relates to the state of Texas. By and large, the Biennial really centers [around] issues of racial and social justice, issues of border and immigrant justice. In each and every one of our locations, activism is the blood that runs throughout the whole project. … There are really big, important moments at each venue. And that’s on purpose, that is by design.

Texas Biennial Cheat Sheet Artpace

The Texas Biennial’s most compact component takes shape in a two-woman presentation pairing Houston-based Kaneem Smith and Pittsburgh-based Alisha B. Wormsley.

While Smith takes over Artpace’s Main Avenue windows with a tapestry that employs burlap coffee bags to comment on colonialism, ethical trade and civil rights, Wormsley presents the latest manifestation of her billboard project There Are Black People in the Future on the building’s exterior. August 5-December 26, Artpace, 445 N. Main Ave., (210) 212-4900, artpace.org.

McNay Art Museum

Spread across four galleries, the McNay’s por-

Steve Parker, Sirens (Courtesy Photo / Steve Parker)

tion of the Texas Biennial promises a broad discourse with contributions from Irish artist John Gerard, Rome Prize-winning Austinite Steve Parker and the interdisciplinary collective Filipinx Artists of Houston, among others. Be on the lookout for El Paso-born Artpace alum Adriana Corral’s Latitudes, a multi-language text-based series centered on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and a piece created specifically for the Texas Biennial by Donald Moffett, a New York-based San Antonio native whose 1987 anti-Reagan poster He Kills Me factored prominently into the activism of AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP). September 31-January 31, McNay Art Museum, 6000 N. New Braunfels Ave., (210) 824-5368, mcnayart.org.

Studio at Ruby City

Museum of Art, 200 W. Jones Ave., (210) 9788100, samuseum.org.

FotoFest

“I would really love to see our San Antonio audiences make the trip to Houston,” Garza said of this complementary exhibition presented by the nonprofit FotoFest. Organized in collaboration with associate curator Max Fields, “In Place of an Index” showcases lens-based works by 12 artists, including Dallas-born, New York-based artist and filmmaker Ja’Tovia Gary’s three-channel installation The Giverny Suite and New York-based Houston native Autumn Knight’s text-enhanced video Meesh. September 2 – November 13, Silver Street Studios, 2000 Edwards St., (713) 223-5522, fotofest.org.

Visually anchored by Houston-based artist Mich Stevenson’s Yellowjacket No. 3 — three glowing cones of canvas dyed with turmeric and suspended from the ceiling — Ruby City’s sculptural arm of the Texas Biennial deftly tackles issues of race and social justice.

Of particular interest is Austin-based Ariel René Jackson’s piece The next life of property, which employs chalk, chalkboard paint and a precariously hung chair to address the history of segregated school systems in the United States. August 5-January 30, Studio at Ruby City, 111 Camp St., (210) 227-8400, rubycity.org.

San Antonio Museum of Art

Colby Deal, Ethereal (Beautiful, Still) (Courtesy Photo / Colby Deal)

Wide-ranging in its focus, SAMA’s piece of the puzzle combines works by 14 artists that run the gamut from rising talents to Texas legends. Hosted between SAMA’s Contemporary II Gallery and Great Hall, the exhibition features a suite of U.S.-Mexico border-focused etchings by beloved San Antonio native Vincent Valdez, a site-specific installation by multidisciplinary artist Abhidnya Ghuge, Houston photographer Colby Deal’s masterful black-and-white image Ethereal (Beautiful, Still) and a multimedia installation by fast-rising San Antonio artist José Villalobos. August 20-December 5, San Antonio

Ariel René Jackson, The next life of property (Courtesy Photo / Ariel René Jackson)

Find more arts coverage every day at sacurrent.com

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CURRENT | August 11 - August 24, 2021 | sacurrent.com

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CURRENT | August 11 - August 24, 2020 | sacurrent.com

Fast and furious filmmakers will screen their movies this week at San Antonio’s 48Hour Film Festival

BY KIKO MARTINEZ

I

f the 48-Hour Film Project — or 48HFP, as it’s known among the cognoscenti — was an athletic competition, Philip Nelson, producer of San Antonio’s 48Hour Film Festival, said it would be akin to a marathon.

“In other film competitions, winning is all anyone cares about,” he said. “With the 48HFP, being able to say you competed and submitted a film on time is already a huge win for everyone. The most important thing is to cross the finish line.”

Unlike a marathon, however, the 48HFP is a team sport. At the start of the contest, individuals come together to form a filmmaking crew. Each team is then given a character, a prop and line of dialogue they must use in their short. They are also given two options for their movie’s genre.

At that point, teams have just 48 hours to write, shoot and edit their masterpieces.

Atlanta Comedy Film Festival.

Cities from across the world have partic“I had dreams of being a Hollywood screenipated in the 48HFP since its inception in writer in my youth but life interfered,” Mabry 2001. San Antonio jumped into the action in said. “I never lost my passion to create and 2005. This year, 16 teams entered the local write. The 48HFP offered me a way to live out competition, and all 16 teams finished their one of my goals in life and make a movie.” movie — a rare feat, according to Nelson.

This is the fifth year Mabry has participated “Even the national office was impressed in the 48HFP. He said it’s something he anticthat all the teams finished,” he said. “Teams ipates each year “like an eight-year-old looks always start but sometimes edits don’t go forward to Christmas.” well, or they can’t find the locations they “The energy, pressure and near-instant need. Some people tweak their movie so gratification of walking much that they don’t get it in away after a weekend with on time.”

48-Hour Film a completed short film is All the shorts will screen Festival Screening like nothing else that I’ve at the Brick at Blue Star on Wednesday, August 11, experienced,” he said. “It is Wednesday, August 11 start6:30 p.m. absolutely exhausting and ing at 6:30 p.m.

The Brick incredibly satisfying.”

Director Rob Mabry led 108 Blue Star 78204 Like Mabry, Cecilio “Chopone of the teams involved (210) 262-8653 48hourfilm.com per” Martinez considers himin this session’s screening.

Admission: $15 self a hobbyist. His film for His film A Dish Served Cold is the 48HFP, Candlelight, is a about a “Martha Stewart-like superhero flick about a man media personality” who escapes from prison to take revenge on a young searching for redemption. Martinez and his crew shot at San Antonio locations including protégé. the Golden Wat Noodle House, Our Lady of Mabry, who currently works as a software Sorrows Church and the film’s namesake, the development manager, didn’t start making Candlelight Coffeehouse. movies until he was 50. Although he conWhen he’s not making movies, Martinez is siders filmmaking a hobby, his past work a Geographic Information System manager has been screened at festivals including the for a regional transportation organization.

Austin Comedy Short Film Festival and the

screens

Race to the Finish

Courtesy Photo / Cecilio Martinez

“As a director, I try to be collaborative with the cast and crew,” he said. “Sometimes you run out of ideas or things don’t work out, and you have to put your heads together to work through the scenes.”

Local filmmaker Don Espiritu has participated in the 48HFP six times prior to this year. His current entry, the pseudo-documentary Gemini, is about two sci-fi actors, one of whom disappears at the peak of his career under mysterious circumstances.

An optometrist by trade, Espiritu said he likes making movies because the craft is so different than what he does in his professional career.

“It’s a very stressful, crazy, hurried, hilarious, creative, fun and rewarding project,” he said. “I consider myself an amateur filmmaker who does it more for the enjoyment. It’s something that absolutely takes me out of my comfort zone. I don’t expect to ever have a career in filmmaking, but it’s a rush for me.”

For Espiritu, the 48HFP has taught him to be a more confident team leader. It’s also allowed him to interact with people he probably wouldn’t otherwise have met.

“There is this closeness that happens on the set that I don’t really experience in any other situation,” he said. “And at the end of it all, there is a movie — a movie that didn’t exist on Friday and is now finished on Sunday.”

Find more film stories at sacurrent.com

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food

River-Level Revamp

Hotel Contessa’s upgraded Ambler Texas Kitchen isn’t just pretty to look at

BY NINA RANGEL

W

hen I first learned that the river-level restaurant at San Antonio’s Hotel Contessa had been renovated and rebranded, I’ll admit I wasn’t exactly looking forward to a visit. My last to the hotel was circa 2015, and my memory focused on a dingy, slightly off-smelling water feature that spanned one wall of the cavernous, almost dungeon-like river-level lobby. I felt a tinge of dining PTSD brought on by thoughts of dark upholstery, heavily traveled area rugs and awkwardly placed up-lighting that, let’s face it, flatters no one.

Color me shocked when I visited the hotel again this spring, about a month after the newly renovated eatery, Ambler Texas Kitchen + Cocktails, opened its doors. A brighter, airier color palette of rust, cream and royal blue now reflects the sunlight spilling in from floor-to-ceiling windows. In other words: a much more welcoming vibe than I remembered. The rectangular bar is at once stylishly modern and a tad rustic, creating an approachable space at the heart of the venue and hinting to potential diners what kind of culinary experience awaits.

One my first visit, my dining partner and I started with the Texas pantry board and the roasted cauliflower and chorizo queso. The pantry board — Ambler’s take on charcuterie — was loaded with house-smoked duck and Tasso ham, beef jerky, Texas cheeses, jalapeño honey and tart pickles. The succulent smoked duck was easily our favorite protein, and we slathered the herb-heavy Texas goat cheese over toasted crostini with gusto.

While the queso ran the risk of joining Ambler’s house guacamole as a token River Walk Tex-Mex appetizer, the slightly gamey chorizo flavor that permeated the gooey cheese helped elevate the dish. At any rate, it warranted a to-go box.

For the main events, we stuck with the Gulf red snapper and chili-glazed short rib.

The snapper featured a chorizo crust, lightly dressed summer vegetable medley and a tangy verde sauce. The fish itself was seasoned and cooked expertly, though the sauce, which looked more like a punchy chimichurri at first glance, ended up being unexpectedly bland. The short rib was fall-off-the-bone tender, rendering the steak knife I’d been given ahead of the meal unnecessary.

An enchilada featuring a charred root veg-

Nina Rangel

etable filling stuffed inside thinly sliced potatoes, rather than quick-fried corn tortillas a la my abuela, was topped with crisp, uber-fresh pico de gallo and offered a creative accompaniment to the short rib.

I’m not necessarily interested in living a tortilla-free life, but this creative take on an enchilada certainly got my home-cook wheels turning.

My Riverwalk Sangria was presented in a glass that could have easily doubled as a fishbowl. The drink was delightfully tannic, and fresh citrus complimented the sweet notes of the wine without pushing it into syrupy-sweet territory.

A second, solo happy hour visit afforded me a prime seat at the bar from which to people-watch while noshing on the house guacamole with crab meat and crispy fried

vegetables with a delicious horseradish-chive remoulade. The addition of crab to the guac costs a little extra, but the difference in texture and taste were well worth the upcharge.

I nursed a Spill the Tea cocktail, which features green tea-infused Tito’s vodka, peach puree, salted honey, lemon and a dash of absinthe. Garnished with an expertly activated bouquet of mint, the flavors proved balanced and botanical, making for a refreshing afternoon sipper.

Ambler’s recent top-to-bottom renovation provides a straightforward compliment to the revamped food and cocktail menus. The new look of the eatery offers a brighter, more approachable space where diners from near and far can indulge in traditional South Texas fare with thoughtful, sometimes even unexpected, twists.

AMBLER TEXAS KITCHEN + COCKTAILS 306 W. Market St. | (210) 229-9222 | amblersanantonio.com Breakfast: Monday-Friday 7–11 a.m. | Saturday-Sunday 7–11:30 a.m.

Brunch: Saturday-Sunday 11:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m.

Lunch: Monday-Friday noon–2:30 p.m.

Dinner: Monday–Thursday, Sunday 5:30-10:00 p.m. | Friday-Saturday 5:30-10:30 p.m. | Sunday 5:30-9:30 p.m.

Price point: Lunch dishes from $10-20, dinner entrees cap out at $40 Best bets: Chili-glazed short rib, Texas pantry board, house guacamole with crab, Spill the Tea cocktail The skinny: The new owners of luxury downtown spot Hotel Contessa revamped its restaurant space, along with its food and drink menus for a much-needed update. The results are, hopefully, indicative of SA’s emerging hotel culinary scene.

While it may seem like luxury hotels are cropping up downtown every week, Ambler Texas Kitchen + Cocktails sets itself apart with an approachable, comfort food-focused angle to its fare.

Find more food & drink news at sacurrent.com

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CURRENT | August 11 – August 24, 2021 | sacurrent.com

food Recognizing Their Worth The pandemic has forced women in the restaurant industry to reevaluate how it values their work

W

ho’s got time to click through all the food stories coming out of Countdown City these days? We get it, you’re busy and just need quick tidbits to get you caught up on the latest culinary happenings.

Welcome to Hot Dish, where we offer up the latest savory scoops in quick, easy-to-digest servings.

BY NINA RANGEL

I

n a series of studies from last year, economists documented the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and its financial fallout on women, particularly in service professions.

As they inventoried the damage, they adopted the term “She-Cession” to describe the devastating, long-term impacts on women in the restaurant industry — financial and otherwise. Local experts say that she-cession has been felt especially hard in San Antonio, whose economy is heavily reliant on service sector jobs.

“We’ve seen long-term analysis that shows that women occupy certain jobs at a higher rate than men do … especially in places like San Antonio, where you have a lot of Hispanic women working in hospitality, education, nursing, but they also have children.

They’re the caregivers on top of it all,” said Belinda Román, a St. Mary’s University economics professor.

“Sadly, the pandemic has made it bubble to the forefront,” she added. “Because this economic change has been different than the change we saw, let’s say, during the [2007-2009] financial crisis, which hit men more than it did women.”

A May report from advocacy group One Fair Wage and the UC Berkeley Food Labor Research Center posits that the restaurant industry, which is one of the largest employers of women and subminimum wage workers nationwide, plays a pivotal role in perpetuating inequality among women, particularly women of color and working mothers.

“I’ve always been able to make it by, but in this industry, the idea of having a ‘livable wage,’ or putting any significant amount of money into savings for my kids, is a fucking pipe dream,” said Teresa, a 14-year veteran of the bar and restaurant industry. She used a pseudonym for fear of workplace retaliation.

“To hear that people are pushing for that right now is nice, but if I quit because my boss won’t give me $15 an hour, my spot will be filled with some 21-year-old girl within days,” added Teresa, a mother of schoolaged twins. “That’s just how it is.”

‘Low wages and tips’ The One Fair Wage report surveyed more than 4,800 foodservice workers from October 20, 2020, to May 1, 2021, and found that more than 75% were considering leaving their job due to “low wages and tips.”

“COVID health risks” was second most common.

Reflective of the demographics of tipped service workers, the majority (74%) of survey respondents

OPENINGS Bar Loretta, located in the space that formerly housed iconic Southtown spot Madhatter’s Tea House, is now open.

UnSplash / Spencer Davis

were women. However, conditions are more severe for working mothers, according to the study. Nationwide, working moms reported contracting COVID-19 at higher rates than all other workers — 26% versus 19%.

What’s more, 70% of working moms reported that they’d experienced or witnessed hostile behavior from guests as a direct response to their enforcement of COVID-19 safety protocols.

Health marshals Indeed, since Texas restaurants were largely allowed to reopen, workers have been forced to become de facto health marshals, trying to enforce mask and social distancing protocols in what the Centers for Disease Control called one of the pandemic’s most dangerous environments.

Experts say those conditions have exacerbated pre-existing issues such as low hourly pay, sexual harassment, lack of health insurance and long hours.

Workers themselves say it’s not difficult to see why so many choose to leave.

“If you have access to a phone, and you’re on social media, there’s no excuse for not knowing how bad it can be,” said Alexandra Davalos, a downtown SA server-turned-county employee.

“But people who have never worked in the industry are sort of ignorant to emotional, physical toll it can take on a person. The hospitality life is historically not one that’s sustainable for everyone, and people have had enough of the way things used to be.”

However, Román said there’s been one factor that employers weren’t counting on as they struggle to emerge from the pandemic slump: female workers’ realization of their own worth.

“They’ve never before had time to stop and say, ‘Wait a minute. $7.50 an hour? I’m worth much more than that, and my family needs more than that,’” she said. “By now, most have had the chance to step back and reevaluate. Just imagine if we equalized pay for women, and everyone was a full-fledged partner in this economy. Imagine what that could do for our community. It’s just very hard to sell that idea because people tend to think, ‘Your gain is my loss.’ And it doesn’t have to be that way.”

Health-focused Roots Salad Kitchen has opened in Southtown’s Flats at Big Tex, 403 Blue Star.

Puro shaved-ice shop Ice Ice Baby’s second location is now open in Northeast San Antonio near Douglas MacArthur High School.

New Japanese restaurant Toro’ko Sushi has begun serving at 158 E. Sonterra Blvd.

Iced-tea chain HTeaO, famous for offering over 500 flavor combinations, will open a second San Antonio store in the Medical Center on August 13.

Craft beer haven Big Hops Growler Station will set up a West Side location this fall on Potranco Road outside Loop 1604.

Popular food truck Naco Mexican Eatery will establish a brickand-mortar location at the Los Patios complex this fall.

Wild Barley Kitchen and Brewery will serve up wood-fired sourdough bagels, bread and pizza inside the space at 2202 Broadway St. that until recently housed Lee’s Taco Garage.

Northeast San Antonio will gain a new seafood house this summer with arrival of Mr. Crabby’s, around the corner from IKEA. Food truck Box Street Social will begin operating a brick-andmortar restaurant at the Hemisfair complex by end of year.

NEWS SoHo Wine & Martini Bar will move from its longtime downtown location to the Northwestern suburb of Castle Hills.

Alamo Beer Co. has released a limited-edition Cowboy Chamoy sour with mango, apricot, plum, hibiscus, lime and chili.

Nearly 60 local eateries — including Playland, Bistr09 and Smack’s Chicken Shack — are participating in Culinaria’s summer Restaurant Weeks, August 14-28.

Birria and ceviche joint El Remedio, fried yardbird specialists Smack’s Chicken Shack and burger spot Mark’s Outing will be featured this month on a new Food Network show hosted by celebrity chef Robert Irvine.

sacurrent.com | August 11 – August 24, 2021 | CURRENT

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Bill Baird

Country Catalyst

When Garrett T. Capps sings about loving San Antone, best believe he means it

BY BILL BAIRD

H Reminder:

Although live events have returned, the COVID-19 pandemic is still with us. Check with venues to make sure scheduled events are still happening, and please follow all health and safety guidelines.

uman culture accrues in a sedimentary fashion, each generation adding its own layer to the earlier ones. San Antonio is no exception to that rule.

Our history and cultural legacy can seem so monolithic at times that, almost as a coping mechanism, we forget what a rich history we have. Sometimes, though, a person arrives to wake us up to that history while adding a layer of their own.

Right now — at least when it comes to our music scene — that person is Garrett T. Capps.

While Capps is perhaps the city’s most-visible Americana performer right now, he’s more than that: a songwriter, a bandleader, a community builder. But, more than anything, he wants to party. He’s a born entertainer.

On that note, he’s also on the verge of releasing a new album, I Love San Antone, which he’ll celebrate Friday, August 20 with

a performance at the Lonesome Rose, a St. Mary’s Strip music venue he partially owns.

But more on the album and the bar later.

Capps’ growing appeal lies in his ability to deconstruct the familiar Texas singer-songwriter genre. His work is rooted in the Lone Star State’s musical traditions while providing ample space for his talented backing band to fill in spaces with color, texture, jazz, drone, you name it. The end result is catchy and danceable to boot — pun intended.

That willingness to reconfigure traditions stems from Capps’ origin as a genre outsider. He arrived in Singer-Songwriter Land through a long, loud journey.

“I started off as a drummer for doom metal bands, punk bands, stuff like that,” he said with a laugh over lunch at a downtown-area taqueria. “First, I drummed in a psychedelic sludge band called Old & Ill, then a progressive doom band called Antero Sleeps.”

Garrett T. Capps (right) and Santiago Jimenez Jr. get ready to listen to a test pressing of the conjunto legend’s latest album.

M

The gulf between doom and Americana may not be as wide as some imagine. Other alt-country performers followed a similar trajectory from the rock underground. To be sure, the do-it-yourself spirit of punk is all about musicians building the world they want to inhabit.

“Me doing what I do, in the alt-country realm, everyone seems to come from a punk background,” he said. “It’s more unusual to meet someone who doesn’t come from punk.”

‘It just snowballed’ While the new album’s first single, “I Like Austin, But I Love San Antonio,” extols the laid-back virtue of his hometown, Texas’ capital city also played a role in his musical story.

He lived in Austin for two years and cut his teeth playing the White Horse Saloon, where he became known as “the San Antonio guy.”

“Folks started contacting me about booking shows down here, and it just snowballed,” he said.

After booking acts around the Alamo City, Capps approached San Antonio club owner Danny Delgado about partnering on a venture. Mix in a few other investors, and the Lonesome Rose was born in late 2018. Since then, the club has emerged as a focal point for the city’s progressive country and Americana scenes.

While the Rose books plenty of performers who look back to the country and western days of old, Capps’ own live show is anything but a by-thenumbers recreation of Texas dance hall music.

For one thing, it’s dense with swirling sonics normally unheard in Americana. Chalk up those up to modular synth player Justin Boyd, who seems to occupy a role in Capps’ band much like Brian Eno’s in Roxy Music.

Capps’ droll stage banter also plays nicely off the uptempo music, projecting an optimistic, open and witty assurance. He’s having a party, and everyone’s invited.

Appropriately, the wave he’s now riding arguably began at a 2018 Cinco de Mayo celebration at Paper Tiger.

“I played the show with my friend D.T. Buffkin. It was a free show. Everyone was there,” Capps he. “Augie [Meyers] got on stage with us.”

For many, the show emblemized a passing of the torch: San Antonio’s musical old guard whooping it up with the new.

Multi-generational vibe Capps’ forthcoming I Love San Antone also encapsulates that multi-generational vibe. The record’s got guts, a danceable quality and it builds on tradition. A cover of Jethro Tull’s “Locomotive Breath” shows the performer’s willingness not just to tip his Stetson to classic country but also classic rock.

What’s more, Capps covers “Everybody I Know” by ’70s songwriting legend Loudon Wainwright III. And while speaking of musical legends, San Antonio boasts few bigger than Santiago Jimenez Jr., whose inimitable singing and accordion lead the way on the standout track “Margarita, Margarita.”

Capps’ respect for his musical forbears goes beyond having them make guest appearances on his recordings, though. He produced Jimenez’s forthcoming album Still Kickin.

During a recent listening session for Still Kickin held at the conjunto legend’s West Side home, it was clear he and Garrett are like two peas in a pod.

They both oozed good vibes.

After a prayer circle giving thanks

for the album, folks downed one beer, then two, then five, all while the musicians’ collaboration blasted in the background. Afterward, Capps cranked his new album for Jimenez and his neighbors, who’d joined in the listening session. They grooved along, nodding in approval.

Creating the universal Capps’ new release doubles down on his professed love for his hometown. After all, the appearance of his song “I Was Born in San Antone” on a season premiere of Showtime’s hit series Billions helped launch his career into overdrive.

Some might argue that focusing on a specific place limits a musician’s perspective. But one could also argue the opposite. When artists try to be all things to all people, they become nothing. By focusing on something specific and personal, though, they can create the universal.

Capps is approaching that in his work.

What makes him special, beyond the tunes and good times, is the way he’s brought together a community and given back to his hometown.

That holds true with the Lonesome Rose, his podcast celebrating forgotten Texas music, his collaborations with Texas Public Radio and his work with hometown legends such as Jimenez and Meyers.

Even when Capps looks to the future, community is key.

“Selfishly, I hope that there will be some younger-ish bands who pop up that are interested in quality country western dance music. So they can play the Rose,” he said. “Otherwise, I just hope that some ambitious musical climate develops somehow. Regardless of genre. More bands need to get out of town and rep SA!” Capps singles out fellow San Antonians Sunjammer, Mitch Webb, D.T. Buffkin and Pinky Ring, James Steinle and Kathryn Legendre, who lives in Buda but was born here. All have created their own brand of progressive roots music, he argues, and people are taking note.

So, what are Capps’ personal goals?

“More progress. More fun. More honesty. More jams.”

Those ambitions neatly sum up his approach. They also offer a reminder of an old truism: the more love you give away, the more you receive.

Call it one of those cosmic truths.

Garrett T. Capps does indeed love San Antone, and it’s good to see the city giving those vibes right back.

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music

‘I’ll Sing in Any Language’ Nina Diaz delved into history with a reimagining of Elvis Costello’s This Year’s Model, but she’s looking to the future

BY MIKE MCMAHAN

A

Spanish language reimagining of Elvis Costello’s This Year’s Model titled Spanish Model will feature Nina Diaz, former frontwoman of San Antonio’s Girl in a Coma, kicking the entire album off by singing “No Action.”

The honor of being in the pole position on a tribute Costello’s seminal 1978 album by a lineup of Latin music stalwarts was particularly impressive for one of Diaz’s biggest fans. Especially after it landed a writeup in Rolling Stone.

“My mom was so proud,” Diaz said in a recent Zoom interview. “She showed all her friends.”

Diaz’s mom wasn’t the only one who thought she was perfect for the spot.

That opinion was shared by Sebastian Krys, the collection’s producer, who’s worked with plenty of heavy hitters in the Latin music community.

Diaz came to Krys’ attention after he attended one of her shows during the Los Angeles sojourn she undertook a couple of years ago. He tracked Diaz down and pitched the project. For the singer, participating was a no-brainer.

“I’ll sing in any language for Elvis Costello,” she said.

Diaz is no stranger to recording covers, having spent a chunk of quarantine time exploring her favorite tunes and turning them into a series of online releases. But Costello was a different story.

“I never really dove into Elvis Costello’s music before,” she revealed. “The universe was like, ‘Bam! It’s time for Elvis Costello.’”

In addition to doing a lot of listening, she watched YouTube videos of Costello talking about This Year’s Model and what it meant to him. The research

Courtesy Photo / Nina Diaz

helped her inhabit the song, she said.

In control now While Diaz dug into the past to prepare for Spanish Model, she’s used to looking forward when it comes to her own career. Right now, she’s putting together upgrades on her home studio and aspires to produce other artists or work as an outside songwriter.

“You have to know your way around — the chords and whatever — if they’re like, ‘Hey, write a song like this,’” she said.

While Girl in a Coma — a collaboration with her sister Phanie and Jenn Alva — was her launchpad into the music business, she said she’s now happy to be in control of her own artistic destiny.

“While I was in Girl in a Coma, I was going with the flow,” she said. “Now, I’m in a transition to being an independent artist. I’m not on a label, I’m doing my Patreon, I’m self-managing.”

Getting out of her own way

Diaz’s recent creative output is about more than covers, though. She’s working on a new album that will reflect her personal growth via eight years of sobriety and additional time spent in therapy.

“I want to experience things so I can explain them and write about it,” she said. “I was a functioning addict, but during that whole time, I was still able to create. You put a drug or alcohol on a pedestal, but what it does for us is help us relax, get out of our own head.

As a sober person, you have to get out of your own way and you’re able to create again.”

Elephant in the room At the time she released her 2016 solo album, The Beat Is Dead, “a lot of people were still hanging onto Girl in a Coma,” she said.

“And for me it was like, ‘Catch up. I’m going to this other world,’” she said.

“When you put pressure on yourself, you’re not focusing on the now, which is just doing what comes natural to you in writing. Focusing on mental health

helps me as a writer. It’s what my next album is about.”

Like most artists who go solo, an elephant lingers in the room: whether Diaz would consider reuniting with her former bandmates, themselves busy with the all-female punk quartet FEA. “At the time my solo album was coming out, I didn’t do many interviews because I knew it would be heated. I don’t communicate with [Phanie and Jenn] as of now. I would never say anything that drags people under the bus.

I was hurting myself when I was using, because I felt stuck in a lot of ways.”

In retrospect, Diaz added, it might have been better for her mental health if Girl in a Coma had ended sooner.

“When they started FEA, I was really happy for them. They’re great musicians. Phanie is a badass rock drummer. But our time just ended,” Diaz said. “It’s not time for us to connect again. I don’t see Girl in a Coma playing again. Phanie and I would have to connect in a sister relationship first, but I don’t want to force anything.”

Spanish Model will be released September 10.

sacurrent.com | August 11 – August 24, 2021 | CURRENT

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In the heart of the San Antonio Riverwalk, El Camino is a beacon for the downtown community to join and enjoy a range of selections from our guest gourmet food trucks paired with precisely created cocktails.

El Camino is the perfect spot to bring together friends, family and furry companions under our eco-consciously designed covered seating with a fully stocked bar that includes, frozen drinks, craft brews, and top-shelf cocktails.

ElCaminoSA.com | Downtown SATX 1009 Ave. B 42

CURRENT | August 11 – August 24, 2021 | sacurrent.com

music listings

is melted off by the music alone. $10-$15, 6:45 p.m., Bond’s 007 Rock bar, 450 Soledad St., (210) 225-0007, facebook. com/BondsRockBar. — BE Pop 2000 Tour Hosted by Lance Bass Feeling nostalgic for the heyday of TRL, are you? Well, your man Mr. Bass has something in store that may tickle your fancy. Featuring O-Town, Ryan Cabrera and LFO, the Pop 2000 tour will roll into Alamo Town, though there are no indications that Carson Daly will cameo. Bass is, of course, best known for his time in *NSYNC. Meanwhile, O-Town made a splash with “All or Nothing,” while Cabrera is known for “True” and “On the Way Down.” LFO hit the charts with the seasonally relevant “Summer Girls.” And if we can’t celebrate summer here in Tejas, what the hell’s the point? $30-$800, 4 p.m., Texas Ski Ranch, 6700 North Interstate 35, (830) 6272843, texasskiranch.com. — MM

Courtesy Photo Goatwhore

GOATWHORE Wednesday, August 11

Lousiana death-thrash veterans Goatwhore will hit San Antonio on a run of Texas shows. The band recently announced a return to the studio to follow up 2017’s Vengeful Ascension on Metalblade Records. Houston’s blackened Necrofier and the frosty death metal grooves of Dallas newcomers Frozen Soul will round out the bill. $16, 7 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx.com. — Enrique Bonilla

Thursday, August 12 Citizen Cope In real life he’s Clarence Greenwood, but in the music world, he’s the Outkast-, John Lennon- and Bob Marley-inspired songsmith Citizen Cope. Whichever name you know him by, the man’s songs have appeared on releases by Sheryl Crow, Corey Taylor, Dido and Carlos Santana, and he got his start in the music biz as the DJ for ’90s crew Basehead. Cope’s most recent LP, The Pull of Niagara Falls, was released earlier this year. $45, 8 p.m., Gruene Hall, 1281 Gruene Road, New Braunfels, (830) 606-1281, gruenehall.com. — Mike

McMahan

Sunday, August 15 James Steinle + Tony Kamel Rugged country vocals and rustic Americana come together as James Steinle performs songs about the “forgotten people.” The night will also include a set from Tony Kamel, who’s best known from his role in bluegrass act Wood & Wire. This go-round, however, he’ll be performing a folky solo show.

Cover unavailable, 7 p.m., Lonesome Rose, 2114 N. St. Mary’s St., (210) 455-0233, thelonesomerose.com — BE

Paper Tiger, 2410 N St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx.com. — EB Back From the Plague Death Fest

Tuesday, August 17

Appropriately titled given the toll the delta variant is taking on the unvaccinated and given the content of the death metal subgenre, this one-night fest will include local and regional acts bent on delivering a full evening of brutality.

With names like Corpse Hole, Severed Sanity and Immortal Remains, you know the night won’t end until someone’s face

Bobby Bare Jr. The oldest honky tonk on the St. Mary’s Strip seems like a perfectly suited venue for singer-songwriter Bobby Bare Jr. The Nashville native grew up in the biz and has appeared on releases with indie superstars My Morning Jacket and alternative-country act Silver Jews. Fellow Nashville act the

MOUNTAIN GOATS Friday, August 13

Friday, August 13 Max Stalling After working in Corporate America as a food scientist, Stalling discovered he far preferred playing Texas country. Thus began his journey as a touring vocalist, guitarist and songwriter. Stalling’s wife also puts her fiddle skills to good use in his live band, bringing an authentic honky-tonk twang to the sound. $12, 8 p.m., John T. Floore’s Country Store, 14492 Old Bandera Road, Helotes, (210) 695-8827, liveatfloores.com.

— Brianna Espinoza

Saturday, August 14 Descendents The nerdsome foursome is returning to San Antonio with a load of pop-punk anthems fresh off its latest Epitaph Records release 9th & Walnut. On this jaunt, they’re backed up by Philadelphia-based punk outfit the Menzingers. $36, 7 p.m.,

On some level a solo project from main man and lone consistent member John Darnielle, the indie act Mountain Goats has featured some high-profile collaborators. Among those are guitarists such as St. Vincent and Kaki King as well as Superchunk drummer Jon Wurster, who’s currently in the band. Mountain Goats are very much a songwriting-oriented project, and the output ranges from tunes with a traditional vibe all the way to “The Ultimate Jedi Who Wastes All the Other Jedi and Eats Their Bones,” a song written at the request of director Rian Johnson to accompany the release of his polarizing Star Wars film, The Last Jedi.

Why that subject matter isn’t addressed in the film, we’ll never know. $25-$28, 7 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx.com. — MM

Facebook / The Mountain Goats

sacurrent.com | August 11 – August 24, 2021 | CURRENT

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Find Balcones Distilling spirits near you at BalconesDistilling.com The first Texas whisky on the market since Prohibition, Baby Blue is crafted from roasted blue corn. This rich and oily maize adds new sophistication to the corn whisky tradition while keeping the freshness and verve of classic American distilling. Intentionally youthful, Baby Blue captures the essence of this prized corn with a round nuttiness, roasted overtones and refined complexity. The mouthfeel is viscous with a soft finish. A true Texas original that we are delighted to share with the world.

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music listings

Thursday, August19 Matute This Mexican cover sextet is bringing its love of ’80s Britpop and Latino sounds to the Aztec. Originally brought to life with the help of Latina superstar Belinda, the group has since landed its own national television show MatuTV. In recent years, it’s also topped the Mexican pop charts. $49, 8:30 p.m., Aztec Theatre, 104 N. St. Mary’s St. theaztectheatre.com — EB Brandon Alan Describing his music as “guitar-driven Texas country,” Alan has focused on singles in the past couple of years, releasing “I’m Going” and “Love You the Same,” as well as an instrumental cover of Willie Nelson’s “On the Road Again.” Though focused on a country sound, he cites more diverse influences including Dire Straits, Jimi Hendrix and vaccine fan Eric Clapton. Alan expects to release his next LP in 2022. $12-$50, 7 p.m., Sam’s Burger Joint, 330 E. Grayson St., (210) 223-2830, samsburgerjoint.com. — MM

Friday-Sunday, August 20-22 Miranda Lambert After rising to fame after making her debut on the TV show Nashville Star and marrying Blake Shelton, Lambert has made a name for herself through hits including “Mama’s Broken Heart” and “Little Red Wagon.” Her three-day stint in New Braunfels feels like a mini-Las Vegas residency — but country style. $72, 8 p.m. Friday-Sunday, Whitewater Amphitheater 11860 FM 306, Suite 1, New Braunfels, (830) 964-3800, whitewaterrocks.com. — BE

Instagram / Joan Jett and the Blackhearts

Joan Jett + FEA Sunday, August 22

Joan Jett doesn’t give a damn about her bad reputation. In fact, we’re guessing that rep is actually a draw for folks heading out to Helotes for this very rocking show and a very country venue. Well, that and the chance to watch Jett prove once again how tough she looks on stage. If Joan alone isn’t reason enough to draw out local rockers, San Antonio all-female punk outfit Fea — mentees of Jett herself — are also on the bill. $40, 7:45 p.m., John T. Floore’s Country Store, 14492 Old Bandera Road, Helotes, (210) 695-8827, liveatfloores.com. — BE Country Westerns will bring along their indie-rock melodies while Sid Plays Songs will provide local support. $12, 7 p.m., Lonesome Rose, 2114 N. St. Mary’s St., thelonesomerose. com. — EB

Wednesday, August 18 The Wallflowers Though he will likely always be known as the son of youknow-who, Wallflowers frontman Jakob Dylan has certainly been successful in his own right. The alt-rock band’s profile was highest with 1996’s Bringing Down the Horse album, which featured the hits “One Headlight” and “6th Avenue Heartache.” Now, the band is back with last month’s Exit

Wounds, its first album in a decade. Dylan recently voiced feelings that many are experiencing: relief that live music has returned, at least for now: “I think we’re all really going to appreciate being in that room, maybe more than we did before — the audience and the artists,” he told Cleveland. com last week. $55, 8 p.m., Gruene Hall, 1281 Gruene Road, New Braunfels, (830) 606-1281, gruenehall.com. — MM Joshua Alderete and the Fellowship Local percussion master Joshua Alderete blends the sounds of jazz’s past and present, and he’s ably assisted by local trio the Fellowship, who provide piano, bass and saxophone.

The show has limited seating and the dimly lit underground venue will also have a brand-new menu of cocktails and food. $20, 7:30 p.m., Jazz, TX, 312 Pearl Parkway, Building 6, Suite 6001. Jazztx.com. — EB

Saturday, August 21 1964: The Tribute If you know your dates in rock ’n’ roll history, you know 1964 likely means one thing: The Beatles. Tribute act 1964 toes the line between a concert and theater, creating an undeniably engaging experience. Rather than trying to tell the whole Beatles story — particularly the LPs released after the band’s touring years — 1964 transports the audience to a Beatles concert circa 1964. In the end, it succeeds in creating a “you are there” historical vibe. There’s a reason Rolling Stone called 1964 “the best Beatles tribute on Earth.”

Hyperbole, perhaps, but the group does offer a compelling snapshot of rock’s Golden Age. $34-$49, 6 p.m., Majestic Theatre, 224 E. Houston St., (210) 226-5700, majesticempire.com. — MM Strawberry Girls With their sweeping high notes, melodic midsections and an association with Dance Gavin Dance, Strawberry Girls are every progressive-math-post-hardcore nerd’s dream delivered in instrumental form. Don’t get it twisted, though: all three band members are also record producers and avid lovers of Carly Rae Jepsen’s song “Call Me Maybe.” Fittingly, local math rockers Donella Drive are opening the show. $15, 6:30 p.m., Rockbox, 1223 E. Houston St., (210) 677-9453, therockboxsa.com. — BE

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