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in this issue Issue 21-19 /// September 22 – October 5, 2021
San Antonio Current
Editor-in-Chief: Sanford Nowlin General Manager: Chelsea Bourque
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, Mackenzie Cook Editorial Interns: Katelyn Earhart, Yukiko Yamazaki
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 Manager: Meradith Garcia
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Jaime Monzon
26 Feature
Brewing Up Change
National Advertising: Voice Media Group (888) 278-9866, vmgadvertising.com
How Marcus Baskerville became the unlikely face for a beer-focused initiative to address racial injustice
11 News
The Opener News in Brief
Brain Drain
Corporations were largely silent as Texas passed its abortion ban, but experts say the economic blowback is coming
17 Calendar Calendar Picks
22 Arts
Rail Riders
Photographer and filmmaker Bill Daniel assembles group show at Fl!ght Gallery to explore America’s railroad culture
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Base Hit
San Antonio native Steve Acevedo makes directorial feature debut with sports rom-com Love and Baseball
The San Antonio Current is published by Euclid Media Group BLOWBACK ON THE ABORTION BAN | 'RAIL PRACTITIONERS' AT FL!GHT GALLERY | JOHN SCOFIELD AT JAZZ'SALIVE SEPT. 22 - OCT. 5, 2021
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26 Food
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Hot Dish
32 Music
Still Swinging
Jazz’SAlive headliner and guitar great John Scofield reflects on group interplay, pandemic time off and Shania Twain
Music Listings
How Marcus Baskerville became the unlikely face for a beer-focused initiative to address racial injustice
O
n the Cover: Marcus Baskerville of SA’s Weathered Souls Brewing launched a racial justice initiative embraced by craft brewers. Photo by Jaime Monzon. Design by Samantha Serna.
Copyright: The entire contents of the San Antonio Current are copyright 2019 by Euclid Media Group LLC. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. Publisher does not assume any liability for unsolicited manuscripts, materials, or other content. Any submission must include a stamped, self-addressed envelope. All editorial, advertising, and business correspondence should be mailed to the address listed above. Subscriptions: Additional copies or back issues may be purchased at the Current offices for $1. Six-month domestic subscriptions may be purchased for $75; one-year subscriptions for $125.
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AARP Texas is proud to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month. Arts, education, sports, law, medicine, retail, engineering… just a few places where you’ll find Texas Hispanics making a key difference in your community! AARP Texas is proud to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month and invites you to enjoy virtual events and discover useful content, programs and resources in both English and Spanish designed to make your community more livable and support your health, wealth and happiness. For more, visit aarp.org/HispanicHeritageTX.
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For more, visit aarp.org/ HispanicHeritageTX. /AARPTexas @AARPTX
H
As of press time, the San Antonio Symphony and its musicians remain locked in contentious contract negotiations, with the symphony’s managing organization proposing major cuts for the coming year. The symphony wants to cut the orchestra from 72 full-time musicians to just 42, moving 26 to part-time positions and cutting four entirely. Musicians have accused the orchestra of insufficient fundraising.
H
City council adopted its largest-ever budget last week, allocating new funding for affordable housing, sidewalks and Metro Health. It also approved a pilot program in which multiple city departments, not just the police, will be responsible for responding to mental health calls. The city isn’t finished with its spending for the upcoming year either — it still has nearly $230 million in federal COVID-relief funds to allocate.
H
Elisa Chan, a former councilwoman who faced a political firestorm after being recorded sharing anti-LGBTQ+ views, is mulling a run for the Texas House. Chan is prepared to enter the race for the seat currently held by Republican Lyle Larson should he choose to vacate it, according to the Express-News. Chan ran for the Texas Senate in 2014 but lost in the Republican primary. The Justice Department has come out swinging against Texas’ abortion ban, opening a new front in the fight to stop the country’s most restrictive reproductive health law of the modern era. The Justice Department filed a lawsuit last week arguing that the law violates the constitutional right to obtain an abortion, and, in an emergency request, asked a federal judge to halt its enforcement pending the resolution of its suit. — Abe Asher
YOU SAID IT!
“Ted, you tweeted this at 1 a.m. Put the phone down and return to liquid form for a few hours.” — Patton Oswalt
last week after U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, tried to drag the comedian into yet another celebrity Twitter feud.
ASSCLOWN ALERT
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has been busy. Assclown Alert is a column of opinion, analysis and snark.
news
That Rocks/That Sucks
In the past week alone, his office sued San Antonio ISD to shut down its employee vaccination mandate, won a temporary order halting Paris ISD from enforcing its campus mask mandate and sued three more districts in a bid to overturn theirs. As part of his crusade to enforce fellow Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s orders barring government entities from requiring facemasks and vaccinations to combat COVID-19, Paxton even set up a website urging Texans to rat out school districts and other local entities that implement such requirements. So, how’s that working out? Not too well, judging from the growing number of violators listed on Paxton’s tip site. When it launched on August 19, the site listed 70 municipal entities flouting Abbott’s order. Those ranged from bustling Bexar County to rural Lasara ISD. As of September 17, that tally had passed the 100 mark. Since the site’s launch, the AG’s office also appended it to include the names of a couple dozen municipalities and districts that have dropped their mandates in the wake of Paxton’s lawsuit spree. But that pales in comparison to the multitude who are openly defying Abbott’s politically motivated order. Abbott’s directives — and Paxton’s zeal in enforcing them — are motivated by their desire to pander to far-right voters who cling to base-
less conspiracy theories that masks don’t work and that vaccines are conduits for microchips, genetic manipulation and the fucking Mark of the Beast. School districts and municipalities know science is on their side, and they’re also aware that for all Paxton’s bluster, he isn’t equipped to fight court battles with every one of them. With 7,000 Texans dead from COVID-19 over the past month, those local entities also understand that incurring legal fees in event they’re sued by this assclown is a small price to pay for protecting their constituents, students and staffs. — Sanford Nowlin
Gov. Greg Abbott last week called for state troopers and the Texas National Guard to shut down six points of entry along the southern border to stop asylum-seeking migrants from entering the country, then reversed himself, accusing the Biden administration for reneging on a request for state support. Many of the migrants currently waiting at the border are from Haiti, which was rocked by political turmoil and earthquake over the summer.
San Antonio ISD Superintendent Pedro Martinez is leaving the district to become CEO of Chicago Public Schools. Martinez, who grew up in Chicago and previously served as an executive with its school district, led San Antonio ISD for six years, raising its state rating and steering it through the COVID-19 crisis. He was praised for introducing STEM and dual-language programs but clashed with the district’s teachers union over 2018 budget cuts. — Abe Asher
Three Democrats and two Republicans have entered the race to replace former state Rep. Leo Pacheco, who resigned from the state house last month to take a job at San Antonio College. The seat has traditionally been friendly to Democrats, but Republicans are aiming to build on their 2020 performance and make more inroads in South Texas. The special election is set for September 28. Early voting starts September 20.
Courtesy Photo / Texas Attorney General’s Office
Alma Hernandez / Folo Media
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news
Jaime Monzon
Brain Drain
Corporations were largely silent as Texas passed its abortion ban, but experts say the economic blowback is coming BY SANFORD NOWLIN
I
n 2017, dozens of Fortune 500 companies, chambers of commerce and tourism groups spoke up against legislation championed by Texas Republican leaders that would have banned transgender people from public restrooms. It ultimately failed. Earlier this year, Texas-based firms including American Airlines and Dell publicly railed against the state’s GOPbacked voting restriction bill, which only passed after Gov. Greg Abbott called a special session. Democrats staged a dramatic weeks-long walkout, but the Republican governor didn’t buckle. So, where have those same corporations been as Texas lawmakers passed one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the country? The law, now being challenged by the Justice Department, leaves women with only a two-week window in which to realize they’re pregnant and seek an abortion. What’s more, it offers no exceptions in cases of rape and incest, and it allows people to seek a bounty by suing virtually anyone they claim assisted a woman in seeking an abortion. To date, the highest-profile pushback has come from software giant Salesforce, which said it will help relocate
staff out of Texas if they want to leave. Noting that the new law creates “incredibly personal issues,” Salesforce said it would offer financial help to workers who relocate. California-based public relations firm Bospar also announced it will offer $10,000 to its six Texas employees to fund their relocations over of the abortion ban. Benefit Cosmetics, Yelp and dating app operators Match Group and Bumble have also voiced their opposition, while ride-sharing companies Lyft and Uber said they’ll pay legal fees for any of their drivers accused of transporting an abortion patient. “This law is incompatible with people’s basic rights to privacy, our community guidelines, the spirit of rideshare, and our values as a company,” Lyft wrote in a message to drivers, adding that it’s donating $1 million to Planned Parenthood.
‘Substantial risk’ Still, let’s face it: none of those things are likely to make ripples in the $1.9 trillion Texas economy. Not to mention, dozens of corporations including Dallas-based AT&T, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway and energy giant
Chevron together funneled millions into the election campaigns of Texas lawmakers who sponsored the abortion ban. Just wait, economists and business scholars say. The economic repercussions are coming. Economist M. Ray Perryman, who authored a study on the potential economic fallout from Texas’ passage of new voter restrictions, found that controversial law is likely to whack $31.4 billion from the state economy and destroy 223,000 jobs as tourism dollars and business investment dwindle. While Perryman hasn’t run the numbers on the state’s new abortion law, he said the measure fits the same pattern. When it comes to tourism, trade associations, corporate sponsors and sports leagues don’t want to be seen as endorsing controversial state policies. Remember Major League Baseball jerking its All-Star game out of Atlanta over Georgia’s restrictive voting law? Further, knowledge- and technology-oriented businesses don’t want to locate in or continue putting money into states that impose social restrictions that make it harder for them to recruit workers. “Laws that are less inclusive, whether they make voting more difficult, limit opportunities based on gender identity, restrict access to health care for indigent persons, unreasonably limit flexibility in family planning or misrepresent history in a racially biased manner, pose substantial risk to the Texas economy over an extended period,” Perryman said via email. In other words, while corporations love the hands-off business environment created by Texas’ Republican
leaders, they also must answer to employees, shareholders and consumers. Robert Scherer, dean of Trinity University’s business school, said he doesn’t expect to see companies move out of Texas over the abortion ban. But taken together with other controversial bills the Lege passed this session — including the voting restrictions and prohibitions on public school teachers discussing race in the classroom — will make it harder for the state to recruit new businesses. “If a company wants to distribute their products in Texas, this isn’t going to stop them from building a distribution center,” said Scherer, a scholar of human resources and organizational behavior. “However, a company operating in the knowledge economy can locate anywhere. I think those kinds of businesses will think twice about relocating to Texas. The decision-making on that is probably going on right now at those companies.”
Rosy prognosis Following the law’s passage, Abbott told CNBC “a lot” of Texas businesses and residents support the abortion ban he championed. Without data to back it up, he offered a rosy prognosis for the state’s ability to recruit corporate investment. “This is not slowing down businesses coming to the state of Texas, it is accelerating the process of businesses coming to Texas. … They are leaving the very liberal state of California,” he said. Abbott also said he speaks regularly to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who “consistently” says he “likes the social policies in the state of Texas.” 15
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SPECTRUM BUSINESS TAKES THE NONSENSE
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13 Musk quickly responded to a clip
of Abbott’s pronouncement on Twitter. While making no specific mention of abortion, the billionaire said “government should rarely impose its will upon the people and when doing so, should aspire to maximize their cumulative happiness. That said, I would prefer to stay out of politics.” When it comes to abortion, Corporate America seems to have a similar policy about staying out of politics — at least publicly. Experts point out that abortion is a trickier issue for corporations to take a stand on because it can intersect with employees’ religious beliefs. “It’s not surprising, because this is harder than a number of other issues,” said Sandra Sucher, a professor of management at Harvard Business School, told political news site The Hill. “Abortion is particularly contentious because we know that it relates to people’s religious views, which is kind of a no-go zone for companies.”
‘We’ll see this play out’ The abortion ban isn’t the only bill Texas lawmakers passed this session that’s shaking corporate leaders’ confidence in the direction of the state, however. During the legislative session, some 60 businesses and groups — ranging from Microsoft and Levi Strauss to the San Antonio LGBT Chamber of Commerce and Houston Area Urban League — signed on with Texas Fair Elections, a nonpartisan coalition calling for widened, rather than restricted, voting access in the state. What’s more, 150 corporations, including Apple, Amazon and Target
Activist group UltraViolet circles AT&T’s Dallas headquarters with a mobile billboard calling out its political spending.
M
signed on to a letter urging Congress to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which strengthens protections for minority voters and would override the Texas restrictions. That measure passed the House with no Republican votes in support. While corporations may not publicly voice their opposition to the abortion ban, it appears to be yet another warning to decisionmakers — whether they reside in the CEO’s suite or the human resources office — that Texas isn’t a hospitable environment for their workers. Perryman warns that Texas’ Republican leadership can’t count on its past successes in recruiting business to override what the GOP-controlled legislature hath wrought. “Texas has performed exceedingly well in recent years and is and has many competitive strengths, but this spate of legislation that restricts human rights and wellbeing cannot help but limit the state’s fortunes in the future,” he said. Trinity’s Scherer agrees. The state’s lost economic opportunities over the Republicans’ scorched earth legislative session may not be immediately apparent, but they’ll likely manifest in time. “I don’t think Texas not having a state income tax will be enough to trump the effects of the abortion ban,” he said. “Especially when you also consider voting rights and some of this other legislation. I think we’ll see this play out in three, six, nine months to a year.”
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calendar
Courtesy Image / Tobin Center for the Performing Arts
SUN | 09.26 TH EATER
FRIENDS: THE MUSICAL PARODY
If no one told you Friends: The Musical Parody was coming to the Tobin next Sunday (clap-clap-clap-clap), don’t fret. Tickets are still available. Featuring original musical numbers and recreations of iconic moments from across all seasons of the ’90s-era hit sitcom, the touring performance has been lauded for its uncensored, fast-paced comedy. Mask up and catch up with the Friends crew for a night of loving lampoons in familiar locales like Monica’s apartment and Central Perk. The performance is recommended for ages 13 and up. $26.50-$49.50, 7 p.m., Sept 26, Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, 100 Auditorium Cir., (210) 223-8624, tobincenter.org. — Mackenzie Cook
SUN | 9.26
safely exercise however they see fit. The idea for the free
featuring a guest performance by mezzo-soprano Jacquelyn
event originated in Bogotá, Columbia about 30 years ago,
Matava, as well as Rodriguez’s Musica, por un tiempo, which
with its Ciclovía. The San Antonio Síclovía route connects
was commissioned by the ensemble in 2008. Rounding out
Roosevelt Park to Confluence Park and is interspersed with
the performance will be Arturo Márquez’s love letter to the
This all-day, bi-annual community exercise event organized
Reclovía areas for participants to rest, eat, drink, shop, listen
danzón, Zarabandeo. $15-$25, 7 p.m., San Antonio Botanical
by the YMCA San Antonio closes stretches of San Antonio’s
to live music and participate in exercise classes. The event
Garden, 555 Funston Place, (210) 536-1400, solichamberensem-
streets to cars, allowing cyclists, pedestrians and others to
is open to all members of the community, from seasoned
ble.com. — Kelly Merka Nelson
SPECIAL EVENT
SÍCLOVÍA
athletes to homebodies. Participants can bring a bike, a skateboard or the family dog to take on a walk. Free, 10 a.m.2 p.m., ymcasatx.org/programs/community/siclovia. — MC
MON | 9.27 CLASSICAL MUSIC
SOLI CHAMBER ENSEMBLE: TABLEAU IN FRIDA KAHLO’S OASIS
Reminder:
SOLI Chamber Ensemble opens its 2021-2022 season with a tribute to iconic Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. The debut performance kicks off a full season of outdoor concerts at the San Antonio Botanical Garden and ties in with the garden’s Frida Kahlo’s Oasis exhibition, which is on view through November 2. For the concert, San Antonio composer Aaron Prado reworked his 2015 tribute to the artist, Ofrenda, for the quartet. The program also features San Antonio native Samantha Serna
Robert Xavier Rodriguez’s Concert Suite from the Opera Frida,
Josh Huskin
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.
Oct. 30-31 Bring the family out to enjoy FREE children’s activities, visit beautiful altars to honor the departed, and celebrate with festive processions presented by Las Monas Performance Co.
514 W. Commerce St.
18
CURRENT | September 22 – October 5, 2021 | sacurrent.com
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calendar
Courtesy Photo / AT&T Center
WED | 09.29
FRI | 10.01 SAT | 10.02
COMEDY
DUDE PERFECT
Though successful nationwide, the comedy ensemble Dude Perfect has strong roots in Texas, having met at Texas A&M. The collective’s YouTube channel is focused on stunts, typically light-hearted and fun, as well as “battles” between two of the five members, which follow the same tone. For example, Dude Perfect holds the world record for most ping pong balls stacked on a person’s head using shaving cream. The ensemble first rose to prominence after their videos of basketball trick shots were featured on ESPN. The group’s Christian values are reflected in their content and their faith is a strong inspiration. Fans can expect the live show to include the stunts, tricks, games and light-hearted banter that defines their viral videos, including “new content and surprises for our fans.” If you think this sounds like a perfect evening of entertainment, dude, then head on out for the live show. This tour, their second, was to follow their inaugural 2019 run but was delayed due to the pandemic. Member Garret Hilbert was recently the subject of online death rumors, which he put to rest. Fans still in doubt can presumably verify his current state at the live performance. $23.50-$503, 7 p.m., AT&T Center, 1 AT&T Center Parkway, (210) 444-5000, attcenter.com. — Mike McMahan
THU | 9.30 COMEDY
DANIEL TOSH
DANCE
CELEBRANDO 30 AÑOS OF THE GUADALUPE DANCE COMPANY
The award-winning Guadalupe Dance Company will step into the spotlight for its 30th anniversary celebration alongside Mariachi Azteca de America. Performances will include dances from the Mexican states of Oaxaca, Guerrero, Jalisco, Veracruz, Tamaulipas and Puebla. Tickets are available for the in-person event on both nights, but the show can be streamed live online Friday night with the purchase of virtual tickets. This is the first performance the dance company has done at the Guadalupe since the pandemic began a year and a half ago. Guadalupe education director and former dance program director Belinda Menchaca, who’s been with the dance company since its inception, said when she first started working at the arts organization in 1992, she knew the company had a great future ahead due to the culture and history it shared with the West Side community. “We really wanted to bring the stories of our community and speak to our audience, but we also wanted to have universal themes that everyone could relate to and appreciate,” Menchaca told the Current. “We always thought about how we could impact and empower our audiences and share our stories on stage.” $30, 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday, Plaza Avenida Guadalupe, 1327 Guadalupe St, (210) 271-3151, guadalupeculturalarts.org. — KM
18- to 24-year-old male demographic. You know, it’s that group of young, sarcasm-loving bro dudes wandering back into their dorms after a weekend of drinking Jägerbombs and looking for some curated viral comedy videos of their fellow frat brothers
Up until last year, the controversial comedian was
vomiting into their shoes. Along with his internet
hosting the popular Comedy Central TV series
clip show, Tosh kept busy by performing some of the
Tosh.0, a gig he started back in 2009. The series was
most racist and sexist jokes of any comedian work-
renewed for another four seasons in early 2020, but
ing today. That’s not an opinion. Tosh has gladly
the network decided to reverse course and cancel
admitted to that. “I’m not a misogynistic and racist
it. “After 12 years together, Comedy Central and I
person,” Tosh said in 2011. “But I do find those jokes
are consciously uncoupling,” Tosh tweeted at the
funny, so I say them.” As long as he keeps the bro
time. “They get the cartoons, and I’m heading to any
dudes happy, Tosh seems like he’s figured out a way
network with stronger Wi-Fi.” Although it’s been
to avoid getting #canceled. $39.50-$325, 7:30 p.m.,
reported that the show is being shopped around,
Majestic Theatre, 224 E. Houston St., (210) 226-3333,
there aren’t any buyers yet, which is surprising since
majesticempire.com. — Kiko Martinez
Tosh.0 was the No. 1 show in its time slot for the
Edward Benavides
Courtesy Photo / Majestic Theatre
sacurrent.com | September 22 – October 5, 2021 | CURRENT
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calendar FRI | 10.01 COMEDY
TIM ALLEN For fans of the iconic Toy Story animated franchise, we really wish we didn’t know that Tim Allen is a Donald Trump supporter. It’s a bad look for Buzz Lightyear to back the human equivalent of Emperor Zurg. But at least the Home Improvement and Last Man Standing star criticized The Former Guy earlier this year after a mob of Trump insurrectionists attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6. Allen called the event “horrible, embarrassing and shameful” during a spot on Marc Maron’s podcast. “When I was watching that, I felt that the president should have been a stand-up guy and go there with his security and say ... ‘Come on out, people … I never said any of this. That was not in that speech. I never said [to] go storm the Capitol or whatever.’” Allen, however, also said on the same podcast that the reason he liked Trump was because he “pissed people off.” We guess the toolman wants it both ways. After all, some of the people Trump pissed off were his own supporters, whose storming of the Capitol resulted in several deaths and more than 130 injuries to law enforcement officers. What else is Sheriff Woody supposed to do but hang his head in disgrace? $69.50-$89.50, 8 p.m., Majestic Theatre, 224 E. Houston St., (210) 226-3333, majesticempire.com. — KM
Courtesy Photo / Majestic Theatre
SAT | 10.02 FI LM
CRUELLA A prequel to the Disney classic 101 Dalmations, Cruella is the live-action origin story of the world-famous villain Cruella de Vil. Born as Estella, Cruella de Vil sets out to make a name for herself in the London fashion industry during the ’70s punk revolution. Life isn’t easy for the young and cunning Estella, which should come as no surprise since we know she’ll develop into the notorious dalmatian puppy coat-seeker who
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
movie fans love to hate. Bring lawn chairs and snacks or sprawl out on a blanket to enjoy the outdoor show. Food trucks and on-site parking are available. Free, 7 p.m., Mission Marquee Plaza, 3100 Roosevelt Ave., slabcinema.com. — Yukiko Yamazaki
SAT | 10.02 FILM
42
As part of its Black History Film Series, the San Antonio African American Community Archive and Museum (SAAACAM) is screening the 2013 sports drama 42 about baseball player Jackie Robinson, who became the first African American to play Major League Baseball. Robinson joined the league in 1947 where he started as first baseman for the Brooklyn Dodgers and wore jersey No. 42. He went on to win the Rookie of the Year award and made the All-Star team for six consecutive seasons, from 1949 to 1954. He played in six World Series during his career and won the 1955 World Series with the Dodgers. Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962, five years after he retired from the sport. In 1997, MLB retired Robinson’s No. 42 from all teams in the league. In the film, Robinson is portrayed by late actor Chadwick Boseman (Black Panther). “It set in during that time that children would know Jackie Robinson from my performance,” Boseman told the MLB Network in 2013. “Now, I’m responsible for … portraying all of the characteristics, qualities and principles that the man lived under.” Free, 6:30 p.m., Arneson River Theater, 418 Villita St., (210) 724-3350, saaacam.org. — KM Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
sacurrent.com | September 22 – October 5, 2021 | CURRENT
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Bill Daniel
Rail Riders
Photographer and filmmaker Bill Daniel assembles group show at Fl!ght Gallery to explore America’s railroad culture BY BILL BAIRD
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The new exhibit explores the many aspects of he railroad is a mainline into the heart of Butler’s output, while also stirring in work from other the American myth. artists intrigued by the hobo lifestyle of hopping “In America, trains are foundational to freight trains. pretty much everything,” said Bill Daniel, Daniel’s own circuitous path to trains began with the renowned New Braunfels-based photographer punk. Many of his resonant images of that late-’70s and filmmaker whose train hobo documentary Who and early ’80s cultural explosion were published in Is Bozo Texino? earned him a prestigious Guggenheim the 128-page photobook Tri-X Noise. fellowship. After touring with iconic Austin punk band the Big In keeping with that notion, Daniel curated the Boys, Daniel gained a taste for itinergroup show “Rail Practitioners,” ant life, while a stint as projectionist which opens Friday, October 1 at for legendary Texas noise rockers the the Blue Star Arts Complex’s Fl!ght Rail Practitioners Butthole Surfers further opened his Gallery. Fl!ght Gallery at Blue Star eyes to the possibility of film. Those “‘Rail Practitioners’ is an art show, 112R Blue Star twin loves found fusion in trains and but it’s also based in archive pracOpening Friday October 1, 6-10 p.m. the graffiti art adorning their sides. tice,” said Daniel, whose interest Closing Friday “It wasn’t your usual junk like slopin railroad art emerged during October 22, 6-9 p.m. with py bomber tags or band logos,” wrote the early ’80s while jumping rides Who is Bozo Texino? Daniel in a 1992 issue of the San Franon freight cars. “And that type of screening at 7 p.m. cisco zine Cometbus. “But stuff that hybrid show is the sweet spot for looked to be a full-on underground me. From rail workers to rail riders art scene with hundreds of characters. — modern day train punks — to ... I figured I had discovered some kind of secret hobo archivists documenting their work and lifestyle, it’s art movement. And so, I decided to become a hobo documentary work and artwork.” myself and meet these brilliant writers and adopt Beyond Daniel’s involvement, the main draw of their carefree lifestyle.” “Rail Practitioners” is the art of Russell Butler, who’s By 1984, Daniel moved beyond photography into showing under his birth name for the first time. filmmaking, inspired by the experimental films he’d Under the railroad moniker “Colossus of Roads” and seen at Austin punk shows. Daniel rode the rails to mail-art moniker “buZ blurr,” Butler emerged as an San Francisco and, on his first day there, met famed important figure in 20th century outsider art.
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CURRENT | September 22 - October 5, 2021 | sacurrent.com
While working for the Missouri Pacific Railroad, brakeman Russell Butler tagged thousands of rail cars with his “Colossus of Roads” moniker.
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experimental filmmaker Craig Baldwin. The pair began a long-term collaboration, and Baldwin’s Artist Television Access storefront provided Daniel a home base to create his masterwork, Bozo Texino, a 16 mm film shot over more than 15 years of him hopping freight trains. The experimental work documents train graffiti art — its makers and culture, including the elusive titular Bozo Texino. Hypnotic, visceral and thought-provoking, Bozo Texino has been screened at film festivals worldwide and at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. But, given the film’s non-traditional approach, it wasn’t necessarily easy to build an audience. For that, Daniel returned to his punk roots. “Black Flag came to [Austin club] Raul’s in 1980 and they had a van, and I thought, ‘A-ha! That’s how you do it,” Daniel said with a laugh. “You travel around, you build a network. That’s how you do it. So, I toured with the film for 10 years, and that built a network for me. And that’s how I know the people in this show.”
Meet Russell Butler Butler, the headlining artist of “Rail Practitioners,” came from three-generation Arkansas railroad family. While working as a brakeman on the Missouri Pacific Railroad for four decades — he retired in the ’90s — Butler developed the “Colossus of Roads” moniker, which he tagged on “thousands and thousands” of freight cars, according to Daniel. Rail monikers are pieces of graffiti on the sides on trains, and many of their artists produce a unique
arts
design or character that they repeat over and over. The use of monikers, now commonplace in graffiti art, originated on railroads. “It’s that escape impulse,” Daniel said. “Leave one town, go to the next. Leave it behind, get a new identity. The use of trainart monikers speaks to that as well. You can’t use your real name! Most of these artists were rail workers and if they used their real name, they’d get fired. This is Russell’s first show using his real name.” Butler’s iconic “Colossus of Roads” image was a simple line-drawing profile of a trainman wearing a cowboy hat. Each of his drawings featured an original caption. “I must admit my dispatch of icons into the network has been my main sledge/major opus,” said Butler in a 2019 interview with punk icon and fellow Arkansan Tav Falco. “Cryptic language appended to a wandering icon for those not willing to apply their own interpretation of its meaning, as it is only a device to add variation to a redundant drawing.” work for a “Finding Herby” exhibit, which Prior to cultivating the moniker, Butler was debuted this summer at the New Braunfels an active participant in the 1970s’ burgeonRailroad Museum. It’s being partially reprised ing mail-art movement, then using his “buZ for Daniel’s show. blurr” handle. Mail artists used the postal Another of the participants, San Antonio’s system to exchange work directly, bypassing Erika Muth, explores trains through her zine agents, galleries and critics. Freight Dialogue. For the exhibition, she’ll “It was founded as part of a radical, latedisplay large scale poster versions of layouts ’60s, ’70s interventionist, anti-establishment from the publication. world,” Daniel said of mail art. “It’s very easy “It’s a vessel for creating things in the spirit for the art world to turn up its nose at mail of the railroad,” Muth wrote in Up Magazine art, but it really is radical because it achieved last year. “The draw of trains and graffiti is its aim: it circumvented the art-world gatefinding beauty in the inaccessible, decrepit, keepers.” and (what most would consider) ugly places.” Butler’s creative inspiration touched the Shawnee Miller, meanwhile, is a tattoo artworld of music as well. His neighbor in ist and train rider whose approach to the culArkansas was none other than Gary Floyd, ture includes painting and large-scale street who later became lead singer art. She recently completed a of seminal Texas punk band group mural in honor of the While reading the article, we The Dicks. Legend has it that late artist Margaret Killgalrecommend checking out Butler, a few years older than len, herself a train rider. this railroad mix, featuring Floyd, told the youngster, Together with Daniel, Barry classic train and hobo songs, “It’s cool to be weird.” McGee and others, Killgallen clips from rail graffiti artists, “I believe that exchange helped form San Francisco’s audio from Who is Bozo was the spark that ignited Mission School graffiti art Texino?, and music Texas punk,” Daniel said. “No movement of the late ’80s mentioned in the piece. band summed up the fury of and early ’90s. mixcloud.com/sasound/ Texas punk more than The Rounding out the Fl!ght rail-practitioners Dicks.” Gallery show’s lineup are Matthew Rodriguez and Spencer Akin. Fellow riders Rodriguez, also known as Briar Bonifacio, was part of a late-’90s freight train graffiti The other artists in Daniel’s “Rail Practicrew called “addicts” — the lower case is tioners” show bring varied approaches to intentional. Voted best graphic artist in the approaches to exploring and documenting Austin Chronicle’s 2021 “Best Of” poll, Rodritrain culture. guez’s work spans genres, including video Michael Greene, a Burlington Northern and animation. However, he’s best known for railroad worker from New Braunfels, will his cartoony street art, including large-scale present his “Finding Herby” series. “Herby,” a rail moniker, became an obsession for Greene murals. Spencer Akin, also known as True to Death, during his career, and he cut the drawings is another rail nut and moniker fan whose off railcars using a torch before they were artistic pursuits include photography and scrapped. zine-making. His Instagram is chock full of Greene collaborated with other Herby images of train graffiti, mostly documented fanatics who collected their collections of
Erika Muth
San Antonio artist Erika Muth explores trains through her zine Freight Dialogue.
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in Southern California.
‘Speed and machinery’ Why do trains still command a special enough place in the American psyche to warrant art shows? “For starters, a fascination with speed and machinery,” Daniel explained. “Manifest destiny, of course. But more than anything, trains obliterate time and distance. As does cinema. They’re both linear. And they both allow you to be someplace else against the rules of time. For the first time, when rails came around, you could be across the continent in a week.” That speaks to perhaps the most fundamental of American ideals: the desire to ditch the past and find a better life. It’s what led millions of immigrants to America and continues to do so. To Daniel, rail art’s current relevance stems from its alignment with punk culture. “The last important art movement of Western civilization was punk,” explains Daniel, “and train culture and punk culture cohabitated. Not punk in the sense of spiked haircuts. Punk just means free underground culture.” In keeping with that ethos, “Rail Practitioners” presents a new approach to archival practice that moves past traditional gatekeepers. “The standard archival model is you find an institution, they box everything up, and a researcher comes in for access,” Daniel said. “My core practice, ultimately, is to find a new method of archive practice.” And his ultimate goal? “Inspiring another generation of people to make cool shit.”
Find more arts coverage every day at sacurrent.com
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Steve Acevedo
Base Hit
San Antonio native Steve Acevedo makes directorial feature debut with sports rom-com Love and Baseball BY KIKO MARTINEZ
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wo years after making his directorial TV debut with an episode of the crime drama Queen of the South, San Antonio native Steve Acevedo is checking off another milestone on his list of career goals — directing and co-writing a feature film. In the romantic comedy Love and Baseball, Acevedo tells the story of a chance meeting between Will (Max Arciniega) and Michele (Tate Hanyok), a pair of strangers whose first encounter turns out to be the epitome of two people with great chemistry. Acevedo didn’t follow a conventional rom-com narrative, however. While Will and Michele “meet cute,” their story doesn’t check off the same tropes moviegoers expect to follow their flirtatious banter. Indeed, it will probably be evident to most viewers that Love and Baseball is a different kind of film when the first scene between the pair stretches past the half-hour mark. Instead, Acevedo splits his film into three separate, dialogue-heavy acts where at least a couple of years have passed between Will and Michele’s reunions. Think When Harry Met Sally… meets Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy. Love and Baseball, which recently screened at the Dances with Films independent film festival, is based on a play of the same name by Jerry Montoya. During an interview with the Current, Acevedo, who moved to Los Angeles in 2008 a few years after graduating from St. Mary’s University and Florida State University, talked about how Love and Baseball is the opposite of a Hollywood production and what it’s
like being a Houston Astros fan living in Los Angeles. Love and Baseball is currently seeking distribution.
What resonated with you about this love story?
What drew me in was the fact that you have these two characters who meet and fall in love and then [the story] doesn’t go somewhere sappy. It went to [a place] where sometimes things don’t work out, even when you dream that they will. It’s kind of like the opposite of a Hollywood story. I thought about how two people meet and why certain times they connect and other times they don’t. I wanted to show how complicated life really is.
Talk about the Lost in Translation moment at the end of the movie where one of the characters says something to the other, but audiences can’t hear the dialogue.
[Tate] improvised that line for every take she did. There’s some funny [takes] where she just makes shit up. The idea was that there’s always these important moments for us internally, but that the world keeps on turning. The ending for me emphasized that. For a lot of people, life is always just about trying to figure things out. You don’t always know what’s next or where a relationship is going to go.
I noticed that each act was shot by a different cinematographer. What was behind that decision?
I thought it was an opportunity to really give
a distinct feel to the movie. I thought it felt more organic to have different cinematographers who were going to have completely different looks to each act. I love the way it turned out.
Are you a baseball fan yourself?
Yeah, I’m an Astros fan. I grew up going to baseball games at the Astrodome with my parents in the summer. As an adult, not as much. Obviously, there was a professional basketball team in San Antonio that took our attention. But, yeah, I grew up playing baseball. The Sandlot was a big movie for me.
I’m not a big baseball fan, but I’m a big baseball movie fan. Baseball movies are easily the best kind of sports movies.
Yeah, it’s amazing because there are way more good baseball movies than there are good football or basketball movies. There’s just something so romantic about baseball. I was definitely drawn to [Will’s] passion for the sport. I’ve only had one public screening of [Love and Baseball], but I can’t tell you how many times people came up to me after to tell me how much they love baseball. Baseball has this hold on people that is very different than any other sport.
Is it hard to be an Astros fan in LA?
It’s hard to be a fan of any other team in LA. When I wear my Spurs hat to Lakers’ games, they don’t like it at all. I even wore my Spurs hat to a Dodgers game, and they didn’t like that either. Even though I’ve been in LA for 13 years, I can’t lose that bond.
Does it feel surreal to finally have a feature under your belt? It does. Even though it is a small film, it’s a lot of work. I’ve done a lot of short films and have done very well with those. But making a feature is really hard. In some ways, I am relieved that I finally got one. It feels good. [The film] has gotten a great response so far.
Find more film stories at sacurrent.com
Jaime Monzon
Brewing Up Change
How Marcus Baskerville became the unlikely face for a beer-focused initiative to address racial injustice BY NINA RANGEL
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he smell of blood and the sound of the highway wind whipping around his Mustang GT are the details Marcus Baskerville remembers most vividly from the night his personal relationship with the police changed forever. More than 10 years ago, a fight broke out at a Sacramento, California house party he and his cousin attended, resulting in multiple injuries. Driven by the desire to do the right thing, Baskerville transported a stabbing victim to a nearby hospital. The police showed up at the hospital and hauled Baskerville and his cousin to a substation, where the pair were held overnight in a cell. They were never processed or formally questioned. The next morning, they were released with no explanation why. “They never apologized for keeping us overnight, never confirmed or acknowledged that we’d saved this man’s life,” Baskerville said. “The officer handed me the keys to my car and told me to make sure I cleaned all of the blood out of the backseat. That was it.” Now 36, Baskerville is the co-founder of San Antonio’s Weathered Souls Brewing Co. and the creative spark behind Black Is Beautiful, a worldwide collaboration by craft brewers to raise funds for racial justice and police reform.
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The brewer’s experience in Sacramento all but obliterated what faith and confidence he had in the justice system, he said. When he launched Black is Beautiful in June of 2020, he did so to help correct systemic, generational injustice against people of color in America. “[My family was] always fairly well-off, and I used to get pulled over in that car without cause all of the time,” Baskerville said. “You see all of these instances of police brutality against people of color, and it scared the shit out of me to be locked in a room somewhere. No one knew where I was, and we hadn’t had any communication with anybody.” Baskerville’s father witnessed the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles, and his uncle once headed Compton’s police force. Like other Black youths growing up in the U.S., Baskerville received instructions from elders about how to stay safe. For instance, you don’t look at white women a certain way, you use a specific tone of voice with a police officer and you don’t wear a backpack into a convenience store.
Desire to do more Although Baskerville acknowledges that there’s been progress in addressing racial injustice, he said
it’s not enough. “These are the same conversations we’ve had over generations, the mental breakdown of what white society and what our government has presented to Black individuals as a standard that we’re expected to uphold to survive in society,” he said. “The conversations haven’t evolved much at all. Slavery turned into the prison system. We deal with racism every day. It’s the same bullshit we’ve been dealing with.” Since its inception, Black Is Beautiful has poured more than $3 million into social justice organizations in 22 countries. The initiative invited breweries to adapt its base imperial stout recipe and give it their own spin. Participants were asked to donate a portion of the sale proceeds from their individual Black Is Beautiful brews to social justice groups in their area. To date, more than 1,300 craft brewers took part. Even so, Baskerville says he doesn’t feel as if he’s accomplished enough. That’s not an assessment meant to diminish the success of what Black Is Beautiful has so far achieved, he stressed. He just wants to do more. Kimberly Machado — Weathered Souls’ director of sales, marketing and events — says she’s familiar with Baskerville’s constant quest for improvement. “I am super competitive too, so I can appreciate it as motivation. He has a ‘never settle’ mentality, and I respect that,” said Machado, Weathered Souls’ first female director. She’s also a stakeholder in the five-employee company. “The moment he first presented Black Is Beautiful to us, he was so passionate and at the same time so upset with what was going on in the world and community,” she added. “We worked day and night when it first was launched in 2020. He didn’t complain because this was bigger than the brewery. He was
ent in any conversation you have with him.”
From partier to introvert
Thrust into the spotlight
While Baskerville is driven, he’s not an attention seeker. Being the face of a worldwide movement doesn’t come naturally for the introverted California-born brewer. With family in the West Coast music industry, Baskerville was thrust into the Sacramento party scene early, attending his first music event at an adults-only venue at the age of 16. In his early 20s, he hooked up with a Playboy model he declined to name. “I was a popular guy back in Sacramento, you know, I had a lot of fun. But being out every night, talking to people and drinking all night, I think it burned me out on the nightlife scene pretty early,” he said. “I think that relationship and lifestyle definitely contributed to the social anxiety I experience now. Nowadays, I’m definitely an introvert. You’ll never know when I leave a party because I love an Irish exit.” What time he’s not dedicating to brewery and Black Is Beautiful, Baskerville spends with his two kids and fiancée Aoleon Gabriel. Indeed, it was Gabriel who pushed him to continue brewing after he turned out four or five “terrible” batches of beer using a Mr. Beer kit back in Sacramento. Eventually, Baskerville took a deeper plunge into homebrewing while holding down a job in fraud management with Citibank, the position that brought him to San Antonio. After a successful “tap takeover” in which Busted Sandal Brewing Co. featured some of his brews on draft, he landed an assistant brewer position at the Northwest San Antonio brewery. He worked the job while still holding down his gig at Citibank. The relationship with Busted Sandal didn’t last. Baskerville grew unhappy with the brewery’s processes and felt creatively confined. Eventually, an argument with the owner led to a parting of ways. After months of planning, he launched Weathered Souls in 2016, cutting his ties with Citibank 90 days after opening so he could focus solely on the new venture. That departure from corporate life came a year earlier than he’d originally planned. Local brewers said Weathered Souls’ commitment to the local craft-beer community was quickly apparent. Baskerville has been known to house equipment or hops for other area breweries at no cost. His company has also offered brewing classes, style guidelines and recipe development for up-and-coming beer businesses. “Marcus was what the scene needed at the time,” said Alex Arredondo, taproom manager for Second Pitch Beer Co. and founder of the “I F**king Love San Antonio” podcast. “Marcus was always focused on brewing good beer, but his main goal is building the San Antonio craft-beer community. That’s appar-
For the past 16 months, that commitment to community has made Baskerville the face of the worldwide Black Is Beautiful initiative. In that role, he’s been pushed into the media spotlight via podcasts and editorial coverage from all over the nation. It’s been a difficult role for a socially anxious introvert. While Baskerville laments that the interviews and facetime haven’t necessarily gotten easier, he understands that they’re far from over — especially if he wants to keep working to make a difference on racial justice. “There seems to be stigma around me, that I’m an asshole, and I think that stems from that social anxiety I deal with daily,” he said. “And it’s a shame, because we’ve contributed so much to the local craft-beer scene, and I feel like that positivity gets lost because people think that it’s personal, that I don’t want to talk to them specifically.” Baskerville said he’s now working on another project to offer minority and women brewers a chance to grow in the industry. He was sparse on details but cited supportive letters and emails from minority brewers over the course of the Black Is Beautiful campaign
food
pushing for a change for the world.”
as motivation. Beyond working to better the industry, he said he’s also working to better himself. The stress of helming a burgeoning social justice initiative, not to mention the pandemic and daily life as a business owner and father took its toll on Baskerville — specifically on his waistline. He’s since throttled back his own beer consumption and adopted a new exercise routine featuring daily Peloton bike rides. The regimen ended up being an unexpected catalyst for his larger outlook after one of his coaches, Tunde Oyeneyin, said something the brewer internalized: “Sometimes your passions turn into your purpose.” Baskerville said his decades-long interest in social justice reform and a supportive family — both during his childhood, and now, with his own family — have given him the motivation to build on Black Is Beautiful by expanding opportunities for others in craft brewing. “The diversity, equity and Inclusion movement, social-justice aspect wasn’t anything I ever expected for myself,” he said. “Through Black Is Beautiful, I came to the realization that helping people of color, women and minorities in the industry is my purpose. It’s why I’m here. And I need to get to back to work.”
Jaime Monzon
Find more food & drink news at sacurrent.com
ALAMO BEER COMPANY | 202 LAMAR ST. SAN ANTONIO, TX | ALAMOBEER.COM 28
CURRENT | September 22 – October 5, 2021 | sacurrent.com
food C
OPENINGS
later this fall.
Tia’s Taco Hut is now slinging tacos, tortas and burritos from a long-vacant building at the corner of Brooklyn Avenue and North St. Mary’s Street.
NEWS
Amaretti Coffee, a new spot on San Antonio’s Broadway corridor, is now serving coffee and tea with Indian twist. Popular Austin spot Carnitas el Güero has opened its first San Antonio location on the city’s Northwest side.
Second Pitch Beer Co. and Roadmap Brewing both landed medals at this year’s U.S. Open Beer Championship. Second Pitch took gold in the California Common category, while Roadmap took bronze in Scottish Ale. After a three-months hiatus from offering brunch, UTSA-area bar, grill and coffee shop The Study Space will get back into the midmorning meal game starting Saturday, September 25.
Donovan Thomson, the influencer behind local social media marketing presence SATXRated, plans open a franchise Big Hops location in New Braunfels this fall.
The couple behind San Antonio mixer brand Bexar Tonics will debut their Dang!wich pop-up featuring Philly-style hoagies on Saturday, October 9.
Fast-growing local chain Burger Boy will open a sixth restaurant in Live Oak, near the city’s only IKEA location.
San Antonio’s Fideo Loco Festival will take place Saturday, November 6 at Southside venue Brooster’s Backyard Icehouse.
Husband-and-wife restaurateurs Emily and Houston Carpenter have confirmed Southtown eatery Up Scale will open in the “early fall.”
Jewish deli-inspired restaurant The Hayden will debut a Wednesday breakfast-for-dinner menu September 22.
The owner of San Antonio’s Dakota East Side Ice House will open a new to-go food extension at 419 S. Hackberry St. this fall.
Blanco-based Andalusia Whiskey Co. has released what it’s billing as the Lone Star State’s first bottled-in-bond, single-malt whiskey.
The city’s first Capital One Café, where locals can sip Americanos while checking their bank balances, is slated to open at La Cantera next May.
Constance “Connie” Andrews, founder of San Antonio’s Golden Wok chain, has sued her longtime business partner and reported common-law spouse Wai Hung “Kenneth” Lau for more than $2 million, according to an Express-News report.
Smoothie and healthy-eating concept Kineapple will open in the food hall at San Antonio’s Pearl
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ON SELECT BOTTLES OF BOURBON* I N - S TO R E & O N L I N E
*Bourbon Heritage Sale runs 9/9/21-9/25/21. Valid on featured products. Sale items can be shopped in-store and online at www.twinliquors.com. Selection varies by store. Items and prices subject to change without notice. No further discount on Sale Items, Final Few, or Closeouts. Some exclusions apply. Please drink responsibly.
Courtesy Photo / Carnitas el Guero
sacurrent.com | September 22 – October 5, 2021 | CURRENT
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CURRENT | September 22 – October 5, 2021 | sacurrent.com
Experience Artisan Village
Open Daily 418 Villita St. lavillitasanantonio.com sacurrent.com | September 22 – October 5, 2021 | CURRENT
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Courtesy Photo / John Scofield
Still Swinging
Jazz’SAlive headliner and guitar great John Scofield reflects on group interplay, pandemic time off and Shania Twain BY SANFORD NOWLIN
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hen it comes to jazz guitar, the heavyweights don’t come much heavier than John Scofield. Scofield, who headlines the Jazz’SAlive festival’s Main Stage on Saturday, September 25, has logged a career spanning five decades. Along the way, he’s played with icons including Miles Davis, Joe Henderson and Herbie Hancock. Acclaimed albums as a bandleader such as 1977’s East Meets West and 1990’s Meant to Be also cemented his rep as one of the best improvisers in the business. The guitarist’s more recent work has included collaborations with avant-funk-jazz ensemble Medeski Martin & Wood, work on the jam band circuit and recent releases such as 2018’s Combo 66 that display an ongoing musical evolution where anything from
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CURRENT | September 22 – October 5, 2021 | sacurrent.com
funk to country finds its way into his fluid playing and remarkable interaction with fellow musicians. We caught up with Scofield by phone to talk about his most recent album, 2020’s Swallow Tales, the art of improvising within a group and what to expect from the Jazz’SAlive performance with his 2021 Quartet, featuring Vicente Archer, Kevin Hays and Bill Stewart.
Your most recent album, Swallow Tales, celebrates the music of Steve Swallow, a pioneer in bringing electric bass to jazz. He’s also been a friend and mentor to you. Talk a little bit about how he influenced your music and your career.
You know, Steve’s one of my very, very best friends and somebody I’ve known since, wow, the beginning. I was a student at Berklee College of Music, and Steve
came to teach, and we became friends. He was never my formal teacher, but he’s been the guy that you look up to in your life when you want to be a musician and you see how he, as an older musician, has conducted himself and played so beautifully. He’s the greatest, and I love him, and I wanted to do this because he’s such a great composer. And while we were playing together, Bill scored on drums. So, we just did it. I’ve known all those tunes for years. Not only have Steve and I played together, but he produced a bunch of my albums that he didn’t play on in the ’80s when I was making some kind of fusion — for lack of a better word — records. And we’ve always stayed in touch. Still do. I owe him a call.
In an interview, you said Swallow’s compositions are perfect vehicles for improvisation. What did you mean by that?
Well, that’s the whole thing that we do, Sanford, is improvise. Otherwise, it’s just regular music. That’s what sets jazz music apart — the development of the improvisation. So, you’ll learn music, you learn songs. You love music and just all the different aspects of music. You study for forever, and you learn how to let it flow out of you conversationally. And that’s impro-
Are some of those setups, as you call them, likely to turn up in your set at Jazz’SAlive? Not really, because it’s a different group that I’m bringing.
Who’s playing with you?
The group that I’m bringing is a different thing. I made a record a year before called Combo 66, and we plan a lot of tunes from there and some of my older tunes as well. I make a record every year, and that’s been going on since 1976. I made a lot of records, and Swallow Tales just happens to be chronologically the last one I did. But jazz musicians pretty much don’t go out to tour the album. You know what I mean? We just work all the time, as often as we can. … What I’m bringing to San Antonio is a quartet, that can play music from all different parts of my career. And we play some jazz standards too.
A lot of jazz guitarists say things like, “I approach the instrument like a piano” or “What I really aspire to sound like is a sax player.” But one thing recognizable about your playing is that you’re clearly unashamed to be a guitar player. You can hear the attack of the pick, the distortion from the amp. Talk a little bit about that choice to embrace the guitar as a guitar.
somebody to play differently than the way they really feel like playing and want to play. Luckily with the guys that I play with, they’re really, really developed and good, so they can bring themselves to a piece of music. That’s what I do. And as far as the interplay, it’s just so much better when everybody is saying something up there. So, you make room for them by using space in your own playing, so that there can be more of a dialogue. And it doesn’t have to be call and response or anything. It’s just when somebody is listening to the music, that there are spaces and breaths in any song, when you listen to the other instruments. That’s a beauty that can be lost if somebody is just cluttering it up with a million notes as the lead player. So, I just like it when everybody’s playing together and that’s what makes it groove.
On that note, you’ve played with some amazing bandleaders over the years: Miles Davis, Joe Henderson, Herbie Hancock, to name a few. Which of those had the most lasting influence on you as a player and band leader?
Well, I think they all did, and the guys you just mentioned, certainly. With Miles, I was in his band for two years, or three years almost, on the road with them all the time, and doing his bidding as one of the guys in his group. I learned so much about how he put music
music
visation. Steve’s songs are written with that in mind, as are a lot of jazz songs. But it’s not just the song. It’s not like Beethoven’s 5th. It’s supposed to have value as a composition, but also as a setup for improvisation.
together. But 10 years before that, when I was a Berkeley student and I met Steve Swallow, Steve Wood, the other guy at Berkeley was Gary Burton, the great vibraphonist. He and Steve were the first famous jazz musicians who I met, and I got to jam and hang with them a lot, and later on played in Gary’s group with Steve later in the ’70s. Just from talking to these guys, seeing how they organize music just completely shaped me. So, I joined Billy Cobham’s band in 1975 when I was a kid. One of my first real bigtime gigs, right after I’d been playing with Gary Burton a lot. And that was completely a different world. That was like a fusion funk band. It was super loud and super popular. We went on the road and were like a rock group, and I learned, “Wow, this is a whole other thing outside of the kind of softer jazz, straight ahead thing.” That was a whole different world. And that continued on to when I played with Miles and other groups, getting to see how all these bandleaders organized the music, and just treated everybody, what songs they picked, how they rehearsed, how they put a set together, how they played, number one, cause when you’re playing with somebody, they influence you just in how they approach the song.
The pandemic has made it hard to have any of that kind of group interaction. How have you kept yourself busy as a musician 35
I wanted to sound like a sax player at different times, and I have always loved music — not just guitar music — and checked out various areas that were not played on the guitar. … But look, at the end, it is a guitar, and you might as well embrace what a guitar can do, because if you don’t, you’re missing out on the potential of the instrument. So, I just do it. When I was younger, I would actually try to cover up things and try and somehow make it sound more like a horn. And I think I learned a lot from doing that. And that’s still part of my playing, I think, but in the end, what is it? It’s a guitar. And I love guitar.
You’re noted for having a lot of group interplay on your recordings. What do you do as a bandleader to ensure that everyone has room to move while also keeping a session centered and coherent? After playing in groups for your whole life, you realize that it really is the group performance that makes it work. It’s not just a solo with a name, with a personality-less rhythm section. So, in order to do that, first of all, everybody has to love the song. You can tell when you’re playing with somebody who really doesn’t dig the song, and they’re just going through the motions. So, you have to write and bring in music with the whole group in mind: “How’s it going to work for them?” I don’t think it works to try and force
Reminder:
Courtesy Photo / John Scofield
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CURRENT | September 22 – October 5, 2021 | sacurrent.com
music Schedule Friday, September 24 MAIN STAGE
9 p.m. Kandace Springs 7 p.m. Mike Sailors & The Higher Calling Orchestra 5 p.m. Katchie Cartwright & Her Brazilian Trio
KRTU STAGE
6:30 p.m. & 8:15 p.m. The Fellowship
TECH TEMPO STAGE
7:45 p.m. Jknodic 6:30 p.m. The Jazz Standard, featuring The Anthony Thomas Quartet 5 p.m. BillyRay Sheppard
Saturday, September 25 MAIN STAGE
John Scofield
9 p.m. John Scofield’s 2021 Quartet 7 p.m. Mike Sailor’s Sextet, featuring Andre Hayward 5:30 p.m. The Dirty River Jazz Band 4 p.m. José Amador & TERRA NOVA 2:30 p.m. Xenobia 1 p.m. UTSA Jazz Ensemble 10 a.m. Children’s Activation
KRTU STAGE
8:15 p.m. Kevin Nabors Quintet 5 p.m & 6:30 p.m. Michelle Garibay-Carey 2 p.m. & 3:30 p.m. Toro Flores Quartet
TECH TEMPO STAGE
7:45 p.m. Three Swings and a Miss 6:15 p.m. Bexar Brass 5 p.m. Rat King Cole 3:30 p.m. Xy!o, featuring Chris “Kra” Malacara 2 p.m. The Bluprint 1 p.m. DFOY Music
But man, I miss it. I miss playing 33 and as a creator? with people and getting the kind of Luckily this is happening to me at age steam going that a group does when ... I guess I was 68 when the pandemic it plays every night. And I’ve been started, and I’ll be 70 in December... lucky enough to be able to do that for But, for me, staying home with my wife so long. I really miss and practicing all the that and look forward time has been great, Jazz’SAlive to that coming back. I you know, to be in one mean, I’ve been playing place and not be on the Friday and Saturday, September 24-25 gigs this summer, just road, because I’ve been Travis Park | 301 E. Travis St. one-offs, but I haven’t a traveling musician done any touring in for all those years. And Free (Check website for Europe where we used even though I missed it special packages, however.) to tour all the time. and still do a lot, I think saparksfoundation.org/ But that’s coming up I somehow benefited event/jazzsalive in October, November. from being in one place I’m going to play a duet and just writing music. I tour with just two of us, me and Dave made a solo record just at home. That’s Holland on bass. And I’m really looking going to come out on ECM [Records] forward to that. We’ve done that a little next year. I wrote a few tunes that I’m bit. We never recorded or anything, going to do with my next project next but we’re going to do a tour that was year and sort of getting ready.
postponed from last year. So, we’ll plan a month in Europe. Let’s hope it’s OK.
You mentioned a potential tour with Dave Holland. Anything else on the horizon?
I’ve also put together a new group, a quartet called … What the hell is it? Oh, Yankee Go Home. And that’s supposed to be funny because we play in Europe all the time. And this group plays American music, like all my groups, I guess. We’re taking some kind of roots-rock stuff and turning it into jazz. And I got some great players with me on that. The same bass player who’s coming down to San Antonio with me and, and a drummer named Josh Dion, who’s a rock drummer but also plays jazz, and great keyboard player, John Coward from the Brian Blade Brother-
hood and other projects. So, some of the really good New York guys, again. I’m writing stuff for this next project, but we also play some Dylan tunes and Byrds and Neil Young and stuff like that, but I’ve figured out ways to swing them too.
What’s the song you think people are going to be most surprised to hear you swinging? You mean when we play down there? Well, if you like Shania Twain, we’re going to do “You’re Still the One,” and nobody would believe that. But I love that song. We’ve been doing that one, but that’ll probably be one of the standout tunes. That, or just “The Girl I Used to Know,” which George Jones sang. There’ll be some stuff like that. Mostly jazz, though.
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CURRENT | September 22 – October 5, 2021 | sacurrent.com
music listings Seth Walker
Squeeze
Courtesy Photo / Squeeze
Courtesy Photo / Seth Walker
Wednesday, September 22 In This Moment, Black Veil Brides, DED In This Moment has the distinction of being an internet phenomenon from the dawn of social media — we’re talking the MySpace era, folks. Charismatic frontwoman Maria Brink is the clear focal point of the band, which mixes genres from alt-rock to screamo to goth rock to classic metal. Black Veil Brides paint with a similar sonic palette, though their look makes them look something like an LA Guns tribute band. Newer act DED pull largely from nu-metal and released its debut LP Mis-An-Thrope in 2017. $39.50-$69.50, 6 p.m., Aztec Theater, 104 N. St. Mary’s St., theaztectheatre.com. — Mike McMahan
Thursday, September 23 Seth Walker Blending blues vocals, jazz instrumentals and Americana in between, Seth Walker’s songs match his roaring ’20s-inspired attire — although with a pinch of his own modern take. Over a career spanning more than two decades, Walker has released 10 albums, moved to a few different cities and logged a 2011 performance at the Austin City Limits Music Festival. $15, 8 p.m., Sam’s Burger Joint, 330 E. Grayson St., (210) 223-2830, samsburgerjoint. com. — BE
Friday, September 24
Mark Weber y Los Cuernos A 92-year-old mini-golf course doesn’t seem like the most natural music venue, but apparently tunes are part of the mix at the reopened Cool Crest Miniature Golf & Metzger Biergarten. And Weber’s Los Cuernos seem like an appropriately fun combo for the occasion. The combo specializes in high-energy Tex-Mex that blends rancheras, cumbias, polkas and waltzes with right-on-target South Texas humor. Call up the tune “Where’s the Weed” on YouTube if you don’t believe us. $8-$10, 6:30 p.m., Cool Crest Miniature Golf & Metzger Biergarten, 1402 Fredericksburg Road, (210) 732-0222, coolcrestgolf.com. — Sanford Nowlin
Saturday, September 25 The Monkees Hey, hey we’re The Monkees … for one last time. This ’60s pop act has endured for a shockingly long time, given its origins as a TV novelty band transparently ripping off The Beatles. The longevity largely comes down to strong songwriting, which produced hits including “I’m A Believer” and “Last Train to Clarksville.” But all things must pass, and The Monkees are hanging it up after this tour, which features original members Micky Dolenz and Michael Nesmith, a San Antonio native, backed by a full band. $44.50-$275, 7 p.m., Tobin Center, 100 Auditorium Circle, (210) 223-8624, tobincenter.org. — MM TV Girl Electronic-flavored indie pop will rule the night
— a bit later in the evening than prime time — when TV Girl comes to town. Though the Todd Rundgren-sampling band has been around for more than a decade, its debut LP, French Exit, has always had a special place in the hearts of fans. The group will perform the album in its entirety on this tour for the first time. $15-$18, 9 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx.com. — MM Brothers Osbourne When you title your tour “We’re Not for Everyone,” you’re sending a clear message. However, given its varied musical approach, we’re guessing the Brothers Osbourne will offer something for someone. They aspire to a roots sound but aren’t hemmed in by tradition, displaying everything from a distinct twang to flirtations with ZZ Top-style boogie. The duo released the LP Skeletons in 2020. $35-$150, 9 p.m., John T. Floore’s Country Store, 14492 Old Bandera Road, (210) 695-8827, liveatfloores. com. — MM Brent Cobb No one would accuse Americana songwriter Brent Cobb of not trying to learn the music business. The dude has lived in LA and Nashville — both ground zero for the suits. But maybe planting roots in Georgia was the right choice for his straightforward sound. Or maybe the Old South is just a fit for a guy who cites Jerry Lee Lewis as a key influence. Whatever the case, his travels — and maybe his rubbing shoulders with the suits — seem to have paid off, since he’s written songs for superstars including Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney and Miranda Lambert. $15, 8 p.m., Gruene Hall, 1281
Gruene Road, New Braunfels, (830) 606-1281, gruenehall.com. — MM
Monday, September 27 Squeeze This legendary UK act from the new wave era is heading back to the States armed with memorable melodies built on groovy keyboard, solid guitar lines and the solid songcraft of writing partners Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook. The show, rescheduled from the summer of 2020, will include support from Austin-based Fastball. $44.50, 8 p.m. Tobin Center, 100 Auditorium Circle, (210) 223-8624, tobincenter.org. — EB
Tuesday, September 28 Volbeat It’s not common for a hard rock band to cite rockabilly as a key influence. Particularly when they’re Danish. And yet, here’s Volbeat. The band boasts a connection to thrash metal’s Big Four, having opened some of the titans’ European shows a decade ago. Since then, it’s separately toured with Big Four members Metallica and Megadeth. On top of that, guitarist Rob Caggiano quit Anthrax, another of the Big Four, to join Volbeat, which really says something. The band is characterized by polished songwriting, big choruses and melodic riffery. Just the thing for an early fall gig at a big outdoor venue. $47.50, 6:30 p.m. Sunken Gardens Theater, 3875 N. St. Mary’s St., (210) 735-0663, tobincenter.org. — MM
sacurrent.com | September 22 – October 5, 2021 | CURRENT
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CURRENT | September 22 – October 5, 2021 | sacurrent.com
music listings Rodrigo y Gabriela
Avatar, Magic Sword, Tallah
Courtesy Photo / berkRodrigo y Gabriela
Rodrigo y Gabriela It’s hard to imagine a duo more Puro San Anto than acoustic guitar maestros Rodrigo y Gabriela. The pair have been performing together for more than 20 years, focused on fleet-fingered flamenco guitar performances. But what makes them a perfect fit for the Alamo City is the way they incorporate their other key — and perhaps surprising to some — influence: thrash metal. New recruits will want to spin their take on Metallica’s epic instrumental “Orion.” The duo won a Grammy for its most recent release, 2020’s Mettavolution. $29.50-$59.50, 7:30 p.m., Tobin Center, 100 Auditorium Circle, (210) 223-8624, tobincenter.org. — MM
Wednesday, September 29 Avatar, Magic Sword, Tallah The best bills feature bands that complement each other rather than being carbon copies, and that sure seems to be the case with this touring package. Gothenburg, Sweden’s Avatar bring an accessible metal sound, unsurprising for a group that’s toured with Avenged Sevenfold and Five Finger Death Punch. Magic
Sword is a different matter, though. Their sound is undeniably synthwave, a genre with niche appeal that’s grown in stature thanks in part to the Stranger Things soundtrack. Magic Sword ups the ante, though, with costumes and an aesthetic that may remind some old school nerds of Dungeons & Dragons. And that is, without a doubt, a grand thing. $26.50, 7:30 p.m., Aztec Theatre, 104 N. St. Mary’s St., (210) 812-4355, theaztectheatre.com. — MM
Thursday, September 30 The Kingston Trio Known for the 1958 song “Tom Dooley,” which recounts the murder of a woman and the man who killed her as he is sentenced to death, The Kingston Trio’s clean-cut folk sound paved the way for the latter generations of Americana and folk revivalists. All three original members of the trio have since passed on, but the torch is being carried by George Grove, William Zorn and Richard Dougherty, family members of the original lineup. $46.50, 7:30 p.m., Tobin Center, 100 Auditorium Circle, (210) 223-8624, tobincenter.org. — BE
Instagram / magicswordmusic
Friday, October 1 Skillet It would be easy to make fun of Christian rockers Skillet. And since the Current music desk isn’t afraid of the Garden of Eden’s low-hanging fruit, it’s on. The band aspires to blend a variety of heavy genres ranging from symphonic metal to nu-metal to alt-rock. Puritans know that’s tough to do without sounding generic, something frontman and Blabbermouth comments section punching bag John Cooper knows a few things about. If the audience is lucky, maybe the anti-vaccine crusader will do a bit of commentary on the Aztec’s COVID-19 policies — that is, in-between rocking the fuck out on songs that place the prayed-for double bill with Stryper in a more encouraging realm than whatever multiverse allows snowballs and Hell to coexist. $27.50-$99, 7 p.m., Aztec Theater, 104 N. St. Mary’s St., (210) 812-4355, theaztectheatre.com. — MM
Saturday, October 2
Mike and the Moonpies With their cowboy hats, Austin base of operations, neotraditional stance and self-aware tunes, Mike and the Moonpies are as modern country as you can get. Most recently, they released Touch of You: The Lost Songs of Gary Stewart, which commemorates the late country singer through an album of unreleased songs that he either wrote or cowrote. $15, 9 p.m., Gruene Hall, 1281 Gruene Road, New Braunfels, (830) 606-1281, gruenehall.com. — BE
Monday, October 4 August Burns Red Metalcore juggernauts August Burns Red are no strangers to San Antonio. The outfit, known for welding precise and punishing riffs to songs with positive messages, is returning to Countdown City for the 10th anniversary of its album Leveler, which pushed them into more uplifting sonic territory. Fit for a King, Erra and Like Moths to Flame open the show. $27.50, 6 p.m., Vibes Event Center, 1211 E. Houston St., (210) 255-3833, vibeseventcenter.com. — EB
sacurrent.com | September 22 – October 5, 2021 | CURRENT
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CURRENT | September 22 – October 5, 2021 | sacurrent.com
EGAL 2065 L NOTICES NOTICE TO CREDITORS Notice is hereby given that original Letters of Independent Administration for the Estate of Maggie Darlene Postula, Deceased, were ordered on September 7, 2021, in Cause No. 2021PC03085, In the County Court of Bexar County, Texas, to: TRACEY LEIGH ST. PETER. All persons having claims against this Estate which is currently being administered are required to present them to the undersigned within the time and in the manner prescribed by law.
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