San Antonio Current — February 9, 2022

THE STAKES OF THE SYMPHONY STRIKE | RISING FOOD COSTS | NEW BRAUNFELS' POLKA POWER | FEB. 9 - FEB. 22, 2022

Power Play

After 2020 gains, Republicans are hoping to swing more Latino voters in South Texas. It’s not as easy as it looks.

ON VIEW JANUARY 26 – JULY 3, 2022 Participating Artists

Fernando Andrade, Richard “Ricky”Armendariz, Jose Balli, Kim Bishop, Hayfer Brea, Francisco Cortes Juan de Dios Mora, Anna De Luna, Juan C. Escobedo, Anel Flores, Juan Flores, Sergio Flores, Brandy Gonzalez Beatriz Guzman Velasquez, Ernesto Ibanez, Julya Jara, Sergio Mata, Barbara Miñarro, Yoko Misu, Merle Mory Anastassia Rabajille, Andrea V Rivas, Caroline Royall, Jesse Ruiz, Gloria Sánchez-Hart, Sabine Senft, Hiromi Stringer Luis Valderas, Jorge Villarreal, Anne Wallace, Naomi Wanjiku, Anahita Younesi, Guillermina Zabala, Claudia Zapata

Participating Organizations

Centro de Artes 101 S. Santa Rosa FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC #CentroDeArtesSA #GetCreativeSA 210-207-1436 SanAntonio.gov/Arts

sacurrent.com | February 9 – February 22, 2022 | CURRENT

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6 SAN ANTONIO LOCATIONS | CDEXCHANGE-SA.COM

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CURRENT | February 9 – February 22, 2022 | sacurrent.com

in this issue San Antonio Current

Issue 22-03 /// February 9 – February 22, 2022

Hot Dish

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

33 Music

Editorial

Digital Content Editor: Kelly Nelson Contributing Arts Editor: Bryan Rindfuss Food and Nightlife Writer: Nina Rangel Staff Writer: Michael Karlis Contributors: Abe Asher, Ron Bechtol, Enrique Bonilla, Daniel Conrad, Mackenzie Cook, Brianna Espinoza, Kiko Martinez, Mike McMahan, Dana Nichols, M. Solis, Gary Sweeney Editorial Interns: Ashley Allen

Rolling Out the Barrel

Renowned musician Alex Meixner relocates to New Braunfels to help build it into polka hotspot

Marketing and Events

Solo Act

Marketing and Events Director: Cassandra Yardeni Events Manager: Chelsea Bourque Account Manager: Nathan Sokul Senior Account Executive: Mike Valdelamar Marketing and Events Coordinator: Julia Bentley Social Media Manager: Meradith Garcia

On Velvet Tone Sessions Vol. 1, San Antonio’s Jake Castillo Trio gives itself room to improvise

Creative Services

Music Listings

Creative Services Manager: Samantha Serna Production Interns: Pedro Macias, Marlene Mejia, Sydney Pujol

Circulation

Circulation Manager: Justin Giles

Euclid Media Group

Chief Executive Officer: Andrew Zelman Chief Operating Officers: Chris Keating, Michael Wagner VP of Digital Services: Stacy Volhein Director of Agency Services: Mindi Overman Digital Operations Coordinator: Jaime Monzon Senior Marketing and Events Director: Cassandra Yardeni www.euclidmediagroup.com National Advertising: Voice Media Group (888) 278-9866, vmgadvertising.com

Facebook / Javier Villalobos McAllen Mayor

08 Feature

Power Play

After 2020 gains, Republicans are hoping to swing more Latino voters in South Texas.

It’s not as easy as it looks.

San Antonio Current 915 Dallas San Antonio, Texas 78215 sacurrent.com Editorial: (210) 332-5448 Display Advertising: (210) 332-5448 Classified: (210) 227-CLAS / Fax - (210) 227-7733 The San Antonio Current is published by Euclid Media Group Verified Audit Member San Antonio Distribution – The Current is available free of charge, limited to one copy per reader.

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07 News

The Opener News in Brief

CityScrapes Falling Behind

Current Events

City council’s handling of COVID rescue funds shows deep-pocketed interests still reign in San Antonio

13 Calendar Calendar Picks

18 Arts

Slipping Away

The legacy of the San Antonio Symphony’s prolonged strike may be a diminished music community

Merger of Equals?

Some wonder whether Southwest School of Art’s culture will survive its absorption into USTA

THE STAKES OF THE SYMPHONY STRIKE | RISING FOOD COSTS | NEW BRAUNFELS' POLKA POWER | FEB. 9 - FEB. 22, 2022

25 Screens

Family Affair

Haim sisters explain why Licorice Pizza is the ‘craziest left turn’ they’ve taken

27 Food

Power Play

Price Pressures

San Antonio restaurant owners struggle to contend with historic inflation

Alt-Valentine’s Day

If the usual range of Feb. 14 dining options are a drag, try these romantic rescues

After 2020 gains, Republicans are hoping to swing more Latino voters in South Texas. It’s not as easy as it looks.

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n the Cover: Republicans have prioritized winning over South Texas Latino voters. Do they have a shot? Cover design: Marlene Mejia.

Virtual Keynote Speaker: Artist Wendy Red Star Friday, February 25 | 6:00–7:00 p.m.

Saturday, February 26 | 9:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m. | In-person and live-streamed Artist Presentations by: Joe Harjo and Ruben Olguin Panel Discussion by: Joe Harjo, Dakota Hoska, Risa Puelo, Ruben Olguin, and moderated by Dr. Annette Portillo Tickets: samuseum.org/mays2022 This exhibition was organized by The Newark Museum of Art. In San Antonio, it is generously funded

by The Ford Foundation, The Betty Stieren Kelso Foundation, and The Brown Foundation, Inc. Wendy Red Star, Spring—Four Seasons (Detail), 2006. Archival pigment print on sunset fiber rag, 23 x 26 in. (58.4 x 66 cm). Gift of Loren G. Lipson, M.D., 2016 2016.46.1.1, Collection of The Newark Museum of Art © Wendy Red Star

200 West Jones Avenue | samuseum.org 6

CURRENT | February 9 – February 22, 2022 | sacurrent.com

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A South Texas butterfly sanctuary has closed after being repeatedly threatened by far-right conspiracy theorists. The National Butterfly Center, located along the U.S.-Mexico border, made headlines when it sued the Trump administration in 2017, arguing that its proposed wall would destroy natural habitats.

QAnon adherents began baselessly accusing the organization and its staff of human trafficking — accusations that escalated over recent weeks to a point the center opted to close.

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The family that runs San Antonio restaurants Cappy’s, Cappycino’s and Mama’s Cafe has reached a deal to take over the Jingu House cafe at SA’s Japanese Tea Garden. The cafe has been shuttered since Fresh Horizons Creative Catering closed its grab-and-go eatery there last year. The rejuvenated spot will offer to-go sandwiches, ice creams and boba tea, along with a separate menu featuring bento boxes.

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Members of the Texas National Guard slammed Gov. Greg Abbott’s harebrained border deployment in a report published last week by the Texas Tribune and Military Times. Members blasted the governor for the “deplorable conditions” and “unclear mission” they face.

Personnel have dealt with equipment shortages, missed paychecks, inhumane living conditions and more as part of the hastily arranged mobilization.

The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is one of four U.S. sites chosen to participate in Phase 1 clinical trials for a vaccine to prevent HIV. Drug giant Moderna has partnered with the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative to develop the inoculation, which is based on mRNA technology. The San Antonio study will enroll 15 local patients. — Abe Asher

YOU SAID IT!

“There’s no conceivable way that could have gone smoothly. There’s no way.”

— A National Guard general

from another state speaking on condition of anonymity to the Texas Tribune about Gov. Greg Abbott’s massive deployment of troops to the border

ASSCLOWN ALERT

Deporting Trudeau with U.S. Rep. Chip Roy Assclown Alert is a column of opinion, analysis and snark.

Leave it to a career bomb-thrower like U.S. Rep. Chip Roy to engage in baseless bloviation without first conducting the barest excuse for a fact check.

Last week, the two-term Republican — whose district includes a slice of San Antonio — fell for a bullshit conspiracy theory that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had fled to the United States because truckers in his country were protesting its vaccine mandates.

In a pair of tweets, an indignant Roy, one of Washington’s loudest COVID deniers, branded Trudeau a “tyrant on the run” and demanded that the U.S. deport the foreign leader so he could “face his own people immediately.”

But, as reported in a CNN fact check, Trudeau wasn’t in the U.S. The news organization also pointed out that Roy’s initial tweet was based on a conspiracy theory shared by an anonymous Twitter account. As evidence of Trudeau’s flight to the states, it reportedly used a photo snapped of him on a 2016 visit.

Adding to the assclownishness of Roy’s tirade, Trudeau held a virtual press conference

news

That Rocks/That Sucks

Twitter / Chip Roy

from his official residence in Canada two hours before the congressman issued his deportation demand. — Sanford Nowlin

Gov. Greg Abbott, who in November guaranteed his constituents the lights would stay on this winter, backtracked last week with the approach of Winter Storm Landon. “No one can guarantee there won’t be [power outages],” the governor said. Though Texas’ grid held up through the storm, thousands of San Antonio residents still dealt with outages as the winter weather hit the city on Thursday.

Speaking of those outages, more than 32,000 CPS Energy customers were left without power Thursday. Those power failures were most prevalent in the northern part of the city, which bore the brunt of the day’s sleet and freezing rain. CPS officials attributed the outages to 35 mile-per-hour winds and ice affecting the capacity of power lines.

A Kerrville woman has pleaded guilty to a federal misdemeanor for entering the U.S. Capitol during the January 6 coup attempt. Elizabeth Rose Williams, a self-described lifestyle coach, plead guilty to illegally parading, demonstrating, or picketing inside the Capitol in exchange for prosecutors dropping four other charges, including a felony count of obstructing an official proceeding. “Stormed the Capitol. Pray for us all,” she reportedly posted on Facebook during the chaos. — Abe Asher

YouTube Screen Capture / Gov Greg Abbott

Find more news coverage every day at sacurrent.com

news Power Play

After 2020 gains, Republicans are hoping to swing more Latino voters in South Texas. It’s not as easy as it looks.

BY SANFORD NOWLIN

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fter former President Donald Trump’s surprisingly strong performance along the U.S.-Mexico border in the last election cycle, Republicans have been working overtime to paint South Texas red.

The Republican National Committee is undertaking a multimillion-dollar outreach effort across the region, which the group is billing as the largest Texas outlay in its history.

To that end, the RNC has opened at least three Hispanic Community Centers in South Texas, including one in Southeast San Antonio, as it pushes to win over Latino votes ahead of the midterms.

What’s more, a GOP Super PAC called Project Red Texas swept into South Texas late last year on a recruiting push that signed up 125 Republican candidates for county offices, the Texas Tribune reports.

The organization reportedly paid filing fees for more than half of those new contenders.

Both efforts are a bid to build on Trump’s relative success winning over Latino voters in 2020. While Joe Biden handily won the Latino vote nationwide, and in large Texas metros, Republicans latched onto his disappointing performance in the Rio Grande Valley, a longtime Democratic stronghold.

Trump won 14 of 28 border counties that Hillary Clinton virtually swept four years prior. Adding to the sting for Democrats, Clinton won by an average of 33 points across those counties, while Biden’s victory margin narrowed to just 17, according to a Texas Tribune analysis.

“A good part of this is simply that the Republican Party in Texas is wealthy and using some of that money not just in traditional hotbeds but in places where they haven’t traditionally performed as well so they can narrow the margins,” said Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

That its outreach is now targeting the Rio Grande Valley should come as little surprise given the demographics at play, Jillson added. As the Lone Star State shifts younger and less white, the Republican party risks losing its decades-long dominance of state politics.

Political observers say Trump’s message of rejuvenating the U.S. economy and turning back the cultural clock resonated in rural South Texas just as it did in small towns elsewhere in the U.S. The question is whether his second-term performance with border Latinos will prove to be an anomaly or a sign of a larger shift.

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CURRENT | February 9 – February 22, 2022 | sacurrent.com

Facebook / Javier Villalobos McAllen Mayor

In either case, political experts say concern about jobs was the biggest driver of South Texas’ 2020 shift.

Many South Texas Latinos work in the oil and gas industry, and Republicans painted Biden’s pledge to ban new fracking on federal lands as the first step toward banning the practice, used in the region’s Eagle Ford Shale. That messaging came as the pandemic forced Texas oil companies to slash jobs.

Republicans also argue that Democrats’ message about police accountability turned off South Texas Latinos in communities where many work as Customs and Border Patrol agents. Ahead of the midterms, they’re also ramping up messaging blaming the Biden administration for the current surge in border crossings.

Conflicting signals Republicans’ new focus on South Texas Latinos comes at the same time as the state party enacted a sweeping new law that makes it harder for Texans to vote — especially people of color. It’s one of many such laws enacted by Republican-controlled states in the wake of Trump’s repeated lies about the last election being riddled with fraud.

If the GOP really thinks it can make big gains with South Texas Latinos, observers ask, why work to minimize their political power?

That same observation isn’t lost on Latino voters, political scientists add. It also comes as those same voters see Gov. Greg Abbott and other Republicans ramp up anti-immigrant rhetoric and militarize South Texas communities to play up their strength on border security ahead of the midterms.

Aimee Villarreal, who heads the Center for Mexican American Studies at San Antonio’s Our Lady of the

Republican Javier Villalobos (left) mingles with supporters. He won a runoff in June to become mayor of the South Texas city of McAllen.

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Lake University, said she sees Trump’s 2020 performance as a unique situation that will be difficult for Republicans to repeat.

As Texas digs out from the pandemic’s economic hardships, oil and gas jobs are coming back, she said.

Voters along the border are now less likely to look favorably on a party that they see demonizing immigrants and viewing Latinos as second-class citizens.

“The Republican Party is completely misguided, and they’ve completely overplayed their hand,” Villarreal said.

Local outreach Despite the apparent contradictions at the heart of its strategy, the GOP’s community-based outreach makes sense to some political observers — even some from the opposite side of the aisle.

GOP operatives are billing the RNC’s new community centers as gathering spaces rather than traditional political offices. They’re places where families can come together to discuss local issues, hold worship services or drop off the kids for a bilingual movie night.

San Antonio’s center, nestled into a nondescript strip mall containing an appliance repair shop and a convenience store, includes a big-screen TV and a children’s table equipped with crayons. A table by the door is piled with flyers for local candidates and photos of GOP Latino lawmakers hang along one wall.

“In San Antonio, we did a couple of cryptocurrency trainings, a couple trainings on how to start a business,” RNC Texas spokeswoman Macarena Martinez said. “We’ve also had a food drive where we collected canned goods and gave them to an organization in need.”

Veteran Democratic political consultant Laura Barberena said the new centers seem modeled more after churches than typical party offices: they bring people together as a community before slipping in a sermon.

“They have the potential to talk to Hispanic voters about the issue they actually want to talk about,” she said.

“What you’re doing is creating relationships with those voters.”

The centers could even help further the party’s push to find strong candidates for local races, Barberena noted.

That kind of grassroots growth will be essential if the party wants to build on Project Red Texas’ recent recruiting efforts.

Likely feeding Republicans’ new interest in local races, Republican Javier Villalobos narrowly won McAllen’s mayoral race in a June runoff. While that city position is officially nonpartisan, it was lost on no one that Villalobos formerly chaired the Hidalgo County Republican Party.

For the GOP to be successful in South Texas, its efforts must be sustained and long-term, which will come with a considerable price tag.

Barberena noted that Republicans’ outreach to Hispanic voters in Texas is nothing new. Former Gov. George W. Bush made inroads on that front, only for the party to slide back after his successor, Rick Perry, appeared to write off South Texas Latinos.

Democratic response Also key to understanding how the GOP performs in South Texas is how aggressively Abbott’s likely challenger in the general election, former El Paso Congressman Beto O’Rourke, hits in the region. While O’Rourke is a dogged campaigner, he doesn’t have the resources to be everywhere at once.

Indeed, Democrats’ decision not to campaign door to door while COVID-19 was raging may have contributed to Trump’s improved showing with Latinos on the border, political experts note.

While many pundits predict the 2022 midterms will be punishing for Democrats nationwide, party officials said they’re not taking South Texas for granted. The Texas Democratic Party has hired a regional political manager focused on South Texas, and it’s boosted spending on voter registration.

What’s more, progressive-leaning voter mobilization groups such as San Antonio-based MOVE Texas have expanded efforts in South Texas. The group said it plans to register 50,000 Texas voters between the ages of 18 and 30 ahead of the midterms.

SMU’s Jillson said South Texas is likely to lean Democrat for some time. Just the same, it would be foolish for the party to ignore Republicans’ 2020 showing — and its current outreach plan. If Democrats wants to hold off further red gains among South Texas Latinos, they’ll need to spend big, pound the ground and search for messages that resonate.

“Democrats need to hear the sirens,” Jillson said. “They need to know that something they’re doing in South Texas isn’t working as well as it should.”

Sanford Nowlin

sacurrent.com | February 9 – February 22, 2022 | CURRENT

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news

CITYSCRAPES

Falling Behind

San Antonio’s endless incentives for Microsoft help explain our lagging economic development

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

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his time of year, it’s traditional for a column to look ahead at the prospects for San Antonio and the larger community going forward. But now, with the effects of COVID-19 still looming large, it is difficult to see ahead with any certainty.

Even so, looking back offers us some context for understanding where the city is headed.

Just a couple of weeks ago the Express-News reported on the city’s latest deal with Microsoft for a new data center — a deal granting the company a variance on the city’s tree preservation ordinance. Microsoft will be able to remove more than 2,000 trees from the site in the Westover Hills area, leaving just a small number of large trees. In return, the tech giant proposed planting 800 new ones and paying $1.4 million to the city’s tree mitigation fund.

Bending over backwards to accommodate Microsoft and its data centers has a long history in this town. City

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council approved a deal in 2007 that gave Microsoft a 10-year property tax abatement for the data center in exchange for the promise to create 75 full-time jobs.

Of course, these data centers are just big buildings that house racks upon racks of computer servers to run Microsoft’s Azure cloud services. They don’t need many employees. In fact, Microsoft shared in documents that 20 of those 75 jobs would be in “site security services” — onsite guards.

Yet, despite the modest number of workers the center planned to hire, local leaders gave it even more incentives via a lucrative tax abatement deal from Bexar County.

“This is not a gift to Microsoft … This is a gift to ourselves,” then-Mayor Phil Hardberger assured the community.

Six years later, Microsoft came back with plans for a $250 million expansion, and the city council — with just one no vote — approved a new, 15-year tax phase-in deal. This time, Microsoft

CURRENT | February 9 – February 22, 2022 | sacurrent.com

put its job creation at just 20 new jobs.

City staff contended that there would be a “net fiscal benefit” to the city government, counting sales tax revenue and CPS Energy revenues as well as some property taxes. You see, the city’s share of CPS’s revenues is a significant part of the city budget. And data centers such as Microsoft’s are incredible energy hogs, using electricity at low large-user rates to run those banks of servers 24/7. In 2007, Milton Lee, then head of CPS Energy, contended that Microsoft would be the city’s largest energy user.

Microsoft has continued to invest in data centers here, buying some existing ones and building others, both in Westover Hills and farther west at the Texas Research Park on a 158-acre tract purchased in 2015. The deals with Microsoft were supposed to be the catalyst to boost San Antonio’s future in information technology. But aside from demanding huge amounts of electrical power, it’s not at all clear what the community got aside from a host of massive new buildings in Westover Hills and beyond.

It’s instructive to compare where we are today with our neighbor to the north, Austin. In 2007 and 2008, the average hourly earnings of private employees in metro San Antonio and metro Austin were about the same, at about $23. Average earnings here slowly grew to a little over $26 by late 2021.

But average earnings in the Austin area reached more than $32 at that time.

The difference between San Antonio

and Austin in terms of overall economic activity, or gross domestic product, is even more striking. While our economies were roughly the same size in 2003 and 2004, the state capital now surpasses us by some 28%.

Our city and county governments signed deals for massive data centers that produced remarkably few jobs — and no real economic spinoffs. Austin has, for years, followed a very different strategy.

Some would argue the comparison is unfair. Austin, after all, boasts a premier public research university and a highly educated labor force. The city has managed to capitalize on a technology economy that demands talented people.

Yet San Antonio’s leaders seem to follow the same old plan and deliver the same promises. We still seem to cling to the hope that new jobs and investment capital will come from afar, and that visitors will be so entranced by the wonders of “tropical” San Antonio that they’ll eventually locate here.

More than 100 years ago, John Carrington, head of San Antonio’s Publicity League and later its Chamber of Commerce, penned an article headlined “One Texas City Advertises Itself Into Prosperity.”

Things haven’t quite worked out that way, and they’re unlikely to work that way in the future.

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

Instagram / nutrixorge

CURRENT EVENTS

City council’s handling of COVID rescue funds shows deep-pocketed interests still reign in San Antonio

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

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ast week’s vote to jump three well-connected organizations to the front of the line as the city doled out federal COVID-19 relief funds offered another dismaying look at how public business gets done in San Antonio.

On a 9-1 vote last Thursday, city council approved a distribution plan for $212.5 million in federal pandemic recovery grants made available through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).

Those funds are vital as the city deals with mental health issues, economic development and other challenges wrought by COVID. What’s alarming about that vote is that the approved package immediately funnels $32 million of the funds to a trio of influential local groups while requiring others — most with fewer resources and political connections — to undergo a lengthy approval process.

Of that special set-aside, $10 million is going to Texas Biomedical Research Institute, a well-funded lab controversial for its experiments on primates;

$15 million to Morgan’s Wonderland, a theme park accessible to people with special needs; and $7 million to Educare, a child-care program connected to the Texas A&M-San Antonio campus.

Multiple citizen speakers at Thursday’s meeting questioned why those three organizations, other than their obvious political clout, got to jump the line. Longtime activist Graciela Sanchez of the Esperanza Peace & Justice Center blasted their special treatment as “sweetheart deals” arranged by City Manager Erik Walsh and his staff.

It’s hard to disagree.

After all, there was minimal public input on the decision to give those three groups a leg up. Plus, to Sanchez’s point, they have the finances and political heft to lobby council in ways others can’t.

“Maybe it wasn’t slimy, maybe it wasn’t shady, but how does it not look that way?” District 2 Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez asked in an interview following the meeting, during which he cast the only dissenting vote. “How

can anybody else look at this and not say the city made some sort of special agreement or deal? Because those conversations were never public.”

The lack of transparency McKee-Rodriguez raises is especially troubling in the case of Texas Biomed, which last year sought an $11 million municipal bond from the city to expand its infrastructure. After overwhelming pushback from residents and animal-welfare groups during public comment, the lab withdrew its request in December. Understandable. To a research institution with 2020 assets of more than $225 million, that funding — while not exactly couch-cushion money — probably wasn’t worth the ugly public fight.

Especially if there were other ways to secure it.

The $10 million in council-approved ARPA funds now going to Texas Biomed are slated to fund that same infrastructure expansion. Only this time, there were far fewer of those pesky public input sessions to get in the way.

McKee-Rodriguez said he had no recollection of the lab presenting at a December council B Session on the ARPA funds. Many who spoke Thursday against the allotment said they were also surprised when it popped up on council’s agenda.

Mayor Ron Nirenberg and others on the dais had a chance to remedy the appearance of a backroom deal when McKee-Rodriguez introduced an amendment to require separate votes on the expedited funding for Texas Biomed and the other two organizations.

However, his motion failed on a 6-3

vote with one abstention. Nirenberg was among those who rejected it.

At the meeting, citizens and animal-welfare advocates accused the city of giving Texas Biomed a hefty consolation prize after it failed to land the bond money. Given the circumstances, it’s easy to see why they read council’s vote as an end run.

One speaker, 19-year-old Mariah Smith, said she adjusted her work schedule so she could show up at multiple bond meetings to raise concerns about Texas Biomed’s treatment of animals. In the end, it seemed like the lab was destined for a city handout no matter what.

“This was my first real experience with the city’s public engagement process, and I must say I’m a bit disappointed,” Smith said, in what should be in the early running for understatement of the year.

Nirenberg and council should take note of Smith’s words of frustration.

While voiced by someone new to the political process, similar complaints about the city’s lack of transparency, disregard for public input, closed corridors of access and unbridled staff power aren’t new.

Those same grievances drove the fire union’s success on a punitive 2018 ballot measure that prompted the departure of previous city manager Sheryl Sculley. They also contributed to Nirenberg’s 2019 near defeat by anti-establishment candidate Greg Brockhouse.

San Antonio’s powerful may still enjoy special access, but voters don’t like to be ignored.

sacurrent.com | February 9 – February 22, 2022 | CURRENT

11

13th Annual

Open Weekends:

Mar 5 – Apr 24 + Fri Mar 18 10 AM To Dusk Rain Or Shine | No Pets -Camping Available-

Location

1883 Old Hwy 20 Mcdade, Tx 78650

35 Miles East Of Austin -Or2 Hrs Northeast Of San Antonio

Entertainment

Join Robin Hood & Lady Marian as they host full contact jousting, falconry, swordplay, archery, juggling, comedy, theater & more. Medieval England comes to life in Central Texas.

Artisans + Merchants We host a grand selection of hand-crafted goods in Central Texas. We offer demonstrations like glass blowing, blacksmithing, pottery spinning, leather armor making, weaving, jewelry & art creation, & others.

Song + Dance

You'll find minstrels, bards, storytellers, magicians, jugglers, & all types of performers strolling our lanes & playing on our stages. If you're lucky, you may spot a faery or two!

Food + Drink

From trenchers weighty with tasty fare to tankards overflowing with foamy mead, there's plenty to eat and drink at Sherwood Forest Faire. You'll discover medieval treats & delicacies.

Tickets On Sale Now At Sher woodforestfaire.com | (512)222-6680 | Follow Us On 12

CURRENT | February 9 – February 22, 2022 | sacurrent.com

FI LM

SLAB CINEMA ARTHOUSE: BEAUTIFULLY BLACK FILM SERIES In celebration of Black History Month, Slab Cinema Arthouse at the Blue Star Arts Complex is presenting Beautifully Black, a film series showcasing several features and shorts running through the entire month. Several of the movies that will screen in this series were selected for preservation in the National Film Registry for being “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.” These include the 1961 drama A Raisin in the Sun, the 1975 coming-of-age dramedy Cooley High, the 1978 drama Killer of Sheep, the 1989 dramedy Do the Right Thing, the 1990 documentary Paris is Burning and the 1991 indie film Daughters of the Dust. Written and directed

by Julie Dash, Daughters of the Dust is the first feature film directed by a Black woman that had a mainstream release in U.S. theaters. “Film can be that balm of Gilead,” Dash told Vogue in 2016. “Film can be that prescription for many ills of the world. Just like years ago, when Lenin said film is the most powerful mechanism of the 20th century. They certainly knew that you could turn a whole generation. You don’t need to fight wars anymore; just create a series of films that move and motivate and resonate with people and you could change a situation.” $10-$160 (shorts free), various dates and times, Slab Cinema Arthouse, 134 Blue Star, (210) 212-9373, slabcinemaarthouse.com. — Kiko Martinez

The Criterion Channel

THU | 02.10 SPECIAL EVENT

JORDAN B. PETERSON Can we not? OK, well, I guess we have to. Far-right hero Jordan B. Peterson is a clinical psychologist, it’s true. That’s not an easy designation to earn, taking years of school and clinical supervision. He presents his ideas — particularly

calendar

THU | 02.10 SUN | 02.20

Courtesy Photo / Blue Star Contemporary

WED | 02.09 TUE | 02.22 ART

‘THREADS BARE’ AND ‘BLACK ART LIBRARY’

Blue Star Contemporary’s two new spring exhibitions are now on view. “Threads Bare,” a group exhibition assembled

by BSC Curator and Exhibitions Manager Jacqueline Saragoza McGilvray, will be featured in the main gallery space. The work from artists Preetika Rajgariah, Juan Carlos Escobedo, Mickalene Thomas, Audrya Flores, C. Rose Smith and Luis Valderas explores the intersections of art and fashion using textiles or related materials. “In an era where performances of identity are increasingly virtual, ‘Threads Bare’ highlights the significance of materiality and its foundations to these simulations,” BSC said in a news release. “The viewer enters a window to a profusion of histories, provoking questions of our present, and unearthing inherited complexities of American identities and pathways to acknowledgment, healing and envisioning the future.” “Black Art Library” showcases a collection of written materials centered on Black artists and Black art history, including exhibition catalogues, children’s books, artist memoirs and biographies, art history texts and other art-related ephemera. Curator Asmaa Walton created the library in 2020 as a tool to educate people of all ages and levels of expertise on Black art, which has historically been neglected in art education. BSC is the first arts organization outside of Michigan to host the Black Art Library, which Walton plans to eventually house in a physical space in Detroit that will act as a non-lending library. “I want to create a space where people of all ages can come to spend time with these books and learn things that they did not have the opportunity to learn in school or at home,” Walton said in a statement. “I want the Black Art Library to be a place local students can come to do research for a project, self-taught artists can be inspired by images that they see between the pages, and art lovers can spend a day falling in love with the work of an artist they had never even heard about before.” “Threads Bare” is on view through May 8 in the Main Gallery, and “Black Art Library” is on view through Mar. 27 in the Art Learning Lab. Free, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. and 2-6 p.m. Thursday-Sunday, Blue Star Contemporary, 116 Blue Star, (210) 227-6960, bluestarcontemporary.org. — Kelly Nelson

about the nature of being male in this era — with an air of smugness that fits his observations, often simplifying complex issues. These same opinions have made him a frequent target of the “woke mob,” with whom he has a

the weirdest episodes of his life, Peterson was in a medically

No kids are allowed at this 21-and-up showing of Willy

relationship reminiscent of an old-timey blood feud. But

induced coma for eight days at a Russian treatment center,

Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, the classic 1971 film starring

for someone with an advanced degree, he seems to struggle

where he was treated for addiction to benzos. He purport-

Gene Wilder. The screening is a part of the San Antonio

with pretty basic stuff. Witness the recent appearance on

edly has no memories of this time period, which stretched

Botanical Garden’s Foodie Cinema series, dedicated to

Spotify supervillain Joe Rogan’s podcast, in which Peterson

from late 2019 to early 2020. Forgetting about Peterson

cultivating a shared dining and cinema experience. As the

demonstrated a lack of understanding about how scientific

for a while sounds like a blessing, to be honest. Don’t feel

movie rolls, Chef Katrina

modeling works. And the content of his remarks? Straight

like wading through hours of YouTubes starring our guy or

Flores will take guests on

from the mouth of an

warming a seat to see what he’s all about? Just say “what a

a journey exploring the

Exxon-funded climate

dick” and move along. You’ll likely be glad you did. $36.50-

possibilities of chocolate

change denier. More

$249, 7:30 p.m., Tobin Center, 100 Auditorium Circle, (210)

in the kitchen. Why save

recently, Peterson made

223-8624, tobincenter.org. — Mike McMahan

dessert for last when you

news by posting a shot

can sneak sweets into

FRI | 02.11

of himself hanging out with douchenozzle DJ Skrillex, leaving the

FILM

latter at risk of being “cancelled.” And, in what is surely one of

Reminder:

Courtesy Photo / Tobin Center

FOODIE CINEMA: WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY

every course of the meal?

Not just the desserts include chocolate — the entrees do too, including a smoky butternut squash soup and a chocolate-

Warner Home Video

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.

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Earthquake

JR De Guzman

Carolanne Miljavec

Steve Byrne

CURRENT | February 9 – February 22, 2022 | sacurrent.com

calendar

and coffee-crusted steak. $55, 6:30 p.m., San Antonio Botanical Garden,

last year. “I hope the film encourages audiences to grapple with how in-

tours in Europe and Asia. Sold Out, Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club, 618

555 Funston Place, (210) 536-1400, sabot.org. — Dana Nichols

carceration impacts mothers, children, families, and, as a result, entire

Northwest Loop 410, (210) 541-8805, improvtx.com/sanantonio. — MM

communities.” Free, 7 p.m., presahouse.com. — KM

FRI | 02.11 MON | 02.14

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FRI | 02.18

COMEDY

SPECIAL EVENT

THE AMAZING ACRO-CATS

COMEDY

BOX OF LAUGHS

SEBASTIAN MANISCALCO

Several Texas-based comedians will take the mic to give relationships

Not just anyone can boast about being a successful stand-up and

and all things lovey-dovey a much-needed beatdown during this Val-

appearing in a Scorsese film (The Irishman). But Sebastian Maniscalco

As seen in episode two of the 2021 Netflix series Cat People, The

is that guy. The comic, who grew up in a Chicago suburb, got his start

Amazing Acro-Cats are returning to San Antonio’s Josephine Theatre

in LA at The Comedy Store. His inspirations came from masters of

on Valentine’s Day weekend. This two-hour performance features cats

the form — he cites legends like Jerry Seinfeld and George Carlin, for

doing a variety of impressive tricks such as jumping through hoops

example. Fans of late-night talk shows have likely seen him making the

and riding on skateboards. And if that’s not enough of a howl, the

rounds thanks to appearances on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,

show ends with a performance of the all-cat band Tuna and the Rock

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy

Cats —with support frm a friendly chicken. The cat band recently added

Fallon and Conan. Beyond that, Maniscalco has a Netflix special, Stay

some new feline members, with Ahi on woodblocks and Albacore on

Hungry, which is also the ti-

cowbell, Roux on trumpet and Oz on saxophone. Show founder and cat

tle of his 2018 memoir. He’s also been touted as “the

wrangler Samantha Martin has been training and showing her AcroCat troupe since 2005, getting new recruits from her rescue and fos-

Courtesy Photo / Box of Laughs

hottest comic in America”

tering operation Rock Cats Rescue. If you’re looking for a last-minute

entine’s Day comedy show. Don’t anticipate any terms of endearment

by a little paper called the

way to show a loved one how purrfect they are this Valentine’s Day, the

coming from this bunch. The acid-spitting stand-ups include Tori Pool,

New York Times. Somehow

Amazing Acro-Cats may be the ticket. $35-$55, 7 p.m. Friday, 3 p.m. and 8

Leah Mulroney, Christopher Breakell, Jason Rodriguez, Joshua Cabaza,

not convinced of this guy’s

p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sunday, 7 p.m. Monday, Josephine Theatre,

Colton Dowling, Lando Shepard and Isabella Sosa, the latter of whom

bona fides? He’s appear-

339 W. Josephine St., (210) 734-4646, rockcatsrescue.org. — Mackenzie Cook

made 2020 headlines when she went viral for posting a TikTok video

ing in the upcoming live

of herself telling a story about a woman in Walgreens who refused to

action Mario film as well.

put on a face mask. Breakell joked with the Current that he’s looking

$79.50-$225, 7 p.m. and 9:30

forward to ruining a few people’s first dates when he hits the stage.

p.m., Majestic Theatre, 224 E.

“Comedy shows are a good way to find out how secure you are in

Houston St., (210) 226-3333,

your relationship,” he said. “If you don’t feel comfortable laughing in

majesticempire.com. — MM

Courtesy Photo / Majestic Theatre

front of your partner, good luck satisfying them in bed.” He added: “Valentine’s Day can put a bunch of pressure on a day that was basically Katie Day

created to sell flowers and cards, so might as well enjoy it over a few laughs with comics who are undoubtably more miserable than you.” $10, 8 p.m., Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club, 618 Northwest Loop 410, (210)

SAT | 02.12

541-8808, improvtx.com/sanantonio. — KM

SAT | 02.19 COMEDY

DREW LYNCH Stand-up comedian Drew Lynch earned his time in the spotlight when

FI LM

INDIE LENS POP-UP VIRTUAL SCREENING: APART In advance of its U.S. broadcast debut via PBS on February 21, the hourlong documentary Apart will screen online for free courtesy of the Presa

THU | 02.17 SUN | 02.20

he was featured on Season 10 of America’s Got Talent in 2015. After grabbing second place, the Indianapolis-born funnyman, who performs with a stutter, went on to land a role on the TV series Maron, starring Marc Maron, and he also got the opportunity to entertain an audience on the late-night show Conan. Today, Lynch has a vlog with two million

COMEDY

subscribers who tune in to hear him talk about his life with his service

House Gallery and ITVS, a service that funds and presents documenta-

JR DE GUZMAN

ries on public television, including the award-winning PBS weekly se-

Some creative types just aren’t satisfied working in one medium, and

year. In the special, Lynch jokes about how every time there’s news

ries Independent Lens. Directed by Oscar-nominee Jennifer Redfearn and

comedian JR De Guzman fits in that category. He started out as a music

about an asteroid hurling through space, people always describe it as

filmed over three and a half years, Apart tells the story of three mothers

teacher — until he realized “that means teaching Taylor Swift songs to

being “the size of Texas.” He deadpans: “We don’t care that it’s the size

— Tomika, Lydia and Amanda — who return home after spending time

teenagers.” So, he escaped that hellish existence by taking the easy road

of Texas – just so long as

in jail on drug charges. To prepare them for their new lives, they are

… to being a stand-up comic? Naturally, De Guzman incorporated his

it hits Texas.” Lynch also

sent to a program in Cleveland where they will learn how to rejoin so-

musical skills into his comedy shows and eventually earned a 15-min-

jokes that he’s been ac-

ciety and fight back against the stigmas connected to people who have

ute slot on Netflix’s The Com-

cused of faking his speech

been incarcerated. In 2011, Redfearn was nominated for an Academy

edy Lineup. Since then, he’s

impediment, likely because

Award for her short doc

also appeared on Comedy

he talks about it on stage.

Sun Come Up about the

Central’s Kevin Hart Presents:

“If you see someone in a

world’s first environ-

Hart of the City. In 2017 he

wheelchair at the bank,

mental refugees. “The

released the album Dual

you’re like, ‘Oh, that person

issues raised in [Apart]

Citizen on iTunes, where it

is disabled,’” Lynch said.

are part of a much

quickly roared up the charts.

“But if you see someone in

larger conversation we’re

Born in the Philippines and

a wheelchair at Disneyland,

having in the U.S. about

raised in LA, De Guzman

you’re like, ‘That bitch is

inequality, racism, drugs

pulls from his experiences as

cutting!’” $25-$35, 8 p.m.,

and mass incarceration,”

an immigrant and an ethnic

Majestic Theatre, 224 E.

Redfearn told Women and

minority, and his comedy

Hollywood

Tim Metzger

has earned him successful

dog Stella. He also released his first album, Concussed, on YouTube last

Houston St., (210) 226-3333, Courtesy Photo / LOL Comedy Club

majesticempire.com. — KM

Courtesy Photo / Majestic Theatre

sacurrent.com | February 9 – February 22, 2022 | CURRENT

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CURRENT | February 9 – February 22, 2022 | sacurrent.com

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17

Sanford Nowlin

Slipping Away

The legacy of the San Antonio Symphony’s prolonged strike may be a diminished music community

BY ABE ASHER

T

he San Antonio Symphony has been on strike for more than four months, and with musicians and symphony management awaiting the beginning of a mediation process on Feb. 14, it’s clear the end isn’t yet in sight.

For both sides, the short-term effects of the strike are grave. Musicians have lost pay and benefits and face uncertain futures, while the symphony itself has lost credibility both with its employees and the broader community, observers note.

At stake isn’t just the question of whether San Antonio will continue to have a top-class professional 18

CURRENT | February 9 - February 22, 2022 | sacurrent.com

orchestra but whether the city will lose musicians who comprise a key part of its creative community.

The last offer by the Symphony Society, the orchestra’s managing body, was to cut the number of full-time musicians in the financially strapped organization from 72 to 42, eliminating four positions and converting 26 more to part-time. The offer, made in late September, is one Trinity University assistant professor of music Joseph Kneer called “unheard of.”

Musicians of the San Antonio Symphony (MOSAS) chair Mary Ellen Goree said accepting such an offer would effectively end the symphony as we know it.

Musicians from the San Antonio Symphony picket the home of Kathleen Weir Vale, the organization’s chair. They staged the protest in late December.

M

“The option is not between the full-time symphony and the smaller core,” Goree said. “The choice is between a full-time symphony and no orchestra at all.”

In such a scenario, many who won auditions for full-time jobs with the symphony would leave for work elsewhere, Goree cautioned. Musicians of similar caliber wouldn’t relocate to San Antonio to replace them — not for a position that doesn’t pay a living wage.

Dwindling staff, dwindling funds Musicians blame inadequate fundraising for the current financial situation. Corey Cowart, executive

Looking elsewhere It’s not just musicians facing part-time work who are considering leaving. Freudigman, who’s played with the symphony for more than two decades and co-founded the Camerata San Antonio chamber ensemble, said he’ll audition for other symphony jobs this year no matter how or when the strike is settled.

Like many colleagues, Freudigman spent the past four months playing with symphonies in other cities, including Atlanta, which he said has been an eye-opening experience.

“I’ve had an amazing time there,” he said.

“They’ve been so welcoming. The biggest thing that I’m noticing is the professionalism of the board and the staff and their commitment to the orchestra — their commitment to the musicians.”

Such departures would leave a deep mark on the San Antonio symphony itself. They would also dramatically change the city’s larger music community.

Beyond his role in the orchestra, Freudigman teaches. One of his students, Vincent Garcia-Hettinger, told the Current that without the leadership of symphony musicians, “music education in San Antonio would suffer a huge blow that would be felt for gen-

erations to come.”

Daniel Taubenheim, the associate principal trumpet, is another example. He took a one-year contract to play with the Phoenix Symphony due to the strike. That meant giving up teaching positions at Trinity and St. Mary’s University, along with sessions with private students.

He plans to audition in Phoenix and elsewhere this year.

“We’re in the musical fabric, and we raise the level of music overall in this city by a significant amount,” Taubenheim said. “Without a professional full-time orchestra, that really is going to go away, sadly. There still will be music and music education, of course, but we are the top of the bar.”

Trinity professor Kneer agreed.

“Many of the symphony players go and teach and coach in local high schools, they coach and teach private lessons, and as a result I see that directly in the students who are coming to Trinity from San Antonio,” said Kneer, a violinist who’s played with the symphony in the past. “They’re being coached by symphony members, and it’s high-level training. The school is benefiting from that. All local universities are benefitting from that.”

‘Relationship cost’ The strike’s duration is also weighing on the San Antonio Symphony as an institution.

Cowart said the ongoing lack of performances exacts a “financial cost as well as a relationship cost” on its reputation, locally and beyond.

Compounding the problem, J. Charlene Davis, a professor of business administration at Trinity, warned that the public’s sympathy in the matter is likely with the musicians, not the symphony itself.

“Who among us would feel great about being told, ‘Hey, we’re going to let go of a bunch of other folks who work with you, and we want you to do work, and, by the way, we’re going to reduce what we pay you’?” Davis asked. “So, I think public sympathy naturally goes out [to the musicians].”

Meanwhile, those musicians looking to leave are encouraging the younger ones who constitute the future of the orchestra to do the same.

“My advice to the young ones is go,” Freudigman said. “Leave now. If it’s not going to settle, go somewhere else where you can continue your career. Because with the direction that the board is taking right now, they have no career here — $11,000 is nothing. No healthcare. It’s untenable.”

MOSAS is resolute that it won’t agree to any contract that splits the orchestra between full-time and part-time musicians.

“When you have an orchestra and you’re making music, everybody matters,” Goree said. “To have colleagues who are paid poverty-level, insulting wages with no benefits, and to expect that we will sit next to them on

arts

director of the San Antonio Symphony, didn’t disagree. He said money-raising deficiencies and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic left the organization no choice but to pursue drastic cuts.

“It’s well known that we are understaffed, both on our revenue-generating side as well as on our operations side,” Cowart said. “We have a current administrative staff of 12 folks, including me, where 10 years ago, we were at 20.”

When Cowart worked in Atlanta, that city’s symphony had some 20 development staffers and a budget of between $25 and $30 million.

Over the past decade, the San Antonio Symphony has made do with just three development staff and struggled with consistent turnover.

The San Antonio Symphony’s financial problems are longstanding. So much so that Goree said friends asked her whether she was crazy when she accepted an offer to come to the city in the 1980s. She and the other musicians are currently paid just $35,774, well below average compensation for full-time orchestra members in other cities.

Despite that, the symphony has continued to play at a level on par with better-financed counterparts in Dallas, Houston, Fort Worth and elsewhere.

“The San Antonio Symphony has played far beyond its compensation for decades, and what they are doing is destroying that,” said Ken Freudigman, the symphony’s principal cellist. “If they get their way with an A/B contract, you won’t get players of any quality who will come. It’s not going to happen.”

stage knowing how they were treated, is misguided. That’s as nice a word as I can think of for it.”

Changing the model

Cowart said the Symphony Society is open to counterproposals that don’t include splitting the orchestra between full-time and part-time musicians — if it can cut costs. The symphony’s first offer last fall, which MOSAS rejected, was to slash all 72 musicians’ base pay by 50% to just $17,710.

“We’ve made incremental changes to the organization for over a decade, and we’ve basically gotten to a point where … the model that we had fundamentally didn’t work anymore,” Cowart said.

Many musicians and supporters want to see the symphony engage in emergency fundraising to finance a full orchestra, then begin bringing in new sources of money to ensure its long-term stability.

But Cowart said emergency fundraising has historically gotten the symphony into trouble. The organization needs a reset, he said.

“We have this continual history of almost shutting our doors, and those more sophisticated individual and institutional donors, who really pore over our audited financials and are looking at our results, are gradually, over time, stepping away from the organization,” Cowart said.

The symphony, according to Cowart, needs time to rebuild its relationships with major donors, cultivate new ones and shore up its finances. COVID-related grants and bailout money have helped, but they haven’t fundamentally changed the symphony’s position.

Forced to rebuild But the musicians said they don’t have time to wait. The Symphony Society canceled their health insurance in October, which Goree called one of many acts of “blatant disrespect” from management.

If musicians depart and the quality of the symphony drops, it will be that much more difficult for the Symphony Society to raise the dollars it needs, they warn.

“The amount of time, money, and effort it would take to recoup [the current] level, in my opinion, in my experience, would be years,” Kneer said. “Many, many years, if you scale it down to skeletal and hope to rebuild it.”

Kneer said that he believes some members of the symphony’s board want to maintain the quality of the orchestra, while others are less committed and willing to sacrifice its reputation. Allowing that second option to win would be a grave mistake.

“We can’t give up on what we have,” Kneer said, pointing to the symphony’s long, storied history. “We just can’t. I think it would be a very sad day to let a legacy like the San Antonio Symphony slip through our fingers.”

Find more arts coverage every day at sacurrent.com

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CURRENT | February 9 - February 22, 2022 | sacurrent.com

arts

Instagram / Southwest School of Art

Merger of Equals?

Some wonder whether Southwest School of Art’s culture will survive its absorption into USTA

BY ABE ASHER

L

ast August, the Southwest School of Art (SSA) and the University of Texas at San Antonio announced plans to merge and create a new art college in UTSA’s College of Liberal and Fine Arts.

When the campus opens its doors, this fall, it will be one of the largest and most comprehensive schools of art in the state. In addition to conferring undergraduate and graduate degrees in art, art history and fine arts, it will include offerings in digital art, graphic design and more.

But for some, the merger represents a loss. SSA began as a community school

of arts and crafts in downtown San Antonio nearly six decades ago, serving thousands of community members and growing in reputation until it was accredited as Texas’ only independent college of art in 2014.

Though the new college of art at UTSA will provide both faculty and students with access to resources, teachers and colleagues previously unavailable to them, people caught up in the transition say it’s been complicated — especially for current SSA students, faculty and staff.

The Southwest School of Art doesn’t have a tenure system equivalent to the

University of Texas system, but many of its faculty are revered artists and teachers who have been embedded in the San Antonio creative community and in their positions for years.

Though SSA faculty worked on oneyear contracts, they often enjoyed the kind of benefits granted to tenured faculty at larger schools, including research funding, sabbatical leaves and smaller course loads.

Now, some say they’re unsure whether they’ll enjoy that level of security going forward.

“The major issues at play for the faculty and staff are job rank and salary,” said one SSA source, who asked not to be identified by name for fear of jeopardizing their future job prospects.

“Will the faculty and staff be brought on board at a rank consistent with their current position and at a similar pay rate[?]”

Glenn Martinez, dean of the College of Liberal and Fine Arts at UTSA, told

The Southwest School of Art, established nearly six decades ago, has served thousands of community members, including those seeking degrees.

M

the Current his institution is committed to ensuring that “all of the stakeholders at SSA have a place at UTSA.” But what that place will look like is still an open question.

Given the University of Texas system’s stringent hiring methodology, Martinez said there’s no guarantee that SSA faculty will be hired on at UTSA at a rank commensurate with their prior work.

“Faculty will come in at different levels based on their own background and experience and so forth,” Martinez said.

“We’re not making a blanket statement as to this kind of faculty or that kind of faculty, we’re looking at each one

sacurrent.com | February 9 - February 22, 2022 | CURRENT

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CURRENT | February 9 - February 22, 2022 | sacurrent.com

arts

Bryan Rindfuss

individually and making the determinations and the offers.”

Equal partners?

In September, SSA faculty were given roughly a month to put together a packet of materials for review by UTSA faculty and administrators. SSA staff had to apply for jobs at the new college as well, while students are in the process of figuring out how many of their credits will transfer to UTSA and how their tuition and class sizes may change.

For now, some SSA personnel said they feel as if they’re in limbo, waiting to find out what the next phase of their careers will look like.

The stakes are high. There are a limited number of college teaching jobs for artists nationally, let alone in San Antonio, where many have lived and worked for years.

Another source at SSA, who asked not to be identified by name for fear of jeopardizing their future job prospects, said UTSA’s decisions — which Martinez said should arrive in early February — will signal to what extent the university sees SSA faculty and staff as equal partners in the new college.

“Is this a merger or is this an acquisition? That’s the big question,” the person said. “A lot of us have been concerned that this is a land grab. UTSA has wanted to have their art program downtown for a long time.”

Martinez said achieving a balance between current UTSA and SSA faculty in

the new program isn’t a consideration.

Preserving a legacy Southwest School of Art’s longtime president, Paula Owen, initiated talks about a deal with UTSA President Taylor Eighmy last summer due to the financial stress the COVID-19 pandemic put on her institution. Owen, who’s retiring June 30, sees the deal as a merger in which SSA’s legacy and structure will be preserved.

“Both UTSA and Southwest School of Art are bringing significant resources to the table in order to create this new and expanded school of art,” Owen said.

Owen said she felt confident initiating the process. SSA and UTSA have enjoyed a close relationship over the years. UTSA artists frequently exhibit at SSA, and some students study at both institutions. To boot, Owen is a former UTSA commencement speaker.

The strain of the pandemic — and continued uncertainty about when it will end — left SSA with little choice but to explore options to stabilize its financial position, Owen said. The campus lost revenue from in-person classes and events, and it was forced to reevaluate its long-term donor prospects.

Owen has heralded the merger as “innovative” — one that will ensure the city’s downtown remains home to a leading college arts institution for years to come. The deal comes as UTSA looks to raise its profile nationally, and SSA could have significant influence on

Bryan Rindfuss

the design of the new college.

The new campus’ Bachelor of Fine Arts program will be heavily based on SSA’s existing program, for example, which is notable for its interdisciplinary approach. One of the SSA sources added that UTSA is already doing a good job of integrating SSA students into its program.

Downtown presence UTSA is also working to integrate SSA’s facilities and reputation, saying that it “hopes to utilize SSA’s name and brand with respect to its visual fine arts programs in a meaningful way” in the new program.

SSA’s historic downtown campus, located close to the River Walk, should be a focal point of that use.

In a Feb. 4 statement, the university said it will “maintain SSA’s historic and cherished downtown San Antonio campus” and continue to operate the school’s Club Giraud private dining facility. The university will also retain all current names for SSA buildings and galleries.

In its statement, UTSA also promised to continue operating and building upon community programs that are a backbone of SSA’s presence in the city, including young artist and adult continuing education programs, exhibitions and the Fiesta Arts Fair. Martinez said UTSA is aware of the impact and utility of SSA’s community-engagement model. He noted that it could be a standard for how the university offers

UTSA says it will continue using the Southwest School’s historic downtown campus, located near the River Walk.

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music and theater education going forward.

“How do we build [a community engagement program] and sustain it over time in ways that create pipelines into our programs and help with recruitment of undergraduate and graduate students?” Martinez asked. “SSA has really done that very well … this merger is helping us think through how [we do] that.”

The question then becomes whether an institution the size of UTSA will put the energy and care into those community programs that people in San Antonio were accustomed to seeing from SSA over the decades. And whether the people who built SSA’s will still be around to help shape the culture and direction of the new college.

“If there is an intangible concern [about the merger] it is over culture, the differences between a small private school with small class sizes and the unknown of how that feeling might change moving to a large, state-run university,” one of the two SSA sources who spoke to the Current said.

Martinez, for one, is confident.

“This is really an exciting time for San Antonio,” he said. “It’s an exciting time for SSA and for UTSA … in the end, the outcome is going to be more than the sum of the two parts.”

sacurrent.com | February 9 - February 22, 2022 | CURRENT

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Haim sisters explain why Licorice Pizza is the ‘craziest left turn’ they’ve taken

BY KIKO MARTINEZ

W

hen multiple-Oscar-nominated filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood) directed a few music videos for the pop rock group HAIM in 2017, band member Alana Haim secretly wished she might get invited to stand somewhere in the background of one of his next movies.

Instead, Anderson had bigger plans for Alana and cast her in the lead role of his latest film, Licorice Pizza. He also extended the invite to HAIM’s two other members, Alana’s sisters, Este and Danielle — and to their parents.

In her debut film, Alana plays Alana Kane, a 25-year-old photographer’s assistant in the San Fernando Valley, who strikes up a friendship with Gary Valentine (Cooper Hoffman), an overachieving and lovestruck teenager.

Alana’s real family plays her screen family.

During a recent interview in Austin, the Haim sisters sat down with the Current to talk about what it was like making their first film, their fondness for Anderson’s work and what their own love lives looked like when they were in high school.

Licorice Pizza is currently playing at theaters.

Were there ever any discussions between you and Paul Thomas Anderson about making a movie with him while he was directing some of your music videos?

Alana and Este: No. Danielle: Absolutely not.

Este: I think it was just a dream that he would even consider doing a music video for us.

So, I think we were just stoked to be in his presence and be able to work with him. The thought of a movie was nowhere.

Alana: I think we all thought that we would be extras in a movie.

Este: Maybe you did. I didn’t even think that.

Alana: I was hoping we would get a Phantom Thread call. Like we could just be in the background — maybe in a cab or something.

Este: How much fun would that have been?

Alana: That would’ve been amazing, but that call never came.

MGM

Alana: I just loved the story. I remember getting the script and loving that it was all about the Valley. We’re all Valley girls. So, reading it, I knew everything Paul was referencing.

I would read a scene and be like, “Oh, yeah, I go there all the time.” Or when I read [the scene where my character] drives backwards in a U-Haul.

Este: That would totally happen in the Valley.

Alana: But what made me fall in love with it from the beginning was that it was a beautiful Valley story.

Este and Danielle, your sister characters remind me of Adam Sandler’s sisters in Punch-Drunk Love — a bit overbearing. Did PTA bring them up to you at all?

Do you think he would ever make a musical?

Danielle: (Laughs) Oh, my gosh. No, he didn’t but…

Este: We love that scene!

Danielle: We love all his movies.

Alana: I feel like Paul has spent so much time with us, he was just writing from experience.

What attracted you to the film?

Cooper Hoffman’s character in the film reminded me a lot of Jason Schwartzman’s character in Rushmore — this overachieving, overconfident teen. Would their characters be someone who you would have been interested in dating when you were in high

Danielle: Oh, a musical! I think he can do whatever he wants!

Alana: Well, he does have the best music taste of anyone I’ve ever met in my entire life.

Este: And music knowledge! It’s next level.

screens

Family Affair

school?

Alana: I have no clue. I just wanted anyone to like me.

Este: I wanted to have my first kiss in high school, but that didn’t end up happening until way later.

Alana: I was just dying to have a boyfriend let alone having a choice.

Alana, I really liked your character’s gait. Is that something you worked on a lot?

Alana: Alana Kane had a very specific walk, and I kind of fell into that very quickly. There was a lot of running in 1970s-period shoes. I really hope that I pulled it off.

Danielle: You did your own makeup and hair. I feel like you would get into character like that. You even bought this 1970s makeup kit.

Daniel Day-Lewis famously retired after he made Phantom Thread with PTA. Are you all hanging it up after this?

Alana: (Laughs) I mean, who knows? This is like the craziest left turn we’ve all ever taken.

I don’t think we ever thought we would be in a movie … and together! This is also the first time we’ve spoken about it as sisters. I think we’ve all just had the most surreal moment of our lives.

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CURRENT | February 9 – February 22, 2022 | sacurrent.com

food

Price Pressures

San Antonio restaurant owners struggle to contend with historic inflation

BY NINA RANGEL

W

hether picking up weekday breakfast tacos or a special occasion meal at The Pearl complex, San Antonio diners are getting hit in the pocketbook as the nation experiences its highest inflation rates in four decades.

Faced with a historic spike in food costs, Alamo City restaurateurs say they have little choice but to raise prices. While those increases are most obvious when it comes to items such as meat, dairy and fresh produce, they’re not isolated to those big-ticket items.

“Chicken and ground beef tripled in price, and my to-go packaging and supplies have doubled — and that’s when I can find those packaging supplies. Sometimes there’s nothing on the shelves,” said Steven Pizzini, owner of Southside institution Lala’s Gorditas. “We’re doing our best to keep our prices reasonable, but there comes a point where you are either going to be profitable or you’re not going to be in business anymore. And that’s where a lot of us are at.”

The consumer price index (CPI), an inflation barometer that measures costs across dozens of items, increased 7% in December from a year earlier, according to the Bureau of Labor statistics. That’s the index’s steepest increase since 1982.

The bottom line is that inflation is affecting every aspect of business for San Antonio diners’ favorite restaurants, whether it be chorizo, ribeye, to-go packaging, labor, rent or utilities. The specific CPI category for “food away from home” is up nearly 6% over the past year.

Several San Antonio restaurant owners said they’re apprehensive about pushing rising costs onto their guests. At the same time, they don’t know how they’re going to survive if they don’t.

To be sure, local eateries have already shut their doors due to that price pressure.

Floresville’s Two Sawers BBQ shut down two weeks ago, for example, its owners telling the Express-News that rising rent and food costs left no choice.

“We’ve been around for 20 years, so we’re so fortunate to have had the time to grow the following we have,” said Hunter Bogar, owner of Northeast San Antonio burger joint Biff Buzby’s. “I fought raising the prices of my menu items for months. I didn’t want to be one of those places charging $15 for a burger.

But at some point, something has to give.”

Nina Rangel

Indeed, two months ago Bogar faced the possibility of closing his 23-year-old business when exploding prices made it nearly impossible for him to maintain his building.

Electricians and plumbers, feeling the same supply-chain squeeze, were taking weeks to make repairs because they had to wait on parts.

Tough choices San Antonio food businesses interviewed by the Current said their dedication to quality ingredients, while appreciated by customers, has only made the current situation that much harder.

“Every month, I have to figure out if this business is going to survive. And it simply comes down to sacrificing the quality of my ingredients or raising my prices,” said Meg Morales, a San Antonio pastry chef and owner of Cereal Killer Sweets. “It’s just tough because I built my following on using real butter, high-quality chocolate, the best ingredients. … I had to let go of all of my employees to be able to provide the same product with just a small increase in price.”

In an early February Facebook post, Morales aired her grievances about paying $160 for a

Owners of SA restaurants including Lala’s Gorditas say food prices are forcing them to make tough calls.

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case of butter — something she’d never paid more than $100 for in the past. Due to declining cow herds, labor shortages and higher packaging costs, December’s average price for Grade AA butter increased by more than 40% from a year prior, according to federal data.

Both diners and restaurant owners will need to tighten their belts for the long term, economists warn. We’re likely stuck with surging inflation for months to come.

“I’m an optimistic person, but I’m no Pollyanna,” said Alan Adelman, senior research analyst for San Antonio-based Frost Bank Investment Advisors. “Hopefully COVID-19 is a once-in-a-generation event, but we’re going to be seeing the effects of this pandemic on the economy until at least the fourth quarter of this year. We’re still in the middle of it.”

Adelman uses more than 30 years’ experience to advise businesses in investment strategies. The restaurant industry, he says, is in a particularly difficult spot as it rides out not just labor and supply shortages but also a post-lockdown demand for dining out.

Find more food & drink news at sacurrent.com

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CURRENT | February 9 – February 22, 2022 | sacurrent.com

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“People have this pent-up desire to go out to eat, so when your demand is higher than your supply, the equilibrium is upset,” he said. “It’s a situation in which these businesses have to be creative and adaptable at a higher rate than ever before.”

Feeling the pushback To that end, Cereal Killer Sweets’ Morales now works nearly 70 hours a week to sell her cookies, brownies and rice-cereal treats, primarily using a direct-to-consumer shipping model.

Though customers can pick up their products at her Castle Hills-area storefront, most get them shipped.

Often, those customers don’t realize the delivery expenses tack on an additional $15 Morales must offset.

Like Morales, Bogar and Pizzini have raised menu prices over the past four months.

Thankfully, the customer pushback has been minimal. Even so, Bogar said he feels it.

“You have 40% of regulars who understand [the price increases] and don’t make a stink, 30% that understand but don’t much like it and 30% that vow never to come back because of it,”

Sweet shop owner Meg Morales says inflation is forcing her to evaluate monthly whether her business can survive.

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he said. “Sales-wise, we’re the same we were a year and two years ago, but profit-wise, we’re nowhere near where we’re supposed to be, because everything has gone up.”

Pizzini, whose outdoor seating helped his business withstand the pandemic, reported similar experiences with customers. While he hasn’t received many direct complaints, he’s now seeing fewer of those regulars who frequented his business based on its low menu prices.

“If the price of supplies comes down, I think a lot of local small business will lower their prices to reflect that. We’re not going to be greedy … these are our communities,” he said. “There are just so many other factors that contribute to a $2 increase in a plate that I don’t think consumers realize. Shipping, trucking, labor: it all trickles down, and we’re just trying to stay afloat throughout all of it.”

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CURRENT | February 9 – February 22, 2022 | sacurrent.com

food OPENINGS A San Antonio couple has opened Bright Coffee, a hybrid coffee shop-dance school in the Beacon Hill neighborhood. 1705 Blanco Road, (956) 592-4517, instagram.com/brightcoffeesa.

The minds behind restaurants Tia’s Tacos and Mr. C’s have opened a new casual bar and grill, Gibby’s Ice House, near the Medical Center.

5018 Research Dr., Suite 104, gibbysicehouse.com.

Instagram / Chocollazo

Alt-Valentine’s Day

If the usual range of Feb. 14 dining options are a drag, try these romantic rescues

BY RON BECHTOL

A

mateur Night.”

That’s what a longtime waiter at San Antonio’s most venerated restaurants calls the Valentine’s Day dining scene. A tad harsh perhaps, but anyone who’s tried to observe the romantic occasion on the evening of Feb. 14 knows that, starting with getting a reservation, it can be a pain in the neck — to put it politely.

So, why subject yourself to wrongfork anxieties or dining-at-five indignities? Here are some suggestions of alternative ways to celebrate a deux.

They may have their own challenges, but why not test the relationship early on? And you won’t have to dress up.

Unless, of course, you want to.

As an added enticement, Valentine’s Day falls on a Monday this year, so many restaurants are normally closed, which means you might have to celebrate a day earlier or later anyway.

Go Italian American. Think “Lady and

the Tramp,” the 1955 Disney classic.

Google if necessary, but the scene of the two dogs sharing a single strand of spaghetti will melt the heart of even the most adamant of V-Day deniers.

Because such places are often ignored in the food press, it may be worth seeking out a flat-out red sauce palace like Maggiano’s Little Italy. You know, where there’s actual spaghetti with meatballs on the menu. Linguini with fresh clams at Southtown’s La Focaccia

is another option, as is the possibility of placing a takeout order of mussels marinara to pair with pasta you make at home —especially good for those shy about sharing strands in public.

Asian noodles. Couples in it for the long haul might also consider other noodles. After all, they’re emblematic of longevity at the just-celebrated Asian New Year’s, so they’re probably auspicious for a relationship too. We like the variety, hot or cold, available at Shifu Noodle at McCreless Market or Sichuan House, where variations on the theme of fiery Dan Dan noodles will put any relationship to the test. Also impressive is the selection at Ming’s on North St. Mary’s Street where sweet potato noodles, rice noodles, egg noodles, mung bean noodles and more represent cultures from all over Asia.

Who says you can’t share a shimmering cellophane noodle?

Open up with oysters. It’s often been

said that oysters are an aphrodisiac and thus a Valentine’s Day slam dunk.

The rooftop setting of the oyster bar at the Fairmount Hotel only enhances the selection from sources such as Massachusetts and other East Coast points.

“Rotating East Coast Oysters” are also the draw at Little Em’s in King William — not normally open on Monday, but flexibility is another test of a good relationship. Besides, there’s an available

caviar service if a partner is feeling unexpectedly flush — and, reducing the pressure, almost everybody’s an amateur when it comes to $120 servings of tiny fish eggs. SiloTerrace on Interstate 10 and Southerleigh at the Pearl are other good oyster options.

Pop a cork. Bubbles are never a bad

choice, and they’re certain to add luster to any date night. You can go straight for the sparkle at casual places such as downtown’s Esquire Tavern, which offers the opportunity to put your bucks into bubbles — where they count most — all while eating simply but smartly.

Head straight for dessert. If you’re

looking for a truly out-of-the-box option, try bypassing the main course altogether. This can be hard to pull off at a regular restaurant, especially on a high-traffic night, so some running around might be required. But such is the stuff of true love. To make life a little easier, though, it’s probably best to seek out places that can offer a variety of sweets for at-home celebration. One parking place downtown on Broadway should get you both La Boulangerie for French pastries and Shakolad Chocolate Factory. At Pearl, your pairing choice is Bakery Lorraine and to-go ice cream from Lick. Head north on Broadway toward Central Market, and you’ll find Chocollazo and Black & White Modern Creamery in The Boardwalk complex. It’s a bit of a stretch to pair Lily’s Cookies on McCullough Avenue with Paciago Gelato Café on East Basse Road, but the coupling will be worth the extra drive. And in Southtown, it’s a straight-up ice cream orgy with Boozy’s Creamery & Craft and South Alamode Panini & Gelato Co. in Blue Star.

San Antonio’s first location from the Atlanta-based Rusty Taco is now serving margaritas “made with fresh lime juice and cheap tequila.” 17026 Bulverde Road, rustytaco.com.

A new Instagram-worthy crêpe and coffee spot — the snappily monikered Kaffeinated — is now open at The Rim. 17619 La Cantera Parkway, Suite 209, kaffeinated.co.

Former Major League Baseball pitcher Jeremy Affeldt’s Free Roam Brewing is now open in Boerne. 325 S. Main St., Boerne, freeroambrewing.com.

Buffalo Wild Wings will open two more takeout and delivery-focused GO locations, one in Alamo Heights and another on the West Side.

1235 Austin Highway and 8309 Bandera Road, Suite 2, buffalowildwings.com.

The couple behind Little Em’s Oyster Bar and Up Scale will next year open Restaurant Claudine, their third SA eatery. 517 E. Grayson St., instagram.com/restaurantclaudine.

Birria truck El Remedio will add three more mobile eateries by end of February, starting with a truck at north SA nightspot Little Woodrow’s. 9840 W. Loop 1604, facebook.com/ ElRemedioSA. San Antonio chef Luca Della Casa will open a new, still unnamed spot on the ground floor of the Silo location at 434 N. Loop 1604 West.

NEWS Alamo Biscuit Company will appear on Cooking Channel show Food Paradise Feb.16.

North San Antonio staple The Grill at Leon Springs aims to rebuild after 2021 fire.

San Antonio’s sole Max’s Wine Dive location has closed unexpectedly.

The 12th Annual Paella Challenge will return to the city’s South Side on March 20.

sacurrent.com | February 9 – February 22, 2022 | CURRENT

31

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CURRENT | February 9 – February 22, 2022 | sacurrent.com

Renowned musician Alex Meixner relocates to New Braunfels to help build it into polka hotspot

BY TRAVIS E. POLING

A

ccordionist Alex Meixner has been bringing his polkas with a rockshow energy to New Braunfels’ annual Wurstfest since 1999. The musician has become such a fixture, in fact, that he’s treated like a returning local every time he hits the city on tour.

Now Meixner is making those ties permanent by relocating from Florida to New Braunfels as part of an agreement with restaurant and music venue Krause’s Café & Biergarten. Besides playing shows with his band for special events such as Oktoberfest and Maifest, he’s tasked with bringing bigname acts to Krause’s, along with presentations on city history and culture. “[Polka’s] been considered a dead genre for my entire lifetime,” said Meixner, the son of esteemed accordionist and band leader Al Meixner. “But I look at my crowd size at Wurstfest and at Oktoberfest in [New York City’s] Central Park. People are looking for an authentic experience. You want to make sure it’s the real thing. We want to present music in a fashion that connects with the audience and to the food.”

The younger Meixner, a multi-instrumentalist with formidable jazz chops, is among the artists incorporating wider influences into polka while trying to stay true to its roots. He was nominated for a Grammy Award for his 2007 album Polka Freak Out, a collaboration with Bubba Hernandez of Brave Combo, another outfit known for expanding polka’s boundaries.

Chris Snider, Krause’s owner, said he travels frequently to Midwestern Rust Belt cities where polka bands have a strong foothold.

While members of those ensembles haven’t heard of his venue or New Braunfels, “the one thing we have in common is Alex.”

Soul of the place Snider sees higher-profile musical acts as a way to raise the profile of Krause’s, a longtime New Braunfels staple, reopened in 2017 under his father Ron, who died last year.

The business’ moniker hearkens back to the original owners, but the location bears no resemblance to the old-school restaurant and

music

Rolling Out the Barrel

Courtesy Photo / Krause’s

coffee shop it was for decades.

During their time at the helm, the Sniders have created a German beer hall feel, adding a massive pavilion, long tables and benches. More recently, they built a covered beer garden and stage just outside the hall. The kitchen is also about to undergo a major renovation, and a weekend farmers market fills the parking lot every weekend.

Live music, however, became the soul of the place as booker Debbie Chandler filled the schedule with dozens of bands monthly, especially during the tourist season. The venue even keeps the sounds rolling in winter months thanks to gas fire pits throughout the biergarten.

Wednesday nights are always “German Nights” at Krause’s, but Meixner plans to bring even more polka groups to the stage throughout the week, including some for ticketed events. The arrangement is through Meixner’s talent agency AM Management, which he formed in 2014 to book bands at biergartens around the country.

Meixner and other touring polka acts couldn’t keep up with requests to play in late September through October, when hundreds of U.S. communities with Central European heritage put on Oktoberfest celebrations.

That led to him connecting a broader array of groups with venues and festivals.

“I couldn’t be in 11 different venues at once the first weekend in October,” Meixner explained.

Rebuilding a scene Once a year-round staple, polka bands have survived lean decades by playing Oktober-

Revered polka artist Alex Meixner has moved to New Braunfels to increase the musical profile of Krause’s Cafe.

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fests and U.S. festivals celebrating German, Czech, Polish and other Central European cultures. In Texas, church picnics in towns settled by those nationalities remain the bread and butter for many polka musicians, including touring ones, said Gary Mckee, editor of Texas Polka News and PolkaBeat.com.

“Polka was pretty much dead in the New Braunfels area,” except for the 10-days of Wurstfest, Mckee said. The reopening of Krause’s in its new form started to change that. “Krause’s has been great at keeping polka alive.”

Meixner is a genre star who will turn out audiences, but Mckee said he also hopes the musician’s new connection with Krause’s can help bring in top Midwestern acts such as Barefoot Becky & the Ivanhoe Dutchman.

Starting in the late 1960s, polka music became the butt of jokes, but it’s shedding its stigma as a broader audience, including young people, rediscover the form, according to Mckee. Dancing to the music, oft referred to as “aerobics with beer,” is packing venues again, and a big name on the circuit can sell out 800 tickets in just a few hours in the small Texas town of Hallettsville.

Mckee would like to see that kind of enthusiasm for the music become widespread throughout the year. And with Meixner now rooted in New Braunfels, that might come to be.

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.

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music

Courtesy Photo Jake Castillo Trio

Solo Act

On Velvet Tone Sessions Vol. 1, San Antonio’s Jake Castillo Trio gives itself room to improvise

BY MIKE MCMAHAN

W

ith its new self-released LP, Velvet Tone Sessions Vol. 1, long-running San Antonio blues-rock outfit the Jake Castillo Trio aimed to simply show up in the studio and play a live set with a hangin’ out vibe. Listeners who accept the invite are likely to come away with at least one point of agreement: these cats can play.

And “cats” is the right word, because guitarist-vocalist Castillo and company are successful in creating the mood.

Instead of being simply a song-focused set, Velvet Tone lets the players stretch out, following solos to their comfortable endpoint.

Castillo’s guitar playing benefits from the wide-open template, though

the approach clearly isn’t suited for every type of listener. Several times, post-solo, there’s a moment when the band hits a crossroads: sonically and tonally, they could go right back into the song. Instead, they shift gears into another solo.

Of course, the Jake Castillo Trio is a “blues” band in the same sense that Dark Side Of The Moon is a “blues” album. The bones are there, but this isn’t Muddy Waters or even Cream. In fact, the core sound of the group — actually a quartet, but who’s counting?

— is similar to the instrumental guitar and sax break in the aforementioned Floyd’s “Money.”

Saxophone player Johnny Castillo, Jake’s nephew, is a key ingredient in the

band, particularly shining on “Sunny,” a Bobby Hebb cover. Appropriately for a live studio set, covers abound, including Jimi Hendrix’s “Castles Made Of Sand” and “Voodoo Child,” as well as a Bob Dylan-by-way-of Hendrix take on “All Along The Watchtower.”

On Velvet Tone Sessions, the band splits it down the middle, mixing covers and originals. The original instrumental “Solum Invictus” contains the most striking guitar playing, emphasizing an Eddie Van Halen-esque composition, surprisingly not focused on solos. The lack of a super-extended lead also explains it clocking in at 4:29, the album’s shortest song. And don’t sleep on “The Truth,” a strong original that features one of Jake Castillo’s most powerful vocal performances.

If you’re thinking this all makes the Jake Castillo Trio a jam band, well, you’re not wrong. The funky, bluesbased approach is the foundation of the genre, and Jake Castillo’s vocals are reminiscent of Dave Katz of Ohio regional jam stalwarts Ekoostik Hookah.

The main musical difference is that

The Jake Castillo Trio’s new album gives members of the band a chance to shine with extended improvisations.

M

these San Antonians are focused on improvisation in a traditional, chordbased format as opposed to the flighty, psychedelic jams prominent with so many on the circuit.

Jam bands frequently get flack for a one-note approach, and this critique could be applied to the Jake Castillo Trio as well, given its unflagging commitment to a signature sound. With 12 songs spread over 80 minutes some listeners may find Velvet Tone Sessions lot to take in — something that wouldn’t be a problem in a smoky club while drinking with friends.

But if ripping guitar solos and tight, bluesy funk is your thing, it’s unlikely you’ll regret the hang with Jake Castillo and his band of merry men.

Velvet Tone Sessions Vol. 1 is available on Bandcamp.

sacurrent.com | February 9 – February 22, 2022 | CURRENT

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music listings Wednesday, February 9

Grady Spencer and the Work Hailing from Fort Worth’s rich music scene, Grady Spencer and the Work have established themselves as guys who strive to perform good-hearted, uplifting songs on the softer side of the country genre. Spencer himself works a day job as a superintendent for a construction company while balancing the group’s blue-collar musical endeavors. $12-$50, 8 p.m., Sam’s Burger Joint, 330 E. Grayson St., (210) 223-2830, samsburgerjoint.com.

— Brianna Espinoza

Nile

Thursday, February 10 Agent Orange California surf rockers Agent Orange are no strangers to the 210, having played here numerous times. While not as high profile as similar SoCal punk outfits Social Distortion and the Adolescents, the long-running band has a sound that could appeal to fans of both. $15, 7:30 p.m., Vibes Underground, 1223 E. Houston St., (210) 255-3833, facebook.com/vibesunderground. — Enrique Bonilla Nile, Incantation At the dawn of metal, Karl Sanders, guitarist-leader of death metal kings Nile, decided his band would kick even more ass with the addition of thematic unity. Concept album? Tired. Concept career? Wired! To that end, Sanders has based the entirety of his band’s labyrinthine, pummeling output around Egyptian history and mythology — and the world of extreme metal is all the better for it. Don’t sleep on old-school legends Incantation, either. The band has a history with SA, having appeared at Taco Land before that venue turned into a holy Shrine of Musical Immortality. $25-$27, 6 p.m., Rock Box, 1223 E. Houston St., (210) 255-3833, facebook/therockboxsatx. — Mike McMahan

Friday, February 11 Hiss Golden Messenger Though based squarely in folk music, Hiss Golden Messenger pulls from across the spectrum and includes elements of blues, country, bluegrass, jazz and indie rock. Composed of songwriter MC Taylor and multi-instrumentalist Scott Hirsch, the duo formed in 2007. By 2014 they had entered a long career with legendary indie imprint Merge Records, which released the pair’s most recent LPs, O Come All Ye Faithful and Quietly Blowing It in 2021.

8 p.m., $20-$24, Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx.com. — MM

Saturday, February 12 Suede Sorry, Anglophiles, this isn’t the ’90s alt-rock Suede from the U.K. — technically, that group is known as The London Suede stateside. Instead, this one is a cover band whose repertoire of rock hits spans five decades. Get ready to call out your faves.

Free, 10 p.m., 4553 N. Loop 1604 West, (210) 253-9220, picksbar.com. — EB

Monday, February 14 Il Divo Somewhere out there in Reader Land, someone is wondering what to get that special someone for Valentine’s Day. If that special someone’s tastes run to classical and opera-flavored pop, this show seems perfectly timed. Created by empresario and grouchy man Simon Cowell in 2003, this quartet is overtly modeled after the Three Tenors, only younger and hotter. Two decades of crossover pop later, the group remains a worldwide sensation that seems kinda tailor made for making folks swoon.

The current tour honors the memory of member Carlos Marin,

Courtesy Photo / Nile

who died last December of COVID-19. Aside from Marin’s passing, the other three members are all original. $65-$510, 8 p.m., Tobin Center, 100 Auditorium Circle, (210) 223-8624, tobincenter. org. — MM

Burger Joint, 330 E. Grayson St., (210) 223-2830, samsburgerjoint.com. — BE

Wednesday, February 16

Wale Grammy-award winning hip-hop artist Wale is touring behind his seventh studio album, Folarin II. Wale’s rap style incorporates go-go, an energetic style of funk where audience participation is a key part of the performance, which suggests a live show is the ideal setting to take in his music. $30-$80, 8 p.m., Aztec Theatre, 104 N. St. Mary’s St., (210) 812-4355, theaztectheatre. com. — EB

Snarky Puppy The word “jazz,” has, at times, been twisted to mean “relaxing music with saxophones.” Please, we’re begging you, stop. The genre emerged as the hottest cats around got together to improvise, not put people to sleep — and that’s the tradition from which Snarky Puppy pulls. Formed in Denton in 2004 by leader and multi-instrumentalist Michael League, the group has included roughly 40 different players during its two-decade run.

Currently, the group tours as a 10-piece, and it won a Grammy in 2020 for its release Live at the Royal Albert Hall. $35-$50, 8 p.m., Tobin Center, 100 Auditorium Circle, (210) 223-8624, tobincenter.org. — MM Pacific Dub Is it a name? Is it a description? Well, why not both? Pacific Dub, who will bring its Million Pieces Tour to Alamo Town, hail from the West Coast and are rising players in the reggae rock scene, thereby checking both boxes. Since its debut, the players have prided themselves on bringing the positive vibes and love to which the genre frequently aspires. They have appeared with Matisyahu and Dirty Heads, which gives you an idea of what they’re going for. $16-$18, 7:30 p.m., Rock Box, 1223 E. Houston St., (210) 255-3833, facebook/therockboxsatx. — MM

Friday, February 18 Allan Hendrickson Local guitar virtuoso Allan Hendrickson will deliver a night of honky-tonk and blues in a setting tailor-made for both. Hendrickson backs up his shredding skills with a voice that resembles a younger George Strait. The 501s open the night up with classic country tributes. Free, 9 p.m., Lonesome Rose, 2114 N. St. Mary’s St., (210) 455-0233, thelonesomerose.com. — EB Houndmouth This “alternative-blues band” lets its music tell every story they know, especially in the form of slow songs that evoke the spirit of an old motel out in the desert. Houndmouth’s songs remind the listener of living wild and free, almost in the same vein as Lana Del Rey — but in a more rugged way. $30, 9 p.m., Sam’s

Saturday, February 19

Sunday, February 20 Pears Pears’ name might fool you into thinking it’s yet another indie dream pop group. When in fact, the band crushes heads and expectations with ripping punk songs. As an indication of where this outfit is coming from, it’s signed to indie label Fat Wreck Chords, operated by punk legend Fat Mike of NOFX. $15-$17, 7:30 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx. com. — BE Underoath Once famous for being the highest-profile purveyors of Christian metalcore, Underoath has since distanced its music from religion and moved on to screaming about other stuff. After disbanding and holding a reunion all within five years’ time, the band continues delivering its nostalgic brand of metalcore led by Aaron Gillespie. $34.50, 7:30 p.m., Aztec Theatre, 104 N. St. Mary’s St., (210) 812-4355, theaztectheatre.com. — BE

Monday, February 21 Theory Canadian band Theory, formerly known as Theory of a Dead Man, plays the kind of alternative rock still in rotation on KISSFM. Whether or not that remains anybody’s jam, the band has nonetheless gone platinum multiple times. Missouri’s Shaman’s Harvest opens the show with — you guessed it — more alt-rock. $30, 7:30 p.m. Tobin Center, 100 Auditorium Circle, (210) 2238624, tobincenter.org. — EB sacurrent.com | February 9 – February 22, 2022 | CURRENT

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