San Antonio Current — May 18, 2022

URSULA ZAVALA'S NOT FOR EVERYBODY | COOL SUMMER COCKTAILS | SANTIAGO JIMENEZ JR.'S REAL-DEAL CONJUNTO MAY 18 - 31, 2022

tone deaf.

The ‘slow bleed’ of the St. Mary’s Strip is jeopardizing live music in San Antonio

JOIN US

June 9th 6-9pm at El Camino SA Join us for a celebration of Pride featuring Performances, Live DJ, Drink Specials, Local Artists, Giveaways, and More!

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Check out: Sunshine Among The Clouds: Bouncing Between Love and Loss in Life An inspirational book about a positive life perspective. Great for anyone going through loss, health issues, addiction, or someone looking to improve their happiness and view on life.

available at The Twig Book Shop, Amazon, YChrome.com

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CURRENT | May 18 – 31, 2022 | sacurrent.com

in this issue San Antonio Current

Issue 22-10 /// May 18 – 31, 2022

Spice of Life

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

Fresh ingredients, techniques help Milpa at the Yard deliver on new insights to Mexican cuisine

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, Macks Cook, Brianna Espinoza, Kiko Martinez, Mike McMahan, Dana Nichols, M. Solis, Gary Sweeney

Hot Dish

32 Music

Marketing and Events

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

Still Kickin’

San Antonio conjunto traditionalist Santiago Jiménez looks back ahead of his latest album

Creative Services

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

Music Listings

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 Vice Presidents of Marketing: Emily Tintera, Cassandra Yardeni www.euclidmediagroup.com National Advertising: Voice Media Group (888) 278-9866, vmgadvertising.com

Travis E. Poling

32 Feature Tone Deaf

The ‘slow bleed’ of the St. Mary’s Strip is jeopardizing live music in San Antonio

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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Subscriptions: Additional copies or back issues may be purchased at the Current offices for $1. Six-month domestic subscriptions may be purchased for $75; one-year subscriptions for $125.

09 News

The Opener News in Brief

Fair and Accurate?

An activist asked the San Antonio Report to correct what he said were five errors in its reporting on the Brackenridge Park tree plan. The news site only agreed to one.

14 Calendar Calendar Picks

20 Arts

Not for Everybody

San Antonio artist Ursula Zavala comes into her own

Experimental Pairing

Ruiz-Healy’s latest offering features colorful abstract works by Gaby Collins-Fernandez and Carlos Rosales-Silva

URSULA ZAVALA'S NOT FOR EVERYBODY | COOL SUMMER COCKTAILS | SANTIAGO JIMENEZ JR.'S REAL-DEAL CONJUNTO MAY 18 - 31, 2022

25 Screens

Close Encounter

Pitch Perfect ’s Anna Kendrick linked to movie about San Antonioborn ‘Dating Game Killer’

5 Other San Antonio Narratives That Would Make Great Feature Films

tone deaf.

The ‘slow bleed’ of the St. Mary’s Strip is jeopardizing live music in San Antonio

O

n the Cover: This week’s cover story examines the myriad difficulties facing the St. Mary’s Strip. Cover designed by SamanCooling Cocktails Summer is already hitting, and these tha Serna. Amp courtesy of Robot Monster Guitars.

San Antonio-sourced mixed drinks

27 Food

can tame the heat

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CURRENT | May 18 – 31, 2022 | sacurrent.com

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sacurrent.com | May 18 – 31, 2022 | CURRENT

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E M P LOY M E N T H-E-B seeks Sr. Software Engineer in San Antonio, TX for database management and application/code integrations in a TIBCO environment. Mail resumes to: Marisa Alcorta, 646 South Flores Street, San Antonio, TX 78204

Coming in June, Tony Parker’s private pop culture and superhero statues from Hollywood’s biggest films.

Ok, and some villains too!

TICKETS NOW ON SALE

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CURRENT | May 18 – 31, 2022 | sacurrent.com

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5/16/22 10:15 AM

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The Texas Supreme Court ruled last Friday that the state’s child welfare agency can resume investigations into parents who provide gender-affirming care for their children. However, the court said a hold on the probe of a family now suing to stop the policy can remain in place.

While the ruling is a blow for LGBTQ+ advocates, the court also said Gov. Greg Abbott has no authority to order the state child welfare officials to conduct such investigations.

H

The U.S. Treasury Department has launched a probe into Gov. Greg Abbott’s use of federal COVID-19 relief money to fund his border crackdown. Abbott’s Operation Lone Star has already cost Texas $4 billion, a quarter of which was CARES Act money intended for the state’s pandemic response. Treasury Department officials said the agency hasn’t ruled out clawing back the funds.

H

The U.S. set a record for antisemitic incidents last year, and Texas was a significant reason why. The Anti-Defamation League documented 2,717 reports of antisemitic incidents in the country last year — a 34% increase over 2020 and the highest number since the organization started tracking incidents in 1979. New York, New Jersey and California had the highest number of incidents, followed by the Lone Star State and Michigan, which were tied. .

Legendary Market Square restaurant Mi Tierra has unveiled an altar to street entertainer Hispanic Elvis.

The performer, whose real name was John Cisneros, was a regular at the iconic eatery until he fell ill earlier this year with COVID-19 and an esophagus infection. He died in March.

The altar, which joins memorials to Selena and former Mi Tierra workers, will be up for two weeks. Plans for a permanent memorial are in the works. — Abe Asher

YOU SAID IT!

“We are out here today because we are the majority. They’re not the majority.Weare the majority.”

— Mara Posada

Planned Parenthood South Texas Public Affairs Director Mara Posada at San Antonio’s Bans Off Our Bodies rally.

ASSCLOWN ALERT

Gov. Greg Abbott’s deafening whistle Assclown Alert is a column of opinion, analysis and snark.

If case anyone’s still unclear on just how much lower Gov. Greg Abbott is prepared to go in his pursuit of a third term, it should be apparent by now that there is no bottom.

Need more proof? Abbott’s rhetorical response last week to the infant formula shortage gripping the United States was not to urge calm, explain what he was doing to shore up supplies or unveil a plan for needy Texans to gain access.

Instead, the Republican governor issued a statement with National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd accusing the Biden Administration of turning a “blind eye to parents across America” by feeding “critical supplies to illegal immigrants before the very people he took an oath to serve.”

Abbott was not alone in sharing his outrage that the federal government had the gall to supply formula to infants in immigration detention centers rather than letting them succumb to malnutrition so that red-blooded American babies could be prioritized. GOP fringe players including Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene have also worked themselves into a tizzy over the past few days over the notion that immigrant babies are less worthy of being kept alive.

Speaking of fringe players, it bears mentioning that Judd, who co-issued the statement with Abbott, was outed in a recent USA Today report for espousing the great replacement theory

San Antonio City Council voted 8-3 last week to approve a new five-year contract with the city’s police union, dismissing concerns that the contract doesn’t provide for enough civilian oversight of police. Mayor Ron Nirenberg said the pact includes improved accountability and transparency measures while significantly boosting pay. Three council members disagreed, noting that San Antonio remains the only major city in Texas without an independent citizen review board into police misconduct.

The baby formula shortage that’s affected families across the nation has been particularly acute in San Antonio. Data from the retail software firm Datasembly used in a New York Times report shows that San Antonio is experiencing the highest rate of shortages of formula of any city in the country — over half of SA’s regular supply of baby formula was depleted as of May 10. Congress turned its attention to the issue last week, but experts say a quick resolution appears unlikely.

news

That Rocks/That Sucks

Instagram / @GovernorAbbott

— you know, the white supremacist belief that lefties promote immigration because they want to undermine Western civilization by letting in people of color.

Like much of Abbott’s recent actions around immigration, the governor’s inference that immigrant children are less worthy of formula goes beyond dog-whistle racism. It’s a shrill, deafening police whistle blown at top volume.

Texas’ electorate ignores this assclown’s pandering to white supremacists at its own peril. — Sanford Nowlin

San Antonio’s new Ready to Work job training program has begun taking applications. The initiative, funded to the tune of $189 million by a 2020 vote, is expected to train up to 16,000 residents by its 2025 completion. Some 800 people were already pre-enrolled prior to its official launch on Monday. To qualify for the program, residents must be 18 years of age or older and make less than $34,000 per year. — Abe Asher

James Dobbins

Find more news coverage every day at sacurrent.com

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CURRENT | May 18 – 31, 2022 | sacurrent.com

news

Sanford Nowlin

Fair and Accurate?

An activist asked the San Antonio Report to correct what he said were five errors in its reporting on the Brackenridge Tree plan. The news site only agreed to one.

BY ABE ASHER

C

ontroversy continues to circle around the city of San Antonio’s plan to cut down more than 100 trees in Brackenridge Park to rebuild an aging wall.

Late last month, Assistant City Manager David McCary apologized to activists for claiming that the tree-cutting proposal was not in part also a plan to chase off migratory birds who roost in the park.

The fight over the trees has also led to a dustup over how local media is reporting on the plan. In late February, Robert Rivard, founder of the San Antonio Report and former editor-in-chief of the San Antonio Express-News, published an opinion piece arguing that “disinformation” is responsible

for delaying the implementation of the city plan.

In the article, Rivard expressed disbelief that city officials hadn’t removed ribbons and other signage from endangered trees and opined that “good work is being lost in the noise of protest.” The claims rankled activists working to save the trees.

A week-and-a-half later, Deceleration News — an environmental blog co-run by former Current editor and Sierra Club organizer Greg Harman — tweeted that it had requested a series of corrections on Rivard’s piece.

The five corrections Deceleration News requested ranged from Rivard’s characterization of plans for a new events center at the site to the scope

of the bird population targeted for removal. In the end, San Antonio Report editors made just one.

To Harman’s mind, four of the five requested corrections pointed out factual errors in the story, not instances where his opinion differed from Rivard’s. For example, he pointed out that Rivard said some of the trees scheduled for removal aren’t native, yet a permit request for the project states that all the trees are native.

“The Report does really important work,” Harman said in an interview with the Current. “There’s good journalists there. But I felt like at a moment where we knew the city was manipulating the public by spreading untruths and we needed journalists to step in and hold them accountable and dig in on the story, he was taking shots at the activists.”

The single correction, noted at the bottom of the article, reads “Correction: This column has been updated to correctly state that the trees are being measured by diameter, not girth.”

The San Antonio Report didn’t provide a public rationale for why it declined to make the other corrections, which were supported by video, public records and past reporting supplied

by Harman. Deceleration News also

maintains that the spirit of the column violated the San Antonio Report’s policy against “doing harm.”

“This is something I’ve seen that is very, very common, where Bob writes about things like, ‘activists are to blame for stuff,’” Harman said. “When, in fact, the job of an activist is to decry an injustice. That’s it. After that, the community’s conscience needs to kick into gear and decide what’s right and what’s wrong … I thought the tone of it was offensive.”

San Antonio Report Editor-in-Chief Leigh Munsil said the site reviewed each of Harman’s requests before making its final decision to issue just a single correction.

“We are always happy to engage with readers on our reported content, as well as our opinion columns,” Munsil wrote in an email to the Current. “We gave the full request on this column a fair hearing, and it led to the correction we ended up approving.”

Harman said he’s unconvinced by the Report’s explanations for why staff neglected to make the rest of the corrections or address the tone of the column.

“That all felt protective of Bob in a way that I think hurts the brand of the outlet, to be frank,” he added. sacurrent.com | May 18 – 31, 2022 | CURRENT

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CURRENT | May 18 – 31, 2022 | sacurrent.com

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free f lowers and Father’s Day photo !

Get a free mini bouquet and digital photo with your same-day purchases totaling $75 or more from at least two Alamo Quarry Market stores or restaurants. To collect your fresh Spring flowers, bring current day’s receipts to the pop-up at these locations. Plus, enter for a chance to win $100 in prizes.

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WED | 05.18 SUN | 05.22

a replica of the MTV “Moonman” trophy. Winner of three of the show’s

THU | 05.19

TH EATER

maxi challenges, Farala never landed in the bottom. During her very first lip sync — at the series finale — Farala unsurprisingly snatched the crown, along with €30,000 in prize money, from runners-up Killer

DRAG

Queen and Sagittaria. Currently reigning as “Spain’s First Drag Super-

FREESTYLE LOVE SUPREME

CARMEN FARALA

Straight from the Broadway stage, Freestyle Love Supreme is a hip-hop-

The ever-expanding Drag Race universe ventured into Spain in 2021

es presented by Rey Lopez Entertainment and hosted by Tencha la Jefa.

style musical created by theater director Thomas Kail, actor and improv

with Madrid-based entertainer Supremme de Luxe slipping swimming-

$20-$25, 10:30 p.m. and midnight, Bonham Exchange, 411 Bonham St., table

instructor Anthony Veneziale and Broadway superstar Lin-Manuel Mi-

ly into the sky-high heels of franchise creator RuPaul. Among the 10

reservations at (210) 386-4537, facebook.com/reylopezentertainment. —

star,” the bronzed glamazon lands in San Antonio for two performanc-

randa. The winner of a special 2020 Tony Award, the interactive musical

Bryan Rindfuss

takes audiences on what is described as a “freestyle, hip-hop, improvi-

FRI | 05.20 SUN | 06.12

sational comedy ride.” The idea for the musical came to Miranda while he was making his musical In the Heights. During breaks, the cast would spend some of their time rapping and beatboxing. Now that idea has become its own stage production in which entertainers engage with audience members to give them suggestions for rap themes. For those

THEATER

who want to know more about the musical, a 2020 Hulu documentary called We Are Freestyle Love Supreme directed by Andrew Fried (Val) of-

SHE LOVES ME

fers an inside look. The group also created its own TV series now avail-

A timeless fan-favorite, the 1930s love story of Joe Masteroff’s She Loves

able on Prime Video and YouTube. “The thing about the show is that it’s

Me is taking the stage at the Public Theater of San Antonio. Set in

totally different every night,” Miranda told Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight

Europe, the play follows Amalia and Georg, two shop clerks who butt

Show in 2019. “You give us a verb, and then 80 minutes later, you have

heads, but find themselves caught up in a whirlwind of romance via

an entire hip-hop musical show.” $30-$70, 7 p.m. Wednesday-Friday, 2

love letters they exchange with unidentified admirers. It’s no coinci-

p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, Charline McCombs Empire Theatre,

dence that the fresh escape of She Loves Me is taking the stage after two

226 N. St. Mary’s St., (210) 226-3333, majesticempire.com. — Kiko Martinez

years of pandemic-induced turmoil. The show brings much-needed reminders and lessons of love, community and joy in the mundane. The Public Theater’s production is directed by Laura Michelle Wolfe Hoadley and stars Lauren Esquivel and Grant Bryan as Amalia and Georg, respectively. $17-$47, 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, The Public Theater of San Antonio, 800 W. Ashby Place, (210) 733-7258, thepublicsa. org. — Dana Nichols

Dominik Valvo

performers who inaugurated Drag Race España was Carmen Farala — a Sevillian bombshell who strutted into the “werk room” in a skimpy ode to ’90s-era Versace and declared: “I’ve fought many battles with company, but I’ll win this war on my own.” A statuesque beauty armed with an exacting sense of style, mad makeup skills and serious sewing chops to boot, Farala was a frontrunner from the get-go but only got better as the series progressed. In addition to wowing the judges with elaborate, homespun runway looks — including a strategically wrapped plush snake that paid tribute to trans icon La Veneno and an Iberian lynx costume she created in honor of her late father — Farala proved herself as a natural comedian and a true team player. In one of the show’s most poignant moments, fellow contestant Dovima Nurmi explained to the judges that Farala had thoughtfully whipped up an alternative outfit at the last minute to avoid wearing the same thing as Nurmi — a copy of Spanish singer Rosalía’s dress for the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards. In Courtesy of Empire Theatre

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CURRENT | May 18 – 31, 2022 | sacurrent.com

sisterly style, Farala even gave Nurmi the prop she’d planned to carry:

Mia Isabella Photography

COMEDY

FRANCO ESCAMILLA Mexican standup comedian Franco Escamilla has been around the globe with his comedy shows. From London to Barcelona to Tokyo and across the United States, Escamilla knows how entertain audiences no matter what culture he’s stepping into. Born about 100 miles south of Mexico City, the 41-year-old comic has performed in venues including the Auditorio Nacional and the Arena Ciudad de México.

He’s also taken the stage with fellow Latino comedian Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

Currently, Escamilla has two specials streaming on Netflix — 2018’s Por la Anécdota and 2019’s Bienvenido al Mundo. For a while, he had his own comedy show on Estrella TV called The Franco Escamilla Show, and he’s also made appearances on series including Bar Central, Drunk History and Mr. Iglesias.

Surprisingly, Escamilla said that at the start of his career he didn’t like to admit he was a comedian. “I didn’t want to be a comedian,” he told the Yordi Rosado podcast last year. “In fact … I was embarrassed to say I was a comedian.

I didn’t like being told I was a comedian.” Now, it looks like Escamilla has learned to love the laughs. $83.50-$143.50, 8:30 p.m., Majestic Theatre, 224 E. Houston St., (210) 226-3333, majesticempire.com. — KM

calendar

FRI | 05.20

Courtesy of Artpace

THU | 05.19 ART

‘EVERY TIME WE SAY GOODBYE’ AND ‘CARBONATE OF COPPER’

Artpace opens two new exhibitions on May 19 in its Main Space and Hudson Showroom. “Every Time We Say Goodbye” will showcase the ceramic sculptures of Michael Guerra Foerster, and the group show “Carbonate of Copper,” curated

by Jennifer Teets, will feature the work of artists Gwenneth Boelens, Anna Mayer, Kate Newby, George Smith, Josie Ann Teets and Roberto Tejada. “Every Time We Say Goodbye,” which will remain on view through Sept. 4, explores themes of intimacy, separation, grief and memory, all brought to the surface from the Foerster’s subconscious. On view through Aug. 28, “Carbonate of Copper” explores themes of circuitry, flow, foundation and cultural inheritance within the context of the environment, time and infrastructure. Free, opening reception 6-9 p.m. Thursday, May 19, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday, noon-5 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, Artpace, 445 N. Main Ave., (210) 212-4900, artpace.org. — Ashley Allen

and national authors including Emma Straub (This Time Tomorrow) and Fernando A. Flores (Valleyesque), and a gamut of all-ages programming. Panels include both live and virtuInstagram / francoescamillaoficial

al options for in-person attendees, and sessions held in the Russell Hill Rogers Tent and Texas Monthly Terrace will also be streamed on the festival’s YouTube channel for those who

SAT | 05.21 SPECIAL EVENT

SAN ANTONIO BOOK FESTIVAL

can’t make it all the way downtown. Notable panels include a.m., Russell Hill Rogers Tent); “Graphic Storytelling: Past and Present,” featuring David Bowles, Raúl the Third and Laura Gao (1:30 p.m., Coates Chapel); and “Trans Literature and

The San Antonio Book Festival returns in-person to the

Art,” featuring Alex Marzano-Lesnevich, Eileen Myles, Denne

Central Library and Southwest School of Art for the first time

Michele Norris and Torrey Peters (3 p.m., San Antonio Book

since 2019 for its 10th anniversary event. This year’s lineup

Festival Virtual Tent). Free, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Central Library, 600

features authors ranging from Pulitzer Prize-winning poet

Soledad St., Southwest School of Art, 300 Augusta St. and 1201

Jericho Brown to familiar local face Judge Nelson Wolff. The

Navarro St., (210) 750-8951, sabookfestival.org. — Kelly Nelson

free, daylong festival features more than 90 local, regional

Reminder:

“Assimilation and Belonging,” featuring Julissa Arce (11:15

Courtesy of San Antonio Book Festival

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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CURRENT | May 18 – 31, 2022 | sacurrent.com

calendar WED | 05.25 SUN | 08.28 ART

‘PICASSO & BRAQUE: RADICALS’ Viewers will be able to witness how the innovative artworks of Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque transformed traditional methods of representation at the McNay Art Museum’s exhibition “Picasso & Braque: Radicals,” which opens May 25 in the Lawson Print Gallery. The result of a major repositioning in the history of art, Cubist artworks capture shifting perspectives in the early 20th century. Picasso’s and Braque’s experiments with line, geometry and depth challenged artistic convention, thus making their marks in history as revolutionary figures. A selection of artworks by artists that gleaned inspiration from the pair are also included in the exhibition, including pieces by John Marin, Fannie Hillsmith and Bill Reily, among others. $10-$20, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

Wednesday and Friday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Thursday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, noon-5 p.m. Sunday through Aug. 28, McNay Art Museum, 6000 N. New Braunfels Ave., (210) 824-5368, mcnayart.org. — AA

Nina Westervelt

THU | 05.26 MON | 09.05 ART

IMMERSIVE VAN GOGH

Before you start planning an evening of amazing, interactive art, we must be the bearer of bad news. The first couple of weeks of the Immersive Van Gogh exhibition are sold out. But don’t cut your ear off just yet. There are plenty more chances to see this digital presentation of the 19th-century Dutch painter’s sunny landscapes, night scenes, portraits and still-life paintings. The illuminating exhibition runs through September 5, meaning those who missed the first couple of weeks can purchase tickets to a show before they’re all booked. Among the projected works included in the installation are Mangeurs de pommes de terre (The Potato Eaters, 1885), Nuit étoilée (The Starry Night, 1889), Les Tournesols (Sunflowers, 1888), La Chambre à coucher (The Bedroom, 1889) and other favorites. The show was originally scheduled to open in November 2021 and then again in February 2022 but was derailed by “venue-related issues.” In February, Corey Ross, producer at Lighthouse Immersive, apologized for the delay and said organizers had finally found “an optimal space in San Antonio” to put on the show. $39.99-$54.99, timed tickets required, Lighthouse ArtSpace, 221 Burleson St., (844) 307-4644, goghsanantonio.com. — KM

and has since become one of the most recognized figures in contemporary flamenco. In the movie, Maya’s artistry represented a new wave of cutting-edge movement and opened new avenues for female dancers. Although she was born into flamenco royalty — her parents are the famed dancers Mario Maya and Carmen Mora — she did not Estate of Pablo Picaso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

THU | 05.26 FRI | 05.27 DANCE

SOMBRA Y LUZ AND MISTERIO DEL FLAMENCO

begin dancing flamenco until the age of 18. Maya entered the Spanish National Ballet and studied at Madrid’s world-renowned flamenco school Amor de Dios. She is also a choreographer and educator who gives dance workshops and lectures all over the world. Among Maya’s acclaimed shows are 2005’s Dibujos and her one-woman show Romnia, which she’s performed throughout the U.S. in recent years. Maya’s work often highlights the plight of Romani women. That focus makes her a natural fit for performing alongside Arte y Pasión, which often tackles pressing social issues within its work. Aside from her performances,

San Antonio flamenco troupe Arte y Pasión is presenting two shows,

Maya will also give a series of workshops on May 30 and 31 at Raices

both collaborative efforts with Belén Maya, that bring the internation-

de Arte Español Studio. More details are available at Arte y Pasión’s

ally renowned dancer to the Alamo City. Led by Maya, the troupe will

Facebook page. Sombra y Luz, $15-$30, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Brick at Blue

perform Sombra y Luz at Brick at Blue Star on Thursday, May 26 before

Star Arts Complex, 108 Blue Star, arte-y-pasion.com. Misterio del Flamenco,

moving to the Roosevelt Library for Misterio del Flamenco on Friday,

$40-$160, 8 p.m. Friday, Roosevelt Library, 311 Roosevelt Ave., (210) 862-

May 27. In 1995, Maya appeared in Carlos Saura’s iconic film Flamenco

1062, rooseveltlibrary.com. — Marco Aquino

Courtesy of Arte y Pasión

sacurrent.com | May 18 – 31, 2022 | CURRENT

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CURRENT | May 18 – 31, 2022 | sacurrent.com

calendar

Michael Garcia

SAT | 05.28 SPECIAL EVENT

VINTAGE BLOCK PARTY AT BLUE STAR Blue Star Art Complex’s Vintage Block Party offers a chance to celebrate the onset of summer in Southtown with shopping, eats and music. Brickadelic Vintage Market partnered with Augustine Vintage, Divine Sunshine Collective and Helotes Creek Studios to bring a lively and versatile market-slash-block-party to the complex. Bexar Brass and DJ Kai will provide the tunes as shoppers browse a variety of vintage and pop-up boutiques offering anything from retro and vintage threads to handmade student art (Trinity Art) and elaborate glass terrariums (Micro Terra). Participating eateries, including Alamode, Sukeban, Stella, Halcyon and Blue Star Brewery will offer vittles for hungry browsers. Free, 6-11 p.m., Blue Star Arts Complex, 1420 S. Alamo St., (210) 354-3775, bluestarartscomplex.com. — Macks Cook

SAT | 05.28

Courtesy of Carver Community Cultural Center

DANCE

NINE Named for the “Little Rock Nine,” the multimedia performance piece Nine tells the story of nine Black youths that pioneered integration of public schools in Little Rock, Arkansas. Even when met with racist threats and language, the students braved crossing the color line. Nine tells their story through modern dance, moving music and visual elements, all combined to celebrate the Little Rock Nine while encouraging reflection on national history and its impact on current education systems. The show is a National Performance Network (NPN) Creation & Development Fund project co-commissioned by the Carver Community Cultural Center in partnership with Xavier University and NPN. It will be performed by Leah Glenn Dance Theatre. $30, 8 p.m., Carver Community Cultural Center, 226 N. Hackberry St., (210) 207-7211, thecarver.org. — DN

sacurrent.com | May 18 – 31, 2022 | CURRENT

19

Not for Everybody

Ursula Zavala

San Antonio artist Ursula Zavala comes into her own

Ursula Zavala

From left: Ursula Zavala (far left) with gallery-goer Josh, featured artist Mauro de la Tierra, and her partner Edward Perez; an installation view of Zavala’s “Reforma.”

M

BY BRYAN RINDFUSS

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the costume of an artist — but I wasn’t really an artist reativity was discouraged in the conservative, religious household Ursula Zavala grew inside the costume.”

Zavala began to shed that perceived costume in up in on San Antonio’s South Side.

2014. During a lull between kitchen jobs, she started Her parents tried to steer her toward a marketing herself as a freelance graphic designer. practical career as a doctor or lawyer, but Zavala was “I learned how to use Illustrator and Photoshop in more interested in finding her way in the less-tanschool,” she said. “I would dabble here and there — gible realm of art. Some of her earliest art-making just kind of messing around, nothing crazy. But then I memories center around collages she made from was like, ‘I gotta eat.’ So, I would put ads on Craigslist junk mail — specifically Toys “R” Us circulars she — really trying to put myself out there — and ended fished from the mailbox. up doing logos for like $20. It was kind of rough.”

“I was really poor as a kid,” Zavala told the Current In the midst of those early forays into graphic deduring a recent interview. “I would clip out ads for toys [and make collages of] things that I wanted. Now sign, Zavala happened upon vaporwave — a peculiar niche of electronic music that birthed an equally that I think about it, I was manifesting in my own odd strain of visual art riddled with retro computer weird-kid way.” graphics, pixelated imagery and Little did she know, collage would Greco-Roman statues. help her become who she is today: Chronicled in a 2016 Esquire story a confident, working artist and the Not for You Gallery titled “How Vaporwave Was Created director of a free-spirited gallery in Gallery hours: 5-8 p.m.

Then Destroyed by the Internet,” the Blue Star Arts Complex.

Friday, 1-5 p.m. Saturday the microgenre sparked a lightbulb After graduating from St. Gerard The Upstairs Studios moment for Zavala.

Catholic High School, Zavala studied “I was like, ‘I can make art like art at Our Lady of the Lake University at Blue Star this,’” she said. “I liked that it was all and San Antonio College, but the 1420 S. Alamo St., Studio 215 about ’90s nostalgia, capitalism and practical applications of what she notforyougallery.com integrating the concept of fine art was learning eluded her. and art history.”

“I remember not really being good Once she found her footing within at anything — I was just kind of learnthe confines of vaporwave, Zavala started sharing ing techniques,” she recalled. “I ended up not finishher digital collages on Instagram as Acidwinzip — a ing [my senior year] because my mom passed away. moniker she obtained from an online steampunk That was a huge thing that happened to me.” name generator.

Since she knew how to cook, Zavala worked in “It wasn’t meant to be serious,” said Zavala, who restaurant kitchens for years — all the while strugbriefly considered adopting the alias Netscape 666. gling with the concept of becoming an artist.

Nevertheless, as Acidwinzip she deftly harnessed “I knew art was what I wanted to do, but it just felt the visual irony of vaporwave in digital creations weird,” Zavala explained. “It felt like I was wearing 20

CURRENT | May 18 – 31, 2022 | sacurrent.com

celebrating anything from Lana Del Rey and Nokia cell phones to 7-Eleven Slurpees and Whataburger takeout.

At some point along the way, Zavala started adding San Antonio-specific hashtags to her social media posts — #satx and #saart among them, which helped catch the attention of Provenance Gallery director Stephanie Torres, who offered Zavala her first exhibition. Unveiled in January of 2017 — with the appropriately meta title “File>Save For Web” — that show essentially proved that Zavala had arrived as an artist.

“I got a lot of really good feedback on that show,” she said. “And that was so surreal. … I sold a few pieces, even a big one. I was so worried that people weren’t gonna consider it real artwork — because it was mainly digital prints. That was a big concern. I even had somebody ask me, ‘Are you worried that people don’t consider digital art real art?’”

Pandemic evolution An admitted “social creature” who lives with her elderly father, Zavala felt particularly tortured by the nature of quarantine.

“All the introverts were having the time of their life, [but] I hated it,” she said. “It took a big toll on my mental health. I couldn’t go anywhere, couldn’t do anything. TV got boring, YouTube got boring. … I developed really bad anxiety. … It felt like I had like a bomb on me and I didn’t know when it was gonna go off.”

Stress-related jaw pain eventually led Zavala to a doctor who suggested she seek therapy.

“I was like, ‘You’re absolutely right, let’s go!’” she said.

Having maxed out on screen time, she dug out

arts Ursula Zavala

some old art supplies and went analog. She made a series of abstract watercolors and sold them at the local print fair Paper Trail. She also found solace in sewing. After discovering a “mini quilt” tutorial online, she got hooked by the meditative repetition of hand-stitching and soon found a way to incorporate it into her work.

“It’s really relaxing,” Zavala said. “I saw a lot of people hand-sewing online and ended up doing a lot of research on that. I love sewing.

So, I started sewing a bunch of mini quilts. My first big quilt says “Hell Is Real” — in Helvetica font. It’s supposed to resemble those [religious] billboards that you see on the highway. … After that I made this other quilt that says “The End Is Near.”

Apocalyptic messages aside, the quilts helped Zavala transform her anguish into something positive — and took her artistic practice to an entirely different level.

Not for everyone Last spring, Zavala’s boyfriend Edward Perez came across an opportunity to rent a space in the Blue Star Arts Complex. Excited by the idea of sharing a studio spot, the artist couple secured it sight unseen.

“We didn’t even care what it looked like,” Zavala said. “I was like, I don’t know how we’re going to do it, but we’re gonna figure it out.”

When they saw the space for the first time, Zavala and Perez realized it was large enough to include a small gallery, so they got to work.

Perez built a wall to separate their studios from the gallery — which Zavala refers to as

their “baby” — and together they scraped, patched and painted the place into shape.

On the first Friday of May 2021, the duo opened the doors to their irreverently dubbed Not for You Gallery with “Don’t @ Me,” an exhibition showcasing Perez’s streetsmart stencil paintings.

When asked about highlights of their first year in the gallery game, Zavala stopped to mentally rewind through the dozen shows Not for You has so far hosted.

“I think the first big, exciting show was when we had Connie Chapa in July of last year,” she said. “That was a lot of fun. It was our first show that had a really big turnout. It was ungodly hot in here. But so many people were still willing to hang out — people were fighting for fans in the back. It was so ridiculous! And Connie hired Shayla Shimmy to do a burlesque performance.”

Zavala also cited local artist Mauro de la Tierra’s September show “Grace” as a standout.

“That one was a lot of fun. It was a favorite.

He was very proactive about using the space to its full potential, which was something new for us. He almost sold out, [and] I love his work — it’s based in fantasy and gore. …

He has a side project called The Holy Relapse, and they did a comic release here as a closing reception. They had a DJ and people were here in costumes — one girl dressed up as Coronavirus. It was amazing.”

Zavala is also a big fan of Loot Achris’ — aka Lauri Garcia Jones — delightfully macabre “Witches, Weirdos, Perverts and the Ridiculousness of Childhood,” which opened this month and remains on view through May 21.

Edward Perez

From left: Zavala’s earliest exhibited works drew inspiration from vaperware; her partner Edward Perez creates multilayered stenciled paintings.

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But from our perspective, Zavala’s own show “Reforma” takes the cake.

Presented in December and billed as “a celebration of life and rebirth in a time of uncertainty and anxiety,” the exhibition was rooted in both Zavala’s pandemic-era soul searching and the stifled creativity of her youth.

Expanding on her newfound love for sewing, she created fabric sculptures based on fond childhood memories, including a birthday cake complete with candles and a knife, and a functional piñata filled with little red hearts. “[The hearts were] kind of like a symbol of myself … coming out to everybody,” she mused.

As for the gallery’s curious name?

“We like to show work that might make people uncomfortable. And it’s like this whole, idea of: if you don’t get it, then maybe it’s not for you. I guess it’s the moral of the story of the space. So, if you show up and you don’t like what you see, well, then it wasn’t for you. There are other places. [Some of the work] is a little on the creepy side. But it’s what we love and what we want to show.”

Stay on top of all things Not for You by following @notforyou_gallery on Instagram and save the dates for their upcoming exhibitions opening First Friday in July (Edward Perez), August (Tink Castillo) and September (Erik Jon Gustafson).

Find more arts coverage every day at sacurrent.com

E M P LOY M E N T H-E-B seeks Sr. Software Engineer in San Antonio, TX for database management and application/code integrations in a TIBCO environment. Mail resumes to: Marisa Alcorta, 646 South Flores Street, San Antonio, TX 78204

arts Experimental Pairing Ruiz-Healy’s latest offering features colorful abstract works by Gaby Collins-Fernandez and Carlos Rosales-Silva

BY MARCO AQUINO

T

he latest show opening at San Antonio’s Ruiz-Healy Art brings together two distinct artists whose creations are united by their exquisite and experimental nature.

Jimmy Canales Opening Wednesday, May 18, the Americans, blankets such as the San exhibition “Gaby Collins-Fernandez & Marcos cobija with designs ranging Carlos Rosales-Silva: Applied Pressure” from tigers to Aztec warriors have intersects with both artists’ bold use become highly prized items after their of color, abstraction and exploration production ceased in 2004. The Los of varied materials to create layered Angeles Times once referred to the blanlandscapes. kets as “an object of affection among Rosales-Silva’s work consists of intriLatinos.” cately textured paintings created with With Biblioteca No. 3, Rosales-Silva sand, crushed stone and glass beads.

An avid traveler, Rosales-Silva creates reminds us that such a word even exists since many Mexican Americans use the work heavily influenced by the Amerterm libreria (meaning “bookstore”) ican Southwest and Mexico, where he interchangeably. grew up. The artist often returns to the In her work, Gaby Collins-Fernanplaces where he learned to see relationdez masterfully explores the possible ships between color, space and shape. combinations of fabric, “I believe the archipaint and paper. Cretecture, landscapes and ations such as A Bouvernacular cultures of ”Gaby Collins-Fernandez & Carlos Rosales-Silva: quet Is Not a Garden these places are not Applied Pressure” overlay or “stack” varonly beautiful but Free ious media to create a unique, because they reOpening Reception 6-8 p.m.

Wednesday, May 18 visual landscape where veal the complex visual On view through August 20 its formal elements histories of colonizaRuiz-Healy Art, 201A E. Olmos Dr., each hold equal weight. tion that are severely (210) 804-2219, ruizhealyart.com “As a strategy, [stackunder-recognized in ing] allows me to equalWestern art history,” he ize categories: color, said. surface, text, gesture, materials — all In large-scale, abstract works such function as a kind of language within as Cobija (Blanket) and Biblioteca No. 3 the work,” she explained.

(Library No. 3), Rosales-Silva explores Both a writer and artist, Collins-Ferideas of tradition and assimilation. nandez often incorporates text in her In Cobija, he places abstract shapes pieces, such as “lay all your love on painted in warm tones against a dark me,” as seen in her mixed-media photo purple backdrop. Here, sand and collage Sunset. crushed stones mixed in acrylic paint Her work can be described as playful resemble the polyester fabric from explorations where text, photographwhich many Mexican blankets are ic images and abstract gestures all made. collide.

For many Mexicans and Mexican

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screens

5 Other San Antonio Narratives That Would Make Great Feature Films

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Close Encounter

ABC Television

Pitch Perfect’s Anna Kendrick linked to movie about San Antonio-born ‘Dating Game Killer’

BY KIKO MARTINEZ

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rance’s Cannes Film Festival has just begun, and along with a host of international films screening for nearly two weeks, filmmakers are shopping pre-production projects in the hope they’ll be picked up by big Hollywood players.

One of the movies seeking a buyer in Cannes is The Dating Game. Previously linked to Netflix, the film is a true-crime thriller about late San Antonio-born serial killer Rodney Alcala and a woman named Cheryl Bradshaw.

In 1978, Bradshaw and Alcala met when they were contestants on the popular game show The Dating Game. Bradshaw was invited onto the program to select one of three bachelors to date after asking them a series of questions from behind a partition. Alcala competed for a date with Bradshaw as Bachelor No. 1.

The Dating Game is said to tell the story of Bradshaw and Alcala’s brief, albeit stranger-than-fiction, encounter.

Accoring to Deadline, Academy Award-nominated actress Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air, Pitch Perfect franchise) is in “advanced talks” to portray Bradshaw, something likely to improve the film’s prospects.

“As popular as the true-crime genre is, we know that audiences have never seen any-

thing quite like this,” co-producer Raphael Margules told Deadline.

At the time of his appearance on the game show, Alcala had already killed several people, mostly women. He was arrested the year after The Dating Game episode aired and charged with the murder of Robin Samsoe, a 12-year-old girl from Huntington Beach.

Ultimately, Alcala was sentenced to death for that murder and four others. Officials believe he killed as many as 130 people.

Although sentenced to death, Alcala died in prison of natural causes in 2021 the age of 77.

“Looking back, it is chilling to realize that this iconic show celebrating love and romance unknowingly featured a remorseless killer,” Matt Murphy, former senior deputy district attorney in Orange County, California, said on a 2021 episode of 20/20 that featured part of Bradshaw and Alcala’s story.

The Dating Game film is attached to director Chloe Okuno (Slut) and screenwriter Ian MacAllister McDonald (Some Freaks).

This isn’t the first time a media property has latched onto the convicted killer’s odd gameshow appearance. In 2017, a TV movie called Dating Game Killer premiered on Investigation Discovery. A 2017 episode of Reelz Channel’s Murder Made Me Famous and a 2020 podcast series, The Dating Game Killer, also covered Alcala’s crimes.

hile Rodney Alcala’s exploits have silver-screen prospects, here are five more San Antonio-tied stories that Hollywood should consider turning into feature films. Documentary makers have already spotted the narrative potential in each.

Frédéric Bourdin — Audiences love the bizarre, and the story of French conman Frédéric Bourdin has that in abundance. In 1997, Bourdin, then an adult man living in Spain, tricked everyone into believing he was a young boy from San Antonio who had been kidnapped three years prior. His story was told in the critically acclaimed 2012 documentary The Imposter.

Richard Turner — Considered one of the best up-close magicians in the world, Richard Turner’s story is even more incredible when you learn that he’s blind. The San Antonio resident lost his sight at 9 years old when he contracted a degenerative retina disease. During his career, he was awarded with the Close-Up Magician of the Year Award. Turner’s story was told in the critically acclaimed 2017 documentary Dealt.

Tim Jenison — San Antonio inventor Tim Jenison went on a mission to duplicate the painting techniques of 17th-century Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer. Jenison believed Vermeer used optical devices to aid those creations and embarked on a quest to paint his own Vermeer by using a camera obscura to guide him through the intricate process. His story was told in the critically acclaimed 2013 documentary Tim’s Vermeer.

San Antonio Four — During the 1990s, four openly gay women from San Antonio — Elizabeth Ramirez, Cassandra Rivera, Kristie Mayhugh and Anna Vasquez — went to prison on allegations they gang raped two young girls. With the help of the Innocence Project of Texas, all four women were released from prison years after their convictions. The stories of Ramirez, Rivera, Mayhugh and Vasquez were told in the critically acclaimed 2016 documentary Southwest of Salem: The Story of the San Antonio Four.

Flaco Jiménez — It’s time for the origins of conjunto and Norteño music to be explored in a biopic featuring one of San Antonio’s most beloved musicians, Flaco Jiménez. Imagine visiting the dance halls of the West Side during the accordion master’s rise to fame, all accompanied by a soundtrack of his infectious music.

Jiménez’s story figured into the critically acclaimed 1976 documentary Chulas Fronteras. — Kiko Martinez

Find more film stories at sacurrent.com

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food Courtesy Photo / Bar Loretta

Cooling Cocktails

Summer is already hitting, and these San Antonio-sourced mixed drinks can tame the heat

BY NINA RANGEL

I

t’s not yet summer in San Antonio, but everyone’s sure feeling it.

Higher-than-normal temperatures are baking the Alamo City, and there’s a good chance you’re already calling your friends with pools to beg for a quick dip.

However, there’s another way to beat the heat that doesn’t rely on someone else’s pricy backyard amenity or paying to have your own installed. Quenching cocktails can make the summer bearable, and all you need is a glass, some ice and a relatively well-stocked liquor cabinet.

We sourced these delightful drinks from a trio of San Antonio mixology masters specifically for their summer sippability.

La Cantera Resort & Spa offered this fresh

and spicy bourbon cocktail, called the Honey Badger, specially designed for warm-weather sipping. It utilizes Alabama-born Clyde May’s Straight Bourbon, which is aged in oak barrels and finished with a hint of apple.

Jalapeño-infused honey provides an earthy sweetness while lime and agave nectar scream “summertime!”

Honey Badger

1.5 ounces Clyde May’s Straight Bourbon 1.5 ounces jalapeño-infused honey 1 ounce fresh lime juice 1 ounce agave nectar

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker and give them a vigorous workout. Pour into a rocks glass and garnish with fresh jalapeño slices.

Maverick Whiskey Distillery and Brewery

this month released the new tequila-inspired spirit Agave Blanco. Technically, the liquor can’t be called tequila, but it offers similar flavors including agave, green fruit, vanilla and honeysuckle. Like its Mexican inspiration, the new liquor also makes a hell of a paloma cocktail, which Maverick Chef and Beverage Director Joshua Albert serves with a salted rim.

“The paloma is a fruity, super-refreshing and easy-to-make twist on a margarita,” Albert said. “It is a perfect cocktail to enjoy poolside because you don’t need any bar tools to make it. Just add a few ingredients to your favorite glass with ice, and you’re ready to enjoy a tasty cocktail.”

Maverick Paloma

1.5 ounces Maverick Agave Blanco 1 ounce grapefruit juice .5 ounce simple syrup .25 ounce lime juice Sparkling water or club soda Combine freshly squeezed grapefruit juice,

Agave Blanco, simple syrup and lime juice in a cocktail shaker and go after it. Strain over fresh ice in a salt-rimmed Collins or rocks glass and top with soda.

Bar Loretta, a newish Southtown spot with

a flair for seasonal cuisine, offers the Jungle Bird cocktail for keeping the Texas summer at bay. A hot-weather favorite for home bartenders, this tiki classic is easy for amateurs since it contains only five ingredients: rum, Campari, pineapple juice, lime juice and simple syrup. The pineapple and lime smooth any rough edges created by bitter Campari and add an expected tropical vibe.

Jungle Bird

2 ounces Santa Teresa 1796 Solera Rum .5 ounce Campari 1.5 ounces pineapple juice, fresh, if possible .5 ounce fresh lime juice .5 ounce simple syrup Fill a hurricane or pint glass with pebbled or crushed ice. Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker and shake briefly and briskly with a small amount of crushed ice to foam the pineapple juice. Dump all ingredients into your waiting glass and add a dome of fresh crushed ice atop to make it look enticing. Garnish, serve and enjoy.

For garnish, Bar Loretta drink chief Michael Neff suggests “anything fun.” He adds: “We use two pineapple fronds. An umbrella and some mint work as well.” If you don’t have crushed ice at your disposal, Neff suggests making your own by wrapping cubes from your freezer in a clean towel and hitting them with a hammer, mallet or rolling pin. “Watch your fingers!” he warns.

Find more food & drink news at sacurrent.com

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food

Ron Bechtol

Spice of Life

Fresh ingredients, techniques help Milpa at the Yard deliver on new insights to Mexican cuisine

BY RON BECHTOL

I

f you’re curious about the history of tacos árabes, the specialty of Chef Jesse Kuykendall’s Milpa in The Yard, the well-trained staff will be happy to oblige.

Just as a teaser, they involve the city of Puebla and Lebanese — some say Iraqi — immigrants reinventing a traditional Middle Eastern food in a new setting.

While we’re at it, we might as well also discuss the term “milpa.” It refers to a cornfield in which squash and beans may also be planted in a kind of synergistic mix.

None of that is essential to the enjoyment of the food at this modest dining spot set in a literal boxcar — there’s also a food truck that can regularly be found at Amor Eterno in Southtown — but it does help explain a holistic menu that has no trouble featuring both ultra-meaty carnitas and dried hibiscus blossoms.

Returning to the árabes, I can’t resist adding this

commentary from the Serious Eats website: “It didn’t take long, in a country already enamored of wrapping meats and other savories in a soft corn tortilla, for the taco and the shawarma traditions to collide.

The lamb quickly became pork, and the classic Middle Eastern yogurt sauces were joined (and then, often, replaced by) spicy Mexican chipotle sauce. The marinade for the meat, meanwhile, remained fairly

similar to the Levantine original, heavy with cumin, oregano and onions. It’s hard to say whether the taco was shawarma-fied, or whether the shawarma was taco-fied — that’s perhaps an existential question with no real answer …”

Milpa comes down more on the shawarma side of things. The sauce is like a tzatziki with crisp, chopped cucumber blended into tart Mexican crema. The small flour tortillas, custom made by Adelita’s Tamales and Tortillas, contain no lard, though you’d never know it. The pork they cradle is saucy and herbal. A bright flash of the house’s incendiary chile de arbol sauce adds welcome contrast.

I wasn’t quite as impressed by the tacos de carnitas, presented on puck-sized corn tortillas — also by Adelita’s and made from Texas corn. The rendered pork had good flavor, and it was nicely balanced by mar-

MILPA AT THE YARD 5253 McCullough Ave. | (210) 990-2349 | Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. and 5 p.m.-9 p.m. milpasabor.com Price range: $10.99-$12.99 Best bets: Tacos árabes, tacos de mollejas, spicy mushroom tacos, tacos de Jamaica, quesadilla frita, esquites.

The skinny: Street tacos with a college education are the stars of chef Jesse Kuykendall’s food truck spinoff, located in the boxcar-based culinary incubators at The Yard. Don’t miss the specialty tacos árabes with their marinated pork bathed in a creamy sauce with cucumber and get bold with the vegan tacos de jamaica that make best use of dried hibiscus blossoms. sacurrent.com | May 18 – 31, 2022 | CURRENT

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food

OPENINGS Owners of drinkeries Green Lantern and Box Car have opened Witness Sporting Club, a new UTSA-area nightspot in the space that formerly housed Study Space. 7280 UTSA Blvd., Suite 101, Instagram.com/witness_satx.

Downtown San Antonio bar El Honky Tonk is now open and serving up Urban Cowboy vibes daily until 1 a.m. 316 N. Flores St., elhonkytonk.com.

Ron Bechtol

inated onions fragrant with Mexican oregano, but it came across a little dry after the lush creaminess of the árabes.

Carnitas are available at multiple places around town, however. Tacos de mollejas, not so much. Grab Milpa’s while they’re hot out of the fryer. The plump morsels of sweetbreads manage to be both crispy and creamy at once, and they’re irresistible with another jolt of that salsa roja. The tomatillo-based salsa verde is also perfectly fine, just not as tongue-tingling.

Moving away from meats, the quesadillas with Oaxacan cheese are a logical first step on the way to a vegan finale. Milpa mixes its own masa for these, then fries the half-moon parcels for a crunchy bottom that contrasts appealingly with the sturdy cheese filling. It’s also available with a vegan, cashew-based “mozzarella.” If you order the quesadilla with chorizo, as we did, the crumbled sausage will cap the package in a way that doesn’t leave a rusty trail of grease in its wake. Sprinkles of corn and lashings of crema complete the composition.

The corn that accented the quesadilla can, and should, also be enjoyed with a full side of esquites — lightly grilled to a pleasantly chewy texture,

slathered with crema and mayo, and dusted with queso fresco. Vegetarians — and curious carnivores — rejoice.

The accompanying charro beans made no attempt to be anything other than bacony and lacked the conviction of most other menu items. No yawns greeted the spicy mushrooms, however. They’re grilled until almost caramelized, make for a good vegan option, and are fine on both corn and flour tortillas.

But for a full-on plunge into the vegan universe, the quartet of tacos with flor de jamaica are a must-try.

Many South Texas diners are familiar with jamaica in the form of an agua fresca. Cocktailians may also know that a syrup made from the dried blooms adds both magenta color and a tartly fruity edge to harder drinks.

But rehydrated, sautéed and paired with caramelized onion, a little avocado and sliced radishes? Count me among those unaware the flower could star in a savory dish. There’s a nice “tooth” to the texture, and the flavors skew lightly floral, although the onion adds the requisite bass notes.

Have these tacos. They’ll surprise you and may even open a door to further adventure in the corn patch of life.

Antonio. Construction is expected to wrap up in six months.

Southtown’s Bar Loretta is up for a Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar honor at Tales of the Cocktail, a major mixology conference held in New Orleans.

The Rim shopping complex will gain two new fast-casual dining concepts later this year: pizza restaurant Via 313 and fried-chicken spot The Crack Shack.

New tapas and wine spot Hola! is now open in Southtown, offering a small but cozy bar and dining room along with a patio with a view of the Tower of the Americas. 603 S. Alamo St., holatapas.net.

Texas institution Shiner Beer has released ¡Órale!, a new Mexican-style Lager made with premium malt and lager yeast and brewed with agave.

This summer, San Antonio will become home to the first Texas location of California-based burrito chain Iguanas Burritozilla. 4205 Fredericksburg Road, burritozilla.com.

San Antonio-based Roadmap Brewing and Second Pitch Beer Co. snagged medals at the World Beer Cup, often referred to as the “Olympics of Beer Competitions.”

Early Bird Coffee will trade in its vintage Airstream trailer digs for a brick-and-mortar location on the Northwest side this summer.

11745 Interstate Highway 10, Suite 527, instagram. com/earlybirdcoffee.sa.

New pizza concept WonderSlice will open at the Pearl complex’s Bottling Department food hall next month. It will showcase pies from acclaimed chef-owner Ben Schwartz.

NEWS

The Nestle Toll House Café location in Culebra Commons has permanently closed.

Bar America owner Brian Correa has broken ground on Texas Dog Co. & Beer Garden, a new canine-focused drinking spot in Northwest San

Southtown barbecue joint Bandit BBQ shut its doors Sunday, May 8.

Courtesy Photo Crack Shack

sacurrent.com | May 18 – 31, 2022 | CURRENT

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food.

Business owners along the music and nightlife destination say continued flareups with residents from the adjoining Tobin Hill neighborhood and revived enforcement of an antiquated city noise ordinance make it increasingly hard to operate. Further crushing the buzz, a delayed construction project has left the street mangled since early last year, complicating access and parking.

Blayne Tucker, co-owner of longtime St. Mary’s music venue The Mix, said those conditions have created a “slow bleed” for the area’s roughly 20 bars and nightclubs.

“If the public doesn’t wake up pretty quickly, they’re essentially going to find themselves ostracized from the entertainment district they’ve enjoyed for 40 years,” Tucker said.

That pain also comes with a side of déjà vu: the Strip has been down this road before, Tucker and other venue owners warn. Noise complaints and neighborhood tensions played into the district’s mid’90s cratering, when it transformed in a few short years from an MTV Spring Break filming location into a virtual ghost town.

Renewed tensions

Tone Deaf

Travis E. Poling

The ‘slow bleed’ of the St. Mary’s Strip is jeopardizing live music in San Antonio

BY SANFORD NOWLIN

A

lt-country performer Garrett T. Capps is a musical ambassador for the Alamo City.

His song “Born in San Antone” was featured on the hit TV series Billions, and the more recent “I Like Austin, but I Love San Antone” inspired singalongs in music venues as far away as Europe and received play before San Antonio City Council meetings.

Which is why the singer-songwriter finds it frustrating that the Lonesome Rose, the North St. Mary’s Strip honky tonk in which he’s a partner, has repeatedly tangled with the city of San Antonio over noise and permitting issues.

Last summer, after presenting acoustic music on its back patio for nearly three years, code compliance officers told the club to end the outdoor shows. And this spring, city officials forced the bar to add a com-

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mercial kitchen or face closure, citing a stipulation in its four-year-old certificate of occupancy.

Capps said the latest demand came suddenly, required a significant cash outlay and appeared selectively enforced. He suspects both visits were prompted by neighbors from the Pearl-area condos that have encroached on the St. Mary’s Strip, the 40-year-old nightlife area that’s facing gentrification on all sides.

“The city has recognized my music, and they’ve recognized the Lonesome Rose for bringing these important music artists to town,” Capps said. “So, it feels pretty weird that these things keep happening to us. It crosses my mind a lot.”

He’s not alone in his frustration. Another St. Mary’s Strip music venue, Faust Tavern, recently had to reopen its kitchen after city officials told the owners their certificate of occupancy requires the bar to serve

The latest round of tensions with Tobin Hill residents hit a high after the Strip began returning from its pandemic-forced shutdown.

Neighbors voiced frustration over 2 a.m. screaming fights in front of their bedroom windows, trash strewn in their yards and people urinating in their driveways. Club owners argue that they’re being harassed by noise and permit complaints that won’t fix those problems.

Compounding the problem, bar owners say regulars are being scared away by ongoing road and sewer construction, a project they say they were told would be finished last October. Over recent months, a sea of orange and white barrels, barricades, signs and traffic cones has made the street hard to navigate, much less find parking along.

Not to mention, the barricading of nearby neighborhoods during a two-weekend traffic study in April hurt sales and made the parking even worse, said Eric Hanken, one of Tucker’s partners in The Mix. The business shares a private lot with the bar next door, but it’s hard to control who parks there, especially when music shows are going on nearby.

“My approach to this is how do we find balance?” said District 1 Councilman Mario Bravo, whose district includes the Strip and Tobin Hill. “I knocked on most doors in Tobin Hill [during my campaign for office], and nobody had to convince me after that, things were out of balance.”

During a March town hall meeting, Bravo said bar owners acknowledged the problem with revelers spilling into nearby neighborhoods and were eager to take steps to repair relations with the neighbors.

Even so, musicians and show organizers say they’re unhappy that the area that’s ground zero for live music in San Antonio continues to be roiled by uncertainty. Compounding their anger is the city’s apparent indifference to the Strip as leaders talk about fostering a creative class and supporting local musicians.

Loy Smoak, who books metal and stoner rock

shows on the Strip said he’s concerned club owners will be pressured into stopping weeknight shows, something that would put a crimp in his ability to book touring bands who are unable to schedule weekend stops here.

Moving those shows to venues in Loopland isn’t always possible either, because many of those clubs have higher overheads.

“In the ’90s, things were just as crazy on the Strip and somehow everyone survived,” Smoak said. “The difference is there weren’t condos down there then, and San Antonio wasn’t a hip place for people to move to.”

Neighborhood concerns Tobin Hill Neighborhood Association President Parker Dixon, 33, moved into his neighborhood aware that its proximity to the Strip meant it would be livelier than the suburbs. Even so, he didn’t count on regularly picking up discarded taco wrappers from his front porch or hearing screaming fights at 3 a.m.

“It’s exceeded the threshold that any neighborhood should have to tolerate,” Dixon said. “I’ve had someone throw up on our front porch. People have had sex on our curb.

It seems like every few months someone is banging on one of neighbors’ doors because they’re just out of their mind.”

One area resident who’s been serving drinks to patrons for two decades on the Strip said safety is a growing concern. It’s a sentiment echoed by other Tobin Hill residents who say the behavior of patrons seems to have worsened since the bar activity resumed after the prolonged pandemic shutdowns.

“I live seven blocks away and can hear gunshots at night,” said the server, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals. “People are so quick to grab a weapon.”

To her point, a man was killed in February

and another wounded in a shooting on the 2800 block of North St. Mary’s. The victim reportedly was trying to defend a friend waiting for a ride home from a bar at 2 a.m.

The gunman went to his car after his advances were spurned by the waiting woman and returned with a weapon, according to authorities.

While they don’t dispute neighbors have endured bad behavior from partiers, bar owners argue that police data doesn’t show a spike in calls since nightlife bounced back from the pandemic. Even so, they met with residents at a March meeting arranged by Bravo’s office and have pledged to work on solutions that keep the party off residential streets.

Dixon said he feels encouraged by the dialogue.

“It feels like all the accountable parties are finally talking with each other instead of shouting at each other,” he said.

Not every Tobin Hill resident’s experience with the Strip has included drunken shenanigans in their front yard. Alfonso Robalin, 56, moved his family from Alamo Heights into his parents’ former home in the neighborhood and said he enjoys opening his door on the weekend to hear the “pulse” of the nearby nightlife.

Like Dixon, he’s glad neighbors and club owners are talking, noting that those lines of communication have been severed for years.

Even so, he expects some residents will continue to call in complaints regardless of the business’ attempts to compromise.

“I think there’s going to be a group of people who aren’t going to be happy with the Strip, no matter what,” he added.

Noise whispering To some degree, the earlier breakdown in dialogue between businesses and residents may stem from the city’s focus on

music

Sanford Nowlin

Ryan Vestil

Left: Tobin Hill’s Parker Dixon is encouraged that residents and club owners are now talking. Right: Musician and bar owner Garrett T. Capps is frustrated with code issues.

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noise abatement to address neighborhood concerns. Bravo said a task force he inherited from his predecessor that was meant to reassess the city’s existing noise ordinance “created a forum for bar owners and residents to yell at and insult one another.”

Bar owners said they’re frustrated with a pilot project recently completed by the city that dispatched a half-dozen code compliance officers Thursdays through Saturdays to respond to nighttime noise complaints.

Rather than shut down shows and events, the officers wrote tickets which the city mailed to offending businesses. But even after arming themselves with noise meters and asking performers to turn down, Strip businesses still racked up citations. One manager said his club had six tickets in April despite constant monitoring efforts.

Bravo said he’s encouraged by the task force’s move to hire Don Pitts, an Austin-based sound expert known as the “Noise Whisperer” for his work lowering noise levels where entertainment districts and residential areas meet. Pitts’ company, Sound Music Cities, uses technology and science to curtail noise while still allowing music lovers to enjoy a full-volume experience.

The city announced the hiring of Sound Music Cities in March, and the contract is still in the approval stages. Pitts shared his preliminary report with the Current, which outlines steps for addressing noise concerns.

The document suggests that the city create a permitting process rather than rely so heavily on punitive action. It also notes that the

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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Travis E. Poling

current 63-decibel limit for overnight noise doesn’t work. “A cogent noise ordinance should establish sound limits that are achievable so that businesses can come into compliance proactively,” according to the analysis.

Significantly, the report also argues that noise levels are only one aspect of addressing neighborhood concerns about nightlife establishments and those “cannot be solved by a noise ordinance.” What’s more, it notes that nightspots that play music on their patios seem to be a larger problem locally than live-music venues.

In emailed comments to the Current, Pitts said the permitting process shouldn’t be costly for clubs and must evolve out of a collaborative process.

“Generally, our philosophy on a permitting process is that it shouldn’t be overly complicated and should lay the groundwork to provide resolution and a partnership mindset,” he said. “From our experience, the most useful aspect of the process is the sound impact evaluation, which sets the framework for entitlements and community conversations.”

Streets and parking Complicating the tension with neighbors is the Strip’s ongoing construction, part of a 2017 bond election package for underground gas pipeline and sewer upgrades. The project started in March 2021, and after multiple setbacks is now expected to wrap up in February 2023.

So far, the gas portion of the project is done and work is ongoing on the second and third phases of the sewer lines, according to city officials. A Google Fiber line installed through an existing sewer line delayed the first phase.

Although bar owners said they were told the streets would be reopened by October of last year, a city official familiar with the project said he’s unsure where that information came from and was never part of the timeline for a finish date.

Money was recently allocated from the Midtown Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone to expand the final

steps of the infrastructure project. After the deep utility work is done, crews will dig a shallow conduit trench to install additional street lighting — a safety measure included in the project. Beautification landscaping, including trees, will cap off the project.

The Mix’s Tucker said he’s all for upkeep but accuses the city of dragging its feet on the repairs.

“There’s been one mismanagement at that site after another,” he added.

On a recent Friday night, Alyssa Tamez and Harlan Roque rode their bikes to the Strip to avoid the snarl of traffic and parking scarcity. Roque said the area would be more enjoyable if the street was completely closed on busy weekend nights and if parking was located on either end of St. Mary’s with shuttles running to the clubs.

Bravo said he’s looking into that idea and officials have been in talks with property owners to expand parking. While the street can’t be closed because of the neighborhoods, he said the city could explore some form of transportation from parking lots at the San Antonio Water System property on the other side of U.S. Highway 281 from the top of the Strip.

Construction contractor SpawGlass is using a leased lot near longtime strip staple Tycoon Flats as a staging ground for equipment used on the road project. The property’s owner is considering installing a 240-space parking lot to serve the area once work is complete and the equipment moves out, Bravo said.

St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Church at 2504 N. St. Mary’s has also agreed to open up to 50 additional parking spaces, the councilman added.

The Tripoint campus of Trinity Baptist Church, which primarily hosts daytime or evening activities is also an option. By the time action on the Strip heats up, the facility’s massive lot at the 281 end of St. Mary’s is empty.

Bravo said city officials had talked with Trinity Baptist about using the lot to relieve parking pressure, but the owners were concerned about liability issues.

He said the city will try again to see if it can overcome the apprehension.

Meanwhile, results are in for the city’s traffic study

by Pape-Dawson Engineers, conducted with the help of the San Antonio Police Department during two weekends this spring. Those will be presented to the neighborhood and business owners in an as-yet-unscheduled town hall meeting, Bravo said.

For the study, the SAPD barricaded residential streets behind the North St. Mary’s Street business district and allowed only residents of those blocks to enter late at night. Based on the results of the traffic study, which Bravo hadn’t yet seen at the time of his interview with the Current, the councilman’s office will ask neighbors for their input on how to limit parking in residential areas and when it should be allowed.

Both business owners and Tobin Hill residents said they expect those recommendations to include limiting residential streets to residents’ parking from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. — an idea both have advocated for years now.

Tobin Hill’s Dixon says he blames the city, at least partially, for dragging its feet on resolving some of the issues where both residents and business owners share common ground. For all the recent gentrification near the Pearl, Tobin Hill is still largely a middle-income and working-class neighborhood that’s had a hard time getting city officials’ attention, he added.

Bravo said he’s made it a priority to find solutions that allow the bars and Tobin Hill residents to coexist.

He considers the success of businesses along the Strip to be part of his vision for growing and transforming the city.

“I’m not looking to shut down the bar owners,” Bravo said. “Economic development for me is not to give tax breaks for companies to come here but to create a vibrant city where people want to live and work.”

In the meantime, musician and Lonesome Rose partner Capps said he’d like to see those solutions appear quickly. San Antonio music fans are already bearing the brunt of the Strip’s myriad problems.

“This is directly affecting our ability to host live music,” he said. “And it sucks.” sacurrent.com | May 18 – 31, 2022 | CURRENT

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Jim Mendiola

Still Kickin’

San Antonio conjunto traditionalist Santiago Jiménez looks back ahead of his latest album

BY BILL BAIRD

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eyond being a music legend, Santiago Jiménez Jr. is one of San Antonio’s chief cultural ambassadors. He’s a keeper of the conjunto flame, an irrepressible raconteur, a legendary beer drinker and a living reminder of our city’s vibrant culture.

He’s also full of contradictions — a devoted family man on his eighth marriage, a music traditionalist who’s versed in all forms of electronic media and an unwitting DIY icon. Born into a conjunto royal family, Jiménez seized on the independent music ethos long before it became hip to do so, releasing his own music so he could perform the music he wanted to, trends be damned.

For him, there was no choice.

“Music is my life,” he told the Current during a recent interview. “I’ve been playing for 60 years already!”

Despite that lengthy career, Jiménez’s

legacy continues to unfold. His new album Still Kickin’ will drop Friday, May 20 on Americana star Jesse Dayton’s Hardcharger label, an imprint of Blue Élan Records. Earlier this month, the conjunto maestro was a headliner at the Taco Fest: Music y Más festival, which paired him with alt-Latino peformers including Kinky and El Dusty.

A visit to Jiménez’s West Side home studio reveals the staggering depth of his achievements. He’s won the National Endowment for the Arts’ Master Artist designation, received the Presidential Medal of Arts from President Barack Obama, landed three Grammy nominations, university commendations and the keys to multiple cities.

As could be expected, the residence is also stacked full of CDs, LPs, cassettes, eight-tracks and even the discontinued Sony MiniDiscs. Jiménez makes his own MiniDiscs, complete with mini artwork.

Ask the experts and they’ll tell you much of Jiménez’s recognition and legacy stems from his willingness to stay true to his roots. Some conjunto performers dabble with the latest styles and crazes to chase fame, while others mixed the form with outside influences.

But Jiménez has made a career of upholding the traditional style he learned from his late father, Don Santiago Sr., one of the genre’s progenitors.

From Jimmy to Santiago Over numerous cold beers in that West Side home, the younger Jiménez patiently recounted his life’s musical journey.

Don Santiago Sr. was a leader in melding the ranchera songs of Northern Mexico with accordion and a danceable German polka beat, the essential combination behind the conjunto genre. His pioneering use of the tololoche, or upright bass, can be heard on essential early recordings released through Decca, RCA, Mercury, Imperial, Clove and other labels.

One of the elder Jiménez’s recordings, “La Piedrera (Polka),” was written in honor of the Brackenridge Park rock

Jiménez is revered for his traditional approach to the conjunto sound pioneered by his father.

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quarry that employed his family.

“My grandfather used to work there many years back,” Jiménez explained.

“You know the skywalk? My grandfather used to walk up there and drop dynamite to explode. He made that, my grandfather. I grew up near there on Saltillo Street.”

The family later moved farther west to Castroville Road, where his father’s music would ring through the household. However, the patriarch didn’t force music on his children, who also included Flaco Jiménez, a conjunto legend in his own right.

“My father wouldn’t teach us,” Jiménez said. “He wanted us to teach him that we could do it. And we did.

Even Flaco did it himself.”

Early on, Jiménez went by the name Jimmy. He was later bestowed with the name Santiago through his accordion prowess. The “junior” appendage was meant to indicate a stylistic mastery akin to his father’s. sacurrent.com | May 18 – 31, 2022 | CURRENT

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The younger Jiménez’s musical career kicked off at age 15 as he began performing at parties of all kinds. He started recording at age 17. El Príncipe y el Rey del Acordeón — “The Prince and the King of the Accordion” — a 1958 album recorded with Flaco for the Lira label was an early highlight.

“Who was the king? I don’t know,” Jiménez said, laughing.

Early years Like most musicians, Jiménez worked odd jobs between gigs to make ends meet. That included a stint as a cook.

“But I was only burning beans,” Jiménez told the University of Texas’ Reporting Texas project in 2017. “The main thing in my life has been music.”

The early years also included stints in Houston and Fort Worth. Along the way, several marriages ended with a common deal breaker.

“You know what breaks up my marriages?” Jiménez asked. “Because my wives, they kept telling me I need to stop the music.”

After appearing in Chris Strachwitz’s classic 1976 documentary Chulas Fronteras, Jiménez recorded albums for the filmmaker and music historian’s influential Arhoolie Records. Those included El Mero Mero and Santiago Strikes Again!, the latter of which landed him his first Grammy nomination. Along the way, he also recorded the infectious “El Corrido de Henry Cisneros,” honoring the then-political up-and-comer.

Jiménez even penned the tune before Cisneros’ mayoral run and his appearance on the national political stage.

While releasing records, Jiménez gigged constantly. He played everywhere, but perhaps most notably at the legendary Lerma’s Nite Club on Zarzamora St., one of the longest-running live conjunto music venues in Central and South Texas.

Global reach It wasn’t until after he’d been gigging in South Texas for years that Jiménez began bringing his old-school conjunto flavor to adoring audiences worldwide.

“During the ’70s, I did the whole map of the United States,” he said. “I flew though. Very rarely would I drive.”

Among his European travels was a gig in the Soviet Union.

“It was arranged for me. See, I used to play at Tycoon Flats, and folks would come from all over the world. Met these

Public Domain / Tom Pich

guys from Holland. They arranged it,” he explained. “It was a bit scary. Pero, at that time, I went to represent United States conjunto music as an ambassador.”

The Soviet venue was a cavernous steel factory: “No mics, no nada. It was crazy sounding. I didn’t like it. They were not friendly.”

Jiménez found the communist country’s quota system particularly irksome.

“Let’s say you had a Pepsi,” he said.

“They would sell it to you but wouldn’t give you another one. That’s what I didn’t like. I said, ‘Hey, can I have another beer? Another Pepsi?’ They said, ‘No. Just one.’ That’s it.”

Nonetheless, that hard traveling helped Jiménez establish his music on a global scale. Eventually, he came back home to open the El Chief record shop, recording studio and office space, which he inhabited from 1990 until 2000.

Still El Chief

In a way, that homecoming brings the story full circle. Jiménez’s Still Kickin’ was recorded at Joe Trevino’s Blue Cat Studios in Southtown, not far from El Chief’s one-time storefront.

Beyond its release on Dayton’s label, the album displays Jiménez’s lasting influence on a new generation of musicians. San Antonio Americana impresario Garrett T. Capps produced the recording, which features Max Baca on bajo sexto and Noel Hernandez on tololoche, both from the Grammy-winning conjunto traditionalists Los Texmaniacs.

“We recorded all the instruments and main vocal live in one room,” Capps said of the session. “There were overdubs for the vocal harmonies, which are Santiago. The band would cut each song in one take, then Santiago would stay in the room and do the harmonies. The whole album took about three hours to make.”

The stripped-down approach paid off. Still Kickin’ bursts with joy and immediacy. That vitality wasn’t lost on

Jiménez poses in front of his house in a 2000 photo. His nickname, “El Chief” emblazons his accordion.

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Americana star Dayton, who sings the album’s praises on his label’s website.

“He’s the living link between Norteño and Tejano music that influenced rock ’n’ roll and country and modern Latin music,” Dayton wrote. “So, when Garrett said he had this raw and powerful old school-style recording he did with Santiago, I jumped at the chance to put it out. This project is a labor of love.

Our No. 1 goal is to turn more people onto one of the last living legends from San Antonio!”

Jiménez takes his living-legend status in stride. He’s hopeful the new album will win him a fourth Grammy nomination, but either way, he’s going to stick to his real-deal approach to the music he grew up with.

After all, it brought him this far. sacurrent.com | May 18 – 31, 2022 | CURRENT

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Our Rhythms, Our Voices Concert

FRIDAY, MAY 20TH, 7:30PM UNAM SAN ANTONIO AUDITORIUM 600 Hemisfair Plaza Way, San Antonio, Tx 78205 Tickets: ourrhythmsourvoicessanantonio.eventbrite.com (Free Admission) Our Rhythms, Our Voices is a musical project honoring the Latin American population in the United States. For the project, we interviewed Latin American immigrants from all walks of life to create songs, using rhythms from their native lands. www.ourrhythmsourvoices.com This program was made possible in part with a grant from Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

This project is supported in part by the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin Economic Development Department.

WE BUY, TRADE, & SELL QUALITY USED GEAR! Browse our inventory @ musicgoroundsanantoniocentral.com

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music listings Wednesday, May 18

Black Violin An eclectic mashup of classical music and hip-hop, Black Violin’s perspective reimagines the two genres with invigorating results.

Violist Wil B and violinist Kev Marcus met at the Dillard High School for Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. With designs on becoming the next Neptunes or Timbaland, the pair transfixed audiences while performing with headliners such as Alicia Keys and the Wu-Tang Clan. Released in 2020, Black Violin’s most recent studio album, Give Thanks, features Christmas standards. $24.50-$55, 7:30 p.m., Tobin Center, 100 Auditorium Circle, (210) 223-8624, tobincenter.org. — Danny Cervantes

Friday, May 20 Christian Death Iconic gothic group Christian Death traces its history back to 1979, making it one of the genre’s longest-surviving purveyors. Variously described as art-punk and deathrock, the band boasts a list of former members rivaled in sheer length by Quiet Riot’s. Christian Death’s recent releases have come out on the label Season of Mist — which should give metalheads an idea of what the band’s going for. The most recent of those, Evil Becomes Rule, was released early in May. $20-$22, 8 p.m., Rock Box, 1223 E. Houston St., (210) 255-3833, therockboxsa.com.

— Mike McMahan Caifanes Citing influences ranging from the Cure to King Crimson, Mexico City’s Caifanes are rock en Español royalty. Along with Maná, Caifanes helped bring Latin rock to a bigger stage in the early ’90s. Original members of the band reunited at Coachella in 2011 and continue to influence a generation of artists and fans. $39.50-109.50, 8 p.m., Aztec Theater, 104 N. St. Mary’s St., (210) 812-4355, theaztectheatre.com. — DC

Saturday, May 21 Carla Morrison Born in Tecate, Baja California, Carla Morrison specializes in Spanish-language indie-pop and has earned both Grammy nominations and Latin Grammy awards for her poignant and tender performances. Her debut LP Déjenme Llorar, released in 2012, entered the Latin Pop Albums Billboard chart and earned her numerous festival slots, including Lollapalooza 2013 in Chile. She’s continued to drop acclaimed releases and even appeared in the movie Ana Maria in Novela Land since then. Her newest album El Renacimiento was released earlier this year, preceded by the single “Ansiedad.” $29.50-$49.50, 8 p.m., Tech Port Center + Arena, 331 General Hudnell Dr., (210) 600-3699, techportcenter. com. — MM New Kids on The Block, Rick Astley, En Vogue, Salt-N-Pepa The photogenic quintet that sparked a late-’80s boy band revival is back, much to the delight of Gen X moms. Brothers Jonathan and Jordan Knight lead the original crew, which also includes Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg and Danny Wood. Originally the brainchild of New Edition producer Maurice Starr, NKOTB grabbed regular MTV rotation with “You Got It (The Right Stuff ),” and the rest is history. The headliners’ tour includes a “mix tape” of stars from the era. $29.95-$59.95, 8 p.m., AT&T Center, 1 AT&T Center Parkway, (210) 440-5000, attcenter.com. — DC

Sunday May 22

Reik The sound of Mexican trio Reik continues to evolve away from its romantic, pop-infused origins, incorporating more of the electronic- and reggaeton-influenced jams pervasive with club DJs. The Mexicali natives joined up with K-Pop group Super Junior on “One More Time (Otra Vez)” in 2019, a groundbreaking collaboration that debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard Latin Digital Song Sales. A single released in April further explores the fusion of the románticos with a more urban sound. $79.99-$99.99, 8 p.m., Majestic Theatre, 224 E. Houston St, (210) 226-3333, majesticempire.com. — DC Zac Brown Band, Robert Randolph Band It may be tempting to lump the Zac Brown Band in with Nashville country because, well, they’re accessible and have won a ton of country awards. But these boys have a Southern-rock spirit that’s allowed them to collaborate with anyone from Avicii to Dave Grohl to Jimmy Buffett. Don’t sleep on opener Robert Randolph, a master of the slide guitar. $50-$945, 7 p.m., Real Life Amphitheater, 16765 Lookout Road, Selma, (210) 714-4810, reallifeamp.com. — MM

Tuesday, May 24 It Was 50 Years Ago Today: Tribute To The Beatles’ Rubber Soul & Revolver It’s wild to think that the title of It Was 50 Years Ago Today springs from the “20 years ago today” line on Sgt. Pepper’s, while the two albums to which the tour pays tribute came out 57 and 56 years ago respectively. Which is testimony to the timeless nature of the Beatles’ music. As further testimony, the package includes a host of well-known names performing the tunes, among them San Antonio native Christopher Cross, longtime pop maverick Todd Rundgren and Denny Laine of Wings. $49.75-$179, 7 p.m., Majestic Theatre, 224 E. Houston St., (210) 226-3333, majesticempire.com. — MM Mega Ran, Richie Branson, Rustage Mega Ran bills himself as a “motivational rapper,” and when it comes down to it, that may be one of those obvious-idea-in-retrospect things, given that both motivational speakers and emcees are so highly focused on language. The headliner is also associated with nerdcore and has produced some chiptune releases, plus he features on “Bow Down,” the theme song for WWE Superstar Xavier Woods. $10-$15, 8 p.m., 502 Bar, 502 Embassy Oaks #138, (210) 257-8125, 502bar.com. — MM

Wednesday, May 25 Alexisonfire In March, Alexisonfire — one of the bands that helped pioneer post-hardcore — announced the release of Otherness, its first new album in 13 years, and if the track “Sweet Dreams of Otherness” is any indication, the group’s lost none of its angst during its time away. With San Antonio’s love for all music post-alternative, this is likely to be a packed show. $41, 7 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx.com. — BE

Thursday, May 26 Above & Beyond This London-based DJ trio, which owns EDM labels Anjunabeats and Anjunadeep, got its start via the great trance trend of the

Carla Morrison

Courtesy Photo Carla Morrison

early 2000s and entered public consciousness via high-profile remixes that earned them a spot at the 2022 Glastonbury Festival. However, the group’s sound has evolved over time, and its most recent release, 2019’s Flow State, is entirely ambient. $60, 9 p.m., 1902 Nightclub, 1174 E. Commerce St, (210) 890-1265, 1902satx.com. — MM

Friday, May 27 Veil of Maya, Born of Osiris Chicago-based Veil of Maya continues to be one of metalcore’s most punishing act, consuming listeners with chugging guitars and rapid-fire drumming. The band is due for a new album release, having announced last year that it scrapped an entire LP with which the members were unsatisfied. Until then, fans will just have to groove to the recent single “Synthwave Vegan,” or check out this gig. Electronic deathcore quintet Born of Osiris is one of three openers for the night. $22-$25, 5 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx.com. — BE

Friday, May 27 The Fall of Troy Between their formation, breakup and eventual reunion over a 20-year span, The Fall of Troy are almost like that one girlfriend you can’t seem to let go of. Although, these guys probably like mathcore way more than she ever did. Expect shrieking, nasally vocals and odd rhythms as the band performs its 2007 album Manipulator in full. $28-$30, 8 p.m., Rock Box, 1223 E. Houston St., (210) 772-1453, therockboxsa.com. — BE

Tuesday, May 31 GWAR, Goatwhore, Nekrogoblikon Costumed metal act GWAR is back for a jolly old time that involves staging fake murders of your least favorite political figures — hopefully Greg Abbott this time — while playing tracks like the appropriately titled “If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It).”

The fun doesn’t end there, however. Support comes from Southern black metallers Goatwhore and goblin-led act Nekrogoblikon. $30-$35, 7 p.m., Vibes Underground, 1223 E. Houston St., (210) 255-3833, facebook.com/vibesunderground. — BE Gera MX Although just 27, Mexican rapper Gera MX has already logged a decade-long career that included the history-making smash “Botella Tras Botella.” Although known for rhyming over chilledout melodies, Gera MX’s diverse tracks range from conjunto inspired instrumentals to modern reggaeton. $39-$249, 8 p.m., Aztec Theatre, 104 N. St. Mary’s, (210) 812-4355, theaztectheatre.com. — BE sacurrent.com | May 18 – 31, 2022 | CURRENT

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CURRENT | May 18 – 31, 2022 | sacurrent.com

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Marathon Petroleum Company LP in San Antonio, TX is hiring for the following: Advanced Sr Developer IT. This position provides “build and support” for reporting functionality and for system maintenance using SAP development technologies including S/4 HANA (Release 1610 and Release 1909) and SAP ERP Central Component 6.0 (“ECC 6.0”).

Please visit our career website at https://jobs.marathonpetroleum.com/ and apply online.

EOE: Veteran/Disability

6735 IH-10 West, San Antonio, TX 78201

Procurement & Sales and Operations Planning Manager sought by Pabst Brewing Company, LLC in San Antonio, TX. Req.’s: Master of Bus. Econ., MBA, or close & at least 24 months exp.

Domestic travel 25% of time + 4 int’l trips/year. Apply at recruiting@pabst.com Marathon Petroleum Company LP in San Antonio, TX is hiring for the following: IT Architect I. Responsible for delivery of information-technology network architectures, designs, and solutions that are aligned with the Marathon’s enterprise architecture.

At least 1 lifecycle implementation of Viptela SDWAN fabric with a minimum of two public cloud and on-premises datacenters. At least 1 lifecycle implementation of VMWare Cloud on AWS (VMC Software-Defined Data Center). Please visit our career website at https://jobs.marathonpetroleum.com/ and apply online.

EOE: Veteran/Disability

We’re

10 DAYS FREE

Project Planner & Designer (San Antonio, TX): Support of senior staff w/ plann’g & dsgn prjcts, assist in conducting regulatory review of dvlpmnt proposals, land use & zoning plans.

Prepare dsgns, illustrations & presentations pertaining to dsgn prjcts. Research dvlpmnt activity & policy trends. Interact directly w/, dvlprs, engrs, architects & other professionals. Report writing & document prodctn, & assisting w/ the preparation of computer-generated maps & graphic elements needed to convey the ideas generated in each planning effort. Req’s a Master’s degree in urban planning or architecture & 1 yr exp as an Urban Planner. Mail Resumes to HR Manager, Seda Consulting Engineers Inc.,

Marathon Petroleum Company LP in San Antonio, TX is hiring for the following: Advanced Sr Business Analyst IT. Acts as a liaison between the Information Technology (IT) development group and business units for the development and implementation of new systems and enhancement of existing systems.

Spec. Req. Experience with at least two full life cycle implementations in SAP’s IS-Oil module. Experience with at least two full life cycle implementations in SAP’s Sales and Distribution (SD) module. Experience with at least two full life cycle implementations in the Procure to Pay (P2P) module (within MM). Please visit our career website at https://jobs.marathonpetroleum.com/ and apply online.

EOE: Veteran/Disability

NEWS.CULTURE.FREE Issues Drop Wednesdays online: www.sacurrent.com

H-E-B seeks Sr. Software Engineer in San Antonio, TX for database management and application/code integrations in a TIBCO environment.

Mail resumes to: Marisa Alcorta, 646 South Flores Street, San Antonio, TX 78204

Dish Wireless, LLC proposes to collocate communications antennas at a centerline height of 92 feet on the rooftop of an existing 82.7-foot building, with an antenna overall height of 93.8 feet including attachments. A 5-foot by 7-foot equipment platform is proposed on the existing rooftop. The site is at the approx. vicinity of 4040 Broadway #TELC, San Antonio, Bexar Co., TX 78209; [Lat: 29-27-47.37 N, Long: 98-27-53.71 W]. Public comments regarding potential effects from this site on historic properties may be submitted within 30 days from the date of this publication to: Trileaf Corp, Andrea, a.dominguez@trileaf.com, 2550 S IH 35, Suite 200, Austin, Texas 78704,

512-519-9388.

H-E-B seeks Sr. Software Engineer in San Antonio, TX for database management and application/code integrations in a TIBCO environment.

Mail resumes to: Marisa Alcorta, 646 South Flores Street, San Antonio, TX 78204

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