JONATHAN JOSS
1965-2025
WHY THE KING OF THE HILL ACTOR'S SLAYING HAS HIT SAN ANTONIANS SO HARD
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in this issue
08 Remembering Jonathan Joss
07 News
The Opener News in Brief
Brace for More
Despite Gina Ortiz Jones' mayoral win, San Antonio can expect to see more Abbott-backed GOP candidates
Bad Takes
San Antonio leaders must crack down on wage theft as Washington puts the squeeze on working people
Homecoming
San Antonio native Antonio Raul Garcia talks returning home and Stephen King sf-drama The Life of Chuck
Satanic Panic
Late actress Loretta Swit recalls shooting cult fright flick Race with the Devil in San Antonio 50 years ago
29 Food
Of Bibs and Beer
Southerleigh Fine Food & Brewery deserves its Michelin Guide designation
34 Music
Hungry for More
San Antonio rock outfit Street Lamp looks to bring its energetic sound to a bigger stage
Last of the Rodeo Clowns
New album by San Antonio’s Very Old Morris explores memory, nostalgia
Critics’ Picks
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Our picks of things to do
Playing with Mud
Artist Michael Guerra Foerster rallies San Antonio’s ceramics community for thought-provoking exhibition at Central Library
Bottoms Up!
Cocktail: The Event bringing tiki theme to Briscoe later this month
Cooking Up Conversation: PJ Edwards of
Meadow Neighborhood Eatery & Bar
Edwards opened up his Southerninspired restaurant in the Alley on Bitters in 2018 with his wife, Lindsay
On the Cover: The shooting death of Jonathan Joss, known for playing Jon Redcorn on TV series King of the Hill, left a mark on San Antonio fans and raised questions about mental health and whether police have done enough to protect LGBTQ+ residents. Design: David Loyola.
AmberEsparza
That Rocks/That Sucks
HSan Antonio Democratic lawmakers last week warned that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s new practice of detaining migrants outside immigration court hearings will deter migrants from seeking legal pathways to stay in the country. They also said the arrests, which have happened in the Alamo City and cities across the nation, will amp up migrants’ distrust of the police and legal systems.
San Antonio’s Historic and Design Review Commission last week approved plans to designate the area around the Main Strip as the city’s Pride Cultural Heritage District. The stretch of North Main Avenue, which is home to clubs including Heat and Pegasus, has long been a hub for LGBTQ+ nightlife. The designation comes after city staff spent more than a year-and-a-half collecting input, testimony and documents on the district’s history and significance.
A recent graduate of the University of Texas at San Antonio has been appointed to head the Department of Homeland Security’s Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships Thomas Fugate, at 22 years old, has an unusual resume for a national security official: he graduated from college less than a year ago, and his only previous work in politics was for the Trump campaign and as an intern at the far-right Heritage Foundation. He also worked at H-E-B and ran his own lawn-care business.
The nonprofit San Antonio Housing Trust Foundation last week revealed that it has struck a deal to buy downtown’s Robert E. Lee apartments, a major victory for low-income residents who feared they would be pushed out by another prospective buyer. The Housing Trust offered $3.27 million to buy the tower, which is currently owned by a limited partnership tied to an out-of-state financial group. The trust also will assume a $1.7 million city loan. — Abe Asher
bottom.
Pining for the bad old days
of DOGE with Texas Congressman Chip Roy
Assclown Alert is a column of opinion, analysis and snark.
Remember the good old days when San Antonio-Austin U.S. Rep. Chip Roy just made headlines by saying outrageously stupid shit?
Sadly, as the far-right blowhard has gained power in Washington, he’s now grown his résumé to include filing lots of bills packed with outrageously stupid shit. Which, you know, is a far more dangerous prospect.
Take, for example, Roy’s recently filed House Resolution 3733, the Make DOGE Permanent Act. And, yes, it would do exactly what it sounds like — make the reckless dismantling of crucial government programs started by Elon Musk a permanent thing.
“DOGE lifted the hood of federal government spending and put on full display the massive programs and inefficiencies wasting American taxpayer dollars,” Roy wrote in an email to constituents touting his proposal. “Billions were splurged on waste, fraud, and abuse — but also on programs that clearly do not align with the core values of the American people.”
Roy went on to brag that his legislation would give Congress “permanent and effective tools” to root out the waste and fraud Musk kept claiming infected the federal government from top to
In reality, DOGE was a shitshow under Musk, and it’s hard to imagine Congress wielding similar unchecked power any more responsibly. Indeed, while blowing sunshine up his own bill’s ass, Roy neglected to mention that lawmakers already have tools at their disposal to investigate potential fraud and abuse and can vote to cut off funding spigots that are wasting taxpayer money.
Musk overpromised on the waste and graft he assured us he’d hastily and effectively root out. First, he said he could slash $2 trillion from the federal budget, then revised that number downward by half. Shortly before the billionaire departed Washington for the safer confines of blowing up rockets and talking trash on his own social media platform, he declared that he’d saved Americans all of $160 billion.
But given Musk’s propensity for bluster and bullshit, even that final number is open to question, according to experts. Indeed, nonpartisan research and advocacy group Partnership for Public Service ran the numbers and determined that DOGE’s slash-and-burn tactics won’t save anything this fiscal year, instead setting the government back by $135 billion. Oops.
“Musk’s DOGE team has repeatedly inflated its cost-saving efforts, at times posting erroneous claims about ending federal contracts that they later deleted,” the New York Times wrote of the richest asshole in the world’s brief tenure as a “special government employee.”
Roy’s an assclown of the highest order for wanting Congress to continue shambling down the costly, painful and irresponsible path Musk blazed. — Sanford Nowlin
YOU SAID IT!
“What lives were destroyed by low grade THC shops, Dan? Can you name one?
Just
one. Go ahead.”
HoustonconservativeradiohostKennyWebster tweetingbackatLt.Gov.DanPatrickafterhe braggedaboutengineeringTexas’banonTHCcontaininghempproducts.
San Antonio may ask voters to approve a $250 million bond to help finance street and highway upgrades as part of the proposed $4 billion Project Marvel sports-and-entertainment district. The proposed project would remake downtown and include infrastructure upgrades around Hemisfair and the surrounding neighborhoods along with a new Spurs arena and an expansion of the convention center. The street improvements would be designed to alleviate traffic congestion.
Gina Ortiz Jones will be the next mayor of San Antonio, winning the office despite being outspent by conservative rival Rolando Pablos. Jones, who narrowly lost two campaigns for Congress and
then served as Under Secretary of the Air Force during the Biden administration, secured 54% of the vote. She’ll be the city’s first openly gay mayor and just the third woman to hold the office.
Progressives will retain a strong majority on San Antonio City Council after winning runoff elections in Districts 1, 6 and 8. D1 incumbent Sukh Kaur easily won reelection, while Ivalis Meza Gonzalez, who served as outgoing Mayor Ron Nirenberg’s chief of staff, cruised to victory in 8 and Ric Galvan won a razor-thin victory in 6. The lone conservative win came in District 9, where Misty Spears defeated Angi Taylor Aramburu. — Abe Asher
ASSCLOWN ALERT
Shutterstock / Philip Yabut (left) and Joshua Sukoff (right)
Remembering Jonathan Joss
Why the King ofthe Hill actor’s slaying has hit San Antonio so hard
BY MICHAEL KARLIS
Last Monday, as part of a memorial for the late San Antonio actor Jonathan Joss, roughly 20 members of San Antonio’s budding film community gathered at the Brick at Blue Star to watch Season 9, Episode 10 of the cult TV series King of the Hill. The particular episode revolves around Native American “licensed new age healer” John Redcorn, the minor character Joss voiced for the animated program. The plot revolves around Redcorn illegally opening a casino so his band Big Mountain Fudgecake has a place to play, since no other venue in the fictional town of Arlen, Texas, will hire them.
Even though Big Mountain Fudgecake — an “old age, new age” heavy metal band — was never going to make it big, Redcorn never gave up on the dream. Indeed, friends of Joss remembered him similarly, as someone who chased his dream for the sheer love of acting and entertaining.
“He was the kind of guy that would drive three -and-a-half hours out of his way to go be in a four-second clip in a movie and not get paid because he loved the craft of what he did more than anything,” Joss’ longtime friend Joshua Kelley told the Current.
When Joss was between small acting roles on TV shows such as Parks and Recreation and in movies including the Coen Brothers’ True Grit, he pulled in cash
appearing at pop-culture conventions. For a while, he peddled spice rubs branded around his King of the Hill character.
Associates remember him as more than another struggling actor occupying the lower rungs of celebrity, though. Although he lived hand to mouth, he was generous with his time and friendship.
“He threw parties for his friend’s children. He fed you when you’re hungry,” Kelley said. “If you were alone, he came out and hung out with you. If you were a fan, he video-called you or gave you his phone number so he could call without asking for a monetary donation. He was a good guy.”
It didn’t hurt that King of the Hill, launched by Beavis and Butt-Head creator Mike Judge, had an enormous Texas following thanks to its spot-on satirical depiction of suburban life in the Lone Star State. The show won two Emmys and regularly turns up on media lists of the best TV shows of all time.
While Joss’ Redcorn was a relatively
minor character, he was one of the few Native American roles on a contemporary TV show. Unlike the cardboard-cutout depictions of Indigenous people in generations of television programs, Redcorn felt complex and fully realized — and he was crafty enough pull off a 14-year affair with conspiracy theorist Dale Gribble’s wife.
“It was such a different show at the time,” said Paul McComas, a director and producer of the not-yet-released indie film Unplugged. “I reached out to him because of King of the Hill. It was really a unique character.”
Set to be released in 2027, McComas said Joss’ presence in his film, as a character who voices the healing wind in the badlands of South Dakota, would likely serve as the actor’s last onscreen appearance.
Joss died on Sunday, June 1, at age 59. According to police reports, he was gunned down by his neighbor, Sigfredo Alvarez Ceja, concluding what had been a years-long dispute between the two neighbors.
Instagram Jonathan Joss
The reported confrontation with Ceja occurred after Joss and his husband, Tristan Kern de Gonzales, arrived at their South Side property to check the mail. A half hour before his death, a neighbor recorded video footage of Joss holding a pitchfork and walking up and down the street ranting.
Ups and downs
Activists have described Joss’ death — who had recently come out as bisexual — as a homophobic hate crime, prompting an apology from San Antonio Police Chief William McManus for approving a statement that he said too quickly ruled out anti-LGBTQ+ violence.
However, some of Joss’ friends have pushed back on those claims, blaming the confrontation with Ceja on the actor’s mental-health struggles.
The hate crime narrative, which spread like wildfire online and in the media, stemmed from a series of Facebook posts
from Kern de Gonzales, who maintained that Ceja yelled homophobic slurs before opening fire.
Yet, during last Sunday’s vigil at Crockett Park, Kern de Gonzales spoke not about the death as a hate crime but as a wakeup call about the nation’s mental health crisis and the lack of help for people in crisis.
“I wouldn’t characterize [Kern de Gonzales’ online posts] as misinformation as much as a perspective of a grieving person on the situation,” said Althea Delwiche, a Trinity University professor who studies online misinformation. “I think many of us who saw their post on social media were immediately outraged, and it wasn’t because it was the first day of Pride Month or Indigenous People’s Month, but because it sounded like a homophobic and violent attack and horrible claims were being made.
“But, it’s turned out to be a far more complicated situation,” added Delwiche, who is transgender.
Indeed, Joss had been fighting through a rough patch. In January, his South Side family home, which his father had built for his mother in the ‘50s, burned down, killing his four dogs: Farah, Brittany, Christina and Miss Jackson.
“All of [the dogs] had a disability,” Kelley said. “One was blind, a couple were missing a leg, they were missing teeth… if you put all [the] dogs together, you may have had one whole dog. But, he loved them. Those dogs were his life.”
At the time of the fire, the home had no water or electricity, and Joss was struggling to find work, according to those who knew him. He sometimes posted videos on his social media feeds asking for employment opportunities.
Joss had also just emerged from a messy divorce at the time, friends said.
San Antonio actor and pianist Elmo Ramos said the tough circumstances all stacked up over a short period of time, taking a toll on Joss.
“He was always in a great mood and
stuff,” Ramos said. “He just started spiraling. It’s unbelievable, but it happens to people.”
Character study
Joss was born on the South Side in 1965 to a family of Comanche and White Mountain Apache descent. His parents owned and operated El Diamante Mexican restaurant, and he attended McCollum High School.
“I grew up in that Restaurant, and I was around a lot of characters,” Joss said in a 2014 recorded interview at Our Lady of the Lake University. “A lot of times, to be an actor, you have to be a character or have character. … But that kind of started [my interest in acting] because I got to make fun of people that I met on a normal basis waiting tables and washing dishes.”
After high school, Joss enrolled at Texas State University, but dropped out because he couldn’t focus on his
Instagram / Jonathan Joss
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news
academic work. He took classes at San Antonio College before transferring to OLLU, where he graduated in 1990 with a degree in theatre and speech.
After graduating, he bounced between Austin and Dallas, working odd jobs before saving enough money to move to California to pursue his dream of becoming a Hollywood actor. Unlike many who pursue the craft in Tinseltown, Joss managed to break into the industry fairly quickly.
He credits his ability to get work in front of the camera to being one of the few Native American actors working in Southern California at the time.
“Hollywood is such a huge business, and show business is so large, that you’ve gotta find a niche somewhere, and I’ve been lucky enough to look the part, act the part and be the part,” Joss said in in the OLLU interview.
In 1994, he landed his first big role as the character Raymond Firewalker in an episode of hit TV series Walker, Texas Ranger. Two years later, he secured his most notable role, that of Redcorn, whom he voiced on seasons 2 to 13 of King of the Hill. Joss replaced the original actor, Victor Aaron, who died shortly into the program’s run.
Back to the South Side
However, nothing lasts forever, especially in La la land, Joss’ friend and film and TV vet Cosmo Inserra told the Current.
“In Jonathan’s immortal words, the show must go on,” Inserra said. “But remember what that means. It means one minute you’re there on set, and the next minute you’re nobody, the next minute they pretend like you’re an outsider.”
After King of the Hill ended production in 2009, Joss attempted to break into the big screen with a role in the Warner Bros. Western comic book flick Jonah Hex. In the end, most of Joss’ screen time ended up on the cutting room floor, and the film was a flop despite its $100 million budget.
Joss’ farther also died around that time, and the actor did what many do when the credits stop rolling — he headed home.
Even though he’d appeared on TV and the big screen, Joss returned as an average Southsider, friends say. He was a regular at Arlan’s Market, where he would buy expired Easter candy, and at Fred’s Fish Fry, where friends say he would buy box dinners to feed five people and eat it all himself.
His wardrobe was as theatrical as his personality, Kelley told the Current.
“He dressed very flamboyantly,” Kelley said. “He wore earrings and turquoise bracelets everywhere. He loved silk pajamas and he loved colors. He wore parachute pants. He would wear all that shit, bro.”
He also loved grilling.
Spicing it up
Out of work and with free time on his hands, Joss’ then-girlfriend encouraged him to turn his love of flame-kissed meat into a business. After some phone calls and sourcing ingredients, John Redcorn’s King of the Grill meat rubs and spices was born.
“The South Side is a great place for spices, and I want to share where I came from,” Joss told MySA in 2011 about his business venture.
Indeed — Kelley, a fellow grilled meats enthusiast — reached out and befriended Joss, not because he was famous, but because “he was a dude making badass spices.”
Joss welcomed anyone and everyone in San Antonio into his circle, friends said — as long as they could keep up.
Whether it was an off-the-cuff wrestling gig on the St. Mary’s Strip, a last-minute audition or role in an obscure location or selling spices in the parking lot of North
Star Mall, Joss was always on the go, often with his South Side pals in tow.
“One time, I had to drive him to a random sheriff’s office in West Texas for a four-second screen appearance,” Kelley said, recalling the marijuana-fueled trek. “So, we’re driving there hotboxing my VW Jetta all the way up there, and apparently, his role is as a judge. So, I asked him, ‘Are you sure we’re going to a movie set?’ We’re going to a sheriff’s office, right? So I asked him, ‘Are you sure this isn’t a warrant round-up?’”
The movie turned out to be real, and Joss even wore a real Texas judge’s robe for the scene.
“I’ll tell you what, that judge’s robe smelled loud after Jonathan wore it,” Kelley said.
Remembering a friend
Eventually, Joss did end up landing another significant TV role, this time as Chief Ken Hotate in the sitcom Parks and Recreation. The beloved, albeit minor, character is a casino-owning Native American chief with a son who sold bolo ties on Etsy and with whom he was “deeply disappointed.”
However, after that role ended, Joss was back to the struggle of landing acting work.
“I mean, being an out of work, unpaid actor … it just wasn’t beautiful,” Inserra
MJonathan Joss’ husband, Tristan Kern de Gonzales, speaks at a vigil for the slain actor.
said.
To be sure, Joss was so broke that the weekend he died, he had to hitch a ride back from Austin’s ATX TV Festival to San Antonio with a fan.
Joss managed to return for a revival of King of the Hill and recorded lines for four episodes before his death, according to multiple media reports. Still, it remains unclear how significant his role would have been for the rebooted series — and whether the work could help pay the bills.
Despite his fame and personal struggles, Joss was just a regular guy who valued friends, family and good cooking. And that’s how those close to the actor want him to be remembered.
“He was that kind of brother,” Kelley said. “We all have one of those friends in San Antonio. We all know those kinds of people, the Jonathan Joss that we can call upon. He was that kind of guy, the guy you called upon who would drop everything to make sure you were taken care of.”
San Antonio Current Editor-in-Chief Sanford Nowlin also contributed to this report.
AmberEsparza
Brace for More
Despite Gina Ortiz Jones' mayoral win, San Antonio can expect to see more Abbott-backed GOP candidates
BY
SANFORD NOWLIN
Despite a flood of spending by a political action committee (PAC) tied to Gov. Greg Abbott, mayoral candidate Rolando Pablos fell 8 points short of closing the deal with Alamo City voters Saturday night.
It was a resounding Republican defeat in a much-watched race, but political observers said they don’t expect to see Abbott and the Texas GOP end their efforts to back local candidates in San Antonio and other blue Texas cities.
A former Texas secretary of state under Abbott, Pablos ran as a fiscal conservative and pulled in some $630,000 from the Texas Economic Fund PAC, which is run by the son of Abbott’s chief political strategist. The candidate used much of that money to fund attack ads targeting Jones in the countdown to Saturday’s runoff.
“I think this was a test case to see how well [Texas Republicans] would do backing a conservative candidate in a relatively blue county,” UTSA political science professor Jon Taylor said. “I suspect this is a learning experience that they’re going to try to build on in another blue city.”
Taylor said he expects Abbott and the Texas Economic Fund will next turn their sights on Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, a Democrat representing the Houston area. Hidalgo’s Republican challenger, Aliza Dutt, has already attracted veteran GOP staffer Cabell Hobbs as her campaign manager.
While Pablos failed to make a mark citywide, Taylor said his Republican backers are likely to see his strong showing in affluent North Side suburbs such as Stone Oak as something to build on. Since a voter-approved re-
vamp of the city charter increased San Antonio mayors’ terms to four years, Abbott and his crew will have a few years to hone their game.
“Their strategy seemed to be paying off in certain parts of town, but it just wasn’t enough to get him over the finish line,” Taylor said. “I’m guessing they’re already looking at the data to see what they do differently in 2026.”
Despite Jones’ victory, observers said the Republican Party is likely to view its 2024 success with Texas Latinos as cause to continue pumping money into San Antonio.
Exit polls suggest Trump lassoed 55% of the state’s Latino vote in 2024, up 13 points from the prior presidential election. Around 2022, the Republican National Committee targeted South Texas with a multimillion-dollar outreach, which the group billed as its largest Texas outlay in its history.
“I don’t see them leaving,” veteran San Antonio Democratic campaign consultant Laura Barberena said of Abbott and the state GOP. “I think they’re going to continue their work courting Latinos by somehow convincing them the Republican Party has their best interest in mind.”
Some in the state GOP are also likely to look at conservative Misty Spears’ win of outgoing District 9 Councilman John Courage’s seat as a victory attributable to Republican turnout driven by Pablos, Barberena said. With Spears on council, the the number of conservatives on the dais will jump from one to two.
“They understand that a strong name at the top of the ticket creates a wave for the Republicans lower down on the ballot,” Barberena said.
Still, Barberena said she expects to see Abbott and the Republicans
tinkering with the formula before they make another foray into a San Antonio citywide election. Beyond finding a candidate with stronger name recognition, they might try running a Latina or start spending money earlier in the race.
One thing Barberena said she’s all but certain of is that the next Abbott-backed candidate to pursue the mayoral office will be more willing than Pablos to pledge allegiance to the MAGA brand.
“I think they’ll run someone who’s more overtly MAGA,” Barberena said. “But that’s also a double-edged sword. That kind of candidate gets the Republican base out, but it also gets out the Democratic base. I think this whole election shows that the end of nonpartisan [San Antonio city] elections is over. In a post-Trump era, everything is partisan to the extreme.”
Michael Karlis
San Antonio leaders must crack down on wage theft as Washington puts the squeeze on working people
BY KEVIN SANCHEZ
Bad Takes is a column of opinion and analysis.
“The ‘law and order’ people want to put street criminals in jail to make room for the business criminals.” — George Carlin, What Am I Doing In New Jersey?, 1988
In 1776, the same year an upstart union of colonies were busy declaring independence from the British Empire, a wise Scot by the name of Adam Smith published his magisterial work The Wealth of Nations. Generally regarded today as the foremost theologian of free market capitalism, Smith’s warnings about the dangers of concentrated wealth often fall upon clogged ears.
The fates of “those who live by wages,” he wrote, are “strictly connected with the interest of the society” as a whole. In times of economic stagnation or recession, working people’s “wages are soon reducted to what is barely enough to enable them to bring up a family.” But for “those who live by profit” instead of paycheck-to-paycheck, the return on investment “is always highest in the countries which are going fastest to ruin.”
In other words, even the bad times can be good for wealthy elites, while the rest of us must rise — or collapse — together.
“The proposal of any new law or regulation of commerce which comes from” those elites “ought always to be listened to with great precaution,” Smith concluded, “and ought never to be adopted till after having been long and carefully examined, not only with the most scrupulous, but with the most suspicious
attention. It comes from an order of men whose interest is never exactly the same with that of the public, who have generally an interest to deceive and even to oppress the public, and who accordingly have, upon many occasions, both deceived and oppressed it.”
In keeping with Smith’s advice, the Wharton School — Donald Trump’s alma mater — scrupulously analyzed the reconciliation bill recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives.
“The top 10% of the income distribution receives about 70% of the total value of the legislation,” the analysis found, with the poorest 20% of us expected to lose over 14% of our after-tax-and-transfer income next year, while the top one-tenth of 1% adds almost 3% to theirs — or $390,000.
Talk about one big beautiful bill for billionaires.
“Households most affected by the cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — those in the bottom income quintile — experience the largest losses under this bill, averaging almost $30,000 in lifetime value for the working-age population,” the Wharton School continued. Yet, with massive increases in military spending, deficits are still projected to soar more than $2 trillion over the next decade.
Should the U.S. Senate send what even the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, called a “disgusting abomination” to the President’s desk, we’re set to witness the largest upward transfer of wealth in the history of the United States.
However, moving beyond the moment’s soundbites and headlines broaches a more fundamental question:
why do SNAP recipients, most of whom work, need food stamps to begin with?
Well, in nine states alone, Walmart — which generated $648 billion in revenue last year and whose family owners enjoy a combined net worth exceeding $400 billion — had 14,500 employees on SNAP and 10,350 on Medicaid, according to a Government Accountability Office study commissioned five years ago, with McDonald’s and Amazon posting comparable rates of welfare dependency. In essence then, taxpayers are subsidizing the starvation wages of large corporate employers.
“Shouldn’t any reasonable capitalist society be organized in such a way that a single full-time worker can raise a family, put their kids through school, take an annual vacation, and have a reasonable retirement?” radio personality Thom Hartmann asked last week, channeling the great Adam Smith. “Why is it that anybody working full time in the richest country in the history of the world should need any sort of government assistance just to eat and stay healthy?”
And when Washington DC devolves into drunken bacchanalia for the obscenely rich, what recourse remains for cities like San Antonio, which struggle with generational poverty?
In a fiery debate at Stable Hall last month, incoming Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones expressed justified concern about “having police officers, local law enforcement, who are not trained ICE agents, being used” to carry out the lessthan-human immigration crackdowns engineered by Trump and Gov. Greg Abbott.
“If you’re calling about a domestic
violence incident, if you’re calling about wage theft, you should know what would happen to you,” Jones warned. To the point, people shouldn’t get deported for simply asking their bosses to pay them what they’re owed.
“There aren’t ‘women’s issues,’ there are issues that disproportionately affect women that leaders fail to address — attacks on reproductive rights, lack of investment in childcare, wage theft and domestic violence, to name a few,” Jones said in a March 8 Facebook post celebrating International Women’s Day. There’s that curious turn of phrase again: wage theft. Examples include paying less than minimum wage, not paying appropriate overtime, withholding tips, making employees work while off the clock, withholding someone’s final paycheck after they quit and requiring work-related purchases such as tools and uniforms without reimbursement.
“Wage theft steals more from working people than any other crime in the U.S.,” the Peoples Dispatch, an international news outlet, relayed last September in a report on protesting Waffle House workers in Georgia. Estimates put the total at “as much as $50 billion each year, which dwarfs the amount of money stolen via robberies, burglaries and motor vehicle theft.”
Transcending the two-class hierarchy of wage-earners and profit-extractors is unlikely to come up for a vote in the near future. But even as we hold the line against right-wing authoritarianism at the federal and state level, let’s hold Jones and other municipal leaders to their word and insist that her mayorship at least gets people paid.
Shutterstock Steve Sanchez Photos
THU
| 06.12 - THU | 08.14
VISUAL ART
‘ECHOES OF NATURE: THE FEMININE AND THE WILD’
Mixed-media artist Jayne Lawrence specializes in drawing and sculpture. Finding inspiration in the human form, fantastical beasties and architectural elements, her anthropomorphic amalgams amuse, intrigue, befuddle and bewilder. “I start from a place of knowing and end in a place of discovery, transformed,” Lawrence says of her work. A mainstay in the San Antonio art community as a creator, gallerist (Cactus Bra, cactusBARN) and professor, recently retired, Lawrence has received awards from the International Sculpture Center and residencies including at the Sculpture Space in Utica, New York. She’s also twice represented South Texas in the Texas Biennial. In ‘Echoes of Nature: The Feminine and the Wild,’ she pairs feminine forms exhibiting archetypal traits with elements of nature, exploring the irrevocable interconnectedness of the individual with the universal along with the inherent multiplicity of the psyche. Free, opening reception 6-8 p.m. June 12, by appointment through Aug. 14, King William Association,122 Madison St., (210) 227-8786, www.ourkwa.org. — Anjali Gupta
ONGOING - FRI | 08.08
VISUAL ART
‘THE FINE ART OF DINING'
For those with a hankering for more than cookie-cutter art displays, the San Antonio Art League + Museum is offering a feast to satiate your cravings. “The Fine ART of Dining” serves up sculptural and visual artworks arranged as full-scale table installations, complete with centerpieces, place settings, utensils and more. The collaborative project includes works from Texas ceramicists, fiber artists, painters and sculptors as they delve into what it means for people to gather and share a meal. Pieces from more than 30 artists are on the menu, including those of Susie Monday, a celebrated fiber artist and SAAL+M’s 2025 Artist of the Year. Monday is known for vibrant textile works that often explore domestic themes. “Being part of ‘The Fine ART of Dining’ is especially meaningful to me,” Monday explained, “because food, art and conversation have always been interconnected in my life. This exhibition elevates that idea — every place setting becomes a story, every table a shared experience. It’s both whimsical and deeply human.” Free, San Antonio Art League & Museum, 130 King
THU | 06.12FRI | 07.11
‘A CELEBRATION OF CULTURE’
Luminaria’s next pop-up art gallery, ‘A Celebration of Culture,’ coincides with the commemoration of Juneteenth and features an array of Black San Antonio-area artists. The exhibition is co-curated by Luminaria Fine Art Curator Andrea V. Rivas and guest curator artist Kaldric Dow, a featured artist in the 2024 Luminaria Contemporary Arts Festival. “My work celebrates the rich diversity and individuality of African Americans through the use of textile-inspired paper patterns and variations in skin tone. Through portraiture,” said Dow. “I aim to highlight the shared humanity that connects us all, while also honoring the unique beauty found in every individual.” Additional artists in the exhibit include Kwanzaa Edwards, Ohso
Barbara Felix, Deborah A. Harris, Josiah Harris, Theresa
p.m. June 19, open 24-7, The Aiden San Antonio Riverwalk,
Courtesy Photo Cat Wammack
Courtesy Image Jayne Lawrence
William St., (210) 223-1140, saalm.org. — Rae Drady
Fabone,
Newsome, Katlyn Powell and Angela Weddle. Free, opening reception 6-8
1103 E. Commerce St., (210) 721-1670, luminariasa.org. — AG
Courtesy City of San Antonio Arts and Culture
SAT | 06.14
COMMUNITY EVENT
PRIDE RESOURCE FAIR
San Antonio Parks & Recreation is “all in” to demonstrate its commitment to inclusion this Pride Month, despite public dissent on social media for recent events such as the Pride Hike & 5K on June 7 and the Pride Tennis Social on June 11. The department’s Pride Resource Fair is promoted as a celebration of Pride for the LGBTQ+ community, their families and allies. The family-friendly, all ages affair will provide details on advocacy sources, health-andwellness information and connection through social activities along with merchandise and literature giveaways. Free, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., Berta Almaguer Dance Studio & Community Center, 138 S.
Drive, sa.gov. — RD
SAT | 06.14
VISUAL ART
‘SOFT CITY: SAN ANTONIO PERSPECTIVES’
This one-night solo exhibition by Ann Enzminger features needle-felted soft sculptures that form an aerial view of San Antonio. Rather than organize space by city grids, income levels or population density, Enzminger categorizes it subjectively according to the density of spaces where artists live, create and congregate. In essence, the artist has devised a chicken-andegg view of our cultural topography. Do artists gravitate toward certain geographical areas because of existing creative communities or because of some preexisting potential to establish new places to converge? Either way, it is an interesting rumination on place and the malleable nature of data interpretation. Free, 7-10 p.m., 1906 S. Flores Arts Complex, 1906 S. Flores St., (646) 912-4165, annenzminger.com. — AG
SAT | 06.14
RAMIN SAMANDARI: ‘THE LONG GOODBYE’
Photographer Ramin Samandari has been taking portraits of his friends and family as part of his practice for years. This ritual gained newfound meaning when his mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2017. His current exhibition, The Long Goodbye, is a series of portraits of her from 1997 to his most recent visit in April 2025. Samandari’s mother lives in Canada, and he is only able to visit a few times a year. In a way, these portraits are about the gaps between his visits and the bits and pieces of his mother’s personality that are falling away while he is not in her presence. The work is a heartbreaking and brave undertaking with visually stunning results. Free, opening reception 6-9:30 p.m. and by appointment, Magical Realism Studio, 107 Lone Star Blvd., 107-B, (210) 861-4325, magicalrealismstudio.com. — AG
© Ramin Samindari
Courtesy Photo San Antonio Parks and Recreattion
©AnnEnzminger
Josephine Tobin
SUN | 06.15
VISUAL ART
ARTIST TRADING CARD SWAP
Share the rainbow with Spare Parts during the organization’s monthly Artist Trading Card (ATC) event. June’s installment invites visitors to embrace the spirit of Pride Month with an evening of rainbow-themed creativity. Not only will you craft, you’ll also connect, express yourself and celebrate creativity in all its colors. Whether your artistic style is playful, heartfelt, abstract, funny or bold, all are welcome to join in a laid-back evening of self-expression and community. All supplies are provided, but feel free to bring favorite paper-crafting materials to add your own flair. The only rule? Each participant must make one card to trade with each person in the session. The workshop wraps with a community swap and the opportunity to display your work on Spare Parts’ ATC wall. The swap starts at 5:30 p.m. Advance tickets are required and should be purchased at least 12 hours before the event, since space is limited. Children under 15 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Light, non-messy snacks and sealed drinks are welcome. $15, 3-5:30 p.m., Spare Parts Center for Creative Reuse, 13491 Wetmore Road, (210) 851-6100, spsatx.org. — Becky Hardin
THU | 06.19
OUTDOOR FAMILY FILM SERIES: ROCKY
Unfortunately, there aren’t really any iconic Alamo City steps to run up like those budding working-class boxer Rocky Balboa famously tackles in the iconic film Rocky. Fortunately, San Antonians who want to unleash their inner underdog can do so in a much less sweaty — though not sweat-free — way: by unfurling a blanket or unfolding a lawn chair at the second installment of this summer’s Outdoor Family Film Series, presented by the City of San Antonio World Heritage Office at Mission Marquee Plaza. The Oscar-winning movie, which topped 1976’s box office receipts, follows the titular main character (Sylvester Stallone), a small-time Philly boxer and underling for a loan shark, who unexpectedly finds himself preparing for a bout with world heavyweight champion Apollo Creed (the late Carl Weathers). It’s a perfect opportunity to let the nostalgic vibes roll. Indeed, the Mission Marquee Plaza premiered Rocky about halfway through its life span as the Mission Drive-In theater. Pets, picnics and purchases at on-site food trucks are all welcome, and all shows — including a full slate of subsequent blockbusters available on Marquee Plaza’s website — start 15 minutes after sunset. Free, 7 p.m., Mission Marquee Plaza, 3100 Roosevelt Ave., (210) 207-2111, missionmarquee.com. — Dean Zach
WED | 06.18
PERFORMANCE FREEDOM’S SONG: A JOURNEY THROUGH GOSPEL RADIO
Celebrate Juneteenth with a performance that honors the power of gospel music in Black history. The event brings together music, collective memory and the civil rights movement. Providing more than a chance to raise voices in worship, gospel performances and radio stations were tools of resistance and hope, playing a crucial role in disseminating information about protests, gatherings and calls to action through coded messages and specific songs. The concert will be performed by the San Antonio Gospel Heritage Choir under the direction of Rev. Lemelle Taylor, Michael A. Potts and Earl “Skip” Jackson. The night also features a live performance and discussion with Grammy-winning special guest Bobby Jones — a legendary gospel artist and host of the Bobby Jones Gospel Radio Show. $35 for pre-performance dining and reserved seating at 5 p.m., $10 for reserved seating at 7 p.m., Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, H.E.B. Performance Hall, 100 Auditorium Circle, (210) 223-3333, tobincenter. org. — BH
Courtesy Image Spare Parts
Playing with Mud
Artist Michael Guerra Foerster rallies San Antonio’s ceramics community for thoughtprovoking exhibition at Central Library
BY BRYAN RINDFUSS
When visual artist Michael Guerra Foerster began studying at the University of Texas at San Antonio in 2014, his initial plan was to major in creative writing. But that plan changed quickly.
“As soon as I entered college, I was like, ‘Never mind that — I would rather play with mud,’” Foerster recalled during a recent interview with the Current.
The “mud” in question is clay: the foundation of the ancient medium of ceramics. Not only did Foerster embrace ceramics as his calling, he dedicated himself to pushing its boundaries.
“I got really interested in moving beyond what I thought ceramics was supposed to be,” Foerster said. “Moving beyond pretty cups, pretty glazes … and getting really dirty and gritty.”
Foerster found some of that grit and grime through pit-firing — an unpredictable process fueled by wood, leaves or other combustibles.
“They have a pit on campus and one time I used a bunch of bailed hay, which produces the craziest amount of smoke,” Foerster said. “And the pit is right across the street from the security offices. They were like, ‘Stop, stop! What are you doing?’ I was really trying to open myself up to making something strange and new. So I started moving in that direction — almost poking fun at figurative work.”
That departure from the norm is at the core of a new exhibition Foerster devised and curated for Central Library. Titled “Transfiguration,” the
group show pushes the boundaries of clay while uniting key members of San Antonio’s ceramics community.
“When I started planning this project in 2023, the ceramics community in San Antonio felt super-decentralized,”
nobody knew each other. … I [kept asking], ‘Where is our community?’ And everybody felt the same way. … And so I just wanted to bring everyone together. Since then, the ceramics community has kind of boomed — which is kind of funny [and] amazing.”
As for the title “Transfiguration,” Foerster is quick to acknowledge the religious connotations.
“I’m aware that it has a heavy connotation with Christian imagery,” he admitted. “But that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m really interested in the relationship within ceramics that is this ancient, kind of strange, kind of magical process that was not completely understood in ancient times — and perhaps still isn’t. It’s a chemical transformation where one material becomes another. And so it’s referred to by some people as alchemy.”
During the Current’s chat with Foerster, we asked the artist and curator to shed light on each of the artists he chose to highlight in “Transfiguration,” which opens June 14 and runs through August 2.
Brooke Armstrong
A fairly recent addition to the San Antonio ceramics scene, Brooke Armstrong grew up in a rural mountain town in New York State and is currently teaching at UTSA. Her work creates intricate textures comprised of handcrafted clay beads. Blurring lines between hard and soft, her pieces evoke spines, spikes, even feathers and fur.
“Brooke has two pieces in this exhibition,” Foerster said. “One of them involves sculpted feet that sit on a pedestal with beads dangling from underneath. Her other piece is [anatomical] — it’s a pair of lungs [adorned with] tons of beads. The clay beads are an essential thread throughout her work.”
Anita Becerra
Foerster said, reflecting on his experiences working with creative communities at Penland School of Craft in North Carolina and the Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts in Maine. “I was constantly meeting new people and
A self-described “ceramic artist by day, salsera by night,” Anita Becerra often uses the banana as a loaded symbol tied to her Honduran heritage. A telling encapsulation of her mixed-media projects, her 2024 video piece Bonds of Iniquity entailed Becerra breaking a linked chain of ceramic bananas as a commentary about neocolonialism and the patriarchy. Sensuality and the
Top: Brooke Armstrong evokes soft, organic textures by building intricate layers of handcrafted clay beads. Bottom: Ed Escobedo’s dynamic vessels blur boundaries between sculptural and functional forms.
Courtesy Image Brooke Armstrong
Courtesy Image Ed Escobedo
ever-present theme of good versus evil also factor into her work, some of which takes ceramics into a multimedia realm.
“She is presenting a hanging piece involving banana leaves and a smaller sculpture [below],” Foerster said of Becerra’s contribution, which is one of the largest pieces in “Transfiguration.”
Ed Escobedo
Forester first met artist and educator Ed Escobedo while they were studying ceramics at UTSA.
“Ed sort of mentored me in a way. … I wanted to bring him [onboard], because now he’s a high school teacher — and I know [that] struggle,” said Foerster, who teaches at UTSA Southwest and SAY Sí. “He makes these very strange, twisted vessels [and] a lot of sculptural stuff as well. He came to ceramics from being an abstract sculptor and really fell in love with these atmospheric processes that produce these crazy orangey-brown earthy tones in his work. … He’s showing bottles and goblets that look super-twisted. These are not something that you would expect to see on a dining-room table. I just really love the way that he creates these things and they feel like they have so much gesture and action.”
Verena Gaudy
Although born in Austria, artist and educator Verena Gaudy is a longtime fixture in the San Antonio scene. In addition to teaching at UTSA, Gaudy operates Un Grito Gallery in the Blue Star Arts Complex with her partner Martín C. Rodríguez.
“Verena was kind of a mentor to me as well,” Foerster said. “She was in the grad
program at UTSA when I was in school. She kind of brings this otherworldly vibe with her. She’s moved through a ton of different formal and conceptual ideas within her work but she’s settled into this kind of abstract [realm] that’s also [inspired by] sea life and plants. She does a lot of strange things with glaze that are very unique to her. .. It’s hard to explain what her stuff is, but it’s these folding [sculptures] that play with textures and colors.”
Michelle Hernandez
Whether working with functional or conceptual forms, artist Michelle Hernandez draws creative inspiration from dreams, Chicano culture, her Catholic upbringing and her struggles with PTSD.
“Michelle is an awesome artist,” Foerster said. “She was the artist-in-residence at the San Antonio Missions last year. She’s super-thoughtful about the work she makes and its relationship to indigenous culture — and this place. Of everybody [in the exhibition], she really embodies what it is to be San Antonian. Her pieces have been clouds most recently. So she’s showing this cloudy piece and it has little golden spikes — kind of like a cactus. It’s kind of inviting, but also [says] ‘stay back.’ It’s interesting to make something that is weightless and fluffy into a rock.”
Mary Wuest
A senior lecturer at UTSA, artist Mary Wuest employs vessels as a vehicle to explore human experience and the body.
“I also went to school with Mary, and she’s been in the community for many years,” Foerster said. “She’s very poetic in the work that she does and she’s very politically and
Left: Michelle Hernandez’s latest work re-envisions fluffy clouds as heavy objects adorned with spikes. Right: Michael Guerra Foerster’s signature “floops” are cartoony characters that routinely pop up in his work.
socially minded. She spends tons of time trying to say things correctly — in a way that only she can. The work that she’s making are these crazy knot sculptures — and all of the knots have a specific meaning. A lot of them are tied to labor movements and unions actually. … I love how if you keep digging, there’s more and more behind what it is that she does. And it’s not necessarily screaming it at you when you look at it.”
When asked about her knot series, which is titled “Knowledge for Knowledge’s Sake” — a reference to “art for art’s sake” — Wuest explained that she stumbled across knot theory while doing research.
“What first interested me was that knots are ubiquitous, easy to overlook and probably taken for granted,” Wuest said. “They are a great metaphor for people. … I understand knot theory well enough to know that one aspect is the ability to translate a mathematical knot into a polynomial in order to make comparisons. So it’s helpful to scientists across multiple fields of study. … Especially at this point in our country, we need to emphatically state that knowledge is good. The pursuit of knowledge is good. Because we all matter.”
arts
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Since graduating from UTSA in 2018,
Michael Guerra Foerster
Courtesy Photo Michelle Hernandez
Courtesy Image Michael Guerra Foerster
arts
Foerster has established himself as a bit of a wildcard within the realm of San Antonio’s contemporary art scene. Well known for concept-driven work exploring the ephemeral nature of unfired ceramics, he’s given many of his pieces away for free — some of which are intended to disintegrate and return to the earth. With a name that nods to both Fruit Loops and a villain from the Robert Rodriguez movie Spy Kids — which was coincidentally filmed in San Antonio at Central Library — Guerra’s signature “floops” are playfully rendered characters seemingly plucked from an oddball anime series.
“I’m showing these large cylindrical floops inspired by the raccoon dogs in the Studio Ghibli film Pom Poko,”
‘TRANSFIGURATION’
Foerster explained. “They’re mystical creatures in Japan that are going extinct and they’re fighting against humanity — which is the cause of [their demise]. … I’ve been thinking about the environment a lot recently [and] the effects of artists on the environment. … It seems like we’re fucked a little bit. … Something I’ve really struggled with is this idea of transforming mud into a [fired] ceramic object. … For me to produce something, and then for it to exist for [thousands of years], I need it to need to live for that long. And I try to impress that on all of my students as they make work: just know that it will live forever. And it will likely live forever in a landfill.”
Free, opening reception 2-4 p.m. Saturday, June 14, on view noon-8 p.m. Monday-Tuesday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday through August 2; “Meet the Artists” reception 1-2 p.m. Sat, July 12, Central Library, 600 Soledad St., (210) 2072500, mysapl.org.
M Mary Wuest digs deep into knot theory for her series “Knowledge for Knowledge’s Sake.”
Courtesy Photo Mary Wuest
Lights, Camera, Homecoming
San Antonio native Antonio Raul Garcia talks returning home and Stephen King sf-drama The Life of Chuck
BY KIKO MARTINEZ
San Antonio-born actor Antonio Raul Garcia is on his way back to his hometown after spending most of his childhood in Los Angeles pursuing a Hollywood career.
The 16-year-old talent has done well for himself over the past decade, landing roles in TV series Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Mayans M.C. along with voice work on animated films including Poupelle of Chimney Town and The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run
Garcia and his mother are moving back to the Alamo City this summer. He’ll start his junior year at Central Catholic High School in the fall.
In his latest film, The Life of Chuck, Garcia has a small role as Brian Krantz, the “intelligent and good-humored” teenage son of the title character, Charles “Chuck” Krantz (Tom Hiddleston). Adapted from a Stephen King novella, The Life of Chuck is a sci-fi drama told in reverse-chronological order. As it unfolds, viewers understand how Chuck and how his life have altered the universe.
Garcia’s contribution to the film is a single scene, but it’s an emotional one that demonstrates Chuck’s importance to his family. Writer-director Mike Flanagan (Doctor Sleep) said he did a “disservice” to Garcia because much of the “incredible work” the actor delivered didn’t make the final cut of the film. Flanagan explained that he’d “overwritten” the scene.
“Antonio is wonderful,” Flanagan told the Current during a recent interview. “He came in and delivered an incredibly emotionally taxing performance on one day and did it across from a major movie star. I thought his work was beautiful. I only wish you could see the full extent of what he brought to the set. I think he has a very bright future in this business.”
During our interview, Garcia talked about his experience landing a role in The Life of Chuck and what it takes to cry when the cameras are rolling. He also discussed his scene with Hiddleston, whom he knew best as Loki in the Marvel Universe.
The Life of Chuck will debut at San Antonio theaters on Friday, June 13.
What prompted the decision to move back to San Antonio?
Well, the acting industry has been a lot different in the past couple of years as far as how to submit auditions and where you need to be geographically. Before, you’d have to fly out to New York or Los Angeles, so casting directors could get a feel for you. But recently, a lot of casting has switched over to Zoom. So, you can really live anywhere. I’m excited about going to Central Catholic and hanging out with my friends and experiencing more life.
What was the process like to land your role in The Life of Chuck?
It was right in the middle of the school year. It was just an average day of self-tape auditions. If you’re lucky, you get three or four a week. Then the next week, you get nothing. There were a lot of big names and a lot of talented people [attached to The Life of Chuck], so I recorded [my audition], sent it in and hoped for the best. Before I knew it, we were shooting in Alabama. It was a quick turnaround.
Filmmaker Mike Flanagan has directed projects adapted from Stephen King’s work before — Gerald’s Game and DoctorSleep. What was your experience like working with him?
Mike is a really amazing director to work with. For a director to be able to communicate the precise amount of emotion they want in a scene to an A-list actor like Tom Hiddleston and then to a kid like me, who was 14 at the time, was great. I don’t think I’ve really lived enough life to grasp some of the stuff he was trying to convey to me. But Mike has a really good way — not even with words but emotions — to explain what he wants.
What about your scene with Tom?
Tom is someone that I’ve grown up watching on TV [as the Marvel character Loki]. I’ve seen his action figures at Walmart and his toys at
McDonald’s. It was a little weird, but it was nice to be in a very emotional scene with him and to be able to feed off his acting chops. It was almost like a dream type thing. I was crying for a whole day! At first, [the production] wanted me to use fake tears, but I knew I had to show what I could do in front of these seasoned veterans.
As you’ve grown in this industry, have the more emotional scenes become easier for you to perform?
When I was younger, I would do scenes like that, and the tears would come out. Since I’ve grown, I’m able to replicate some of the emotions even better. It’s not the first time [I’ve done an emotional scene], but it’s definitely the most confident I’ve been in a dramatic scene. I just have to get in the zone. A minute or two later, I have tears coming down my face. Your brain feels foggier. You put your body in distress. It’s draining, but it makes the scene a lot more real. You take a lunch break, and then you have to do it again!
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Satanic Panic
Late actress Loretta Swit recalls shooting cult fright flick Race with the Devil in San Antonio 50 years ago
BY KIKO MARTINEZ
When she wasn’t playing her Emmy Award-winning character Major Margaret
“Hot Lips” Houlihan on the classic TV series M*A*S*H, the late actress Loretta Swit took on a wide range of roles in other projects.
Swit, who died last month in her home in New York City, used each opportunity to stretch her talents beyond the iconic show that made her a household name.
One of the movies Swit made during her time on M*A*S*H was the 1975 horror-thriller Race with the Devil, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this month. Filmed in San Antonio and surrounding towns, the movie centers on two couples whose road trip takes a terrifying turn when they witness a human sacrifice while camping in rural Texas, attracting the attention of a Satanic cult.
The Current interviewed Swit over the phone on April 14. During our interview, the 87-year-old actress discussed the challenges of shooting the film in Texas, her memorable scenes and the Race with the Devil’s cult status.
Does it feel like 50 years ago that you made Race with the Devil?
I’m not good at [remembering] how many years ago something happened. I would say, vaguely, it was a long time ago. I remember … I was already doing M*A*S*H It was a long running [series]. It began in 1972 and became such a phenomenon. I have those dates in my head. You know, we ended [M*A*S*H] in 1983. We had 11 seasons, so I kind of know those numbers. I was shooting Race [with the Devil] while I was in M*A*S*H. I guess it’s been a long while.
What do you remember most about shooting the film? I know you were in San Antonio for a while. You also shot in
Bandera and Castroville and that area. It was a touring shoot. We kept moving. We didn’t have a place where we shot from. So, we were all over Texas, which was, of course, pleasant. It was a difficult shoot because of that. One of the reasons we kept moving like that [was because] we were always in the RV. The vehicle became [the place] where we took turns to put on wardrobe or makeup. We used it for everything.
At the beginning of the film, we see you driving the RV through downtown San Antonio. Were you really driving?
I was indeed! Let me tell you how scary that [was]. The fellas (co-stars Peter Fonda and Warren Oates) would be yelling, “Brake, Loretta, brake!” (Laughs). But, yes, I actually did drive. And the snakes were real too. Everything was pretty real. Maybe that’s why it scared people sufficiently to be memorable.
You know, one of the rumors was that director Jack Starrett actually hired real satanists for the film. Was that true? (Laughs.) No, there were no little satanists running around Texas. That’s probably not true. But all those Texans can be little devils.
Speaking of Jack, he replaced the original director, Lee Frost. What was happening there from your perspective?
Lee Frost didn’t seem to have a handle on how to direct the movie. I’m not big on just walking up and saying, “Mr. Man, you don’t know what you’re doing.” [20th Century] Fox was not happy with Lee too. We had a little conference, and they said it wasn’t working out. They saw the dailies and weren’t happy with them, so they let him go. Jack had a handle on what he wanted to do with the movie.
The film was such a staple in 1975 at the
drive-in theater. How do you feel, 50 years later, that there are so few driveins left in America?
My memories of the drive-in were during my high school days. They were for younger kids, a younger generation, with popcorn and soda pop and sitting in a car. The whole concept was great, but [drive-ins] were aimed at a younger audience, which I think accounts for their disappearance. Our youngsters today are a lot different than the teenyboppers I grew up with. I think they’re more adult than we were.
So, let’s talk about the snake scene. Were the snakes defanged? How did you get through that?
They weren’t defanged. They were not hurt in any way. Their poison was milked. I saw them do it. It was quite something. At first, [working with the snakes] was scary. But after a while, it wasn’t. They had personalities. After a while, you could develop a
relationship with them. They have a terrible reputation, but [those snakes] were harmless. They did a wonderful acting job. They were just like fellow actors.
Have you ever had to scream more in your career than you did in this movie?
I don’t think so. I think that’s probably the most screaming I’ve done. It’s the most scared I think I’ve ever [been for a role]. It was the only [horror movie] that I’ve ever done, which is crazy [because] as an audience, I love [horror]. That’s my favorite genre. I love a good scare.
The genre has changed so much in the last half-century, don’t you think? Of course, as the industry has developed technically, sure. It’s grown tremendously. Honestly, I would say that one of my favorite actors of all time is Boris Karloff. He was a lovely gentleman [and] a wonderful man. Look how brilliant he was in those films – The Mummy and Frankenstein. He was a wonderful actor. He thrilled us and scared us.
The final scene in Race withthe Devil is left open-ended. What do you think happens to your character at the end of the film?
I think that’s what set the film apart. That’s why we’re still celebrating anniversaries. We don’t know [what happens]. I think they look pretty doomed. That was the first time a movie of that nature left you hanging on a cliff. [The main characters] think everything’s over, they’re taking deep breaths, and suddenly there’s a circle of fire around the vehicle. You know what’s going to happen. They’re not prepared. The satanists are more prepared. What was so interesting about the film [was] that it would end on that note. It just worked.
Would you be for or against a remake of Race withthe Devil?
You’d have to have a good script. I was thinking more of a sequel. Go further with it [and] open [the movie] with that ring of fire and then decide where you go from there. Does it consume the vehicle? Do their families go to find out what happened to them? Let’s assume they were devoured by the fire and the satanists. Now, there’s an investigation into what happened. Then, it becomes an interesting sequel; more interesting than a remake.
Do you ever think about your legacy? What’s to think about? I’m living it! That’s the most honest answer I can give you.
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Of Bibs and Beer
Southerleigh Fine Food & Brewery deserves its Michelin Guide designation
BY RON BECHTOL
The Michelin Guide’s Bib Gourmand award recognizes “restaurants that offer a high-quality three-course meal for a reasonable price.” In the first Texas guide, which debuted in late 2024, San Antonio garnered four of them: Cullum’s Attaboy, the Jerk Shack, Ladino and Southerleigh Fine Food & Brewery.
Some wonder aloud whether the award is a notquite-one-star consolation prize, while other Reddit ruminators quibble over the definition of “reasonable price.” Given the breadth of restaurants earning the designation, they’d almost have to be considered on a case-by-case basis to get to the bottom of such questions.
To that point, let’s go straight to a recent experience at Southerleigh at the Pearl. For the three of us dining during that excursion, the cost per person for a three-course meal came to $67.12, excluding alcoholic beverages but including tax and tip. It would have been closer to $81 had we not shared a single dessert. Was it both “high quality” and “reasonable” enough to warrant its Big Gourmand designation? Read on.
There’s no denying that Southerleigh itself impresses with its towering height, industrial trappings and backdrop of stainless brewing tanks and rustic oak barrels. All of this sets up certain expectations of cuisine and service right from the get-go. Service meets expectations. On paper, so does the menu.
While some starters come out of left field — biscuits with jam, anyone? — deviled eggs are a quintessential Southern appetizer, and the kitchen’s take on the tried-and-true picnic staple is a welcome variation on the theme. Pickled mustard seeds add tangy crunch, and bits of bacon “jam” unite popular favorites sweet and fat to good effect.
The combination of thick tomato slices with plush lump crab and herby pistou should have yielded an equally good end result, especially with seasonal “heirloom” tomatoes. But no. The tomatoes were impressively large but depressingly tasteless. As the tomatoes go, so goes this dish. And it went.
Should you order the Brussels sprouts as an appetizer, attempt to save some as a main dish accompaniment. This won’t be easy, since they are sensationally good — made just funky enough with the addition of fish sauce and fearlessly charred enough to add appealing crispness. Delicate slices of pickled Fresno pepper add further complexity.
Your server will likely suggest the fried snapper throats in the opening spiel, but as good as they have been in the past, I tend to draw the line somewhere south of $20 for starters. For just $5 more you can have the equally well-regarded fried chicken main — complete with the homemade biscuits that seem
perfectly at home in this context. Cracker-coated redfish sounded even more appealing.
The dish’s technique was certainly there: the cracker coating is impeccably crisp, the fish perfectly cooked, and scattered lump crab added luxe. The redfish’s bed of lemon beurre blanc was velvety and lightly citrus-scented —perhaps too lightly, since there simply wasn’t any spark to the dish considered as a whole.
Unlike the tomatoes, it’s hard to blame the fish itself, so let’s lay this one on the bland coating.
In what was beginning to seem like a familiar pendulum swing, the pastramied pork chop came out both barrels blazing. It’s said to be brined for 48 hours — likely with the expected coriander, mustard seeds, black pepper and more — then smoked. The chop is presented thickly sliced and crusty with what the menu called German potato salad. In truth, the side is little more than smashed potatoes, but little more may be exactly what’s needed in this case.
Of all the mains, the birria-braised antelope was the one that seemed to pay most homage to that other local culinary influence: Mexican. The recent birria
SOUTHERLEIGH FINE FOOD & BREWERY
136 E. Grayson St., Suite 120, (210) 455-5701
craze, employing beef or goat, seems to have settled down a bit, so it’s the perfect time for variations on the theme. Enter antelope served without a drop of broth. Some may miss the dish’s stewed aspect, and dabs of goat cheese and flecks of greens don’t add much. However, a beautiful pecan mole amarillo more than compensates. Fried masa “gnocchi” seem like an afterthought, but they’re fun, so why not.
Come to think of it, the gnocchi would be a good playmate with many of Southerleigh’s in-house brews. The crisp and dry-hopped Tide Runner pale ale with its teasing “cannabis on the nose” was the distinct favorite of the two we sampled. The Mexican lager Don’t Dress Me, brewed with lime so you don’t have to add it yourself, came across as a little strident.
The chocolate tart we shared as a dessert, on the other hand, was all smoothness and subtlety. An Oreo crust provided the perfect base. The chocolate filling proved lush and, well, chocolatey, and a topping of torched marshmallow crème with a caramel crater only added to the delight. The finish was “high quality” all the way, leaving us just happy enough to justify the “reasonable” criterion as well.
Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday
Main dishes: $25-$56
Best bets: Deviled eggs, charred Brussels sprouts, fried chicken, pastramied pork chop, birria-braised antelope, chocolate tart
The lowdown: Southerleigh backs up its impressive digs with competent service and a diverse, seasonally changing menu that’s a nod to both old and new South. There’s fried chicken, of course, balanced by several Gulf Coast seafood selections. The kitchen knows its way around pork too. A pastrami spice-brined chop was excellent with the Tide Runner, one of many house-brewed beers. And if the chocolate tart is on the dessert menu, don’t hesitate. It’s the posh counterpoint to fried chicken.
Find more food & drink news at sacurrent.com
Ron Bechtol
MAKE A GOOD IMPRESSION
FATHER’S DAY KICKOFF
SATURDAY JUNE 14TH
3PM - 7PM
The Lion and Rose Restaurant at The Dominion
Join us for our daily Happy Hour celebration at The Lion & Rose! Enjoy a delightful selection of delicious drinks and tempting appetizers in a warm, welcoming atmosphere. It’s the perfect way to unwind, catch up with friends, and savor the best part of the day.
3PM-7PM EVERY day!
Happy Hour Drinks
Select Domestic Mugs | $2.50
Well Drinks | $5
Select Import Mugs | $5
Select Wine | $6 Mimosas | $4
Orange Juice, Pineapple, Cranberry Juice
Happy Hour Bites
Fried Pickles | Served with Ranch | $5
Fried Mushrooms | Served with Ranch | $5
Banger Meatball | Served with a choice of Curry, Guinness Cheese or Shallot Demi | $5
Fried Jalapenos | Served with Ranch | $5
English Chips & Guinness Cheese | $5
Goat Cheese Croquette | Served with Tomato Jam I $6
Bottoms Up!
Cocktail: The Event bringing tiki theme to Briscoe later this month
BY KAT STINSON
Break out the leis and Hawaiian shirts.
San Antonio’s Cocktail: The Event is returning for its eighth year, inviting guests to sip island-inspired creations from some of the city’s top bartenders.
The gathering will take place Thursday, June 26, at the Briscoe Western Art Museum’s Jack Guenther Pavilion. A portion of proceeds will benefit the nonprofit Briscoe, which includes nine galleries celebrating the art, history and culture of the American West.
Competing for the crown of best tropical drink of the night, mixologists from hotspots including Southtown House of Spirits, Panfila Cantina, the InterContinental San Antonio Riverwalk, Bombay Bicycle Club and others will participate in Cocktail, serving up creative takes on tiki-inspired tipples for guests.
Each team will take on the tiki-inspired challenge with Garrison Brothers bourbon and Tito’s vodka as base spirits.
The Current-sponsored event dedicated to all things shaken and stirred
also will feature an array of light bites from participating local restaurants and vendors, including Roca and Martillo, Tu Asador Mexican Steakhouse, Paloma Blanca Mexican Cuisine, Blush, Ida Claire, Taqueria San Peter, Cakes by Felicia and more.
Vendors onsite will include Trinket Amor, Kendra Scott, Buenas Vibes, Love Weld and Fiesta Feet, among others.
As in years past, Cocktail will include live music, DJs, pop-up surprises, a tropical-inspired photo op lounge and a chance to win $500 in the tiki costume contest.
Holders of $90 VIP tickets will enjoy early entry in addition to a commemorative gift and a signature cocktail served during VIP hour. Early bird general admission tickets run $55.
Each ticket tier includes entry to the event, plus complimentary samplings of bites and beverages from every participating bar and restaurant along with a chance to participate in the costume contest, access to the photo booth and pop-ups.
Past themes at Cocktail: The Event have ranged from a show-stopping circus extravaganza, a Prohibition-style party, a sci-fi spin on boozy beverages and homages to decades past, including the ’70s and the ’90s.
Guests must be 21 years of age or older to enter Cocktail.
$55-$90, 6 p.m. (VIP) or 7 p.m. (regular admission) Thursday, June 26, Briscoe Western Art Museum, 210 W. Market St., (210) 299-4499, sanantoniococktail.com.
Jaime Monzon
food Cooking Up Conversation: PJ Edwards of Meadow Neighborhood Eatery & Bar
Edwards opened up his Southern-inspired restaurant in the Alley on Bitters in 2018 with his wife, Lindsay
BY KAT STINSON
Name: PJ Edwards
Job: Executive chef, co-founder of Meadow Neighborhood Eatery & Bar
Hometown: Memphis, Tennessee, and La Vernia, Texas
Years in food service: 27
Big Impact: A labor of love for Edwards and his wife Lindsay, Meadow Neighborhood Eatery & Bar, a cozy, eight-year-old restaurant focused on Southern comfort cuisine offers an events calendar and regular coursed dinners that keep locals coming back for more.
Money Quote: “You can’t just shove a concept into a space. This concept was the most personal to us. Our concept was already there — we just had to act on it and open Meadow.”
How did you get started in cooking?
By accident! I was working at a restaurant in La Vernia. I was supposed to be a busboy, but they threw me in the kitchen instead as a cook. That was sometime around 1998. It was a real eight-month crash course in restaurants. Funnily enough, it inspired me to enroll in culinary school at St. Philip’s [College].
You’ve worked at restaurants in other cities. Why San Antonio?
I’ve worked at Contigo and Gardner in Austin and the renowned McCrady’s Restaurant in Charleston, South Caroli-
na. I used to think Austin was one of the best places to be for innovative restaurants, but San Antonio surprised me in the best possible way — before and after I opened Meadow with my wife, Lindsey.
How did you meet Lindsey?
Back when we were both working for chef Jason Dady at one of his former concepts, Bin 555. Lindsey was the general manager for the Jason Dady restaurant group at the time. Bin 555 ended up closing, but it became the place that led to me finding my wife — and the space that ultimately became Meadow in September 2018.
What role does Lindsey play at Meadow? How did both of your families inspire the menu?
She’ll be the first to tell you she’s not a chef — Lindsey is the operational mas-
termind behind Meadow. Both of our families are from the South, so Meadow’s focus on seasonal Southern and South Texas cuisine was an homage to the culinary traditions that we both grew up with.
Why do you think Meadow has managed to stay open so long? Is there a secret to your success?
You can’t just shove a concept into a space. This concept was the most personal to us. Our concept was already there — we just had to act on it and open Meadow.
We’re that neighborhood spot — and it’s also a simple recipe of hard work, blood, sweat, tears and luck. Lindsey and I are there every day. We aren’t absentee owners. There’s a lot of exciting things going on here — good people enjoying good food crafted by our hard-
working team — it’s far more enjoyable than going to a chain restaurant.
Is it true regulars will call you if the events calendar isn’t updated for the upcoming month?
People love our monthly events calendar. So many people will call us asking about it if we don’t post it online. The events and coursed dinners give us a way to keep our creative juices flowing outside of the main Meadow menu, which I also love!
What’s one thing you’re never taking off the menu?
Our cabbage pancake with rice flour batter and a fried egg. We make a syrup with red cabbage. It’s one of the things we can never take off the menu. It’s been available since the beginning, like our famous fried chicken.
Hagan Rivas Marketing & Media Group
Hungry for More
San Antonio rock outfit
Street Lamp looks to bring its energetic sound to a bigger stage
BY MIKE MCMAHAN
San Antonio rock quartet Street Lamp have unfurled a sound that, while firmly anchored in punk and funk, evokes elements of Tool, Jane’s Addiction, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Fugazi, but with Amy Winehouse on vocals.
Street Lamp’s members, all in their 20s, have the chops and stage presence of older, more seasoned musicians. They’re a tightly coiled outfit with an energetic stage show capable of turning casual observers into converted fans.
After a couple of years of solid gigging, the group has gained a small-but-devoted local fanbase. However, the members’ ambitions go beyond that. They’d like to tour nationwide, which they see as vital for reaching a wide audience, and they have already gigged as far away as Alabama and Missouri.
The Current tagged along to three Street Lamp gigs last month as the band marked Guillotine’s release. While varied in turnout, all of those performances showed an act eager to put in the work required to win over fans outside of the Alamo City.
Street Lamp, which recently dropped the excellent Guillotine EP, will hit The Mix on Sunday, June 22. The new release showcases the band’s musical prowess and is a great jumping off point for newbies considering whether to check out the live show.
“All our songs are loose, to be jammed with,” guitarist Nick Garza said. “The gigs aren’t the same. Ever.”
While all of Street Lamp’s members are clearly part of a collaborative effort, Garza and vocalist Sabrina Cioffi comprise the core of the group. They have been the constants since it started.
Garza’s energetic and funky guitar defines the sound, while Cioffi’s commanding and soulful voice is the icing on top. Meanwhile, drummer Drew Tovar and bassist Mario “Wario” Quintanilla provide a rock-solid foundation.
A testament to the band’s tightness, Guillotine gleams with polish, the concise and catchy tunes shimmering with energy and snap. Stone Creek Sound producer and studio owner Mack Damon enthusiastically agreed to helm the session and work with the young band after being turned on via social media.
MAt any of the hardworking band’s frequent shows, one’s likely to see a lot of fist bumps from fans, and Garza is frequently out front, mingling, showing his appreciation for their enthusiasm.
In contrast, Cioffi is unassuming offstage, largely keeping to herself or talking with a small group of friends. She’s not a physically imposing presence, but once she hits the stage, she comes alive with energy and poise.
Cioffi acknowledged that she’s a different person from her onstage persona.
“I’m not sure why that happens,” she said. The confidence takes over and lets me do my thing. It looks better to have someone secure as your frontwoman or -man or -person.”
Despite her guarded offstage nature, Cioffi has no shortage of confidence and musical chops.
“I love what I do, and I know I’m good at it,” said Cioffi, who has a degree in music theory and vocal performance from Northwest Vista College. That includes experience performing classical music and a stint in jazz band.
“People talk to me and say I’m actually kind of mellow,” she said. “It’s good for people to make things up in their heads.”
And what kind of things do they make up?
Find more music coverage every day at sacurrent.com
Mike McMahan
Street Lamp gives an energetic performance at The Mix on the St. Mary’s Strip.
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music
Cioffi smiled and shrugged. “’She probably downs a bottle of whiskey and smashes it on her head.’”
Sweating at Shotgun House
During Street Lamp’s Sunday, May 4, performance at the West Side’s Shotgun House Coffee Roasters, the venue dripped with life and sweat.
Despite having “Beer” written on a dry-erase board near the counter, the coffee house had run out of said libation. The smell of weed permeated the air as vapes mixed with the aroma of coffee.
The smells drifted into a small, packed room down the hall from the coffee bar where the band played an explosive set celebrating Guillotine’s arrival on cassette.
Things kicked off with “Armageddon” from the new release, its intro bass line slithering through the room. Once the song kicked into full gear, Quintanilla spent most of his time slapping and popping like the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Flea, an obvious influence.
Cioffi, clad in a T-shirt featuring her band’s name emblazoned in an indecipherable death metal font, belted out lyrics with typical confidence. She never missed a note despite it surely being difficult to hear herself in a DIY venue.
The singer loosened up as the set progressed, at one point sitting on a stack of speakers, serenading the crowd from the lofty perch. Other times she swirled, her bangs just long enough to obscure her face, hair in constant motion.
People watched from the courtyard through the windows. Many shot photos and video, speaking to the band’s social media presence.
By the time Street Lamp got around to “Switchblade,” the most jagged tune from the EP, it was clear why it’s among Garza’s favorites to play live. While the song offers less chance to get loose than some of the others, its tempo and rhythmic switch-ups highlight the band’s tightness.
Near the end of the set, moshing swept the tiny room — a real audience commitment considering the blazing heat in the tiny performance area. Finally, the band unleashed its song “F U,” which tends to get the biggest reaction of the night.
Maybe it’s the infectious chorus: “They jumpin’ / They screamin’ / There ain’t no better feelin’.”
MVocalist
Sabrina Cioffi sits atop a speaker at the band’s Shotgun House Coffee Roasters EP-release show.
If Street Lamp had a slogan, that might be it.
‘A little rough’
A mere six days later, Street Lamp hit the stage at The Mix for a gig that had less of a friends-and-family vibe.
Even so, audience members greeted the band enthusiastically, and the band members reciprocated with a full-energy show, not caring whether they’re in front of 150 people or 15.
The show wasn’t without its snags.
Garza dealt with a problematic guitar cable, and Tovar shattered a drumstick. Someone in the crowd tossed one to him, and he continued on as if nothing had happened.
Like pros beyond their years, the members of Street Lamp rocked on without missing a beat. They navigated tricky tempo and rhythm shifts, and delivered punchy choruses and tight instrumental breaks.
After the show, Quintanilla attribut-
ed the band’s solid performance to the Mix’s PA, which is better than those at DIY venues. Maybe they also had something to prove, since they weren’t playing to a crowd of already-converted Street Lamp fans.
“The Mix is kinda grimy,” Garza said. “That’s where we sorta fit in. We can be classy, but we choose to be a little rough.”
Delivering the goods
As Street Lamp prepared to go on for a Thursday, March 15, gig in the small room at the Paper Tiger, it was clear the band wouldn’t have much of an audience that night. Only a dozen or so people showed up.
“It’s a Thursday show, very chill,” Garza said, making light of the situation.
But, once again, the group delivered its set as if they played to a club packed with A&R folks.
Street Lamp hit the stage with “F U,” a surprising choice. Maybe they didn’t need to save it for later since the gig was almost a personal hang. Maybe they wanted to open strong.
Cioffi delivered another focused performance, apparently unfazed that audience members jammed cameras and phones in her face as they snapped pho-
tos. One photographer even came on the stage while the band tore up the stage. Street Lamp wants to go nationwide and its members see serious touring as instrumental in that.
Here’s a dose of reality: the near-empty Paper Tiger gig is appetizer for what lies in wait for Street Lamp as it works to make the difficult transition from local act to one that tours regionally or even nationally. Road work is full of challenges, including playing empty rooms and winning over indifferent crowds.
After Garza and Cioffi left the stage, they talked about how many bands had been discovered after being seen by the right person at a nearly empty club. You never know.
Street Lamp has seemingly internalized this reality of the music business. All four of the band’s members play like their lives depend on it, no matter how many people are watching. It’s a good sign that, should things break the right way, they could be one of those rare San Antonio acts that builds a far wider following.
“We have a lot of imagination and creativity,” Quintanilla said. “When that comes together, it gets crazy. We’re getting more people, brick by brick.” Free, 9 p.m. Sunday, June 22, The Mix, 2423 N. St. Mary’s St., (210) 900-2772, themixsa.com.
Mike McMahan
Last of the Rodeo Clowns
New album by San Antonio’s Very Old Morris explores memory, nostalgia
BY JAMES COURTNEY
Singer-songwriter Jerid Morris is a restless creative with an uncommonly nuanced touch and a San Antonio music lifer with years of songs and stages under his belt. He’s also a family man with flaws, regrets, and memories — just like the rest of us.
Morris has been active in the local music scene for more than 20 years, most notably as the lead creative force in emo-indie rock bands Muldoon (2002-2006) and Stegosaur (2008now). More recently, he’s led country-folk project El Campo, and he also plays in the popular country covers outfit The Texases along with other estimable songwriters and musicians. His latest work, released under the moniker Very Old Morris — he’s only 43 — is a doozy of a double album titled Last of the Rodeo Clowns. With this lyrically rich collection dominated by gently ambling country-folk songs, he delivers a sprawling yet splintered narrative. Like a million hard-ridden roads to rural nowhere/everywhere, the release embraces the impressionistic quality of self-conception.
Recorded with a host of local musicians and producer Lucas Oswald, Last of the Rodeo Clowns is an ambitious and impressive effort that rewards thoughtful listening.
Released June 1, the 24-song set finds Morris looking beyond the horizon of death — and plenty of it — into the eternity of the collective unconscious, right at that dark shore where it laps up against the individual unconscious.
Morris told the Current the concept behind the album — he always thinks in terms of albums and larger narratives when writing — centers on his raising by “people who had been farmers and ranchers” but the reality
that he’s personally “a world removed from that.”
Morris’ most recent full-length, El Campo’s 2109 record Goldun Stair, Meet You There, found him sorting through an early fractured family life in the face of a winning bout with cancer. However, The Last of the Rodeo Clowns is more concerned with exploring a way of life, or the notion of a way of life, harvested from a thoughtful brand of nostalgia.
The title track along with “Gold Buick” and several others address rodeo life and serve as the backbone of the album.
Morris cites the abundance of coun-
ful to my life in some respect,” he said.
Songs such as “At the Don’s and Ben’s” and “In Which the Morris Boys All Die Young” plumb autobiography in search of a possible absolution but at least the truth. Meanwhile “The Missionary King” and “‘93 Oilers” poetically explore what Morris calls “these fraught male relationships and family dynamics.”
The album is replete with impressionistic renderings, tone poems, character studies, road songs, grain elevators, booze, bulls, blood, dust and mud.
“There’s a lot of planning and then there’s this certain amount of subconscious accretion that occurs, that you’re not in control of at all,” Morris said of his artistic process.
In embracing this subconscious material and consciously molding it into song without taking logic’s chisel to the fuzzy edges, he strikes a satisfying balance between personal and universal. Anyone who has lived, and thought about the joy and pain of living, can feel these songs if they sit with them.
While Morris isn’t planning a physical album release or any Very Old Morris shows — “I get my jollies with The Texases now,” he joked — he created a chapbook of the lyrics that presents them in a form that represents how important they are to his music and life. As if 24 songs wasn’t enough, Morris also made a four-song companion EP, Rhoda of the Rodeo, in part as a tribute to a beloved family dog that recently died. Rhoda the dog joined the family when his three kids were little, and the youngest is now 16. It’s a touching tribute to a family’s best friend.
try songs he grew up hearing, some that he now plays with The Texases, as sort of spiritual influences. Those old tunes “postulate the rodeo as this thing that is so consuming that people sacrifice everything, and, of course, it’s romantic in the sense that it can destroy you, but you can’t resist it.”
To be sure, there’s a common thread between The Texases and Morris’ original music.
“The nostalgia is wrapped up in this idea of wanting where I came from to be important, wanting the sacred parts of the existence of the people who came before me to have been meaning-
One of the EP’s standout tracks, “Crabtrees,” is a lyrically hard-hitting song that looks bleakly at generational cycles of rural poverty. The chapbook’s footnotes for the song quote Vladmir Lenin’s State and Revolution: “The state in any given society pursues the interests of the ruling class… [and is] an instrument for the exploitation of the oppressed class.”
The inclusion of this quote might seem odd, but it underscores the empathetic intelligence at the heart of Morris’ nostalgic vision — the refusal of passivity, the earnest documentation of struggle and joy, and the imaginative excavation of a downtrodden rural perspective as far more than an aesthetic posture.
Josh Huskin
critics’ picks
Friday, June 13
Joshua Ray Walker, Garrett T. Capps and NASA Country
Joshua Ray Walker is a new breed of Americana artist who defies the stereotypical squarejawed, stubble-bearded stereotype. He’s witty, fun and a damn good singer. Most compelling of all is his story of late: Walker just beat colon cancer. While in recovery and unable to leave his home, the singer-songwriter dreamt of a beach vacation, leading to a mid-career pivot that swings into Jimmy Buffett territory. It’s still country music, but best enjoyed with a frozen daiquiri instead of a Lone Star in hand. San Antonio stalwarts Garrett T. Capps and NASA Country round out the bill. Appropriate, since GTC and company reliably deliver a dose of good vibes every single show. $26, 9 p.m., Lonesome Rose, 2114 N. St. Mary’s St., (210) 455-0233, thelonesomerosesa.com. — BB
The Infidels
The Infidels is the longtime project of ace San Antonio musician Michael Martin, who’s toured the world and shared stages with some of music’s biggest acts. Hell, he even performed on The Late Show with David Letterman. The Infidels, named after the ’80s Bob Dylan album, began as a Grateful Dead-style jam band but slowly took on a unique folk-rock style all their own. This is an outfit of rock ’n’ roll survivors. $12, 8:30 p.m., Sam’s Burger Joint, 330 E. Grayson St., (210) 223-2830, samsburgerjoint. com. — BB
Friday, June 13
Suicidal Tendencies, Confused, Hardside, Executioner
Pepsi-craving frontman Mike Muir may be the only founding member left in Suicidal Tendencies, but the pioneering hardcore-thrash outfit that formed 45 years ago in SoCal can still bring it. Earlier this spring, before opening for Metallica on several tour dates, Suicidal Tendencies released “Adrenaline Addict” the band’s first new single in almost a decade. Old-school fans will be in for a nostalgic evening, while first-timers will get a chance to understand why the band has influenced acts ranging from Anthrax to Rage Against The Machine. $47.79-$110.66, 8 p.m., Vibes Event Center, 1211 E Houston St., therockboxsa.com. — Danny Cervantes
Saturday, June 14
The Head And The Heart, Futurebirds, Anna Graves
A series of open mics at a Seattle-area watering hole led to the formation of the indie folkrock outfit The Head And The Heart back in 2009. Since those humble origins the band has become a staple of the alternative music scene thanks to songs including “Lost in My Mind”
and “All We Ever Knew.” The group released its latest album Aperture last month with the driving single “Arrow” shooting up the charts. The Whitewater’s down-home setting is ideal for the homespun, heartfelt sounds of The Head And The Heart. $66-$209, 8 p.m., Whitewater Amphitheater, 11860 FM 306, New Braunfels, (830) 964-3800, whitewaterrocks.com. — DC
Theatre, 104 N. St. Mary’s St., theaztectheatre. com. — BB
Thursday, June 19
Westside Horns
Saturday, June 21
Digable Planets, Mr. FUNkateer
Pentagram
Sultanes del Yonke, Los Juanos
This will be a dance party, no doubt about it. El Paso-based Sultanes del Yonke offer a young, refreshing take on Latin music big on hypnotic vocal interplay, outstanding musicianship and most importantly, fun. Meanwhile, San Antonio’s Los Juanos are, simply put, one of the most exciting bands in town right now. Adding to the allure, it’s all going down at The Lighthouse, one of our city’s most charming dive bars. $15, 8 p.m., The Lighthouse, 1016 Cincinnati Ave., instagram.com/thelighthouselounge. — BB
Sunday, June 15
Coco Jones, Lady London
Grammy-winner Coco Jones has led a varied entertainment career, jumping from roles on Disney Channel TV shows into becoming an R&B hitmaker for Def Jam Records, one of the most iconic labels in the biz. Jones specializes in an intimate and modern sound built on vintage soul and pop foundations. Arrive on time for opener Lady London, who brings serious vocal and rap chops. $54, 7 p.m., Aztec
Over the years, decades-old SA institution the Westside Horns have featured some of the city’s finest musicians: Spot Barnett, Rocky Morales, Sauce Gonzalez, Charlie McBurney and Louis Bustos among them. The group has backed Doug Sahm, Randy Garibay, Joe King Carrasco and others who have defined the Alamo City sound. Not all the original members remain, but the group carries on as torchbearers for SA’s musical legacy. Free, 7 p.m., Blue Star Brewing Co. , 1414 S Alamo St. #105, bluestarbrewing. com. — BB
Thursday, June 19
Bear Hands, Retro Cowgirl
“Nothing good happens past 2 a.m.” Bear Hands sings in the chorus to trippy lo-fi indie hit “2AM.” Besides being relatively good advice, the song best captures the vibe of the Brooklyn-based trio. Bear Hands’ most recent album, The Keys to What, dropped last year to mixed reviews, but the group’s catalog is strong and includes plenty of gems that will likely feature in live shows. Local standouts Retro Cowgirl serve as an inviting opener. $60-$65, 6 p.m., The Rock Box, 1223 E. Houston St., therockboxsa.com. — DC
Nineties hip-hop heavyweights Digable Planets were one of the foremost purveyors of so-called “jazz rap,” fusing rap with live jazz instrumentation. However, Digable Planets brought more to the party than some brass. They created music that felt eccentric, experimental and smooth, all at once. Though they only recorded two albums before breaking up, each was a landmark in its own right. Though seemingly swept away by the gangsta-rap tidal wave, Digable Planets have quietly reemerged and are coming to SA to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the classic debut album Reachin’ (A New Refutation of Time and Space) $55, 8 p.m., The Espee, 1174 E Commerce St., theespee.com. — BB
Elita, Glixen
Actress and Instagram star Emma Harvey, known professionally as Elita Harkov, also fronts the trippy, Canada-born trio known as Elita. The group launched with a cover of the Velvet Underground’s “After Hours,” and Harkov channels the femme fatale sound of Nico with a sharper edge. Her vocals bring icy appeal to songs including “Sour Switchblade” and the recently released “Masturbating in a Coffin.” The group blurs the lines between shoegaze and electronica with a gothic lyrical twist. $20.10, 7 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx.com. — Danny Cervantes
Courtesy Photo Digable Planets
EMPLOYMENT
BOOKKEEPER: Bookkeeping, reporting, compliance, payroll. $52728/Yr. San Antonio, TX Mail Resume: Kurmanc LLC, 11843 Braesview, Unit 1216, San Antonio, TX 78213.
Associate Dentist needed at Kashi Dental. Job location: Converse, TX. Send resume to 9163 W Farm-To-Market Road 78, Suite #1, Converse, TX 78109. Attn: Sumeet Malhotra
International Motors, LLC is seeking a Business Analyst
Lead in Elmendorf, TX with the following requirements Bachelor’s degree and 5 years business analyst experience OR Master’s degree and 3 years business analyst experience OR 7 years business analyst experience. Required Skills: Analyze Business Systems and Processes to identify gaps and requirements to align with the new business operations structure; Coordinate IT Manufacturing Implementations by creating and managing work plans using Microsoft Project, organize tasks with Gantt charts, manage budgets, and facilitate inter-departmental negotiations; Lead Business Systems and Deliver solutions that minimize disruptions in production and daily operations; Facilitate and lead Strategic Discussions on future technology strategies for business processes and systems; Work collaboratively across various business units, vendors, and suppliers to implement changes; Develop and implement solutions that enhance IT manufacturing processes, achieving measurable results such as time reduction, process simplification, or customized solutions that improve daily operations using tools like Microsoft SQL, Hadoop, Power BI, Power Apps, or Power Automate. 15% domestic and 15% international travel required; up to 20% telecommuting allowed; must live within normal commuting distance of Elmendorf, TX. Benefits: https://careers.international.com/#benefits. Salary Range: $119,517- $120,000 Apply at https://careers. international. com/ Refer to Job # 58308.
“1724”--two specific rare letters. by Matt Jones
© 2025 Matt Jones
Across
1. Tee off
5. Bouncy music genre
8. “Know your rights” org.
12. Co. offering insurance to military members and their families
13. Biblical mountain (hidden in “offshore banking”)
15. Court litigant
16. Literary tilter at windmills
18. Baseball card datum
19. Ostentatious
20. Hosp. workers
22. Ending for cyan
23. Shoulder muscle, briefly 24. September 22, 2025 occurrence
28. “Feliz cumpleaños ___”
(“Happy birthday to you”)
29. “You’ve got mail!” co.
30. Hog noise
31. Muscles above the abs
33. Dropped prop
34. River starting in Switzerland
35. Sudden getaway
38. Noise
40. “Dynamite” K-pop group
41. “Ditto”
45. Louvre Pyramid architect
46. Spam-sending software
47. Negative vote
48. Modern phrase for high-quality elegance over showiness
52. Beats by ___ (audio brand)
53. “Psych” cable network
54. Cerumen site
55. Add carbonation to
57. “___ Be in Love” (song by Kate Bush)
59. Japanese publisher of the “Final Fantasy” series
62. “Aqua ___ Hunger Force”
63. “Boyhood” actor Ethan
64. Peak near Palermo
65. Latin for “to be”
66. Sargasso, e.g.
67. Game side
Down
1. Semi-protector?
2. Leave alone
3. Enthusiast
4. Help sections on some websites
5. Chicken ___
6. Gold, in Granada
7. “Stormy” sea bird
8. Beast of burden
9. Interrupt, as a dancing couple
10. Galena, e.g.
11. Composition’s original form
13. “Greetings!”
14. Taiwanese maker of Mobiuz gaming monitors
17. “Weird Al” Yankovic movie with janitor Stanley Spadowski
21. Food on a conveyor belt
25. Not of the clergy
26. Secure storage space
27. Monogram pts.
32. Excited cry
33. Average, as the kids say
34. Walgreens pickups, for short
36. Bring together
37. “___, Brute?”
38. Presses together
39. Sleep-inducing drugs
42. Medium tempo
43. Navratilova of tennis
44. Test using a Snellen chart
45. “The exact words were ...”
46. Muslim coverings
49. Lid hair
50. Like pricy collectibles
51. “___-haw!”
56. “___ Petite” (1957 Jackie Wilson song)
58. Yellow pool ball
60. Director Boll
61. “Wanted” poster abbr. Answers on page 25.
