Contributors Abe Asher, Bill Baird, Ron Bechtol, Danny Cervantes, Macks Cook, Amber Esparza, Brianna Espinoza, Dalia Gulca, Anjali Gupta, Colin Houston, Kiko Martinez, Mike McMahan, Kevin Sanchez, M. Solis, Caroline Wolff, Dean Zach
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in this issue
Issue 25-06 /// March 19 - April 1, 2025
20 The Junk Artist
Phil Ross isn’t about to the let the city take down his tower of found objects
07 News
The Opener News in Brief
Is the Party Over?
A bill in the Texas Legislature would ban THC-containing hemp products, but its future is far from certain
Bad Takes
Are there (gasp!) some Trump administration proposals that make sense?
Cityscrapes
Don’t believe it when San Antonio officials say Project Marvel won’t cost taxpayers
16 Calendar
Our picks of things to do
24 Arts
Seeing and Being Seen
SAMA’s “Envisioning the Hindu Divine” offers new understandings of an ancient faith
Antonio show
Honoring Icons
Laughing Matters
English stand-up comedian Russell Howard takes center stage at Aztec Theatre on March 19
31 Screens
Shaping Culture
Adria Arjona urges Hollywood to tell more original Latino stories like Los Frikis
33 Food
Hoppy Returns
San Antonio Beer Festival coming back to Hemisfair for 20th anniversary
Cooking up
Conversation
Dashi Chinese Kitchen chef-owner
Kristina Zhao let a family dream lead her into the restaurant biz
36 Music Still Mining Mindcrime
Former Queensrÿche singer Geoff Tate to perform signature concept album in its entirety for San
I Am Every Woman festival’s third annual iteration to rock San Antonio rooftop
Critics’ Picks
On the Cover: Retired attorney and outsider artist Phil Ross appears to be headed to a showdown with the city over his towering creation. Cover photo: Erik Gustafson. Cover design: Ana Paula Gutierrez.
Erik Gustafson
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Charreada y Jaripeo | Kids Zone | Live Music Steak Samples | Drinks | & More!
That Rocks/That Sucks
HImmigration authorities last month removed a 10-year-old child recovering from brain cancer from the U.S. with her undocumented parents despite the fact that she is an American citizen. The family was detained at a checkpoint between their home in Rio Grande City and Houston, where they were traveling for a medical checkup. The girl’s parents had no criminal record and had made the same journey numerous times without incident.
San Antonio Spurs rookie guard Stephon Castle was the victim of some light hazing last week when teammates removed the tires from his car following the team’s win over the Dallas Mavericks. Spurs forward Devin Vassell posted a social media clip of Castle’s reaction to seeing his tire-less car. Though the Spurs have struggled this year, Castle has emerged as a contender to win Rookie of the Year
A San Antonio resident who worked for the Texas Real Estate Commission was fired earlier this month for refusing to remove his gender pronouns from his email signature. Following a directive from Gov. Greg Abbott that state agencies comply with the notion that there are only two “sexes,” Frank Zamora’s superiors at the commission wrote to him demanding he change his signature. He declined on principle. After his firing, Abbott joyfully promoted news of his dismissal in a tweet.
Alamo Beer Co., San Antonio’s largest craft brewer, may be getting new ownership after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last month. Company bankruptcy attorney William Kingman said two potential buyers are evaluating a purchase, which would likely allow Alamo to pay off the $5 million in loans it has outstanding. The brewer has suffered from a nationwide decline in beer consumption and put its near-East Side facility up for sale last fall. — Abe Asher
YOU SAID IT!
“Deporting a 10-year-old U.S. citizen child recovering from a brain tumor and their
family is not making our country or any child ‘safer’ — it is instilling trauma and life-threatening consequences on entire communities.”
Forcing Christianity down Texas school kids’ throats with State Sen. Phil King
Assclown Alert is a column of opinion, analysis and snark.
The Texas Senate appears close to passing a bill requiring public schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom, a proposal all but sure to ignite a court fight because it violates the constitutionally enshrined separation of church and state.
Senate Bill 10, authored by Texas Sen. Phil King, R-Weatherford, would require elementary and secondary schools to display framed posters of the Ten Commandments in sufficiently large type so that they can be read from anywhere in the classroom in which they’re hung. All 20 Republicans in the upper chamber signed on as co-sponsors.
SB 10 amounts to a bid by King and his cronies to overturn the 1980 Stone v. Graham Supreme Court ruling, which said displaying the Ten Commandments in public schools violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
Saying the quiet part out loud, King is crossing his fingers that the high court’s current conservative supermajority is willing to reverse earlier rulings about keeping Biblical teachings out of public education.
“Some judge will issue an injunction, and then hopefully it’ll work its way up to the U.S. Supreme Court and that bad law of Stone v. Graham will be overturned,” King explained on the Senate floor, the Dallas Morning News reports.
It’s questionable whether even the remade Supreme Court is willing to go that far when it comes to tearing down long-established legal precedent. But what’s not open to question is just how shitty King’s idea is.
San Antonio Democrat Sen. José Menéndez, for example, questioned whether it makes sense for elementary school teachers to be forced to discuss
The San Antonio Housing Trust has filed a $3.2 million bid for the Robert E. Lee apartments, creating a pathway to maintain the building as low-income housing. The bid for the historic, 72-unit building comes after its current owner wrote to residents last summer to tell them area developer Weston Urban had floated making a $2.65 million offer to buy the apartments. Weston Urban had not yet officially made an offer at press time last week.
Texas Senate Republicans have unanimously endorsed a bill to make residents prove their citizenship before they can vote. Senate Bill 16 would apply to new registrants as well as people who didn’t provide proof of citizenship when
the concept of “adultery” or what it means to covet a “manservant,” according to the Morning News
Meanwhile, Cameron Samuels, executive director of the nonprofit Students Engaged in Advancing Texas, pointed out just how laughably out-of-touch King is with actual threats faced by the state’s school kids.
“Amending this bill to require the Ten Commandments be made of bulletproof kevlar may actually be useful as a shield from gun violence, a real problem Texans face,” Samuels said, according to the Morning News
This is at least the second attempt by King to force Christianity down students’ throats. He filed a similar Ten Commandments bill in 2023 — one that thankfully died in the Texas House. King’s latest proposal is just as boneheaded.
If this assclown really wants to help children, maybe he should take note of the recently released 2024 Texas Kids Count report, which ranked the state near the bottom in multiple child well-being indicators, including health and economic security. Texas still has the highest rate of uninsured children, for example, and 400,000 minors eligible for Medicaid aren’t enrolled in the program.
Last we checked, posters of the Ten Commandments don’t put food in impoverished kids’ stomachs, keep them safe in their classrooms or give them needed access to medical care. — Sanford Nowlin
registering — those who signed up at registration drives or by mail, for example. Voters who don’t provide proof of citizenship would then be prohibited from voting for president. The bill, if it becomes law, is expected to be subject to legal challenges.
Robert Morris, the Texas megachurch pastor who advised Donald Trump, has been indicted for child sex crimes in Oklahoma. Morris resigned last year from Gateway Church in Southlake after a woman named Cindy Clemishire alleged that he repeatedly sexually assaulted her when she was a child in the 1980s. Morris faces five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child.
— Abe Asher
Facebook / Phil King
Is the Party Over?
A bill in the Texas Legislature would ban THC-containing hemp products, but its future is far from certain
BY EDMOND ORTIZ
Texas’ hemp businesses are lobbying against a bill in the Texas Legislature that would prevent their products from containing THC — a ban they say endangers a growing $8 billion industry and puts thousands of jobs at risk.
At the same time, leaders of the state’s officially recognized medical marijuana companies say it’s high time for lawmakers to rein in the unregulated hemp market. Those medical cannabis providers are simultaneously lobbying lawmakers to expand their access to patients.
Senate Bill 3, authored by State Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, would bar the sale of all consumable hemp products carrying THC, the compound in cannabis that gets people high. The ban would apply to a range of products, including gummies, vapes and infused beverages.
Violators would face up to a year in jail for carrying such items and sentences of up to 10 years for producing them.
Backers and detractors of SB3 trace the roots of the current debate back to 2018 and 2019.
In 2018, Congress approved the Agriculture Improvement Act, which among other things legalized hemp. The following year, the Texas Legislature approved House Bill 1325, authorizing the production and sale of industrial hemp crops and products, which may include trace amounts of delta-9, a form of THC.
Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a major proponent of SB 3, last December accused hemp retailers of exploiting loopholes in HB 1325 to pump up the amount of THC found in hemp and “sell life-threatening, unregulated forms of THC to the public.”
“These stores not only sold to adults, but they targeted Texas children and exposed them to dangerous levels of THC,” Patrick said in a press statement.
Expanding industry
Texas’ hemp industry is valued at around $8 billion and supports an estimated 50,000 workers and 8,500-plus retailers, according to the Texas Hemp Business Council (THBC). Officials with the trade group said the state’s proposed ban threatens to sandbag a growing industry.
THBC co-founder Cynthia Cabrera said hemp-business owners have invested heavily into developing enterprises that generate an estimated $267 million in annual sales-tax revenue for the state.
“Prohibition is a failed concept. How do you solve anything by banning it?” Cabrera said. “If you want to expand a marijuana program, that’s great, but not at the expense of 50,000 jobs and six years worth of labor and work on the small business side.”
Jim Higdon, co-founder of Cornbread Hemp, is traveling to Texas and other states to directly address legislative proposals targeting his industry. He warns that passage of SB 3 would make it a felony to ship full-spectrum hemp products such as his straight to consumers.
While SB 3 supporters say they want to prevent children and teenagers from accessing hemp-derived consumables, Higdon said women over age 50 make up a majority of Cornbread Hemp’s clientele.
”Texas lawmakers are about to wake up and make angry a bunch of women with expendable income — and [they’re] not going to like seeing their e-commerce get shut down,” he said.
Controls needed?
Both Higdon and Cabrera think SB 3 faces an uphill battle in the Texas House, where legislators’ concerns over individual rights and a free market may keep them from supporting an outright ban on THC-containing hemp products.
While Patrick, who controls the agenda of the Texas Senate, has been leading the charge on SB 3, Higdon said it’s intriguing that Gov. Greg Abbott has so far avoided weighing in on the topic in a meaningful way.
“To hear the governor kind of not warmly embrace the notion, it sends a message to me that not everyone’s on board with a ban,” Higdon added.
But Nico Richardson, chief executive officer of Austin-based Texas Original, one of only two medical marijuana dispensaries operating in Texas, said some kind of comprehensive regulation is needed in the hemp industry.
”Here, right now, you can buy delta-9
edibles in 15,000 milligrams in a package or even 1,000 milligrams in a package,” Richardson said. ”In California, a legal serving size is 10 milligrams. You can’t go above 100 milligrams in a package, and that’s because there’s actual oversight and regulation to make sure they’re not selling dangerously intoxicating products.”
Richardson expressed worry that THC vapes and edibles are falling into the hands of school-age children. Texas Education Agency data shows that nearly 34,800 students statewide were caught with pot or THC products during the 2023-2024 school year, an increase in the numbers recorded before hemp was legalized in Texas.
Richardson said regulation for the hemp industry beyond basic age limits is overdue. He also disputes claims that reining in the business will harm Texas-based producers.
“I would say nearly all hemp products being sold in Texas are manufactured and grown out of Texas,” he said.
For its part, Texas Original is concentrating on supporting Senate Bill 1505, another piece of legislation penned by
SB 3’s author. That proposal would allow legally approved medical pot providers to store prescription products overnight at their satellite locations.
Under current law, the items can only be stored at the companies’ headquarters, limiting their ability to serve customers statewide.
Like SB 3, SB 1505 is currently pending in the Texas Senate Committee on State Affairs.
Cornbread Hemp’s Higdon said an ideal compromise to protect minors while allowing the industry to flourish would be to establish some reasonable regulations with a specific focus on THC-infused beverages.
Cabrera also said legislators could focus on establishing child-resistant packaging requirements and place age limits on customers with an exemption for veterans between the ages of 18 and 21. Hemp industry officials maintain that veterans rely on their products to deal with PTSD.
“I’m cautiously optimistic that reason and rationality will rule the day,” Cabrera said.
Are there (gasp!) some Trump administration proposals that make sense?
BY KEVIN SANCHEZ
Bad Takes is a column of opinion and analysis.
As the new administration experiences “the tinglings of a merited shame,” to quote novelist George Eliot (she/ her), perhaps we’d do well to remember the constancy of pendulum swings in US politics.
Only President Richard M. Nixon, it was said in 1972, “could go to China.” In other words, only a zealous McCarthyite could strike a trade deal with Mao Zedong without getting blacklisted as a commie-lover.
On the other end of the spectrum, perhaps only President Bill Clinton, in 1996, could “end welfare as we know it.” Meaning only a staunch Democrat could scrap the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program, one of the hard-won achievements of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal to help alleviate child poverty. Against the grain of chaos and outrage inspired by the current Republican administration, it might be worth asking what reforms the GOP may have a shot at achieving and would be worth keeping. Assuming the country plows through any looming constitutional crises or historical atrocities, what might we say, in retrospect, “only Trump” could have accomplished?
Fox News blasted First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign, which encouraged daily exercise and healthier eating, as Nanny Statism. But after falsely victim-blaming the vast majority of COVID-19 deaths on unhealthy lifestyle choices, much of the right-wing seems unusually willing to countenance greater transparency and regulation regarding potentially toxic food additives.
“We now have around 10,000 chemicals in our food, while Europe only has 400,” new head of Health and Human
Services chief Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a Facebook video. Unlike spreading misinformation about the vital importance of the measles vaccine, Kennedy’s statement above is accurate.
Whether Democrat or Republican, “If it weren’t safe, why would they sell it?” is no longer logic most Americans find convincing. So maybe President Donald Trump’s eloquent marching orders delivered last October for RFK to “go wild on the food” may breach the two-party neoliberal deference that’s traditionally been paid to grocery monopolies. You know the old saying about broken clocks with brain worms.
First Lady Melania Trump’s much-lessmaligned campaign against revenge porn and AI-generated deepfake technology promises bipartisan support as well. According to a 2019 report by cybersecurity firm Deeptrace Labs, 96% of deepfakes on the internet involve simulating pornography of female celebrities without their consent.
Back in 2023, the Deepfakes Accountability Act introduced by U.S. Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-New York, never escaped committee in the Republican-controlled House. With Orange Napoleon’s seal of approval and the GOP’s recently-discovered pseudo-feminism, there may be some long-overdue progress on this problem.
In Trump’s first presidential address to Congress on March 4, he announced this
Semiconductors and Science Act of 2022, aka the CHIPS Act, which incentivized more production of semiconductors on U.S. shores, “a horrible, horrible thing,” according to the president?
Trump spoke admiringly of our pioneer ancestors building “the mighty Hoover Dam” and “the towering Golden Gate Bridge.” “They lit the world with electricity, broke free of the force of gravity, fired up the engines of American industry and gave us countless modern wonders sculpted out of iron, glass and steel,” he said.
Except, state investment and industrial policy was a keystone to America’s greatness. The private sector didn’t put a human bootprint on the Moon or electrify rural communities or create the internet.
A commission targeting “waste, fraud, and abuse” may be a fine idea, but rather than cutting social spending to elderly retirees, families on food assistance and veterans, why not start with large defense contractors and corporate welfare queens including Elon Musk?
laudable sentiment: ”We have to take care of our law enforcement.” Too bad he didn’t hold to it when he instigated an insurrectionary riot at the Capitol that resulted in the injury of more than 100 officers.
And if the so-called party of “law and order” is truly sincere about keeping police safe, something substantially game-changing needs to be done about the prevalence of guns in our society. Normalizing that arms race doesn’t “back the blue,” it cowers before the National Rifle Association and assorted cosplaying vigilantes.
Although Trump has called for a “common sense revolution,” to this day recreational cannabis remains lumped into the same legal category of federally prohibited substances as heroin — above both methamphetamine and fentanyl. Focusing limited law enforcement attention on murderers and thieves ought to rank as a higher priority than busting pot-smokers. A century of reefer madness is enough and defies the common sense the president keeps going on about.
In his hour-and-40-minute one-sided clap-fest, Trump pledged to “renew the unlimited promise of the American dream.” Again, a worthy goal. But then why tout the 2017 tax cuts, which went disproportionately to the already well-to-do, as a success? And why is Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce
Certainly seems like Republicans are stoking a budget crisis as an excuse to “starve the beast” and privatize everything the majority of the public relies on to get by. How does one attempt bipartisan compromise when one side doesn’t even want government to work? Because the American dream had far more to do with legislation like the GI Bill than jerking off billionaires.
“It’s time to end this senseless war,” Trump said, referring to Russia’s rebuffed annexation of Ukraine. Again, an admirable goal. But even conservative historian Niall Ferguson called Trump’s mischaracterization of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a dictator “bewildering.” However, the shameless mocking of war heroes such as late Sen. John McCain is kind of President Bone Spurs’ shtick.
And whether diplomacy could have ended the invasion earlier, under no reading of international law can a legit dictator like Vladimir Putin simply abolish the existence of a neighboring state. Nor are lies a sturdy foundation for a lasting peace.
To end on one final point of agreement — out of respect for the 77 million of my fellow citizens who voted for him — I concur with Trump that we could do without the penny. Leave ‘em for the coin collectors.
Now, let’s just pray the next four years do not render our nation similarly obsolete.
Shutterstock Zack Frank
Don’t believe it when San Antonio officials say Project Marvel won’t cost taxpayers
BY HEYWOOD SANDERS
Cityscrapes is a column of opinion and analysis.
The mysteries of Project Marvel — the city’s grand plan for a new Spurs arena, convention center expansion, hotel, Alamodome improvements, event center, land bridge and a host of new private developments — got slightly clearer a couple weeks ago.
But only slightly.
San Antonio made public a memorandum of understanding with Bexar County and the Spurs on the scheme. In doing so, the city revealed a few — but far from all — of the cost estimates for Project Marvel’s components.
We’re now told the arena will cost $1.25 billion to $1.5 billion, the convention center expansion will range between $700 million and $900 million, the reuse of the John Wood Federal Courthouse will clock in between $100 million and $150 million, and the planned new hotel will have a $750 million price tag.
Of course, that leaves no cost estimates for the Alamodome plans, the land bridge across I-37 and U.S. Highway 281, the acquisition of the Institute of Texan Cultures from the state or all the infrastructure needed to support the private development city officials have promised would percolate up.
That’s a lot of estimating and uncertainty. And, based on past experience, we should expect each project to have a final cost at or above the high-end estimate. As for components such as the Dome and the land bridge, the city leaves us no other option at this point but to guess. Although it’s a fair assumption those won’t come cheap.
Members of City Council have promised that all of the pieces of Marvel won’t
cost us anything in property taxes. “No property taxes from general taxpayers will be used to fund these projects,” the memorandum states.
Although that’s not really true.
The added taxes from new development around the public portions of the project will be captured by a tax increment reinvestment zone, or TIRZ. The proposed zone would include the entire Hemisfair area along with the existing Midtown zone, an area that stretches from Bonham Street downtown to Josephine Street and all the way along Broadway north to Hildebrand Avenue.
That means property tax revenue from all the new development in and around the Pearl Brewery and along Broadway and North St. Mary’s Street would go not to the overall city tax base — thus easing the burden on homeowners — but to financing Project Marvel for the next 30 or 40 years.
Then there’s the proposed private development that supposed to come with Marvel, such as the new 1,000-room hotel to be built between Commerce and Market streets, just north of the Grand
Hyatt. That would require relocating the SAWS chilled-water plant that supplies air conditioning to the convention center. Again, someone will have to pay for that.
The initial sketches for Project Marvel also show new mixed-use developments south of César E Chávez Boulevard. Those would be wedged between the convention center, the proposed arena, and the highway and include the parking lots south of the Alamodome and the blocks east of the dome and the railroad tracks. Aside from wiping out existing Alamodome parking, that would require millions of city dollars for new infrastructure including the land bridge, streets, utilities and landscaped public spaces linking everything together.
While the city’s memorandum isn’t particularly enlightening on where the “city capital funds” for all of that will come from, one city staffer offered a hint.
During a recent Project Marvel presentation, Assistant City Manager Lori Houston told local architects, contractors and developers “there may be a bond election connected to the project, but clarified
it wouldn’t be for a Spurs arena itself — rather it would be for infrastructure improvements like roads, utilities and parking areas surrounding the arena,” according to the San Antonio Report.
Of course, that means we’ll all be paying for the project with our tax dollars — public funds that could be used for the roads and utilities that more directly benefit us and our neighborhoods. And even if we love the Spurs, what we don’t need is two arenas. Unless you add in the Alamodome and make it three.
While we’re paying for Project Marvel with our tax dollars, we’ll also be paying in the form of lost opportunities: the evaporation of public improvements venue-tax dollars could have funded instead of a new arena, not to mention the loss of property tax base and revenues locked up in a tax increment zone for decades.
Further, the scheme represents yet another lost opportunity to build a different kind of San Antonio community — one less dependent on visitors, big public projects and the hope for more and bigger conventions.
Courtesy Image City of San Antonio
17-20
JUNE 13
CÉCILE MCLORIN SALVANT APR. 12
SHAKIRA
DISNEY ON ICE APR.
WED | 03.19
SPORTS SPURS VS. KNICKS
With a stacked roster including All-Stars Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns, the New York Knicks arrive in San Antonio motivated to hold onto both their spot in the Eastern Conference standings and home-court advantage in the opening round of the playoffs. When New York clashed with the Spurs on Christmas Day, it was Mikal Bridges who sparked the team with 41 points in a close 114-117 win at Madison Square Garden. Jeremy Sochan was solid for the Spurs, finishing the game with 21 points and 9 rebounds. As Charles Bassey recovers from an acute-on-chronic bone bruise to his left knee, Sochan has held his own in spot duty at backup center despite a recent left calf contusion. With De’Aaron Fox out for season-ending surgery on his shooting hand, the Spurs will need scoring where they can find it to keep pace with the Knicks. Look for rising star Stephon Castle to continue to make the most of his minutes on both ends of the floor. $17 and up, 7 p.m., Frost Bank Center, 1 Frost Bank Center Drive, (210) 444-5140, frostbankcenter.com, Fanduel Sports Network-Southwest. — M. Solis
THU | 03.20 - SUN | 07.13
INTERNATIONAL ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE PROGRAM
One week after Trump’s second inauguration, luminaries Laura Veles Dray, Anita Fields and Lorena Molina began their tenure as Artpace’s 2025 artists-in-residence. Two months later, in a much-changed world, the trio will emerge to show new works created during their residencies. Their exhibition is guest-curated by Jami Powell, curator of Indigenous art at Dartmouth College’s Hood Museum of Art. Powell’s work champions artists whose work often blurs boundaries of genre and discipline, and the output of Veles Dray, Molina and Fields are no exception. The dynamic work of Houston-based Veles Dray tells stories that weave together a wide swath of generations, while the large-scale installations of Salvadoran artist Lorena Molina tackles the dispossession, suffering and thriving which goes on in society’s margins. The mixed-media sculptures of Anita Fields, which teeter between chaos and order, balance the perspectives of many different cultures, including that of her Osage ancestors. At the exhibition opening, which will feature refreshments from Künstler Brewing and an experimental cumbia performance, the artists will discuss their creations in their own words. The discussion, starting at 6:30 p.m., also will livestream on Artpace’s Facebook page. Free, 6-9 p.m. Thursday, March 20 (exhibition opening), 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, 12-5 p.m. Saturday-Sunday (exhibitions on view), Artpace San Antonio, 445 N Main St., (210) 227-8400, artpace.org. — Dean Zach
SAT | 03.22
SPECIAL EVENT
ZINE LAB MONTHLY: FREAK-A-ZINE
Join Central Library for a special Zine Lab Monthly installment celebrating Women's History Month with local zinester Ana Camacho Espiritu. Co-founder and co-organizer of the San Anto Zine Fest, Espiritu has been publishing for more than 10 years, first with La Liga Zine and now through Multicontextual. While the lab keeps a wide variety of materials on hand to help with the creative process, participants are encouraged to bring personal items — photos, magazine cut-outs, fabric, mementos — that reveal their own personal tastes and aesthetic sensibilities. Participants are encouraged to donate a copy of their DIY creations to be included in the SAPL Zine Collection, which is available for public use at Central Library. Free, 2-4 p.m., Central Library, 600 Soledad St., (210) 207-2500, mysapl.org. —
TUE | 03.25
PERFORMANCE
JACK STONE AWARD FOR NEW MUSIC CONCERT
The vibraphone is an underrated instrument, equally beguiling in jazz — think of Bobby Hutcherson’s dazzling harmonic displays — and modern classical works. In his year's Jack Stone Award for New Music, a national competition for community college student composers, all three winning pieces are arranged for vibraphone and string quintet. Luxe Musicae, a San Antonio chamber group that plays both classical works and progressive pieces, will perform all three compositions. This year's winning pieces are “Foxtrot” by Darren Bienkowski of California’s Mira Costa College, “Whispered Vibrations” by Michael Crumpton of the College of Central Florida and “Stories by Candlelight” by Luke Hamilton of California’s Riverside City College. Prior to the concert, the musicians will present a 3:30 p.m. masterclass in the PCA Recital Hall. Free, 7-9 p.m., Palmetto Center for the Arts at Northwest Vista College, 3535 N. Ellison Drive, (210) 486-4527, alamo.edu/nvc. — Neil Fauerso
Instagram/spurs
Courtesy Photos Artpace
Anjali Gupta
Courtesy Photo San Antonio Public Library
Courtesy Lux Musicae
TPR FILMMAKER FORUM: DESIGNING THE FILM
Cinema is the most collaborative of all arts, and great films such as Chinatown and Phantom Thread showcase the art and design departments working in harmonious synergy. The TPR Filmmaker forum will present a discussion with professionals in the industry, including production designer Susie Hamilton, wardrobe expert Grizelda Garza, hair and makeup professional Kat Ybarra-Franklin with Vanessa Lerma of San Antonio video production company Screenville Films moderating. The event, open to filmmakers and movie buffs of all ages and experience levels, also will offer free headshots from 6-7 p.m. for those with aspirations to work in the industry. Free, 6-9 p.m., Malú and Carlos Alvarez Theater, 321 W Commerce St., (210) 614-8977, tpr.org. —NF
THU | 03.27 - SUN | 03.30
COMEDY
With two comedy specials under his belt, a third in the works and a TV and film career spanning 30 years, Godfrey isn't just a comic, actor and impressionist, he's a force. When he's not selling out venues on the road, he's commanding the stage at his legendary home club, New York City's Comedy Cellar. Godfrey’s social media accounts showcase his spot-on impressions of figures including Donald Trump and Elon Musk along with biting commentary on politics and pop culture. His podcast, In Godfrey We Trust, is nearing its milestone 600th episode, a testament to his staying power and devoted fanbase. However, the best platform to experience Godfrey’s comedic prowess is a live performance. His electrifying stage presence, brilliant impressions and crackling energy are all exceptional, but his signature grin — the one punctuating his punchlines — makes catching him live an experience impossible to replicate on a screen. $50-$200, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 27, 7:30 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. Friday, March 28, 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Saturday, March 29, 7:30 p.m. Sunday, March 30, Laugh Out Loud San Antonio, 618 Northwest Loop 410, (210) 541-8805, improvtx. com/sanantonio. — Valerie Lopez
SAT | 03.29
SPECIAL EVENT
DINOSAUR DAY
The annual Dinosaur Day event focuses on teaching scientific and conservationist practices by offering hands-on activities for learners all ages. Guided dinosaur-track and fossil-hunting tours are included in the day’s agenda, as are exhibits of local artifacts. What’s more, renowned paleontologist Thomas Adams will deliver a lecture on the dinosaurs and geology of Texas. Adams is chief curator of paleontology and geology at the Witte Museum, where his research and exhibitions continue to advance discoveries in the field. Visitors are encouraged to bring personally owned fossil specimens for help with identification. Food and beverages will be available for purchase. $5, 12-4 p.m., Heritage Museum of the Texas Hill Country, 4831 FM 2673, Canyon Lake, (830) 899-4542, theheritagemuseum.com. — AG
Pexels Matheus Bertelli
SAT | 03.29
SPORTS SPURS VS. CELTICS
Celtics sharpshooter Jayson Tatum was in All-NBA form against the Spurs in Boston last month, scorching the nets for 32 points and pulling down 14 rebounds in a lopsided 102-116 win. Former Spur Derrick White contributed 19 points, 9 assists and 7 rebounds of his own, while De’Aaron Fox led San Antonio with 23 points. San Antonio’s Stephon Castle scored 20 points off the bench, and like veteran Keldon Johnson, the Rookie of the Year candidate has been putting up quality numbers as a reserve since the All-Star break. Johnson’s relentless drive was on display in a recent loss to an undermanned Mavericks team at home, even as Jeremy Sochan and Victor Wembanyama watched from the sideline. “Defense is a team thing,” Johnson told reporters after the game, acknowledging San Antonio’s missing pieces. “So, as a team I feel like we just got to come together. Continue to communicate so we don’t have as many lapses defensively, because we are down some of our best defenders.” $42 and up, 7 p.m., Frost Bank Center, 1 Frost Bank Center Drive, (210) 444-5140, frostbankcenter.com, Fanduel Sports Network-Southwest. — MS
MON | 03.31
LECTURE
OCTAVIO SOLIS: "MEMORY: MY FAULTY MUSE”
Each year, Trinity University’s Madrid Lecture and the Madrid Fund for Latin@ Artists present a lecture that celebrates and promotes the work and creations of Latinx artists, and the latest installment will feature El Paso-born alum Octavio Solis, the school’s current artist-in-residence. As author of more than 20 plays, Solis is one of the most prolific Latinx playwrights working in the United States today. In his lecture "Memory: My Faulty Muse," Solis will consider memory in relation to art, love, identity and his mother's Alzheimer's diagnosis. He’ll also discuss his own fears of inheriting the disease. Solis is a deep, thoughtful artist whose plays are often mysterious and profound, suggesting his lecture is likely to be a rewarding and illuminating experience. He also plans to stage his latest play, In the Clearing, in early April in collaboration with Trinity students. Free, 6-7:30 p.m., Trinity University, Skyline Room at Coates Student Center, One Trinity Place, (210) 999-8170, trinity.edu. — NF
TUE | 04.01
FILM
DOLORES
¡Sí se puede! Dolores Huerta, the iconic Chicana labor leader, civil rights activist and working mother who scarcely needs an introduction, turns 95 on April 10, a day the state of California recognizes as Dolores Huerta Day. For San Antonio’s part, the local outpost of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) in partnership with the Mexican American Civil Rights Institute will screen the 2017 documentary Dolores. The Peter Bratt-directed film features interviews with towering figures such as Gloria Steinem, Angela Davis, playwright Luis Valdez and, of course, Cesar Chavez. Over the course of its 90 minutes, the doc spotlights not just Huerta’s instrumental role in the formation of the United Farm Workers and the historic Delano grape strike, but also her continued nonviolent activism in support of women’s rights, LGBT+ rights and the rights of undocumented and working people even in the face of violent threats, beatings and intimidation from those who have only ever done work with their hands when they’re gripping the levers of power. Free, 7 p.m., UNAM San Antonio, 600 Hemisfair Plaza, (210) 810-4093, somosmacri.org. — DZ
HowlRound Theatre Commons
The Junk Artist
Phil Ross isn’t about to the let the city take down his
tower of found objects
BY STEPHANIE KOITHAN
Half a mile from the South Side’s Donkey Lady Bridge, a giant melange of steel and discarded materials looms over the Medina River. At its summit, a banner flaps in the wind with a message of defiance: “Don’t tread on me.”
The 50-foot-tall structure is composed of the decommissioned detritus of modern industry. Telephone poles, sheet metal, vent piping, box lids, railroad rails, Wal-Mart staircases, hospital walk-in freezers and more have been cobbled together into a behemoth of junk.
The structure occupies a liminal space, not just between art and junk but legality and illegality. It all depends on who you ask. According to the City of San Antonio, it’s a violation.
The junk tower is the creation of retired attorney-turned-outsider artist Phil Ross, who’s been working on his metallic magnum opus for decades. A junk-art fence also surrounds the property, which also houses 150 steel doors along with limousines, fire trucks, pickup trucks, construction equipment, a school bus and several sailboats.
For years, Ross lived a life of rugged individualism. But now the city has come to him, banging the gavel of code compliance.
“I chose to live out in the county rather than the city 30 years ago,” Ross said.
Ross, 75, originally purchased his 30 acres of non-contiguous riverfront property in the 1980s, before it was annexed into San Antonio city limits. Ross had been riding his motorcycle through the countryside when he spotted the land that would become his destiny.
At that time, the property was still under the jurisdiction of Bexar County rather than the city, and the county has no zoning laws. But when San Antonio annexed the land, a cold war began.
In 1989, the city condemned the property in what Ross argues was an attempt to acquire it for the Applewhite Reservoir. As
a result, he wasn’t able to access his land for five years.
During that time, the University of California at Berkeley and St. Mary’s School of Law alum devoted his legal acumen to fighting the reservoir project, which he argued was a bad deal not just for him personally but the surrounding ecology.
Ultimately, San Antonio residents voted to kill the project, and Ross played a part. He and other community members collected more than 86,000 signatures to force a voter initiative.
Ross sued for damages over not being able to access his property and, with the settlement, began construction of his artistic vision.
“Living in a junk-art museum was my idea of a dream home,” Ross said.
It was seven stories tall, with unsecured
Erik Gustafson
wire mesh display racks and loose boards as flooring.
For a while, Ross lived in the makeshift structure — if the word “in” can even be applied to the assemblage of right angles that loosely resemble a building. During that time, he enjoyed an existence he describes as somewhere between outdoor camping and domesticity.
A licensed plumber, Ross was able to run pipes through the structure and connect to the water meter, bringing it running water and a primitive outdoor shower. Connecting to a power line brought refrigeration and bird watching from his junk-art hot tub.
But in 2010, a blaze started by an out-of-control fire pit destroyed everything that made the structure somewhat habitable. The accident left just the steel frame and other singed-but-sturdy components.
That’s when the city ordered Ross to remove two stories from the structure, reducing its height to 50 feet. He complied, and the city mostly left him alone for 15 years — that is, until he found himself the target of a flurry of code-enforcement notices over the past couple months.
In January, the city delivered a search warrant and gave Ross 10 days to remove the entire structure, but the eccentric multi-millionaire ignored the directive and went to Costa Rica “to get all [his] teeth removed.” When he returned in early March, he was issued with two more code violation notices and a stop-work order.
The Current reached out to the City of San Antonio’s Code Enforcement Department about the
alleged violations but got no response by press time.
Ross doesn’t intend to comply. Indeed, he’s doubled down, embellishing the summit of the structure with bicycles, microwave transmitter cones from CPS cell towers and a dummy from a Buc-ee’s travel stop outfitted with crutches. A hand-painted “Don’t tread on me” banner spells out his defiance — in case his intentions weren’t clear enough.
Ross originally wanted the banner to say “Come and take it” and feature a cannon in homage to the one flown during the Texas Revolution. However, his domestic partner Jo Ann Rivera, owner of the Black Swan Inn, advised him the message was too incendiary.
“I didn’t want them to think I was stupid enough to defend it with force,” Ross explained. Besides, he has other things in his arsenal.
See you in court
“Where we’re going is a point of no return, until after probably years of litigation and hundreds of thousands of dollars in city-paid attorneys’ fees,” said Ross, who’s either the defendant or plaintiff in roughly a half-dozen court cases. “In the end, I will win.”
Ross is currently a defendant and counter-claimant in a defamation case over a Netflix docuseries. A segment of the series, titled Dirty Money, featured Ross’ involvement in a guardianship battle over San Antonio millionaire Charlie Thrash.
The high-profile case threatened to result in Ross’ disbarment, prompting him to retire from his nearly 35-year legal career.
Ross is also a defendant and counter-claimant in a trust case and a statutory condemnation case by the Texas Department of Transportation. He’s also a plaintiff in an inverse condemnation case against the City of San Antonio, a breach of contract case, and a negligent nuisance case, all involving other projects and properties.
At this point, the city’s multiple complaints against Ross’ structure, property and exterior fence include accusations of “illegal dumping” — something he denies. Code Compliance also maintains the steel tower puts the public at risk.
But considering Ross’ property is surrounded by nearly unfettered wilderness adjacent to the El Camino Real trailhead, it begs the question: what public? He also built a security fence around the structure, which means only those who break into the property would be at risk.
While Code Compliance has also deemed the property a “nuisance,” Ross only has two neighbors within two miles of his house, and both tolerate the project.
“It’s something different. It doesn’t bother me,” said Jose Valencia, whose property is across the street from Ross’. “Everyone can do what they want on their property. Freedom of speech, right?”
Over the years, Valencia has even provided Ross with leftover materials from his construction business.
Erik Gustafson
arts
The other neighbor, Laura Molina, who runs an air conditioning business with her husband Jeff, has a slightly different take.
“His fence does not bother me as long as he maintains it,” Molina said, adding that the fence is dilapidated and some of the trees hanging over it need to be trimmed.
Sometimes, people dump sofas, mattresses and trash bags outside Ross’ property thinking it’s a junk yard, Molina said. For his part, Ross said that those aren’t dumped garbage but items people donate for his art project.
Molina argues the motivation behind Ross’ junk-art fence isn’t artistic but a calculated effort to keep the city from messing with him by using the protections of the First Amendment — something Ross doesn’t deny.
Junk or art
Among the many enduring debates over Ross’ junk-art haven is whether it’s in the city or the country.
Ross and his neighbors said the city doesn’t dispatch employees to the area unless they’re maintaining the walking trail or serving Ross with code violations. The few residents aren’t connected to the city’s sewer system and have to rely on septic tanks.
Further, Valencia and Ross said it takes police and first responders up to an hour to respond to an emergency in the area. The nearest police substation is located downtown, some 45 minutes away.
Ross added that when he’s experienced break-ins, he’s conducted citizen’s arrests, sometimes with shotgun in hand, and waited for police to arrive.
Though Ross’ junk tower looks unfinished, Ross says it’s complete enough for him to enjoy. He frequently sits in a dingy recliner on the furthest outcropping over the river to drink beer and enjoy the vista.
From his “high chair” on the second story, Ross has a 360-degree view of the mesquites, chinaberry, elms and hackberry surrounding his property, where wild boar, coyotes, deer and goats roam free. A zipline also runs from the summit of the structure, and another runs from one part of the Medina River to another.
“It’s like an adult jungle gym,” he said. Ross’ mother told him he would never finish the structure in her lifetime. But he said the art project is about the journey, not the destination.
The project has been a crash course in architecture, welding and construction, the retired attorney said.
Along the way, he’s had to learn how to operate a crane and back-hoe, both of which he won at auction. He also obtained
a commercial driver’s license so he could use a dump truck to transport large items to his property.
While Ross understands that some people object to his junk-art structure, he said it represents an ongoing intellectual pursuit as he enjoys his retirement.
“Things have worked out pretty much how I’ve planned, except I didn’t anticipate fighting with the government,” Ross said. However, he admits the legal disputes
are also keeping him sharp.
Ross said he collected most of the junk for his wall on the side of the road. But don’t dare call it “trash.”
“Some artists use trash but I limit my use to junk,” Ross said, delineating between the two. “Junk is normally manufactured products that have lived beyond their shelf life but have a form.”
And while some artists incorporate plastic into their creations to divert it
from the landfill, “trash is around in so much volume that it doesn’t make sense to keep it around as raw materials,” Ross added.
Like other outsider artist installations such as the Orange Show in Houston or Austin’s Cathedral of Junk, the project stems from an obsession many won’t understand. However, Ross said his is more about personal enjoyment than it is making a public statement.
Ross is also untrained as an artist. But being unqualified is a key qualification for outsider art, which is created outside any school or discipline.
Even so, Ross is a self-professed scholar when it comes to architect Frank Lloyd Wright, who he said inspired much of his design for the tower. The retired lawyer also sees himself as part of a lineage of junk art dating back to post-war Europe with the Italian Arte Povera movement, which incorporated discarded materials as a rejection of consumerism and conformity.
Ross has dedicated decades to this project, and he’s not going to give it up without a fight, he said, standing on the highest summit of his creation behind the “Don’t tread on me” flag.
“This is my seminal statement,” he said. “If they step on me — which they are — I’ll litigate.”
Erik Gustafson
Erik Gustafson
Seeing and Being Seen
SAMA’s “Envisioning the Hindu Divine” offers new understandings of an ancient faith
BY SANFORD NOWLIN
The San Antonio Museum of Art’s spring exhibition blends the ancient and the modern in exploration of breathtaking imagery that’s sacred to more than a billion people.
“Envisioning the Hindu Divine: Expanding Darshan and Manjari Sharma” combines nine large-scale photos by India-born and now U.S.-based visual artist Sharma. She created the colorful and breathtaking images — which depict nine of the Hindu pantheon’s most-recognizable gods — by costuming people and outfitting them with props often associated with the individual deities.
Accompanying the photos are 40 historical works, mostly statues from various parts of South Asia, depicting the same gods. All of the deities are still widely worshiped by the faith’s 1.2 million followers in India and around the world.
Together, the creations explore the Hindu concept of darshan, which is a moment of seeing and being seen by the divine, often through viewing the image of a deity.
The traveling exhibition originated at Alabama’s Birmingham Museum of Art and will remain on display at SAMA through July 6.
To get a deeper understanding of the work and what it represents, the Current spoke with both Sharma and Katherine Anne Paul, the Virginia and William M. Spencer III Curator of Asian Art at the Birmingham Museum of Art.
Katherine Anne Paul
One of the surprising things about the exhibition is that so many of the works are from outside India, Hinduism’s birthplace. Does the influence of the religion across so much of South Asia speak to the power of the imagery and to the personas of the deities themselves? That’s very true, and I think the reality is
that many people within India are completely unaware that Hinduism extended far beyond India. One of the goals of the exhibition was not only to teach people who were outside the Hindu tradition, but to teach people inside the Hindu tradition the resident impact that Hinduism had and continues to have in Southeast Asia.
The exhibition also encompasses a long stretch of time. Some of the sculptures date back hundreds of years, yet the photographic component is recent enough that the artist, Manjari Sharma, brought it about through a crowdfunding campaign.
MSharma’s depiction of the goddess Lakshmi features gold coins suspended on fishing line so they appear to fall from her palm.
Courtesy Image SAMA
Manjari
Absolutely. And the other thing … for people who are aware of pop culture within India, we named on the walls each of the models who sat for the photography.
The woman who portrays the goddess Lakshmi, she’s visually famous, as is the woman who portrays the goddess Saraswati. The woman who portrays Saraswati is a
well-known newscaster, so it’s like looking at the goddess of wisdom and learning, but also seeing a Katie Couric or another famous newscaster in that role.
And seeing Lakshmi, you also see a Bollywood actress some may recognize. And even if you can’t recognize the face behind the monkey God Hanuman, when
Myou read his name, you realize he’s a really famous bodybuilder in India — like Arnold Schwarzenegger-famous bodybuilder.
So, there’s this layering of the 21st century over this thousands-of-years-old history of Hinduism.
What does that say about the Hindu religion and its imagery that these complex deities can be viewed so many different ways by so many different people?
I think part of what that says is that Hinduism is a practice that is additive — it adds things as opposed to taking stuff away. So, I think that’s one really crucial part to it. But I think the other crucial part is that all of these deities are functional in the environment within South Asia.
One of the most amazing things that happened during the [COVID-19] pandemic is that when everybody was in lockdown … global pollution was dramatically reduced.
And what that meant in India is that you could be in New Delhi in the capitol and be able to actually see the Himalayan Mountains, which had not been visible that way since the Industrial Revolution because of air pollution. That meant at one time you used to be able to see the mountains where the gods lived.
The physicality of the country, the rivers, the mountains, the oceans, all connect to where those gods live in the same way that the Greek Pantheon connects to the physicality of Greece and Mount Olympus.
So, I think that while we lost that connection in many ways when Christianity overtook Greece for the Greek Orthodox Church, that was something that was never lost within South Asia.
When you look at Shiva — whose matted locks hold back the river waters of the Ganges River and who lives on Mount Kailash — you realize that Mount Kailash is an actual mountain that people worship as the home of Shiva … and whose glaciers are the ones that produce the river waters that flood into the Ganges River.
What do you hope people will take away from seeing these very old representations of Hindu gods and the new representations Sharma created with her photography?
One is that Hinduism goes beyond just India. … And the other is that it’s incredibly old, but it’s also incredibly new and it’s incredibly adaptive. If I had just two takeaways, those would be major wins.
What do you hope the exhibition says about immigration and toler-
Courtesy Image SAMA
This photo depicting the monkey god Hanuman required extensive special-effects makeup.
arts
ance towards people of different beliefs?
Well, one of the things Indians are very proud to say is that India is the world’s largest democracy. Because, of course, they have billions of people. Far larger as a population than the United States.
One of the reasons that the Indians are excited about being the world’s largest democracy — and why Hinduism often is this additive religion — is that there are lessons to be learned about mutual respect of very different stories.
Earlier you were saying, “Oh, it’s so interesting that these deities can have multiple stories that can be contradictory or they can be overlapping.” And that ’s what the philosophy really allows for is it allows for multiple timelines.
I don’t know if you’re a Marvel Universe fan, but I think the term “multiverse” is really perfect for understanding aspects of Hinduism. I hope we’re living in the multiverse where people want to have mutual respect and understanding.
Because we all learn from each other and are better for it, as opposed to [an existence] where we’re trying to narrow our worlds. The world is huge, and knowledge should be expansive. It should not be contractive.
Manjari Sharma
Because you didn’t use Photoshop or digital manipulation when you created these photos, you had to rely on craftspeople to create props and makeup effects. Was that something that you knew from the start?
It was a little bit of an evolution. I definitely had a very clear ideas. I sketched out these very rudimentary illustrations, there were digital sketches, and I had my color palette and how I wanted a very central figure. I wanted to fill in the details of each of their sets. And so, I had that plan in place. … And then my first one was Mahalakshmi, that’s the goddess of wealth that has the gold coins falling from her hands.
And I went on to the mission of trying to create her. … I had my model chosen, but I started out with these rental props. I rented the elephants and I rented a large lotus ceramic piece. I tried to have rented jewelry and and see if I could make it come alive at a fraction of a cost. Mumbai, in India, has a big market for mythology props, and objects. … [Hindu stories] are very alive in India. And so, they have theatrical reenactments of
these stories or of these deities. Put it this way, there’s entire markets dedicated to props and objects that could be purchased or rented in order to recreate some of these stories.
So, I started out with something that was a little bit more rental-oriented, and then I realized that I didn’t want that approach. It wasn’t a mockery, it wasn’t an approximation. ... I really wanted it to look like every object in the set really belonged to a world that belonged to the subject. Everything was centered around the human subject.
So that’s when I started to get them custom constructed, and that was expensive, but that was the way that it looked correct. It looked like it fit. … You couldn’t really get the right scale of an object unless you really designed its placement and built it, so it was in proper perspective with the object in the foreground. It seemed like custom constructing it, while complicated, was also the most direct way to get the desired results.
MThe SAMA exhibit includes depictions of Hindu gods not only from India but other South Asian countries.
Why was it important not to digitally manipulate the images?
Well, I mean, I’m a visual artist, and I’m thrilled to see a block of fiber turn into clouds. Just alone, the grounds of the beauty of the craft coming to life is thrilling. I didn’t consider myself a Photoshop artist, so that was not a route I was interested in taking.
Also, there’s a love for the element of performance, of how these materials, when they layer on each other, become a conversation in itself. Human layered with fiber, layered with painting, layered with ceramic, layered with pieces of wood and objects floating and suspended with fishing line. I mean, it was an experience in itself.
The final photograph was where it all stopped, but the lead up to it was this process of metamorphosis where you just saw something come out of nothing. But it was slowly built by many, many hands. It felt almost ironic, if not very meta, that here’s a bunch of humans, flawed humans, coming together to make up this image of perfection that would be the image of a god, which, again, is played by a very flawed human being. The flaws of it were the most interesting part to me.
What would you like people to take away from these photographs who grew up Hindu? And what would you like for people to take away who know nothing about Hinduism?
For those who are already aware of it, I would say a mythology is like this Banyan tree. It’s so wide and it’s so vast, and it ’s so convoluted and interconnected. And the connective tissue between these deities is fascinating. There’s so much to learn, and it’s kind of endless.
I do not claim to be an expert, but it … continues to be a thrill to discover more and more and more [about Hinduism]. So, I hope that this maybe invites them to continue their exploration of it. Because, it’s been fun for me to do that, especially living far away from a culture that [I] took for granted but was always immersed in some kind of a mythological conversation. … And then, for those who don’t know anything about it, I would say, “Different is cool, different is interesting. “Different is why I left everything I knew and traveled to another part of the world. What continues to challenge me as an artist is doing something different, learning something different. I hope this [exhibition] invites them to discover a culture that has great significance and meaning.
And then, also, there are the parallels — the parallels of stories, regardless of what mythology you are approaching. There’s so much commonality between Hanuman and the Wookiee [from Star Wars], for example. I’m personally very interested in science fiction. It’s my favorite place to go where I feel like mythology and science live together, and it creates this fictional reality that is a hybrid of the past and the future. I think there’s a lot of clues embedded in all kinds of cultures, so I welcome people to look for clues in this one.
$12-$22 or free for Bexar County residents 4-7 p.m. Tuesdays and 10 a.m.-noon Sundays, through July 6, San Antonio Museum of Art, 200 W. Jones Ave., (210) 978-8100, samuseum. org.
Courtesy Image SAMA
THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 2025 6-9 PM
arts
Laughing Matters
English stand-up
comedian Russell Howard takes center stage at Aztec Theatre on March 19
BY KIKO MARTINEZ
Give English stand-up comedian Russell Howard an option between getting an audience to erupt in laughter or give him a standing ovation at the end of his set, and there’s no question what he would choose.
“I love making people laugh,” Howard, 44, told the Current during a recent interview. “I’m old school, [and] I’m pretty needy.”
He will get plenty of opportunities to bring down the house when he performs at the Aztec Theatre at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 19.
Howard has performed in Texas before, but this will be his first trip to San Antonio. He describes past crowds in the Lone Star State as “brilliant, vibrant and funny” and “generous laughers” who are “up for fun and have an air of lunacy.”
During our interview, Howard, who’s best known for his TV shows Russell Howard’s Good News and The Russell Howard Hour, talked about the first time he remembers making an audience laugh and what he thinks about the current political landscape in the U.S.
For those American audiences not familiar with you, how would you describe your comedy?
I would describe it as observational, topical, personal and family-based. I have two Netflix specials ( Recalibrate and Lubricant ) that are a pretty good barometer, and I’ve got a new special out at the moment (Live at the London Palladium) . I’ve always blended the news and my family and personal life together. That’s probably the best way of doing it. I go for laughs rather than a round of applause.
Do you urge audiences to do their
research on you before going to one of your shows?
I’m super lucky that because of my two Netflix specials and my YouTube channel and Instagram, a lot of people, when I perform in America, have a good idea of who I am. But there’s always someone who’s been dragged along, and I like performing for them as well. I’d be happy if people found me by accident.
I read that you studied economics in college. What was your plan before comedy?
I wanted to be a footballer when I was
England do them. I remember doing one of those when I was eight. The main guy performing tripped over me, and when I reacted, the crowd laughed. I remember the feeling of about 100 people laughing. I remember feeling wonderful.
Were you the class clown in school? At school, I was the classic English kid who was always taking the piss out of other kids [and] making everyone laugh and mocking teachers — all the usual things. It just made me feel alive. I loved it. I said this in my special: Laughter is the lubricant that makes life livable. It’s amazing how in tough times, laughter is like this kind of fire that warms you.
When can laughter be inappropriate?
You know, I remember when my granddad died, at his funeral, my nan had a very sore throat, and she was deaf, so she shouted in the church, “Has anyone got anything I can suck?” And my brother went, “Well, granddad picked the wrong day to die!” The laughter reverberated through the funeral. We all adored my granddad, and we missed him terribly, but that joke was so perfect for my family.
Do you hope people laugh at your funeral?
Yeah, I would hope. I hope they miss me, and I hope they laugh. I mean, I don’t want them to point at the coffin and laugh. That’s not the laughter you’re after. But I think that laughter is just a way of appreciating somebody. A wake should certainly be full of tears and laughter.
young. In England, it’s kind of the dream. I played football until I was 18, but I wasn’t good enough. I discovered stand-up comedy when I was 16. I remember getting a cassette of comedian Lee Evans, and it absolutely transformed my life. I did my first gig when I was 18. From then, that’s all I’ve wanted to do.
What’s your earliest memory of making somebody laugh?
We have these things in the UK called pantomime around Christmas. So, they’re [shows] like Goldilocks and Cinderella and Snow White . Schools in
What is your reaction as an outsider to everything currently happening in the American political landscape?
A simple way of summing it up is that Britain is not great and you are not united. I’ve been touring across Europe and speaking to people in Slovenia and Holland and Germany where the neo-Nazis came in second in the German election. It’s wild. It’s a frightening and strange time. Comedy is a brilliant way of trying to make sense of it. I find America is definitely setting the news agenda again. It’s like an iPod shuffle of crazy.
Courtesy Photo Russell Howard
Shaping Culture
Adria Arjona urges Hollywood to tell more original Latino stories like Los Frikis
BY KIKO MARTINEZ
The forthcoming dramatic film Los Frikis tells the true story of a Cuban punk subculture made up of young people who defied their government by listening to rock ’n’ roll.
During the 1990s, some members of the Los Frikis subculture purposely injected themselves with HIV-infected blood so they could move into government housing. They took the desperate move so they could have safe places to stay and enough food to eat during Cuba’s economic crisis.
In the film, actress Adria Arjona (Hit Man) plays Maria, a caregiver who works at a sanatorium where some of the Los Frikis members live. This includes two brothers, Paco (Héctor Medina) and Gustavo (Eros de la Puente), the latter of whom has faked his HIV diagnosis.
During an interview with the Current, Arjona, 32, talked about the importance of the story behind Los Frikis and what she found inspiring about her character. She also discussed why more original Latino narratives need to be told in Hollywood.
Los Frikis will make its debut on digital platforms on March 28, 2025.
What was your initial reaction when you learned about Los Frikis and what they did in order to survive?
I didn’t know about this story or this period in history. I felt pretty ignorant. Once I finished the script, I went down this rabbit hole and started learning more about the story. I spoke to [writers/directors] Tyler [Nilson] and Michael [Schwartz], and they educated me. I knew it was so important for this story to be told. The way that Tyler and Michael wanted to tell it and their vision for it was something that I just couldn’t say no to.
Why was it important to bring this lost Cuban history to the surface again?
It really showcases desperation in a different light. In my eyes, I think a lot of stories that have a touch of history are important. We should know about them. We’re so used to seeing maybe three or four [Latin American stories] on the big screen. We keep watching them with different actors, writers and directors, and it’s the same thing. We’re perceived in the same way. I think with Los Frikis, it’s different.
What did you like about your character, and how she fits into the overall narrative?
There isn’t a better depiction of a Latin woman than Maria. She’s maternal. She’s incredibly strong. She’s vulnerable. She has all the qualities that the women in my family have. So, that’s what really drew me to my character. [Like Maria], I’m very sensitive. I care deeply about other people, sometimes to my own detriment.
Los Frikis co-producer Phil Lord, who is best known for producing movies like Spider-Man: IntotheSpider-Verse, has Cuban roots. Do we need more Latinos like him making decisions about the stories to tell in Hollywood? Absolutely, and not necessarily just Latin — of every culture. Obviously, I’m biased, so I’m going to always say, “More Latin!” It’s important that we educate ourselves through film. Films can really inform us as a culture. It shapes and shifts culture at times. It’s important that we tell our stories and that we portray characters we can relate to.
Is it enough to make the “Latino version” of a movie, or do we need more original stories? No, we need original stories that highlight our culture. I did [the remake of] Father of the Bride. It was the Latin version. I am so proud of being a part of that movie. With that said, it’s also really important to tell fresh, new stories. There are so many out there. But telling a new story is a risk, and Hollywood is kind of safe, so it’s hard. You have to do it independently. It’s a struggle. I think the most important thing is for our community to support Latin content. If we’re demanding representation, then we have to show up.
Since you are a Puerto Rican and Guatemalan actress and are playing a Cuban woman in Los Frikis, did you find anything challenging about capturing that specific Spanish-language accent?
You know, all of the muscles in my mouth had to move differently. It’s almost like doing an English accent. Growing up, I spent a lot of time in Miami, so I’ve been around a lot of Cuban-Americans. I’m Puerto Rican, so I’m Caribbean. That made it feel a little bit easier on me, especially on my body and the way that it moves.
Late last year, Mexican actor Eugenio Derbez criticized Mexican American actress Selena Gomez for her Mexican accent in Emilia Pérez. Do you consider having conversations about those kinds of uncomfortable topics constructive?
Everyone has their right to their own opinion. I think [Selena] did a beautiful job. It is a sensitive topic in the same way it is to have two Americans direct [Los Frikis]. When you have Emilia Pérez being told by a French [director], people ask, “Well, why can a Frenchman do it and not two Americans?”
It’s always tricky. At the end of the day, we’re all vessels of a story.
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Hoppy Returns
San Antonio Beer Festival
coming back to Hemisfair for 20th anniversary
BY TRAVIS E. POLING
In 2005, a modest gathering called Ale Fest — the first edition of what was to grow into the San Antonio Beer Festival — took place in Hemisfair Park.
In the two decades since, both the sudsy celebration and Hemisfair have morphed into something much greater — and the two will reunite this fall as the San Antonio Beer Festival moves back to the historic downtown public space.
“The event has evolved over 20 years,” said festival organizer Cassandra Wagner of the San Antonio Current. “We’ve grown the festival, hosted at various parks around the city. Now we’re delighted to come back to Hemisfair after the expansion of this world-class parks district.”
Officials from the Current, Hemisfair and the San Antonio Food Bank made the announcement of the new venue earlier this month at Civic Park, which includes large open spaces inside Hemisfair. Wagner said her organization’s had an eye on returning to Hemisfair for several years and was happy the completion of the space to host the fest coincided with its 20th anniversary.
Wagner said the event, which took place in Crockett Park for the past several years, has raised tens of thousands of dollars for the San Antonio Food Bank and helped provide significant media exposure to aid the nonprofit’s fundraising.
The theme for the Saturday, Oct. 18, gathering is Oktoberfest, which celebrates the history of its new location. A neighborhood rich with German heritage was located on the site before the 1968 World’s Fair transformed it into Hemisfair. The German Pavilion erected for that event honored that aspect of the neighborhood’s history.
German food and activities such as a stein-holding contest will be a big part of this year’s San Antonio Beer Festival. Keeping with that theme, Wednesday’s announcement was accompanied by oompah tunes from San Antonio musical group the Tubameisters.
“My grandfather taught me that beer and food go together,” said Michael Guerra, chief sustainability officer of the San Antonio Food Bank and the grandson of a Pearl Brewery brewmaster.
The 2025 festival will support the Food Bank’s ability to withstand economic hardships that could be headed our way, Guerra added. During such downturns, there are fewer donations to the organization, even as more San Antonio-area residents seek help finding sustenance.
“We are expecting the food system to tighten in the current situation,” Guerra added.
Wagner said this year’s festival will feature hundreds of beers, seltzers and near beers. The offerings will include more choices to reflect drinking preferences of various generations, including members of Gen Z, who frequently seek alternative beverage choices such as low- and no-alcohol drinks.
Besides the benefit to the Food Bank and those who like a good party, the event has had an economic impact for local breweries, hotels and other businesses.
“In just the past five festival years alone, the San Antonio Beer Festival has generated an estimated $2.8 million in local economic impact, according to Americans for the Arts,” Wagner said of study of the last five festivals by the Washington, D.C.based arts advocacy and research group.
“That means more revenue for local breweries, small businesses, restaurants, and hotels — all helping to fuel San Antonio’s economy.”
Holland Lawrence, co-owner and brewer of Wild Barley Kitchen & Brewery and former head brewer at Ranger Creek Brewing & Distilling, said he’s enjoyed his stints working at the San Antonio Beer Festival in multiple locations over the past 14 years.
food
“The work they’ve done on Hemisfair and the historic aspect of it makes it exciting to return there,” Lawrence said.
In recent years, the San Antonio Beer Festival and San Antonio Beer Week have teamed up to make the festival an official Beer Week event. Beer Week organizers have three official events annually with the Beer Festival as opening salvo. The celebration culminates in a Beer Olympics that pits teams from breweries against one another.
Breweries and craft beer-centric bars and restaurants host their own slate of tastings and events during the week. The Current has played a major role in Beer Week since its 2011 inception and even produced an annual guide to the event for several years.
Lawrence, a former board member of San Antonio Beer Week, said the many years of the Beer Festival and Beer Week have led to a greater understanding by the public of local craft beer and led to its overall growth.
As a result, consumers get to experience a lot more beers and interact with the people who make the products and understand the industry.
“I get in front of so many people who are in our direct market,” Lawrence said of his experience working booths at the Beer Festival. “I’m able to pitch to thousands of people in a day to come out and visit us.”
Jaime Monzon
food
Cooking up Conversation
Dashi Chinese Kitchen
chef-owner Kristina Zhao let a family dream lead her into the restaurant biz
BY KAT STINSON
Name: Kristina Zhao
Job: Chef-owner, Dashi Chinese Kitchen + Bar and Sichuan House
Birthplace: Guizhou, China
Years in food service: 10
Big Impact: Known for her dedication to showcasing authentic Sichuan cuisine at her two restaurants, Zhao’s culinary and artistic prowess has been showcased on TV shows including Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives
Money Quote: “The production of a restaurant is a culmination of many, many moving parts, many people, many masters of their craft. From the food, the ambience, the music, the service, the bar, it’s just a combination of all those things, those little details that that make an exceptional dining experience.”
Tell us how your parents inspired your culinary background.
My culinary background really stems from cooking at home with my father, and then the majority of it otherwise was self-experimentation, in my pre-restaurant days.
I was born in China and came to the States when I was about a year old, but grew up in San Antonio. I did my undergrad at UT in Austin, where I studied communications and public relations.
My mother was a neurologist back in China, and she came over to the United States to pursue her postdoctoral studies. Her lifelong goal was always to be a practicing physician here in the States. My father and I joined her a little bit later.
When my father came to the States, he tried a few different jobs here and there. And of course, there was a tremendous language barrier. So he decided that he was going to go into
business for himself. He started his first business in 1997, a concept that has now evolved into the Asia Market, which he has expanded.
His first shop was maybe about 800-square-feet or so. His shop now is, I want to say, close to 6,000 or 7,000 square feet, and it’s located down the street from Sichuan House. So, he’s had that market for a very long time, and he always wanted to branch into the restaurant sector. And in 2015, that’s when the stars became aligned, and he went forward on that opportunity. That’s the same year my mother got an offer to be a practicing physician in New York, the culmination of her lifelong dream.
With my mother leaving for New York and me needing a hiatus from working after I graduated from college, I thought that I’d casually come home to San Antonio and help my father run his new restaurant business.
That’s kind of how it happened. My intention was really only to help out in,
the bottom. I’ve got to figure out how to market this, because I don’t want to be in this type of price war, so to speak. It’s not like we’re not working any less hard than the restaurants that have the $35 up to a $100-plus price per average, right? And so it became more of a personal endeavor to change that stigma, the people’s perception of what real good Chinese food is supposed to be.
Why did you name your second restaurant Dashi?
In Chinese, every syllable that you hear is a unique word. [With] Dashi’s particular character set — da and shi — da can mean “big” or “grand” or “large,” and shi means “teacher” or “master” or “artist.” So, you know, dashi together can mean great teacher, great artist, grand master and so forth. And for us, that really resonates … . The production of a restaurant is a culmination of many, many moving parts, many people, many masters of their craft. From the food, the ambience, the music, the service, the bar, it’s just a combination of all those things, those little details that that make an exceptional dining experience.
What do you hope for other women in the restaurant industry right now?
like, the first few months — maybe half a year or so, to do the marketing component. Never really with the intention to get that deep into all aspects of the business. But, you know, as fate would have it, that’s not exactly how it worked out.
How do you feel like your marketing expertise helped?
To truly market something, you need to understand your product. You need to understand your community. There’s a lot of Chinese restaurants in San Antonio. When I dined out myself, I wondered: Why? Why is the average price at an American restaurant, easily $30or $40-plus per person, while Chinese restaurants are clocking in at like $9 or $10 per person?
And this is a stat I was noticing back in 2015, because there were a lot of Chinese restaurants close to us. And this person’s doing an $8.99 special, while the next person is $7.99, the next is $6.99, and I’m just like, this is a race at
I have a tremendous amount of respect for the women in San Antonio, and what they do for the culinary community. I think there are so many incredible leaders in our community who have so much knowledge and experience to offer. In addition to being able to share about our struggles and pain points, I hope we will normalize talking about business acumen, money, financial literacy — sharing our knowledge and experience, successes and failures with each other to keep lifting each other up and propelling each other to success. You know the common saying is to be a millionaire in the restaurant business, you have to be a billionaire first? Well, most of us are not billionaires to start. We are blessed to build a career in an industry we have passion for. However, if it is not profitable, it is just a hobby — an extremely expensive one at that. Even though we are out of the “pandemic era” so to speak, the industry is wildly different from what it was five years ago. I think this is so important to talk about because local restaurants are shuttering left and right. Just like my family and I are pursuing our American dream, those businesses were someone’s American dream.
Natalia Sun Photography
Still Mining Mindcrime
Former Queensrÿche singer Geoff Tate to perform signature concept album in its entirety for San Antonio show
BY MIKE MCMAHAN
For a while now, it’s been a trend for touring bands to play fan-favorite albums live in their entirety. The practice seems especially suited to concept albums, which tell a whole story in sequence.
Queensrÿche’s Operation: Mindcrime stands as both a high point in the progressive metal act’s canon and as a concept al-
bum lauded for its ambitious storytelling.
Little surprise then that former Queensrÿche frontman Geoff Tate is performing the 1988 album in full during his current tour, which stops at the Aztec Theatre on Saturday, March 29. Guitarist Adrian Vandenberg will open.
The politically charged, operatic LP came at a formative moment in Queensrÿche’s career, ushering the band out of an early era indebted to Iron Maiden and Judas Priest-indebted era into its final
form as a prog-metal pioneer. Tate’s vocals remained a constant over that evolution, soaring at sky-high pitches above the act’s dual guitars.
Operation: Mindcrime’s story centers around a shadowy group carrying out political assassinations. It focuses on three characters: Dr. X, the mysterious leader of the group; Nikki, an addict being manipulated by Dr. X and his followers; and Sister Mary, a nun and fellow addict drawn into the murderous events.
While Queensrÿche released its most commercially successful LP, Empire, a couple of years later, Operation: Mindcrime remains the crown jewel in the group’s catalog. The band played the concept album in its entirety several times, including, ironically enough, on the headlining tour to support Empire. An Operation: Mindcrime II even followed in 2006.
But things fell apart in 2012 as Tate and Queensrÿche parted ways in one of rock’s messiest and most public breakups. The remaining members kept the name and recruited Tate sound-alike Todd LaTorre, while Tate embarked on a solo career, the live side of which has largely focused on Queensrÿche material.
We talked to Tate via Zoom about the upcoming tour, the state of the world and, yes, his pending release Mindcrime III. Tate told us the album will be released in songs or clusters of songs over the next year or two and have “all the bells and whistles,” including the dialogue snippets that were a big part of the first two Mindcrime records.
According to Tate, the new album is “very heavy” and features complex rhythms: “We’re fascinated with slide rules and calculators.” He even added
Courtesy Image Geoff Tate
that comparisons to Swedish prog-metal band Meshuggah and its djent descendants are close to the mark.
The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What’s the enduring appeal of Operation: Mindcrime?
Gosh, I like to think that it’s because the music is so good that people just can’t get enough of it. (Laughs.) And maybe there is an element of truth to that, but I think it’s kind of a timeless story. Classic themes from history. Good versus evil, the right against the left. It has religion, it has politics, it has people vying for power. And I think a lot of people … wanna come out and just see if I can still sing it. (Laughs.) I’m kind of curious about that myself.
One way to find out. One way. Trial by fire, right?
This is being billed as the last time the album will be performed completely. Why let it go now?
I’ve performed the album in its entirety, I think, three times in my career. And I really did wanna do it one more time while I’m strong and feeling great and singing well. And we wanted to have kind of a place for Mindcrime III to sit, you know, in a chronological sense. We’re playing excerpts from Mindcrime II, and we thought we’d kind of bookshelf the songs from III in there as well — to sort of give the audience the full picture of what the story is. The Mindcrime III story is the [original] Mindcrime story, but from the perspective of Dr. X. We get to know him and see who this guy is.
Is there a character that you particularly identify with?
Oh, gosh. Well, actually, two days ago, I was in Amsterdam. My wife and I had gone there for a couple of days off, and we were walking down the street, and we happened to stop and look for directions on our phone. I looked up, and I was standing in front of the Club Paradiso, which is where I was when the character of Mary came to me. I was in the club. It was four in the morning. And I was kind of slumped over my drink, just looking around the place. There was a woman dressed as a nun. She might have been a nun for as much as I know. She was dancing to this intense, hard techno music. But she was doing it in slow motion. And she was clutching a ratty-looking teddy bear. Maybe she found it at a dumpster outside or something. Tears were running down her face. I got out my notebook and I wrote down everything I could see. I really relate to that, that despondent, helpless and hopeless feeling, even though I guess I’ve never really felt that way myself. But the look and the way that that woman was holding herself, she was hopeless and helpless and despondent. How can I say it? She was just the exhibit of that. Nikki is … . Sometimes I like him, sometimes I hate him. He’s weak and unable to pull himself up by his bootstraps. And, then, sometimes he
kind of comes through with flying colors, just surprising himself. But Dr. X, I really have gotten into his character and have had a lot of fun exploring him. Seeing where he goes, where he has been.
Your style of performance has a theatrical flair. If you were going to stage someone else’s concept album, what would you choose?
Would I have a budget? (Laughs.)
Unlimited! Let’s have fun with this.
I would immediately visit Kate Bush and talk her into performing The Hounds of Love. In my opinion, that’s one of the all-time great albums. Brilliant record. Coincidentally, James Barton, who produced Operation: Mindcrime and Empire, was the engineer on The Hounds of Love. Not that I’m prejudiced because of that. (Laughs.) Hounds is a brilliant album and it deserves to be seen in a live presentation. She’s never done it. I think it would be phenomenal.
I was hoping you would say Genesis’ The Lamb LiesDownonBroadway.
I saw that tour [when Genesis performed the full LP live]. I couldn’t even imagine it differently. It was phenomenal. That was one of the first concert tours I ever saw. The first one was Alice Cooper’s Billion Dollar Babies tour. I had some amazing first experiences with concerts back in the day.
Except for both being concept albums, Lamb and Mindcrime couldn’t be more different. Mindcrime has dialogue, and the story is unmissable. Lamb is abstract. If someone didn’t tell you, “There’s a story here,” I’m not sure most people would know. Yeah, it would just be shocking and considered avant garde. And somewhat highbrow. (Laughs.)
If Operation:Mindcrime was placed in a time
capsule and dug up in a hundred years, what would you want people to know or understand about America in the 1980s?
America is a fascinating study. There’s nothing like it. Mammoth, you know? I laugh because I have a lot of Irish friends. My daughter, Emily, married an Irishman. They have just over 5 million people in the whole country. But in America we have almost 350 million to deal with. To protect, to serve, to feed. It’s a whole different thing. You can’t compare a lot of these countries to America, which is so diverse culturally. It’s its own animal. It doesn’t change quickly. It takes decades for things to get worked out in America. I think that the ’80s — maybe as a jumping-off point — you see a few changes now, but a lot of it is still the same, you know? It fluctuates back and forth socially and economically even. What they would take away, if we use the time capsule model, is that the album is a good marker — a point of where we were in the ’80s. And a lot hasn’t changed, is what I’m trying to say. You could drop the record now, and it would probably have the same impact as it did in the ’80s.
I agree, though, oddly, there might have been a time in the 2000s when it felt like things had changed.
It swings back and forth, you know? Which is strange, given the amount of people we have. You’d think it would be on a course. You’d think it would be moving like mass, with a certain velocity, at some point. A generation is what, 20 or 25 years? To a guy my age, that seems like the blink of an eye. I was born in ’59 and I remember the Kennedy administration and the race riots of the early ’60s happening when I was a kid. I saw it on the news and it made an impact on me. And that was in my lifetime. Look where we are now. In some ways it’s really progressed, and in other ways it’s actually gone backwards.
$41.75 and up, 8 p.m. Saturday, March 29, Aztec Theatre, 104 N. St. Mary’s St., (210) 812-4355, theaztectheatre.com.
Find more music coverage every day at sacurrent.com
Courtesy Image Geoff Tate
music
Honoring Icons
I Am Every Woman festival’s third annual iteration to rock San Antonio rooftop
BY JEPH DUARTE
What better way to celebrate Women’s History Month this March than by recognizing some of history’s most revered women musicians?
On Friday, March 28, the third annual I Am Every Woman music festival will take place on the rooftop of Rosario’s ComidaMex & Bar. It’s the second year the event has taken place at the Southtown staple, which offers the San Antonio skyline as a backdrop.
This year’s theme is “I Am Every Woman — Electric,” and the music will honor an array of musical icons including Nina Simone, Cher, Whitney Houston, Shania Twain, Karen Carpenter, Aretha Franklin, Tina Turner, Mama Cass, Alicia Keys, Dolly Parton, Janis Joplin and Madonna.
This year’s lineup of performers includes San Antonio vocalist-guitarist Carla Sutterfield performing as Carbonlily, R&B singer Tuasha Jackson, country-infused singer-songwriter Marisa Flores, pop stylist Misha Allyse, rocker Genevie Casillas and jazz vocalist Michelle Garibay-Carey, the daughter of late and legendary Chicano bluesman Randy Garibay.
The headliners will be backed by some of San Antonio’s top musicians, including Nina Rodriguez on percussion, Joey Blackman on bass, Armando Aussenac on drums and Gonzalo Mateluna on lead guitar. Renowned music director Chris Guerrero is overseeing the entire performance. DJ Catwalk will spin throughout the night.
In addition to performing at I Am Every Woman, Rodriguez and Sutterfield are the festival’s organizers.
San Antonio native Rodriguez is a nationally celebrated percussionist, performer, clinician and educator who won a 2004 Grammy for her session work on country singer Randy Travis’ Rise and Shine album.
MMusicians Nina Rodriguez (top) and Carla Sutterfield (bottom) organize the I Am Every Woman festival.
Sutterfield, a self-taught guitar player, performed music throughout the world as a member of the U.S. Army. After her time in
“The night came together because three years ago I was wondering how I could honor Women’s History Month, and the only way that I know how is through music,” Rodriguez said. “How could we produce a music show and bring in female artists that could showcase their beautiful talent and really be selective on music that highlighted icons that have paved the way for women in music?”
To answer that question, Rodriguez reached out to Sutterfield, whom she’d at a shared gig on the River Walk. Sutterfield understood Rodriguez’s vision and immediately came on board.
“We’d been waiting for this moment in time where we could collaborate and create something magnificent, and here we are today,” Rodriguez said.
The first showcase, held in a North Side restaurant, filled the venue beyond capacity, prompting Rodriguez and Sutterfield to seek a larger space. After a move to Rosario’s, the second festival completely sold out and prompted the pair to start selling tickets for this year’s entry a year in advance.
Painting in broad strokes
Beyond finding the right space, Rodriguez and Sutterfield said they strive to bring in musicians who share in the joy of the event.
“When Nina and I sit down and talk about the theme of the show, we have an initial collaborative session that sets the tone,” Sutterfield said. “And when we reach out to musicians, Nina is always gracious and asks the artists what they want to sing.”
A child of the ’60s, Rodriguez wanted to paint in broad strokes this year, incorporating multiple genres and eras.
When it came to producing this year’s show, Rodriguez and Sutterfield agreed that this was the right time to tell their stories. Through specifically chosen songs and careful booking of talent, they have created a show they’re confident will resonate with the audience.
“The beauty is that everyone in the audience has a connection to every song,” Sutterfield said. “It’s really just creating an experience where people can come, and they can feel loved, they can celebrate, they can be joyful, meet new people and make new connections.”
the service, she made San Antonio her home and performs regularly under the moniker Carbonlilly.
‘Create something magnificent’
The two musicians joined forces to organize the inaugural I Am Every Woman in 2023.
Rodriguez said the diversity reflected in the music being at I Am Every Woman is intentional.
“There are so many songs that really resonate to me,” she said. “Every year I have 50 more songs that can’t make it into the show.”
Seated tickets for the festival are sold out, but standing-room tickets — or dancing-room, as the case may be — still remain.
$30 (standing room), Friday, March 28, 722 S. St. Mary’s St., (210) 223-1806, iaew.org.
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critics’ picks
Wednesday, March 19
Violent Femmes
The Violent Femmes’ eponymous debut album was almost standard issue in college dorms from the mid ’80s through the early’ 90s. From humble origins as an acoustic punk band playing on the streets of Milwaukee, the band used a boost from the Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde to land a record deal. Since then, the Femmes have inspired myriad artists, among them the Pixies, P!nk and Keith Urban. For this tour, the group is playing two sets, one featuring its legendary debut album in its entirety and the other showcasing the followup Hallowed Ground $39.50-$169.50, 8 p.m., The Espee, 1174 E. Commerce St., (888) 246-3185, theespee. com. — Danny Cervantes
Thursday, March 20
Solidarity Through Sounds featuring Gracie Chávez, Third Root and Vocab
This free event, which features the subtitle “Black and Brown Overlap in Texas,” focuses on the struggle for justice and unity in the face of discrimination and oppression — something we need now more than ever. The evening will begin with a roundtable discussion featuring poets and UTSA professors and ends with a musical celebration. It even features free refreshments and snacks. Get edified and inspired while dancing, singing and snacking. Sounds like a perfect night. Free, 6 p.m., Little Carver Theater at Carver Center, 226 N. Hackberry St., thecarver.org. — Bill Baird
Maoli
Even if you’re not a fan of commercial country music, it’s still heartening to see this often-hidebound genre accept more artists of color. Maoli takes country music into Polynesia, and the results feel invigorating, if a bit commercial. A straight-up superstar in his native Hawaii, Maoli fills 10,000-seat venues there with regularity. His music is well-written and compellingly performed. More than anything, though, it brings a fresh take to an old genre. $35, 8 p.m., Aztec Theatre, 104 N. St. Mary’s St., (210) 812-4355, theaztectheatre.com. — BB
Saturday, March 22
Papa Roach, Rise Against, Underoath San Antonio is the second stop on the North American leg of the Rise of the Roach tour featuring Papa Roach and Rise Against. The pairing celebrates the 25th anniversary of rap-metal stalwart Papa Roach’s multi-platinum major-label debut Infest . Not content to rest on laurels, though, the group just released the single “Even If It Kills Me” in anticipation of its 12th studio album. Punks Rise Against also continue to create new music, including the single “Nod,” which dropped in January. $39.50-$109.50, 7 p.m., Frost Bank
Center, One Frost Bank Center Drive, (210) 4445140, frostbankcenter.com. — DC
Tuesday, March 25
Daryl Hall, Glenn Tilbrook
Rock Hall of Famer Daryl Hall continues to grow beyond his rock and soul heyday of the late ’70s and early ’80s. Over the past decade, the former Hall & Oates singer opened Daryl’s House, a restaurant and performance venue that sprung from his groundbreaking webcast and YouTube series of the same name. This past summer, Hall released his sixth studio album D under the eye of fellow Rock Hall of Famer Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics. Squeeze lead singer Glenn Tilbrook will open the night, having been one of the myriad performers to share the stage with Hall on Daryl’s House $59.50 and up, 7:30 p.m., Majestic Theatre, 224 E. Houston St., (210) 226-3333, majesticempire.com. — DC
Wednesday, March 26
Jeffrey Silverstein, Cactus Lee, Garrett T. Capps
Pacific Northwest transplant Jeffrey Silverstein is at the forefront of the new indie-country vanguard, adopting the elements of the genre’s sound but not necessarily playing into the “country boy” persona. Think Beach -
wood Sparks, or reaching further back, the Flying Burrito Brothers — and with a heavy helping of David Berman’s Silver Jews. Cosmic country with an English degree, perhaps? Whatever it is, it’s groovy. Cactus Lee and Garrett T. Capps mine a similar vein from their respective homebases of Austin and San Antonio. $15, 8 p.m., Lonesome Rose, 2114 N. St. Mary’s St., (210) 455-0233, thelonesomerosesa. com. — BB
Thursday, March 27
Actors, Total Chroma
Vancouver post-punk quartet Actors first started releasing singles in 2012, including its signature song “Post Traumatic Love,” and cultivated a dedicated fanbase by choosing not to drop its debut album, It Will Come To You, until 2018. Frontman Jason Corbett cites David Bowie as a major influence, and Actors’ music gleams with his sense of confidence and creativity. $20, 7 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx.com. — DC
Sunday, March 30
Jazz at Lincoln Center presents New Orleans Songbook
New York advocacy and educational group Jazz at Lincoln Center has long been a celebrated champion of the quintessential -
Daryl
ly American musical genre, and it brings together promising new talent to stage world-class jazz shows worldwide. This touring show will focus on the birthplace of jazz, featuring works by some of the Big Easy’s greatest, from Jelly Roll Morton and Louis Armstrong to Ellis Marsalis and James Black. $50, 6 p.m., Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, 100 Auditorium Circle, (210) 223-8624, tobincenter.org. — BB
Monday, March 31
Chicago
Classic-rock act Chicago had a fascinating, if disappointing, trajectory. The horn-driven rock ensemble started out as Chicago Transit Authority and toured with Jimi Hendrix, who calling the group’s lead guitarist, Terry Kath, his favorite six-stringer. The stunning “Free Form Guitar” from Chicago’s first LP could help explain that admiration. However, after Kath’s tragic death, the band devolved into ’80s power-ballad cheeseballs, and some of those tunes even have their charms. Live, Chicago remain a solid group of performers capable of delivering hits from both sides of its career. $150 and up, 7:30 p.m., Majestic Theater, 224 E. Houston St., (210) 226-3333, majesticempire.com. — BB
Shutterstock Anthony Correia
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“Drinks All Around”--these ones are on me. by Matt Jones
