GETTING BACK ON STAGE
Jackie Venson became a household name through her livestreaming. Now, she’s ready for a crowd.
48 Rock On! From artists like Jackie Venson to the organizers behind South by Southwest, Austin’s music scene has a plan to get back on stage.
58
Life of the Party Burger pop-ups, burrito trucks, and a way with social media. How the trio behind Better Half became the most important culinary voice in the city.
Tele Novella has struck creative gold despite the pandemic’s challenges.
Contents
Scout 19
Look out for Austin’s starstudded new arrivals, from Chris Harrison to Elon Musk 20
Spring horticulture tips from the duo behind Instagram’s popular @gayswhogarden 22
This new collective helps local women of color meet, socialize, and heal 24
Feast 27
Salty Cargo brings a Texas POV to Hawaiian food 28
How to make the most of Emmer & Rye’s new retail line of pasta 30
Beat 33
The ongoing battle over UT’s “Eyes of Texas” 34
KUTX deejay Jay Trachtenberg talks late nights and the future of public radio 36
Battle of the nationals: Torchy’s Tacos vs. Via 313 38
Austin’s Couch Potatoes brings the formerly incarcerated back into the fold 40
Jackie Venson, by Wes Ellis
March 2021 | Vol. 29 | No. 3
Editor in Chief
Chris Hughes
Creative Director
Sara Marie D’Eugenio
EDITORIAL
Executive Editor
Madeline Hollern
Senior Editor
David Leffler
Contributing Writers
Jared Goza, Trey Gutierrez, Andrew Ong, Bryan C. Parker
ART
Contributing Photographers
Wes Ellis, Sarah Karlan, Jorge Sanhueza Lyon
Contributing Illustrator
Ryan Garcia, Joseph Laney
Photography Intern
Kylie Birchfield
DIGITAL
Digital Manager
Abigail Stewart
Digital Media Coordinator
Rosie Ninesling
INTERNS
Jennifer Errico, Madelyn Gee, Molly Todd, Katie Yeager
ADVERTISING
Publisher
Stewart Ramser
Associate Publisher
Julie A. Kunkle
Senior Account Executive
Tina Mullins
Account Directors
Dana Horner, Misty Pennock
Ad Sales and Sponsorship Coordinator
Jillian Clifton
CEO
Todd P. Paul
President
Stewart Ramser
Vice President of Sales
Julie A. Kunkle
Editorial Director
Rebecca Fontenot Cord
Director of Operations
Hollis Boice
Audience Development Director
Kerri Nolan
EVENTS
Events Director
Macaulay Hammond
ACCOUNTING
Accounting Manager
Sabina Jukovic
CONTACT US
Mailing Address 1712 Rio Grande St., Ste. 100 Austin, TX 78701 (512) 263-9133
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Editor’s Letter
The Show Must Go On
“WHAT’S THE BEST concert you’ve been to?” It’s the closest you’ll get to a formal introduction in Austin, and as far as small talk goes, far exceeds typical conversation starters like “What do you do for a living?” and “What’s the last great book you read?” at social gatherings. (Remember those?)
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve discussed Britt Daniel’s “secret” solo show at Hole in the Wall my senior year of college, Lyle Lovett and His Large Band playing “Nobody Knows Me” at Palmer Events Center, and Win Butler reminiscing about the same Houston suburbs I grew up in at Arcade Fire’s overstuffed concert (it had double the capacity as the Willie Nelson show the night prior) at the Backyard in 2011.
Music is important the world over, but that “live” component is uniquely integral to Austin. Even if big tech has nudged its way into the economic lifeblood of the city, music remains its heartbeat. Which is why it is so upsetting to see what has befallen the musicians, venues, festivals, and the countless behind-the-scenes individuals that make our local industry a reality.
In his wide-ranging feature on the subject (“Rock On!,” p. 48) writer Bryan C. Parker explores how those artists and institutions are bouncing back after an unprecedented year of mass closures and innumerable hardships. Make no mistake, this is a story of resilience— whether it’s blues rocker Jackie Venson seizing the moment to reshape the exclusionary practices that have forever plagued Austin’s live music scene, or South by Southwest innovating on the fly to create a digital experience that should benefit the iconic festival for the next decade.
Celebrating those gatekeepers of authentic Austin continues in “Life of the Party” (p. 58), my look at Matthew Bolick, brothers Matt and Grady Wright, and their influential circle of contributors that has not only established their variety of dining projects (Better Half, Little Brother, and so many others) as some of the city’s best, but a creative tentpole that’s being emulated across Texas.
Austin is decidedly less “weird” these days, but it’s no less a beacon of individualism. It’s distinct in a way that (as much as it pains native Austinites) is drawing Californians like a piece of avocado toast at brunch. Supporting those artists and businesses that have long defined that singularity is obviously crucial, but witnessing their endurance to survive is downright inspiring.
DIRECTING FROM HOME
The plan for March’s music cover was to capture the feel of a summer night in a cozy Austin club (a foreign notion these days). I really wanted to emulate the lighting in those clubs—the warmth from the neons and glow from the stage lights, with dark pockets in the crowd. I needed to find a photographer that was familiar with cinematicstyle lighting. At the recommendation of another local photographer, I came across Wes Ellis’ incredible work. The city was in a Stage 5 COVID-19 risk level, so we limited the set to five people: talent, essential crew, and The Saxon Pub’s staff— which meant I had to sit this one out. I sent Ellis off with (poorly drawn) sketches of how I wanted the photos to look, but ultimately I knew he’d deliver pure magic on film. —Sara Marie D’Eugenio, Creative Director
Chris Hughes Editor in Chief chughes@austinmonthly.com @cmhughestx @chris_hughestx
Tag us at @austin_monthly on Instagram for a chance to be reposted or see your image in print!
Just Bead It
In 2012, Lys Santamaria was working at a government job in Canada when an acquaintance invited her to join a beadwork circle. Discovering that the hobby was far more inspiring than her bureaucratic career, she decided to quit her job and travel throughout Asia. “I wanted to bring something creative along, but I didn’t want it to be super high maintenance,” she says. “It needed to be waterproof in case I got stuck in a storm, so beads were perfect.” Now operating out of her
Southeast Austin home studio, the artist makes beaded jewelry, portraits, and other wares for her eponymous brand. While the jewelry pieces can be made in a day, each portrait (like of Frida Kahlo, pictured) takes up to 200 hours as she embroiders thousands of glass Japanese seed beads by hand. “I have thought about using glue, because that would make it so much faster, but you’d lose a lot of the precision and quality,” she says of the portraits. Shop her creations at lyssantamaria.com.
City of Stars
Keep your eyes peeled for these celebrities who’ve recently put down roots in Central Texas.
SURE, YOU ALREADY knew that megastars like Matthew McConaughey and Willie Nelson reside here. But in recent years, the Austin area has welcomed a whole new wave of famous faces. We asked Dani Dudek of Instagram’s @atxgossip to give us the scoop on six notable transplants. —Madeline
Hollern
James Van Der Beek
In September 2020, the star of Dawson’s Creek and Varsity Blues took to Instagram to document his journey moving from Los Angeles to Central Texas. Since he got here, Van Der Beek has even filmed a holiday campaign with HEB. According to Dudek, the actor’s large family (he has five kids) is renting a ranch in Spicewood, but the move may not last: “His wife, Kimberly, told People that this is a temporary thing to try out for the next year,” she says.
James Marsden
Famous for his role as Scott Summers/Cyclops in the X-Men movies—and easy-on-the-eyes Lon Hammond Jr. in The Notebook Marsden moved to the Austin area in the fall of 2020. “He mentioned on Live with Kelly and Ryan that he’d been coming here for years and had a lot of friends here,” Dudek says. But proximity to relatives may have been the biggest catalyst for his move: “He’s from Oklahoma, so he likes being closer to his whole family.”
Elon Musk
Recently named the richest man in the world, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla is rumored to be relocating to the area alongside his new Tesla Gigafactory in Travis County. Eagle-eyed locals spotted Musk at Mozart’s this winter, but he’s remained mum about his exact whereabouts. “He said he’s moving to Texas but has not actually confirmed that he’s moving to Austin,” Dudek says.
Chris Bosh
The 11-time NBA All-Star is best known for winning championships with the Miami Heat as part of the Big Three (with Lebron James and Dwyane Wade) in 2012 and 2013. But the married father of five has since retired from sports and now calls Texas home. “He moved here in June 2018 and lives in Steiner Ranch,” Dudek says. Bosh launched his own hip hop label, Daddy Jack Records, in the fall of 2019, and is working on his first-ever book, Letters to a Young Athlete
Follow Dani Dudek at atxgossip.com and @atxgossip on Instagram. To read about four more celebrities living in Central Texas, head to austinmonthly.com/celebrities-in-austin.
Tate Donovan
Known for TV and movie roles in everything from Friends to Argo, Tate Donovan has lived in Austin for years and is not shy about promoting it. “He had a picture from Christmas at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, he adopted his dogs from Austin Pets Alive! in 2020, he’s got a picture with his son in his [Bowie High School] football uniform, and he works out at Austin Simply Fit,” Dudek says.
Chris Harrison
Bachelor Nation was surely delighted this past December when news broke that the franchise’s longtime host was leaving California and moving to the capital city alongside his girlfriend, Entertainment Tonight host Lauren Zima. The couple plans to reside in the West Austin/Barton Creek area, according to Dudek. What likely motivated the move for Harrison? “He’s from Dallas, and his son, Joshua, goes to TCU [in Fort Worth],” she says.
Seeds of Change
Gays Who Garden’s Andrew Ong and Jared Goza share 12 tips for spring horticulture.
AS TEMPERATURES RISE and wildflowers sprout up across Central Texas fields, March becomes the perfect time to create or refresh your home garden. We asked our favorite local horticulturists, Jared Goza and Andrew Ong of Instagram’s @gayswhogarden, to give us the dirt on what works best for spring gardening in our area. Here, the dynamic duo lists their top Dos and Don’ts.
Start Your Seeds
✔ Do Go the Organic Route. Choosing organic fertilizer will result in less chemical pesticide and salt run-off into soil and waterways.
✔ Do Use the Right Stuff. Utilize seedling trays and pick soil that is specifically geared toward seed starting: We have had success with coco coir, perlite/vermiculite, and even potting soils.
✔ Do Water Seedlings from Below. Set these trays in water to ensure the soil is fully saturated without disturbing the surface.
✖ Don’t Start Certain Plants from Seed Right Now. Almost all wildflower seeds are best started in the fall. Tomatoes and peppers also need more time to grow, so purchase them as young plants instead of seeds at local nurseries such as Barton Springs Nursery and The Natural Gardener.
Prune Away
✔ Do Clear the Dead When tending to your pre-existing garden, nick a portion of the stem/ branch of each plant to check if that portion is still alive. Prune branches to allow for proper airflow, get rid of dead or diseased areas, and untangle any crossing stems.
✖ Don’t Cut Off Flower Buds. In springtime, never prune plants that flower on old growth, such as certain types of hydrangeas.
✖ Don’t Over-Prune Trees. Lopping off the tops of your trees does more harm than good. The best example of this is committing “Crape Murder” with Crape Myrtles.
Prep the Garden Beds
✔ Do Use Organic Compost. It improves soil structure and holds moisture.
✔ Do Apply the Correct Organic Fertilizer. Use dry fertilizer for new plants (skip for container plants), then add liquid fertilizer every two weeks.
✔ Do Start Perennial Plants. Now is the perfect time to start most small perennials because they need time to root up before summer. If you’re searching for varieties that do well in Central Texas, check out the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center’s Spring Native Plant Sale, which starts April 1.
✖ Don’t Till Existing Soil. Doing this actually reseeds any weed seeds in the soil.
✖ Don’t Add Pre-Emergent Herbicides. In our experience, these weed killers are a waste of time and money. Instead, just use a hoe for weed control and burn any stragglers with a vinegar/orange oil mixture in a spray bottle.
☛ To see a list of the five best bulbs to plant in your yard this spring, go to austinmonthly.com/gayswho-garden-spring-tips.
Announcing the Winners of Austin Home’s Home & Design Awards
There’s no shortage of talent in the architectural and interior design community in Austin and the Hill Country. That became more than evident when reviewing the projects local commercial and residential architects, interior designers, artisans, builders, and landscape designers submitted to Austin Home’s inaugural Home & Design Awards, sponsored by Keller Williams. Chosen by a distinguished panel of nationally renowned professionals, these 55 winners are revolutionizing the design landscape in Central Texas.
See the winning projects in the Spring 2021 issue of Austin Home or online at austin monthly.com/ designawards.
Exteriors
Deck/Patio/Porch/ Outdoor Kitchen
B. Jane Garden
Exterior Use of Color (Paint, Doors, Shutters, Etc.)
Cumby Group
Residential Landscape Design | Less Than One Acre
Eden Garden Design
Residential Landscape Design | More Than One Acre
Eppright Homes
Residential Landscape Water Feature
Eden Garden Design
Residential Swimming Pool/Spa
McKinney York Architects
Interiors
Children’s Room/ Play Space
Coveted Haus
Closet Bonterra Build
Conservatory/Screen Room/Sunroom
Mark Ashby Design
Dining Room | Modern
Laura Burton Interiors
Dining Room | Traditional
Leigh Chiu Designs Ltd
Full Bath
J.Fisher Interiors
Guest Suite
Jane Reece Interiors
Kitchen
CoXist Studio
Laundry Room/Mud Room
Meredith Owen Interiors
Library/Study/Home Office
Liz MacPhail Interiors
Living Room/Great Room | Modern
Britt Design Group
Living Room/Great Room | Traditional Scheer & Co. Interior Design
Powder Room Bath BANDD Design
Primary Suite | Modern
Jen Brannon Architecture + Design
Primary Suite | Traditional BANDD Design
Specialty Room (Gym, Music, Billiards, Crafts, Etc.)
Cornerstone Architects, LLP
Wine Room/Bar Eppright Homes
Use of Color
Mark Ashby Design
Use of a Collection, Antiques, or Art
Dalgleish Construction and Mark Ashby Design
Details
Custom Cabinetry
Hey Now Interiors
Custom or Repurposed Furniture
Liz MacPhail Interiors
Fireplace
Mosier Luxury Homes
Flooring
Mark Odom Studio
Lighting Enve Builders
Millwork
Chelsea Kloss Interiors
Stone/Tile
Dick Clark + Associates Architecture + Interiors
Home
ADU (Casita/Garage Apartment)
David Wilkes Builders
Architecture | Modern | Up to 3,500 Square Feet
A Parallel Architecture
Architecture | Modern | More than 3,500 Square Feet
Dick Clark + Associates Architecture + Interiors
Apartment/Loft/Condo
David Wilkes Builders
Historic Renovation (50 Years and Older)
Bercy Chen Studio LP
Home in the Hill Country Cornerstone Architects, LLP
Interior Design | Modern
Sarah Stacey Interior Design
Interior Design | Traditional BANDD Design
New Model Home (Architecture)
Barron Custom Design
Remodel | Up to 1,000 Square Feet
Hey Now Interiors
Remodel | More than 1,000 Square Feet
Webber + Studio, Architects
Architecture | Traditional | More than 3,500 Square Feet
Cornerstone Architects, LLP
Commercial Design
Building Architecture
Mark Odom Studio
Landscape Design
Ten Eyck Landscape Architects, Inc.
Lobby
Specht Architects Office
Dick Clark + Associates Architecture + Interiors
Restaurants/Bars
Matthew Tsang
Retail Interior Design (Boutiques, Stores, Salons, Etc.)
McKinney York Architects
Top Awards
General Excellence | Architecture
Dick Clark + Associates Architecture + Interiors
General Excellence | Interior Design
Amity Worrel & Co.
Rising Star Award | Less than 5 years
Cary Paul Studios
Legacy Award
Michael Hsu Office of Architecture
Reader’s Choice Best
Overall Home
Dick Clark + Associates Architecture + Interiors / Skybox
Stronger Together
One local group creates a safe space for women of color to connect.
By Madeline Hollern
IN THE SUMMER of 2019, Nathaly BatistaMorales and Diana Melendez were grappling with a lack of community. Despite making strides in their professional spheres—Batista-Morales was pursuing her Ph.D. in bilingual education at UT, while Melendez worked as a law clerk—each of them longed to build a better support system around town. So, the two women, who are both Latinx and were emerging from respective divorces, matched on Bumble BFF and began meeting up every Sunday for coffee or brunch. They relished having a forum to safely discuss any number of topics, ranging from social issues to relationships to current events. “We started looking in Austin for other spaces similar to what we’d created, but we couldn’t find any,” Melendez says. “There are a lot of networking events for women of color and Latinas, but we also wanted it to be more of an authentic space, where we don’t have to present some sort of front when we’re networking like we usually do.”
Recognizing a gap in the market for this type of organization, Batista-Morales and Melendez created the Womxn of Color Collective in Novem-
ber 2019. Initially, the group consisted of two meetups a month: a growth event that focused on a specific subject and an informal gathering centered around cultivating friendships and connections. “For those growth events, we have a speaker—always a woman of color—about a topic in particular. We’ve [covered] setting intentions, sexuality, spirituality, mental health, finance,” Batista-Morales says. Speakers have included Irma Garcia, a certified sex educator and the founder of Dirty South Sex Ed, and Dannielle Romoleroux, the founder of First Gen Money, whose website provides personal finance tools for first-generation Americans and college graduates.
Open to anyone who identifies as a woman of color, the meetups draw a mix of age groups and participants from all areas of town. Typically, growth events have included up to 25 people, while the social occasions are usually more intimate, with around six to 10 attendees. Prior to the pandemic’s arrival in Austin, the women met at various locations around the city, including minority women–owned businesses like coffee bar Plaza Colombian, local dance studio Inspired Movement, and Vida Pura Juicery. But, as with so many organizations, they’ve been forced to pivot to a virtual-only setup since last March—a move that’s underscored the group’s value over time.
“I went to go visit my partner in Barcelona on March 10 and could not return for two months. So, we had to shift all of our work online, and we started hosting community chats on Sundays
Diana Melendez and Nathaly Batista-Morales founded the Womxn of Color Collective in November 2019.
because we were so isolated,” Batista-Morales says. “Those became very popular. People were just trying to join us and see familiar faces and connect and be vulnerable.”
As calls for racial justice took center stage during last summer’s protests against police brutality, Womxn of Color Collective’s impact continued to grow. In addition to organizing a digital panel of activists to talk to the group about how to get involved in advocacy, the collective also hosted a more informal conversation focused on building solidarity within minority communities. “That was a really great safe conversation for people to have who might not identify as Black, but who are women of color, to start dismantling anti-Blackness in our own community,” Melendez says.
And yet, despite Austin’s population boom in the last decade, the capital city’s glaring lack of diversity continues to be an issue. (Case in point: According to the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly 5,700 Black residents left Austin in 2019, continuing a decades-long trend fueled by gentrification.) In that vein, one of the most positive pieces of feedback Batista-Morales and Melendez have received came from a member who had considered leaving town until she found new bonds within the collective. Another participant, who is a teacher, told them that a discussion of theirs centered around LGBTQ issues helped her advocate for one of her students.
Looking ahead, the organization will continue to host virtual and smaller socially distanced events throughout 2021 until it’s safe to bring back larger in-person gatherings. For the founders, one of the best parts of the experience has been watching their community not only expand, but foster friendships outside of their meetups. “We have a private Facebook [group] where women are reaching out to each other to go hiking or to prepare holiday meals for a low-income community, for instance,” Melendez says. “We just love watching it grow organically.” The group hosts a free social and a ticketed growth event ($10-$15) every month. Learn more at facebook.com/ womxnofcolorcollectiveATX.
Corn Star
Though a staple of Venezuelan cuisine, the arepa still needs a solid elevator pitch if it’s to catch on in Austin, says José Tomás “JT” García. At his Arepa Dealers concept, located inside downtown coffee shop Cuatro Gato, one curious passerby even asked if García was peddling oversized sugar cookies. But with the growing number of expats moving to the capital city (especially in suburbs like Round Rock), the first-generation Venezuelan immigrant thinks the soft, crumbly masa buns could become as ubiquitous as sushi or even the almighty taco. For their own version, García and his partner, Anissa del Rosario Schiek, stuff them with herbal sofritos and experimental proteins like oyster mushrooms and soy-marinated Filipino carnitas.
“We’re trying to turn the arepa into an American staple,” he says. “It’s going to take a second, but once we set a precedent, whatever comes next for Venezuelan food in Austin will be even more interesting and groundbreaking than it is now.”
Trey Gutierrez
Paradise City
A pair of former Uchi chefs are paying a Texas-sized homage to Hawaiian food.
By Chris Hughes
A fried local farm egg is draped over the top of the meat, which is cured, braised, and then grilled to ensure fall-off-the-bone tenderness.
To build maximum umami in their gravy, the chefs use a char siu-flavored mother braise with dried Chinese peppers, fermented red bean curd, and charred brown sugar fish caramel.
CHEFS MICHAEL CARRANZA and John Gocong have a long history together, working at Uchi and the much-mourned She’s Not Here, but it was cooking meals for Minamoto Foods’ initiative to feed struggling service industry personnel last year that laid the groundwork for their new restaurant. Located inside Hana World Market, Salty Cargo taps into the synergy they harnessed in 2020 by drawing on both of the chefs’ backgrounds—Carranza is from South Texas, and Gocong is of Hawaiian descent. Here, they break down how they’re putting their own twist on one of the Big Island’s most famous dishes: Loco Moco.
Instead of a typical ground beef patty, Carranza opted for bone-in beef short rib as a nod to Texas barbecue. “Our onigiri is stuffed with burnt ends; all our food has those little nuances of what we grew up eating,” he says.
Use Your Noodle
With its new retail line at Whole Foods, Emmer & Rye has brought Austin’s best pasta to the rest of Texas. Here, chef Kevin Fink discusses his favorite ways to use each heirloom grain–packed shape. By Chris Hughes
Blue Beard Durum Spaghetti
Suggested prep Cacio e Pepe or Spaghetti Aglio e Olio
Rouge de Bordeaux Strozzapreti
Suggested prep Duck Ragu or anything bold
Egyptian Emmer Rigatoni
Suggested prep Pasta Bolognese
This semolina spaghetti has serious pedigree, with durum grown and milled by Arizona’s Hayden Flour Mills, one of the world’s premier producers of the highprotein pasta wheat.
Serves 4
Among the densest pastas, Fink says strozzapreti demands a “forceful sauce” to help soak into its chewy contours, like Emmer & Rye’s menu mainstay with confit chicken thigh, butter, and lactofermented peppers.
• 1 p ound dry spaghetti
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 6 -8 garlic cloves, sliced thin
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon crushed red chile flakes
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh leaf parsley
• 1/2 lemon
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add 2 tablespoons of
Heavily toasted and with a distinct grassy note, the ancient grain in this pasta not only plays well off thicker sauces layered with heartier components—its tubular form helps scoop up every last meaty drop.
salt and the pasta. Cook until 75 percent done (about 6-7 minutes). Set aside a cup of cooking water before you drain the pasta.
2. Meanwhile, heat olive oil over low heat in a 12-inch saute pan. Add the garlic and cook until caramelized, about 3-4 minutes. Add the black pepper, red chile flakes, and a 1/4 cup of parsley for 30 seconds more. Carefully add the reserved pasta-cooking
water and simmer for about 5 minutes. Turn up the heat to medium and add pasta. Cook until liquid is reduced by a third.
3. Once the sauce has thickened, add reserved fresh parsley, lemon juice, and grated Parmesan.
SPAGHETTI
AGLIO E OLIO
Out of Tune
Despite concerns from Black athletes and band members, UT continues to stick by “The Eyes of Texas”—raising questions that might never go away. By David Leffler
TTENSIONS WERE RUNNING high at Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium on Sept. 11, 2010. Fresh off a National Championship appearance and led by promising young quarterback Garrett Gilbert, the Longhorns were set to kick off their home opener against the overmatched Wyoming Cowboys. As packs of burnt orange–clad fans drunk on anticipation (and a few too many cold ones) made their way toward the arena, things reached a fever pitch as “The Eyes of Texas” rang through the morning air. Like the thousands of others there that day, I threw up my hook ’em sign and sang along, swept up in tradition that I’d grown up around as the son of two University of Texas employees. A lot has happened in the world, and at UT, since then. At the height of the Black Lives Matter protests last June, student-athlete coalitions voiced numerous concerns about systemic racism at the university, which includes a school song that has its roots in minstrel shows and is tied to Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s adage “the eyes of the South are upon you.” UT’s heritage tune, they argued, should be replaced with “a song without racist undertones.”
In response, the university took several steps to address the players’ demands, including renaming a building christened after segregationist mathematician Robert Lee Moore, giving Earl Campbell and Ricky Williams top billing on its football field in place of billionaire benefactor Joe Jamail, and committing athletics department revenue to recruit Black and underrepresented students from across the state. President Jay Hartzell also met with athletes and members of LHBlacks, a student organization formed by Black Longhorn band members last summer, and later announced the formation of a 24-person committee to examine the history of “The Eyes.”
While promising, these decisions—and Hartzell’s July declaration that “‘The Eyes of Texas,’ in its current form, will continue to be our alma mater”—fell short for many advocates, including LHBlacks members like Judson Hayden. “Renaming buildings, building statues, removing statues— those things are great. But they’re all internal symbols,” he says. “UT fans living in, say, Utah or Florida, won’t feel the impacts of such campus-centric things. Changing the song and addressing the lack of diversity here would send a much stronger,
EYES WIDE SHUT
A brief breakdown of race on the Forty Acres.
1903
“The Eyes of Texas” makes its debut at a minstrel show at Hancock Opera House. The song was performed by singers in blackface.
0
Number of Black players on UT’s football team in 1969. The squad, which resisted calls for integration, was the last all-white team to win a national championship.
3/4
An internal survey conducted by the Longhorn Band last fall found that 76 percent of respondents did not want to play the song.
3
Number of Confederate statues (including one of Robert E. Lee) removed from campus in 2017.
5.3%
Percentage of Black students enrolled in 2020, according to university data.
more serious public message to people outside of the immediate UT community.”
As has since been heavily documented in publications like the Austin American-Statesman and The New York Times, these efforts ignited a months-long controversy that remains unresolved. Infuriated by football players’ unwillingness to embrace the song, as well as then-head coach Tom Herman’s refusal to enforce its postgame recitation, alumni (many of whom were older and white) lambasted the team and defended the tradition as sacrosanct. The band’s decision to boycott games after campus leadership denied requests to drop the song from its setlists drew similar vitriol online.
This schism had a noticeable impact on how the Horns were covered and which athletes were allowed to speak to journalists, says Statesman sports reporter Danny Davis. “Texas was very careful with who they sent out to talk to the media. I can’t say that’s solely because of the song, since the pandemic definitely impacted players’ availabilities, but it was probably intentional,” he says. “I think we talked to Caden Sterns, who was a team captain and helped lead the charge on this, once all year.”
Davis, who is Black, says he encountered considerable hostility on Twitter while covering the issue—an experience that’s left him empathizing with athletes targeted by more severe online attacks. Mercy Ogunlade, a junior clarinet section leader and an LHBlacks member, says she and her peers were repeatedly harangued by alumni throughout the semester. Now, with UT leadership digging in its heels over the song, Ogunlade says she’s unsure of what will happen on gamedays next fall. “We’re simply not going to play it, and the majority of band members share our perspective,” she says. “We’re standing firm on this.”
The university seems just as unlikely to budge. With Herman gone and new football coach Steve Sarkisian “fired up to sing” the school song with his players, it’s evident the school’s behind-the-scenes powers have found a field general who’ll respect their marching orders. “When we write the Tom Herman obituary and dive into what went wrong, it’d be malpractice if ‘The Eyes of Texas’ situation isn’t in the first couple paragraphs,” Davis says. “People can argue it didn’t play a role, but they’re lying if they say that. A lot of people, and a lot of boosters, were upset.”
So, what happens from here? With spring football practices set to begin this month, it’s unclear if players will resume their fight, given how taxing it was for them last season. Also, questions remain about how seriously UT will consider the findings of its history committee, and more importantly, how they’ll implement any substantive action. That means (pending a successful distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine) there’s a real possibility of a noticeable dissonance between singing fans and a quiet—or even absent—band when the Horns take the field against Louisiana-Lafayette this September. Whether the Texas faithful know, or care, about the reason for the discord could be a conundrum that plagues the university for years to come.
JORGE SANHUEZA LYON
Jay Trachtenberg
KUTX Deejay
For nearly four decades, Jay Trachtenberg has been one of the key architects of Austin public radio while hosting shows for KUT and KUTX. The deejay’s soothing voice and encyclopedic jazz knowledge have made him a staple in Austinites’ homes and a steadying force as the city has evolved. Although he retired in November, Trachtenberg will continue to host the station’s Sunday Morning Jazz segment—a move that has him reflecting on radio’s golden years and the local music scene’s precarious future.
Interview by David Leffler
How did growing up in LA in the ’60s shape your musical taste?
I was a jock growing up, so the thought of learning an instrument by rote when I could be outside playing ball just didn’t appeal to me. But music was important to everybody back then in a way that was so unique to that era. Being in LA, there were groups like The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, and The Doors. Music was everywhere—it was infectious.
What brought you to Austin?
I arrived here in the summer of 1978 to get my master’s at UT’s School of Social Work. Austin’s music scene was a huge factor in my decision to move here. I’ll never forget my first impression of the city: After driving straight from LA, my friend and I were cruising down Lamar Boulevard when we saw an old gas station with the words “Janis sang here” spray painted along its side—Threadgill’s. The next night, we got lost trying to find the original Antone’s when, suddenly, we heard music blasting out of this little place called The Split Rail. It felt like a sign. So, we pulled in, drank 50-cent beers, and listened to this rocking blues band play all night. I remember thinking, Man, they don’t have places like this in California
How did you end up at KUT?
By February of ’85, I had an overnight jazz show at the station that ran from midnight to 5 a.m. on Friday nights. I was a full-time social worker back then, so after the end of the work week, I’d come home, pull some records, take a nap, and then head to KUT. You could definitely experiment with a graveyard shift like that; plus, there’s this long, rich history of overnight jazz shows. Down through the decades, there were these legendary deejays who did shows all night long, so in my own small way, I was contributing to that tradition.
I’m sure you’ve got stories from hosting a show at those hours. I had times when bands would come in and jam at 3:30 in the morning, even if we had no idea if anyone was out there listening. Other nights, musicians would come in and lay lines on the table at 2:30. One time, some guy came down from 6A—where Austin City Limits was at the time— looking for Stevie Ray Vaughan. Sure enough, at 4:15, Stevie came through the lobby with his entourage. Apparently, he was there to cut a “Don’t Mess With Texas” ad. That was back when Stevie was doing his drugs, so I’m guessing he wasn’t a stranger to being up at those hours.
Thoughts on the pandemic’s impact on local artists?
It’s disheartening to see so many beloved spots shutting down, but I’m trying to stay optimistic. When we’ve lost institutions like Liberty Lunch, somebody else has come along and opened up another club. The bigger problem is Austin’s affordability issues. This city became a musical mecca because the cost of living was so low. Back in the ’80s, you went to New York, LA, or Nashville because that’s where the music business was. But there was always a hotbed of young, unknown people who came here on a whim and with a dream—to live cheap while they got their acts together. If artists and musicians can’t survive in Austin, the quality of the music is going to go down.
What does the future of public radio look like?
Public radio used to get a ton of funding from the feds, but that’s all but dried up. Now, we’re in competition with commercial radio, so it behooves public radio to cater to a larger audience—especially minority communities, who have long been overlooked by stations like KUTX. While we were headed in the right direction before last June in terms of getting new blood in here (like the incredibly talented guys over at The Breaks), big, needed changes were spurred in response to George Floyd’s death and last summer’s uprising against police brutality. It’s great to see more perspectives being considered not just in the music we play, but in who makes up our staff.
What should listeners expect from your Sunday show?
Jazz is a reflection of what’s happening in our society. It’s very spiritual and shines a light on what’s going on in our world at any given moment. And I think Sunday morning is a good time to reflect on the rest of the week: to sip your cup of coffee, read your newspaper, and kick back and hear something that’s soulful, that stirs something within you. That’s always been a part of jazz’s legacy… During the Civil Rights Movement, jazz really captured those moments, the struggle. The struggle’s still going on, so the music keeps playing.
Food Fight Torchy’s Tacos vs. Via
UNTIL OCTOBER, TORCHYʼS Tacos was Austin’s biggest modern culinary success story, with locations scattered throughout Texas and six other states. But now, Detroit-style pizza joint Via 313 has announced it’s also spreading the gospel of Austin’s influen tial dining scene across the country. Here, we break down the meteoric rises of the two mega-popular local originals.
In 2006, Mike Rypka bought a food truck and secured a downtown street corner to sell his tacos. Fifteen years later, his company is arguably the most successful Texas franchise.
83 across seven states, with many more to come.
Where Tex-Mex meets fast food. While local connoisseurs aren’t as high on Torchy’s as tourists roaming the capital city, you can’t second-guess the lines snaking around its locations (especially its South Congress iteration).
The queso is top-notch, but the Trailer Park is the main attraction here. Loaded with fried chicken, green chiles, and a creamy roasted poblano sauce, it’s an irresistible blend of spicy and savory. For breakast, take a dive into Torchy's secret menu with their Jack of Clubs.
$400 million in new funding from global private equity firm General Atlantic, announced in November.
Pandemic be damned, Torchy’s still opened 12 new locations in 2020. Now, the company plans to break ground on 100 more stores in the next four years.
Via’s square Detroit-style deep-dish pies are baked in iron pans, so the thick, chewy crust is never soggy. Plus, they’re dressed “upside down”—toppings at the bottom, then cheese, then sauce—leaving their sides encased in a crispy cheese that local pizza lovers can’t get enough of.
Featuring two layers of smoky pepperoni (one atop the pie and another below its cheesy surface), The Detroiter is exactly what you’d expect from a Motor City meal: hearty, straightforward, and damn delicious. They also offer several meatless and dairy-free options, too.
$100 million from restaurant-focused investment company Savory, announced in October.
Via 313 intends to take its square pies to Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio before eventually crossing state lines into Utah, Oklahoma, and Colorado.
WINNER Via 313
While Torchy’s mass appeal and insatiable appetite for expansion can’t be denied, the authenticity fueling the Hunt brothers’ rise sets their Motor City outfit apart. After all, where else can you find Detroit-style pizza this good in Austin, let alone Texas?
A Seat at the Table
At
his local furniture company, Brian Morgan is building bridges and giving opportunities
By David Leffler
to the formerly incarcerated.
AS A FRESHMAN at Liberty University in 2003, Brian Morgan was desperate to scrape together enough money to pay for his religious coursework. But rather than working at the nearby Cracker Barrel, the preacher-in-training decided to try his luck in online retail instead. Within a year, Morgan’s eBay account (which he ran alongside his best friend, Dan Anthony) had gone platinum, a feat he attributes to pedaling negligees. “I actually started out selling women’s lingerie—not what you’d expect from a preacher,” he laughs. “By the time we left college, we’d sold more than 900,000 items on eBay.”
Following a three-year stint in New York, where he opened a church and worked with people experiencing homelessness, Morgan moved back to his native Austin in 2010 and started a secondhand furniture business with his brother, Travis. The venture didn’t start off as smoothly as his prior internet company: After renting a Leander warehouse without running water or electricity, the pair unpacked their first 18-wheeler of used goods and discovered that every couch they’d purchased
was severely damaged. To save costs, they embraced a spartan lifestyle, sleeping on refurbished sofas in their austere workspace, showering at 24 Hour Fitness, and relying on a nearby coffee shop’s complimentary Wi-Fi. Eventually, after honing their refinishing skills with the help of YouTube tutorials and amassing new inventory through Craigslist, they brought in a third business partner (the aftorementioned Anthony) and settled on a name to match their company’s unorthodox beginnings: Austin’s Couch Potatoes.
By 2018, the trio’s business had expanded into three locations around town. They were also creating their own custom-built furniture, a development that had left them desperate for added craftsmen. Morgan, still a devout Christian, proposed hiring people who were transitioning out of the carceral system and, within a few weeks, they began interviewing applicants through the Texas Workforce Commission and local transitional centers.
As he spoke with dozens of previously incarcerated men and women, Morgan was astounded by their lack of opportunities, despite an eagerness to work. Those early conversations led to Couch Potatoes’ first round of new employees and, eventually, became a big part of the company ethos.
Three years later, Austin’s Couch Potatoes employs more than a dozen workers who were once incarcerated and has helped act as a professional launching pad for more than 20 others. Despite the stigma directed against them, Morgan says these employees have played an integral role in the company’s maturation as a custom builder of sofas, chairs, tables, desks, cabinets, and dress-
Brian Morgan, left, is melding comfort with community impact at Austin’s Couch Potatoes.
ers. Their presence was especially crucial last spring, when the Department of Homeland Security sought Morgan’s factory out because of its stockpile of the necessary fabric for N-95 masks. “You know who volunteered? Two guys who had been previously convicted for murder,” he says. “They worked tirelessly sewing masks for our frontline hospital workers for free, doing what they could to help save lives. If that’s not a story of redemption, I’m not sure what is.”
To aid their workers’ transition out of the carceral system, the company provides a number of hands-on resources, including a full-time chaplain who helps them navigate legal, personal, and professional hurdles. Joshua Quintero, who’s been with Couch Potatoes for the past 2.5 years, says finding this type of workplace has been life changing. Prior to getting hired, the San Antonio native had spent the majority of the past 15 years in prison and was caught in a cycle of recidivism—an experience defined by revoked job proposals, mounting court fees, declined housing, and denied government benefits—that many are forced into.
These days, Quintero works as a delivery manager handling hundreds of daily orders and repairs while corresponding with customers. He also acts as an informal ambassador for new hires who were previously justice-involved, a role he’d like to expand as Austin’s Couch Potatoes ramps up its workforce and production for its recently opened 100,000square-foot Furniture Mall of Texas (which Morgan says will feature a café and on-site stage for concerts and movie screenings). Even more, he feels like he’s finally in a secure enough position to put down roots in Austin and start a family.
Whether you’re a prospective customer or a local business in search of labor, Quintero has a simple message: Don’t judge a book by its cover. “If you give people a chance, you’ll be surprised—not just by the kind of worker you’ll get, but the changes you can bring to their life, to the entire community,” he says. “I know what it’s like to feel hopeless and overlooked, so I want to be the voice for those who are overlooked and counted out.”
EDUCATED LIFE An
a guide to Austin schools
Whether you’re pre-K or post-grad, STEM-savvy or arts-focused, Austin has an abundance of options when it comes to educational institutions. In this section we feature exceptional places of learning in the Austin area.
AESA PREP ACADEMY
AESA Prep Academy is an elite K-12 college preparatory school offering rigorous academics in a charming atmosphere. AESA’s versatility and highly educated staff offer a hand-crafted experience for each student, unmatched global learning opportunities and community support. AESA (Academic Excellence for the Scholar, Athlete and Artist) is small by design with an average student to teacher ratio of 7:1. All schools in the AESA International School System are accredited and highly rated by Cognia. AESA is proud to have Windsor School Bahamas of Albany as their latest addition. In response to COVID-19, AESA continues to meet the needs of every family offering on-campus, remote and hybrid learning. We are one of the only schools in the nation equipped with on-site rapid testing, custom-built outdoor classrooms, and hospital-grade air purification.
AUSTIN PEACE ACADEMY
Austin Peace Academy opened its doors in 1997 on a 6 acre land to provide a faith-based rigorous college-preparatory education to students from Pre-K through 12th grade. With a diverse student body and staff , APA offers students an enriching experience where they are exposed to a range of perspectives and opportunities through co-curricular and extracurricular activities. apacademy.org
THE AUSTIN WALDORF SCHOOL
The Austin Waldorf School is nestled on 27 wooded acres and is celebrating 39 years of educational excellence. The school serves 390 students K-12. Austin Waldorf provides an integrated curriculum, balancing
the academics with artistic and practical disciplines. In addition to the rich academic curriculum, all students receive instruction in two foreign languages, music, gym, handwork, woodworking and fine arts. The school also offers competitive athletic teams.
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS AND DIOCESE OF AUSTIN
The curriculum in our Catholic schools is designed to prepare students for college and beyond. Serving pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, the Catholic schools provide a Christ-centered education in which Catholic identity permeates the entire curriculum, encouraging our students to reach their fullest capacity (teaching the whole child)—spiritually, academically, physically, and socially.
CHALLENGER SCHOOL
Since 1963, Challenger School has helped children excel by employing proven, effective methods in a fun and structured environment that inspires them to achieve. The Challenger difference is evident from the moment you set foot on campus. Students bubble with enthusiasm as they make connections between their prior knowledge and new concepts. In order to facilitate setting crucial learning patterns, Challenger accepts students as young as 2 years 9 months. Yet in all grades, the school’s acclaimed, intellectually stimulating programs establish a foundation of achievement with clear results. On 2019 national standardized tests, Challenger K-8 students averaged well above the 90th percentile. Come take a tour!
INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF TEXAS
International School of Texas is a nonprofit, independent private school serving the Austin/Lake Travis areas of Bee Cave, Lakeway, Westlake, and surrounding communities. IST Trailblazers are lifelong learners, global citizens, and future leaders. IST is proud to be an IB World School, providing an international education, close to home.
KIRBY HALL SCHOOL
At Kirby Hall School, our passion is helping students to discover their intellectual gifts from pre-K4 through 12th grade. We offer academic rigor in a loving, nurturing environment made possible by small class sizes. Our comprehensive curriculum is available online as needed, and virtual info sessions and tours can be scheduled at admissions@kirbyhall.org.
ST. MICHAEL’S CATHOLIC ACADEMY
Now in its 36th year, St. Michael’s Catholic Academy—a premier, independent, 9th-12th grade learning environment—remains centered on the four pillars of its mission: service, integrity, intellectual curiosity, and courage. Service helps students develop a global world view and build personal community relationships. St. Michael’s supports the search for courage through a culture and learning environment that encourages risk-taking. Students are encouraged to look for the virtue of integrity in their own lives by reflecting on personal attributes of honesty and wholeness. At St. Michael’s, students have myriad opportunities to explore and experience a broad range of courses and activities and become stakeholders in their own education.
288-5942 • austinwaldorf.org
AUSTIN WALDORF SCHOOL
Nestled on 27 acres in the beautiful Hill Country of Central Texas and celebrating 40 years of educational excellence, the Austin Waldorf School provides a unique education to students in kindergarten through 12th grade. The school is accredited through the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America, the Independent Schools Association of the Southwest and the National Council of Private School Accreditation.
The curriculum is designed to meet each stage of a student’s development from early childhood, through adolescence, into young adulthood. The programs demonstrate a continued commitment to providing a well-rounded educational experience integrating academic, artistic and practical disciplines. The Austin Waldorf School cultivates a love of learning, creative thinking, a sympathetic interest in the world, self-confidence and an abiding moral purpose.
In addition to a rich academic curriculum, the students are taught two foreign languages, vocal and instrumental music, handwork, woodwork, blacksmithing, fine arts, drama and sports and games from around the world.
The faculty at the Austin Waldorf School is dedicated to excellence and artistry in education, and many of the teachers have decades of professional experience in their fields. The parent body is stalwart and generous, and the community life is filled with student performances, festivals and a vibrant parent society.
AUSTIN WALDORF SCHOOL
BY BRYAN C. PARKER
With additional reporting by Trey Gutierrez
PHOTOGRAPH BY WES
ELLIS
Jackie Venson (pictured here at The Saxon Pub) is ready for a return of real live music.
How local artists, venues, and festivals are fighting back after the most turbulent year in Austin’s long music history.
A Tale of Two Artists
To find stardom in 2020, Jackie Venson and Tele
Novella’s Natalie Ribbons braved a Texas-sized flood of obstacles.
VENSON
NO AUSTIN ARTIST embodies the collision of 2020’s most formative events—the COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement— better than Jackie Venson. Born and raised in the capital city, the 31-year-old’s scorching guitar solos and synth-infused brand of blues has fueled her gradual ascent in the local musical ranks over the past half decade. But with the virus bearing down and racial injustice at the forefront of the American dialogue, it was Venson’s voice that propelled her into a new creative stratosphere.
When live music came to a sudden halt last March, Venson confronted the “double punch to the gut” of a canceled SXSW and scheduled world tour head-on. “I was supposed to play at Antone’s in about an hour,” she admitted on a March 13 Facebook livestream, before jumping into her brand new single, “Make Me Feel.” What began as a way of staying busy turned into a “50-day streaming marathon” drawing 1.6 million views, good for No. 9 on Pollstar’s list of top U.S. streamers in Q3.
Hearing Venson play is impressive, but seeing her masterfully work the fretboard up close is nothing short of mesmerizing—something that’s become even more accessible on a livestream. She has also maximized the interactive element, with her managers Louie Carr and Christina Venson
Livestreaming not only boosted Venson’s popularity, it provided a platform for her activism.
(Jackie’s sister) responding to fans in real time. Furthermore, the morning after each livestream, Venson spends hours personally going through viewers’ comments moves that have instilled a sense of community among her fans.
Capitalizing on her skyrocketing popularity, Venson has used her platform to shine a light on social injustice—especially at her Austin City Limits taping, which premiered Nov. 14. Stepping onto the stage at Moody Theater, she performed in a black dress made by her sister that was emblazoned with the names of 73 Black Americans slain by law enforcement, like Breonna Taylor, Tamir Rice, Freddie Gray, and Ahmaud Arbery.
Her activism didn’t stop there either, as she turned down a slot performing on Blues on the Screen (a televised version of the popular concert series Blues on the Green) in June because of its tendencies to only feature white men. After forcing them to reassess their practices, the promoters asked the musician to curate the show herself. At Venson’s behest, Blues on the Green eventually welcomed its first-ever all-Black bill, including Miss Lavelle White, Kydd Jones, Alesia Lani, and Sam Houston & Blk Odyssy.
“The Black population is something like 7 percent in Austin (actually 7.8 percent),” she says. ”But don’t get me wrong, that 7 percent is gonna fight their asses off to be represented—and I’ll be fighting along with them.”
If there’s a silver lining to the pandemic, it’s the more equitable city that could arise from the destruction. Venson, of course, is sympathetic to the workers and club owners who’ve lost livelihoods, many of whom she calls friends. But she also welcomes changes to the exclusionary practices that have wreaked havoc on the industry here for decades. “The gatekeepers?” she says. “The gates were burned down by COVID, and now Austin music has the chance to start over.
JACKIE
NATALIE RIBBONS IS no stranger to twists of fate. Back in 2013, while on tour with her band Agent Ribbons, a tarot card reader in Memphis warned that her life would suddenly change. The next day, the group was in a horrific car accident that not only fractured their drummer’s arm, but their time playing together. Out of the wreckage, though, Ribbons would eventually form Tele Novella, a band that recently launched her into the spotlight with its February release, Merlynn Belle. An industrious, multifaceted artist whose hardships have taught her to “keep more than one iron in the fire,” Ribbons still splits her time on the road with Magic Mirror, the vintage store she owns in downtown Lockhart. Unlike that fateful night in Tennessee, there was no clairvoyant warning when the pandemic hit last March, temporarily shuttering her shop and extinguishing any plans for touring with Tele Novella. The world might’ve come to a standstill, but inertia isn’t in Ribbons’ DNA, as she embraced the aimlessness by holing up in the studio to make her biggest album yet. Looking back, Ribbons admits there were some bright spots among the turmoil of 2020, including the Pabst Blue Ribbon (yep, the beer) grant that helped Tele Novella complete Merlynn Belle, as well as their reunion with producer Danny Reisch. A kindred spirit, Reisch seems to intuitively understand the band, recording all of their songs to an 8-track tape machine that gave the album a
When the pandemic halted touring and her Lockhart store, Ribbons (left) went to the studio to record her biggest album yet.
warm, vintage vibe. Without the luxury of refining each tune through the trial-and-error of touring, Reisch spent extra time perfecting each track over the course of its lengthy production (some early material was recorded as far back as January 2019). These sessions usually culminated in songs being shaped in the final minutes, imbuing the whole experience with a whimsical, freewheeling approach that mirrored the unhurried pace of Tele Novella’s pandemic life. “If you have a wild idea, just chase it down,” Reisch would often say.
That spirit of searching became the driving force behind the production’s thematic core. For example, Ribbons would often listen to a 2015 compilation record created by Tele Novella’s bassist, Jason Chronis (an obsessive vinyl collector), called Small Town Country, Vol. 1 while composing Merlynn Belle. You can hear the influence of those obscure Texas country gems—which Chronis dug out of crates all over the state—throughout an album that drifts beautifully between ’60s psychedelic pop and the lonesome crooning of Patsy Cline.
On the album’s standout first track, a song called “Words That Stay,” Ribbons wistfully sings, You’ll only dance if it’s to gunshots and you’ll move through it with grace / Send me a postcard when you get to what I hope is the right place. After a year navigating the unpredictable currents of the COVID-19 pandemic, Tele Novella might just have found that elusive destination.
FACING THE MUSIC
Five noteworthy albums from Austin artists produced during the pandemic.
Mama Duke Ballsy (12/19)
Fueled by her unflinching confidence, Kori Roy’s debut lives up to its name with brazen rhymes that skewer the competition.
Sun June
Somewhere (2/5)
In this stunning sophomore album, Sun June’s prismatic pop gems trigger the listener’s own halfremembered moments of heartache and longing.
Mobley Young & Dying in the Occident Supreme (2/19) Mobley follows up his 2018 hit album with a new EP bursting with upbeat melodies exploring heavier lyrical terrain.
Nuevo Nuevo (3/19)
Featuring members of Greyhounds and The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Nuevo creates bilingual rock that filters ’70s folk through old-school Mexican ballads.
Future Museums
Pre-Form (Spring 2021)
The prolific Neil Lord brings aboard a number of collaborators on this synth-pop project that, fittingly, shares a label with the composers of the Stranger Things soundtrack.
TELE NOVELLA
There Is a Light That Never Goes Out
From food upgrades to bigger beer gardens, Austin venues look for new ways to keep the flame alive.
ON MARCH 12, 2020, The Banisters, Fertility House, and Cheap Wave took to Mohawk’s intimate indoor stage for a noisy bill of indie rock and punk. And then...silence.
A year after that last show—just like Cheer Up Charlies, Stubb’s’ iconic open-air stage, and the stadium rock–ready Frank Erwin Center—Mohawk remains darkened. An annual $2 billion industry lies in stasis, affecting not just musicians and venue personnel, but tourism, adjacent restaurants, and nearby hotels.
The sudden closure of promotions outfit Margin Walker in December has served as a barometer to the severe situation facing Austin’s music industry today. Founded by Graham Williams in 2016, it had become the state’s largest independent concert promoter, booking thousands of shows each year. But that all came crashing down when two of the company’s primary clients, the North Door and Barracuda, shuttered their doors over the summer. Contrary to public perception, most venues aren’t equipped to handle in-house bookings,
meaning Margin Walker’s absence has left a gulf in the chain that supplies live music to Texans.
With the industry in peril, offering alternative settings has become one of the only measures (at least temporarily) to stave off disaster. Venues like ACL Live and Empire Control Room have hesitantly returned with high-dollar, low-capacity shows to make ends meet. Likewise, in deep South Austin, The Far Out Lounge & Stage and Sagebrush have attracted audiences with sprawling beer garden environments that are almost non-existent closer to the city. But while Far Out Lounge’s Lawrence Boone describes it as a “blessing to have the amount of space” for socially distanced shows, the venue has incurred steep sanitation and personnel costs to ensure high safety standards. “We’re full of anxiety and debt, but it’s better than a lot of places; at least we’re open,” he says.
Others that’ve been forced to remain closed have used the interim as a means to prepare for the next crisis, or what Mohawk founder James Moody calls “putting more legs under the stool.”
Mohawk (pictured above) in less strenuous times.
Now, its owner is looking at different ways to save the business.
For instance, with inherently brief operating hours, he says venue owners should be examining different ways to monetize their property, such as upgrading kitchens to provide more food options, engaging in e-commerce, or renting out unused realty as studio space for photographers and other artists during the day. “In this world, in a time of war, all things are on the table,” he says.
To date, there are no definitive plans for diversifying his business. For most, the day-to-day simply means weathering what’s already on their plate: paying next month’s rent, applying for state and federal relief, and grappling with the loss of colleagues like Margin Walker.
Ultimately, live music relies on the experience itself. The thump of the bass, the glare of the stage lights, and the thrill of hearing your favorite song played in the moment. Moody remains optimistic only because he has a deep faith in that magic. “There’s nothing like a live music experience in Austin, and there never will be,” he says. “Because that’s something we can still do, we’re going to try.”
TIPPING THE SCALES
Vinyl and other physical media has been on the rise, including at one Austin label that defied the odds.
“THE SKY WAS falling,” says Tony Presley, owner of Austin indie record label Keeled Scales. Following national shutdowns last spring, the company’s monthly financial reports showed album sales down by two-thirds, and with people glued to the news, streaming numbers tanked. In those precarious first months of the pandemic, Presley pondered whether or not the label even had a future.
But then the unexpected happened.
In June, Presley started to process an inordinate amount of album orders, mainly of vinyl records. Comments were often attached, where purchasers left encouraging notes to the artists (Wish we were seeing you live this year, but this will have to do! said one to Will Johnson). “In the absence of artists touring, their fans and listeners wanted to actually hold the physical record while they’re listening to it,” says Presley.
By the end of 2020, the label closed its most successful year ever, doubling their profits from its previous best—an economic windfall they paid forward by bestowing 100 percent of digital sales to their artists in a three-month window, and raising nearly $8,000 for the Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe of Texas through a recently released compilation album. Additionally, with his calendar wiped free of shows, Presley says he discovered new means of promotion and media interaction, insights that should help ensure Keeled Scales’ continued success beyond the surprise boon in an otherwise tragic year.
Streaming numbers tanked, but Keeled Scales owner Tony Presley found new life at his record label with booming vinyl sales.
Let’s Get Digital
Austin’s music scene spins on the axis of South by Southwest. But after being forced to cancel 2020’s festivities, it’s introducing a whole new experience.
LAST FEBRUARY, TRISH Connelly, a full-time seasonal music programmer for South by Southwest (SXSW), remembers getting inundated with emails from concerned artists set to perform in less than a week. Was SXSW aware of the virus? What precautions were in place for safety at venues? How would the festival respond if the situation worsened? European and Asian musicians, who had already started to see the wreckage wrought by the virus, were the first to cancel. Of the acts that remained, many were still en route to Austin when Mayor
The festival has gotten as innovative as the creatives it promotes.
Steve Adler declared that the annual event was officially canceled—a move that not only stunned Connelly and the entire city, but the music industry as a whole.
In just a matter of days, one of the town’s most important cultural and economic drivers had been reduced to rubble. Hotels, Airbnb rental properties, restaurants, venues, bars, and rideshare drivers saw their most profitable week come to naught. Just between March 12-21 alone, the local hotel industry lost an estimated $65 million.
In the wake of the announcement, SXSW pivoted quickly, taking keynote speakers, networking sessions, and hundreds of live music performances completely online. But even that wasn’t enough to save the festival from misfortune, as the following Monday, March 9, it was forced to lay off around 50 employees (or one-third of its staff).
Now, with a year to rebound and reassess, the festival has gotten as innovative as the creatives it promotes, culminating in the unveiling of SXSW Online. This March, attendees will have access to on-demand lectures, the ability to stream debut films, and even explore a virtual reality landscape of Austin’s live music district. Marquee names participating in the event include Willie Nelson in his first-ever SXSW keynote address, filmmaker Barry Jenkins, and actress Taraji P. Henson.
To keep things simple, an online portal and mobile app will provide a directory of pre-recorded music conference sessions, keynote speeches, and musical performances. And for those disinclined to pore through those listings? No problem. The festival plans to provide five different streaming channels through platforms like Roku and
March 6: City officials cancel South by Southwest; March 13: Austin’s first positive COVID-19 cases confirmed; March 15: Gatherings of more than 250 people are banned; April 20: After 87 years, Threadgill’s closes forever; May 11: Austin says goodbye to Unplugged at the Grove, with the closure of Shady Grove; May 22: Gov. Greg Abbott allows bars to reopen at 25 percent capacity; June 26: THE YEAR FROM HELL
The losses, legislation, and other milestones from 2020.
AppleTV, where passholders will receive a steady flow of content ranging from talks by speakers like Matthew McConaughey and Devo frontman Mark Mothersbaugh to performances by Japanese punk rockers Otoboke Beaver.
Perhaps the most remarkable offering, though, is the aforementioned XR live music experience—a fantastical replication of both the Red River District and South Congress Avenue, where participants can stroll down the street and pop into music venues and festival mainstays like Mohawk, Empire Control Room, and the British Music Embassy. After all, what is SXSW if not standing on the corner of a downtown intersection and deciding which breakout band to catch? You can even plan a specific gathering with friends at a show, each of which houses 40 participants before defaulting to a new “instance,” or parallel simulation.
However, not all virtual reality performances will be available on demand, and vice versa. That’s because SXSW is working with many of the same showcase presenters from the past for their music programming, granting one-hour time blocks to entities such as NPR, the British Music Embassy, and the South Korean state department.
“I’ve learned a lot, but the main thing is to wipe the idea out of your head that a virtual event should be approached the same way as a live one—whether putting an event together or attending one,” says the head of SXSW’s music festival, James Minor, who prepared for this year’s proceedings by exploring modifications seen at other online events. “But on a basic level, you’re looking for the same things: connection and discovery.”
Not only is Minor confident that this new iteration of SXSW will achieve that—he believes it’ll lower the barrier for participation and open the door for those who have never been able to attend due to logistical or financial constraints.
With a vaccine currently being rolled out, SXSW will likely return to an in-person structure next year. But 2020 will emerge as a watershed moment, forever changing the way events are orchestrated. Now that online interaction has been precipitated and normalized by the pandemic, festivals like SXSW have new means of reaching audiences. And the homegrown standardbearer—after more than three decades of facilitating the launch of world-altering musicians and companies—is again ready to surpass expectations.
5 CAN’T-MISS EVENTS AT SXSW ONLINE
Willie Nelson’s Keynote Address
If you’re trying something entirely new, best to include an old standard, like Austin’s biggest cultural icon with a penchant for legendary storytelling.
NPR Tiny Desk Showcase
After hosting a long-standing flagship event at Stubb’s Bar-B-Q, NPR goes smaller with a secret bill that’s rumored to be its greatest yet.
British Music Embassy Showcases
A perennial SXSW favorite, our neighbors from across the pond always curate a lineup of the most promising young musicians the UK has to offer.
AfroFuture Sounds Showcase
Along with London-based artists filmed at the iconic Abbey Road Studios, this showcase of one of the most exciting new genres boasts remote performances from Nigeria and South Africa.
Damnably Records Showcase
Get a glimpse of South Korean indie band Say Sue Me and Japanese punk rockers Otoboke Beaver before they blow up stateside.
Interactive experiences have always defined
Now the festival is going even further.
Bars are shut down again; June 10-11: Barracuda and Scratchouse shutter within hours of each other; July 8: University of Houston study warns that 90 percent of Austin venues are in danger of closure by year’s end; Sept. 16: Musicians and venue workers rally outside City Hall for local relief; Sept. 17: City Council approves the SAVES ordinance, a $15 million relief package for venues, restaurants, and childcare providers; Nov. 13: Rapper Jonathan “Chaka” Mahone launches the privately funded Black Live Music Fund; Dec. 11: Applications open for the first phase of the SAVES-funded venue relief; Dec. 21: Federal stimulus allocates $15 billion in funding for cultural institutions nationwide.
SXSW.
BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER
With federal aid still on the horizon, struggling venues are looking to City Council to step up with its $15 million relief package before it’s too late.
ON DEC. 21, Christmas came early for the nation’s music lovers. A massive $900 billion federal stimulus bill passed, $15 billion of which was allocated to relief for independent establishments, including concert venues, through its Save Our Stages Act grants program. But for an industry already on precipice of mass casualties, enduring months-long delays in distribution of those funds had many predicting catastrophic consequences.
Similarly, at a local level, grassroots advocacy finally led to some action on the part of City Council. Approved in October, its SAVES ordinance (Save Austin’s Vital Economic Sectors) is a historic $15 million relief package that includes $5 million for music venues alone. “We were excited that something was finally happening,” says Stephen Sternschein, Empire Control Room co-owner and board member of the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA). “But sure enough, it was almost three months before anybody even had an inkling of a plan. It’s felt really disorganized.”
HAAM
By subsidizing premiums and helping musicians choose the best health care plans available through the Affordable Care Act, HAAM saved its members more than $12 million in 2020. “[The foundation] provides peace of mind for people making a living in the arts world,” says artist and producer Dan Duszynski.
Black Fret
Transitioning from its typical red carpet gala at the Paramount Theatre to a virtual event last December, Black Fret showcased 20 performers being awarded one of its $8,000 grants (or $160,000 total). This year’s recipients included Cilantro Boombox, Sir Woman, Sam Houston & Blk Odyssy, Croy and the Boys, and more.
Banding Together ATX
To his point, it wouldn’t be until December that venues could apply for the first phase of relief (a $20,000 emergency grant). Now, with meaningful federal relief likely to arrive by the spring, Austin’s venue owners are hoping local dollars can be distributed quickly and transparently enough to act as a financial life raft. “Businesses require predictability,” says Sternschein. “Until the grant money is in our bank account, there’s still a risk that we can’t control, contain, or understand. We’re just kind of biting our nails, hoping they don’t screw up.” NONPROFITS OFFERING
Rather than distributing larger lump sums, this emergency relief grant program allocated hundreds of thousands of dollars to musicians via $75-$100 HEB gift cards. Musician Paige Berry says deciding how to budget limited finances can be difficult, “so it was nice to get something specifically to take care of basic needs.”
SIMS Foundation
Like HAAM, SIMS provides health care funds to artists. But they also assist with the greater music industry, like Austin show promoter Trish Connelly, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2018. “SIMS Foundation has been a literal lifesaver,” she says. “The costs of my continual medical treatments and appointments would be astronomical without insurance.”
MusiCares
A charity formed by the Recording Academy (the organization that runs the Grammys), it helps cover everything from medical emergency bills to basic living expenses for struggling musicians. Launched in 1989, it generated more than $10 million in critical COVID-19 relief alone last year.
JOSEPH
RIDING THE WAVES
Artist Tim Wakefield is transforming pop music’s biggest songs into masterpieces that are fetching millions for charity.
The goosebumps inspired by our favorite songs prove music isn’t heard, it’s felt. But through the inventive prints produced for his Soundwaves Art Foundation, local artist Tim Wakefield is proving that music can also be seen. From his East Side studio space, the UK native digitally
manipulates sound waves from popular tunes, adding an array of shapes and colors, such as a web of electrifying yellows in Hamilton showstopper, “My Shot.” Signed by their respective musicians, including past collaborators like Iggy Pop and Peter Gabriel, the prints are auctioned off to raise money for numerous nonprofits (more than $3 million to date). Even as the industry paused in 2020, Wakefield’s foundation gathered more than $660,000 for artist-focused charity partners, such as MusiCares and Sweet Relief.
Silent Knight
His name is synonymous with real estate, but Gary Keller has emerged as an unlikely champion of Austin’s live music scene just when the industry needs it most.
ALTHOUGH HE ADMITS to playing a pretty mean rhythm guitar, you won’t find Austin-based real estate mogul Gary Keller rocking a crowd. But while the Keller Williams Realty founder might never be featured on the Stubb’s Bar-B-Q marquee, he’s quietly become a star of the local music scene.
Since 2017, his music advocacy group, the Austin Music Movement, has distributed upwards of $10 million into the city’s music economy, including for nonprofits like the SIMS Foundation, All ATX, and Black Fret. Just as important, he’s helping to preserve pieces of Austin’s musical history. In 2016, when The Saxon Pub was on the verge of closure, Keller not only purchased the property, but provided the capital for long-overdue renovations. “The business of real estate is one I know very well,” he says, “but at the same time, some real estate needs to be respected for its past, for what it represents.”
Keller’s philanthropic streak only intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic, as he donated $50,000 to the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians (HAAM) to cover artists’ insurance premiums in April. At the same time, such Keller-funded organizations as EQ Austin and the Red River Cultural District advocated for what would ultimately become $5 million in relief courtesy of Austin’s newly established Live Music Venue Preservation Fund. “There isn’t any other scene that’s given Austin its vibe quite like music,” he says. “And make no mistake, live music will return.”
From left: Gary Keller, Pat Simmons (Doobie Brothers), Christopher Cross, Joe Ables (Saxon Pub owner), Tom Johnston (Doobie Brothers).
By chris hughes
By sarah karlan
Even if you haven’t been to Better Half, Little Brother, or any of the pop-ups, breweries, and food trucks Matthew Bolick and his band of visionaries have dreamed up, you’re well aware of their work. Because the nightly buzz they’re creating has become the benchmark for eating, drinking, and being merry in Austin.
PhotograPh
Left to right: Matt Wright, Matthew Bolick, and Grady Wright taking it easy at Better Half.
White Zombie,
LIL BABY, AND Trent Green broadcasting a Denver vs. Las Vegas NFL game are all competing to be heard over the perpetual cacophony on Rainey Street. It’s a chilly Sunday in November, and Austin’s most debaucherous enclave is flush with revelers taking advantage of the last hours of the weekend. Patios are at capacity, televisions blare from rooftops, and the pungent smell of cologne hangs heavy in the air. Minus the smattering of face masks, one would never know that the world is in the throes of a global pandemic.
“I know,” Matthew Bolick says from his patio perch in front of Little Brother, shaking his head as he watches the jostling stream of bar-goers scouting for their next hang. “It’s disgusting.”
Since opening the retro four-seat bar in 2019, the restaurateur has had a quasi-antagonistic relationship with his chosen real estate, even making T-shirts that anointed Little Brother “The Best Bar on the Worst Street.” Despite the tongue-in-cheek sentiment, the quirky watering hole is considered one of Bolick’s most intimate ventures—something evident in a design motif that features cult VHS tapes (think Swamp Thing and Halloween III: Season of the Witch), BMX ephemera, Micro Machines, and other tchotchkes from his childhood bedroom. That personal aspect also applies to his latest concept, a pop-up called Bad Larry Burger Club, which graduated from a regular gathering among friends at his house on Larry Lane into Austin’s latest culinary obsession.
Unlike those first East Austin get-togethers in 2016, there aren’t spirited bouts of Hammerschlagen or a friendly burger competition taking place on Bolick’s backyard grill. But the canned beer and frozen Turkey Dew shots (a fluorescent green
combination of Wild Turkey 101 and Mountain Dew) are flowing, friends and family have come to relax around the propane-fueled flat top outside, and the aroma of smash burgers is drawing a crowd of curious onlookers.
Yes, the locally sourced K&C Cattle Co. patties boast a latticework of perfectly seared edges. And who doesn’t love gooey American cheese dribbling past the outer limits of a squishy Martin’s Potato Roll? But this is theater at its finest, and Bolick is its master of ceremonies.
He screams above the Alice In Chains now playing over the loud speakers, trying to locate a block of patrons who purchased one of the 250 online tickets that sold out within minutes—all for the privilege of being served dinner via an aluminum rain gutter that’s been repurposed into a burger chute.
One lucky couple is eventually tracked down, and they scamper to the rear wheel of an ’85 Honda dirt bike that’s being used to prop up Bad Larry’s burger conveyor. “Are you ready?” Bolick screams. “I’m warning you: Use both hands!” Packaged in a cardboard takeout container and assisted by a steep 60-degree angle, the bundles shoot out like clay pigeons that customers have to corral before gravity splatters their meal all over the sidewalk. Shockingly, not a single casualty is recorded over the course of the evening. Even more surprising is that the spectacle of watching customers chase after “slutty cheeseburgers” (to use Bolick’s own words) never seems to lose its appeal, as each successful catch is greeted by a chorus of applause.
Some of the fervor surrounding these events can be credited to the burger itself, which uses Prime-grade, pasture-raised beef and dill rounds
sourced from The Pickle House. It’s a recipe that Bolick has spent months perfecting. But like all of his ventures, going back to Flat Track Coffee in 2012, there’s far more to its appeal than quality food and drink. The branding is eye-catchingly irreverent, the concept streamlined and unpretentious. And running through it all is Bolick’s absurd sense of humor: For instance, Bad Larry’s mulleted mascot, the remote-controlled toy dump truck he often uses to deliver food to people’s cars, and electrical tape spelling out “We Give a Chute” on the metal tube that distributes so much meaty joy. That interplay of hipster gastronomy and a stealthy attention to detail isn’t just noticeable at Bad Larry, either. Along with business partners Matt and Grady Wright, Bolick now owns several bars and restaurants that project that same disposition, including an Arizona-style burrito truck
“Their mentality is just to create things that are cool, and if it happens to make money, great. And that’s so rare these days.”
-Travis Tober, co-owner of Nickel City
Bolick (right) mans one of his Bad Larry Burger Club pop-ups on Rainey Street last fall.
(Bummer Burrito), a brewery (Hold Out Brewing), an award-winning all-day cafe (Better Half), and two locations of Little Brother (one focused on canned and frozen cocktails; the other on coffee and kolaches).
Since dreaming up Brew & Brew in 2013—their sanctuary to rare craft beer and third-wave coffee—the trio has become Austin’s unofficial arbiters of cool. The look they’ve cultivated with the help of artists Lauren Dickens and Cody Haltom is now being mimicked across the city. Interior designer Lillianne Steckel’s airy, Marfa modern aesthetic first seen at Flat Track Coffee and Better Half is de rigueur around town. Even Bolick’s way with social media—part food porn, part sketch comedy—seems to have created an entirely new approach to Instagram.
Unlike other hospitality heavyweights in the community, Bolick’s tight-knit circle of friends and colleagues don’t even have a company name. Matt Wright jokes that they’ve considered adopting the acronym URG (Unnamed Restaurant Group), but they’re content with pouring their creative energies into more important issues, such as finding new ways to improve the customer experience and chasing the next whimsical pursuit they feel might up Austin’s fun factor.
“Their mentality is just to create things that are cool, and if it happens to make money, great,” says Travis Tober, co-owner of Nickel City and a consultant at Little Brother. “I feel like I’m an ideas guy myself, but I’m almost very aware of the money side of things. Not them, they’ll just say ‘f*ck it, let’s do it.’ And that’s so rare these days.”
IN A 1986 edition of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the newspaper gave a glowing review to a new Mid-Cities restaurant that specialized in Continental cuisine kissed by the Southwestern obsession of the mid-’80s. Inside the white-tablecloth dining room, roasted duckling came varnished in a raspberry-jalapeño demiglace, mozzarella-stuffed chicken breasts were plated over a lemon-lime cream sauce, and baked escargots could be found on the menu next to the establishment’s signature tortilla soup. Owner Sally Bolick named it after her son, Matthew, whom she was photographed with for the article: she in a chic turtleneck sweater, her 2-year-old in a waiter’s uniform complete with bow tie and pleated slacks.
This wasn’t an unusual sight at Cafe Matthew, where the eatery’s namesake could usually be found flying paper airplanes, chatting with the cooks, or balancing a tray of sugar substitutes for Fort Worth’s elite to sweeten their iced tea.
To this day, Sally Bolick is considered a pioneering female chef in the DFW area, a feat she accomplished while raising her son in the bustling confines of a high-profile restaurant. Along with BMX riding and playing the drums (he still performs in local bands Easy Prey and Mall Walker), a knack for hospitality was ingrained into Matthew from childhood. But if his mother’s cafe was his early education, two widely disparate career stops became Bolick’s finishing school.
After graduating from Full Sail University in Florida with a degree in film and television studies, he returned to his mother’s house in Weatherford and began managing the neighborhood Starbucks. When he wasn’t “getting high in the walk-in,” he found himself picking up invaluable lessons on multitasking, speed of service, and taking care of guests. It also afforded him the opportunity to move to Austin when management humored his request to chase a girl who was attending UT. A stint at the location at 45th Street and North Lamar eventually led to a position at Jo’s Coffee downtown, and finally, Frank, the now-closed gourmet hot dog/specialty coffee spot launched by Daniel and Jennifer Northcutt, Geoff Peveto, and designer Christian Helms in 2009.
With his background as a barista, Bolick assumed he’d immediately slide behind the bar and continue pulling espresso shots from the stainless steel La Marzocco GB5. But general manager Tyler Wells was something of a coffee savant, having recently qualified for the U.S. Barista Championship in Anaheim, and was militant about the beverage program at Frank. With his cowl of red hair and caustic wit, he’d parade behind his employees like a vigilant rooster, probing for any minor blunder.
Often, just as Bolick was prepared to set down a cortado or cappuccino in front of a waiting cus-
A 2-year-old Bolick playing waiter inside his mother’s Fort Worth–area restaurant, Cafe Matthew.
tomer, Wells would swoop in and dump it into the sink. When he wasn’t judging the rosettas in Bolick’s latte art (Wells insisted each pour be perfect), he’d be inspecting the portafilter and countertop for cleanliness, or quizzing guests about his protégé’s attentiveness. “Tyler was the biggest hard-ass I ever worked for,” says Bolick. “But despite that arrogant, peacock vibe, I owe him immensely for what he instilled in me about hospitality.”
Under Wells’ watchful eye, Bolick got to know minute details about his regulars, such as if they were right- or left-handed (this dictates in which direction to pour the steamed milk atop a latte), anecdotes about their love lives, even career hopes and dreams. If Bolick was the Sam Malone of Frank’s coffee bar, his Norm and Cliff were two brothers that started to pop by nearly every morning before heading to their jobs as an online marketer and a project manager working on the W Hotel being erected nearby. Like many a workaday stiff, Matt and Grady Wright weren’t thrilled with their 9-to-5s and were entertaining the idea of opening a cafe that paid equal respect to specialty coffee and craft beer. Understanding their shortcomings when it came to the hospitality component of the business, they were looking to their favorite barista to become a partner and spearhead that side of what would eventually be called Brew & Brew. Bolick, nothing if not a dreamer, was already piecing together plans to launch his own haute doughnut shop—something he promptly ditched to partner with the Wright brothers.
The project escalated quicker than expected when a manager at Frank found Bolick’s business plan and unceremoniously fired him. The abrupt-
ness was a shock, but Bolick recognized that he’d learned everything he could from the restaurant— including its party-like atmosphere that thrived on creatives and a concerted focus on branding, which Christian Helms (founder of Helms Workshop) and Peveto (later of The Decoder Ring Design Concern) implemented from the beginning.
While Grady and Matt took a calculated approach to raising necessary funding and finding the perfect East Side real estate, Bolick stayed aggressive, opening a more stripped-down side project with Sterling Roberts, a BMX-riding friend from his Fort Worth days. Carved out of a 150square-foot space in the back of Farewell Books in early 2013, Flat Track Coffee on East Cesar Chavez Street operated like a pop-up, with Bolick bypassing standard Health Department regulations (it didn’t even have a working sink) by making it an all-donations-based business model. The duo also started roasting their own beans with a mutual friend who owned Avoca Coffee Roasters in Fort Worth. Trucked down from their old hometown, bagged in Roberts’ living room, and sealed with a hair straightener they’d picked up at a beauty supply shop, the coffee helped boost Bolick’s reputation at an opportune time.
After an arduous three-year search, Brew & Brew was finally unveiled in the former Progress Coffee space on Sept. 29, 2013. Whatever the group gained in the latter’s decade worth of customer loyalty, though, they hemorrhaged in weathered equipment and overdue repairs. In the first few weeks alone, the espresso machine, grinder, and
The comic design work of Lauren Dickens and Cody Haltom helps set the tone for all of the group’s dining projects.
refrigerator all had to be replaced. Bolick would often have to close Flat Track in the middle of the day, hop onto his bike, and peddle over to his other coffee shop on San Marcos Street to tend to some disaster that sprung up while the Wright brothers “DIY-ed” the buildout.
On top of the crumbling infrastructure, their tiny pocket of the East Side was also in the midst of unprecedented construction, setting up literal road blocks to entry. Without the success of Grady’s regular rare tap takeovers and the dollars brought in through South by Southwest, the trio predicts Brew & Brew would’ve inevitably failed.
“We ran that way for seven months—me working all day, seven days a week,” Bolick says. “I distinctly remember being at Foodheads for lunch one day and realizing it was the first time I’d been outside of Flat Track or Brew & Brew for almost a year. I’d built this weird little prison of coffee, and I’d burned myself out. But looking back, it was my golden age of Austin.”
IN TRUTH,
THE owners of Brew & Brew never wanted to open a single restaurant, let alone an entire food and beverage group. But after their beer-soaked coffee emporium’s early turbulence, and years of financial unpredictability, they realized retiring on the merits of their “caffeinated Cheers” was unrealistic. Adding to that restlessness was the fact that Bolick had recently reached an impasse with his partner at Flat Track and had distanced himself from the company.
So, in December 2016, the three started looking at new properties to create a tweaked second version of Brew & Brew that partnered coffee and cocktails. They signed a letter of intent for a space on the briskly expanding Rainey Street (the eventual home of Little Brother), but after repeated delays, the Wrights and Bolick continued their hunt for sufficient real estate.
While touring a former restaurant on South Lamar, their Realtor called them in a frenzy, and told them to meet him at a Clarksville-adjacent corner on West Fifth Street. “I don’t see properties like this ever!” he exclaimed.
Upon arriving, they were met with a sweeping panorama of concrete and a drab Enterprise Rent-A-Car building. Bolick remembered it well—he’d rented (and subsequently wrecked) a truck from there for a New Mexico road trip years before. Their Realtor told them to withhold judgment until he led them to the back of the property, where a Quonset Hut (uprooted from Camp Mabry) lay hidden from street view. As they got closer, AC/DC’s “Hells Bells” seeped out of the corrugated siding, and, as if on cue, owner Steve Ogden emerged from the oversized sliding door in his trademark Hawaiian shirt, eager to show them the inside of his man cave. One corner harbored a 1965 El Camino and tons of artwork, in another a drum kit and an antique grand piano, but in their “hive mind,” Bolick and his partners were already dreaming of where to position some brewing equipment.
The only problem? To get their hands on the metal hangar, they’d also have to take on the massive parking lot and the eyesore where Bolick returned his crumpled rental truck. Furthermore, there was stiff competition from other perspective clients, many of which were prepared to offer big money. But Ogden, a longtime Austinite, wanted to put something on his property that he could be proud of. So, encouraging them to act swiftly, the landlord gave them a couple weeks to pitch him on a proposal for the all-or-nothing deal.
A brewery out back was a given, but the Enterprise building became a source of contention for the group. The Wright brothers wanted to stick with their initial plans for a second location of Brew & Brew, but Bolick argued they needed something more dramatic to siphon off Fifth Street traffic and, ultimately, sustain the lot. “The front building is the handshake of the entire property,” he says. “I knew that when people drove up, it had to hit hard.”
Sitting at the bar at Shangri-La soon after, Bolick started assembling his team. First, he called his old drinking buddy, Rich Reimbolt, a chef at Josephine House that he trusted to lead the culinary program at a new counter-service spot. He contacted Lauren Dickens, one of his regulars at Flat Track, to see if she might be interested in breaking away from her position as creative director at Helms Workshop (a fortuitous text that Dickens says “gave me the push to go out on my own”). And photographer Casey Dunn then suggested Jamie Chioco (Chioco Design)— whom the Brew & Brew crew knew from attending events at their East Side space—handle architectural duties. Although he didn’t know it at the time, Bolick was not only connecting the dots between his personal and professional lives, but forging a network that would prove some of the city’s most powerful tastemakers.
There would be no more thinking small. It was time to create their own Frank, to amend the ills that had doomed that formative restaurant after Bolick was fired and Tyler Wells decamped to Los Angeles (where he formed the highly decorated Handsome Coffee Roasters). Ogden recognized the potential immediately, signing off on what would become Better Half in early 2018 and Hold Out Brewing two years later.
“IF YOU GO to an MMH (McGuire Moorman Hospitality) property, you feel like you’re better than everybody; you know you’ve made it,” says Travis Tober, who’s familiar with influential restaurant groups, having seen firsthand his Nickel City partners, Brandon and Zane Hunt, turn Via 313 into what’s soon to be a national pizza chain. “If you go to Better Half or
Little Brother or Brew & Brew, they’ve nailed cool. What MMH did with smug, they did with cool.”
The “cool” factor Tober’s referring to is a collaborative effort that begins with Dickens. After agreeing to make Better Half/Holdout Brewing her first big freelance project, she got to work creating mood boards to help hone her vision on an aesthetic that would reflect Bolick’s sense of humor and an authentic Austin sensibility. A circa 1977 photograph of Dolly Parton, Old Skool black Vans, and a hound dog lounging on a playground swing were just some of the images that became the basis for Better Half’s merchandise, menu typography, and so much more.
Having been a longtime customer at Brew & Brew and Flat Track, Dickens was privy to what made Bolick’s concepts work, namely an environment that felt like “going to a friend’s house and hanging out.” So, she made wordplay central to the art, painting “Nope” as a customer deterrent above the employees-only area, “Live a Little” on a T-shirt with two skeletons embracing over drinks, and “Half It Your Way” for a Burger King–inspired drive-thru special.
“With the branding, it was an opportunity to inject some conversation,” she says. “We’re trying to make folks laugh and really feel comfortable.”
From a design perspective, Bolick still considers Frank “the most forward-thinking restaurant in Austin” during the early aughts, a legacy he’s carried with him ever since. It works in sync with Reimbolt’s elevated comfort food menu, which pays homage to Whataburger in items like a hon-
ey butter fried chicken biscuit. It underscores innovations like Better Half’s car-hop service during the pandemic. And, perhaps most importantly, it’s forged a singular ambience that has other entrepreneurs taking note.
Even Larry McGuire of the aforementioned MMH is an avowed fan, saying “a great food scene needs that kind of scrappiness and cleverness. They’re showing that great food and great design doesn’t have to be expensive.”
After a flurry of activity over the past several years, the group insists that they’re slowing down on the expansion front, opting instead to focus on improving what they’ve already developed. For Bolick, that means taking his Bad Larry Burger Club off Rainey Street—a gastronomic lark, along with Bummer Burrito, that he’s dubbed “Capture the Chads”—to a more permanent spot inside LoLo Wine bar on East Sixth Street. He’s also looking to bottle the magic he’s been able to capture with the Wright brothers, Dickens, and their faction of creatives by starting a consultant group to help usher in a whole new set of talent. Even if they’re not executing the final product, they want to help other idiosyncratic dreamers, to prop up other original voices, and to continue advocating for everyone to “live a little.”
“If we do anything else, I think it’ll be more where we’re not the primary driver,” says Matt Wright. “But you never know when another opportunity will present itself. We always have a lot of fun ideas…ideas we’re always trying to talk ourselves out of.”
Purchased from Mohawk owner James Moody, the Little Brother van is still used for coffee pop-ups around town.
Kiss and Tell
Raul’s Nightclub became a battlefield after a tender moment between a punk rocker and a police officer incited a riot. By
Rosie Ninesling
ON SEPT. 19, 1978, UT film student Phil Tolstead’s band, The Huns, took the stage at a cramped Guadalupe Street nightclub home to Austin’s early punk scene. Dressed ironically as frat boys, the group was met with a spray of spit and beer bottles from the raucous crowd at Raul’s—just the introduction that Tolstead, who revered The Sex Pistols’ rowdy showmanship, had hoped for. Then, he spotted Officer Steve Bridgewater.
Although The Huns’ fliers had stated “NO POLICE,” the singer saw a performative opportunity in Bridgewater’s attendance. So, he seized his chance, altering his lyrics to match the moment: Eat death scum / I hate pigs / I hate you. Unfazed, Bridgewater snaked his way through the audience and climbed onstage. The enemies locked eyes before, in one swift movement, Tolstead grabbed the officer’s cheeks and kissed him on the lips.
All hell broke loose from there. With Bridgewater attempting to handcuff him, the singer grabbed the microphone and called for a riot. Concertgoers flooded the stage, while undercover cops emerged from the crowd and beat them with billy clubs. Guitarist Manny Rosario even slammed his instrument onto Bridgewater’s radio to prevent him from calling in backup. By night’s end, Guadalupe was blocked off and Tolstead, grinning after fulfilling his punk rock dreams, was arrested.
Three weeks later, the singer was fined $53.50 for disorderly conduct. Despite UT professors defending the band’s artistic legitimacy, The Huns’ purpose “wasn’t musical,” drummer Tom Huckabee wrote in a blog years later. “Our mission was to stir the sh*t, cure boredom, and strip the gears of musical privilege in Austin represented by the folk, blues, and cosmic cowboy oligarchies.”
Phil Tolstead, center, fights to wriggle free from Officer Steve Bridgewater’s grip while onstage at Raul’s.
