Margaret Moser Tribute: Roky Erickson

On Margaret’s personal and passionate way of writing about music


Rokkervil: Roky Erickson (l) and Billy Gibbons with Okkervil River and Margaret at the 2008 Austin Music Awards, Austin Music Hall (Photo by Todd V. Wolfson)

I first met Margaret at St. David’s church. I would go to church and come out to get coffee and cream, and she would be there, like she was supposed to be there. Right away I knew she was one of the nicest people I’d ever met.

I liked it a lot when she started writing for the Austin Sun. I kept encouraging her to stay with it, and I’d look forward to her writing when the Chronicle started and she went there. It was fun when they started the Austin Music Awards and Margaret did so much to make it all happen. I enjoyed all of them and have great memories of going to them and playing.

She wrote so much during all her years at the Chronicle. She had such a personal and passionate way of writing about music. I also liked seeing if she had written about me or my life or what I was doing. She had a different way of looking at things, and the way she wrote made the music come alive, like the musicians were right there with me. She has a gift not every writer has.

I always appreciated her, for more than 40 years now, back to the Seventies when she started at the Sun. Austin was different then, more like a little town, and we all got to know each other real quick. That doesn’t happen for everybody anymore, but I’m so glad it happened for us. Please tell Margaret I’m going to write her a letter. A letter to her and her family.

  • Margaret Moser Tribute: Leader of the Pack

    The importance of being Margaret Moser as told by her peers, mentors & protégés
  • Susan Antone

    “If I could do in my lifetime half of what she’s done, I’d be a happy person”

    Marcia Ball

    “She’s a music writer who writes to enlighten”

    Lou Ann Barton

    The blues belter on what it's like to have your career chronicled by the best

    Ray Benson

    Soap Creek Saloon on a 10-cent tequila night

    Alice Berry

    On the Texas Blondes: “We were just cute girls who liked cute bands”

    John Cale

    Velvet Underground co-founder on first meet: “Up walks a petite blonde with all the swagger of someone 10 feet tall”

    Alvin Crow

    Summer camp with the kids

    Joe Doerr

    Pulling out a seat at Austin music’s banquet table

    Joe Ely

    “She always stirred up whatever trouble there was”

    Alejandro Escovedo

    “Her love for the Velvet Underground and John Cale was the same as I had”

    Rosie Flores

    “Austin wouldn’t be Austin if it wasn’t for Margaret”

    Gary Floyd

    Promoting punk, Austin, Texas-style

    Denny Freeman

    Remembering that “little blues cult”

    Chris Gates

    The power of print – and a 20-inch dildo

    Eliza Gilkyson

    The best advice she ever received? Keep your dogs clean.

    Jon Dee Graham

    A champion of Austin music – and Austin music writers

    Emily Gimble

    “She’s such a positive force in the world”

    Warren Hood

    “She’s the coolest, hippest lady”

    Tamir Kalifa

    Mother Falcon's mama bear

    Barbara K

    The power of music for fixing things and opening hearts
  • Chris Layton

    Antone’s, 1979: Hurricane Margaret blows in

    Paddy Moloney

    "You felt you were in safe hands with Margaret"

    Jason McMaster

    “She’s as metal as anyone – maybe even more”

    Augie Meyers

    “You can’t replace Margaret. There’s no more people like her.”

    Eve Monsees

    The confidence booster

    Derek O'Brien

    A great writer, and a great partier, too

    Rose Reyes

    “She was the leadership in Austin journalism that made sure women, Latinos, blacks, and youth weren’t overlooked”

    The Rolling Stones

    That Margaret Moser, she’s a rainbow

    Shawn & Shandon Sahm

    Beautiful Texas sunshine

    Larry Seaman

    “I don’t want to be greedy, but I want a little more time”

    Charlie Sexton

    The United Nations of Margaret

    Jeff Smith

    The case for San Antonio as the true heart of Texas music

    Angela Strehli

    “Margaret was always exuberant, cherubic, and mischievous simultaneously”

    Jesse Sublett

    When the Queen calls, you come

    Tiarra Girls

    “She will always be such an important part of our story”

    Kathy Valentine

    Right place, right time, right woman to share the joy with

    Jimmie Vaughan

    “Everything back then felt like us versus them – and she was one of us”

    Patricia Vonne

    Shine a light

    Monte Warden

    The career kick-starter

    Lucinda Williams

    The life of the party

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KEYWORDS FOR THIS STORY

Margaret Moser, Roky Erickson, Austin Sun, Austin Music Awards, Bill Bentley, Margaret Moser Tribute

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