Cover Story
Settling in but Never Settling at the Old Settler’s Music Fest
Executive Director Jean Spivey looks back at three decades of roots music
Trans UT Student Isn’t Giving Up on School or the Military
Freshman loses ROTC scholarship under Trump’s trans military ban
The Mayor’s State of the City Is … Mixed
Adler touts city initiatives, decries “shadow” of state backlash
Barking up Austin’s Kink Tree
Workshop offers training and kinship for local pup, pet communities
Steve Gunn Remembers the Stonehurst Cowboy
Guitarist deep dives into the lyrical and familial
Singing a Musical Fairytale in Teen Spirit
Filmmakers Max Minghella and Jamie Bell show fame’s light & shadow
Batch Craft Beer and Kolaches Is Becoming a Brewpub
Their Kickstarter ends May 15 and includes craft beer for life
Senate Bill Could Kill Deal to Build Pro Soccer Stadium in Austin
Precourt argues SB 1771 would “jeopardize the viability of Austin FC”
Joan Baez Gots to Ramble
Famed folk activist says fare thee well to touring
Travis County Revisits Creating Public Defenders’ Office
Legal panel ponders questions pondered many times before
Fonda San Miguel Celebrates Legendary Mexican Cuisine Expert
Honoring Diana Kennedy at May 6 dinner festivities
Learn Farm-to-Table Cooking at This Glamping Retreat
One of many activities at Collective Hill Country in Wimberley
4/20 Events
It’s April 20, and you know what that means. Time to celebrate that sweet leaf that keeps many of us sane. Other, more uptight folk might see it as the downfall of society or perhaps a “gateway drug,” but unless they mean a gateway to a more relaxed life then we couldn’t disagree more. Below…
Austin Bold Tells PETA to Go Kick a Chicken
“Farmer in the Del Valle” promotion raises animal activists’ hackles
Princess Mans Up For a Female Sci-Fi Future
Alexis Gideon + Michael O’Neill’s ‘Out There’ is in here on Thursday
R.I.P. Akwasi Evans, Eastside Writer and Activist
“He spoke his truth”
Easter Dining in and Around Austin
Whether you’re celebrating a certain someone’s reincarnation or just looking to get a little sloppy on a Sunday morning, we have a handful of Easter brunch offerings. Hit the carving station, sip a mimosa, and maybe lift your glasses to Jesus, if that’s your thing.
Old Settler’s Music Fest Resets Behind Biggest Headliners to Date
Second gathering in Tilmon points the way forward
Mayor Steve Picks Mayor Pete for President
Adler endorses, introduces Buttigieg at 2020 campaign kickoff
One Day at a Time Comes to ATX Television Festival
Fest adds Veronica Mars, Letterkenny, and more
Girls Impact the World Film Festival Is Back
Local film festival empowers young filmmakers from around the world
Calling All Queer-Supportive Nonprofits: Texas Pride Impact Funds Wants You!
TPIF support those supporting LGBTQ folks
UT’s Cohen New Works Festival Brings Experimentation to the Stage
Campus hosts a weeklong celebration of working outside comfort zones
Diane
Mortality has never seemed more pressing or vibrant than in this tale of small-town aging
High Life
The tedium of space is nothing compared to the tedium of an unfulfilling story
Little
Time goes backward in this riff on Big (or maybe it just feels that way)
Breakthrough
Evangelical tract never raises a pulse
The Chaperone
The fascinating true story of Louise Brooks falls out of focus in this anachronistic fiction
Penguin Highway
A wonderful anime adventure into childhood … with lots of adorable penguins
Knife + Heart
Perfect postmodernism among Paris’ porn scene in this retro-giallo
Amazing Grace
The lost concert movie of the nights that Aretha Franklin recorded her iconic album
Black Mother
A hypnotic and all-encompassing glimpse into Jamaican life
After
One Direction fan fiction comes to the big screen, because that’s what we deserve
Missing Link
More than just fuzzy fun in this latest stop-motion wonder
Texas Platters
Although William Harries Graham released Foreign Fields in 2015 with teen titan outfit the Painted Redstarts, Jakes feels like his proper debut. Stretching in new directions, it signals the development of his own distinct style. Textures emerge as much as songs, slowly unfolding ambient guitar lines that float in and out of his softly reverbed…
Public Notice: Getting to Affordability
Council sweats the small stuff
Texas Platters
Rebecca Loebe spray-painted a bedroom of home goods ghost white for her latest album cover. The Berklee alum and 2011 The Voice contestant even boasts a Patreon subscription account. As such, her first label-supported LP hasn’t slowed her hustle. Give Up Your Ghosts finds the Atlanta-raised singer effortlessly crystallizing jazzy pop-folk on her fourth LP.…
Quote of the Week
“I wrote a bestselling book. If you write a bestselling book, you can be a millionaire, too.” – Sen. Bernie Sanders (finally) admitting he’s part of the 1% in advance of (finally) releasing his tax returns next week.
Local Musician Is a One-Woman Food and Live Music Show
Dinner With Giulia brings authentic Italian home cooking and original performances to your kitchen
Faster Than Sound: Jackie Venson Solos
Local blues hero goes solo to cut costs, city polls on use of $12 million earmarked for the arts, and the U.S. State Dept. blocks Palestinian artist Dirar Kalash from the Fusebox Festival
Lege Lines: School Finance Bill Passes House With Flying Colors
Stickland only holdout on ambitious “Texas Plan” finance bill
Movies or Medicaid: A False Choice at the Texas Legislature
Another tug o’ war over funding for Texas’ film, TV, and gaming industry rebate program
Texas Platters
Name your band Crypt Trip, and people will think you’re as heavy and blackened as Black Sabbath. The cue for this San Marcos trio, however, lies in the title of its third album. Haze County speaks to open fields seen through a fog of marijuana smoke instead of a dark sepulchre mired in depression and…
Project Connect Unveils Cap Metro’s Orange Line
The first route in a high-capacity transit plan
What Land Use Code Do We Need to Build the City We Want?
Planning a way forward after CodeNEXT
Texas Platters
Earle’s 2009 tribute to Townes Van Zandt felt haunted, the hardcore troubadour evincing an emotionality from the late Texan’s songs that understood the sad pains of addiction and art. His tribute to Guy Clark offers a different kind of homage. Across 16 tracks, the 64-year-old Virginia native and his ace band largely play it straight,…
City Council: Getting It All Planned Out
Inching toward Imagine Austin
Point Austin: Dispatches From Beyond Deadline
New book collects final reports of those who gave their lives
Texas Platters
Only in Austin could a white rapper “talk that talk” about cooking up crack cocaine without an ounce of irony. Nonetheless, T$O or Trill Shit Only – a duo consisting of League of Extraordinary Gz member Stephan “Dot” Sweeney and esteemed producer Eric Dingus – delivers a sharp, uncompromising eponymous effort loaded with brag/coke rap…
UPDATED: AISD Reassigns Principal After “MAGA” Controversy
Andrews Elementary principal Gabriela Soto said the school’s new PTA looks forward to “making Andrews Great Again!”
Texas Platters
Aptly self-described as a “Ratchet Fairy Earth Goddess,” multifaceted rapper Michaela Taylor’s second EP cast spells of self-empowerment on a hard, self-protective edge. Enchantment “Inner G” lets the Texas native oscillate sweet sing-talking and darkly intense lines. Her moody, industrially moved production and smooth cadence will sit well with Princess Nokia fans. Even at her…
The Complicated Legacy of America’s First Celebrity Fashion Designer in Halston
Gold, glimmer, greed
Texas Platters
Following stomping singles, this local duo’s live electricity circuits into five charismatic tracks. Choral theatrics on “Red Drive” prove Juli Keller and Cody Dosier a heavenly vocal match. Hellish themes take over for “Underworld” and “Apostles’ Prom,” merging freak-pop eccentrics and catchy punk intensity. “Hot Car” flips easily from charming surf to total doom with…
Texas Platters
Named for the dome-dwelling SpongeBob SquarePants squirrel, Hey Cowboy finds a similarly resonant framework on their second EP. In three spacious tracks, the formerly Denton-based trio channels Warpaint’s haunting indie rock immersion. “Cherry Jerry Citrus” draws out crystalline dream-pop vox, blooming into mellow group melody. Finale “Houses” putters out on otherworldly synth chirps, ending small…
Austin’s Best Food and Drink Events This Week
Dinner parties, farmers’ markets, beer, wine, and more for the week of April 11, 2019
The Luv Doc: Doing the Legwork for Love
The mighty oak begins with a tiny acorn
Mary Moody Northen Theatre’s Spring Awakening
In this production at St. Edward’s University, the use of movement adds emphasis to the musical’s sex-positive moral
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
Texas law says an owner or manager of a barbershop or specialty shop may not permit a person to sleep in a room used as part of the shop. Nevada’s state legislature has a slight female majority. Thinking of calling someone in Scotland a “bam,” “bampot,” or “bamstick”? Those words were recently defined by the…
Vortex Repertory Company’s Last: An Extinction Comedy
The magic cast by the company of this devised show pulls laughs from the impending demise of the planet
Seeing the Fusebox Festival Without Reservations
Tickets to some shows have been snapped up, but there’s still plenty of electric Fusebox action available
Outside Looking In by T.C. Boyle
With this novel about Timothy Leary and LSD in the early Sixties, T.C. Boyle has written a mighty book – and a gift
Qmmunity: Interns, Writers Wanted
Join the team, cheer on a team, and find your queer events here
Day Trips: Pine Forest Golf Club
Old Bastrop golf course gets a new shine
Longhorn Meat Market: Butcher, Grocer, and Community Hub
127 years in the business and still going strong
Soccer Watch
Austin Bold FC are winless in three road games early in the season, but they’re back at home now for three games in 10 days: hosting Phoenix on Wednesday, April 17, at 7:30pm; then El Paso on Sunday, April 21, at 4pm; and Real Monarchs on Friday, April 26, at 7:30pm. They need to get…
None of the Gluten, All of the Fun at Wild Chix & Waffles
Southern flair comes to North Austin
Who Owns the Legislature’s Archives?
State Library Sunset bill lets lawmakers hold the keys
Texas Platters
Ten releases in, Patty Griffin finally adorns an album with her name. Consider it a declaration of identity, a statement of certainty. The longtime local casts a stream of her roots – of wiles and woes – warbling stories from a lifetime of womanhood. Simplicity runs through the flamenco flourishes, plunking barroom strums, and Celtic-tinged…
Headlines
Call the Code: City Council meets today (April 11) with a fairly light agenda and one big elephant in the room – the consideration of finally moving forward on the rewrite of the land use code (i.e., CodeNEXTNEXT). Should be a hoot for policy wonks. Not Cruel Enough: Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen – the…
