Page Two
I keep trying to think of some way to start this without talking about the obvious. Some pocket of silence, maybe some civic matter worth commenting on, but I’m lost in the swirl. I’m in a bit of a daze from movies to trade shows to panels and workshops to Chronicle production to Awards show…
The Anti-music Man
Senator Bill Ratliff is considered one of the most powerful members of the Texas Senate. A starched-white-shirt conservative, the Republican from Flower Mound introduced a bill last session that would have forced the state to divest its holdings in companies that publish rap music. It passed the Senate but was pummeled in a House committee.…
Thinking in Jazz
illustration by Jason Sotout “Once you become aware of this force for unity in life, you can’t ever forget it. It becomes part of everything you do. My goal in meditating on this through music… is to uplift people, as much as I can. To inspire them to realize more and more of their capacities…
Best Folk
RUNNERS-UP: Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Sara Hickman, Reckless Kelly, Kacy Crowley, Toni Price, Monte Montgomery, Butch Hancock, Polk Barton & Towhead, Shades of Pearl
Best Drums/Percussion
RUNNERS-UP: Frosty; JJ Johnson; Mambo John Treanor; Lisa Pankratz; Brannen Temple; Dave Robinson; Michael Villegas, Ian Moore Band; Chris Searles; Paul Pearcy
Best Local Music TV Show
RUNNERS-UP: Check This Action; Austin City Limits; Alternative 15, Austin Music Network; Women in Jazz; Tex Mix; Rogers & Hammerhead, Austin Music Network shows
Public Notice
Welcome to Austin, Texas. Welcome to SXSW! As much as we Austexans make fun of you out-of-towners, touristas, and industry-types… as much as we talk about you behind your backs, you know we really love you, right? What do you mean, we don’t even know you? Of course we know you; you’ve been landing on…
The Chopping Block
If Senator Bill Ratliff’s budget rider becomes law, the state’s pension fund will have to sell all of the stock it owns in the companies listed below; each company is followed by a partial list of its subsidiary record labels and a more or less random sampling of artists whose material may be found offensive…
The City Put the Country Back in Me
photograph by Mary Sledd There it was, emblazoned across the front of the tent: The Homicidal Hillbillies. How could I not go in? The friendly barbecue maven from Round Rock emerged from behind the counter to answer my smart-ass question. Does their name imply something about their culinary skills? “No,” Jan Barnes laughs, “just creative…
Best Funk
RUNNERS-UP: Scabs, Papa Mali & the Instigators, Sister 7, Ugly Americans, Junction, Big Game Hunter
Best Electric Guitar
RUNNERS-UP: Eric Johnson; David Grissom; Mike Barnes; Chris Duarte; Rich Brotherton; Earthpig; Jimmie Vaughan; Van Wilks; Chris Duarte; Casey Pollock, Reckless Kelly; Charlie Sexton; Jesse Taylor; Junior Brown; Derek O’Brien
Best Music Writer
RUNNERS-UP: Michael Corcoran, Chris Riemenschneider, Raoul Hernandez, Christopher Gray, Ken Lieck, John T. Davis, Don McLeese, Margaret Moser, Michael Point
Will a Matchbox Hold My Clothes?
illustration by Jason Stout Im sittin’ here wonderin’, will a matchbox hold my clothes? A line composed long before cardboard matchbooks, when stick matches came in small thin-walled wooden boxes that fit in the palm of the hand. If you were wondering whether your clothes would fold into such a wee box, then not only…
Naked City
Mayor Kirk Watson is pumped with pride over his handling of the homeless campus project, but says, on the other hand, that the controversial camping ban won’t be repealed. But camping ban skeptics Councilmembers Gus Garcia and Jackie Goodman are not so quick to agree with Watson that the ban will stay put. The mayor,…
Honky-tonk Crowd
photograph by Mary Sledd The fun’s not over ’til the last dogie is herded into the pen. And that’s not going to happen until late Sunday, March 22. There’s still so much to do at the Austin-Travis County Livestock Show & Rodeo between now and Sunday. The Carnival Midway and Kiddie Carnival begin at noon…
Best Hard Rock
RUNNERS-UP: El Flaco, Soak, Vallejo, Supercharger, Human, Buick MacKane, Joe Ely, Ian Moore, Seed
Best Female Vocals
RUNNERS-UP: Abra Moore; Trish Murphy; Kelly Willis; Christina Marrs, Asylum Street Spankers; Shawn Colvin; Lisa Tingle; Kacy Crowley; Juliana Sheffield; Ana Egge; Carrie Clark, Sixteen Deluxe; Kris McKay; Amy Boone, The Damnations; Krista Bell, 8 1/2 Souvenirs; Marcia Ball; Tish Hinojosa; Rebecca Cannon; Julieann Banks; Kerry Polk
Best New Club
RUNNERS-UP: Speakeasy, Antone’s, Stubb’s Barbeque, Atomic Cafe, Bates Motel, Lucy’s Retired Surfers Bar, The Caucus Club, Twist/The Mercury Lounge
Food-O-File
Local restaurateurs often spend the last few weeks before SXSW in a mad dash to update their menus, finish their remodeling jobs, or open their new locations in time to welcome fun-loving festival participants to Austin. Hungry movie lovers catching SXSW Film Festival flicks at the Alamo Drafthouse & Theatre (409-B Colorado, 867-1830) will be…
Brain Boom
Dave Taylor launched his seven-member computer game company, Crack dot Com, with a nest egg gathered by working for larger firms. photograph by John Anderson Ten years of writing computer games for The Man had Warren Spector convinced of one thing: He was ready to go it alone. All he had to do was sign…
Mary Jane’s Not a Virgin Anymore
Mary Jane’s Not a Virgin Anymore 1997, NR, 98 min. Directed by Sarah Jacobson, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Lisa Gerstein, Greg Cruikshank, Beth Ramona Allen, Andrew David Deangelo, Chris Enright, Marny Snyder, Brandon Stepp, Jello Biafra. Rough-hewn and drenched in DIY aesthetics, Mary Jane’s Not a Virgin Anymore is a girl’s coming-of-age…
Best Jazz
RUNNERS-UP: Hot Buttered Rhythm, Jazz Pharaohs, Elias Haslanger, Millennium Swing, Lucky Strikes, Jon Blondell, Tony Campise, Merchants of Venus, Los Jazz Vatos
Best Horns
RUNNERS-UP: Tomas Ramirez; Chris Chipman; Elias Haslanger; Tony Campise; John Mills; Jon Blondell; Brian Wolf; Steve Vogue, Millennium Swing; Mark “Kaz” Kazanoff
Best Radio DJ
RUNNERS-UP: Chris Mosser, KLBJ-FM; Jody Denberg, KGSR; Dale Dudley, KLBJ-FM; Jenn Garrison, 101X; Brian Beck, KGSR; Loris Lowe, KLBJ-FM; John Aielli, KUT; Larry Monroe, KUT; Kevin Connor, KGSR; Marisa Henderson, KVRX; Whipping Boy, 101X; Peggy Zarse, KLBJ-FM; Paul Ray, KUT; L.A. Lloyd, 101X; Andy Langer, 101X/KUT; Rachel Marisay, 101X; CJ Buchanan, KVRX; Jen Austin, KASE;…
Off the Road and Hungry
Away from Austin, Mark Rubin of Bad Livers craves El Norte�o’s homemade tortillas. photograph by John Anderson In the heyday of the late, great Armadillo World Headquarters, local players and traveling musicians alike spread the reputation of the kitchen there. The word around the country was that the Armadillo kitchen took exemplary care of musicians,…
The Austin Index
Millions of dollars in retail sales generated for every 100 new jobs created in Austin: 4 Combined number of jobs created at Dell, Motorola, AMD, and Applied Materials between 1990-1996: 16,000 Percentage of Texas manufacturing jobs created in Austin in 1996: 20 Percentage increase in Austin technology jobs created by small companies between 1996 and…
The Winter Guest
The Winter Guest 1997, R, 110 min. Directed by Alan Rickman, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Phyllida Law, Emma Thompson, Gary Hollywood, Arlene Cockburn, Sheila Reid, Sandra Voe, Douglas Murphy, Sean Biggerstaff. Sometimes the coldest season exhibits an austere beauty — trees stretching bony limbs toward a somber sky the shade of lead,…
Best Lounge/Swing
RUNNERS-UP: Mr. Fabulous, 8 1/2 Souvenirs, Lucky Strikes, Seth Walker, King Cheese, Ted Roddy’s Tearjoint Troubadors, King Cheese, Scabs, Julianna Sheffield
Best Keyboards
RUNNERS-UP: Marcia Ball; Bukka Allen; Floyd Domino; Ezra Reynolds, Breedlove; Dave Boyle; Ian McLagan; Michael Ramos; Dave Glassco, Millennium Swing; Ginger Doss, Velvet Hammer
Best Radio Program
RUNNERS-UP: Sara Trexler and Jenn Garrison, Morning Show, 101X; Andy Langer, Next Big Thing, 101X; Eklektikos, John Aielli, KUT; Barton Creek Breakdown, Carolina Cracker & Dave, KVRX; Twine Time, Paul Ray, KUT; Folkways, Ed Miller, Sue Fawver, and Dan Foster, KUT; Lone Star State of Mind, Kevin Connor, KGSR; House of Phat Beats, Les Jacobs,…
Articulations
Well, last week was the week that city council was supposed to vote on the resolution that could be the first step toward getting a major new performing arts center on the southern shores of Town Lake. The resolution called for the city manager to negotiate a long-term lease of Palmer Auditorium to a local…
Dancing About Architecture
Jon Dee Graham was recently heard onstage spouting forth the quip, “Welcome to the Festival of Broken Dreams; the one event that lets you know where you stand – somewhere in front of Wammo and behind Exene.” The line drew hearty chuckles when repeated to the staff at South by Southwest, and the cutting but…
Oscar by Oscar
No, this isn’t the Harry Knowles Oscar column. This is far from the Ain’t It Cool That I Personally Pick the Winners item (which, for all I know, Knowles does personally pick ’em). This ain’t we pick ’em, it’s we pick ’em apart. While lots of ink is being spilled about who is going to…
Band of the Year
RUNNERS-UP: Reckless Kelly, Derailers, Pushmonkey, 8 1/2 Souvenirs, Asylum Street Spankers, Gourds, Sister 7, Silver Scooter, Vallejo
Best Metal/Industrial
RUNNERS-UP: Terminal 46, Dangerous Toys, Pushmonkey, Skrew
Best Male Vocals
RUNNERS-UP: Guy Forsyth; Ian Moore; Don Walser; Bob Schneider, Ugly Americans, The Scabs; Olivier Giraud, 8 1/2 Souvenirs; Dale Watson; Jimmie Dale Gilmore; Joe Ely; Monte Montgomery; Ted Roddy; Britt Daniel, Spoon; Willy Braun, Reckless Kelly; Charlie Sexton; Alejandro Escovedo
Best Radio Station
RUNNERS-UP: KLBJ, 93.5; KVRX, 91.7; KUT 90.5; KROX, 101.5; KOOP, 91.7; KAMX, 94.7 MIX; KAJZ, 93.3; Z102; KAZI, 88.7/KJFK, 98.9
Exhibitionism
Hyde Park Theatre, through March 28 Running Time: 2 hrs, 15 min Playwright Nicky Silver has an incredible knack for exploding the small faults we all have and using these magnified idiosyncrasies to craft a play full of larger-than-life characters who can’t get their personal shit together. Not surprising really, when you consider that the…
How the West Was Sung
THE NEWTON PLAYERS Danny Barnes: Bad Livers, The Newton Boys score composer Keith Fletcher: Music supervisor, associate producer Patty Griffin: vocalist, “Copenhagen” Robert Kraft: 20th Century Fox music supervisor Richard Linklater: The Newton Boys writer/director Kris McKay: vocalist, “After You’ve Gone” Dave McNair: soundtrack co-producer Abra Moore: vocalist and onscreen performer, “Millenberg Joys” Mark Rubin:…
Five Dollar Fine for Whining
photograph by Mary Sledd Gate admission to the Austin-Travis County Livestock Show & Rodeo is $3 per person, free admission for kids 12 and under. Advance rodeo ticket sales, which admit folks to the shows in the L.J. Luedecke Rodeo Arena, include gate admission. Parking will set you back $5 per car. Do not park…
Best New Band
RUNNERS-UP: Ursa Major, The Damnations, The Mollies, “Scrappy” Jud Newcomb & the Southbound Monarchs, Morningwood, Soak, Millennium Swing, Polk Barton & Towhead, Shades of Pearl
Best Mexican Traditional/Folk
RUNNERS-UP: Ta Mere, Lourdes Perez, Centzotie, Correo Aereo
Best Miscellaneous Instrument
RUNNERS-UP: Wammo, washboard; Ponty Bone, accordion; Mike Maddux, accordion; Lynda Millard, flute; Cody Braun, mandolin; Guy Forsyth, harmonica; Oliver Giraud, saw; Claude Bernard, accordion; Junior Brown, guitsteel
Best Record Producer
RUNNERS-UP: John Croslin, Soft Effects, Spoon; Rich Brotherton, The Way Things Are, Polk Barton & Towhead; Mitch Watkins, Strangest Places, Abra Moore; Mike Heidenreich, KVRX; Lloyd Maines, Wrapped, Bruce Robison; Paul Leary, Sublime; Craig Ross, Dead Spy Reports; Jon Dee Graham, Escape from Monster Island; Derek O’Brien and Toni Price, Sol Power, Toni Price
Texas by Georgia
Black Maple Trunk- Yellow Leaves, 1928 When she lived in the Texas Panhandle, Georgia O’Keeffe stared across the vast empty spaces and walked down windy roads until her clothes were the color of dust. She ingested the light and landscape, gobbled it down, and nurtured her artist-self. Later, throughout the more than threescore years left…
Picks & Sleepers
South by Southwest is a game of numbers: approximately 845 showcases/bands, divided by five nights, divided by you. And that’s not counting the attendant acts the conference sweeps in every year. If you have time for day parties and in-stores, add four days to those five nights. In fact, it’s safe to say that starting…
The Newton Boys
Music From the Motion Picture (Epic/Sony) A few years ago, Warner Bros. released a 2-CD collection of Ry Cooder’s work. Only instead of it being comprised of material from the famed guitarist’s solo albums, critically lauded efforts from the Seventies such as Into the Purple Valley, Paradise and Lunch, or Bop Til You Drop, it…
Musician of the Year
RUNNERS-UP: Shawn Colvin, Ian Moore, Guy Forsyth, MC Overlord, Trish Murphy, Jon Dee Graham, Junior Brown, Malford Milligan, “Scrappy” Jud Newcomb, Don Walser, Ana Egge, David Grissom, Kacy Crowley, Toni Price
Best None of the Above
RUNNERS-UP: Reckless Kelly, Velvet Hammer, Doak Short, Drums & Tuba, 8 1/2 Souvenirs, Fabulous Jalapenos, Flametrick Subs, Gulf Coast Playboys, Ta Mere
Best Singer-Songwriter
RUNNERS-UP: Trish Murphy, Shawn Colvin, Will Sexton, Monte Montgomery, Jon Dee Graham, Kacy Crowley, John Barton, Julieann Banks, Bruce Robison
Best Record Store
RUNNERS-UP: Tower, 33 Degrees, Sound Exchange, ABCDs, Antone’s, Local Flavor/Technophilia, Blockbuster, Borders, Alien Records, Encore, Duval Discs, MusicMania, CD Warehouse
Postscripts
Valerie Bennett, curator of the O. Henry Museum, might disagree with this classic O. Henry quip from 1912’s The World and the Door: “A favorite dodge to get your story read by the public is to assert that it is true, and then add that Truth is stranger than Fiction.” Bennett needs no dodge for…
Recommended
edited by Christopher Hess SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST MUSIC CONFERENCE Austin Everywhere, Thursday 19 – Sunday 22 Above all, you’ve got to have a plan. During the day, go to the parties, barbecues, and panels, but be sure to get some rest. Practice moderation. At night, things can get complicated. The safe route is to commit…
Girls, Sex, and Movies
“I just got some e-mail saying that my film has been voted the third best movie of the year in Groningen, Holland, right after Seven and From Dusk Till Dawn. I’m psyched.” That’s 26-year-old indie-auteur-filmchick Sarah Jacobson summing up the state of her life in the wake of a full year spent joyously slogging through…
Album of the Year
RUNNERS-UP: Toni Price, Sol Power (Discovery/Antone’s); Reckless Kelly, Millican (Cold Springs); Jon Dee Graham, Escape from Monster Island (Freedom); Silver Scooter, The Other Palm Springs (Peek-A-Boo); Sister 7, This the Trip (Arista); Trish Murphy, Crooked Mile (Rhythmic); KVRX Local Live Vol. 2 (KVRX); Kacy Crowley, Anchorless (Atlantic); Ana Egge, River Under the Road (Lazy SOB)
Best Pop
RUNNERS-UP: Silver Scooter, Quatropaw, Ugly Americans, Millennium Swing, Trish Murphy, Cotton Mather, Fastball, Javelin Boot, Sixteen Deluxe
Best Songwriter
RUNNERS-UP: Will Sexton, Ana Egge, Alejandro Escovedo, Jon Dee Graham, Trish Murphy, Robert Earl Keen, Bruce Robison, Sara Hickman, Kacy Crowley
Rock This Way
Catherine Denueve. Une object d’arte. She should be in the Louvre; if she had been one of Matisse’s paintings or a white marble sculpture by Michaelangelo, she would be. Instead, we have her films. Like Brigitte Bardot or Sophia Loren, the fact that Deneuve is both European and still alive means she hasn’t been iconographized…
SXSW Record Reviews
Showcase information is subject to change; please check the SXSW schedule. TITO & TARANTULA Tarantism (Cockroach) Although the title sounds like a Quentin T. cult, Tarantism is clearly a codeword. Speak it to unlock the secrets of the dark soul. Walk this way with the man whose eyes bore deathlessly into your skull and let…
Reflections
CHICAGO CAB Dir: Mary Cybulski, John Tintori; Scr: Will Kern; Prod: Paul Dillon, Suzanne Dewalt, Jamie Gordon; DP: Hubert Taczanowski; Ed: John Tintori, Mary Cybulski; Cast: Paul Dillon, Gillian Anderson, John Cusack, Michael Ironside, Laurie Metcalf, Julianne Moore. 35mm, 93 min., 1997 (RP) A special hell is reserved for bartenders and cabdrivers, folks who are…
Best EP
RUNNERS-UP: 8-Track Manifesto, David Garza (Wide Open); Nasty Novelties, Asylum Street Spankers (Watermelon)
Best Rock
RUNNERS-UP: Vallejo, Pushmonkey, Breedlove, Sister 7, Ugly Americans, Sixteen Deluxe, The Sexton Sextet, George DeVore and the Roam, Julieann Banks
Best Strings
RUNNERS-UP: Amy Tiven, fiddle; Shane Madden, violin; Susanah Erler, violin; Howard Kalish, fiddle; Will Taylor, violin; Erik Hokkanen, fiddle; Danny Levin, mandolin; Alvin Crow, fiddle; John Hagen, cello
Best Video
RUNNERS-UP: Abra Moore, Four Leaf Clover; Shawn Colvin, Sunny Came Home; Recliners, Back in Black; Soak, Me Compassionate; Kacy Crowley, Hand to Mouthville; Drums & Tuba, Spaghetti Western; Wammo, There is Too Much Light in This Bar; Deep Sombreros, Fight in the Ghetto/10″ Maria, Sybil
Coach’s Corner
One Dusenberg. One Porsche. Thirteen Mercedes Benzes. And we’re not talking about your garden variety street trash you see on N. Lamar. These are huge, $100,000 machines, or priceless vintage cars. Toss in a Dodge Viper RT110, six Rolls Royces, five Bentleys, and two huge Beemers. So the question is, where are we? Monte Carlo?…
Road Shows
MARCH THU 19 Boxcar Satan, REO Speedealer, Vaz, Sea Whores, Ninety Day Mang, The Attractives, Blue Flame FRI 20, SAT 21 Johnny Reno, Speakeasy SAT 21 Kellye Gray, Ringside @ Sullivan’s SAT 21 Billy Club, The Boozers, Blue Flame SAT 21 The Mavericks, Travis Co. Expo Center SUN 23 CJ Chenier, Antone’s SUN 22 James…
Ut Shorts
It never fails that regardless of the location, an audience watching UT students’ works seems forgiving of technical glitches, so fortunately the great majority of Sunday’s audience for this eight-film program of UT shorts were rewarded for persevering through the glitches with the last short in the program, “Divide and Conquer,” Jamarl Tyler’s unflinching, kinetic…
Best Single
RUNNERS-UP: Abra Moore, Four Leaf Clover; Sister 7, This the Trip; Kacy Crowley, Hand to Mouthville
Best Roots Rock
RUNNERS-UP: Damnations, LeRoi Brothers, George DeVore, Lee Ann Atherton, Derailers, Two Hoots and a Holler, Gourds, Storyville, Buick MacKane
Best Concert By a Touring Artist
RUNNERS-UP: Aerosmith, Erwin Center; Ben Folds Five, La Zona Rosa; Wilco, Liberty Lunch; Tool, AMH; Prince, Erwin Center; Big Head Todd & the Monsters, AMH; Lyle Lovett, Backyard; Foo Fighters, AMH; Indigo Girls, Backyard
Two for Texas
The Chronicle focuses on books about rock & roll and popular music twice a year. Even that barely scratches the surfaces of titles out there and, typically, books well worth noting arrive too late for deadline. That would be the case with Texas Music by Rick Koster (St. Martin’s Press, $29.95 hard). Besides being one…
Honky-tonk Crowd
The fun’s not over ’til the last dogie is herded into the pen. And that’s not going to happen until late Sunday, March 22. There’s still so much to do at the Austin-Travis County Livestock Show & Rodeo between now and Sunday. The Carnival Midway and Kiddie Carnival begin at noon each day. The Rodeo…
Scanlines
(“Scanlines” wishes to thank Encore Movies & Music, I Luv Video, and Vulcan Video for their help in providing videos and laser discs.) When Rock’n’Roll High came out, kids would go from Raul’s to Dobie Theatre for the midnight showing and danced in the aisles. In the tradition of Sixties beach party and teen-movie nonsense,…
Song of the Year
RUNNERS-UP: Sunny Came Home, Shawn Colvin; Hand to Mouthville, Kacy Crowley; Cats and Dogs, Toni Price, by Gwil Owen; Souvonica, 8 1/2 Souvenirs; Good Day for the Blues, Storyville, by David Grissom; This the Trip, Sister 7 (Patrice Pike, Wayne Sutton, Darrell Phillips, Sean Phillips); Scorpio Tequila, Trish Murphy; $100 Bill, Jon Dee Graham; Caroline,…
Best Soul/Hip-Hop
RUNNERS-UP: Big Game Hunter, Scabs, Hot Buttered Rhythm W.C. Clark, King Soul, Memphis Train, Soul Circus, Storyville, Short Fuse & Brotha K
Best Concert Poster
RUNNERS-UP: Little Feat, Backyard; First Annual, SIMS Supper; BeebleFest, Stubb’s; Ian Moore, La Zona Rosa/Uranium Savages, Ritz
“Spring Into Health!” March 21 with Nutrition and Exercise
“Spring Into Health!” will offer a morning of enjoyment and information about HIV and its relation to nutrition, exercise, body fat, and muscle. Designed for all those infected or affected by HIV, this event will have information, music, fun, and food, including free lunch! The program will be 9:00am-1:00pm Saturday, March 21 in the Texas…
South by Spoken Word
In SlamNation (showing in SXSW Film), Phil West, Danny Solis, Wammo, and Hilary Thomas are the Austin Poetry Slam Team. In past years, the South by Southwest spoken word showcase has been a red-letter day for Austin spoken word. With the exception of April’s annual Austin International Poetry Festival, there’s no one event that brings…
Short Cuts
Kenneth Anger, the legendary experimental/independent filmmaker, returns to Austin this weekend, hosted by the local film group in*situ, which also sponsored Anger’s visit last Halloween weekend. Here’s the filmmaker’s Austin itinerary for this spring equinox weekend. Friday morning you can hear Anger in the comfort of your own home or workplace when he joins radio…
Best Alternative/Punk
RUNNERS-UP: Sixteen Deluxe, Soak, Scabs, Ursa Major, Silver Scooter, Prima Donnas, Flock uh Hillbillies, Spoon, Dot
Best Tejano/Conjunto
RUNNERS-UP: Little Joe y La Familia, Tish Hinojosa, Ruben Ramos, Flaco Jimenez
Best Cover Art
RUNNERS-UP: Lisa Tillman-Carson, Sol Power, Toni Price; Andrew Shapter and Larry St. Clair, Eugene Don’t Hit ‘Em, Dale and Bob with Debra; Lucy Brotherton and Sherri Whitmarsh, The Way Things Are, Polk Barton & Towhead; Beautiful Mermaid, Centzontie
Benefits
FRI 20 Spaghettti Dinner & Sauce Contest to benefit Clean Water Action, at Austin Nature & Science Center, Zilker Park, 6pm. Cost is $20 per person/$35 per couple. 474-2438. SUN 22 Poetry & Potluck to benefit poet Venie Holmgren, at 13217 Adonis, 2pm. Cost is by donation. 258-0966. Austin Community Keepsake Award Gala to benefit…
Out of Reach
illustration by Doug Potter Does anyone remember the last time they heard any bad news about Austin’s economy? The Texas Workforce Commission recently announced that regional job growth turned out to be higher than expected for 1997 – about 4.5% – for the Austin-San Marcos metro area. The Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce is predicting…
SXSW Photos
Top: Q&A with Julianna Margulies, Ethan Hawke, Richard Linklater, Matthew McConaughey, and Dwight Yoakam. Middle: Juliana Marguiles Bottom: Dwight Yoakam photographs by John Anderson SXSW Interactive Top: The X & Y Trilogy performances at the Electric Lounge Bottom: Brain Activated Technologies displays mind contol at the convention. photographs by Bruce Dye
Best Blues
RUNNERS-UP: Guy Forsyth Band, Toni Price, WC Clark, Jimmie Vaughan, Ian Moore, Big Foot Chester, Breedlove, Chris Duarte, Jake Andrews
Best World Music
RUNNERS-UP: Killer Bees, Govinda, Fabulous Jalapenos, Raggamassive, 1001 Nights, Centzontie, Susanna Sharpe and Samba Police, Sambaxe, Two O’Clock Courage
Best Dance Club/DJ
RUNNERS-UP: ChiChi WaWa; Nasty’s; Red Room; Olican Harry’s; Ritz; Broken Spoke; Captain Jim, Black Cat; Inferno; Brotha K, Side Street
Mister Smarty Pants Knows
In his song, “Point It at Gran,” Robyn Hitchcock mentions “flan.” If you’re worried about a plane crash, Delta Air Lines will let people bring sport parachutes as carry-on baggage provided no items classified as dangerous goods (example: pressurized oxygen cylinders) are included. Miami, Florida was originally named “Fort Dallas.” Elmer Wayne Henley, who along…
On Shaky Ground
illustration by Doug Potter Hundreds came, but none left satisfied. Last week’s council agenda was packed to the gills with juicy issues, but two separate agenda items in particular crammed the chambers with approximately 350 speakers each – the Palmer Auditorium issue and the Dell Jewish Community Center (DJCC) debate. Despite obvious community interest and…
Best of the Fest
Men Cry Bullets Winner: Men Cry Bullets (Director: Tamara Hernandez) Runner-up: Bury Me in Kern County (Director: Julien Nitzberg) Documentary Feature Letters Not About Love Winner: Letters Not About Love (Director: Jacki Ochs) Runner-up: Baby, It’s You (Director: Anne Makepeace) Narrative Short Winner: La Le�on (Director: Craig Marsden) Runner-up: Tough Guy Pizza (Director: Harri James)…
Best Country
RUNNERS-UP: Derailers, Damnations, Kelly Willis, Reckless Kelly, Dale Watson, Junior Brown, Cornell Hurd, Janet Lynn & the Journeymen, Robert Earl Keen/Willie Nelson
Best Acoustic Guitar
RUNNERS-UP: “Scrappy” Jud Newcomb, Guy Forsyth, Rich Brotherton, Casper Rawls, Oliver Giraud, Sara Hickman, Britt Daniel, Mike Barnes, Champ Hood
Best Instrument/Equipment Store
RUNNERS-UP: Music Makers, Heart of Texas, South Austin Music, Workhorse, Tommy’s Drum Shop/Rock & Roll Rentals, Guitar Resurrection, Brook Mays Music, Musical Exchange/One World Music
Day Trips
photograph by Gerald E. McLeod Gerald Birkelbach at the City Meat Market in Giddings enjoys the details of being the town’s top meat purveyor. High among the hundreds of tasks that he must look after in a typical day is taking care of his customers who come to him for fresh cuts of meat, custom…
A Bad Rap
“To have our people listening to song lyrics for their investment strategy is not a good business practice.” — Paul Brown (above), Big Spring firefighter. photograph by Linds Choate Aiming to eradicate the scourge of rap music from the state’s investments, a conservative white state senator from East Texas teamed up with a conservative black,…
Competition Judges
NARRATIVE FEATURES Sarah Jacobson’s first feature film, Mary Jane’s Not a Virgin Anymore, played at SXSW Film ’97 and at festivals around the world. Michael Hacker teaches classes in screenwriting in Los Angeles and is soon going to direct his second feature film. His first feature, The Destiny of Marty Fine, played at the SXSW…
Best Cover Band
RUNNERS-UP: Big Time, Dysfunction Junction, Nortons, SSIK, King Cheese, Atlantics, King Soul, The Grooves, Be Wires
Best Bass Guitar
RUNNERS-UP: Kevin Smith, 8 1/2 Souvenirs; Yogi Musgrove, Hot Buttered Rhythm; Speedy Sparks; Brad Fordham; Pat Fogarty, Pushmonkey; Darrell Phillips, Sister 7; Glen Fukunaga; Lynda Millard, Velvet Hammer; Mike Hines, Millenium Swing; Amy Boone, Damnations; George Reiff; Andy Maguire, Ursa Major; Bruce Hughes, Ugly Americans; Amy Kingsley, The Mollies
Best Live Music Venue
RUNNERS-UP: Stubb’s, La Zona Rosa, Continental Club, Antone’s, Steamboat, Electric Lounge, Austin Music Hall, Backyard, Hole in the Wall, Emo’s, Flipnotics, Saxon Pub, Waterloo Ice House, The Black Cat
