Margaret Moser Tribute: Jeff Smith

I've never identified Margaret with one act or scene. That's one of the great things about her. She finds a way to express fandom and advocate for a wide variety of artists from disparate genres within a journalistic context.

She definitely found her initial passion as a writer in the Raul's scene. The late Seventies and early Eighties were a great time to be involved with edgy rock & roll. We all took the cue of the DIY/punk ethic: support each other, no rules. Maybe most importantly – as pertains to Margaret – women were finally allowed to have a strong voice, not only as performers, but also as commentators.

For me, personally, I wasn't thrilled about the geographic change [back to San Antonio] at first, but it worked out for me. For Margaret, she felt her work was "done" in Austin and that in light of her health issues, S.A. would offer her more freedom to work on what she really wanted to. For both of us, San Antonio is a little more anonymous and less claustrophobic some days.

We both feel that the real heart of Texas music is in San Antonio. Austin's grabbed all the attention because of the friendliness of the locals, SXSW, and the camera-ready proliferation of young white acts, but the talent is more transient and less homegrown than San Antonio, generally. And for Margaret, there's just tons more history and interesting figures to dig into.