Jody Denberg retired this month after 40 years as a leading voice in Austin radio. After landing in the city in 1977, the UT-Austin alum spent the Eighties at KLBJ 93.7FM, where he hosted the weekly program Critics Choice. He spent another 19 years at KGSR (now Austin City Limits Radio) before moving to KUTX, where he championed Austin’s music scene. Denberg won more than nine Austin Music Awards in his career – including Best Radio Personality in this year’s February poll – and occasionally contributed to the Chronicle.
Art Alliance Austin has rebranded to A3. Launched in 1911 as the Texas Fine Arts Association, the original organization was the earliest arts association in the state of Texas, known in the past for producing programs like Fiesta at Laguna Gloria. Following slowed activity in recent decades, the refreshed A3 will support local artists – including musicians, performing artists, curators, and arts organizations – specifically through fundraising. The nonprofit, led by newly elected Executive Director Laura Esparza, will debut with an opening ceremony at the Canopy complex on Sept. 12.
Leslie Sisson, lead singer of Moving Panoramas, is battling breast cancer. Her bandmates launched a GoFundMe to help cover the artist’s hefty medical bills – and those for her dog, who was diagnosed with cancer right before Sisson. The fundraiser is live at tinyurl.com/GoFundLes. “Looking forward to getting better, playing shows again, and finishing our next record on the other side of this when I kick cancer’s ass,” Sisson said on Instagram.
This article appears in August 16 • 2024.