A Fort Worth police officer now charged with murder in this weekends shooting of a woman inside her own home, we’ll have the latest. Other stories we’re tracking: what some think could be the final presidential debate with two Texans on the stage this campaign season. And how water factors into the immigration debate. Plus a meeting at the state capitol in June, surreptitiously recorded at the center of a big political scandal. Now: the tale of the tape. What it means for Texas politics and much more today on the Texas Standard:
Archives for October 2019
The Harlem Gospel Travelers: “Am I Doing Enough”
When a group of young musicians is knowledgeable and respectful enough of a certain craft, age is no measure of maturity. Take the four gentlemen in The Harlem Gospel Travelers, who despite the fact that the eldest is only twenty two, collectively possess decades worth of soul and gospel know-how. The performance discipline and classic gospel mindset embodied by these native New Yorkers has earned the Travelers some impressive guest appearances on their debut album, including drummer Aaron Frazer of Durand Jones & The Indications and Arctic Monkeys engineer Loren Humphrey.
At ten well-rounded tracks, He’s On Time serves as an exceptional introduction to The Harlem Gospel Travelers, and you can hear the full thing now, starting off with a video recorded in the quartet’s home turf: “Am I Doing Enough”!
Photo: Jacob Blickenstaff
The Saint of Lost Causes
There are countless moments for personal reflection. But this time, Justin Townes Earle turned his keen eye outward. It’s one of the most beautiful and unsettling things you’ll hear.
The momentum behind The Saint of Lost Causes is fueled by one singular underlying, unwavering message: All are welcome. Earle cut to the quick recently. “I was trying to look through the eyes of America, because I believe in the idea of America – that everybody’s welcome here and has a right to be here,” he said about his latest album. This potent mix of gritty country, haunted folk and atmospheric melody deliver the bitingly blunt but world-weary observations striking both a personal chord, and something far bigger than us all.
Don’t miss Justin Townes Earle tonight at 3Ten at ACL Live, 310 Willie Nelson Blvd. London folk trio The Wandering Hearts and Bowling Green, KY alt.-country/rock outfit The Josephines start out the evening. Doors at 7 p.m. Very recommended.
-Photo courtesy of the artist.
Texas Standard: October 14, 2019
Hundreds gather to protest the Ft. Worth police shooting of an innocent woman inside her own home. Less than two weeks after the Amber Guyger trial, another police shooting inside an innocent person’s home raising profound questions about the use of lethal force by police, we’ll have details. Also, time for a rethink about rebuilding on the coast? How water unites and divides us, our series Drop by Drop begins. And why a Texas state researcher says the War on Drugs has unintentionally become a war on the climate. All of that and more today on the Texas Standard:
Son Little: “about her. again”
For Philly’s Aaron Livingston, horizons are broad and genre definitions are irrelevant. He’s spent a decade and half refining his R&B-leaning sound as Son Little, and has had no trouble measuring up to his collaborators, ranging from Portugal. The Man to RJD2 to The Roots.
Son Little’s impeccable sense of humility and penchant for fusing styles has seeped through his music once again, on his new five-song EP, invisible. Son Little will be making a pit stop at 3Ten ACL live in early December in support of invisible, and to give you a transparent view of Son Little’s latest, check out the soul-inspired “about her. again”.
Dog Parks
Going to a dog park can be a singular experience for a human — let alone a dog. That was the inspiration for this Typewriter Rodeo poem.
Jarrett Bell, pt. 1 (Ep. 45, 2019)
This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. presents a conversation with Jarrett Bell, an NFL columnist with USA Today Sports, and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee who has covered the National Football League for more than three and a half decades.
KUT Weekend – October 11, 2019
Texas groups brace for cuts that could ‘devastate’ refugee resettlement services. Plus, Austin’s first homeless strategy officer steps down after just one month on the job. And we’ll hear from a guy who’s been calling Texas football games in Spanish for 25 years. Those stories and more in this edition of KUT Weekend!
Subscribe at https://weekend.kut.org
Guns and Suicide
***This episode references guns and suicide and may be upsetting for some of our listeners***
Data can be a tricky thing to bring into discussions around guns and suicide. As Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke discuss in this episode of Two Guys on Your Head, being more critical about the way information is framed can help us make more informed decisions when thinking about preventing tragedies.
Texas Standard: October 11, 2019
What are Pete Sessions and Rick Perry’s Ukrainian connections? Amid impeachment questions, two prominent Texans get caught in the spotlight. We’ll have details. Also, after just a month on the job, the so-called homelessness czar in the Texas Capitol City steps down following a threat from the governor to force Austin to change controversial homelessness policies. We’ll have the latest. And award winning Texas author Tim O’brien breaks from telling war stories to address the home front. Also, the week that was in Texas politics with the Texas Tribune and more today on the Texas Standard:
Caroline Rose: “Jeannie Becomes A Mom” (Live in Studio 1A)
When you’re defining Caroline Rose, genre is secondary to personality. Rose’s signature red track suit may at first glance bear semblance to a vulnerable, melancholy Wes Anderson creation, but her lyrics shed light on a much stronger, outgoing, and comedy-inclined character.
Rose is comfortable with rockabilly, pop punk and everything in between those lines, and us here at KUTX have never sated our appetite for her music, even after three Studio 1A appearances and a ton of spins on our airwaves. Caroline Rose plays an official ACL Fest Late Night show tomorrow night at Scoot Inn and 11:45am this Sunday at the Miller Lite stage. Prepare yourself to laugh, rock out, and just in general have a blast, starting with a cut from one two Studio 1A sessions recorded last year, “Jeannie Becomes A Mom”!
Photo: Gabriel C. Pérez
Texas Standard: October 10, 2019
A stern warning from the federal judge overseeing reform of Texas’ foster care system: further resistance will be worse than futile. We’ll have the story. Also, the president makes it clear he won’t be cooperating with the house impeachment process. What’s less clear: what this means for what many have predicted to be a transitional election season in Texas politics. We’ll explore. And skyrocketing heat-related injuries in the military. Now there’s an attempt at a radical ‘about face’. Those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard:
This Song: Carrie Brownstein from Sleater-Kinney
Sleater-Kinney’s 9th album “The Center Won’t Hold” came out in August. The album, which was produced by St. Vincent, finds the band exploring lots of new sonic territory. Listen as Carrie Brownstein explains how “Stay” by Rihanna inspired her to write the last track on the new record,”Broken.” Plus, you can hear why she doesn’t think of this album as a sonic departure for the band, but instead sees it as a product of the band’s expanded musical vocabulary.
Check out Sleater-Kinney’s Tour Dates
Buy and/or Listen to “The Center Won’t Hold”
Listen to Songs from this episode of This Song
Jane Ellen Bryant: “Easy Mistake” (Live in Studio 1A)
One of the coolest things about ACL is that it puts local artists on the same stages and in front of the same crowds as the mainstream giants. So it’s great to see that native Austinite Jane Ellen Bryant has finally landed a space out at Zilker for one of her hometown’s most attended events.
The delicate folk-Americana style heard on Bryant’s 2013 debut LP has since evolved into a sassy presence that’s somewhere between Jenny Lewis and Heart, with equally immaculate vocals and guitar. Jane Ellen Bryant plays 1PM tomorrow at the Tito’s Handmade Vodka stage and although Bryant treated us to a new EP last year with Let Me Be Lost, we’re gonna revisit Twenties with her Studio 1A session from all the way back in 2016: “Easy Mistake”!
Stand Tall
Your Austin Music Minute host first got word of ATX folk-pop outfit Large Brush Collection through a winsome, wistful single released this summer, “Stand Tall.” Too heart-achingly good to resist a longing that beckons with, “…drowned out by the night/waiting for your light/to carry me another way.”
Damn. And on that note, keep in mind that more music is on the way, and LBC has a couple more shows in town before heading out for some dates in Chicago. Don’t miss Large Brush Collection tonight at Cheer Up Charlie’s, 901 Red River, on a bill that includes Samantha Lee and the Family Tree, The Naked Tungs and Rosie Tucker. The music starts at 8 p.m. Recommended.
-Photo courtesy of the artist.
Texas Standard: October 9, 2019
What does sex mean? What’s at issue as the Supreme Court considers whether federal law prohibits discrimination against people who identify as LGBTQ. We’ll have the latest. Also, sparks fly as a Texas professor wins the Nobel Prize for his work on batteries, we’ll have details. And new numbers raise new questions over Border Patrol apprehensions, up 90 percent over last year. Plus a Texas researcher warns women using the pill, this is your brain on birth control. We’ll hear what she means and a whole lot more today on the Texas Standard:
Get It Far Out
Your Austin Music Minute host keeps emphasizing this over and over, and will do so again: A Peterson Brothers performance is something you need to witness live. Then it’ll be easy to understand why, at a young age, they boast a long and impressive resume.
Glen, Jr. and Alex (ages 21 and 19, respectively) have played with, and opened for, the likes of Gary Clark, Jr., Kenny Wayne Sheppard, Buddy Guy, B.B. King…it goes on and on. New fans are finding out about them at music festivals throughout the country, from the Chicago Blues Festival to the Austin City Limits Music Festival. They’re artists with talents beyond their years, finding inspiration in numerous genres – soul, blues, funk and jazz. But the impact is huge because they bring something fresh to every performance.
Catch The Peterson Brothers Band at their new weekly residency Wednesday nights at The Far Out Lounge, 8504 S. Congress Ave. Doors at 7 p.m., music starts at 8 p.m. So recommended.
-Photo of The Peterson Brothers by Lu Jansen.
Texas Standard: October 8, 2019
U.S. Soldiers coming home, but what are they leaving behind? We’ll have a closer look at the decision to get U.S. troops out of northern Syria and why that matters. Also, China calls foul: how Houston found itself at the center of an international incident over Hong Kong. And word from Corpus Christi that the Selena festival is being cancelled in her hometown. Plus the first Latina to create produce write and star in her own sitcom tells her story of coming of age in the Rio Grande Valley, she calls it her mixtape memoir. All of that and then some today on the Texas Standard:
Mobley: “Swoon” (Live in Studio 1A)
If you’re on a tight budget and can’t treat yourself to a day out at the festival, you’re not completely out of luck. Among the cast of late night performers is our April 2018 Artist of the Month, and one of Austin’s most soulful multi-instrumentalist-producers, Mobley.
His one-man-band style and auteur approach has secured a steady following for Mobley, who at this point is no stranger to touring non-stop (often with big names) or composing for major television networks. Mobley plays a FREE official ACL Fest late night show 11:30pm this Friday at Stubb’s and you can pre-game with a live Studio 1A session from last year. Just try not to “Swoon”.
Photo: Salvador Castro
Mississippi Bound
There’s no doubt Red On Yellow is fueled by rock ‘n’ roll, but do not dismiss the mad love for that high grain Delta blues that feeds their ravenous souls. This fire will never go out.
The band is wrapping up a Monday night residency tonight at Antone’s, 305 E. 5th St., before they head out to Clarksdale, Mississippi to perform at the 2019 Deep Blues Festival in just a matter of days. Come on out and show some love and support before they’re southbound. Perfect Monday night. Recommended.
-Photo courtesy of the artist.