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Austin faces a high-stakes choice on funding parks over I-35, with city leaders split over how to move forward. It all centers on the question of which highway decks the should city commit to paying for.
Catching up with longtime musician Robert Earl Keen, who’s gearing up for his Christmas shows here in Austin.
Plus, from KUTX: Maile Carballo checks in with the latest music news, and Ryan Wen rounds up his favorite songs of 2025.
The full transcript of this episode of Austin Signal is available on the KUT & KUTX Studio website. The transcript is also available as subtitles or captions on some podcast apps.
Miles Bloxson [00:00:09] Austin faces a high stakes choice on funding parks over I-35, with city leaders split over how to move forward. We’ll hear more about that from transportation reporter Nathan Bernier. Plus some great music came out of Austin in 2025. KETX’s Ryan Wen highlights his favorite song of the year. Also, we catch up with longtime musician, Robert Earl Keane, who’s gearing up for his Christmas shows right here in Austin.
KUT Announcer: Laurie Gallardo [00:00:35] The Austin Signal is a production of KUT News, hosted by Miles Bloxson.
Miles Bloxson [00:00:41] KUTX’s Maile Carballo checks in with the latest music news. And guess what? Christmas is right around the corner. I know time flies, so if you’re like me and you still haven’t finished your holiday shopping, don’t worry, we’ve got some ideas just for you. All that and more coming up right here on the Austin Signal. Hi there, Austin! It’s Thursday, December 18th. I’m Miles Bloxson. And can you believe it’s exactly one week until Christmas for those who celebrate the holiday? So what does that mean? Time is running out if you still need to do some holiday shopping. I know I still have a few things to pick up, so you are not alone in that. But don’t worry, we’ll have some ideas on where you can go later on in the show. This is The Austin Signal. A quick headline before we start the show… Leander ISD has voted to close an elementary school for the 2026-2027 school year. The move was considered as a cost-cutting measure since the district is facing a $12.8 million budget shortfall. We have more on this story at KUT.org. And a looming decision over the construction of parks above I-35 is forcing Austin City Council members to weigh two risky paths forward. As KUT’s Nathan Bernier reports, They’re beginning to split. Over which one the city should actually take.
Nathan Bernier [00:02:12] This fork in the road centers on a deceptively simple question. Which highway decks should the city commit to paying for? Council members already approved the broad footprint of the project in May.
Christine MaGuire [00:02:27] As amended is adopted.
Nathan Bernier [00:02:31] That vote committed the city to paying TxDOT more than $100 million at some point in the future, likely around the year 2030. And that money would pay for the support columns that would hold up these giant parks over the highway after TxDOT tears down the upper decks and sinks the main lanes. So where would these park decks go? Here’s where they’re putting the support column, from Cesar Chavez to 7th Street, From 11th to 12th Street and then a couple smaller 300-foot-wide decks that could go in near the Hancock Center. So now councilmembers have to decide which of those park decks they’ll have the money to pay for over the next eight years or so. The price tag on those is unclear. The full package, just the decks, nothing on them, would be more than $300 million. But something changed since the council took that first vote in May on the support columns, And that is… The city now says it has a lot less time to lock in the best price on those park decks before the cost is guaranteed to go up.
Christine MaGuire [00:03:36] We do understand that TechStot is kind of moving timelines now.
Nathan Bernier [00:03:41] Christine McGuire is with the City’s Economic Development Department.
Christine MaGuire [00:03:45] It’s really not a November of 26 hard decision that they really need more clarity from council in May of 2026 for future commitments for CAPTEC. So took all the oxygen out of the room. I can proceed to the other slide.
Nathan Bernier [00:04:05] Having to make the decision by May instead of November puts the city in a more risky financial situation, city staff say. They were expecting more detailed cost estimates before having to commit, because the city has to pay if anything goes over budget. TxDOT says it does not need a firm commitment by May, only a general idea of which caps the city wants to build. City staff say they can’t even make a ballpark estimate. Without a formal City Council vote.
Christine MaGuire [00:04:37] I know, I’m a downer, I am a buzzkill, nobody invites me to meetings anymore, but that is from financial services point of view, the city’s risk profile has increased.
Nathan Bernier [00:04:48] And that brings us to this fork in the road. Make a commitment in May to which of those caps the city will pay for without knowing exactly how much they’ll cost, or wait until they have a much better idea of the price tag, knowing it will definitely cost more. And that’s the question that is, again, dividing the city council. On the one hand, you have council members like Chito Vela, who are all in on building parks over I-35.
Chito Vela [00:05:13] There’s no question that this project is going to cost a lot. The reality is though when it’s done it will have huge economic benefits in terms of additional property tax revenues that are going to be brought in to the city and that’s the money that we get to pay for our emergency services to pay for our parks and our libraries and our quality of life.
Nathan Bernier [00:05:36] On the other hand, you have council members like Christa Lane, who voted against the plan in May to pay for those support columns. She says the financial risks have only increased since then.
Christa Lane [00:05:46] We need to make sure that we have enough capacity for the needs of the city, given the very significant revenue constraints. And the more that we do not acknowledge the actual level of risk in these costs, the greater it could really hurt us as a city.
Nathan Bernier [00:06:02] Then there are council members like Paige Ellis, who’s somewhere in between. She supports signing up the city to pay for a smaller package of parks over the highway, specifically just the 11th to 12th street cap and the smaller 300-foot-wide decks near the Hancock Center. But she’s skeptical of this whole timeline.
Paige Ellis [00:06:20] I don’t see a scenario where I’m supportive of let’s just continue to say we will find money later when we don’t know where we’re going to find it. I feel like we’re being put in, you know, in between a rock and a hard place for numbers that are flexible. They’re moving around. And if we didn’t hate I-35 enough, this is definitely adding fuel to the fire.
Nathan Bernier [00:06:45] There’s also option number three, do nothing. And after the I-35 expansion is completed around 2033, TxDOT will impose a 10-year moratorium on any construction on I- 35. Then the city could come back around 2043 and talk again about building highway parks. Because no matter what, they have already committed to paying for those support columns that would hold them up. I’m Nathan Bernier in Austin.
Ryan Wen [00:07:24] You’re listening to the Austin Signal. Hello, I’m Ryan Wen, and I’m a host and producer for KUTX. One of my favorite songs out of Austin this year is called Julia by Boomer Shack.
Boomershack [00:07:34] Julia says the moon on high Same one as yesterday
Ryan Wen [00:07:44] I love hard-swinging down-tempo music, and as much as I may outwardly profess my love for things like funk, Quiet Storm R&B, and bluesy doom metal, I also secretly, terminally love sad-boy Americana.
Boomershack [00:07:59] With all I could give up
Ryan Wen [00:08:07] To be honest, Boomer Shack is a bit of an enigma, which is kind of hard to be today, but typically the best musicians are really bad at marketing themselves. But what I can glean from the little information that exists about them is that the primary songwriter is named Dan Perez, and the material that eventually led to this song and their debut EP originated from a drawer full of demo cassettes and eight-track recordings Perez had written and recorded over the course of a decade.
Boomershack [00:08:36] Nail by nail, side by side I see Evelyn and you’ll
Ryan Wen [00:08:45] Anyways, while I love the footstopping, honky-tonk sound, it’s all about those vocals for me. That raspy voice, swinging melody, and all the longing, frustration, and self-loathing a sad song-enjoyer could want. Add a few simple yet tastefully placed backup harmonies, and man, this is the stuff.
Boomershack [00:09:04] I’m a fool, every time I’m winning, I’m on my own
Boomershack [00:09:13] Dead in water, that’s nothing
Ryan Wen [00:09:19] It’s vaguely like a honky tonk take on the Beatles’ Oh Darling, which in and of itself is kind of derivative of an old school southern style of R&B. Well, I don’t think Boomer Shack was consciously pulling from these places, but this is all to say, they get it. I was hooked within seconds of hearing this song, and immediately texted like five of my friends to listen to it.
Boomershack [00:09:39] I know that the sun will rise Let’s bet
Ryan Wen [00:09:44] The vibe is, it’s a Tuesday and you’re on your 12th Lone Star at the hole in the wall when a band nobody has ever heard of steps onto the front stage and immediately reminds you why you moved to Austin.
Boomershack [00:09:55] I just pray that you’re right here with me With all I can give her I…
Ryan Wen [00:10:08] I’m Ryan Wen, and I’m a host and producer at KUTX, and you can find out all of our favorite songs from 2025 over at kutx.org. This is Austin Signal.
Boomershack [00:10:20] This is all I can give up, can’t give up on you This is All I can Give Up You know I’m a Sheep And I’m Winning
Miles Bloxson [00:10:37] There’s more Austin Signal coming up after this. Stay with us.
Boomershack [00:10:44] Oh
Miles Bloxson [00:10:52] This is the Austin Signal, I’m Miles Bloxson.
Robert Earl Keen [00:10:58] A box of Tampons, a Marlboro Line
Robert Earl Keen [00:11:03] Yeah, everybody say cheese Merry Christmas from the family
Miles Bloxson [00:11:13] Merry Christmas from the family by Robert Earl Keen has become a Christmas staple beyond just Texas households and for years Keen’s annual Christmas show has captured that same enthusiasm and love for the holiday. Freshly back on the road from retirement, the legendary Texas singer and songwriter will be in Austin for his shows Friday and Saturday. He’s much for talking with us today.
Robert Earl Keen [00:11:40] Hey, thank you for tracking me down, Miles. I appreciate it.
Miles Bloxson [00:11:44] Of course. How many years have you done a Christmas tour?
Robert Earl Keen [00:11:48] I think it’s about 14. I wrote the song quite a while ago and then it turns out that people just wanted to hear me play the song during Christmas time so we started putting these Christmas shows together. That’s how that came about.
Miles Bloxson [00:12:04] Yeah, so what inspired that song that that some would say is more realistic portrayal of holiday celebrations
Robert Earl Keen [00:12:11] I grew up in Houston, Texas and I was writing some songs for another record and kind of wore myself out trying to be real serious. It was just about Christmas time and I thought, you know, I don’t have a Christmas song. I don’t know what chestnuts are and sleigh bells and the whole thing. So I decided I’m just going to write my own Christmas song and I didn’t really intend to even record it ever. Finally the next time I talked to a producer. That they were asking what the producers always do. Well, do you have any more songs? And I said, yeah, I have this one. And I played that and they said, oh, you gotta put that on record. I said okay, so I did.
Robert Earl Keen [00:12:53] I
Miles Bloxson [00:12:59] Well, this year, the holidays will be tough for those families impacted by the devastating floods that hit curville, you know, the hill country in central Texas in July, you did a benefit concert in August for those who were impacted. Can you tell us about the experience of doing that concert?
Robert Earl Keen [00:13:16] Well, I was slated to play Kerrville on the river on 4th of July, and as everyone knows, that’s when the flood happened. And so that was the beginning of our tour in the summer, and my manager Kelly Thomas and I sat around and said, well, we’ve got to do something. So we decided to immediately put all our money that we raised from our merchandise went to benefit the community foundation for the Texas Hill Country. And then we said, well, we got to do more. So we put together this concert at Whitewater and ended up with having over 40 acts and eventually raised over $3.2 million.
Miles Bloxson [00:14:00] That’s amazing. And you know, the Hill Country is your home. So what has that area been like since July?
Robert Earl Keen [00:14:07] It has improved greatly, actually, as far as the mess that the river was in. They came in there with an army full of trucks, and I’m talking about giant trucks as big as apartment complexes. They were giant. And they hauled away a lot of the trees and all the debris that was washed down and I’ll have to say, it looks now more like a state park than a devastation, so they’ve done a really good job. The families that lost family and property, they’re still hurting, yes.
Miles Bloxson [00:14:49] Yeah, that’s something that, you know, that something that’s hard to get over. You meant to retire a while back, but when it came down to it, you saw it and you said, hey, I don’t want to retire. So what made you continue to decide to work?
Robert Earl Keen [00:15:20] Well, mainly, Miles, I just didn’t have anything that I knew how to do at all, other than perform and write songs. And I didn’t want to learn how to anything new. I had some interests in other places, but I just, you know, when I started messing around with them, when took some time off, it just wasn’t working for me. So this is what I love to do, I just continue at this. After I played a few shows, I found people really wanted me to come back. I kind of felt a little bit of shame that I was, you know, going back on my promise that I’m going to retire, but everybody seemed to be happy about it, so I’m happy back.
Robert Earl Keen [00:16:03] When they asked me if I’d like to stay I said, I’m coming home to you I’m, coming home Baby, in my mind that’s what I’m gonna do Can’t love nobody on the telephone I’m comin’ home to You
Miles Bloxson [00:16:25] It’s hard to put down what you love, right? You gotta keep picking it up. So what is your favorite part about touring?
Robert Earl Keen [00:16:33] The performance itself, I love performing, being on stage has always come very naturally to me, and now that I have just a huge bushel basket of songs, I don’t ever run out of anything to talk about or sing about, so it’s about the performance.
Miles Bloxson [00:16:55] Yeah, in Texas, you know, this big place, this place we call home. How did the audience in Texas differ from the audiences in other places? I would like to think we’re the best, but what do you think?
Robert Earl Keen [00:17:06] Well, no, there’s a certain enthusiasm and wildness that go on with Texas audiences, but it is surprising that we can go from Portland, Oregon, to Portland, Maine. And audiences respond pretty well to us because we’re out there to entertain people and we’re out there have fun, and that’s it. That’s really the goal. And we do play well, and I have great, great musicians in my band, but we’re out there to entertain, so we get a response from people that are like, God, I didn’t know what I was going to get when I got here, and this is really fun, so it is.
Miles Bloxson [00:17:49] Well, that’s amazing. We’ve been speaking with musician Robert Earl Keane. His Christmas show, Robert Earl King Presents The Greatest Christmas on Earth is in Austin this Friday and Saturday at ACO Live at the Moody Theater. We’ll have a link to more in today’s podcast show notes. Robert Earl keane, thanks so much for joining me this afternoon on the Austin Signal.
Robert Earl Keen [00:18:10] Thank you, thank you, thanks.
Robert Earl Keen [00:18:13] A mistletoe. When Santa Claus came knocking, he looked like Uncle Joe. Someone put the coffee on and find the Tylenol. Merry Christmas, everyone. Happy Holidays to you all.
Miles Bloxson [00:18:42] Well, it’s been a big week for music news here in Austin, and KUT’s Syeda Carrillo sat down with KUTX’s Maile Carballo and asked her to catch us up.
Maile Carballo [00:18:55] There’s a lot of things happening this week. A little bittersweet week on the flip side of that though. It is the 50th season of the Armandillo Christmas Bazaar and it’s super cool. It was started by the Armadillo World Headquarters. Of course, world renowned in Austin here. They’ve been doing a lot of great stuff recently kicking back up the brand. But celebrating the 50-th season of this little art bazaar and music collaboration is super cool. It’s kind of one of those few places, very Austin thing to do, where you can grab a beer, buy a painting, and also see an Austin artist all at once. You can do that in a lot of places, but this is the place to go for Christmas shopping, Kind of similar to the Blue Genie, but supporting music as well.
Syeda Carillo [00:19:41] Yeah, it seems like a great one-stop shop to support local artists and also other types of creators, and hard to believe it’s been 50 years already that it’s been around. For folks who are not familiar, could you kind of tell us what to expect when you’re visiting for the very first time?
Maile Carballo [00:19:59] Absolutely. So there’s a small entry fee when you enter. It is at the Palmer Event Center from now through December 21st. And when you go in, you’ll hear music playing. They have live musicians, local musicians playing all day. And you can just shop around different artisan booths and see what’s what, what you want to get for the family or for your friends. But actually today, currently right now, Austin’s very own The Point is playing at art bazaar. As well as Como Las Movies later on at 4 and Madam Radar at 7 p.m. So two KUTX artists of the months in there It’s pretty cool
Syeda Carillo [00:20:38] Very cool. Yeah, great opportunity to check out some local acts and how long is the is the bazaar open?
Maile Carballo [00:20:46] Yeah, it’s open now from now until December 21st, every day at 11 a.m. To 9 30 p.m at the Palmer Event Center downtown.
Syeda Carillo [00:20:55] Well, still some more time to check that out if you haven’t been to the Armadillo Christmas Bazaar’s and Austin Institution. And Maile, catch us up on some other big music news that happened this week.
Maile Carballo [00:21:07] Yeah, absolutely. So on the more bitter side of things, yesterday it was announced that Joe Ely and Jim Stringer passed away. It’s been a really hard week for celebrity passings all around, of course, with Rob Reiner as well. But this week we’re remembering two kind of country roots musicians, those guys. Joe Ely was really a cornerstone of Texas music for over the past 50 years, is a founding member of the Lubbock Mafia. A lot of people in Austin called him the musician’s musician which I think is a really great quote. Jim Stringer as well was also a mainstay for kind of Austin Roots and Rockabilly for over 30 years. He was the leader of the A.M. Band and yeah, just wanted to send out a big old cheers to these two guys and love and prayers to their family because they really helped to find the light.
Syeda Carillo [00:21:58] Music Capital of the World. Absolutely. Well, Maile, thank you for catching us up. And we do have a great look at Joe Ely’s legacy over on kut.org for folks that want to learn more about him and take a look back at his impact on the Austin music scene. Maile Carballo is with our sister station at KUTX. Thank you, Mile, for catching up on Austin Music Headlines. Thank Thank you.
Miles Bloxson [00:22:22] Well, that’s it for us here on the Austin Signal. Thanks so much for hanging out with us today. Rayna Sevilla is our technical director. Kristen Cabrera is our managing producer. Thanks for doing all that you do. We got more about the show in our podcast Show Notes at KUT.org slash Signal. I’m Miles Bloxson and for my buddy, Jerry Quijano, Austin Signal is back tomorrow. Talk to you then.
This transcript was transcribed by AI, and lightly edited by a human. Accuracy may vary. This text may be revised in the future.
