On this week’s episode of In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. presents part one of a tribute to the late Dick Gregory, the legendary entertainer, Civil Rights activist, author and wellness advocate whose career spanned seven decades. Gregory died in August 2017 at the age of 84.
Wellness
Urban Heat: “City Lights” (Live in Studio 1A)
It’s been really cool to see folks we’ve featured as our Artists of the Month advance up into official ACL acts. Yesterday we gave a shoutout to our May 2022 AotM Good Looks and today we move onto Urban Heat. This post-punk three-piece first stopped into Studio 1A back in February to swelter listeners with their latest set of sinister, cinematic, synth-driven originals. And by July, when their EP Wellness began making its rounds, we’d named Urban Heat as our Artist of the Month.
Temps may have cooled off a bit since mid-Summer, but Urban Heat has continued to crank things up as they perfect their live performances. If you want to test your fest thermostat in the early afternoon, Urban Heat’ll be playing ACL 3PM this Sunday on the BMI Stage. If you’d prefer to avoid the “City Limits” for Weekend Two and instead enjoy the “City Lights” from the comfort of your home, heat up your Hump Day with the live rendition listed below.
An Austin school and state-of-the-art clinic unite to meet the needs of medically fragile children
Dell Children’s Medical Center has built a comprehensive clinic on Rosedale School’s campus. This means most of the more than 100 students who attend can see practitioners without missing a lot of school.
Urban Heat: “Trust”
For the past four weeks you’ve heard plenty about our July 2022 Artist of the Month, Urban Heat. But in case these record-breaking temperatures are melting your memory, we’ll give you a quick recap. Analog sound designer/multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Jonathan Horstmann founded the three-piece back in 2019 under the name Urban Heat Island Effect. It only took a few mangled marquees for the fellas to drop that second half in favor of the more ambiguous, abbreviated handle we’ve come to love. Yet the Austin trio continues to inspire their initial namesake thanks to high-octane shows with dense crowds.
Up until now, Urban Heat’s only had seven singles out (and each one of ’em swelters with mirthless, mechanical, ’80s-meets-modern goth-post-punk) but this weekend they counter our state’s triple digits with their debut six-song EP, Wellness. In the live realm, Urban Heat plays Sunday Weekend 2 at Austin City Limits Music Festival in October and KUTX presents the Wellness EP release show this Saturday at Hotel Vegas with openers Lovelorn and Holy Wire. Going back to these incendiary inner-city temps, it may be best to defy ERCOT and just let Urban Heat pulsate the sun’s rays back into orbit with the album opener off of Wellness. Because between a throbbing bass groove, Horstmann’s husky, vocoder-inclusive vocals, classic MIDI percussion, and an accompanying music video, “Trust” will leave you dripping sweat in the best way possible.
Texas Standard: October 29, 2021
Was the Governor on the right track with the COVID-19 plan until a change of course? A case study in the politics of the pandemic. Other stories we are tracking: an ambitious effort to reduce poverty in North Texas. And questions over how to gauge success, or quite the opposite. Also the Houston Chronicle’s Chris Tomlinson on that other major factor in climate change that Texas has an outsized role in. And a serious role reversal: the noted Texas lawyer who joined the priesthood. And remembering an ugly chapter in Texas history that many North Texas locals would rather not revisit. Those stories and much more today on the Texas Standard: