Happy 90th birthday to Esther Phillips: R&B shouter, disco queen, the first teen idol, favorite of the Beatles and Leonard Feather, the Sister from Texas, and singer of one of the best country albums of the 60s. www.texasmonthly.com/arts-enterta...

thanks, John!

Joe Ely: country rocker, avant garde artist, AI pioneer. When he couldn’t play music anymore-when his illness slowed him down & quieted his voice-his wife Sharon made sure he could still listen to it-& remember-& make more. Here’s the story of his last months. www.texasmonthly.com/arts-enterta...

Esther Phillips was singing and recording country music long before Beyonce or Mickey Guyton were even born. Here’s the story of the greatest country album you’ve never heard. www.texasmonthly.com/arts-enterta... @texasmonthly.bsky.social

Here's a story about Mussa Traore, a dog trainer who for two years has been working at a south Austin dog park. Nobody was a bigger part of the community or was as beloved as Traore was--by both humans and their canines. That didn’t stop ICE from taking him away. www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...

“My new mantra is: I don’t want to die wishing I had done something. I want to die knowing I did do something for someone.” @texasmonthly.bsky.social www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...

Trump is trying to deport DACA kids, who have mostly been left alone by the gov't for the simple reason that they are fundamentally innocent-brought to the US as children. Still he’s trying to kick them out. And a couple of El Paso Dreamers just beat him. www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...

Singing, dancing, celebrating: Home Is Here!

What happens when you put six blind kids and one enthusiastic teacher in a room full of synthesizers? The Semi-Modulars, that’s what. @texasmonthly.bsky.social www.texasmonthly.com/arts-enterta...

If you grew up in the 70s in the West Village with a writer mother & a businessman father & moved to SF & met a 7th gen Tx artist & married & moved to Austin, you too might have written 6 novels & made Fargo & Alien: Earth. But I doubt it. How did Noah Hawley? www.texasmonthly.com/arts-enterta...

"People, after all, are just people. We laugh. We cry. We order lunch meat at HEB. Most of all, we rock out to Ozzy Osbourne, & when his imperfect voice combines w mighty riffs & thumping drums, we feel something innately human." www.texasmonthly.com/arts-enterta... @texasmonthly.bsky.social

The most haunting story you will read about the flood. "If I or anyone else had been closer to them, we would have helped her. We would have grabbed one of the kids. But we didn’t know that we were about to be plunged into the water. We simply didn’t know." www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...

“Pastor, I just need to be reminded: Is God good?” @allegrahobbs.bsky.social goes to church in Kerrville after the flood. www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic... @texasmonthly.bsky.social

11 years ago, Rev. Charles Moore set himself on fire in the parking lot of a Dollar General in Grand Saline, Tx. Why? “He wanted his death to count for something,” said a friend. “He wanted his life to count for something.” www.texasmonthly.com/true-crime/m... @texasmonthly.bsky.social

Happy Juneteenth! For generations, Lake Mexia hosted the finest Juneteenth celebration in the US, w African Americans flocking there from all over. In 1981 3 Black teens were arrested-& drowned. The celebration has never been the same. www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic... @texasmonthly.bsky.social

Oh yeah, Margaret had great stories about that night. She appreciated the spectacle.

A crazed undertaking! A beautiful list! Of course it’s @dansolomon.com ranking all the songs named “Texas”-separating the garbage from the gold, including Chris Rea, BigXthaPlug, Stevie Ray, Trae tha Truth, Tanya Tucker, Merle, Willie-and of course Big Black. www.texasmonthly.com/arts-enterta...

Here’s a story about a kid-a legal immigrant to the US-who Trump deported to the worst prison in the world. The kid wasn’t in a gang & didn’t have tattoos. Your federal government in action: no due process, no common sense, no decency. www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic... @texasmonthly.bsky.social

Wanna see the human cost of DOGE’s reckless cuts of people who work for the federal govt? @sashavonawesome.bsky.social interviewed 2 of the 5 employees slashed from Big Bend Nat’l Park—people who made the park a safe place to visit. @texasmonthly.bsky.social www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...

"For better or for worse, the meat-packing industry relies on immigrants; changing that would likely require fundamentally changing how America feeds itself." Great story by @jherrerx.bsky.social revisiting the site of a 2006 mass deportation in Cactus, Tx. www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...

Gloria Smith, who lives in Fort Worth, didn’t expect to find her roots in rural Burleson County. Then she started looking. Now she’s saving the Dabney Hill freedom colony, one building at a time. www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...

66 years ago tonight Buddy Holly played his last song, “Brown Eyed Handsome Man," an anagram of which is “rhyme man be dead on snow” www.texasmonthly.com/articles/the...

Whatever happened to "The Gulf of Smelly Brown Water"?

Director Smriti Mundhra made the best death-penalty doc since The Thin Blue Line. Now “I Am Ready, Warden,” which she worked on with @keribla.bsky.social, just got nominated for an Oscar. Here’s my review: texasmonthly.com/news-politic... @texasmonthly.bsky.social

For all who celebrate Brentmas:

Some good things happened this year: www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...

Can plants be evil? @mikehalltexas.bsky.social convinced me. www.texasmonthly.com/travel/my-ne...

If you want to fight the devil, you'd better bring a shovel and a good pair of gloves. www.texasmonthly.com/travel/my-ne... @texasmonthly.bsky.social

Love great music? Believe in treating refugees like human beings? One week from tonight, Patty Griffin, Britt Daniel, Adrian Quesada, & others are getting together to welcome our immigrant friends & build a new shelter for women & children at Casa Marianella. Join us! www.acllive.com/event/2024-1...

I Am Ready, Warden is the best film about the death penalty since The Thin Blue Line, though it couldn’t be more different. In Smriti Mundhra’s documentary, a murderer, his son, & his victim’s son confront death, redemption, and the appetite for vengeance… 1/2

In Austin, we take care of our friends & neighbors, and 3 weeks from tonight a passel of Austin musicians will get together at ACL Live to welcome some new neighbors to town-and help build a new shelter for women & children at Casa Marianella. Please join us! Tix: www.acllive.com/events/detai...

“Get Down Tonight” is pretty much the best KC and the Sunshine Band song www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHEs...