Have you gotten lost in the Big Thicket? Attended a South Texas pachanga? Whether you’re a newcomer or a native, following these suggestions will give you a crash course in all things Texas—and one heck of a good time.
He's produced albums for the likes of Roy Orbison and Elvis Costello for years, but now Fort Worth's T Bone Burnett is writing songs again and composing music for movies and plays. At 53 he's on a creative roll and, as he says, "Never bored."
The next statewide elections are twenty months away, but a pack of would-be candidatesfrom a Laredo oilman to the mayor of Austinare already running hard.
Forty years after it was published, Billy Lee Brammer's novel about LBJ-era Austin is still one of the best ever written about American politics. Yet just as interesting is the story of Brammer himself.
After twenty years as a reporter who gave politicians a hard time, I decided to run for the Dallas City Council. Now I’m the one getting the hard time—from my fellow pols, who don’t trust me, and my former colleagues in the press, who’ve got me in their sights. And
Who exactly was Cabeza de Vaca? Why did Texas revolutionaries shout, “Remember Goliad”? Sharpen your pencils for Part I of my four-part Texas literacy test.
Like ZZ Top or AC/DC, the Toadies have become almost instantly identifiable. But it’s not because the Dallasites have flooded the market with similar-sounding albums. Instead their breakthrough single, 1995’s “Possum Kingdom,” has enjoyed a Spam-like shelf life. It has served as one of the top recurrent tracks on alternative,
With his sense of humor, his down-and-out songs, and his wordplay that turned country convention upside down, Leroy Preston gave Asleep at the Wheel dimensions it has lacked since the seventies. Kyle’s Jon Emery, a co-leader of Preston’s post-Wheel band, Whiskey Drinkin’ Music, reprises five of those songs here, and
What do you want the Old 97’s to be? When the Dallas band released their first CD, 1994’s Hitchhike to Rhome, they knocked down blazing alcohol-soaked love songs and a fine cover of Merle Haggard’s “Mama Tried,” firmly grabbing a spot in the alt-country canon. But on Satellite Rides, their
Thirty years ago the cosmic cowboy-progressive country sound swept through Austin, the first full-blown scene in what has evolved into Austin music. But of all its trailblazers—Jerry Jeff Walker, Willis Alan Ramsey, Willie Nelson—Bobby Bridger is the one who has stayed most on message. The Houston resident has remained true
What a difference five years makes. Shawn Colvin’s 1996 CD, A Few Small Repairs, while cloaked in radio-friendly production, was lyrically full of spit and vitriol, a searing portrait of alienation and divorce that you happened to be able to sing along with. Remember the Grammy-winning “Sunny Came Home” and
Flash back to a grisly double-homicide—father and daughter slain aboard a yacht in California. Freeze the image of the teenage son who survived, only to be murdered in his hospital bed. Fast-forward ten years to detective Frank Harriman as he faces the awful possibility that the case might have wrongly
“I think with a name like Christopher Columbus Kraft, Jr., some of my life’s direction was settled from the start,” says NASA’s longtime flight director in this compelling autobiography. Like the discoverer of America, the Houston author also explored uncharted territory, and his last name suggests not only the aircraft
With stars ranging from Willie Nelson to Tommy Lee Jones, an Austin awards show gets top billing. Plus: The North Texas Irish Festival harps on its success; Houston has a weekend perfect for the kids; El Paso packs the house for the Siglo de Oro; and Dallas' Meadows Museum has
Chapter One: "Raised in a Town That No Longer Exists"By any other name, Phoebus was still a tough town. It did have another name, spoken only by the locals with a mixed measure of quiet pride and quieter concern: Little Chicago, because Phoebus sat at the end of the Chicago
You probably learned about the Texas State Bird and the Texas State Flag back in grade school, but just in case you've forgotten (or studied some other state or country), we've provided you with the following list of basics. Happy Texas Independence Day!
Gremolata1 tablespoon grated lemon zest 3 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley 2 tablespoons minced garlicMix all ingredients together.Pot Roastsalt and pepper to taste 1/2 cup flour 3-pound boneless roast of beef, such as a rolled roast (have the butcher tie it for you) 1/8 cup extra-virgin olive oil 2 cups thinly
