Dissonant Identities: The Rock’n’Roll Scene in Austin, Texas

Notes

Notes Preface i. Kim Longacre was a singer and guitarist in one of the more important Austin bands of the 19805, the Reivers (originally Zeitgeist). She was sixteen when she moved with her family from Palo Alto, California, to Austin. This quote is from the first of several interviews I conducted with her, June a,1989. z. Ernie Gammage had played in several bands in Austin throughout the 19708 and 19805. In the mid-eighties he became involved in the effort to create the "infrastructure" of a "music industry" in Austin. At the time I interviewed him, July 13,1990, he was president of the Austin Music Industry Council. 3. See George E. Marcus and Michael M. J. Fisher,Anthropology as Cultural Critique: An Experimental Moment in theHuman Sciences (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986). 4. Bythe term "cultural acts," I am expanding John Searle's notion of speech acts to encompass nonverbal, nontextual performances and artifacts. See his Speech Acts:An Essay on thePhilosophy of Language (London: Cambridge University Press, 1969). The adjective "decentered," of course, empties Searle's speech actor—in sympathy with Derrida's critique ("Signature, Event, Context," Glyph i [1977]—but I willfillup this actor with fragmentsof surrounding interested speakers by the end of this book. 5. This too-brief discussion of some of the dilemmas posed by postmodern ethnography was prompted by the following: a talk by Michael Taussig, "On the Mimetic Faculty," delivered at a conference on "Cultural Studies Now and in the Future," University of Illinois, Urbana, April 5,1990; Stephen A. Tyler, "Post-Modern Ethnography: From Document of the Occult to Occult Document ," in James Clifford and George Marcus, eds., Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography (Berkeley: Universityof California Press, 1986); and Clifford Geertz, "Blurred Genres: The Refiguration of Social Thought," inLocal Knowledge (New York: Basic Books, 1983). I take the metaphor of culture as an interpretable web from Clifford Geertz, "Thick Description: Toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture," The Interpretation of Cultures (New York: Basic Books, 1973). The metaphor of muddling borders comes from Julia Kristeva, "Throes of Love: The Field of the Metaphor," Tales of Love,trans. Leon Roudiez (New York: Columbia UniversityPress, 1987), 268. 6. John A. Lomax, Cowboy Songs and other Frontier Ballads (New York: Sturgis and Walton, 1910). Notes to Pages ix—xiii I 2.53 i. The ImaginaryTourist i. A reality sandwich at the Hole in the Wall consists of a chicken fried steak patty covered with slices of jalapeno peppers, smothered with melted cheese, with mayonnaise and lettuce on a hamburger bun. If ordered extra-real,it comes with extra jalapenos. An unrealitycomes pepper-free. z. Hilly Kristal operated a bar in the Bowery that featured country, bluegrass , and blues music (CBGB). In 1975, Tom Verlaine asked Kristal if his band, Television, could playone weeknight for the door. Kristal said yes, and the New York punk scene had a home. 3. The difference in local attitudes toward punk rock fans can be seen by comparing examples of rock journalism before and after the Raul's incident. See Sally lones, "Hey Punk.\" Austin Sun, December z, 1977, pp. Z3, 17; Carlyne Brady, "Sex Pistols in Austin,"Austin Sun, January zo, 1978, p. n; "Rock Club Raid Leads to Six Arrests,"Daily Texan, September zo, 1978, p. i; leff Whittington , "Punk Rock: Sure it's Noisy but is it Art?"Images, Daily Texan,October z, 1978, p. Z4. I will examine these and other articles in more detail in a later chapter. 4. The influence of both Cowboy and Richard Dorsett was described for me by Louis Black in an interview, September 17,1990. 5. lody Denberg describes the origins of Waterloo Records in "Austin Meets its Waterloo," Austin Chronicle, November z6, 1982, p. 8. The story of Geoff Cordner's relations with local musiciansand his job at Sound Exchange (then Record Exchange) can be found in Lawrence Lee, "Wrestler Records,"Austin Chronicle, September z6,1986, p. z8. 6. Franklin's art has been discussed in many places. See Jan Reid, The Improbable Rise of Redneck Rock (Austin: Heidelberg Publishers, 1974), pp. 47— 65; Archie Green wrote a number of articles about poster art in Austin for his "Commercial Music Graphics" series in theJohn Edwards Memorial Foundation Quarterly. "Midnight and Other Cowboys," n:39(Autumn 1975); "Kerry Awn's Soap Creek Saloon Calendars," 16:57 (Spring 1980); "Michael Adams's Honky-Tonk Paintings," 18:67-68 (Fall/Winter 1982.). 7. Jeff Nightbyrd described Gentle Thursdays...