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Why Texas is forcing residents to risk
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YOUR CITY THROUGH OUR LENS S A C U R R E N T. C O M / S L I D E S H O W S
in this issue San Antonio Current
Issue 20-11 /// May 20 – June 2, 2020
21 Food
Publisher: Michael Wagner Editor-in-Chief: Sanford Nowlin
Editorial
Slow Start
Advertising
The Take Away: Braunda Smith
San Antonio restaurants are reopening their dining rooms. Without financial help, how many can survive?
Digital Content Editor: Kelly Merka Nelson Contributing Arts Editor: Bryan Rindfuss Food and Nightlife Editor: Nina Rangel Contributors: Ron Bechtol, Chris Conde, Daniel Conrad, James Courtney, Jade Esteban Estrada, Dan R. Goddard, Lance Higdon, Steven G. Kellman, Hannah Lorence, Kiko Martinez, M. Solis, Gary Sweeney, Leah Thompson Editorial Interns: Brianna Espinoza, Trevor Flynn, Steven Hargis, Katie Hennessey
Marketing and Events
Lucy Cooper’s Texas Icehouse owner’s approach is ‘weird but it works’
Creative Services
La Hora Del Vermut
Advertising Director: Michael Wagner Marketing and Events Director: Cassandra Yardeni Events Manager: Chelsea Bourque
Graphic Designer: Samantha Serna
It’s time for Texas to embrace Spain’s vermouth happy hours
Circulation
Circulation Manager: Justin Giles
21 Music
Euclid Media Group
Chief Executive Officer: Andrew Zelman Chief Operating Officers: Chris Keating, Michael Wagner VP of Digital Services: Stacy Volhein Digital Operations Coordinator: Jaime Monzon Senior Marketing and Events Director: Cassandra Yardeni www.euclidmediagroup.com National Advertising: Voice Media Group (888) 278-9866, vmgadvertising.com San Antonio Current 915 Dallas San Antonio, Texas 78215 sacurrent.com Editorial: (210) 227-0044 / Fax - (210) 227-7755 Display Advertising: (210) 227-0044 Fax: (210) 227-7733 Classified: (210) 227-CLAS / Fax - (210) 227-7733 The San Antonio Current is published by Euclid Media Group Verified Audit Member San Antonio Distribution – The Current is available free of charge, limited to one copy per reader. Get listed 1. Visit sacurrent.com 2. Click “Calendar” and then “Submit an Event” 3. Follow the steps to submit your event details Please allow 48 hours for review and approval. Event submissions are not accepted by phone. Copyright: The entire contents of the San Antonio Current are copyright 2019 by Euclid Media Group LLC. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. Publisher does not assume any liability for unsolicited manuscripts, materials, or other content. Any submission must include a stamped, self-addressed envelope. All editorial, advertising, and business correspondence should be mailed to the address listed above. Subscriptions: Additional copies or back issues may be purchased at the Current offices for $1. Six-month domestic subscriptions may be purchased for $75; one-year subscriptions for $125.
Still Spinning
San Antonio record stores strive to stay afloat during the COVID-19 crisis
Sanford Nowlin
10 Feature
When the Music’s Over
Viral Voting
Why Texas is forcing residents to risk infection at the polls during the pandemic
06 News
The Opener All Quiet on the Southern Front
There are few reported cases of COVID-19 in Texas’ colonias, but also few testing and hospital resources
Editor’s Note
You Supported the SA Current Press Club Because Free, Local Coverage Matters
Obamacare Opponent John Cornyn Now Tells People Who Lost Health Coverage to Sign Up for the Program
12 Arts
Tied in Knots
Wedding planners are hurting as
Without federal help, San Antonio music venues are dying. Here’s how you can help.
couples turn to mini-ceremonies to follow social distance rules
Americana Artist Wade Bowen Hosts Quaranstream Concert Series on
Virtual Speed Dating Service Aims to Let San Antonians Connect During Social Distancing
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New Podcast Explores the Conviction of Woody Harrelson’s Father for Killing a San Antonio Judge
15 Screens
Listen Up, Movie Buffs
8 film-themed podcasts from Texas to check out if you’re out of eye space
VIRAL VOTING:
Why Texas is forcing residents to risk
infection at the polls during the pandemic
Unless something changes, Texans face the prospect of risking exposure to the coronavirus this election season. Cover design: Samantha Serna.
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news
That Rocks/That Sucks
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Gov. Greg Abbott’s continued efforts to reopen the Texas economy, the state reported 1,801 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday — the largest single-day jump in cases since the pandemic began. Much of the increase is the result of an outbreak in the Texas Panhandle, where testing at an Amarillo meat packing plant revealed 700 new cases.
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Alamo Colleges District recently responded to the coronavirus pandemic by waiving summer tuition for all currently enrolled students, so long as they have a 2.0 GPA. Full-time students who took class during the spring are eligible for up to nine free credit hours, while part-timers are approved for up to six.
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Texas has the 13th-lowest census response rate, with just 51.2% of the population filling their forms, according to study by the financial site SmartAsset. Among the 50 most populous cities, San Antonio ranks 32nd, with a 53% total response rate. The 2020 U.S. Census will determine how many congressional seats each state gets and inform the distribution of $1.5 trillion in federal funding.
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The Trump administration announced Friday that it is waiving several regulations in order to fast-track construction of nearly 70 miles of border wall and roads in Webb and Zapata counties. The order allows the Department of Homeland Security to circumvent numerous federal regulations that protect the environment and animal habitats. — Sanford Nowlin
Tomas Gonzalez
ASSCLOWN ALERT
Reopening Militias It’s reasonable for people to disagree about how to reopen the economy amid a deadly pandemic. Given the stakes for people’s individual health and incomes, it stands to reason some will exercise the right to protest enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. Still, it’s hard to imagine a more assclownish display of our country’s partisan dysfunction than the gangs of heavily armed enforcers popping up around Texas to force business reopenings to occur at their preferred pace, public health be damned. Media outlets have documented at least a half-dozen incidents around the state where militia-style protesters have “guarded” small business owners as they throw open their bars,
gyms and tattoo parlors in violation of state orders — and at the risk of spreading COVID-19 infections. Around the country, far-right anti-government protests have become synonymous with theatrical displays of firepower. Ask the participants, and they’ll tell you that’s because gun rights are tied up with every other individual liberty they’re fighting to protect. But that’s a smokescreen. Those individuals know what the rest of us do: a loaded weapon of war is a threat, a means to enforce your will when you’re not smart, articulate or brave enough to do so in the marketplace ideas. “People are nervous enough as it is, and then to see people walking around with AR-15s in public places, gathered together like that, is unnerving and upsetting,” Ed Scruggs, president of firearms control group Texas Gun Sense told the New York Times. “The entire goal is intimidation and attention.” — Sanford Nowlin
YOU SAID IT!
“We knew that we easily could do this, because instead of putting tchotchkes in a bag that is going to go to a conference attendee, this is the same exact thing except it’s just food going into a box.” — Gregorio Palomino,
Find more news coverage every day at sacurrent.com
CRE8AD8 owner explaining to the Express-News why his wedding planning company is qualified for the controversial $39.1 million federal contract it won to distribute food to needy families
Despite the State of Texas’ unwillingness to reveal the names of nursing homes with COVID-19 infections, San Antonio health officials last week announced they will release daily data on testing at individual local care facilities. At press time, Metro Health had recorded 66 new cases in local nursing homes and three deaths. Last week, the total number of cases across the state jumped to more than 3,000.
The San Antonio Regional Alliance for the Homeless this week released the results of a new data analysis showing a year-over-year rise in the city’s homeless population. The total of 2,932 homeless people surveyed in January represents a 2% increase over the count conducted a year ago. This year’s numbers also reflects a 7% increase in unsheltered homelessness.
San Antonio City Council last Thursday voted 6-5 to reject District 1 Councilman Roberto Treviño’s proposal to give tenants an extra 60 days to resolve overdue rent during the pandemic. That rejection came as the Texas Supreme Court ruled to end its moratorium on evictions and debt collections, clearing both to resume this week. Jade Esteban Estrada
All Quiet on the Southern Front There are few reported cases of COVID-19 in Texas’ colonias, but also few testing and hospital resources BY JAMES DOBBINS
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mid the pandemic, the Borderland is quiet. For now. Off the unpaved Military Highway just north of the Rio Grande River, I drove into a rural village called Los Ebanos in search of the novel coronavirus in the colonias. On that recent Sunday, none of the 300-odd residents were outside to ask questions about the outbreak sweeping the planet. Los Ebanos, however, was not silent. A federal helicopter hovered overhead deterring river crossers. Numerous Customs and Border Patrol vehicles drove in haste over the streets, officers going about their business of detaining foreigners. “I don’t know about the people here, but the virus reduced the smuggling,” an agent told me as we chatted a while from the safe distance of our vehicles as we parked next to a cemetery. We talked about the weather and our hometowns back east. After suggesting I contact public affairs for comment on the virus, the agent left. It seemed more powerful forces than a pandemic besieged Los Ebanos, one of the impoverished unincorporated settlements along the Mexican-American border. Here, the residents often lack functional services, such as sewer systems, trash removal and electricity. Some neighborhoods don’t have access to clean drinking water. In Texas, an estimated 500,000 people, mostly Hispanic, people live in colonias. Many do not have health insurance or money to buy primary preventative care. Before the current economic downturn, the median household income in the settlements was less than $30,000 a year. “Twenty-eight percent of our population has diabetes,” Dr. Brian Wickwire said of the individuals he treats at Nuestra Clinica de la Valle in the town of San Juan. The clinic, with its 11 locations, serves a population of 27,000 in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Most of the Wickwire’s patients live in colonias. “And of that population, 2,000 have some form of kidney disease,” he said. “The rates of pre-existing conditions are similar to inner-city New Orleans or Detroit.” COVID-19 is most fatal to patients with pre-existing conditions. And some many not even realize they have an underlying disease until its too late. LabCorp, a S&P 500 medical testing business, has supplied only 120 kits for Wickwire’s staff to use to detect COVID-19. The company replaces the used swabs one for one. Because Wickwire must ration the tests carefully, he worries the lab may be missing
James Dobbins
asymptomatic carriers. LabCorp did not respond to a request for comment. “We have been testing patients who are over 65 or less than 65 with medical conditions and symptoms,” he said. “This follows the CDC guidelines.” Wickwire and his staff have confirmed three COVID-19 cases at the San Juan clinic. None required hospitalization. To reduce the chance of community spread, he’s encouraged patients to avoid the clinic if possible. “Most of our patients do not have health insurance,” he said. “So, they would have to go through the ER and be treated as uninsured.” John-Michael Torres, a representative of La Unión del Pueblo Entro (LUPE), said his community organizing group has contacted more than 5,000 individuals living in colonias to learn what they need as they ride out the crisis. “Our members are not seeking a way to get tested,” Torres said. “This is a population that doesn’t have the same sense of agency to find out what is going on. If they find out they have a condition, they know they won’t have money to pay for healthcare. So, they don’t seek regular checkups.” Foremost, members of LUPE are concerned about their economic lives. Worry over an invisible virus isn’t as pressing a reality when one is already financially struggling — and now losing paid work under shutdown orders. Undocumented residents and their U.S.-born children have been left out of the mainstream economic system for so long, Torres said he’d be surprised if they expected help from the government.
“The colonias have such poor infrastructure,” he said. “There is limited, if any, access to the internet. People don’t have computers or upgraded mobile devices. The parents struggle to try to help their kids do [remote] schoolwork, and telemedicine doesn’t reach colonias.” While COVID-19 cases surge in other parts of the state, the emergency room at Starr County Memorial Hospital in Rio Grande City has seen few diagnoses, said Dr. Jose Vazquez, the hospital’s administrator. “We have been very fortunate,” he said. “We had only 14 COVID cases in our community. The last five were all members of the same family in the same household. Zero mortality.” The hospital has 48 staffed beds available, no ICU beds and eight ventilators to serve a population of 60,000 people. It’s easy to imagine a spike in severe COVID-19 cases overwhelming the facility’s meager resources. Even so, Vazquez brushed off skepticism, saying his hospital was well prepared. “We have activation agreements with hospitals in the Valley,” he said. “And if required, they take a lot of our patients. We transfer serious cases to McAllen, which is only 45 minutes away.” Yet burden-sharing agreements between hospitals don’t necessarily increase the capacity for the region as a whole. If the worse was to happen and Starr County became overwhelmed with novel coronavirus cases, could other Rio Grande Valley hospitals handle the overflow? The other emergency rooms contacted for this story didn’t return calls for comment. sacurrent.com | May 20 – June 2, 2020 | CURRENT
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news Obamacare Opponent John Cornyn Now Tells People Who Lost Health Coverage to Sign Up for the Program
EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK
You Supported the SA Current Press Club Because Free, Local Coverage Matters
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BY SANFORD NOWLIN Editor’s Note: The following is City Scrapes, a column of opinion and analysis
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aced with unprecedented economic challenges, the Current asked for your help. And, as San Antonians always do, you delivered. Six weeks ago, we launched the SA Current Press Club to encourage readers to financially support our mission of providing free, independent and locally focused news coverage. Since then, contributions have steadily rolled in, allowing us to rebuild our budget for freelance writers and rehire one of the full-time staffers we made the painful decision to furlough. Even while much of the city was in virtual lockdown, we continued to print and distribute our bi-weekly publication and post online updates almost hourly. We documented the monumental changes facing our community, providing updates on the spread of the coronavirus and gauging the response by local, state and national leaders. We also provided unflinching coverage of the crisis’ impact on the restaurants, bars, artists and musicians that make our city a unique place to live. Your contributions helped make that happen, and we cannot thank you enough for being a partner during this challenging time. It’s been encouraging to know so many in San Antonio share our view
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CURRENT | May 20 – June 2, 2020 | sacurrent.com
THE QUARANTINE ISSUE
How To Stay Safe, San e & Ent erta
ine d Wh ile San Antoni o She lter s
In Pla ce
Quarantine Cover
that independent local journalism is vital to building an equitable and forward-thinking community. And it’s clear many of you also understand why it’s important for our coverage to remain free and accessible by all. Clearly, you saw an investment in the Current’s work as an investment in our city, and that’s both humbling and encouraging. It’s one of the things that inspires us as we put in the long hours needed to keep the coverage flowing. Of course, more challenges lie ahead as the Alamo City figures out how to safely reopen. Those steps will determine how quickly advertisers begin spending again and when we return to producing events — the Current’s two biggest sources of income. In the meantime, we’ll continue to ask for your support to keep our reporting free, local and fiercely
independent. Expect to see more familiar members of the San Antonio community posting on our site to remind you why those remain essential goals. If you value our mission and haven’t already made a secure contribution, please consider visiting us online at sacurrent.com/SupportLocalJournalism to read more and learn about some of the perks we’re offering. If you’ve already made a contribution, we appreciate it and encourage you to consider doing so again if you have the means. Thanks again for the financial vote of confidence in our mission. It has meant everything to us, and we understand it comes at a time that’s difficult for so many — not just news organizations. We will come through the other side of this, and we’ll get there together.
en. John Cornyn, once called dubbed “Obamacare repeal’s top salesman” by Politico, dispensed some surprising advice to constituents this week. During a TV interview, the Texas Republican encouraged Americans who have lost health care coverage during the pandemic to sign up for the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare, a law he’s long fought to dismantle. “The good news is that if you lose your employer-provided coverage, which covers about 180 million Americans, then that is a significant life event, which makes you then eligible to sign up for the Affordable Care Act — and as you know, it has a sliding scale of subsidies up to 400 percent of poverty,” Cornyn told PBS Austin. In a press statement, the Texas Democratic Party pointed out that Cornyn has voted 20 times to block, repeal or defund the ACA. If the senator is sincere in telling people to sign up for the program, they add, he should come out in opposition to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s lawsuit before the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to overturn the law. “Cornyn can’t have it both ways,” said Abhi Rahman, spokesman for the Texas Dems. “The question now becomes, where does Cornyn stand on the Paxton lawsuit to repeal Affordable Care for Texans who have recently lost their job?” — Sanford Nowlin
Gage Skidmor
sacurrent.com | May 20 – June 2, 2020 | CURRENT
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news
Sanford Nowlin
Viral Voting
Why Texas is forcing residents to risk infection at the polls during the pandemic BY SANFORD NOWLIN
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he clock is running down for local and state leaders to ensure voters won’t be risking their lives this election season. Late last Friday, the Republican-controlled Texas Supreme Court handed state Attorney General Ken Paxton a victory when it temporarily blocked an expansion of voting by mail during the coronavirus pandemic. The high court is also expected to oral arguments Wednesday on whether to let stand a lower court ruling that permits voters who lack immunity to the coronavirus — and therefore face infection risks — to request absentee ballots instead of showing up at crowded polling places. Multiple federal lawsuits filed by the Texas Democratic Party and civil rights groups also take issue with the state’s absentee voting rules, which limit access to mail-in ballots to people with disabilities, those over 65 and those out traveling or in jail during an election. All that legal wrangling plays out with early voting for this summer’s runoff set to start on June 29 and as campaigns kick into high gear for the November general election — arguably the most consequential in a generation.
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“This is a paramount issue for us and for voters across the state,” said Drew Galloway, executive director of MOVE Texas, a nonpartisan group that works to register and mobilize young voters. “We need to know right now how to encourage people to cast their ballots in the upcoming elections.” Central to all of those court battles is whether the disability clause in Texas’ vote-by-mail rule applies to people who lack immunity to the coronavirus. Voting rights advocates argue that the risk of contracting COVID-19 qualifies people to request an absentee ballot so they can avoid exposure at the polls. However, Paxton holds that the existing law clearly doesn’t allow for such a reading. Earlier this month, the Republican AG fired off a letter threatening to prosecute election officials and other “third parties” who advise voters who ordinarily wouldn’t qualify for a mail-in ballot that they may submit one during the pandemic. Apparently unswayed by Paxton’s bluster, Bexar County commissioners last week voted unanimously last week to let residents who fear exposure to COVID-19 at poll sites cast mail-in ballots instead. District Attorney Joe Gonzales testified during the meeting that the state’s disability rules apply to peo-
If mail-in ballots aren’t expanded, experts worry fewer elections volunteers will be willing to work.
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ple at risk for contracting a potentially deadly disease by showing up at crowded polling places. “It’s very exasperating in the state of Texas when everything is done to suppress votes instead of to encourage them,” Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said prior to the vote. Paxton’s office was unavailable for comment on this piece, however in a news release issued after last week’s Texas Supreme Court ruling, he said he expects the justices to reverse the lower court ruling. “Protecting the integrity of elections is one of my most important and sacred obligations,” he added in the statement.
Legacy of Suppression It would be easier to give weight to Paxton’s claim if Texas’ record on elections was something to envy. But, according to scholars and voting-rights groups, it’s not. The spate of lawsuits over absentee voting are only the latest court challenges to Texas’ voting-rights record. Civil rights organizations have repeatedly taken the state to court for limiting residents’ access to the polls. Texas’ Republican leadership has repeatedly tried to justify those efforts by claiming it’s fighting election fraud — something that, for all its frequent mentions on Fox News, has is a rarity in the current era.
Last year, when announcing a badly botched purge of voter rolls, then-Texas Secretary of State David Whitley claimed more than 95,000 non-citizens may be erroneously registered to vote in the state. That number turned out to be false, as was the data on which Whitley based his purge. Nearly a quarter of the people his office singled out, including naturalized citizens, had been added in error. The mishandled review resulted in a probe by the U.S. House and a flurry of lawsuits from civil rights groups. Whitley resigned amid national disgrace. “We totally saw this coming,” Myrna Pérez, deputy director of the democracy program at NYU Law School’s Brennan Center for Justice, told the Current last year. “We have seen before these ridiculous, overthe-top claims of non-citizens on the rolls, and when the smoke clears and the dust settles, they always have to walk it back.” Despite the debacle, Whitley still has a job in the capitol. Days after losing his job as secretary of state, he was rehired into Gov. Greg Abbott’s office with a $205,000 salary. The reality, voting-rights advocates say, is that Abbott and others in the state’s Republican leadership aren’t so interested in fighting fraud as they are keeping potential Democratic voters — namely young people, poor people and people of color — away from the polls. One need only look at the 14 seats the GOP lost in the Texas Legislature during the 2018 midterms to see the motivation for trying to remedy state’s demographic shift. Or in the words of President Donald Trump, who has a way of articulating things about the Republican agenda that others in the party tended to keep silent, voting by mail “doesn’t work out well for Republicans.” Gina Ortiz Jones, the Democratic vying to represent Texas’ 23rd Congressional District, says she hears concerns almost daily from South Texas voters frightened about showing up at the polls. Many of them are elderly or have underlying health conditions, which puts them in a high-risk category if they contract COVID-19. Others have lost their medical coverage during the crisis, potentially leaving them to cover the cost of a hospital stay out of pocket. “The voters I talk to want certainty,” Jones said. “They want certainty that they can cast a ballot without compromising their own health or the health of a loved one.”
Kendall County closed 39% of its total. During Bexar County’s vote to expand access to absentee ballots, County Judge Wolff said interest in the November presidential election is likely to drive record turnout at the same time as elections volunteers, who tend to be elderly, are likely to stay home to protect their health. “We all know the average age of [an elections] judge is 72 years old ... a group that’s very, very susceptible to this,” Wolff said. Indeed, the infection risks are real, as evidenced by Wisconsin’s April 7 election. After the U.S. Supreme Court ordered voting there to take place amid a wave of COVID-19 infections, 71 people contracted the disease after casting ballots in person or working the polls, state officials said. A UW-Oshkosh and Ball State University study tracking mobile-device data found that counties with higher densities of in-person voting significantly higher rates of transmission than those with lower density. Closer to home, the resignation of Harris County’s top election official also highlighted the health threat. In a statement, 70-year-old County Clerk Diane Trautman said her age and underlying health issues didn’t allow her to continue serving during the pandemic. “I do not feel I can safely continue to carry out my duties,” she said in a statement.
Loss of Faith During the 2018 midterms, at least 278,000 Texans were affected by election-administration failures which sometimes invalidated their votes or prevented them from casting a ballot at all, according to a Texas Civil Rights Project study. Among the problems it documented were late poll openings, long lines, lack of polling places on college campuses, voting machine malfunctions, voter intimidation and noncompliance with federal voting laws.
Those failures highlight the need for Texas to get this year’s elections right and avoid further disenfranchising its electorate, critics say. Yet, for all his threats and court maneuvering, Paxton has so far failed to put forward any suggestion for how to protect voters during the COVID-19 crisis. The same can’t be said for the other side. Earlier this month, State Rep. Philip Cortez, D-San Antonio, delivered a letter signed by 40 other members of the Texas House, suggesting how the state could ensure Texans have the ability to participate in the election process during the pandemic. The letter urges Abbott to provide an application for mail-in ballots to every Texas voter, along with prepaid envelopes for both the application and the mail-in ballot they ultimately receive. The expansion could be funded, the letter points out, through a $24 million federal stabilization package recently given to the state. Without such an effort, Cortez said the state is essentially asking voters to choose between putting their lives at risk and staying home on election day. “That’s not a fair choice,” said the state rep, who’s still awaiting a reply from the governor’s office. “That’s not something we should force Texans to decide between.” Now, as we speed toward the July runoff and November general election, observers worry that Texans will be forced to make precisely the choice Cortez laid out. If that’s the case, the state will further undermine faith in its own election system, essentially telling voters neither their votes nor their lives matter. “If you have to disenfranchise voters in order to pass your policies, then those weren’t good policies in the first place,” said MOVE Texas’ Galloway.
Texas AG Ken Paxton has threatened to prosecute elections officials who offer mail-in ballots to people fearful of COVID-19.
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Fewer Polls, Longer Lines Those concerns come as Texans face potentially long lines at polling places. A study by the Leadership Conference Education Fund revealed that Texas has led the nation in shutting down polling sites since 2013. The state’s 750 closures accounted for nearly half of the total U.S. number. What’s more, 14 Texas counties have removed 50% or more of their polling locations since then. While there was no decrease in Bexar County during the period covered in LCEF’s report, Medina County shuttered 46% of its total polling places, and
Courtesy Photo / Ken Paxton
sacurrent.com | May 20 – June 2, 2020 | CURRENT
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Tied in Knots
Wedding planners are hurting as couples turn to mini-ceremonies to follow social distance rules BY NINA RANGEL
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ith large gatherings up in the air for the foreseeable future, wedding industry professionals say they’re seeing more couples downsize to avoid postponing their special day. Those smaller gatherings — called “minimonies” — are helping couples salvage their wedding plans by bringing together 10 or fewer guests in a way that follows social distance guidelines. But San Antonio’s wedding industry vendors say they’re feeling the financial impact. “I’ve stayed afloat somehow,” said San Antonio floral designer Erin Rose. “I’ve had a few weddings that have just had to happen, funerals. The weddings I have booked over the next few weeks are going to be just the bride, groom and their minister.” That’s a big change, considering the average wedding size in the Alamo City tended to average around 120 people before the pandemic. Spring is the most popular season for weddings in Texas, and COVID-19 has ripped the proverbial rug out from under both couples and the vendors who help them pull off the ceremonies. “This is typically when I build my nest egg for the summer,” Rose said. “Before it gets too hot for people to get married.” During her 25 years in the business, Tara LaMontia — owner of Flour and Bloom Events, an event planning service in the Texas Hill Country — has never seen anything like the current slump. “Like any business, there’s always an ebb and flow, but this has been devastating,” she said. “Not only financially, but emotionally.” Ten couples LaMontia was working with have canceled or rescheduled ceremonies in the past two months. That’s created a ripple effect. Florists, waitstaff, bartenders, caterers, dry cleaners, musicians, photographers and venue maintenance staff are also affected by each cancellation. “People don’t understand how far-reaching it is when they have to cancel,” LaMontia says. “To have to keep telling other vendors, ‘You know, I’m sorry, it’s
Shutterstock
just not happening,’ is emotionally draining.” In interviews with five wedding professionals, the consensus was that the social distancing policies will lead engaged couples to consider smaller weddings instead of the pricy soirees that grew in popularity over the past few years. And they don’t expect that to change for the foreseeable future. “The average wedding is $30,000,” LaMontia said. “People are realizing that that amount could be a sizable downpayment on a nice home.” As with most industries affected by the pandemic,
wedding pros are unsure of what the new normal will look like. However, those who survived previous downturns say humans still crave the comfort of gathering together. “After 9/11, weddings were still happening,” LaMontia said. “It was one of the most horrible things to have ever happened to the United States, but we were still able to get together and hug each other. Weddings are such a celebration of love, and when that’s taken away from us, we realize just how much we need it.”
LUMINARIA ARTIST FOUNDATION OPENS SECOND ROUND OF EMERGENCY RELIEF GRANTS On the heels of a May 9 telethon fundraiser to support local creators, the Luminaria Artist Foundation has opened up a second round of Corona Arts Relief Grants. After applications flooded in for the first round of the emergency grants in April, the organization had to close its submission window early. Now, local artists have another chance to apply for up to $600 in emergency funding, which is intended to make up for lost revenue during the pandemic and to provide opportunities for professional development. Interested parties have until 5 p.m. on May 21 to submit applications at luminariasa.org/for-artists/#grants. — Kelly Merka Nelson Courtesy Photo / Luminaria
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CURRENT | May 20 – June 2, 2020 | sacurrent.com
arts
Virtual Speed Dating Service Aims to Let San Antonians Connect During Social Distancing BY STEVE HARGIS
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ating’s gotten more difficult in a socially distant world. Sure, restaurants — one of the most common locations for first dates — have reopened, but there are still be a capacity limits, and many people still don’t feel safe venturing out. One local speed-dating service sees that as opportunity and is offering folks a way to mingle in a safe environment: on the web. Speed San Antonio Dating is taking the traditional quick meet-and-greet model many are familiar with from movies and TV and taking it online. It hosts a series of online dating nights for people ages 25-39. The Virtual Speed Dating Events require a mobile phone, a tablet or computer with camera and microphone. After checking in, attendees wait in a virtual lobby as the other online daters arrive. A host will pair them off in private rooms to get to know each other. After each seven- to eight-minute date, users will be rotated into a different room to meet
a new person. Throughout the night, daters make notes about whom they wish to see again, and send those choices to the host. If their selections reciprocate, a match notification will go out via e-mail later the same evening. Speed dating has come a long way since the late 1990s. Even so, studies suggest it’s got an imperfect record in building love connections. One study conducted by a pair of UK universities discovered that for every selection a woman makes, there’s roughly a 50% chance the man will see her again while for men there’s only a one-in-five chance that the woman will want to reunite.
Twitter : Skype
However, the pandemic has forced people to get creative with things that would normally require meeting in public places, whether for work, school or, yes, dating. The San Antonio Virtual Speed Dating event series will run through May 28. Information on reservations, available dates, times and pricing is available online.
New Podcast Explores the Conviction of Woody Harrelson’s Father for Killing a San Antonio Judge A
new true-crime podcast with both San Antonio and Hollywood connections has splashed onto the scene. Early this month, Spotify debuted Son of a Hitman, which delves into the story of Charles Harrelson, who was served a life term for the 1979 murder of U.S. District Judge John H. Wood Jr. in San Antonio. Notably, Charles Harrelson is also the father of actor Woody Harrelson, whose debut on the beloved TV series Cheers came two years after the elder Harrelson was sentenced for Wood’s murder. Hosted by journalist Jason Cavanagh, the 10-part series debuted its first two episodes on May 5, with additional episodes drop-
Houston Police Department
ping each Tuesday. The episodes feature new interviews with Harrelson family members, including Woody’s brothers Brett and Jordan. According to Entertainment Weekly, Woody Harrelson didn’t participate in the making of the podcast. Even so, Cavanagh was able to interview many others who crossed paths with the gambler and convicted killer, including “an FBI agent assigned to
A still from an interview of Charles Harrelson.
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the assassination case and a nephew of the drug kingpin who allegedly masterminded Wood’s slaying.” The podcast is available to stream on Spotify. — Kelly Merka Nelson
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8 film-themed podcasts from Texas to check out if you’re out of eye space BY KIKO MARTINEZ
I
screens
Listen Up, Movie Buffs
f you’re a film buff but need a break from streaming all those movies and TV shows during quarantine, here’s an idea: try downloading a movie podcast. Same goes if you’re looking for more cinematic insight but just aren’t ready to go back to the theater yet. Plenty of Texans are putting together movie podcasts right now, giving us a wealth to choose from across the vast landscape of digital platforms. We’ve made things easy and compiled a list of some of great ones to start with.
announced they won’t return with a new episode until pandemic restrictions eased up and they could get back in their studio. So, for now, push pause on these padawans.
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The Contrarians
How Have You Not Seen This?
It probably wasn’t as scary as the experience they had a few weeks later when they reviewed Cats.
Hosts Julio Olivera and Alex Mattis have some unpopular opinions. Which is exactly why they’re worth listening to. Currently on its 108th episode, their Austin-based podcast takes pride in “trashing movies everyone loves and praising movies everyone hates.” In recent episodes, award-worthy films such as Boyhood and Blue Velvet are put through the ringer, while a critical bomb like The Hangover III is celebrated. Olivera and Mattis just started their series “Summer of Winona [Ryder],” so listen in if you want to hear why they think Beetlejuice doesn’t star the ghost with the most.
DelfinPod
Fans of mainstream and blockbuster fare might want to tune in to the three different active podcasts under the San Antonio-based DefinPod network created by Emmanuel Delfin. On the most prolific of those, Revenge of the Sequel — now on its 124th episode — Delfin and crew chat about movies including Zombieland 2: Double Tap and Scream 4. Then there’s Countdown to Infinity and Countdown to Skywalker where the topics of discussion are movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the entire Star Wars catalog, including that Baby Yoda show nerds seem to like.
Get Your Geek On
The San Antonio-based podcast Talkin’ Geek produced by Get Your Geek On, isn’t exclusively about movies, but the team of podcasters cover plenty of fanboy cinema, including Star Wars and Marvel properties, in addition to comic book and video game news. Recently, host Robert Haley said the group wants to take the podcast in a new direction and
Laura Bustos
From their living room in Houston, husband and wife Daniel and Tracy Carlson introduce each other to movies that one of them has seen and can’t believe the other hasn’t. The podcast has been going strong since late last year, and the couple has so far screened anything from Rosemary’s Baby to Four Weddings and a Funeral. During their most recent episode, Tracy shares 1983’s Valley Girl with her hubby, who enjoyed the rom-com’s poppy soundtrack and time-travel aspect, even if he found the screenplay far from tripendicular.
Mad About Movies
Now in its seventh year, this Dallas-based podcast is hosted by Emmy-winning producer Kent Garrison, film critic Brian Gill and humorist Richard Bardon. Recently, the trio has been on a bad-movie binge, devoting an episode to the Will Smith debacle After Earth and a conversation about 1995’s Theodore Rex, which the podcast calls “the Casablanca of family-focused, science-fiction, talking-dino movies set in the future that also star Whoopi Goldberg.” There has to be an Oscar for something like that, right?
Videodrome Cinema
Fairly new to the podcast game, this San Antonio-based show includes movie reviews, discussions and retrospectives from hosts Chris Lowell, Lionel Mendez and Nicholas Bass. Episodes cover a wide range of film topics — from 1992’s Belgian black comedy Man Bites Dog to a couple of shows dedicated to the hosts’ favorite movie villains. Earlier this year, Videodrome Cinema went full meta when they reviewed their namesake, David Cronenberg’s 1983 cult classic Videodrome.
Members of the San Antonio-based CineSnob podcast record an episode.
Why Was This EVER Cool?
Hosts Cody Green and Shayla Williams are here to destroy your childhood. The Houston-based podcast, which just hit its 100-episode milestone in March, features a conversation about a movie the duo liked when they were kids. Green and Williams rewatch the film, usually from the ’80s or ’90s, then ponder their podcast’s title question. In a recent episode, they revisit director Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 Romeo + Juliet and brand it a “disasterpiece.”
CineSnob
Podcasters and film critics Cody Villafana and Jerrod Kingery at San Antonio-based CineSnob.net run the weekly CineSnob Podcast, now on its 163rd episode of reviewing recent theatrical and VOD releases. The pair’s other podcasts include Re: MCU, in which they rewatch and reevaluate Marvel movies, and Quaranstream, during which guests such as actor Greg Sestero (The Room) talking about the pandemic’s impact on the entertainment industry. The show ends with everyone trading streaming recommendations for those lonely quarantine nights. Full disclosure: This writer is the founder and editor of CineSnob.net. Other notable Texas movie podcasts include After the Credits, Customers Also Watched, Double Toasted, Highly Suspect Reviews and Junkfood Cinema, all from Austin. Houston also boasts GUTS, Texas Podcast Massacre and Houston, We Have a Podcast, while Dallas represents with Reel Me In.
Find more film stories at sacurrent.com
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CURRENT | May 20 – June 2, 2020 | sacurrent.com
food
Slow Start
San Antonio restaurants are reopening their dining rooms. Without financial help, how many can survive? BY LEA THOMPSON
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fter weeks of inactivity, the familiar sounds of servers refilling water glasses and flatware clanking against plates are returning to the dining rooms of San Antonio restaurants. On May 1, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott allowed eateries statewide to reopen their dining areas at 25% capacity, but restaurant owners and their employees are facing a struggle to survive, much less return to normal. “We reopened now so we could stay in the game,” said Jean Francois Poujol, owner of SoHill Café in Beacon Hill. “If we closed everything and waited any longer, it would be even harder to restart. We’re just months into 2020, but it’s going to take at least a year for us to recover from all of this.” Poujol recently reopened the Italian restaurant, permitting dining at five indoor tables. In keeping with state safety guidelines, he replaced laminated menus with disposable ones, added hand-sanitizer stations and implemented social distancing practices, such as spacing tables six feet apart. Even after those moves, the bulk of SoHill’s business still comes from curbside, delivery and to-go orders. What’s more, the Italian eatery’s connected sister restaurant Julia’s Bistro remains closed. “Following the regulations is easy. The hardest part is not knowing what happens next, not knowing how to welcome customers back,” Poujol said. “Some people are so scared to venture outside, which I understand. Others are excited, but it’s hard to tell and hard to make people feel really welcome with a mask on.” When the stay-at-home order was announced in March, many local eateries simply shut down. Others pivoted to new business models, transforming into makeshift mercados or launching delivery and curbside services. But every facet of industry felt the economic pinch from COVID-19, even the city’s most established restaurant groups. Los Barrios Enterprises, which operates busy San Antonio dining establishment, had to layoff 200 employees. Los Barrios has received a Paycheck Protection Program loan, struck a deal to produce ready-to-eat meals for H-E-B grocery stores and hired back nearly 100 employees. Even so, CEO Louis Barrios said he’s worried about the future.
Sanford Nowlin
“If we can’t get our [trained] employees back, we’re not going to be able to serve the customers in a timely manner. If employees wait until their unemployment runs out to come back to work, then they might not have a restaurant to come back to,” he said. “There will be restaurants that go broke. Are the 200 we hire going to be our previous employees or someone who was smart and came back when the restaurants started to pick up? That’s where all the tension lies at this point.” Local chefs and owners are looking to local, state and federal officials for help that extends beyond new safety regulations and PPP funds. Chef Lisa Astorga-Watel, who recently reopened Bistr09 in Alamo Heights for limited indoor and patio dining, worries that restaurants are facing a long and lonely road to economic recovery. “There may need to be more financial support packages, as the PPP just passes on funds to workers and landlords but doesn’t do anything for the overhead of a small business by itself,” she said. “There’s nothing really available to those employees who don’t qualify for unemployment. All we can do is feed them.” The Bistr09 staff is doing what it can to move forward, focusing on ambiance, safety and hospitality to maintain patrons’ dining experiences. But employees are working under a cloud of uncertainty. Will more people begin to show up for dinner? When will residents feel safe returning to dining rooms?
Jean Francois Poujol says it will take at least a year for his restaurant to recover from the crisis.
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“It won’t matter if they increase the restaurant capacity to 50% if no one shows up,” Astorga-Watel said. San Antonio’s COVID-19 Economic Transition Team recently shared its recommendations for safe business reopenings. Those include new marketing plans, a proposal for the city and county to help provide protective equipment for small businesses and the new “Greater. SAfer. Together.” campaign to inspire public confidence. Still, many San Antonio restaurateurs caution that it’s not enough. The industry has long operated on razor-thin margins, and COVID-19 has exposed its unsustainability. Owners are now looking to San Antonio officials for additional financial relief options, business support and leadership. “I would like to hear more from the city – not just what to do for now, but like a plan for businesses to get out of this,” SoHill’s Pujol said. “We’re all losing money, and businesses are going bankrupt. No one is getting out of this unscathed. What can we do to make sure that our businesses can survive? Time is an issue here. I still haven’t received my disaster loan. At first, they said it would arrive in a few days, now it’s been weeks. Every day makes a difference.”
Find more food & drink news at sacurrent.com
food The Take Away: Braunda Smith Lucy Cooper’s Texas Icehouse owner’s approach is ‘weird but it works’ BY NINA RANGEL Name: Braunda Smith Job/Title: Executive chef and owner of Lucy Cooper’s Texas Icehouse Birthplace: Alabama Years in Bar Industry: “A lady never tells.” Impact: Brought funky, laid-back charm to the Northside Money quote: “When people think of Chef Lucy, I want them to think funky Southern and goddamn delicious.” Tell us about your background, and how you got where you are today. I guess I have quite the story to tell. I started my path in cosmetology, then went on to the medical field, eventually taking a break to be a military wife and travel the world, raising my babies. Cooking was always a passion, and then I learned that I could make money selling cheesecakes and catering small events for military spouses — and that was all it took for me to follow the food to the money. About 15 years ago, I got back in the service industry, working, learning and absorbing every single aspect if how this business runs. I like to call that time “Bar University.” From a smidge and pinch of all of my experience, Lucy Cooper was born. How are you coping with the effects of the shutdown on your business? Tequila? Honestly, I have been taking this time to reconnect with my kids and getting my home in order. My husband and I are complete workaholics, typically working seven days a week, 12-plus hours a day for years. I have been cooking with my girls and teaching them so many of my secret recipes. We finally finished unpacking our home after four years, and I think Jesse and I are on quarantine project No. 15, doing little things around the house. I made the mistake of bringing the label maker home, so my whole house is labeled and organized. I think we have kept too busy at home to really fall into what could be a very dark place of worrying about the things we have zero control over, like the possibility of our business being shut down and no real clear idea of reopening. What do you wish more people understood about your approach to food and drink? My approach to food is pretty unique. I have this saying, “It’s weird, but it works!” I think my time in so many different places, learning the culture and foods 18
CURRENT | May 20 – June 2, 2020 | sacurrent.com
Braunda Smith
of different regions, gives me a unique perspective on combinations that one might not think of ever putting together. Also, if you have ever had a conversation with me you know how Southern I am. There’s no getting away from that. When people think of Chef Lucy, I want them to think funky Southern and goddamn delicious. What’s your favorite thing about being in the hospitality business? I love feeding people! I love the warm fuzzies that I get when I have poured my heart and soul into a dish and I can see a guest and know that I have made their tummy smile. I love going out [to the dining room] and talking to the guests. Everyone has a story, and when they share their story with you over your food, nothing compares to that feeling. What made you decide to limit accessibility to Lucy Cooper’s to guests who are 21 and up? Jesse and I have six kids, so we know how precious those moments of adult time can be. There are so many places out there that have blurred the line between bar and restaurant. Our goal was to make
Lucy’s the place to go feed your soul with some great food, and you could feel free to just be an adult without the kiddos around. Do you have any words of wisdom for people thinking about going into business with their significant other? Jesse and I have literally been connected at the hip from the moment we met. We have tried to go into other fields of work, away from each other, but somehow those separate projects always managed to bring us back together. We are the exception to the rule — together 24 hours a day and happy as clams. We are definitely better together. What’s next for you? I think we will spend the foreseeable future just trying to navigate these uncharted waters as we deal with our new normal. My wish is that we all just find a way to be kind to each other as we do that. None of us are going to know the 100% right things to do, and if anything is true about the restaurant business, it’s that no matter what we do, it will be wrong in someone’s eye. I think what’s next for me is to continue to move forward with the growth of Lucy’s and just being me.
food La Hora Del Vermut It’s time for Texas to embrace Spain’s vermouth happy hours BY RON BECHTOL
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or all of Spain’s manifest contributions to the world’s cultural catalog — think Cervantes, Goya and Gaudí, for example — food and drink are strangely under-represented. Oh, yes, there’s gazpacho, the occasional paella, and who can forget the recent craze in which anything served in small portions qualified as a “tapa.” But let’s face it, Spain: in American minds, you’re no Italy. That oversight is a shame, though, because there are so many ways we could be inspired by the country’s rich culinary history. No, I’m not going to toot the sherry trumpet one more time. Its virtues are many and varied, and the drink deserves a much wider audience. But the stuff’s a hard sell hereabouts. I am, however, going to take a stab at vermouth, a beverage that seems uniquely suited to Texas. For the record, vermouth is a wine minimally fortified with brandy or a neutral spirit and bolstered with flavorings derived from roots, barks and other botanicals, one of which was traditionally vermut, (wormwood), as the Germans would have it. Sweet, red vermouths are generally thought to have originated in Italy, while France claims the white, and usually drier, version. It’s the red that the Spanish have generally embraced, turning it into a tradition that celebrates its versatility in La Hora del Vermut: The Hour of Vermouth. As initially celebrated in fusty bodegas in Barcelona and Madrid, and more lately during a kind of renaissance replacing the gin-tonic craze in so-called vermuterias across the country, vermouth hours take place as a warmup to lunch. As lunchtime traditionally doesn’t start before 2 p.m., that means you could begin at around noon with a tall tumbler of vermouth poured over ice, garnished with olives and orange wheels, and served with, say, potato chips and briny bits of seafood. You’ve got to love a culture that has you prepare the palate for lunch with drink and light snacks and again for dinner with more drink and tapas. We could be doing this here, folks, though I’ll be the first to admit that before dinner is likely easier to imagine than pre-lunch, given our eat-and-run tendencies. So, what do you say to joining me at 5 p.m. for La Hora Texana del Vermut? Call it a happy hour with a Spanish accent, if that helps. In Spain, we’d be drinking Spanish red vermouth, and I happen to have three on hand: Vermu Lustau and Vermouth La Copa González Byass, both from sherry country, and Vino Vermut Lacuesta Rojo from Haro at the northern tip of the Rioja wine region near Bilbao. The latter is the lighter of the trio but it’s no less complex. Neither sweet nor dry, it’s said to be com-
Ron Bechtol
posed of “almost 30 different herbs, spices and aromatic plants … macerated in white wine.” Cinnamon and gentian notes stand out to me, along with a whiff of coffee. The light bitterness on the finish makes it especially refreshing over ice with orange and a spear of rosemary. An optional splash of Topo Chico brings it all into the New World. Of course, we aren’t actually drinking in Spain, so there’s no rule that says we have to down locally produced vermouth. Italy boasts numerous versions, so let’s go there. Many of you may already know the widely available Martini & Rossi, a classic component of cocktails such as the Manhattan. The craft cocktail movement in the U.S. has also brought the deeper and richer Carpano Antica Formula to our attention.
That one is my favorite in a Negroni. Not as old as Carpano, which dates back to 1786, but still venerable at nearly 130 years is Cocchi Vermouth di Torino. Cocchi’s back label boasts “rich and vibrant notes of cocoa, citrus, rhubarb and a balanced bitter undertone.” I got the cocoa and a whiff of rhubarb, but I was more tuned into what I will call cola notes — and these suggested a different kind of garnish. Inspired by Cherry Coke — or a Manhattan without the bourbon or rye — I squeezed a quarter of a lemon over the ice, added the Cocchi, then threaded some Luxardo cocktail cherries on a bamboo skewer and dipped it down into the glass. More Topo followed. Worked for me. Que viva la España! sacurrent.com | May 20 – June 2, 2020 | CURRENT
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music
Still Spinning
San Antonio record stores strive to stay afloat during the COVID-19 crisis BY C. MASON
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efore the COVID-19 epidemic, sales of vinyl records were booming — higher than they’d been at any point since their heyday. But due to the recent lockdown, record store regulars are unable to get their physical media fix. The lockdown has also meant depleted inventory and slumping sales for San Antonio’s record stores, making them among the small businesses most affected by the crisis. While restaurants and other businesses pivoted to delivery and curbside pickup, the transition to a no-contact experience proved a deeper challenge for music retailers. The shops rely on foot traffic for the majority of their sales. They’ve had to scramble to keep paying the bills and supplying tunes to their customers. Some shops, such as Southtown Vinyl, have moved entirely to online sales to keep their employees and customers safe. “In lieu of in-store sales, I’ve been focusing on online sales through the shop website at www.southtownvinyl.com. I decided to offer everything my distributors carry on the site,” said Southtown Vinyl co-owner Tommy Newman. “So, there’s a vast inventory available on the site, along with featured records and preorders. We’ve seen great numbers online so far, especially with preorders.” Newman says the online orders aren’t fully supplementing the in-store losses, but he’s hopeful. “I’ve also been personally hand-delivering and shipping orders to some of our dedicated regulars,” he added.
Turning the Tables Beyond figuring out how to get products to customers, local shops say they’re also figuring out how to deal with inventory issues. Used records make up a significant part of most small music retailer’s revenue, and social distancing has shaken up that market significantly. “We can’t do buys right now,” said Don Hurd, co-owner of Imagine Books and Records. “We did order some new records recently and those sold really fast. … Our own stock is getting lower and lower, because we can’t go out to people’s homes to do buys or have them come in to bring us stuff.” Imagine may not be able to restock its inventory of used records for the time being. However, the store’s been making the best of its situation by creating genre-based mystery packs of its LPs and books.
Shutterstock
“People are gonna call and say, ‘Hey, do you have Led Zeppelin IV,’ and we’re like, ‘Well, no… we can put together a hard rock mystery pack for you,’” Hurd explains, “and people are really excited about that.” Zeke Baker, co-owner of Crazy Rhythms, said keeping his year-old store afloat has meant focusing on an adjacent but different business — selling vintage collectibles on eBay. While he and his brother and business partner Zach, have no desire to evolve into a vintage shop, he said the economic downtime made a good time to sell off the collectibles they have amassed so they can support the vinyl shop.
The Next Track For many music lovers, the weekly excursion to a favorite record store was as much a part of their pre-COVID routine as a trip to the grocery store. The experience offers escapism,
conversation and, of course, good music. Both customers and the shop owners say they miss the interaction that’s at the heart of the experience. Supplementing their business with online sales and curbside pickups may not fully scratch the itch, but they certainly keep stores solvent and fans flush with new vinyl. The bottom line, record retailer say, is that their survival depends on music enthusiasts continuing to buy. Give the stores a call, check out their websites and tag them in social media posts. By doing so, customers can help ensure these businesses are still there to visit and provide the community with great music once the economy stabilizes. San Antonio’s record retailers say they cannot simply wait until things “go back to normal” and customers can sift through the stacks of records just like old times. Community helped these small businesses thrive, and that’s will keep them alive.
Find more music coverage every day at sacurrent.com
music
Americana Artist Wade Bowen Hosts Quaranstream Concert Series on Friday Nights
When the Music’s Over Without federal help, San Antonio music venues are dying. Here’s how you can help.
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BY SANFORD NOWLIN
U
nable to stage shows due to the pandemic, independent music venues are suffocating right now. And they’re calling on music fans to help them breathe again. The newly formed National Independent Venue Association — a coalition of 1,300 independent venues, including a dozen in San Antonio — is seeking federal help such as tax relief and grants to weather the crisis. But to make its case to Congress, the group needs those who enjoy live music to fill out an online letter at nivassoc.org to explain just what’s at stake. NIVA estimates that 90% of its members don’t have enough cash to last more than six months without government help, according to a recent Rolling Stone story. More than half say they don’t expect to last more than three months. And, yes, that latter group likely includes some of the venues where you regularly catch your favorite bands. “We gather people who have a love of music and want to pay for it. That’s all we do,” NIVA Board President Dayna Frank, who also runs Minneapolis’s First Avenue Productions, told Rolling Stone. “And we don’t have any business right now, only the expenses.” NIVA has been lobbying lawmakers to explain the economic and cultural importance of locally owned venues, from neighborhood bars to thousand-seat theaters. Its online letter campaign generated 200,000 messages during its first 24 hours, and the group is also asking fans to spread the word using the #SaveOurStages hashtag. In San Antonio, venues ranging from Paper Tiger and Faust to Lonesome Rose and Floore’s Country Store have thrown in to help with the lobbying effort, local promoter and Saustex Records owner Jeff Smith said. While
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CURRENT | May 20 – June 2, 2020 | sacurrent.com
Oscar Moreno
giant Live Nation is likely to survive the shutdown, he worries an entire strata of performance spaces is about to dry up. Indie venues operate on razor-thin profit margins, providing stages for everyone from local bands to longtime touring acts to reach an audience and maybe, just maybe, scratch out a living. Faced with bankruptcy and lost leases, many owners will face little choice but walk away, Smith added. “These venues not going to reappear as easily as they disappear,” he said.
“Without some kind of help, we’re probably talking about 80% of venues going away.” Blayne Tucker, owner of San Antonio’s The Mix and head of NIVA’s Texas lobbying efforts, said saving music venues also benefits the local economy. According to NIVA data, those businesses account for $41 million in direct economic impact in San Antonio and employ roughly 1,000 people. “Beyond the cultural and entertainment aspect, jobs are at stake,” Tucker said. “An industry’s at stake.”
he Americana music scene is deeply embedded in the Texas Hill Country. Some of the folk-inspired genre’s best-known performers not only write and gig in the Austin and San Antonio areas, they also live and raise families here. One such artist Wade Bowen. Born and raised a Texas boy, Bowen calls New Braunfels home. Even though the coronavirus put a wrench in touring to promote his latest album, Hold My Beer — recorded with fellow Americana favorite and New Braunfels resident Randy Rogers — Bowen hasn’t stopped performing live. To that end, Bowen converted his garage into a honky-tonk mancave to host live shows on Wade’s World Quaranstream. On Friday nights, Bowen sits a fair distance from another Americana artist, and the two take turns singing their own songs. They also take breaks to answer viewers questions or pause for “virtual shots” with those streaming on Facebook Live. Bowen has featured guests including Stoney LaRue, Sean McConnell, Jack Ingram and Cody Canada. The live stream kicks off at 8 p.m. every Friday, and it’s not unusual for the acoustic song-swap to last until nearly midnight. A “Shiner City Limits” sign hangs on the wall behind Bowen’s home bar, providing an appropriately Texan background set for the series. Shiner Bock Beer sponsors the event, and proceeds from the “virtual tip jar” benefit MusiCares Foundation, a nonprofit that helps struggling musicians make ends meet. Wade’s World Quaranstream averages about 3,000 streamers each live show, with Bowen dropping his phone number on social media for viewers to message song requests and questions for the artists to answer. While the online jam session may not be quite the same as seeing a show unfold in a barroom with a cold one in hand, it’s pretty damn close. — Katie Hennessey
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