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3 weeks ago | 
dmagazine.com | Bill Baird
ichael Martin Murphey is a tough guy to track down. Every time we’re scheduled to talk, he’s off on another eight-hour drive between tour stops, another epic journey, another thematic stage extravaganza. Not bad for an 80-year-old. Gold records and cascades of accolades, too many to list, haven’t slowed down this country music icon. When I finally get him on the phone, two hours pass in a blink. Hard to get on the phone, even harder to get off. That’s not a bad thing, though.
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1 month ago | 
dmagazine.com | Bill Baird
Sometime last year, I attended a book launch at Texas State University’s The Wittliff Collections. The Wittliff holds a trove of mind-blowing artifacts: Cormac McCarthy’s handwritten drafts, Willie Nelson’s song scribbles, John Graves’ oar from Goodbye to a River. From its seventh-floor perch of the Albert B. Alkek Library, overlooking the rolling green of San Marcos, The Wittliff feels above the fray, cloistered from contemporary concern.
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2 months ago | 
sacurrent.com | Bill Baird
Shannon and the Clams filter the classic energy of early rock ’n’ roll through a twisted modern sensibility. Consider it Buddy Holly and the Ronettes but updated for 21st century weirdos. Or, perhaps, a musical version of a John Waters film. Frontwoman Shannon Shaw is a renowned figure in the underground music scene for her fearless performances. She pretty much owns any room.
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2 months ago | 
sacurrent.com | Bill Baird
After years spent in various formations, San Antonio dream-pop trio Elnuh — consisting of singer-guitarist-songwriter Elena Lopez, drummer Daniel Puente and bassist Luke Mitchell — has broken through with a new LP,
Entropy, which drops at the end of March. The album is a stunning slow burn of entrancing dynamics: thrashed sonics and hushed atmospherics, pummeling rhythms and floating tones.
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Oct 1, 2024 | 
sacurrent.com | Sanford Nowlin |Bill Baird
Country music icon Kris Kristofferson, who died Saturday at 88, has a surprising San Antonio connection: the cult 1972 film Cisco Pike. The movie — which features Brownsville-born Kristofferson's first-ever starring role — was made in the wake of the 1969 counterculture classic Easy Rider. Both movies stemmed from Hollywood's eagerness to capture the burgeoning hippie culture and tap into a new youth market.
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Sep 26, 2024 | 
sacurrent.com | Bill Baird
For more than five decades, Sam Kindrick carved a niche as San Antonio’s resident gonzo journalist, documenting the area’s outcasts, dreamers, oddballs, pimps, prostitutes, druggies — and its musicians. As a close friend to legendary performers such as Augie Meyers, Willie Nelson, Jerry Jeff Walker, Leon Russell, David Alan Coe and countless others, Kindrick documented the rise of “outlaw country,” the movement that crossed the paths of shit-kicking rednecks and pot-smoking hippies.
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Jun 29, 2024 | 
sacurrent.com | Bill Baird
Taylor Swift has taken over the world, and San Antonio is certainly no exception. At some point, why fight it? It’s much more fun to join in and sing along. After all, Swift’s tunes are uplifting, and her fandom’s sense of community is righteous. More than anything, though, it’s a testament to the power of music that so many people are so moved by what she creates. To that end, the Tobin Center is hosting an event this Sunday called the Taylor Swift Singalong.
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May 29, 2024 | 
sacurrent.com | Bill Baird
Let’s call it an educational experience worth wagging a tail about. The DoSeum, San Antonio’s interactive children’s science museum, is presenting “Dogs! A Science Tail” from June 1 through Sept. 2, a special exhibit devoted to our canine friends. Expect a wealth of interactive science and fun, according to museum officials. And, yes, a few dog puns along the way. “This is exhibit is escaping off the leash!” Meredith Doby, the DoSeum’s chief creative director, said with a laugh.
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May 17, 2024 | 
sacurrent.com | Bill Baird
San Antonio transplant Bill Malone is not only the world’s leading scholar of country music, he was among its first. “In academia, when I started, country music was outside the pale,” said Malone, who relocated to the Alamo City in 2020. “Not something you could work on or take seriously. Nothing of a serious scholarly nature.”That’s changed, however, no small thanks to Malone himself.
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Apr 16, 2024 | 
sacurrent.com | Bill Baird
Sugar Candy Mountain, one of California's premier purveyors of sun-kissed psychedelic pop, will kick off a mini-Texas tour with a Thursday performance at San Antonio's Tandem Coffee. Sugar Candy Mountain singer Ash Reiter's ethereal vocals and jazzy feel are an homage to the Brazilian tropicalia movement and feel as breezy and chill as a West Coast sunset. The band's approach isn't all easy listening, however.
