May 1997 Archives

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On the Cover

Smokin’!

Don’t miss your ’cue: We pick the top joints in Texas for brisket, ribs, sausage, and all the sides. Plus, the godfather of barbacoa, the biggest free feast in the state, and more.

By Texas Monthly

Features

Film & TV

Bill, Due

After more than two decades in the movie business—including star turns in Apollo 13, Twister, and now his own Traveller—Fort Worth’s Bill Paxton is finally getting what’s coming to him.

By Joe Nick Patoski

Music

Steve Brodner’s Sketchbook (1)

“And don’t forget to come back next week for the Greensheet Awards. Everybody in Austin can win something if you just stick around long enough in this town. A lot of people dressed up tonight and a lot of people didn’t give a s—t, did they? Nobody’s going to work

By Texas Monthly

Music

Steve Brodner’s Sketchbook (3)

Mark: “They’ve mixed a lot of the Western side with the original, but they’re not original. And this right here is the biggest joke I’ve ever heard. She’s doing mudras [hand movements] through the whole thing, but she’s not even doing the mudras right.” Dan: “It’s nonsensical, the way they’re singing.

By Texas Monthly

Music

Steve Brodner’s Sketchbook (2)

“The artists that are performing tonight have written compositions or have been influenced by compositions written in Spanish, traditional Mexican music, and what’s called border music, if you will, a marriage of Tex-Mex. And so tonight they are celebrating that acoustically, singing the songs they’ve learned.”— Susan Charney, co-producer of

By Texas Monthly

Music

5,707 Schmoozers, 750 Bands, 29 Musical Cars, and 250 Gallons of Cream Gravy

That was the recipe for this year’s South by Southwest Music and Media Conference. Here’s how it all cooked up.

By Jason Cohen

Music

Steve Brodner’s Sketchbook (4)

“Cake is a great band. It’s soulful music. It’s food for the soul.” — Krys Holland, audience member, watching Cake at the Austin Music Hall.“When I say go, turn that s—t all the way up.” — Wayne Coyne, lead singer of the Flaming Lips, having passed out cassette tapes to

By Texas Monthly

BBQ

Underground Round

On the first Thursday, Friday, and Saturday in August for the past 61 years, thousands have converged on a park on the outskirts of Dalhart for the XIT Rodeo and Reunion, celebrating the history of the XIT Ranch, once the biggest ranch in Texas. (This year’s dates: August 7—9.) In

By Joe Nick Patoski

BBQ

Gone To Kansas City

I went; I ate; for the most part I snickered. Of all the alleged barbecue capitals in the United States, the only serious rival to Texas is Kansas City, Missouri. This is because Kansas City barbecues beef, whereas Memphis, the Carolinas, and the rest of the Deep South barbecue pork.

By John Morthland

News & Politics

The War for the Colorado

Battles over the river’s precious waters are pulling in everyone from pecan growers in Central Texas to shrimpers in Matagorda Bay, not to mention thirsty cities like San Antonio and Corpus Christi. Who will be left high and dry?

By Helen Thorpe

Business

Big Fish

In the eighties Tilman Fertitta’s seafood restaurants earned him millions while his hard-nosed business tactics earned him enemies. But these days the Galveston native is winning new respect in his hometown by standing up to the most powerful family on the Island.

By Robert Draper

Columns

Books

Katherine the Great

Indian Creek native Katherine Anne Porter is the finest author ever to come out of Texas. But only recently has her home state stopped writing her off.

By Don Graham

Music

Voice of Amerykah

Whether or not Erykah Badu is the Billie Holiday of hip-hop, her uplifting songs and soulful singing are winning fans from coast to coast.

By John Morthland

Business

On With the Shows

Now that both its building and its mission have been renovated, Houston’s Contemporary Arts Museum is ready to win back the public and reestablish its eminence.

By Michael Ennis

Politics & Policy

For an Income Tax

Why Texas needs an income tax.

By Gregory Curtis and Paul Burka

Politics & Policy

Naval Gazing

As the Navy’s top civilian leader, Texan John Dalton has navigated one scandal after another. He might also be charting a course back home—and to elected office.

By Helen Thorpe

Reporter

Politics & Policy

Death and Texas

After its recent facelift, the state cemetery has Texas luminaries just dying to get in.

By Carol Flake

Music

Jaci Velasquez

“Sure, I miss having a locker and going to the prom,” says gospel-singing sensation Jaci Velasquez. True enough, the seventeen-year-old Houston native has not had what you would call a normal adolescence. At age ten she began traveling around the U.S. and Latin America with her family’s music ministry. Four

By Erin Gromen

Arts & Entertainment

Liz Smith

I entered the University of Texas before World War II ended; I was fresh out of divorce court. I didn’t know a soul in Austin, and there were only very young men—prodigies—or very old men on campus. American guys were still at war! So I spent my time swinging between

By Renee Boensch

Books

Ghost Story

If you’re a celebrity who wants to pen a book, who you gonna call? Ghostwriters.

By Evan Smith

Arts & Entertainment

Mission Accomplished

The newest game from Dallas’ Digifx Entertainment is ready for prime time. In Mission to Nexus Prime, whose storyline has been crafted by Star Wars author Timothy Zahn, you command your troops through a series of battles to gain control of planet Nexus Prime and its complex network of wormholes

By Jordan Mackay

Art

Artbeat

Charting the state’s museum-building boom.

By Rebecca Cohen

Arts & Entertainment

Fly-boy

A Wylie computer programmer flies high.

By Josh Daniel

Texas History

Ship Shape

A South Texan adds a chapter to the Apollo 13 story.

By Patricia McConnico

Energy

Power Outage

The state’s big investor-owned utilities, aptly nicknamed IOUs, are in big trouble—and Wall Street knows it. Historically, the IOUs have been able to block damaging legislation calling for the deregulation of electricity and immediate rate cuts, but the once-friendly Public Utility Commission has turned against them. In a sweeping and

By Paul Burka

Guides

CD and Book Reviews

Hot CDsAbra Moore’s wispy, quivering voice works hard to be heard among the loud, rude guitars of Strangest Places (Arista/Austin). It’s a far cry from her earlier, softer work with Poi Dog Pondering and as a solo artist. Even when she falters, the Austinite’s transformation into a rocker adds resonance

By Texas Monthly

Web

Recipes

Summer Soups

Recipe from Ruth Carter, soups-and-specials cook at Austin’s Eastside Cafe.Dewberry-Orange4 cups dewberries or blackberries, rinsed 2 cups water 1/2 cup sugar 4 ounces cream cheese 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 4 cups fresh orange juice mint leaves for garnish (optional)Combine berries (reserve a few for garnish) with water in a

By Texas Monthly

Miscellany

Music

Drawing Conclusions

Before chronicling the South by Southwest Music and Media Conference for Texas Monthly, New York illustrator Steve Brodner had never been to Austin—but that actually worked to his advantage. “The idea was to capture the scene as someone who just happened upon it,” he says. “I wasn’t trying to get

By Josh Daniel

Recipes