Photo by David Brendan Hall
Willie and weed are two foundational tenets of this here alt-weekly, so when an opportunity presented itself, however tangentially, to combine these loves, we leapt at it.
This week s sprawling cover package – just in time for 4/20 – includes Doug Freeman s look at Luck Presents, the folks behind the annual Luck Reunion musical showcase held at Willie Nelson s ranch and now the go-to producing company for livestream events like Willie s 4th of July Picnic, Farm Aid, the Long Center s Good Vibes Only, and next week s cannabis convention, Luck Summit: Planting the Seed. Jessi Cape gets further into the Luck Summit, the Cannabis Voter Project, and the cheeky marketing push to re-dub the time between April 20 and 29 the High Holidays, while Kevin Curtin goes deep on what s happening with cannabis reform (currently a topic of interest in the Texas Lege) and Clara Wang profiles local coffee and CBD truck Radix House Coffee Shop. Roundin
HB 2776); and the
Lost Creek neighborhood wants the Texas Legislature to remove it from the city straight away, with no petition or Council vote (
SB 1499 and
HB 3827). “I’m here today because I feel like the city of Austin is ultimately stealing from us. They have no problem taking our taxes. But they have a problem protecting us.” Lost Creek resident Brittany McFarland
With so much anti-Austin sentiment out there, it s hard to believe a major employer like
Tesla or
Apple would ever choose to move to town, a point made by Mayor
Steve Adler during a Tuesday Council work session. People choose to move to Austin because Austin is unique, he said. If they don t come to Austin, it s not like they go to Houston or to Dallas. They go somewhere out of state. Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Ft. Worth, Corpus Christi, El Paso – all wonderful cities, but all are very different, and in that difference there is real strength.
Andre Hayward at the Skylark Lounge with the late Margaret Wright’s piano (Photo by David Brendan Hall)
Standing onstage with saxophonist Elias Haslanger s local quintet, Andre Hayward preps for his moment. As the two men finish a harmonized riff on the bandleader s Smiley s Stairs, Hayward lifts his bell to the microphone to take the first solo. The trombonist sticks close to the melody at first, adding slight variations, before scattering flurries of notes that belie their creator s relaxed state.
At the point it all threatens to veer too far outside, Hayward brings it back home, gracefully recasting the melody and setting up Haslanger s own break. Though there s no live audience, Hayward earns enthusiastic applause from his bandmates.
The Johnson’s Backyard Garden stand at the Texas Farmers’ Market on Sunday at Mueller (Photo by David Brendan Hall)
After the devastating winter storm system that sustained freezing temperatures and knocked out power and water across Central Texas, regional farmers and ranchers experienced extraordinarily harsh conditions, which in turn affects our entire local food system.
Nora Chovanec, deputy director of the Texas Farmers Market, explained, Being a farmer in general is really difficult, but in Central Texas we have two growing seasons, and our markets stay open year-round (unlike in the Northeast, for example). So our farmers don t necessarily take a lot of breaks. They are used to dealing with inclement weather – we have freeze cycles and drought cycles; it really runs the gamut – but this was an incredibly unprecedented event. Usually when there s a flood or a freeze, out of our ag producers, we ll see a couple of them who are affected by whichever
(l-r) Sister/brother chef/grill master duo Ann Marie and Warren Dyer, with their mother (and co-operator/kitchen matriarch) Melda Morris (Photo by David Brendan Hall)
Several of Jamaica s signature dishes are well-known global favorites: jerk chicken, curries, fried plantains. But the Caribbean island s diverse cuisine, which rests on the shoulders of long-standing recipes influenced by the country s complex colonial history, is harder to fully grasp. Detailing that legacy would require a whole newspaper s worth of explanation, but it can be summed up by the official Jamaican motto, Out of many, one people. Family operated food truck Kings & Queens Jamaican Cuisine, based at the Old Gin Pfood Court in downtown Pflugerville since October 2019, masterfully incorporates that culmination of immigrant stories from across Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East in its piquant plates and the owners broad ancestry.