Latest / Austin Signal / Reflecting on the year in Austin as 2025 winds down

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Reflecting on the year in Austin as 2025 winds down · Austin Signal

0:09
It is the final day of 2025,
0:12
and we've been taking some time to
0:13
listen back and reflect on the year
0:15
that was here in Austinites.
0:17
Now, Austinites love supporting
0:18
their local shops and restaurants,
0:20
but the hard truth of it is that
0:21
running any kind of business in the
0:23
city is a difficult and expensive
0:25
pursuit.
0:26
Today, we're going to look back at
0:27
some local businesses who shuttered
0:29
their doors for good in 2025,
0:31
that's coming up next.
0:32
The Austin signal is a production
0:34
of KUT News, hosted by
0:36
Jerry Quijano.
0:37
Plus we've got our staff's final
0:39
favorite song of 2025 and
0:41
some Austin music history for you to
0:43
learn good and well heading into
0:44
2026.
0:46
And New Year's festivities bring
0:48
on annual traditions.
0:50
Have you got yours ready?
0:52
Come and share some good home
0:53
cooking with us.
0:54
That's coming up next, right here
0:56
on Austin Signal.
1:08
Howdy out there, and thank
1:10
you for tuning in to Austin Signal
1:12
on this Wednesday.
1:13
It is the 31st of December,
1:16
the final day of 2025.
1:18
It has been some year and we
1:19
are glad that you spent part of it
1:21
here with us.
1:22
I'm your host, Jerry Kehannel.
1:24
Let's start today's show.
1:26
A former Austin police officer
1:28
sentenced to prison for fatal,
1:29
fatally shooting a man has been
1:31
acquitted by a Texas appeals court.
1:33
In 2019, Christopher Taylor fatally
1:35
shot 46-year-old Maurice De Silva,
1:37
who was in a mental health crisis
1:39
and holding a knife.
1:40
A Travis County jury convicted
1:42
Taylor, and he was sentenced late
1:43
last year to two years in
1:45
prison. Taylor's attorneys say his
1:47
acquittal is a, quote, powerful
1:49
rebuke to Travis County District
1:51
Attorney Jose Garza.
1:53
Garza called the decision by an
1:55
Amarillo-based state appeals court,
1:56
quote, absurd, and said
1:58
he would continue to work to uphold
2:00
Taylor's conviction.
2:01
We have more about that story
2:03
over at KUT.org.
2:07
It's tough running a business each
2:08
and every year, and 2025 was
2:10
especially tough for a few long-time
2:12
Austin institutions.
2:14
KUT's Travis County reporter Katy
2:16
McAfee spoke with host Jennifer
2:18
Staten about the local businesses
2:19
we lost this year.
2:22
So first of all, you've spent some
2:23
time researching longtime Austin
2:25
businesses that closed this year.
2:28
What are some of the places that we
2:29
lost?
2:30
Yeah, so there were quite a few this
2:31
year. Coriente, a
2:33
Korean restaurant downtown,
2:35
closed this year after more than 20
2:37
years.
2:38
Trudy's, the local Tex-Mex
2:40
chain, closed its last location
2:42
on Burnet Road after more then
2:44
40 years.
2:45
And then another place people might
2:47
recognize, Skylark Lounge,
2:49
the blues and soul music venue.
2:51
They closed after 12 years.
2:54
And we have about a half dozen
2:56
other places on our list that were
2:57
in business for 15,
2:59
20 plus years in Austin.
3:01
So Katy, I feel like we do these
3:03
discussions at the end of each year
3:04
about businesses that close, and I
3:06
feel there are fewer and
3:08
fewer local places in
3:10
Austin that have been in business
3:11
for say 10 plus
3:13
years. Why are we seeing what
3:16
feels like so many local businesses
3:18
closing?
3:19
Well, you know, a lot of these long
3:20
time places that are closing are
3:22
restaurants or stores selling
3:24
food and independent
3:26
locally owned restaurants are
3:28
really struggling right now.
3:30
A report that came out on Halloween
3:32
from the Texas Restaurant
3:33
Association found that and
3:35
this is statewide, 88%
3:37
of restaurants are facing higher
3:39
food costs, 66%
3:41
are higher wage costs
3:43
and 52% are seeing
3:45
a traffic decrease.
3:47
And then one thing that I've just
3:49
heard anecdotally is that not only
3:51
are restaurants seeing an overall
3:53
traffic decrease, but people
3:55
are drinking less alcohol when
3:57
they go out and that makes a big
3:58
impact on a restaurant's bottom
4:00
line.
4:01
And then a few places, you know,
4:02
Hanna World Market, the Asian
4:04
grocery store on Palmer Lane, they
4:06
said one reason they're closing is
4:07
because of tariffs.
4:08
They said it was really hard to
4:10
compete against big national chains
4:12
like H Mart and tariffs
4:14
had a crucial impact on their
4:16
business.
4:16
Right, so Katy, we've mostly been
4:18
talking about sort of
4:20
food centered and restaurant
4:21
businesses.
4:22
What about the local businesses that
4:24
aren't restaurants?
4:25
The ones that you know about, why
4:26
are they closing?
4:27
Yeah, so, you know, we do have
4:29
triple z threads on South
4:31
Congress is closing this year.
4:33
They sell vintage shirts and other
4:34
embroidered stuff.
4:36
And they said that they're closing
4:37
because they're being pushed out.
4:39
On an Instagram post when they
4:41
announced their closure, they said,
4:42
quote, a corporation with deeper
4:44
pockets will be moving in.
4:46
And that's something that we've seen
4:47
a lot in recent years.
4:49
We had South Congress books closed
4:51
last year after they were pushed out
4:53
of South Congress.
4:54
Lucian Disguised with Diamonds
4:56
closed, Tessarose Trading
4:58
Company, those were all sort of
5:00
long time businesses on South
5:01
Congress that were pushed out in the
5:03
last few years.
5:05
Sounds like it's kind of doom
5:07
and gloom for these businesses that
5:09
are closing for the variety of
5:11
reasons you've been describing in
5:13
2025.
5:14
Yeah, well, you know, it's not all
5:16
so sad.
5:18
Not every single local business
5:19
closed this year for financial
5:21
reasons.
5:22
A few business owners just said that
5:23
they were ready to retire.
5:26
Jim Jim's Water Ice, if you
5:28
can remember, they were an Italian
5:30
ice shop on Sixth Street.
5:32
They had their last summer this year
5:33
after more than 31 years, because
5:36
the owner, Jim Moy, is ready to
5:38
slow down and travel and spend
5:39
more time with family.
5:41
And that was, you know, a few other
5:43
businesses owners just said we're
5:45
ready to retire and move on with
5:47
life
5:48
Well, that's KUT's Travis County
5:49
reporter, Katy McAfee.
5:51
You can read about all the local
5:53
businesses that closed this year in
5:54
Austin and see some great
5:56
illustrations that KUT multimedia
5:58
producer, Michael Manassi drew of
6:00
each business at KUT.org.
6:02
Katy, thanks for walking us through
6:04
this today.
6:04
Thank you so much, Jennifer.
6:06
And you can keep up with Katy
6:08
McAfee's coverage of Travis County
6:10
at KUT.org.
6:18
In case you didn't know, Connie
6:20
Jo Kirk is a homegrown Austin
6:22
legend.
6:23
As a teenager, she helped to
6:24
integrate old Austin High.
6:26
As an adult, she became a renowned
6:28
musician and blues singer,
6:30
a civil rights activist,
6:31
humanitarian and champion for
6:33
historical East Austin.
6:35
And there is one other
6:37
accomplishment to add to that list,
6:39
celebrated home cook.
6:41
A few years ago, she spoke to
6:43
Texas Standard, invited them over
6:45
for a traditional New Year's
6:47
video.
6:51
I just took the cornbread out the
6:53
oven, homemade
6:54
cornbread, and I'm getting ready to
6:56
melt some butter so I can glaze it.
7:00
Hi, my name is Connie
7:02
Jo Kirk.
7:03
I'm from Austin, Texas and
7:05
I was born in 1948,
7:07
June 7th, in East Austin.
7:10
I have been
7:13
cooking since I was four
7:15
years old.
7:16
But I'm also a professional jazz
7:18
and blues singer.
7:20
I wear many hats.
7:27
Here, we're going to melt some
7:28
butter.
7:31
Yeah.
7:33
For New Year's, I'm doing the
7:36
African-American New Year tradition.
7:39
You have to have black eyed peas to
7:41
start your year off.
7:42
I have glazed carrots.
7:45
I have collard greens.
7:48
I ain't bragging, but my collard
7:50
green are to die for.
7:52
I'm serious.
7:54
Colegrains will make you slap your
7:56
momma, your daddy, your cousins,
7:58
your uncle, your dog.
8:01
Everybody up the street, you just
8:02
going down the street slapping
8:03
people.
8:05
And here we got some chicken that
8:08
I bought.
8:09
These are old black recipes the way
8:11
we cook.
8:16
People get to know you
8:18
when they eat your food,
8:20
it shows them that you have a kind
8:22
heart and that you're a special
8:24
person and that's
8:25
why so many people, I feed
8:28
at least 16 people every
8:30
week.
8:35
Hello, I'm here for some stuff for
8:37
Uncle Barry.
8:38
I'm the nephew.
8:39
He's taking up food from my adopted
8:40
brother.
8:41
We adopted each other.
8:43
That's the way black people are.
8:44
We don't go through no legal
8:45
channels. Girl, we don't need no
8:47
legal channel. I'll tell you,
8:48
everybody in whole East Austin knows
8:50
me as Aunt Agani.
8:53
Woo, this butter's been melted.
8:55
Nice.
8:57
Hey, cuz, if
8:59
Barry's your uncle, you're my
9:00
cousin. Come on.
9:02
No, you my nephew.
9:04
And taste that.
9:05
That's homemade.
9:07
That's after you glaze it with
9:09
butter.
9:13
I come from a family of great
9:14
cooks.
9:16
My great grandmother was the head
9:18
chef on the plantation.
9:20
My grandmother was born on the
9:22
plantations, but she was a free
9:24
slave.
9:25
They were excellent cooks.
9:27
My mother was one of 14.
9:29
Mother was number 13, so the
9:31
older sisters taught my mother how
9:33
to cook. There
9:35
was nothing like coming
9:37
home to fresh, skillet
9:39
cornbread and
9:41
chili beans.
9:43
Smelling outside the door,
9:45
all out in the yard.
9:47
Pickle beets, fresh pickle beets
9:50
and collard greens or either
9:51
cabbage.
9:53
And that made you a day.
9:55
You know, you look forward to
9:57
getting out of school and going home
9:58
to see what mama cooks.
10:03
I want many
10:05
people to experience the
10:08
wonderful flavors of home-cooked
10:09
meals, post-slavery meals.
10:12
That's one of my children.
10:14
Go let her in, baby.
10:17
Bye!
10:18
Where's Ta-Neh?
10:19
He's running late, but he's just
10:21
around the corner.
10:23
Ta-Neh! Ta-neh, y'all hold up.
10:25
Be quiet for a minute.
10:27
We thank thee, Lord, for this food
10:28
for which we're about to receive for
10:30
the nourishment of our bodies,
10:32
through Christ's sake, amen.
10:33
Come on, let's do this!
10:39
I'm Connie Jo Kirk,
10:41
professional jazz and blues singer
10:42
and chef from Austin, Texas.
10:47
That story was produced by
10:49
Texas Standard's Leah Scarpelli.
10:51
We'll have a link to it at kut.org
10:54
slash signal and in our
10:55
podcast show notes.
10:57
This is Austin Signal.
11:11
This is Jake Perlman.
11:12
I'm the senior audio production
11:14
engineer with KUT and KUTX.
11:18
So much great music that came from
11:20
Austin in 2025.
11:22
And one of my favorite songs is
11:25
the points, Itis.
11:30
The band is three people,
11:32
the keyboard player plays bass
11:34
on a keyboard at the same time he's
11:36
playing the keyboard lines,
11:38
the guitarist plays with a lot
11:40
of blues,
11:42
but blues from all over the world.
11:51
So there's a little bit of Thai
11:53
funk in there.
11:55
If you're a fan of Krungben, this
11:57
is sort of a sped
11:59
up version of Krugben I guess.
12:01
And the drummer swings behind the
12:03
kit. Just a funky machine.
12:21
They're all nice guys too.
12:22
A lot of their songs have some
12:24
really great instrumental breaks.
12:26
Vocals don't seem to be as
12:28
important to every single one of
12:29
their song.
12:31
I followed them for a few years,
12:33
the first time I got to see them.
12:35
They're playing on a double-staged
12:38
show at Sagebrush,
12:40
and they're just playing at the
12:42
front of the bar on a small stage
12:43
up there.
12:44
Just really set this cool mood and I
12:46
couldn't believe that these
12:48
guys were from Boston.
12:50
I just felt like a little window
12:52
into several different parts of
12:54
the world.
12:56
Oh
13:08
The vibe of this song is
13:10
playful, I think.
13:12
Kind of reminds me of like a Terry
13:13
Gilliam film.
13:16
My name is Jake Perlman.
13:17
I'm the Senior Audio Production
13:18
Engineer with KUT and KUTX.
13:21
And you can find out more of our
13:23
favorite songs from 2025
13:25
at KUTx.org.
13:28
This is the Austin Signal.
13:39
It's New Year's Eve.
13:40
Thank you for tuning in to the
13:42
show. Hopefully you are
13:44
on or about to be
13:46
on.
13:48
Vacation all I ever
13:49
wanted Vacation
13:51
had to get away Vacation
13:54
missed if they spent it alone
13:57
Yeah, that song by the Go-Go's
13:59
is a classic penned by Austin's
14:01
own Cathy Valentine before she
14:03
joined the band.
14:04
She wrote it as part of the Austin
14:06
band the Tex Tones in the 80s before
14:08
her and bandmate Carla Olsen
14:10
ventured out to L.A.
14:11
To make it big.
14:13
Here's Jason Mellard from the Center
14:14
for Texas Music History at Texas
14:16
State University with more
14:18
about Cathy Valentine.
14:23
This week in Texas music history,
14:25
Austin Punk reverberates through the
14:26
Rock Hall of Fame.
14:28
On New Year's Eve 1980, bassist
14:30
Cathy Valentine played her first
14:31
concert with the Go-Go's in Los
14:33
Angeles. The Go-Gos are legendary,
14:35
synonymous with the 1980s, the first
14:37
all-woman band playing their own
14:39
material to top the Billboard charts
14:41
with 1981's debut album,
14:43
Beauty and the Beat.
14:44
But many may not know the Texas
14:46
connection through Kathy Valentine.
14:48
The Go-Go's were already up and
14:49
coming in the Los Angeles punk scene
14:51
when guitarist Charlotte Caffe ran
14:53
into Valentine to whiskey a Go-go
14:54
and asked her about filling in with
14:56
the band.
14:56
Caffe knew Valentine's work from the
14:58
text tones, the group Valentine and
15:00
Carla Olsen had brought from Austin
15:01
to LA the year before.
15:03
Valentine agreed, joined the Go-Gos,
15:05
and the rest, chart-topping hits and
15:07
global tours, is history.
15:12
Valentine wrote some of those hits,
15:14
Head Over Heels for One, and
15:15
Vacation, a Textones tune that
15:17
draws a direct line back to
15:19
the origins of Austin Punk.
15:21
And Cathy Valentine was an
15:22
originator. She'd been steeped in
15:24
the Texas scene, a 70s teen
15:26
into ZZ Top and Doug Somm,
15:28
but she'd also been in a band in
15:30
London when Punk broke in 1975.
15:33
Back in Texas, when the Sex Pistols
15:35
brought English punk stateside,
15:37
Valentine and her friends were at
15:38
that legendary 1978 San
15:40
Antonio show.
15:41
Inspired, Valentine, Carla Olsen,
15:43
Marilyn Dean, and Jesse Sublette
15:44
then formed The Violators, and the
15:46
next month convinced Tejano Bar
15:47
Raúl's into giving them stage time.
15:50
Valentine and Olsen split for LA,
15:51
The Textones, and The Big Time.
15:53
In summer 1980, Kathy was back
15:55
home from California, visiting Raúls
15:57
to check out the new band.
15:58
She wrote the song Vacation on the
16:00
plane back to LA about that Austin
16:02
trip, a tribute, too, to the
16:04
scene she'd helped form and left
16:06
behind.
16:07
She'd come home again in the course
16:09
of her illustrious career, forming
16:10
the blues-rocking band The Blue
16:12
Line. She'd make it as a local
16:14
legend and global icon, inducted
16:16
into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
16:17
in 2022, a
16:19
story told in full in her masterful
16:21
memoir, All I Ever Wanted.
16:23
You can hear music from the Lone
16:24
Star State 24-7 on the
16:26
Texas Music Experience at TMX.fm.
16:30
Support for this week in Texas Music
16:32
History comes from Brain Audio,
16:34
maker of portable speakers with
16:35
patented built-in subwoofer
16:37
technology to deliver deep bass
16:39
sound with waterproof design
16:41
and Alexa functionality.
16:43
Holiday inspiration at
16:44
BrainAudio.com
16:46
Well, thank you for tuning in to
16:48
Austin signal.
16:50
You can listen to us live here on
16:52
KUT news, 90.5 on
16:54
the KUT app and online at
16:56
KUT.org and of
16:57
course you can subscribe to our
16:59
podcasts wherever you listen to
17:01
your shows.
17:02
It is our final segment of 2025
17:04
and we are talking about
17:06
music to help us out.
17:08
We are joined by Maile Carballo from
17:09
our sister station.
17:11
KUTX Maile happy new
17:13
year.
17:15
I don't get to see you in the new
17:17
year, you know, have a little bit of
17:18
a break. So you know I think we
17:20
have written this discussion
17:22
yesterday about saying Happy New
17:23
Year. So I'm going to say it and I'm
17:25
gonna lean into it.
17:25
We'll have the new year.
17:26
But before we can get into 2026,
17:29
we had some news today about
17:30
a music venue on the final day of
17:32
the year.
17:33
Tell us about the music venue.
17:35
Which one is it?
17:35
Absolutely, so we're talking about
17:37
Monk's Jazz Club.
17:39
The Austin Chronicle reported this
17:40
morning that they will be ending
17:42
their time on the East Side.
17:43
They've been there for about a
17:45
decade now, but they're moving
17:47
over to the St. Elmo Arts District.
17:49
Okay, okay, that's a pretty
17:50
happenin' district for folks
17:52
who might not be familiar with
17:54
monks. What kind of a listening room
17:55
is it? What kind a venue is it.
17:57
Yeah, it's super intimate.
17:58
It holds around 60 people.
18:00
It's real kind of
18:02
DIY jazz,
18:04
typically just B-Y-O-B.
18:07
The less clanking, the better, I
18:09
think they always say.
18:11
And they're going to kind of keep
18:12
with that ethos going forward, but
18:14
actually their new location has
18:16
an actual bar this time,
18:18
so maybe a little schmancier.
18:19
Okay, so are they done for good at
18:21
their old location?
18:21
Are they gonna have like some final
18:22
show there? What's that status?
18:24
They are. They are done at that
18:26
location for shows, but
18:27
at their new location 310
18:29
East St. Elmo Road, Unit B,
18:32
they will still be hosting BYOB
18:34
kind of small gigs until their first
18:36
official show on January 2nd.
18:37
OK, well, yes, let's
18:39
let's make the most of what we have
18:41
left in 2025.
18:43
We were talking earlier about our
18:44
New Year's Eve plans, and I'm sure
18:45
there are a few listeners out there
18:47
who haven't quite finalized what
18:49
their night is going to look like
18:50
tonight.
18:51
So you have brought us three options
18:53
for the listeners out there.
18:54
So what's the first option?
18:55
Absolutely.
18:57
So just all options are very
18:59
KUTX coded, as
19:01
the kids say.
19:03
But the first one is one that
19:05
KUTx and UT Student Radio
19:07
Station KBRX, which I'm also
19:09
a part of, we're supporting, it's
19:11
Next of Kin with non-aid TC
19:13
superstar, Kyn Keith,
19:15
and so many more other special
19:17
guests.
19:18
It's at Antone's nightclub.
19:20
And yeah, it's a lot of KUTX
19:22
supported artists.
19:23
Next Of Kin was one of our Artists
19:25
of the Months this year.
19:27
Get a little bit of dancing with
19:28
TC Superstar, some electronic
19:31
action with Kai and
19:32
Keith and some good old fashioned
19:34
country.
19:35
And we have heard a good deal of
19:37
Next of Kin here on Austin Signal,
19:39
they're a great band.
19:40
They were part of our Austin City
19:42
Limits Music Festival episode.
19:43
And you can find more and hear a
19:45
really cool song from them that's at
19:47
kut.org slash signal.
19:49
That's our first show option.
19:51
The second one you were saying, it's
19:53
kinda got more of a Austin, a real
19:55
Austin feel to it.
19:56
What is that one?
19:56
Yeah, this is one that I would
19:58
probably choose.
19:59
This is my, my little niche.
20:01
Um, it's a 29th street ballroom
20:03
and Tweedies also known as spider
20:05
house. If you're from the older
20:07
gen, your old school, but it's
20:09
almost heaven, ha ha laughing.
20:12
Another artist of the month,
20:12
Jacuzzi, Holy wave, and
20:14
so many more artists, DJs
20:16
and more.
20:17
Um, and it's, yeah, more of a local
20:20
kind of DIY grunge vibe.
20:22
Um, also KUTX
20:24
supported artists.
20:25
Um, I think that one
20:27
would be really, really fun
20:28
personally.
20:29
And for the final option, we've got
20:31
something to really bring in the new
20:32
year with some style, with some
20:34
pizzazz.
20:35
What is that one?
20:36
Absolutely.
20:36
This is how I spent my New Year's
20:38
last year.
20:39
It's Golden Dawn Orchestra's New
20:41
Year Eve celebration at Radio East
20:43
with Superfonicos and Hard Proof.
20:45
And last year, I will say, Jerry,
20:47
they released a dove.
20:49
So if that tells you anything,
20:52
it's going to be a funky eclectic
20:53
time.
20:54
Well, hopefully they'll step up
20:55
their game a little bit.
20:56
You know, keep it safe, not anything
20:58
too crazy, but you know, kind of
21:00
step it up and outdo the final,
21:02
the last performance that is.
21:04
Well, on this last day of 2025,
21:06
and my last question for you,
21:08
what did you enjoy about Austin
21:09
music scene in 2025, and
21:12
what do you hope to see more of next
21:13
year?
21:13
Absolutely.
21:15
I was ruminating on this,
21:17
marinating, if you will.
21:19
And, you know, I'm still a
21:20
youngster, still getting used to
21:22
everything in Austin, but something
21:24
that really struck me this year was
21:26
just getting to dig deeper into all
21:28
the subcultures of Austin.
21:30
Two-stepping has gotten really big,
21:33
the whole kind of honky tonk music.
21:35
Has been amplified, I feel like,
21:37
because of that. You know, Boomer
21:38
Shack and Theo Lawrence and all
21:40
of these country artists in Austin
21:42
holding residencies at all the honky
21:44
tonks.
21:45
That was a joy to experience more
21:47
of. And of course, the DIY shows
21:49
too.
21:50
And I'm all about the psych
21:52
community.
21:53
Like I was saying earlier, kind of
21:54
that ballroom vibe.
21:56
Um, and so going to levitation
21:58
this year was really special just
21:59
cause you run into absolutely
22:01
everyone.
22:02
If you go to these events, you run
22:03
into so many people, familiar
22:05
faces.
22:06
And I think that's super cool
22:07
because people are always like, Oh,
22:09
is this the still the live music
22:11
capital of the world?
22:12
It's not old Austin anymore, but
22:14
Okay, well in 15 seconds, what do
22:16
you want to see more of next year?
22:17
Next year, more DIY
22:19
stuff, let's keep it weird.
22:21
Let's keep it weird and again, we
22:23
provide you to those three options.
22:24
You can see a little bit more about
22:25
that over at KUTX.org.
22:29
That is Maile Carballo from our
22:30
sister station KUTx.
22:31
Maile, you've been on the air a
22:32
little more this year and this
22:34
week. You're going to be on the
22:36
Air Anymore going forward.
22:37
Yes, sir.
22:38
When is that?
22:39
Uh...
22:40
Next monday
22:41
Okay, next Monday.
22:42
Okay, that's Maile Carballo.
22:43
Thank you, Maile.
22:44
Thank you, Jerry.
22:45
And thank you for tuning in to
22:46
Austin Signal.
22:48
We will be back with you on Friday
22:50
at one o'clock here on KUT.
22:52
And of course, you can find us at
22:54
kut.org slash
22:56
signal.
22:57
Have a happy new year.