Latest / Austin Signal / How liberal cities are navigating mandated ICE partnerships

Transcript

How liberal cities are navigating mandated ICE partnerships · Austin Signal

• 0:08
  Many Republican-led states like
• 0:10
  Texas require police officers
• 0:12
  to cooperate with federal
• 0:13
  immigration agents.
• 0:15
  That's left liberal cities like
• 0:16
  Austin debating how to respond when
• 0:18
  they don't want to spend resources
• 0:20
  on immigration enforcement.
• 0:22
  We've got more about that.
• 0:24
  And ICE operations are deterring
• 0:25
  immigrants from participating in
• 0:26
  routine parts of their lives.
• 0:28
  Here in Austin, one clinic has seen
• 0:30
  its demand drop dramatically over
• 0:32
  recent weeks.
• 0:33
  We've more about both of those
• 0:35
  stories coming up on today's show.
• 0:38
  The Austin Signal is a production
• 0:39
  of KUT News, hosted by
• 0:42
  Jerry Quijano.
• 0:43
  Plus, South by Southwest wraps up
• 0:45
  tomorrow, but there's still time to
• 0:46
  get in on the activities.
• 0:48
  Today we're gonna tell you about a
• 0:49
  documentary that follows the search
• 0:51
  for an almost mythical Texas
• 0:53
  musician.
• 0:54
  Come hear that story and more
• 0:56
  up next on Austin Signal.
• 1:07
  Howdy out there, thank you for
• 1:09
  tuning in to Austin Signal.
• 1:11
  I'm your host, Jerry Kehannel.
• 1:12
  It is Tuesday, March 17th,
• 1:15
  sunny and 60 something
• 1:16
  today here in Austin, Texas.
• 1:18
  We're glad to be part of your day.
• 1:20
  Let's jump into today's show.
• 1:23
  In many Republican led states,
• 1:25
  police officers are required to
• 1:27
  cooperate with federal immigration
• 1:28
  agents. And that leaves liberal
• 1:30
  cities like Austin debating
• 1:32
  how to respond when they don't
• 1:34
  wanna spend resources on immigration
• 1:36
  enforcement.
• 1:37
  KUT's Mo's Boo Show has the
• 1:39
  story.
• 1:41
  City council members opened up
• 1:43
  a recent public forum here with
• 1:44
  a line they repeat often.
• 1:47
  In Austin, undocumented immigrants
• 1:49
  should be able to call the police
• 1:51
  without fear of being
• 1:53
  deported.
• 1:54
  Here's Chito Vela, Austin Mayor
• 1:56
  Pro Tem.
• 1:56
  We are committed and making
• 1:58
  sure that we are
• 2:00
  keeping our immigrant community as
• 2:02
  safe as we possibly can.
• 2:05
  But in Texas, there are
• 2:07
  few options when it comes to
• 2:09
  stopping police from reporting
• 2:10
  people to ICE.
• 2:11
  In one recent case, a mother and
• 2:13
  her young daughter were deported
• 2:14
  after the mom called local police
• 2:16
  to report a disturbance.
• 2:18
  Stopping that kind of thing was what
• 2:19
  this meeting with Austin Police
• 2:21
  Chief Lisa Davis was about.
• 2:23
  With that said, let me go ahead and
• 2:25
  turn it over to Chief David.
• 2:29
  Thank you for being here, this is
• 2:31
  amazing to see this show out.
• 2:32
  In Texas, state police
• 2:34
  are empowered to arrest suspected
• 2:36
  unauthorized immigrants.
• 2:37
  Many counties partner with ICE to
• 2:39
  get grants and funding.
• 2:40
  Those agreements will become
• 2:41
  mandatory for all counties by the
• 2:43
  end of the year.
• 2:45
  And Davis said Texas cities
• 2:47
  cannot prevent local
• 2:49
  officers from calling ICE if they
• 2:51
  see fit.
• 2:51
  There is a rule of law that I have
• 2:53
  to follow as the chief of police
• 2:54
  here in the state of Texas.
• 2:56
  But what we can do, what
• 2:58
  we CAN do is...
• 2:59
  It was a tense evening.
• 3:01
  On one side, local officials
• 3:03
  explaining that breaking state law
• 3:05
  could lead to cuts to funding or
• 3:07
  them getting removed from office.
• 3:08
  On the other side, many in the
• 3:10
  audience calling for resistance no
• 3:12
  matter the cost.
• 3:14
  Robert Salter is a criminal defense
• 3:15
  lawyer who was one of the most
• 3:17
  vocal that night.
• 3:18
  There is nothing that prevents this
• 3:20
  police chief, these city council
• 3:22
  members.
• 3:23
  From refusing to cooperate with the
• 3:24
  state. Heated public debates like
• 3:26
  this have also erupted in
• 3:28
  San Antonio, Dallas and Houston.
• 3:31
  Democratic cities in Tennessee,
• 3:32
  Georgia and Florida are also
• 3:34
  seeing locals push back against
• 3:36
  red state laws that mandate ICE
• 3:38
  police partnerships.
• 3:40
  Kristen Eder is director of the
• 3:41
  Texas Immigration Law Council.
• 3:43
  She says far more people are
• 3:45
  detained in states that have these
• 3:47
  policies.
• 3:47
  It's not.
• 3:48
  Visible.
• 3:49
  It doesn't present the same way as
• 3:51
  it does in Minneapolis or Chicago
• 3:53
  or Los Angeles.
• 3:55
  And so most people, again,
• 3:57
  would have no idea that this
• 3:59
  is happening every day
• 4:01
  all around us in a
• 4:03
  very quiet way.
• 4:05
  Quiet, that is.
• 4:06
  Until people start shouting.
• 4:10
  At that public meeting in Austin,
• 4:12
  police chief Lisa Davis announced
• 4:14
  plans to change city policy.
• 4:16
  Officers can still contact ICE,
• 4:18
  but the new rules will give police
• 4:20
  higher-ups a say in whether
• 4:22
  they can hold people until ICE
• 4:24
  arrives to arrest them.
• 4:25
  And I can tell you the priority is
• 4:27
  not waiting for ICE to respond on a
• 4:29
  civil detainer.
• 4:30
  Officials think it's a way to
• 4:32
  thread the needle between local
• 4:34
  priorities and state law,
• 4:36
  but after the event, immigrant
• 4:38
  advocate Carmen Zubieta said it
• 4:40
  won't help people who fear
• 4:41
  deportation feel any better
• 4:43
  about calling the police for help.
• 4:45
  To gain their trust,
• 4:47
  you have to give it,
• 4:49
  you must give it up.
• 4:51
  To gain confidence, you have to
• 4:53
  earn it. And nothing they're doing
• 4:54
  is giving us confidence,"
• 4:56
  she said.
• 5:04
  Well, the fear of seeking help in
• 5:05
  the immigrant community also extends
• 5:07
  to health benefits provided by
• 5:08
  non-profits.
• 5:09
  Workers at a local clinic, Casa
• 5:11
  Marianela, told Austin Current
• 5:13
  reporter Sam Stark a line that
• 5:15
  once snaked past its entrance has
• 5:17
  dwindled down to maybe one or two
• 5:19
  people a day.
• 5:20
  For more about this, we've got Sam
• 5:22
  here in the studio. Thanks for
• 5:23
  joining us.
• 5:23
  Yeah, I thanks so much.
• 5:24
  So can you tell us a little bit for
• 5:26
  our listeners who may not be
• 5:27
  familiar, what is gassa marianella?
• 5:29
  Yeah, so Casa Manila
• 5:31
  is an organization that provides
• 5:33
  shelters and supportive services
• 5:35
  for refugees, political asylum
• 5:36
  seekers, and immigrants.
• 5:39
  And so around the country, we had
• 5:40
  seen reports that immigrants have,
• 5:43
  in some cases, been skipping getting
• 5:44
  medical care out of fear of
• 5:46
  immigration enforcement being
• 5:47
  present.
• 5:48
  So while we've not seen reports of
• 5:50
  large scale federal immigration
• 5:52
  enforcement in raids in
• 5:54
  Austin, activists and officials have
• 5:56
  said that ICE activity has, in
• 5:57
  recent months, increased.
• 5:59
  Um, and so I spoke with
• 6:01
  Casa Marinella, uh, and they said
• 6:02
  that in the past year, since these
• 6:04
  activities have ramped up, much
• 6:06
  fewer people have come to get help
• 6:08
  getting enrolled in the medical
• 6:10
  assistance program or MAP,
• 6:12
  uh that provides basic healthcare
• 6:13
  coverage for low income residents
• 6:15
  living in Travis County.
• 6:17
  She said she's worried that people
• 6:18
  are just going uninsured.
• 6:20
  Um, I also spoke with Community
• 6:21
  Care. That's a clinic that serves
• 6:23
  people who are uninsure or
• 6:24
  underinsured The deputy CEO
• 6:27
  told me that while they do not track
• 6:29
  immigration status, they have heard
• 6:31
  from providers that some of
• 6:33
  their clients are afraid and
• 6:34
  limiting visits.
• 6:35
  Still, she said despite that, that
• 6:37
  the community care clinics are
• 6:39
  seeing a steady demand.
• 6:40
  Do we know what kind of numbers they
• 6:42
  were seeing prior to these recent
• 6:44
  ICE operations?
• 6:45
  They didn't provide
• 6:47
  any numbers.
• 6:48
  They did say that demand has been
• 6:50
  pretty steady, and they said that
• 6:52
  they have telehealth,
• 6:54
  which they've expanded in recent
• 6:55
  years after the COVID pandemic,
• 6:56
  which has been helpful in situations
• 6:58
  like these.
• 6:59
  Okay and in your reporting for the
• 7:00
  current you do report
• 7:02
  that this is obviously happening
• 7:04
  here in central Texas but it's not
• 7:06
  just limited to here in Central
• 7:07
  Texas.
• 7:08
  This is kind of happening all across
• 7:09
  the country correct.
• 7:11
  Yeah, yeah, that's right.
• 7:12
  And I also spoke to some people
• 7:14
  that weren't in the medical space.
• 7:16
  So, as Mo's mentioned in
• 7:18
  his reporting, there was an incident
• 7:20
  in January when the Austin Police
• 7:21
  Department contacted ICE when
• 7:23
  responding to a domestic disturbance
• 7:25
  in southwest Austin
• 7:27
  that led to the arrest
• 7:29
  and deportation of
• 7:31
  a mother and her five-year-old
• 7:33
  daughter.
• 7:34
  So the Safe Alliance, which serve
• 7:35
  survivors of abuse, domestic
• 7:36
  violence, and sexual assault.
• 7:39
  Worries that this incident will have
• 7:40
  a chilling effect, the CEO told me
• 7:42
  members of the community might say
• 7:44
  that the mother and the child were
• 7:45
  deported right after reporting
• 7:47
  domestic violence.
• 7:48
  If this happened when they were
• 7:49
  trying to get help, why should I
• 7:51
  call the police?
• 7:52
  You mentioned Casa Marianela and
• 7:54
  Community Care that's here in
• 7:55
  Austin, and since
• 7:57
  people are not going and using these
• 7:59
  resources, what do we know about
• 8:00
  what they are doing instead?
• 8:02
  So the worker
• 8:04
  who I spoke to at Casa Marianella
• 8:06
  said that she thinks that some are
• 8:08
  just not going to see
• 8:10
  the doctor when they have like
• 8:12
  a cold come up or something.
• 8:13
  They're just, you know, turning to
• 8:15
  home remedies or traditional
• 8:17
  remedies.
• 8:18
  It's important to note though that
• 8:20
  many immigrants have this fear
• 8:22
  and clinics like these haven't
• 8:24
  yet been Targeted by
• 8:26
  ice operations. Is that correct?
• 8:28
  Yeah, that's right.
• 8:29
  When I spoke to community care, she
• 8:30
  said that they haven't been subject
• 8:32
  to these targets yet.
• 8:34
  She said that, they do watch the
• 8:35
  news and they would be silly to not
• 8:37
  consider that as something
• 8:39
  that might happen in the future.
• 8:42
  Now, there is a sense of mistrust
• 8:44
  right now among the immigrant
• 8:45
  community, and you've reported that
• 8:46
  in some cases instead of calling
• 8:48
  911, they are reaching out to
• 8:50
  community organizations like the
• 8:51
  Safe Alliance. What's going on
• 8:53
  there?
• 8:53
  Yeah, that's right.
• 8:55
  So the Safe Alliance CEO said
• 8:57
  that because people are
• 8:59
  worried about contacting the police,
• 9:00
  especially with that example of the
• 9:02
  mother and daughter being deported,
• 9:04
  that they're going to other services
• 9:06
  that might be more trusted
• 9:09
  than the police at this time.
• 9:11
  I also talked to this
• 9:13
  Immigration Legal Services
• 9:15
  nonprofit, American Gateways.
• 9:17
  They said that they've been seeing a
• 9:19
  massive surge demand for.
• 9:21
  Um you know service requests but
• 9:23
  also just requests for accurate
• 9:24
  information uh they told me
• 9:26
  permanent residents are canceling
• 9:28
  travel plans some immigrants are
• 9:29
  hesitating to apply for citizenship
• 9:31
  and others are missing court
• 9:32
  hearings uh she said that just
• 9:34
  all this immigration enforcement has
• 9:36
  caused a lot of confusion throughout
• 9:38
  the community
• 9:38
  So obviously, people in the
• 9:40
  immigrant community are scared to
• 9:41
  kind of go out of their comfort
• 9:43
  zones. From all the organizations
• 9:45
  that you spoke with, is there a
• 9:46
  sense that people are considering
• 9:48
  ways to reach out to some of
• 9:50
  these communities, maybe to go into
• 9:51
  them, or other ways to
• 9:53
  maybe effectively contact these
• 9:55
  communities?
• 9:55
  Yeah, I mean, especially in the case
• 9:57
  of American Gateways, they said that
• 9:59
  the demand is
• 10:01
  outpacing what they can provide, but
• 10:03
  they still are committed to helping
• 10:05
  as many of these community members
• 10:07
  as possible.
• 10:08
  Is there anything that you're going
• 10:09
  to continue reporting on for this
• 10:11
  story?
• 10:11
  Um, yeah, I'm definitely interested
• 10:13
  to see if long term
• 10:15
  if this has impacted any
• 10:17
  anybody with specific medical
• 10:19
  conditions that they just haven't
• 10:20
  been able to go and get care for.
• 10:23
  Okay, we have been speaking with Sam
• 10:24
  Stark, a reporter at Austin Current.
• 10:26
  They are KUT's collaborator on the
• 10:28
  Austin Signal and a partner with KUT
• 10:30
  newsroom in covering the city.
• 10:32
  We're gonna have a link to Sam's
• 10:33
  story in today's podcast, Show
• 10:35
  Notes, and you can always find more
• 10:37
  at kut.org slash
• 10:39
  signal. Sam, thanks for being on the
• 10:40
  show. Thanks so much, Jerry.
• 10:52
  And thank you out there for spending
• 10:53
  part of your Tuesday with Austin
• 10:55
  Signal. We are 100%
• 10:58
  community supported public radio
• 11:00
  and a South by Southwest is
• 11:02
  still going on for about a day
• 11:04
  and a half longer.
• 11:05
  We got an update from KUT's
• 11:07
  Jimmy Maas and a conversation
• 11:09
  about a mythical Texas musician
• 11:11
  that's coming up after the
• 11:13
  break. This is Austin Signal
• 11:31
  Hi, this is Jimmy Maas, program
• 11:32
  director with KUT News, and you're
• 11:34
  listening to The Austin Signal.
• 11:36
  The line of appearances by the
• 11:38
  rich and fabulous continued
• 11:39
  yesterday at South By Southwest.
• 11:42
  Los Lobos, 50 years
• 11:44
  in the business, closed out the
• 11:46
  public radio day stage show.
• 11:48
  A day after a documentary about them
• 11:50
  premiered at South by.
• 11:52
  Alexander Shipp, who you may know as
• 11:54
  Storm in the recent X-Men movie
• 11:56
  reboots, as well as Betty from
• 11:58
  Riverdale, Lily Reinhart.
• 11:59
  They were on hand for the premiere
• 12:00
  of their film, Forbidden Fruits.
• 12:03
  The iHeart Podcast Awards were held
• 12:05
  last night in the house that ACL
• 12:06
  built.
• 12:07
  Saturday Night Live alum Eggo Wodham
• 12:09
  hosted the show with presenters that
• 12:11
  ranged from Will Ferrell to Jenny
• 12:13
  Garth to... Gotta jump in real
• 12:14
  quick, Jimmy. Did I win anything?
• 12:19
  Well, this is a little awkward.
• 12:21
  We were not entered in any category.
• 12:24
  Not really that kind of podcast
• 12:25
  award show.
• 12:27
  Oh. Giggly Girls was the podcast
• 12:29
  of the year.
• 12:30
  And just like the Golden Globes,
• 12:32
  public radio shows were once again
• 12:34
  shut out of all categories.
• 12:36
  However, Terry Gross, host of NPR's
• 12:38
  Fresh Air, received the 2026
• 12:40
  Audible Audio Pioneer Award,
• 12:43
  essentially a lifetime achievement
• 12:44
  award for her
• 12:46
  podcast efforts.
• 12:48
  Elsewhere, there were tons of panels
• 12:50
  on the future of AI, music,
• 12:52
  and even the future of influencer
• 12:53
  branding.
• 12:54
  At a panel on World Cup marketing,
• 12:56
  an executive at American Airlines
• 12:58
  said her flight was canceled Monday
• 12:59
  morning and that she had to get to
• 13:01
  Austin another way.
• 13:03
  You'd think an airline exec would be
• 13:04
  exempt from airport delays, but
• 13:06
  as John Cornyn reminded us
• 13:08
  yesterday, it's spring break.
• 13:10
  It's South By.
• 13:12
  I'm Jimmy Maas and you're listening
• 13:14
  to the Austin City.
• 13:18
  There are some musicians we know on
• 13:20
  a first-name basis, like Willie,
• 13:22
  Waylon, Selena, Beyoncé.
• 13:24
  But as David Brown from the Texas
• 13:26
  Standard puts it, there are some
• 13:27
  just as big who we know by
• 13:29
  last name as well.
• 13:31
  Like the name from Holtz.
• 13:35
  Six o'clock silence of
• 13:37
  a new day, beginning
• 13:39
  is heard in a small
• 13:41
  Texas town.
• 13:44
  Now if you just got goosebumps,
• 13:45
  I know who you are.
• 13:48
  You probably grew up in Texas, or
• 13:50
  you're a Texas musician yourself.
• 13:52
  You may have shed a tear listening
• 13:54
  to him sing his Texas Trilogy,
• 13:57
  took a gasp of breath when he was
• 13:58
  done, and you probably wondered
• 14:00
  how anyone could capture so much of
• 14:02
  Texas in songs that could
• 14:04
  speak in a voice that was at the
• 14:06
  same time so astonishingly
• 14:08
  universal.
• 14:10
  You probably have a copy of
• 14:11
  a Fromix album.
• 14:13
  From here to there, his
• 14:14
  collaboration with Dan McCrimmon in
• 14:16
  your record collection, a prized
• 14:18
  possession.
• 14:19
  Yeah, I see you out there.
• 14:21
  Stephen Fromholst may have left us
• 14:22
  in 2014, but in Texas,
• 14:25
  Fromholts lives on.
• 14:27
  His latest incarnation, a
• 14:29
  documentary making its world
• 14:30
  premiere at South by Southwest.
• 14:32
  It's called The Man with the Big
• 14:34
  Hat, about a musical pioneer
• 14:36
  that no musical label has
• 14:38
  ever adequately captured.
• 14:40
  It's the first film by Austin-based
• 14:42
  director, Austin Sayre, who joins us
• 14:44
  now. Austin, welcome to the Texas
• 14:45
  Standard.
• 14:46
  Thanks for having me.
• 14:47
  Some directors avoid the
• 14:49
  camera, but you start this
• 14:51
  film by telling us how you first
• 14:53
  encountered Stephen Fromholz.
• 14:55
  Why did you feel that was so
• 14:56
  important in terms of getting
• 14:58
  folks into the documentary?
• 15:00
  You know, I
• 15:02
  didn't want to be in front of the
• 15:04
  camera, but I felt it was
• 15:06
  necessary, especially with the
• 15:08
  olive branch that Lyle kind
• 15:10
  of gives me.
• 15:11
  Lyle Lovett actually reached out to
• 15:13
  you about being in this film?
• 15:15
  He did, he did.
• 15:16
  I had started the project and
• 15:18
  was making several posts online,
• 15:21
  and Lyle reached out to me saying,
• 15:23
  you know, if it's, I love to,
• 15:25
  you know, repay what Frumholz
• 15:27
  meant to me, if there's any
• 15:29
  room for me left in the film, I'd
• 15:31
  love to be a part
• 15:32
  of the project, you know, If you see
• 15:34
  a place for me.
• 15:36
  And I was just, I was taking a
• 15:38
  gas, you know, I'm like, Lyle,
• 15:39
  reached out to me and he's asking to
• 15:41
  be in this film about Frumholtz.
• 15:42
  Yes, of course, we will make room
• 15:43
  for Lyle.
• 15:45
  And I'm the man with the big
• 15:47
  hat his body in
• 16:07
  Yeah, I think it says
• 16:09
  a lot though that he would reach
• 16:11
  out to you and say hey you got room
• 16:12
  for me because I want to know I want
• 16:14
  do this could could we talk
• 16:16
  a little bit about what it was
• 16:18
  about Steve from Holtz and his music
• 16:20
  that Left such an
• 16:22
  indelible mark.
• 16:23
  Did you find him?
• 16:25
  Did you discover him through his
• 16:26
  music?
• 16:28
  I did.
• 16:28
  I found Stephen's Fromix
• 16:30
  album in an antique mall, you know,
• 16:32
  and it was the record cover that
• 16:34
  drew me in. It was all the things
• 16:36
  that I love, just the
• 16:38
  way that it was designed is just
• 16:39
  this lone mountain looking
• 16:41
  man, you, know, looking off into the
• 16:43
  distance, you know, I was drawn
• 16:45
  immediately to it.
• 16:46
  I had no idea what kind of album it
• 16:47
  was.
• 16:48
  Maybe it was a folk album, but that
• 16:50
  was my initial introduction
• 16:52
  to Stephen.
• 16:54
  If it weren't Willy covering I'd
• 16:55
  have to be crazy and then Lyle.
• 16:57
  Covering bears like I don't know if
• 16:59
  this movie would have been made
• 17:03
  But I'd have to be
• 17:05
  crazy, plumb out
• 17:07
  of my mind To
• 17:09
  fall out of love
• 17:11
  with you
• 17:15
  And yet, we say
• 17:17
  this, and he was appearing on
• 17:18
  Austin City limits without having
• 17:20
  had a hit of his own, for example.
• 17:23
  And I'm wondering how it could be
• 17:25
  that someone who has had so much
• 17:27
  of an impact on music,
• 17:30
  how it can be that so few
• 17:31
  people beyond Texas really
• 17:34
  understand or know about him,
• 17:36
  because he was hard to fit into a
• 17:38
  category, wasn't he?
• 17:39
  I mean, he sort of seemed
• 17:41
  to be almost a transitional figure,
• 17:43
  musically speaking.
• 17:44
  Between folk and what the
• 17:46
  outlaw country movement, I guess,
• 17:48
  huh?
• 17:48
  Yeah, I don't know, you know,
• 17:50
  because like he was the
• 17:52
  only artist in
• 17:54
  ACL's history to perform on three
• 17:56
  of the first four seasons.
• 17:57
  Yeah.
• 17:58
  I don't t know why he
• 18:00
  didn't catch on.
• 18:01
  You know, I didn't know how he
• 18:02
  seemed to fall through the cracks.
• 18:04
  You know his first two records
• 18:06
  on Capitol, like they're not
• 18:08
  the best representation of Steven's
• 18:09
  music because he is an artist that
• 18:11
  should be experienced in
• 18:13
  person. So I don't think his records
• 18:15
  really translated like fully
• 18:17
  represented
• 18:19
  Performing abilities, so I don't
• 18:21
  I don't I really don't know why he
• 18:23
  didn't catch on
• 18:24
  Well, in a way his music
• 18:26
  didn't fit into a
• 18:28
  radio scene that was about
• 18:30
  two and a half three minute long
• 18:32
  hit records He told
• 18:34
  stories in a sort of
• 18:36
  a long form fashion.
• 18:37
  Don't you think?
• 18:38
  Yeah, yeah, the Texas trilogy is 13
• 18:40
  minutes long, you know,
• 18:42
  so then the man with the big hat is
• 18:44
  nearly seven minutes.
• 18:45
  So Stephen didn't write for radio.
• 18:47
  You know, Stephen wrote what he
• 18:48
  knew, what he experienced
• 18:50
  and if it fit under three minutes,
• 18:52
  great. But if not, then, you know,
• 18:55
  oh well.
• 18:56
  Yeah.
• 18:57
  What was your mission with this
• 18:58
  film? Because you knew going in
• 19:00
  that he wasn't famous for
• 19:03
  radio hits.
• 19:03
  He wasn't a kind of public
• 19:05
  figure. He's not a household name,
• 19:07
  I suppose, unless you live in Texas
• 19:09
  and you love Texas music.
• 19:11
  What were you hoping to do with
• 19:12
  this?
• 19:13
  The way he impacted me was so
• 19:15
  profound. You know, I had never met
• 19:17
  Steve, I never saw him perform.
• 19:19
  He passed away as soon as I figured
• 19:21
  out who he was.
• 19:23
  And just the way that, the way I
• 19:25
  felt when I watched
• 19:27
  the archival videos of him and
• 19:29
  the way he carried himself on
• 19:31
  stage and just out on the river and
• 19:33
  the that he impacted people's lives
• 19:35
  and continues to do that.
• 19:36
  If this feeling can come across the
• 19:38
  way that he makes me feel and
• 19:39
  the way that he changed my life
• 19:41
  without ever knowing this guy.
• 19:43
  I know it's going to resonate in
• 19:44
  some way with everybody who sees it,
• 19:46
  because this is much more than
• 19:48
  a movie about music.
• 19:50
  This is the way that he lived his
• 19:51
  life. It was just so positive and
• 19:54
  so full of life and joy.
• 19:56
  I have to get this out there.
• 19:57
  It will translate.
• 19:59
  That was my goal was just to
• 20:01
  get more inside of Stephen's
• 20:02
  head and share what
• 20:05
  brought me so much joy.
• 20:07
  What was he chasing?
• 20:09
  Just his freedom to do whatever he
• 20:11
  wanted.
• 20:12
  He came close to having big
• 20:14
  record deals and being a more
• 20:16
  household name.
• 20:19
  But I think he just wanted to stay
• 20:21
  close to home. His family meant more
• 20:23
  to him.
• 20:24
  He loved Texas and he loved Austin
• 20:26
  more than anything.
• 20:26
  So he wanted to repay that.
• 20:28
  He just, he really just wanted it to
• 20:29
  be a good dad.
• 20:32
  You mentioned that he loved Austin,
• 20:34
  how meaningful is it to premiere
• 20:36
  this documentary at SXSW?
• 20:39
  It's pretty surreal, you know, like
• 20:41
  I had never made a movie.
• 20:42
  I had no intentions of making a
• 20:44
  movie and it just kind of, it just
• 20:46
  kind of happened.
• 20:47
  It's a perfect homecoming for
• 20:48
  Stephen and for the movie.
• 20:51
  I hope people walk
• 20:53
  away seeing this film, you know,
• 20:55
  moved the way that, that I have
• 20:57
  been.
• 20:58
  The way that he lived his life is
• 20:59
  just so inspiring.
• 21:02
  And is the main reason why I made
• 21:03
  this film.
• 21:04
  And you know when I asked his, his
• 21:06
  daughters during their interview,
• 21:08
  you know, what do you want people to
• 21:09
  take away, walk away feeling and
• 21:12
  knowing from this film?
• 21:14
  And his daughters both were just
• 21:15
  like, that he loved his two
• 21:17
  daughters more than anything in the
• 21:18
  world.
• 21:19
  And so that was always kind of like
• 21:21
  the number one thing that I wanted
• 21:22
  to come across in this film.
• 21:24
  Not the music, not the
• 21:26
  could have been, should have beens,
• 21:27
  but just the way that he is
• 21:30
  so well loved by
• 21:32
  his daughters and
• 21:34
  his Austin and Texas
• 21:36
  community.
• 21:37
  Austin Serr is the director of
• 21:39
  the documentary, The Man with the
• 21:40
  Big Hat, about Texas musician
• 21:42
  Stephen Fromholtz.
• 21:44
  The film premiered at this year's
• 21:45
  South by Southwest and we're going
• 21:46
  to share more at TexasStandard.org.
• 21:50
  Austin, thanks again for speaking
• 21:51
  with us.
• 21:51
  Thank you so much for having me.
• 21:53
  You've been great.
• 21:57
  Come no better than those
• 21:58
  who just don't Come
• 21:59
  no-better-than-a-bear
• 22:05
  And we've got plenty more
• 22:07
  South by Southwest coverage at
• 22:09
  KUT.org,
• 22:11
  KUTX.org and
• 22:13
  on all of our social media
• 22:15
  channels and we've had lots of
• 22:17
  South by stories recently here on
• 22:19
  Austin Signal.
• 22:20
  You can catch up on all those by
• 22:22
  going to KUT
• 22:24
  dot org slash Signal.
• 22:26
  That is it for today's show.
• 22:28
  Thank you for making us part of your
• 22:30
  Tuesday afternoon.
• 22:32
  Enjoy the weather before it gets
• 22:34
  Little hotter and have a
• 22:35
  great day. Rayna Sevilla is our
• 22:37
  technical director, Kristin Cabrera
• 22:40
  is our managing producer,
• 22:42
  and Jimmy Maas is our show runner.
• 22:44
  I'm your host, Jerry Quijano.
• 22:45
  We will talk to you tomorrow.
• 22:47
  This is Austin Signal.