Latest / Austin Signal / What’s driving Central Texas early voters to the polls

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What’s driving Central Texas early voters to the polls · Austin Signal

• 0:08
  Early voting in the March 3rd
• 0:09
  primary wraps up Friday.
• 0:11
  Turnout is trending upward across
• 0:12
  Central Texas with more voters
• 0:14
  casting ballots in Travis, Hayes
• 0:16
  and Williamson Counties compared to
• 0:18
  previous primaries.
• 0:19
  We're taking a closer look at who's
• 0:20
  showing up and what patterns are
• 0:22
  beginning to emerge at polling
• 0:24
  locations locally and across
• 0:26
  the state.
• 0:27
  Meanwhile, questions about how
• 0:28
  ballots should be counted continue
• 0:30
  to spark debate.
• 0:31
  We'll tell you about Republicans in
• 0:33
  one Texas county who are planning to
• 0:35
  hand count election day ballots.
• 0:37
  That's up next.
• 0:38
  The Austin Signal is a production
• 0:40
  of KUT News, hosted by
• 0:42
  Miles Bloxson.
• 0:43
  We're going to hear the story of the
• 0:44
  Texas musician known as the
• 0:46
  Jimi Hendrix of the accordion,
• 0:48
  plus KUTX's Ryan Wynn stops
• 0:50
  by with Austin music you need
• 0:52
  to know about.
• 0:53
  That's all coming up right here on
• 0:55
  Austin Signal.
• 1:07
  Hello out there, this is Austin
• 1:08
  Signal. It's Wednesday, February
• 1:10
  25th.
• 1:11
  Thank you for tuning in to listener
• 1:13
  powered public radio.
• 1:15
  I'm your host, Myles Bloxson.
• 1:17
  Early voting in the March 3rd
• 1:19
  primary continues through this
• 1:20
  Friday, and turnout in Travis
• 1:22
  County is the highest for any
• 1:24
  primary since 2008.
• 1:25
  Voter turnout is also up in
• 1:27
  Hays and Williamson Counties,
• 1:29
  and in all three more people have
• 1:31
  been voting in a Democratic primary
• 1:33
  than in the Republican one.
• 1:34
  A political scientist says a reason
• 1:36
  for that may be the best sense of
• 1:38
  hope for success in the fall
• 1:40
  that Texas Democrats have had in
• 1:42
  years. It's an early sign that Texas
• 1:44
  voters are indeed more engaged this
• 1:46
  primary election season and it's
• 1:48
  consistent with what some of our
• 1:50
  reporters have been hearing as they
• 1:51
  visit polling places in the Austin
• 1:53
  area. And across the state.
• 1:55
  Here's the Texas newsroom's Blaze
• 1:57
  Gainey with more.
• 1:59
  On the very first day of early
• 2:01
  voting, Caterino Garza cast
• 2:02
  his ballot in San Antonio.
• 2:04
  I've been voting Republican for
• 2:06
  about 28 years.
• 2:08
  I left the other party, yes sir.
• 2:11
  The 81-year-old says he's
• 2:13
  voted in too many elections to
• 2:15
  count, as of which races matter
• 2:17
  most to him this year.
• 2:18
  All of them, they're
• 2:20
  all a concern.
• 2:21
  If you live in the United States,
• 2:24
  all the races should be a concern
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  Maria Stevenson Green, a fellow San
• 2:28
  Antonio in her 80s, says her
• 2:30
  family's history is what motivates
• 2:32
  her.
• 2:32
  I come out for voting because
• 2:35
  my grandparents,
• 2:38
  my grandfather,
• 2:41
  a formerly enslaved man that
• 2:43
  migrated to San Antonio from
• 2:44
  Mississippi,
• 2:47
  they both had to pay a poll tax
• 2:49
  in order to vote in
• 2:51
  San Antonio.
• 2:52
  For her, voting isn't just a civic
• 2:54
  duty, it's a legacy.
• 2:56
  In Houston, Tracy Wagner says she's
• 2:58
  voting while navigating through
• 2:59
  tough economic times.
• 3:01
  I am 58 years old,
• 3:03
  currently, unfortunately, I'm
• 3:04
  unemployed from the IT
• 3:06
  industry.
• 3:07
  I've been looking for a job for like
• 3:09
  seven months now, so it's been
• 3:11
  rough.
• 3:11
  Her employment status was top of
• 3:13
  mind when casting her ballot.
• 3:14
  The unemployment rate is
• 3:17
  just really high.
• 3:19
  The government is not being honest
• 3:20
  about it, and
• 3:23
  some of it is racially motivated.
• 3:26
  Economic anxiety is something
• 3:27
  voter Randy Watson, 66
• 3:29
  of Garland, also
• 3:31
  pointed to.
• 3:32
  I'm getting ready to retire,
• 3:34
  so I'm not in too bad of shape, but
• 3:36
  there's a lot of people out there
• 3:37
  that are hurting.
• 3:38
  Prices, goods are
• 3:40
  expensive, housing is ridiculous,
• 3:43
  and people need help.
• 3:44
  Watson says he's most focused on
• 3:46
  the Texas governor's race and the
• 3:48
  U.S. Senate race, the state's most
• 3:50
  high-profile primary on both
• 3:52
  sides of the ticket.
• 3:53
  He voted in the Democratic primary
• 3:55
  and says he'd happily support either
• 3:57
  Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett or
• 3:59
  State Representative James Talerico
• 4:01
  in November.
• 4:03
  Others are focused on more down
• 4:04
  ballot races.
• 4:05
  Grady Terrell voted in Republican
• 4:07
  primary in Lubbock where he's
• 4:09
  an attorney.
• 4:10
  For him, local judicial elections
• 4:12
  were the biggest concern.
• 4:14
  And just showing up.
• 4:15
  We vote every time it comes
• 4:17
  up because people don't vote often
• 4:19
  enough.
• 4:19
  But at least so far, it looks like
• 4:21
  Texans are coming out in higher
• 4:23
  numbers than usual for a primary
• 4:25
  election in a year without
• 4:26
  a presidential race on the ballot.
• 4:29
  In the first four days of early
• 4:30
  voting, more than half a million
• 4:32
  ballots were cast in Texas.
• 4:34
  In Houston, 67-year-old Harold
• 4:36
  Ogbon II voted in
• 4:38
  the Democratic primary and says
• 4:40
  that that's how he'll vote in
• 4:42
  November too.
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  Anybody Democrat
• 4:45
  Anybody that has anything to do
• 4:47
  with mega or whatever
• 4:49
  this is out of my lead
• 4:51
  He's ready for change and thinks we
• 4:53
  should have term limits for elected
• 4:54
  offices.
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  Because these old films, they're
• 4:56
  stuck in these old ways and
• 4:59
  it ain't working.
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  In Austin, voter Jeff Lewis says
• 5:02
  how he cast his ballot was shaped
• 5:04
  by opposition to state leadership.
• 5:06
  I will stand anybody.
• 5:08
  Against Greg Abbott and
• 5:09
  that Ken Paxton regime in general.
• 5:11
  For some voters, the focus is less
• 5:13
  partisan and more about
• 5:15
  governance.
• 5:16
  Isaiah Garner hit the polls in
• 5:18
  Hearst, a city outside of Fort
• 5:19
  Worth. He says he's voted in the
• 5:21
  Republican primary for the past four
• 5:23
  election cycles.
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  Garner wants whoever wins to
• 5:26
  remember they represent everyone.
• 5:30
  Whether that person voted for you
• 5:32
  or not, if they live
• 5:34
  in Texas, you're their voice.
• 5:36
  It's not about being a
• 5:38
  Democrat or a Republican after
• 5:40
  that vote is casted.
• 5:41
  It's about fighting for
• 5:43
  everyone.
• 5:44
  Grady Terrell of Lubbock had a
• 5:46
  simpler message for those who end up
• 5:48
  getting newly elected this year or
• 5:50
  staying in power.
• 5:51
  Get it right.
• 5:52
  Quit messin' around and get it
• 5:54
  right!
• 5:55
  I'm Blaze Gainey in Austin.
• 5:57
  BOW BOW
• 6:07
  We're going to stay on the topic of
• 6:08
  election season and hear about a
• 6:10
  change of plans for the vote count
• 6:12
  in at least one Texas county
• 6:13
  out in the Hill Country.
• 6:15
  It's been a bit of a politicized
• 6:17
  back and forth in many places in
• 6:18
  Texas, a divide with some state
• 6:20
  Republicans wanting to ditch
• 6:22
  electronic voting equipment and
• 6:24
  hand count all ballots.
• 6:25
  Others say the electronic equipment
• 6:27
  works perfectly safe.
• 6:29
  It's part of a long running
• 6:30
  disagreement going back a few years.
• 6:32
  Now Republicans in Gillespie County
• 6:34
  no longer plan to hand count
• 6:36
  all of their 2026 primary
• 6:38
  ballots.
• 6:39
  Natalia Contreras covers election
• 6:41
  administration and voter access
• 6:43
  for Vote Beat in partnership with
• 6:45
  the Texas Tribune.
• 6:46
  She spoke about the change of heart
• 6:47
  with the texas standards, David
• 6:49
  Brown.
• 6:50
  Give us some background on
• 6:52
  this previous plan to
• 6:54
  hand count ballots in Gillespie
• 6:55
  County. This is just for Republicans
• 6:57
  and for the record we should mention
• 6:58
  for those who don't know,
• 7:00
  this is where Fredericksburg is
• 7:02
  located. Central Texas, right?
• 7:04
  That's right, where all the wineries
• 7:05
  are at. And actually in 2024,
• 7:09
  vote B spent all of the
• 7:10
  primary election time in
• 7:12
  Gillespie at a winery where
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  hundreds of people spend
• 7:17
  time there hand counting
• 7:19
  early voting ballots and
• 7:21
  election day ballots that were cast
• 7:23
  also at each polling location.
• 7:26
  We were there for hours.
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  I mean, we started.
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  At 6 a.m.
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  In the morning and we didn't finish.
• 7:32
  We didn't finish reporting until 5
• 7:34
  a. M. The next day and it took
• 7:35
  hundreds of people.
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  Well this time Republicans in
• 7:39
  Gillespie County have found that
• 7:40
  they don't have the same amount of
• 7:42
  people this time and so the
• 7:44
  ballots that are cast during early
• 7:46
  voting are going to be scanned
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  and the ballots are cast
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  on primary day
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  are gonna still be hand
• 7:54
  counted.
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  Um, so we may see some delays
• 7:57
  if there's not enough people to hand
• 7:59
  count, but again,
• 8:02
  all of the thousands of ballots that
• 8:04
  are cast during early voting are
• 8:06
  not going to be hand counted.
• 8:07
  There's just not enough to do this.
• 8:09
  And just for clarification,
• 8:12
  Democrats in Gillespie County, they
• 8:13
  were always going to use the
• 8:14
  machines, right?
• 8:16
  Democrats in Gillespie have always
• 8:17
  been using the machines.
• 8:19
  Their tallies are scanned pretty
• 8:21
  quickly. Also, they're not the
• 8:23
  majority in the county, and
• 8:25
  so there's not as many ballots.
• 8:27
  But yes, the Democrats
• 8:29
  are still going to vote and
• 8:31
  their ballots are going to be
• 8:32
  scanned as usual.
• 8:34
  Why has this become such an issue
• 8:36
  among Republicans in Gillespie
• 8:37
  County? Why do they feel like they
• 8:38
  have to hand count in the first
• 8:40
  place?
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  There are so many of them that
• 8:43
  really don't trust the system that's
• 8:45
  in place.
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  They really believe that, you
• 8:48
  know, the machines can be
• 8:49
  manipulated, that they're connected
• 8:51
  to the internet, all which is not
• 8:53
  true. There's actually not been any
• 8:56
  proof of any fraud whatsoever
• 8:58
  in Gillespie County.
• 8:59
  It's majority Republican, it's
• 9:01
  always been, but there's still
• 9:03
  that concern and that push, and it's
• 9:05
  been going on for a long time.
• 9:07
  Now, the reason why we've
• 9:08
  zeroed in on this, in Anglesby,
• 9:11
  for example, is because By
• 9:13
  law right now, Texas doesn't
• 9:15
  require for a hand
• 9:17
  count to be audited or
• 9:19
  recounted as you do
• 9:21
  the ballots that are tabulated by
• 9:22
  machines.
• 9:23
  And so that count from
• 9:26
  2024, as of today
• 9:28
  hasn't been audited, there hasn't a
• 9:29
  recount of it, so we don't know
• 9:31
  if those results are accurate.
• 9:33
  Okay, but why did you
• 9:35
  want to tell the state about what's
• 9:37
  happening in Gillespie County?
• 9:39
  Is this a limited
• 9:41
  concern or is this
• 9:43
  bigger than Gillespy?
• 9:45
  It is bigger than Gillespie because,
• 9:47
  you know, in the
• 9:49
  primary, the primary is the only
• 9:51
  time that the parties have the
• 9:52
  authority to decide how
• 9:54
  they're going to count their votes.
• 9:57
  And now it's Gillespy.
• 9:59
  I mean, in 2024 was Gillespe, and
• 10:01
  right now, again, it's still
• 10:02
  Gillespi. But I'm actually, as we
• 10:04
  speak, I'm in Eastland County,
• 10:06
  which is an hour and a half west
• 10:07
  of Fort Worth, where Republicans
• 10:09
  here in East land are planning to
• 10:11
  hand count their ballots also
• 10:13
  for this election.
• 10:15
  We'll see how that one goes as
• 10:16
  well. And so I expect Republicans
• 10:19
  in this state to continue
• 10:21
  to use that authority to
• 10:23
  try a hand count, to see
• 10:24
  how it goes, and for us
• 10:26
  to be waiting for results,
• 10:29
  and results that are not required
• 10:31
  by law as it stands
• 10:33
  right now to be verified for
• 10:35
  accuracy.
• 10:37
  That was Natalia Contreras.
• 10:39
  She covers election administration
• 10:41
  and voting access for VoteBeat,
• 10:43
  speaking with Texas Standard's David
• 10:44
  Brown. Early voting in the party
• 10:46
  primaries ends this Friday.
• 10:49
  We have voter guides for Travis
• 10:50
  Hayes and Williamson Counties and
• 10:52
  plenty more election info you need
• 10:54
  to know before heading to the polls
• 10:56
  at KUT.org.
• 11:09
  You're listening to The Austin
• 11:11
  Signal. We'll be back after this
• 11:13
  break.
• 11:29
  This is Austin Signal.
• 11:30
  Welcome back.
• 11:31
  It's that time, it's time to talk
• 11:33
  some music on the show.
• 11:35
  Today we've got some Texas music
• 11:36
  history about a man whose style
• 11:38
  and look became as recognizable
• 11:41
  as the music he played.
• 11:42
  And what instrument is more Texan
• 11:44
  than an accordion?
• 11:45
  Well, Jason Millett from the Center
• 11:48
  for Texas Music History at Texas
• 11:50
  State University tells us about
• 11:51
  the Jimi Hendrix of the squeeze box.
• 12:03
  This week in Texas Music History,
• 12:05
  we'll meet the South Texas Jimmy
• 12:07
  Hendrix of accordion.
• 12:09
  On February 23, 1939,
• 12:11
  conjunto accordionist Esteban
• 12:12
  Jordan, aka Steve Jordan,
• 12:14
  was born in Elsa in the Lower Rio
• 12:16
  Grande Valley.
• 12:17
  He grew up in a large family of
• 12:18
  migrant farm workers and formed a
• 12:20
  band with his brothers after seeing
• 12:21
  Valerio Longoria play.
• 12:23
  Jordan was hooked.
• 12:24
  Conjunto would be his life, steeped
• 12:26
  in its tradition while also taking
• 12:27
  the accordion unheard of directions,
• 12:29
  far from its south Texas roots.
• 12:43
  At first, he did so literally,
• 12:45
  moving to San Jose, California in
• 12:46
  1958, and then settling in Phoenix
• 12:48
  for much of the 60s.
• 12:50
  That decade also stoked Jordan's
• 12:52
  genre-crossing experiments with jazz
• 12:53
  and rock.
• 12:54
  Here in the nickname, Jimi Hendrix
• 12:56
  of the accordion, not just for the
• 12:57
  stylistic flights of fancy, but for
• 12:59
  the psychedelic phase shifters he
• 13:00
  brought to the instrument.
• 13:08
  The wild sounds that Squeezebox
• 13:10
  now made, paired with Jordan's
• 13:12
  trademark snakeskin eye patch,
• 13:14
  source of his other nickname, El
• 13:15
  Parche, made for a striking persona.
• 13:18
  If Flaco Jimenez was Con Junto's
• 13:19
  crossover ambassador, Steve Jordan
• 13:21
  was its avant-garde Pied Piper.
• 13:33
  He returned to the Lone Star State
• 13:34
  in the 1970s and spent much of his
• 13:36
  later career in the conjunto capital
• 13:37
  San Antonio, holding down a regular
• 13:39
  gig at a local bar even as he
• 13:41
  collaborated with big stars outside
• 13:43
  the genre.
• 13:44
  Jerry Garcia, Carlos Santana,
• 13:45
  Doug Song.
• 13:46
  He featured in David Byrne's film to
• 13:48
  ode to Texas' true stories and in
• 13:50
  Cheech Marin's Born in East L.A.
• 13:52
  Over the course of a dramatic
• 13:53
  career, Jordan released more than
• 13:55
  two dozen captivating albums from
• 13:57
  tried and true cantina standards
• 13:59
  through wild postmodern experiments
• 14:00
  on perhaps that most Texan of
• 14:02
  instruments.
• 14:03
  The German, Mexican, Czech,
• 14:05
  Cajun, and Creole Accord.
• 14:13
  You can hear music from the Lone
• 14:14
  Star State 24-7 on the
• 14:16
  Texas Music Experience at tmx.fm.
• 14:31
  Before we wrap up the month of
• 14:33
  February, we wanted to highlight
• 14:34
  some new Austin music that
• 14:36
  you might want to add to your
• 14:38
  playlist.
• 14:39
  Here to help us out, we have Ryan
• 14:40
  Nguyen, host and producer for our
• 14:42
  sister station KUTX.
• 14:44
  Ryan, thanks so much for coming in
• 14:46
  today.
• 14:47
  Hey Myles, thanks for having me.
• 14:48
  Of course, so let's start with an
• 14:50
  Austin mainstay.
• 14:51
  Money Cheecha, what's the track and
• 14:53
  what do you like about them?
• 14:54
  So, Money Cheecha, they've been in
• 14:56
  here in Austin since 2016.
• 14:59
  You probably have familiar with some
• 15:01
  of the people in this band.
• 15:02
  They're in Grupo Fantasma and Brown
• 15:04
  Out, which is super
• 15:06
  core Austin groups.
• 15:08
  But Money Cheecha, the sound is in
• 15:09
  their name. Chee-cha is a genre of
• 15:11
  music that's originally out of Lima,
• 15:13
  Peru in the 60s.
• 15:15
  And my boss, Peter Babb,
• 15:17
  once described them as, listening
• 15:19
  to Money Chea-cha feels a bit like
• 15:20
  taking a hit of acid and downing a
• 15:21
  couple shots of tequila.
• 15:23
  And hopping on a plane to 1960s
• 15:25
  Peru. And it is a bit like that.
• 15:44
  And it's kind of, Chicha music is
• 15:46
  a cousin of Cumbia.
• 15:49
  It's like a psychedelic surf
• 15:51
  rock version of Cambia.
• 15:53
  It kind of came about because during
• 15:55
  the 60s, a lot of people from
• 15:57
  the Amazon were immigrating to
• 15:59
  big cities like Lima, so they were
• 16:01
  bringing in all these kinds of
• 16:02
  Amazonian melodies and
• 16:04
  sounds and then combining them with
• 16:06
  more international sounds like surf
• 16:07
  rock, psychedelic music.
• 16:09
  So Mani Chicha is kind of the
• 16:11
  embodiment of this.
• 16:12
  It's kind of a scene of music that
• 16:14
  hasn't been unearthed in a while.
• 16:16
  It's a whole vibe.
• 16:17
  I found myself just moving around as
• 16:19
  I was listening to different tracks,
• 16:21
  so.
• 16:21
  Mm-hmm.
• 16:21
  I love that and groove is
• 16:23
  also abundant in the song fever
• 16:25
  trying to blow.
• 16:26
  So who is almost heaven?
• 16:27
  So Almost Heaven is a band that
• 16:30
  seemingly, you know, fell out of
• 16:31
  nowhere, you now, pun intended,
• 16:34
  but fell out nowhere, completely
• 16:35
  formed.
• 16:36
  They are, it's two people.
• 16:38
  They are originally started
• 16:41
  by this person who was a graphic
• 16:43
  designer, who got into
• 16:44
  graphic design because he wanted to
• 16:46
  make album art for music.
• 16:48
  And then he happened to be in his
• 16:49
  friend's studio and then was like,
• 16:51
  maybe I should make my own music for
• 16:52
  some of these, you no, graphics I'm
• 16:54
  making and music videos he's
• 16:55
  producing.
• 16:56
  And it kind of sounds like bands
• 16:57
  like ESG, like the
• 16:59
  dance punk and then, you know,
• 17:01
  if you like bands, like The Rapture,
• 17:02
  people are on DFA records, like LCD
• 17:04
  sound system, lots of cowbell.
• 17:22
  Lots of, you know, booty shaking.
• 17:25
  Perhaps some gold lame booty shorts
• 17:26
  would be appropriate while you're
• 17:27
  listening to them.
• 17:28
  But yeah, it's a really fun sound.
• 17:30
  I really love the way they started
• 17:31
  the song, fever trying to blow.
• 17:33
  It was like a nice little buildup.
• 17:35
  And then they were kind of talking
• 17:36
  to you a little bit.
• 17:37
  Like I've had a long day at work,
• 17:39
  a long week at work.
• 17:40
  And I just want to get loose.
• 17:42
  And I was like, okay, build up to
• 17:43
  the song then. I love that.
• 17:44
  I love that. It's perfect for that.
• 17:46
  Check out the music video too.
• 17:47
  For sure, very dope, very
• 17:49
  cool.
• 17:50
  So look, you certainly feel the
• 17:52
  groove in a lot of these tracks,
• 17:53
  right? But there's one in here
• 17:55
  that's also got a bit of a visual
• 17:57
  component to it, Grandmaster.
• 17:59
  Mm-hmm. Yeah, they are I
• 18:01
  guess self-described as space
• 18:03
  cult funk They are definitely
• 18:06
  influenced bands like Earth Wind and
• 18:07
  Fire, but then they have a whole
• 18:09
  visual esthetic That's like part
• 18:11
  Parliament Funkadelic part
• 18:12
  Perhaps Nintendo they
• 18:14
  even kind of sound like a modern
• 18:16
  Nintendo soundtrack Which you know
• 18:17
  honestly is a really is high praise
• 18:19
  like if you played modern Super
• 18:21
  Mario games
• 18:22
  I mean I am, yes,
• 18:24
  that's what I do when I have a bad
• 18:25
  day. I'm like, let me go play some
• 18:27
  Super Mario Brothers, so I'm all
• 18:28
  here for it.
• 18:46
  But yeah, they are super awesome.
• 18:49
  I remember the last time I saw them
• 18:50
  at Rock the Park, they
• 18:52
  had a procession where a bunch of
• 18:54
  people were following around to
• 18:56
  indoctrinate people into their
• 18:59
  space funk cult.
• 19:00
  And it may sound a little
• 19:02
  intimidating, but it's actually
• 19:04
  supposed to be really fun, and it
• 19:05
  is.
• 19:06
  I love that.
• 19:07
  I remember when they came in for a
• 19:09
  1A session and I was like,
• 19:11
  wow, there's all these people here.
• 19:13
  What is happening?
• 19:13
  And then I see like, what, 11 people
• 19:15
  performing at one time.
• 19:17
  Yeah. How many people are in this
• 19:18
  band again? It is, it is 11.
• 19:20
  They're an 11 piece band.
• 19:21
  A lot of them are Berkeley College
• 19:22
  of Music graduates.
• 19:24
  So like the musicianship, yeah,
• 19:25
  the musicians ship is on an
• 19:27
  extremely high level.
• 19:28
  So like earth, wind and fire, but
• 19:29
  then there's a little bit of like
• 19:30
  Alan Parsons project, um,
• 19:33
  prog rock going on too.
• 19:34
  So it's very sophisticated, but very
• 19:36
  whimsical at the same time.
• 19:37
  Alright, this is a really nice list,
• 19:39
  but I have to know what other songs
• 19:41
  stood out to you this month.
• 19:43
  I'm really excited about this band
• 19:44
  called The Opera, and one
• 19:46
  of the front women of the band,
• 19:48
  Tyler Dozer, was in this group, or
• 19:50
  she called herself Lady Dan the last
• 19:52
  time we heard from her, and it was
• 19:52
  kind of this Americana
• 19:55
  sound, but The
• 19:57
  Opera is coming more from like
• 20:00
  post-hardcore, like bands like
• 20:01
  Unwound, it's very kind of like
• 20:03
  angular, artsy, Art
• 20:05
  punk is another word that you
• 20:06
  describe it.
• 20:19
  Yeah, they have a sound that's
• 20:20
  really exciting.
• 20:22
  They're also a six-piece band.
• 20:23
  They're kind of experimental.
• 20:24
  They have saxophone sometimes, but
• 20:26
  it's also a punk band.
• 20:27
  So it can be noisy, but I also think
• 20:29
  it's really approachable.
• 20:30
  And I'm really excited to see them
• 20:31
  live, too, because personally, this
• 20:33
  band just came out. They just
• 20:34
  dropped their debut EP.
• 20:36
  And I kind of think they're the
• 20:37
  freshest thing in the Austin air
• 20:38
  right now.
• 20:39
  I love that I have to check that out
• 20:40
  and you know there's this small
• 20:42
  little bitty event happening you
• 20:44
  know sometime coming up
• 20:46
  soon and perhaps you know a little
• 20:48
  bit about it myself.
• 20:49
  Oh right
• 20:50
  What are you excited about this
• 20:52
  year?
• 20:52
  I mean, honestly, I'm
• 20:54
  excited about our event.
• 20:55
  So, you know, it sounds like this is
• 20:57
  a shameless plug, but really, like,
• 20:59
  there's a new event that we have.
• 21:01
  It's KETX at the Rivian stage, and
• 21:03
  it's gonna be an all-Austin lineup,
• 21:05
  and that will be three days during
• 21:07
  South by Southwest.
• 21:08
  We also have the KETLive at Schultz
• 21:10
  Garden, which will be an international
• 21:11
  lineup. But right now, we still
• 21:13
  have the lineup kind of, you now,
• 21:15
  close to our chest at the moment.
• 21:16
  Close to the vest?
• 21:17
  Yeah, yeah.
• 21:17
  You're not telling us nothing?
• 21:18
  Well, you know, we've got
• 21:20
  to work out the last little details,
• 21:22
  but you know perhaps some of these
• 21:24
  bands that I just mentioned will be
• 21:25
  indeed on those bills.
• 21:27
  All right, we've been talking with
• 21:28
  Ryan when he's a host and producer
• 21:30
  for our sister station, KTX,
• 21:32
  we're gonna have a link to his
• 21:33
  latest in the show notes for today's
• 21:36
  podcast, Ryan, thank you so much for
• 21:38
  sharing the new music with us today.
• 21:39
  Thanks, Myles.
• 21:42
  You can start planning for
• 21:43
  everything KUTX has planned for
• 21:45
  South by Southwest 2026
• 21:47
  by heading over to kutx.org.
• 21:50
  And don't forget that Austin Signal
• 21:52
  will be doing a live show out
• 21:54
  at Schultz Beer Garden to kick off
• 21:55
  the festival.
• 21:56
  Hopefully you can join us out there
• 21:58
  and we'll have more details in the
• 21:59
  coming days. It's gonna be a lot of
• 22:01
  fun guys.
• 22:02
  And that's it for today on Austin
• 22:04
  Signal. We'll have More about the
• 22:05
  stories we shared with you today in
• 22:07
  the podcast show And you
• 22:09
  can find more from us at KUT.org
• 22:12
  slash Signal.
• 22:14
  Casey Cheek is our technical
• 22:16
  director today and Jerry Keanu is
• 22:17
  wearing a different hat as the
• 22:19
  show's producer.
• 22:20
  I'm your host, Myles Bloxson.
• 22:22
  Austin Signal will be back at the
• 22:24
  same time tomorrow.
• 22:25
  Right here on KUT
• 22:27
  News and trust me you don't
• 22:29
  want to miss it.
• 22:30
  We'll talk to you then and I hope
• 22:32
  you have a wonderful day.
• 22:34
  Stay kind.
• 22:35
  You