Latest / Austin Signal / What’s in store for Hole in the Wall after historic venue is sold

Transcript

What’s in store for Hole in the Wall after historic venue is sold · Austin Signal

0:09
Temperatures are on the rise in
0:10
Hayes County.
0:11
It's bracing for a fourth year of
0:12
drought. Now with familiar water
0:14
restrictions and limitations, there
0:16
are new severe issues with their
0:17
water wells.
0:18
And in a viral clip heard around
0:20
the world, one actor questioned the
0:22
relevance of opera and ballet and
0:24
everyone's talking about it.
0:26
But how do those words hit right
0:27
here at home?
0:28
Well, we'll hear from two local arts
0:30
organizations, Ballet Austin and
0:32
Austin Opera, to get their take.
0:34
The Austin Signal is a production
0:36
of KUT News, hosted by
0:38
Miles Bloxson.
0:39
The historic venue hole in the wall
0:41
is under new ownership.
0:43
Find out what the new owners have
0:44
planned for the music venue.
0:46
Plus Accent Unmuted, a live
0:48
storytelling event, is happening
0:50
tonight.
0:51
Hear more from the event's creator.
0:53
That's coming up next on
0:55
Austin Signal.
1:06
Hey Austin, I hope you're having an
1:08
amazing day.
1:09
It's Thursday, March 26th.
1:11
I'm Miles Bloxson and this is
1:13
Austin Signal.
1:15
As temperatures climb and summer
1:16
dryness creeps in, residents in
1:18
Hayes County are bracing for a
1:20
fourth year of drought.
1:21
Aquifer levels have been depleted to
1:23
historic lows, threatening a
1:25
major source of drinking water for
1:27
the area.
1:28
Alongside now familiar water
1:29
restrictions, some Hayes county
1:31
residents are having new or more
1:33
severe issues with their once
1:35
reliable Water wells.
1:36
KUT's Hayes County reporter
1:38
Lee Walden has the
1:40
story.
1:41
Radiance is a small rural community
1:43
in northwestern Hays.
1:45
It's got small town charm, a
1:47
neighborhood where you can reliably
1:48
enlist help to find a lost dog
1:50
or count on a wave while you're
1:52
driving.
1:53
Madeleine Brock has lived there for
1:54
decades.
1:55
Everybody is interested in
1:57
community living and
1:59
so we pretty much know all of our
2:01
neighbors.
2:02
Radiance, like most of Hayes County,
2:04
has been living with drought
2:05
restrictions on and off for years,
2:07
but their well was steady and
2:09
reliable. That was, of course,
2:10
until early last year.
2:12
Then it just started, we had less
2:14
and less water coming
2:16
from that well.
2:17
And finally, at the end of January,
2:19
2025,
2:22
it was not pumping anymore.
2:24
After the well dried up, residents
2:26
had to use an old well.
2:28
It had been out of commission for
2:29
years because of contamination that
2:31
made it unsafe to drink.
2:33
That retired well was the
2:34
neighborhood's only source of water.
2:36
They had to boil the water before
2:37
drinking it.
2:38
They lived like that from February
2:40
to September of last year.
2:42
It was a long haul for
2:44
everybody.
2:46
The health of wells isn't just a
2:47
concern for radiance.
2:49
All over Hays County, wells are
2:50
struggling to provide water as
2:52
aquifer levels get lower and lower.
2:55
That's been keeping well drillers
2:56
and servicers busy.
2:57
Not only doing routine well care,
2:59
but also solving problems that have
3:01
been exacerbated by the drought.
3:03
Well maintenance is time-consuming,
3:05
delicate work.
3:06
It depends on if you're replacing
3:07
the water, replacing the pipe, you
3:09
know what I mean?
3:09
Around 20 miles southeast of
3:11
Radiance in Buda, Matthew Taylor
3:13
and Vanna Welch stand near the
3:15
tailgate of their truck.
3:17
It's decked out with all the
3:18
equipment needed to service wells.
3:20
Tools that look like giant metal
3:22
rabbit's ears, wrenches so big
3:24
they come up to a grown man's waist.
3:26
A huge spool of electrical wire.
3:29
Growing out of the back of the truck
3:30
is a 40 foot tall arm that
3:32
draws the pieces of the well up
3:34
section by section.
3:38
Today, Taylor and Welch are working
3:40
on a pump replacement.
3:42
There's the water.
3:45
198
3:47
This well is in good shape.
3:49
The men work together to bring up
3:50
the old pump, replace the old
3:52
electrical line, lower a new pump,
3:54
and reattach each piece of the pipe
3:56
leading down the well.
4:00
Jared Thompson owns The Well Doctor,
4:02
the company working on this well.
4:04
He's been in the water game so long
4:05
that he can guesstimate what the
4:07
water level in this area used to be.
4:08
It used to probably be around 100
4:10
feet.
4:10
That is, the water was about 100
4:12
feet below the ground.
4:13
And so then they could have the pump
4:15
set at 200 feet and have plenty of
4:17
water.
4:17
The pump would be 100 feet below the
4:19
water level, but the water has
4:20
dropped.
4:21
What did you say the water level
4:22
was?
4:23
190. 190.
4:24
And so then they would be sucking
4:26
air momentarily
4:28
while they were running water.
4:29
So at that point, if they knew that,
4:31
then we could just simply lower it
4:32
down an extra 100 feet.
4:34
Thompson says butyl wells, by
4:36
and large, are pretty healthy right
4:37
now, but wells near dripping springs
4:39
aren't doing so hot.
4:40
That's where we really see the water
4:41
level drop consistently.
4:43
Thompson and his crew are replacing
4:45
or lowering more and more wells
4:46
throughout the county.
4:48
The last major drought that hit
4:49
Hayes from 2008 to 2014
4:51
kept Thompson's company busy.
4:54
They were lowering pumps almost
4:55
every day, and some wells needed
4:57
to be dug even deeper.
4:59
Now he says some of those deeper
5:01
wells are going dry these days,
5:03
and redrilling costs a lot.
5:05
It could be around $75,000
5:07
to get it re-drilled and all new
5:09
equipment into it, so it's quite
5:10
expensive.
5:11
A lot of owning and maintaining
5:13
a well is expensive.
5:14
Even the pump replacement Taylor and
5:16
Welch are doing in Buda is a $7,500
5:18
ordeal.
5:20
Most home insurance doesn't cover
5:21
wells. The Radiance neighborhood had
5:23
to take out a loan for $40,000
5:25
to restore water to their community.
5:28
There's another $5,000-$10,000
5:30
for testing and monitoring on
5:32
top of that.
5:33
All split between the 40 or so
5:35
homes.
5:35
You know, everybody's gonna see that
5:36
burden a little bit financially.
5:38
Arturo Rivera lives in Radiance,
5:40
and he says that this is a stressful
5:42
expense for some of the
5:43
neighborhood.
5:43
In order to basically
5:45
provide water in this
5:47
state of the drought, we had to
5:49
spend a lot of money to feel secure
5:51
in our water source.
5:52
It doesn't look like the situation
5:54
is getting better anytime soon.
5:56
The Hayes-Trinity Groundwater
5:57
Conservation District says aquifer
5:59
and river conditions have not been
6:00
this bad in the more than 20-year
6:02
history of the district, including
6:05
the 2011 drought.
6:07
Every one of the District's
6:08
monitored wells are below historic
6:10
levels.
6:11
It would take 34 inches of rain
6:13
in the next six months to pull the
6:15
region out of drought.
6:16
The Conservation District estimates
6:18
there's less than a 1% chance
6:20
of that happening.
6:21
Meanwhile, Hayes County has launched
6:23
a countywide study to plan for
6:25
future water needs.
6:26
This will give local governments
6:28
updated water data and information
6:30
for the first time since 2011.
6:32
But for now, in neighborhoods like
6:34
Radiance, the impacts of the water
6:36
crisis are already deeply felt and
6:38
not resolved.
6:39
It's just going to be a bit of a
6:40
steep hill to climb and it's not
6:42
like it's going to be solved today
6:43
or tomorrow, but we have to
6:45
plan for the future.
6:46
From Hayes County, I'm Leigh Walden.
6:53
Back in February, Matthew
6:55
McConaughey and Timothee Chalamet
6:57
sat down just across the
6:59
street on UT's campus for
7:01
the CNN Town Hall.
7:02
Then in the viral clip heard around
7:05
the world, Timothe Chalamett
7:07
said this.
7:08
And I don't wanna be working in
7:10
ballet or opera or
7:12
things where it's like, hey, keep
7:13
this thing alive even though no
7:15
one cares about this anymore.
7:16
Joining us now to talk about this
7:18
is Jennifer Baston, Chief
7:20
Advancement Officer at Austin
7:22
Opera, and Cookie Ruiz,
7:24
Executive Director of Ballet Austin.
7:26
Great to have y'all here.
7:28
Thanks so much.
7:29
Thanks for having us.
7:29
Of course!
7:30
What was your first reaction when
7:32
you saw the clip of Timothee
7:33
Chalamet?
7:35
Well for me
7:35
ended up being kind of a funny
7:37
moment because I was in a situation
7:39
where a television was going.
7:41
And on this, it was a
7:44
morning show, and this happened
7:45
to be debating the war in Iran.
7:48
And then the next clip up was this
7:50
debate over what Timothee Chalamet
7:52
had said.
7:53
And as I watched it, I was really
7:55
surprised to find the same rancor
7:57
that was used to discuss
7:59
Iran was passed
8:01
over to conversation around Timothy.
8:04
So, at one level...
8:05
I felt that perhaps we
8:07
should have a little difference in
8:09
our opinions around what's going on
8:11
with the war versus what's coming on
8:13
with a young man having an opinion.
8:15
But it ended up making me feel like
8:17
let's have a humor around this.
8:19
So it was a moment of
8:21
understanding that this was going to
8:23
be quite a debate because it
8:25
had risen to that level, but
8:27
also a time for us to say,
8:29
okay, perhaps we don't share the
8:30
same opinion, but maybe we can find
8:31
some humor in this.
8:33
What about you, Jennifer?
8:34
Very similar reaction.
8:36
I mean, the first thing that popped
8:37
in my head was, ah, how rude.
8:40
Of course, there are people who care
8:42
about opera and ballet.
8:44
I have the pleasure of working with
8:46
them every day.
8:47
I have donors who fund
8:49
these art forms out of their own
8:51
pocket, out of their earned wealth
8:53
to make sure that
8:55
our communities have these artforms
8:57
alive and well.
8:58
But to some extent, I understood.
9:01
Where he was coming from, I think
9:03
he worded it very poorly.
9:05
I think, you know, what he
9:07
was trying to get across was
9:09
that he wants to work in mainstream
9:11
popular culture, and that's
9:13
where the fame and money is.
9:16
But we also have to consider that
9:18
ballet and opera at one point were
9:19
mainstream choices of entertainment,
9:22
and people literally
9:24
fought over, society members
9:26
fought over who was to have the best
9:27
seat at the box for
9:29
the opera.
9:31
And so, you know, these art forms
9:32
have been around for 500 years, 400
9:34
years.
9:35
They're alive and well and thriving.
9:38
And so yes, I thought it was
9:40
kind of humorous and very poorly
9:42
worded on his part.
9:44
Agreed. So what has been some of the
9:46
responses that you all have seen?
9:47
Because this went viral.
9:50
Been actually a lot of fun.
9:52
So I think at some level, we sort
9:54
of have to thank him, because, to
9:56
your point, Jennifer, these art
9:57
forms have been around a long time.
9:59
And so when he threw that out there,
10:01
a lot folks froze up to our defense,
10:03
and they were righteously indignant
10:05
and supportive.
10:06
And it's just allowed for a good
10:08
conversation.
10:09
So what we decided to do
10:11
was to say, okay, we've got a
10:13
production coming up.
10:14
So if you have Timothy in
10:16
your name anywhere, your first name,
10:18
your middle name, your last name.
10:19
And then we afforded about four or
10:21
five spellings of Timothy,
10:23
come on to this next ballet, we'll
10:25
give you a free ticket.
10:26
So it's been fun,
10:28
it's allowed conversation to happen.
10:30
We have about 14 Timothys that have
10:32
responded so far.
10:33
My next door neighbor mentioned
10:34
yesterday his middle name was
10:36
Timothy and he wants to come.
10:38
So, you know, it allows for dialog
10:40
and we can handle it.
10:42
Are you gonna let the next door
10:43
neighbors Timothy come?
10:44
You bet, if he shows
10:46
up, we'll be there for him.
10:48
But it's, it has been fun.
10:49
It's definitely had a kind of an
10:50
accidental positive effect.
10:52
I mean, it's the best marketing
10:53
campaign I could have dreamed up,
10:55
you know, and we're in the middle of
10:57
selling one of the most popular
10:59
titles in the operatic
11:01
repertory LabOM.
11:02
And so to have this dialog going on
11:05
and to have people galvanized
11:07
coming together to support these
11:08
art forms, I think will only
11:10
help us sell more tickets and
11:12
show the world and show Timothy that
11:14
people care about these art They
11:16
care about them very much.
11:17
Do these words hit even harder
11:19
because they were actually said in
11:21
Austin for y'all?
11:23
Well, that was kind of our.
11:23
Points. Like, you were literally
11:25
down the street from us at
11:27
the time. Our building is right here
11:28
in the downtown area.
11:30
So, yes, I do think
11:32
that that was really kind of a bit
11:33
of irony that was literally on
11:35
the UT campus when these words are
11:37
being said. So yeah.
11:38
Yeah, we, you know,
11:41
I think every opera company in
11:42
America posted something on social
11:44
media and Instagram, Facebook and
11:46
whatnot, kind of poking fun
11:48
at what he said.
11:50
And ours was, you know, the famous I
11:51
love you so much.
11:53
We replaced, we inserted
11:55
I love opera so much and, you know,
11:57
we said, yeah, Timothy, we're just
11:58
down the street.
11:59
To come check us out.
12:00
All right, Timothy, he knows where
12:01
to go next time he's in Austin.
12:02
The comments do definitely bring up
12:05
the longevity of opera and ballet.
12:07
What is your response to that
12:08
question he kind of accidentally
12:10
posed? Is opera and ballet
12:12
relevant today?
12:13
You know, I think that actually was
12:15
a great opening for us, particularly
12:17
those of us,
12:19
Ballet Austin is a producing
12:21
company, which means we create world
12:23
premiere work here.
12:24
Stephen Mills is a producer
12:25
choreographer and has created 42
12:27
brand new works in Austin in
12:29
the last 25 years.
12:31
So tonight, we will have our dress
12:33
rehearsal for Marie Antoinette,
12:35
Vampire Queen of Versailles.
12:37
So only in Austin would Marie
12:39
Antoinette be anticipated in.
12:42
Thought of what would happen if
12:44
she got her agency back
12:46
and she actually found a
12:48
way to gain immortality.
12:50
So brand new score by Graham
12:52
Reynolds, brand new sets and
12:54
costumes, and this idea
12:56
that we can create interesting
12:58
new work.
12:59
Yeah, in a very similar fashion.
13:02
Austin Opera is also a producing
13:03
company.
13:04
I think, we think,
13:07
of course, opera is relevant.
13:08
That's why myself and
13:10
my boss, Annie Burrage, the general
13:12
director and CEO of the opera
13:13
company have devoted our lives to
13:14
producing it.
13:17
Living composers and librettists are
13:18
writing works all day, every day
13:21
that speak and reflect
13:22
modern stories and diverse stories.
13:25
Two of our operas next season are
13:28
modern stories.
13:29
They've been written within the last
13:31
10 years.
13:32
And the one that is opening our
13:34
season in the fall, of Frenda,
13:36
is actually being finished up this
13:38
year.
13:39
And it's a story, it's an immigrant
13:40
story, a mother-daughter story
13:42
centered around Dia
13:44
de los Muertos traditions.
13:45
And so it's deeply connected
13:48
to Austin, deeply connected the
13:49
people who live here, our community,
13:52
the community that we're trying to
13:53
serve.
13:54
And so yes, of course,
13:56
opera is relevant.
13:57
I also think that even operas that
13:59
were written 200 years ago continue
14:01
to be relevant.
14:02
They continue to make us laugh and
14:03
cry.
14:04
The human condition hasn't changed
14:06
much.
14:07
Our emotions remain the
14:09
same. We all experience love, loss,
14:12
conflict, friendships, and
14:14
those stories that were written 200
14:15
hundred years ago, I think, still
14:17
continue to share what
14:19
it is to be human, and we feel that
14:21
deeply now as we did hundreds
14:23
of years ago.
14:24
Beautiful, a lot of cool events
14:25
coming up and a lot cool
14:27
performances coming up.
14:28
I've been speaking to Jennifer
14:29
Baston, Chief Advancement Officer at
14:31
Austin Opera and Cookie Ruiz,
14:33
Executive Director of Ballet Austin.
14:35
Thanks so much for joining us today.
14:37
Thank you. Thanks for having us.
14:39
We'll have links to those
14:40
performances at kut.org
14:42
slash Signal and in the podcast
14:44
show notes.
14:45
This is Austin Signal.
14:53
This is Austin Signal, I'm
14:55
Jerry Quijano.
14:56
The Texas men's basketball team will
14:58
be back on the hardwood tonight,
15:00
looking to extend their, air quotes,
15:02
Cinderella run in this year's NCAA
15:04
Championship tournament.
15:06
The Longhorns just barely snuck into
15:08
the field of 68, and it's
15:10
probably fair to say that most
15:11
experts didn't expect the Horns to
15:12
still be around this late in the
15:14
game. But Texas was able to prevail
15:16
over North Carolina State before
15:18
knocking off higher seeded BYU
15:20
and Gonzaga.
15:22
Hey, Texas head coach Sean Miller,
15:24
I guess the horns must be a lot
15:25
better than their 11th seed
15:27
reflects, right?
15:28
The one thing about this tournament
15:30
that you learn is the best team
15:32
doesn't always win.
15:34
It's the team who plays the very
15:36
best on that particular day.
15:39
Well, in that case, Texas is
15:41
going to need a pretty darn good day
15:42
to advance past second-seeded
15:44
Purdue.
15:45
The silver lining for Texas fans?
15:47
The two programs have played just
15:49
six times, with Texas winning
15:51
four of those.
15:53
Tip-off tonight against the
15:54
Boilermakers is scheduled for ten
15:56
minutes past six o'clock local
15:58
time.
15:59
This is Austin Six.
16:06
This is Austin Signal, welcome back.
16:08
The Austin dive bar hole in the wall
16:10
is changing hands.
16:12
The historic venue has struggled to
16:14
stay afloat over the last decade.
16:16
But as KUT's Andrew Weber reports,
16:18
the new owners hope to keep the
16:20
Austin fixture alive and
16:22
well for another 50 years.
16:25
Whether you've been in Austin for 10
16:26
years, 10 months, or 10 weeks,
16:29
you've likely heard of Hole in the
16:30
Wall, one of Austin's finest dive
16:32
bars that's hosted everyone, from
16:34
Doug Somm, Gary Clark Jr., and
16:35
Blaise Foley, to Townes Van Zandt,
16:38
and Kevin Russell and his band
16:40
Shiny Roops.
16:41
And like the Austin-based
16:42
singer-songwriter told KUTX last
16:44
year, if you've ever darkened the
16:46
doors of this beloved
16:47
half-century-old dive,
16:49
Russell says you likely have
16:51
a Hole in the last week.
16:53
I remember the night we
16:54
raised the cover from
16:56
$5, our normal $5 cover,
16:58
to $7 and man,
17:01
it was about a riot out there.
17:02
People had chalk and they were
17:04
writing horrible things about us on
17:05
the sidewalk.
17:06
One guy even paid the $7 cover
17:08
just to come in and flip us off.
17:13
A colorful institution, something
17:15
that's always been and seemingly
17:16
will always be.
17:18
But the bar has struggled to stay
17:19
afloat amid Austin's growth,
17:21
the city's real estate boom, and the
17:23
pandemic.
17:24
It nearly closed in 2015,
17:26
then in 2023,
17:28
the bar, again, appeared to be
17:30
circling the drain, only for the
17:32
city to intervene, injecting more
17:34
than a million dollars into the
17:35
space and helping it secure a
17:37
20-year lease.
17:37
Now, it's facing a new
17:39
challenge, new ownership.
17:41
But the new co-owner, Mike Levine,
17:43
wants everyone to know.
17:44
This is, as he calls it, a peaceful
17:47
transition of power.
17:48
For this place to still be standing
17:49
after this time is a testament to
17:51
how much people love it.
17:53
When you talk to people about the
17:54
hole in the wall, it's different
17:55
than when you talk about their
17:57
favorite restaurant or bar.
17:59
They care.
18:01
They care and we feel
18:03
a great responsibility there and
18:05
it's not something we take lightly.
18:07
It's a true
18:08
Levine is partnering with Courtney
18:10
Goforth to bring the iconic bar into
18:12
a new era.
18:13
Goforth has been a booker and
18:15
promoter in Austin for more than a
18:16
decade, working at places like Hotel
18:18
Vegas.
18:19
Goforth calls this opportunity a
18:21
full circle moment.
18:22
When she first moved to Austin, she
18:23
would go to Hole in the Wall to meet
18:24
up with friends.
18:25
She knows the former managers, and
18:27
the former owner, Will Tanner, who's
18:29
retiring.
18:30
Last week when she was helping out
18:31
during a South by Southwest show,
18:33
that peaceful transition was on
18:35
full display.
18:36
But it is just, you know, like I was
18:38
here the other night for
18:39
one of the South by parties
18:41
and I was back
18:43
helping bar back for a second
18:45
and walked two of
18:47
the previous GMs and Will Tanner
18:49
and it feels really
18:51
good to know that everyone is
18:53
still just vibing with each other.
18:55
It's like, it doesn't matter what
18:57
iteration they came from.
18:58
Like everyone still wants to come to
18:59
hole in the wall and hang out, you
19:01
know?
19:01
Go Forth and Levine want to keep the
19:03
bar pretty much the same.
19:05
There's a reason it's been a
19:06
mainstay for a half a century, but
19:08
they want to bring in more shows,
19:10
more touring acts, more everything,
19:12
Levine says.
19:14
Approach.
19:15
More punk rock, more drag, more
19:16
comedy, more shaking your
19:18
ass, more opportunities to
19:20
gather and be social
19:23
and have fun.
19:24
It's just more fun.
19:25
That really is what it comes down
19:26
to, right? More fun.
19:28
We're gonna bring more people, more
19:29
opportunities to have more fun
19:31
The bar will be getting some
19:33
upgrades.
19:34
Levine says, for one, it'll have a
19:35
new restaurant in its back space.
19:37
Levine wouldn't spill the beans on
19:39
who would be taking that space over,
19:40
but he did say it aims to be a
19:42
full-service restaurant with
19:43
late-night options as well.
19:45
But the bar will still have its
19:46
quirks. One thing that's not
19:48
changing?
19:49
The side-by-side toilets in one of
19:50
the bathrooms that have confounded
19:52
patrons over the years.
19:54
That's staying.
19:57
That's the number one question I've
19:58
gotten.
19:59
Busty bathroom.
19:59
You're going to fix that bathroom,
20:01
right?
20:01
No, that's
20:03
the besty bathroom.
20:04
It's iconic.
20:07
I mean, there's album covers with
20:08
that bathroom. We couldn't change
20:09
that.
20:10
Levine says the concept is simple,
20:12
keep what's made the dive bar iconic
20:14
and tweak what needs to be tweaked,
20:16
without sacrificing the soul of the
20:18
bar that's part of the city's legacy
20:20
as a live music capital.
20:22
People build bars now to look 50
20:23
years old. This place is 50 years.
20:25
You know, you can come in that front
20:26
room and you can still feel the
20:27
ghost of Doug Psalm over there, you
20:29
know. But you know, we're going to
20:30
be a dive bar and we're a great live
20:31
venue and we are going to remind
20:32
people of that and we going to give
20:34
people more opportunities and more
20:35
reasons to come.
20:36
And that's all we can do.
20:37
I'm excited about it.
20:39
Levine says the era of saving the
20:41
hole in the wall is over.
20:42
He wants the venue to thrive.
20:44
So a new generation of Austinites
20:46
can have their very own hole in
20:47
wall story.
20:49
And here's to all the ghosts.
20:51
All the ghosts through the hole in
20:52
the wall.
20:54
I'm Andrew Weber in Austin.
21:03
Oh
21:04
What's in a radio voice?
21:05
And who was the right voice to tell
21:07
a story?
21:08
Well, that's everyone, according to
21:10
Accent Unmuted, live storytelling
21:12
event. It's returning tonight to
21:14
KUT's Studio 1A.
21:16
We're speaking now with Nami Saroo.
21:18
Who puts the show together?
21:20
Nami, welcome to the show.
21:21
Thank you so much for having me.
21:23
Yeah, so there are a lot of
21:25
storytelling events here in Austin,
21:26
right? What sounds and voices were
21:28
you looking to amplify when you
21:30
thought of Accent unmuted?
21:31
At the very basic level
21:34
immigrants with accents telling
21:35
stories because I am
21:37
a big storytelling nerd myself
21:39
and I kept going to a lot of events
21:41
and not seeing any or
21:43
enough accented voices.
21:44
So I was like, I'm just going to
21:46
start my own. I'm going to do all
21:48
immigrants with accent telling
21:49
stories.
21:49
Really?
21:50
So you would go to these events and
21:52
you wouldn't hear anybody really
21:53
with an accent?
21:54
Yeah. And you found the gap
21:56
and you created something.
21:57
I love this.
21:58
So what kind of storytelling
21:59
background do your participants
22:01
have? Are they seasoned
22:02
storytellers?
22:03
Are people sharing their voices for
22:05
the first time?
22:06
It's a bit of everything.
22:08
There are quite a few seasoned
22:10
storytellers because I've done
22:12
Toastmasters for a long time.
22:14
And just because it's easier,
22:16
I end up getting a lot of people
22:18
who are interested in telling their
22:20
story and they have
22:22
that training a little bit.
22:23
So it's just easier for them.
22:25
But then it's also, I do an open
22:27
call.
22:27
So I'm trying to tap
22:29
into communities that I don't have
22:31
access to.
22:32
So I do basically a speaker
22:34
nomination form. And sometimes I get
22:35
people I've never met before who
22:37
have zero experience.
22:39
I help them develop their story
22:40
and
22:41
kind of curated.
22:42
I love that. And I love that you
22:43
said that you're a storytelling
22:44
nerd.
22:46
When you first imagined this
22:47
project, what did you think it would
22:49
be and how has it evolved or
22:51
surprised you along the way?
22:52
I remember the exact moment
22:54
when I had the idea and
22:56
I pitched it to someone and they
22:58
were like, but why?
23:00
You know, they just didn't and they
23:01
were accented immigrants themselves
23:03
and they're like, what, why does
23:05
this need to exist?
23:06
What would this do for people?
23:08
And so I think it just took having
23:10
to actually execute on it and
23:12
then getting the backing off
23:13
something like KUT to host
23:15
the event lent it that
23:17
legitimacy that it needed.
23:19
And now, it's really cool, because
23:21
now I see more and more people
23:23
buying into the idea.
23:25
And I also hadn't fully
23:27
thought about, so there's
23:29
two aspects to it.
23:30
There's the storyteller, but then
23:32
there's also the audience.
23:33
And as I was developing this
23:35
idea, I started to become really
23:37
particular that A, I
23:39
want the stories themselves to
23:41
be sort of very slice of
23:43
life, very approachable, relatable
23:45
stories.
23:46
And I want the audience to be a
23:48
mix of not just immigrants, but also
23:50
a lot of Americans, because I
23:52
want to sort of demystify
23:54
a lot of ideas or perceptions
23:56
people might have of immigrants.
23:58
And so it's a nice way to
24:00
bring the community together.
24:02
In representation.
24:03
Mm-hmm.
24:04
I mean that that's why too, right?
24:05
Yeah. So what have you learned about
24:07
the power of embracing one's voice
24:09
accent and all?
24:11
And you know, when I think about,
24:12
and this was something I only
24:14
recently realized, I was
24:16
like, oh, part of this, a
24:18
big part of, this is also to solve
24:20
accent bias.
24:21
That's a big thing that I,
24:23
that we deal with, especially as
24:25
immigrants who come from, and this
24:27
is in every culture, but when
24:29
we talk specifically about the U.S.,
24:31
immigrants who come from non-white,
24:32
non-English speaking countries when
24:35
they have a thick accent.
24:37
Americans, even the most
24:38
well-meaning ones, will tune them
24:40
out because it's just their brain is
24:42
having to do a little more work to
24:43
process that accent, or
24:45
there's just straight up biases.
24:48
So that sort of manifests itself
24:50
in all sorts of ways,
24:52
socially, professionally, all of
24:54
these things.
24:55
So for me, it was, okay,
24:57
how do we create an environment
24:58
where it's exposure therapy for
25:01
Americans, but in a fun way where
25:03
they can see themselves in these
25:04
stories? So that's essentially what
25:06
this turned into.
25:08
I love that.
25:09
So the theme for the event happening
25:10
tonight here in Studio 1A is
25:12
Victorious.
25:13
So how can people attend and what
25:15
type of stories will they actually
25:17
hear?
25:17
Yeah, it's all kinds of stories.
25:19
So one person is talking about,
25:21
you know, a certain part of
25:23
their citizenship interview.
25:24
One person is talk about climbing
25:26
Mount Kilimanjaro.
25:27
So there's all manner of stories,
25:30
currently we're waitlisted, but
25:31
yeah, people can come.
25:33
It's a quarterly thing.
25:34
So if you're not able to make it,
25:35
I'm gonna do this every quarter.
25:37
The Accent Unmuted live storytelling
25:39
event returns to KUT Studio
25:41
1A tonight.
25:42
It's free with an RSVP, which you'll
25:44
find in today's show notes page at
25:46
kut.org slash signal.
25:49
We've been speaking with the show's
25:50
organizer, Nami Saru.
25:53
Thank you so much.
25:54
Thank you.
25:55
That's it for here at the Austin
25:58
Signal.
25:59
Rayna Sevilla is our technical
26:00
director, Kristen Cabrera is our
26:02
managing producer, and I'm Miles
26:03
Bloxson. We'll talk with you
26:05
tomorrow.