February 27, 2020 • 45 mins
The tech boom and tourism over the last decade plus has meant massive growth for Texas' capital city. In this first episode of The Passenger, I search out the pockets of culture that link Austin's past to its present and maybe its future, from legacy barbecue spots to revitalized hotels and beyond. I'll also talk to Chris Bilheimer, Creative Director of the Alamo Drafthouse, and find out why he thinks the slogan "The Right Lane Is Closed" might be an apt update of the motto "Keep Austin Weird."
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
My name is Shoe Atchison, and this is the Passenger
from I Heart Radio. People ask me all the time
because I travel a lot for work and being a
chef and doing all these things, and I have a
sort of wide range of interest, and people ask me
every week, you know, what's that list of places to
go in this city? In that city? Where's a good
coffee shop, what's a good museum. So I've always doodled
(00:21):
and created lists, and this show is dedicated to that idea,
immersing yourself in that culture and finding out in a
quick couple of day trip what's intriguing about that place
and what resounds and where they at and what we
think about the future of that place as a visitor,
as a passenger, and so this show is about that,
(00:52):
where we'll talk about that place later in this episode,
I'll talk to Chris Bilheimer of Yeah Almo Drafthouse, and
I'll get feedback on what I've done and where I
should have gone at the travel show. My name's Hugh Atchison.
Let's do this. This episode is going to be about Austin, Texas.
(01:14):
First time it was in Austin was a number of
years ago, and we're filming a show for Top Chef.
We're in uh In, Texas for a long time, and
we're in Austin for a while. And it was about
a hundred and five degrees And everybody says Texas is dry.
Austin's in central Texas. It's not dry there. It was
kind of humid and really meltingly hot. But it is
(01:35):
a great town, full of really interesting things to do,
and it's changed immensely even since that first visit. So
let's go there. You know. To get there for me
from Atlanta is an easy flight. Jump on a Delta flight.
You're there in two hours. It's an hour earlier, and
usually I rent a car because Austin. Austin is a
(01:57):
big city now. Um you know, when it was found
in eighteen thirty nine and named after Stephen A. Austin,
they founder father of Texas. Um, the population was like
eight thirty nine people. Now it's well over a million.
And though I live in Athens, Georgia, I get the
strange comparison of people saying that Austin's kind of like Athens.
(02:19):
Austin is nothing like Athens. Athens is a small, great
little town, but it's a very small collegiate town. Austin
is a huge college town with also huge employment from
um Dell and Apple and lots of tech companies and
a lot of wealth. There is a wealth inequity there
and we'll talk about that later on in the show.
(02:41):
But it is a really interesting place. But I do
rent a car one and there because Austin is really
good for barbecue, and barbecue is not always in the
center of town. So when I'm traveling, even for three days,
I usually rent a car to get around a little bit.
So when I go and fly in Austin, get the
rental car, and then I go to a hotel. I've
(03:03):
stayed at many different hotels there. When we're filling Top Chef.
We stayed at the Driftchll Hotel, which is notoriously haunted,
and that's right on Sixth Street downtown. Really old, sort
of Gothic almost building, kind of rambling building inside, and
it's a it's an interesting hotel. It's definitely one of
the older, more somewhat dated hotels. But uh, and then
(03:25):
that I've stayed at the Lake Austin Spa and Resort,
which is right on Lake Auston. Lake Auston is a
sort of bulbous part of the Colorado River just outside
of town and literally ten minutes outside of town, so
it's really convenient place and people go power boat and
jet ski and swim and do all those stuff there.
But the Lake Austin, Spa is great. Another newer hotel
(03:49):
that I really like is called the Carpenter Hotel, which
is an old school that was renovated into a hotel,
and it's just across and just off Seth Congress as well,
just across the river on the south side. But my favorite,
uh served ideas of different hotels really come from this
amazing woman um named Liz Lambert. She was having a
drink and seeing a show at the Continental Club and
(04:11):
walking across the street to a dilapidated old motel called
the Hotel San Jose and uh finagling for a while
and getting ownership of that and turning it into what
is arguably one of the coolest motel hotels in the
United States. From there, she opened the Hotel Saint Cecilia.
She opened a number of other projects around Texas and
(04:33):
is really branching out now, but the main anchor of
of her company, which is called Bunkhouse Group, is in Austin,
and Liz is just an amazing forward thinking um hospitality person,
and so the Hotel San Jose is amazing. So is
the Hotel St. Cecilia, which is much more high end.
(04:54):
But the San Jose is right on South Congress and
it's really amazing point of access to everything from that
from there, and you can easily just grab a bike
and bike around the city, go over the river and
go to other parts of town really easily. That South
Congress area is really vibrant and youthful. The university is
(05:15):
across the river and north a little bit um just
passed downtown. But the San Jose is is really a
great vantage point. You know, back to Liz Lambert and
the birth of hospitality of of bunk House group, you
could say that, you know, Liz is is really visionary.
She is done El Cosmico, which is this amazingly interesting
(05:37):
sort of trailer park and TP hut stuff in in
West Texas and Marfa, um, but then she's done an
amazing hotel down in San Antonio, and her vision is
just such amazingly interesting spots that's very independent and very individual.
It's very stylized and you order breakfast to be delivered
(05:59):
to your rooms at the Hotel Saint Jose and it
comes in this beautiful wooden box and there's an egg
salad sandwich and a thermis of coffee and everything's laid
out and it's very stylized and it's not absurdly expensive,
but it's just one of those places the hospitality is
just at the forefront, you see it. It's like great restaurants.
When we walk into them, you know what's going to
(06:20):
be a great restaurant. There's just a vibe and a feeling.
And that's why you when you walk into Buncus groups properties,
you feel that same way. So highly recommend this Hoodles
San Jose UM, and highly recommend just just going to
Austin and experiencing that type of place. We went to
(06:56):
a lot of coffee shops and coffee culture. There's really
strong long these days, but Hound's Tooth has been around
for a long time and really UM was really I
think the first group to really do a number of
great coffee shops in Austin. But it was great. A
newer one called Figure eight. I really liked Merit coffee
better half flat track. Figure eight was really great. Roasting
(07:19):
your own beans, A bought some to go, uh, Guatemalan
candelaria and Ethiopian saddamo. Uh. Really wonderful stuff food wise.
You know, we'll talk about barbecue in a little bit.
But you wouldn't think that the landlocked center of Texas
City would have a ton of amazing, award winning sushi.
(07:42):
But Austin does, and leading the pack is the sort
of godfather of sushi. And Austin, which is Zucci and
Ucci and Uchiko are just amazing legacy restaurants. They're big
and busy and bustling and pricey, but really good. Another
one had opened up a couple of years ago. It
is called Toco, which is kind of like twenty course,
(08:05):
really stylized sushi meal, really young, amazingly interesting chefs. I
call it fancy hipster because it is. I went to
a new place called Nista Takaria, which is fixed fix
its on Nick Splid's corn and masa, really artisanal corns,
really interesting legacy uh corn use and and really proper
(08:29):
sourcing of amazing corn types. But and there their tacos
were amazing. I had a tuna tostado there that was
out of this world. Sweat they sweaty which is very
modern Mexican Um has been great. Went there a couple
of visits ago and it was amazing. Olm, which is
a Southern restaurant that's upscale and was one of a
(08:51):
lot of awards, is doing amazing food still to this day.
I have trouble equating Texas as part of the South,
but I guess it is quite Houston as part of
the South. But that's a very debatable thing. You can
get with me on Instagram and yelled at me or Twitter.
Uh vera Cruz All Natural, which has the most amazing megas.
(09:13):
Tacos breakfast tacos and megas are like just gently scrambled
egg with crisp portilla crumbled into it and uh onions
and tomato and monterey jack and that's I'll put on
a warm tortilla and you eat it with a number
of Salza's and that it's mind blowing lee good uh
(09:34):
and that that's an amazing place. It's kind of almost
a food truck with a couple of tables outside, but
they climate in Austin really regales and a lot of
outdoor dining and food truck scene. June's All Day, which
is a beautifully simple place, but stunning and great food.
Emma and Rye, which I did a guest cheffing event
there number of years ago, is a beautiful sort of
(09:54):
high end UM and I would say it's beautifully complex.
It's very very complex food, very interesting. I went to
a number of barbecue places there in the last few times.
I've been their Lab Barbecue, which is amazing for brisket
(10:17):
and Freedo pie and and really great sides. And it's
right in it just across the river from the Hotel
santas A and served near just off downtown going into
East Austin and the long lines but worth it. Amazing food,
but going a nice day because you're gonna be waiting
in the rain if not. Uh. Franklin Barbecue is the institution.
(10:38):
What Aaron Franklin has done for the world of barbecue,
UM is just amazing and can't and can't be ever
discounted as to how important and what a wonderful human
Erran is. UM. That's a once in a lifetime place.
You have to go to Franklin Barbecue sometime, but you
have to be very patient because you're gonna stand in
line for like two and a half hours at the
(10:59):
Minimum just outside of town and it's still in Austin UM.
I was recommended by a friend of mine, Andrew Andy
Thomas Lee m to get to Valentina's. Valentina's Barbecue had
amazing sliced brisket and charo beans and definitely Mexican influenced
barbecue menu and culture. It's kind of a outdoors seating area,
(11:21):
is somewhat indoor, somewhat clematized eating area. It was raining,
kind of colder when I was there my last time
when I went there, and but I was, you know,
under a little heat lamp outside eating these brisket tacos
and smoke carnetas tacos and a big slab of brisket
as well, and charo beans. Um. Eating on a trip
to Texas eating a lot of barbecue is uh uh,
(11:42):
the need for naps will come up, so mixture you
schedule that into your day. Smitty's Barbecue. My friend Ryan
Allen and I and her father went down to Smitty's,
which is in Lockhart, just south of Austin UM old
school place with this massive wood pile up back and
the the hearth room is just this like black and
(12:03):
charred room like a fire, and uh, it's amazing to see.
And then you walk into this was ostensibly looks like
a redund cafeteria on Main Street and you walk up
to the simple counter and make your order and I
had halopina sausage and brisket and potatoes out on a
cold beer and it was the middle of the day
(12:23):
and it was amazing. I think the food culture in
Austin has has grown so much. Um. I. The best
comparison I can have as a city is it they're
and they're very different, is probably Portland and Portland, Oregon
(12:49):
and Portland, and I think they revere food in both
these cities, and we revere food in a lot of cities.
But one of the things is they revere food at
a good price point. And that's really indicated throughout and
shown off throughout Austin's food scene. Um there's a youthfulness
(13:10):
to the food scene there that seems very independent and
sort of fiercely so. Um. Food trucks are really reveled
in and supported well. UM. I back on my first
trip years ago to Austin, I remember having some British
(13:30):
fish and chips truck and eating them and thinking this
is the best fish and chips I've had. Why isn't
in Austin, Texas. It just struck me as strange at
the time. But I think that there's a seriousness and
professionalism to a food truck scene that's that's not seen
many other places, but it is seen in Portland. I
(13:53):
think that the modern sort of use of Mexican inspired
dishes and Mexican heritage dishes is really interesting, and I
think that places like Niqusta, Tak Area and Suete are
really showing that off. I think there's still that firm
foothold on Japanese cuisine through so many places. UM. But
(14:18):
the Roman culture there's really really strong as well. UM.
But then you know at the base of this all
this fundamental foundation of barbecue culture, UM, that is just
so amazing and has has shown that barbecue culture can
be a place of serious culinary precision, I think, in
(14:42):
the case of Aaron Franklin, um and a place of
robust flavors, but that can adhere to historical norms and
um expectations but still be pushing the boundaries. I think
what Valentine is is doing with the adoption and folding
(15:03):
into Mexico cultural heritage into barbecue is is so interesting.
And then when you look at that that hope and
then think of that morphing into uh sort of more
uh coastal Mexican influences going into that with fish and barbecue. Um,
that there's really no vista that they're not going to
really be able to comfortably get around and and entertain.
(15:25):
I think in the food scene in Austin. Um. Austin
Is is a big city, but you can't get around
without a car, though I did rent one that was
really ostensibly just to get out to places like Smithies
and Valentinos, which are not just on the they're not
on the beaten path. Um, but you can definitely walk there.
I walk there a lot. And walking across the South
(15:46):
Congress Bridge is a beautiful thing. The public Library just
on the north side of the South Congress Bridge is amazing. UM.
I particularly love libraries, but the Austin Public Library is
is just stunning. UM. From Austin, you really are if
if you wanted to extend a vacation within Texas, you're
(16:09):
really not that far a drive from places like San
Antonio and Houston, and then even up north to Dallas
and Fort Worth. There was all the hill country where
Texas Wine Country is. Uh is right really next door,
which is beautiful places to drive. Really the only places
that are really out of reach you're gonna be far
(16:30):
west Texas like Adesca and then going to Marfa, or
way up north in Emarillo or way out west as
an El Paso. UM, but there it is. It is
a place that I would just recommend going to, and
you know, renting a bike or borrowing a bike or
getting out on foot and and finding things. And again
(16:53):
the lists that come up with are a very brief,
little viewpoint of what's there and what's possible in Austin.
And I'm Hugh Atchison. You're listening to The Passenger from
I Heart Radio. When we come back, we'll keep Boston weird.
Plus I'll talk to Chris Bilheimer at the Alamo Drafthouse.
(17:22):
I'm Hugh Atchison, and this is The Passenger. There's some
great barrows there and the scene. There's really fun whistlers
and the Roosevelt Room and then the Continental Club. I
was staying at the Hotel Santos. They recently walked across
the street to the Continental Club, and I had been
there for already one night, but missed the show the
night before unfortunately, and that's because it was James McMurtry.
(17:44):
Which there's so many things identifiable as Texan, but the
McMurtry family is definitively Texan. Um and James is this
is the son of Larry McMurtry, who wrote Lonesome Dove
and uh it was a bookstore owner for a long time,
but an amazing author. Um And James is this folk
country musician who's who's really ouverlauded and really interesting as
(18:08):
his son is now a musician as well. Um but
the Continental Club is kind of an old venue that's
been around for a really long time. It's uh to me,
is is definitely a Texas bar uh and it's a
great place for seeing live music. So and it's literally
right across the street from the Hotel San Jose. There's
(18:29):
a Daniel Johnston mural that's really famous, the musician sketch
artist Daniel Johnson. It's the High How Are You mural?
If you can go and find that, you should awesome.
It's just it's it's a it's a really interesting place
that I think it's going through a lot of change
right now as we can see from you know, in
the UH just under two hundred years of its history,
(18:52):
it's increased in population by many, many, many men, manyfold um.
But the arts culture is really strong. There's an amazing
music in there called the Blunt Museum that has the
UH permanent installations. Else with Kelly's Austin is what their
installation is called, and it's it's a chapel that was
(19:12):
with Kelly the visual artist actually designed this chapel and
architecturally designed. And the light comes through these colored windows
and sort of projects under the floor naturally, and and
so it's a stone building, um, and it's got a
sort of totem would sculpture, and then it's got these
beautiful black and white marble panels inside. And then that's
(19:35):
light coming in through these windows, and it is uh
if you want a sense of uh wonderment and sort
of calm. It's it's that I'm a particularly huge Ellsworth
Kelly fan otherwise, and so to see this for the
first time was pretty revelatory. Um. He wanted a space
(19:58):
of calm and light and is uh the lights association
in that building is just so important and and such
a it's it's such an amazing space to go to.
It's a it's sort of atheistic worship in so many ways.
(20:41):
You know, I think that the the history um um
of Texas is really interesting. And then the point at
which we look at the intersection of music and politics
and and all these things and how cities grow and
then economies folded into that as we was reslted in
this it's Austin is known as being like Athens, Georgia
(21:04):
or Atlanta, a liberal dot in a republican state, and
they hold onto that very closely. Right now, they're going
through a big sort of battle with the governor of
Texas Abbot on homelessness and uh, you know, the governor
wants to crack down on homelessness in in Austin, and
Austin Knights really want to protect that the homeless and
(21:26):
make sure they're cared for. So it's really interesting thing
as as a as an idea. And then you know,
in Austin is a sanctuary city in a in a
state that is definitely not that way. But it's it's
an really interesting place to go to and I think
and musically it's um amazing and there's some festivals there
(21:47):
that are really good for that. And it's notably set
by Southwest, which I've never been to, so I can't
really speak to. But I grew up listening to a
lot of Jimmy dal Gilmore and other Texas musicians who
really sing about Texas. Uh. And then you know, reading
a lot of Cormack McCarthy and things like that. And
so then when you go there and you look through
that prism, you see all that stuff, you see a
(22:09):
city in Austin that's changed immensely but still holds onto
this history is so strongly. Um, the largest employers there
are people like h G B. That's at the grocery
store chain, but then Apple is hugely, huge, massive employer there,
and tell Computer Samsung, IBM, Amazon, So you know that
(22:33):
has obviously impacted so many things. So the cost of
living there, I think is definitely a little a little
more expensive than a lot of other cities. So Austin's
got the slogan. It was actually coined only in two thousand.
It seems like it was totally timeless since been around
for eons, but it's not. And it was coined by
(22:54):
a librarian and Red Wassnich, and Wasnich was making a
donation to KUT, the local MPR affiliate, and so he's
making a donation. He's asked why he's making it, and
he says, it's to keep Austin weird. And really it's
become through advertising and marketing, a thing about support of
small business. But it was really more just off the
(23:16):
cuff than He eventually made a much of bumper stickers
and things like that, and then it went down in history.
But it's got it sort. It's got a beautiful troup
mystique about it. It's a little abstract and its core meaning,
but I think it's a it's a lasting mantra. So
(23:37):
you know what, Let's keep Bustin weird. On the phone
with me now? Is Chris Billheimer. Chris is a graphic designer. UM.
(24:00):
He's done a lot of very famous album covers for
bands like R. E. M, who he worked for for
a long time in Green Day, Uh, the famous Neutral
Moka Hotel album cover, which I think is my favorite
album covery we've ever done. Chris. Chris is in Austin.
How are you, Chris? I'm doing well, Hugh, how are
you doing? I'm good? How long ago did you move
(24:21):
from Athens? Georgia to Austin, Texas. I think, uh, just
a little over ten years ago. And and how are
you liking it? Um, it's been. It's been a fantastic move.
You know. When we we kind of just came here
having never been here, just to sort of visit and
check it out. And it there were so many similarities
(24:43):
to Athens, just it was a bigger version. But it's
just a college town. It had a nice laid back
vibe and uh, just music and art. And about ten
years ago, it seemed like the food scene was just
starting to to get go in and it just, uh,
it just felt really good. The the food scene there
(25:04):
and now is uh to me, I always equated to
it's one of the most wonderful food scenes because it's
actually not it's not uber expensive. Um. There's a lot
of choices and really fairer price points, and it means
that people just go out to eat a lot. Um.
So if somebody's coming from visiting from Athens, or friends
or family from out of town, where would you and
(25:25):
your your dear wife go for dinner and take them? Um?
It's kind of you know it, you have to make
the decision you're gonna go high or low. Um. We
usually will start low and hit some food trucks just
because you know, in Athens there weren't any, and so
(25:47):
it's really kind of a you know, a fun different
thing to just be able to go to a food truck.
And so our usual UM haunts are the Vera Cruz uh,
which we are just amazing tacos, especially the Megat Tacos.
That's actually where we had breakfast this morning. I think
(26:10):
when I'm in Austin, I try and eat breakfast there
every day I can, because they really are the best
breakfast tacos ever, so good, so good, at least once
or twice a week. And then um, you know, any
of the East Side King food trucks are always really
just fun and in different um. And then you know,
(26:33):
if we're going to try and do something h fancier.
One of our favorite places is called in Taro. I
think it's been around for about two years, um, and
I'm just really just blown away by a how sort
of inventive, uh, how things can be kind of simple
(26:55):
and complex and inventive at the same time. And uh
just really love that place. And also been going to
the Carpenter Hall, which is part of a newish hotel here. Uh,
just the food's great and overall vibe of the whole
place is just fantastic. So there's those have been our
(27:15):
recent kind of places to show off when people are visiting.
That's a really cool hotel. It's kind of the the
old redo of that school and the gymnasium and stuff. Yeah,
it's kind of a wild place. And yeah that the
food the Carpenter Hall is really good. Uh. Andrew Knowlton
used to work at Bunt epe Tea and I guess
he's still through it does was really charged with you know,
(27:36):
I think curating all the food and stuff there. So
it did a really good job. So, you know, film
in Austin seems to be a you know, a completely
constant thing that good film emanates from there and from
Muti and Slacker and all that sort of stuff. But
I mean, do you see it in in the culture?
Does it play through because I know you're a big
(27:57):
film person. Yeah, Well, especially being that the last five
years I've been the creative director for the Alamo Draft House,
which I don't know if you've ever been, but it's
been Yeah. Yeah, it's so you know, it started for
people who don't know. It started in Austin a little
(28:19):
over twenty years ago by a couple in Tim and
carry League. Uh. They bought a movie theater in out
in California in the middle of nowhere, and it did
not do well. So they packed the projector and all
the seats into a van and drove it to Austin
(28:41):
and opened up a little theater where Tim ran the
projector and his wife ran out and cooked food and
drinks and they just had a bunch of couches and
it just was, you know, a very low key food
and drink theater. Uh. And over the last twenty years,
it's now over forty theaters across the country. Where should
(29:05):
I have fifty in the next year or two. And
it's just grown into this huge culture around just showing movies.
They have a film archive where they're preserving vintage thirty
five in your films. They have a art wing called
Mondo where they license and create new art for old films.
(29:30):
They have a magazine where they write about films. Um,
they have a film festival. Uh. There's just so much
that the Alamo does outside of just showing movies. And
uh that so I'm I'm I'm neck deep in film here.
Think that moment. As they grow so much, can it
(29:53):
still reflect that Austin vibe in another city halfway across
the country. That is that is the eternal battle, and
that is something that we are constantly trying to be
aware of. And uh, it's it is tough. It's tough
(30:13):
to grow and uh, you know, create a corporate structure
when none of you want to have a corporate structure
and create uh you know the sort of uh oh,
I can't think of the word, which by the way,
is called anomia. Is the you can think of that word,
(30:36):
but not the word exactly. I understand these creation imaginations
and efficiencies they have to have a growing business. Does
that take away from the often angle of what really
genesist Almo in the beginning? That's really interesting. Yeah, it
is something that we focus on and work hard at.
But it's not it's not an easy thing. And I
(30:57):
can see why so often and businesses get big and
lose their charm and that's something we fight against every day.
What are common misconceptions about Austin we see like on
the news now, we see a lot of uh, there's
a lot of homeless issues with tent camps and then
the governor of Texas trying to plow through them and
you know, basically up up and a bunch of people
(31:20):
are just trying to you know, live life. And but
then Austin, like Athens, seems to be this more of
a liberal, more democratic blue dot in a pretty big
red sea. So apart from that, and is that a
real issue? Are we seeing that? That means that the
news talked about there. What are the big issues in
Austin these days? Um, you know, the the homeless issue
(31:46):
is definitely you know, it's becoming it's it's sort of
been moved into the forefront um and you know, the
Alamo's offices used to be uh downtown on dirty sixth Street,
and you know we are right in the middle of
it every day, and you know, you could see what
(32:08):
a problem it was. And you know, I think one
of the things that you know, you you brought up
the governor and how there there is a real adversarial relationship,
to put it, to put it mildly, of the conservative
(32:28):
government constantly fighting with with Austin's more liberal policies. You know,
we banned plastic bags at grocery stores, and then the
state said you can't do that. And then we kicked
Uber and Lift out of Austin because they wouldn't background
check their drivers, and then the state said you can't
(32:49):
do that. And so there's there's a very adversarial relationship
where the state's trying to push back on our own policies.
You know, coming from Athens, which was a very blue
dot inside a red state and then coming here, it
felt very normal here at home again, yeah, exactly, But
(33:12):
you know, it's what's interesting is is Dallas in Houston,
San Antonio are shifting more and more blue as we're
seeing across the country where so much seems to be
becoming more city versus country. And uh, I have no
idea how that's going to play out, but it's is.
It's the dynamic here is I feel is playing out
(33:34):
in a lot of places. Yeah, I think it is. Um.
Every time I go to Awesome, I'm just surprised that
even you know, I can go there once a year
for the last ten years, and I once spent like
three weeks they're shooting TV stuff. But every time I've gone,
it's just the number of cranes and the number of
buildings being built. It's just it's kind of whack how
(33:54):
quickly it's growing. And so you know that's really effects
housing price, in the ability to people would be there,
and roteine that sort of cultural basis that they've they've
created over the last fifty years. So since you moved there,
in the last ten years, what's what's the biggest change
that you've seen. I think exactly what you're saying. You know,
(34:16):
about two years ago, Hillary and I were sitting at
a red light next to downtown with a view of
downtown and we counted thirteen construction crates um and so, uh,
we've been joking that the slogan should be welcome to
Austin the right lane is closed because it's just the
construction and the growth has been really disrupting and it
(34:43):
has changed the culture and the culture has We're seeing
it change in real time and it is it's distressing.
You know, parts of it are parts of it are good,
and you know, I'm not anti growth at all, but
you know, there's there is a pretty serious downside and
we're watching some of that happen, you know as we speak. So,
(35:07):
if if you're tasked with living up to the motto,
how do you keep Boston weird? Oh gosh, man, if
I knew the answer to that, Um, it's you know,
it's something I've been thinking a lot about, especially, you know,
working with the film and the arts and the music communities.
(35:29):
How ah. One of the key things that I don't
think anyone really puts the pieces together is the link
between creativity and cheap rent. You have to give people
a place to just funk around and uh not have
(35:49):
to make you know, two thousand dollars a month to
pay their rent. You know, it's it's when people have
the space, physics, the space and then like economically emotionally
the space to not freak out about paying their bills,
that they have time to you know, come up with
(36:10):
a really stupid awesome idea. Yeah, you used to be
able to do that here, and it's it's that has
has gone away. And you know, I've just been wanting
to go to the city and ask, do you have
any empty buildings that you're not using? We can put
a bunch of weirdos in and they probably do. That's
the thing, and we just don't we don't tackle these
(36:32):
problems in the right way. But you know, I really did.
I've had some great experiences recently in Austin and mostly
just that Hell's Worth Kelly Exhibit and the chapel is
just mind blowingly interesting, and the and the river and
it's just such a it's it is a city that's
got such great things. And the food tine is so good.
So I think you found a good place. So uh yeah,
(36:55):
what's the You're not? Are you a barbecue guy? Uh?
You don't like but you eat a lot of chicken.
You do, okay for people who are listening. Uh, Hugh
catered hel organized wedding and yes, chicken, chicken and biscuits chicken. Um,
(37:20):
you know, I I do. I do the barbecue not
uh you know, several times a year kind of thing.
I can't do it too often. Um. But you know,
there's something that we always say here that even if
you go to the sixth best barbecue place in town,
you're still getting incredibly good barbecue. So I don't pay
(37:41):
attention to the barbecue wars too much because I don't
there's no point. It's always good. Yeah. I went to Valentina's.
I don't know if you've been there, but it was
it was sensational kind of more Mexicans about barbecue and
talkers and stuff, and it was really bad. Ass um So, yeah,
but there's always a new place and that's the great thing.
But then you can drive down the Lubbock and go
(38:03):
to the Smithies and places like that. But they're so interesting.
So it is a good place to be in, a
good place to eat. Well, Chris, thanks for thanks for
answering my questions about the city you now call home. Yeah, well,
thank you so much for having me on. And I
hope to hope to see a face to face here
in town soon will come to Austin. We'll go get
(38:24):
me this excellent. It's a it's a deal. I'm Hugh Atchison.
You're listening to The Passenger from my Heart Radio. We'll
be back after this quick break. I'm Hugh Atchison. This
(38:51):
is the Passenger. One good way to prepare for a
trip beyond packing your suitcase is through media and for
some recommendation, I'm gonna hand it over to Jordan run
Tug is a former music editor of People Magazine at
VH one dot com and regular contributor at Rolling Stone
and Entertainment Weekly. With over a hundred venues showcasing every
(39:15):
conceivable kind of music. Austin, Texas has earned its nickname
the live music capital of the world. These days, millions
flocked to the city each year to catch their favorite
bands and exciting up and comers at festivals like south
By Southwest and Austin City Limits. But a century ago
you had to have the local beer gardens to hear
live music. Austin has long been a cradle of the blues, rock,
(39:36):
and country, but what we really think of as the
Austin sound exploded in the early nineteen seventies when Willie
Nelson moved the town. Yes, you know Willie Nelson, but
it's important to note that this is a pre beard,
pre long hair, and probably pre wed Willie Nelson. Now,
Nashville was definitely hip heck, Bob Dylan recorded Blonde on
Blonde there in nineteen sixty six, but it was not
(39:56):
very progressive musically or politically. At that time. The Nashville
Cats operated within a strict musical framework and didn't know
what to make of Willie's unusual blend of country, jazz,
and folk influences. It's crazy to think now, but Willy
arrived in Austin intending to retire from music, but then
he visited Austin's flagship rock venue, the incredibly named Armadillo
(40:17):
World Headquarters, and he was completely knocked out by what
he heard. Austin embraced Willie and his music, and he
returned to recording, kicking off a string of classic albums
that have become central pillars of alternative country. Redheaded Stranger,
Stardust always on my Mind. He's still close to the
Austin scene, spending much of his time at his ranch
a short drive outside of town. So if you're coming
(40:39):
to Austin, play a little Willie. There's so many to
choose from, but today I'm gonna go with his cover
of Lefty Frazel's if You've got the money, I've got
the time, money, short time, You've got no more money,
honey time? You know whether we Since I travel, one
(41:00):
of the reasons that make these lists. As I try
and figure out if my center point is where I'm
going to lay my head at night, I'm looking for
radius is around there in walking distance or some are
going to be a drive and I just want to
do the due diligence to figure out where I want
to go. I want to get out on my feet.
I want to wander a little bit. I remember walking
(41:21):
across the bridge from the Hotel San Jose when I
was sitting there one time and trying to hunt down
a great coffee shop, and I found Houndstooth Coffee, which
was great. I had a coffee there and walked back
and slowly walked across the bridge and looked at the
water and the people paddle boarding and canoeing and kayaking,
and it was a Saturday. I was kind of bustling
out there and walked by UM the Continental Club and
(41:47):
just on the east side of South Congress and UM
just or passed where the Hotel San Jose was on
the other side of the street. And I was just
getting back with my coffee and wander around. And I
saw Jane some commurtary's name on that poster, and it
just reminded me of first I thought it was his dad,
Larry McMurtry, who's the writer. And I remember watching Lonesome Dove,
(42:09):
which was had been sort of partitioned up into a
mini series and one of the major networks way before
Netflix and all these other things existed. I remember watching
it with my grandmother and in Florida at our house
over the course of a number of of episodes, and
it's kind of like a mini movie series ended up
being like twelve hours long, and it was. It was
(42:32):
amazing writing and interesting, but it really was my first
introduction to Texas. I think we'd driven across Texas and
and seen many things, but it was just this moment
of seeing this McMurtry name, not really tying it in
that it was James, son of Larry Um, dad of Chase,
and really not about writing, but it was still definitely
(42:54):
about Texas. Because James McMurtry sings songs about Texas that's
gone away in a lot of ways, maybe it's still retained.
His latest album has the first song it's basically starts
with a line about don't yell at me when I'm
cleaning my gun, uh, which seems so Texas. I'm not
(43:14):
sure if it seems so Austin, because Austin seems to
be this glimmering light in a sort of tumbleweed state,
this new fangled shiny object trying to hold onto a
lot of path stuff. But I think the McMurtry's are
doing that. You've been listening to The Passenger. This is
(44:00):
a production of I Heeart Radio created by Hugh Atchison
and Christopher Hassiotas. Were produced and edited by Mike Johns.
A researcher is jess Lyn Shields and Christopher Hassiotas is
our executive producer. Special thanks to Gabrielle Collins, Crystal Waters,
and the rest of the crew. If you like The Passenger,
leave us a review on Apple podcast It helps other
(44:22):
people like you find the show. If you're a local
and you want to let me know what I missed
and where should go on my next visit, Or if
you've recently been a passenger like me and want to
share your experience, hit me up on Instagram and Twitter
at Hugh Atchison. Next Time with the Passenger will look
past the potatoes and find out what makes Boise, Idaho
(44:43):
a fascinating international city that isn't our kid Prohibition era
law in Idaho um deep pred stake and naked women
do not mix. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio,
use the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
you listen of your favorite shows. Thanks for listening. Mm
(45:12):
HM
My name is Shoe Atchison, and this is the Passenger
from I Heart Radio. People ask me all the time
because I travel a lot for work and being a
chef and doing all these things, and I have a
sort of wide range of interest, and people ask me
every week, you know, what's that list of places to
go in this city? In that city? Where's a good
coffee shop, what's a good museum. So I've always doodled
(00:21):
and created lists, and this show is dedicated to that idea,
immersing yourself in that culture and finding out in a
quick couple of day trip what's intriguing about that place
and what resounds and where they at and what we
think about the future of that place as a visitor,
as a passenger, and so this show is about that,
(00:52):
where we'll talk about that place later in this episode,
I'll talk to Chris Bilheimer of Yeah Almo Drafthouse, and
I'll get feedback on what I've done and where I
should have gone at the travel show. My name's Hugh Atchison.
Let's do this. This episode is going to be about Austin, Texas.
(01:14):
First time it was in Austin was a number of
years ago, and we're filming a show for Top Chef.
We're in uh In, Texas for a long time, and
we're in Austin for a while. And it was about
a hundred and five degrees And everybody says Texas is dry.
Austin's in central Texas. It's not dry there. It was
kind of humid and really meltingly hot. But it is
(01:35):
a great town, full of really interesting things to do,
and it's changed immensely even since that first visit. So
let's go there. You know. To get there for me
from Atlanta is an easy flight. Jump on a Delta flight.
You're there in two hours. It's an hour earlier, and
usually I rent a car because Austin. Austin is a
(01:57):
big city now. Um you know, when it was found
in eighteen thirty nine and named after Stephen A. Austin,
they founder father of Texas. Um, the population was like
eight thirty nine people. Now it's well over a million.
And though I live in Athens, Georgia, I get the
strange comparison of people saying that Austin's kind of like Athens.
(02:19):
Austin is nothing like Athens. Athens is a small, great
little town, but it's a very small collegiate town. Austin
is a huge college town with also huge employment from
um Dell and Apple and lots of tech companies and
a lot of wealth. There is a wealth inequity there
and we'll talk about that later on in the show.
(02:41):
But it is a really interesting place. But I do
rent a car one and there because Austin is really
good for barbecue, and barbecue is not always in the
center of town. So when I'm traveling, even for three days,
I usually rent a car to get around a little bit.
So when I go and fly in Austin, get the
rental car, and then I go to a hotel. I've
(03:03):
stayed at many different hotels there. When we're filling Top Chef.
We stayed at the Driftchll Hotel, which is notoriously haunted,
and that's right on Sixth Street downtown. Really old, sort
of Gothic almost building, kind of rambling building inside, and
it's a it's an interesting hotel. It's definitely one of
the older, more somewhat dated hotels. But uh, and then
(03:25):
that I've stayed at the Lake Austin Spa and Resort,
which is right on Lake Auston. Lake Auston is a
sort of bulbous part of the Colorado River just outside
of town and literally ten minutes outside of town, so
it's really convenient place and people go power boat and
jet ski and swim and do all those stuff there.
But the Lake Austin, Spa is great. Another newer hotel
(03:49):
that I really like is called the Carpenter Hotel, which
is an old school that was renovated into a hotel,
and it's just across and just off Seth Congress as well,
just across the river on the south side. But my favorite,
uh served ideas of different hotels really come from this
amazing woman um named Liz Lambert. She was having a
drink and seeing a show at the Continental Club and
(04:11):
walking across the street to a dilapidated old motel called
the Hotel San Jose and uh finagling for a while
and getting ownership of that and turning it into what
is arguably one of the coolest motel hotels in the
United States. From there, she opened the Hotel Saint Cecilia.
She opened a number of other projects around Texas and
(04:33):
is really branching out now, but the main anchor of
of her company, which is called Bunkhouse Group, is in Austin,
and Liz is just an amazing forward thinking um hospitality person,
and so the Hotel San Jose is amazing. So is
the Hotel St. Cecilia, which is much more high end.
(04:54):
But the San Jose is right on South Congress and
it's really amazing point of access to everything from that
from there, and you can easily just grab a bike
and bike around the city, go over the river and
go to other parts of town really easily. That South
Congress area is really vibrant and youthful. The university is
(05:15):
across the river and north a little bit um just
passed downtown. But the San Jose is is really a
great vantage point. You know, back to Liz Lambert and
the birth of hospitality of of bunk House group, you
could say that, you know, Liz is is really visionary.
She is done El Cosmico, which is this amazingly interesting
(05:37):
sort of trailer park and TP hut stuff in in
West Texas and Marfa, um, but then she's done an
amazing hotel down in San Antonio, and her vision is
just such amazingly interesting spots that's very independent and very individual.
It's very stylized and you order breakfast to be delivered
(05:59):
to your rooms at the Hotel Saint Jose and it
comes in this beautiful wooden box and there's an egg
salad sandwich and a thermis of coffee and everything's laid
out and it's very stylized and it's not absurdly expensive,
but it's just one of those places the hospitality is
just at the forefront, you see it. It's like great restaurants.
When we walk into them, you know what's going to
(06:20):
be a great restaurant. There's just a vibe and a feeling.
And that's why you when you walk into Buncus groups properties,
you feel that same way. So highly recommend this Hoodles
San Jose UM, and highly recommend just just going to
Austin and experiencing that type of place. We went to
(06:56):
a lot of coffee shops and coffee culture. There's really
strong long these days, but Hound's Tooth has been around
for a long time and really UM was really I
think the first group to really do a number of
great coffee shops in Austin. But it was great. A
newer one called Figure eight. I really liked Merit coffee
better half flat track. Figure eight was really great. Roasting
(07:19):
your own beans, A bought some to go, uh, Guatemalan
candelaria and Ethiopian saddamo. Uh. Really wonderful stuff food wise.
You know, we'll talk about barbecue in a little bit.
But you wouldn't think that the landlocked center of Texas
City would have a ton of amazing, award winning sushi.
(07:42):
But Austin does, and leading the pack is the sort
of godfather of sushi. And Austin, which is Zucci and
Ucci and Uchiko are just amazing legacy restaurants. They're big
and busy and bustling and pricey, but really good. Another
one had opened up a couple of years ago. It
is called Toco, which is kind of like twenty course,
(08:05):
really stylized sushi meal, really young, amazingly interesting chefs. I
call it fancy hipster because it is. I went to
a new place called Nista Takaria, which is fixed fix
its on Nick Splid's corn and masa, really artisanal corns,
really interesting legacy uh corn use and and really proper
(08:29):
sourcing of amazing corn types. But and there their tacos
were amazing. I had a tuna tostado there that was
out of this world. Sweat they sweaty which is very
modern Mexican Um has been great. Went there a couple
of visits ago and it was amazing. Olm, which is
a Southern restaurant that's upscale and was one of a
(08:51):
lot of awards, is doing amazing food still to this day.
I have trouble equating Texas as part of the South,
but I guess it is quite Houston as part of
the South. But that's a very debatable thing. You can
get with me on Instagram and yelled at me or Twitter.
Uh vera Cruz All Natural, which has the most amazing megas.
(09:13):
Tacos breakfast tacos and megas are like just gently scrambled
egg with crisp portilla crumbled into it and uh onions
and tomato and monterey jack and that's I'll put on
a warm tortilla and you eat it with a number
of Salza's and that it's mind blowing lee good uh
(09:34):
and that that's an amazing place. It's kind of almost
a food truck with a couple of tables outside, but
they climate in Austin really regales and a lot of
outdoor dining and food truck scene. June's All Day, which
is a beautifully simple place, but stunning and great food.
Emma and Rye, which I did a guest cheffing event
there number of years ago, is a beautiful sort of
(09:54):
high end UM and I would say it's beautifully complex.
It's very very complex food, very interesting. I went to
a number of barbecue places there in the last few times.
I've been their Lab Barbecue, which is amazing for brisket
(10:17):
and Freedo pie and and really great sides. And it's
right in it just across the river from the Hotel
santas A and served near just off downtown going into
East Austin and the long lines but worth it. Amazing food,
but going a nice day because you're gonna be waiting
in the rain if not. Uh. Franklin Barbecue is the institution.
(10:38):
What Aaron Franklin has done for the world of barbecue,
UM is just amazing and can't and can't be ever
discounted as to how important and what a wonderful human
Erran is. UM. That's a once in a lifetime place.
You have to go to Franklin Barbecue sometime, but you
have to be very patient because you're gonna stand in
line for like two and a half hours at the
(10:59):
Minimum just outside of town and it's still in Austin UM.
I was recommended by a friend of mine, Andrew Andy
Thomas Lee m to get to Valentina's. Valentina's Barbecue had
amazing sliced brisket and charo beans and definitely Mexican influenced
barbecue menu and culture. It's kind of a outdoors seating area,
(11:21):
is somewhat indoor, somewhat clematized eating area. It was raining,
kind of colder when I was there my last time
when I went there, and but I was, you know,
under a little heat lamp outside eating these brisket tacos
and smoke carnetas tacos and a big slab of brisket
as well, and charo beans. Um. Eating on a trip
to Texas eating a lot of barbecue is uh uh,
(11:42):
the need for naps will come up, so mixture you
schedule that into your day. Smitty's Barbecue. My friend Ryan
Allen and I and her father went down to Smitty's,
which is in Lockhart, just south of Austin UM old
school place with this massive wood pile up back and
the the hearth room is just this like black and
(12:03):
charred room like a fire, and uh, it's amazing to see.
And then you walk into this was ostensibly looks like
a redund cafeteria on Main Street and you walk up
to the simple counter and make your order and I
had halopina sausage and brisket and potatoes out on a
cold beer and it was the middle of the day
(12:23):
and it was amazing. I think the food culture in
Austin has has grown so much. Um. I. The best
comparison I can have as a city is it they're
and they're very different, is probably Portland and Portland, Oregon
(12:49):
and Portland, and I think they revere food in both
these cities, and we revere food in a lot of cities.
But one of the things is they revere food at
a good price point. And that's really indicated throughout and
shown off throughout Austin's food scene. Um there's a youthfulness
(13:10):
to the food scene there that seems very independent and
sort of fiercely so. Um. Food trucks are really reveled
in and supported well. UM. I back on my first
trip years ago to Austin, I remember having some British
(13:30):
fish and chips truck and eating them and thinking this
is the best fish and chips I've had. Why isn't
in Austin, Texas. It just struck me as strange at
the time. But I think that there's a seriousness and
professionalism to a food truck scene that's that's not seen
many other places, but it is seen in Portland. I
(13:53):
think that the modern sort of use of Mexican inspired
dishes and Mexican heritage dishes is really interesting, and I
think that places like Niqusta, Tak Area and Suete are
really showing that off. I think there's still that firm
foothold on Japanese cuisine through so many places. UM. But
(14:18):
the Roman culture there's really really strong as well. UM.
But then you know at the base of this all
this fundamental foundation of barbecue culture, UM, that is just
so amazing and has has shown that barbecue culture can
be a place of serious culinary precision, I think, in
(14:42):
the case of Aaron Franklin, um and a place of
robust flavors, but that can adhere to historical norms and
um expectations but still be pushing the boundaries. I think
what Valentine is is doing with the adoption and folding
(15:03):
into Mexico cultural heritage into barbecue is is so interesting.
And then when you look at that that hope and
then think of that morphing into uh sort of more
uh coastal Mexican influences going into that with fish and barbecue. Um,
that there's really no vista that they're not going to
really be able to comfortably get around and and entertain.
(15:25):
I think in the food scene in Austin. Um. Austin
Is is a big city, but you can't get around
without a car, though I did rent one that was
really ostensibly just to get out to places like Smithies
and Valentinos, which are not just on the they're not
on the beaten path. Um, but you can definitely walk there.
I walk there a lot. And walking across the South
(15:46):
Congress Bridge is a beautiful thing. The public Library just
on the north side of the South Congress Bridge is amazing. UM.
I particularly love libraries, but the Austin Public Library is
is just stunning. UM. From Austin, you really are if
if you wanted to extend a vacation within Texas, you're
(16:09):
really not that far a drive from places like San
Antonio and Houston, and then even up north to Dallas
and Fort Worth. There was all the hill country where
Texas Wine Country is. Uh is right really next door,
which is beautiful places to drive. Really the only places
that are really out of reach you're gonna be far
(16:30):
west Texas like Adesca and then going to Marfa, or
way up north in Emarillo or way out west as
an El Paso. UM, but there it is. It is
a place that I would just recommend going to, and
you know, renting a bike or borrowing a bike or
getting out on foot and and finding things. And again
(16:53):
the lists that come up with are a very brief,
little viewpoint of what's there and what's possible in Austin.
And I'm Hugh Atchison. You're listening to The Passenger from
I Heart Radio. When we come back, we'll keep Boston weird.
Plus I'll talk to Chris Bilheimer at the Alamo Drafthouse.
(17:22):
I'm Hugh Atchison, and this is The Passenger. There's some
great barrows there and the scene. There's really fun whistlers
and the Roosevelt Room and then the Continental Club. I
was staying at the Hotel Santos. They recently walked across
the street to the Continental Club, and I had been
there for already one night, but missed the show the
night before unfortunately, and that's because it was James McMurtry.
(17:44):
Which there's so many things identifiable as Texan, but the
McMurtry family is definitively Texan. Um and James is this
is the son of Larry McMurtry, who wrote Lonesome Dove
and uh it was a bookstore owner for a long time,
but an amazing author. Um And James is this folk
country musician who's who's really ouverlauded and really interesting as
(18:08):
his son is now a musician as well. Um but
the Continental Club is kind of an old venue that's
been around for a really long time. It's uh to me,
is is definitely a Texas bar uh and it's a
great place for seeing live music. So and it's literally
right across the street from the Hotel San Jose. There's
(18:29):
a Daniel Johnston mural that's really famous, the musician sketch
artist Daniel Johnson. It's the High How Are You mural?
If you can go and find that, you should awesome.
It's just it's it's a it's a really interesting place
that I think it's going through a lot of change
right now as we can see from you know, in
the UH just under two hundred years of its history,
(18:52):
it's increased in population by many, many, many men, manyfold um.
But the arts culture is really strong. There's an amazing
music in there called the Blunt Museum that has the
UH permanent installations. Else with Kelly's Austin is what their
installation is called, and it's it's a chapel that was
(19:12):
with Kelly the visual artist actually designed this chapel and
architecturally designed. And the light comes through these colored windows
and sort of projects under the floor naturally, and and
so it's a stone building, um, and it's got a
sort of totem would sculpture, and then it's got these
beautiful black and white marble panels inside. And then that's
(19:35):
light coming in through these windows, and it is uh
if you want a sense of uh wonderment and sort
of calm. It's it's that I'm a particularly huge Ellsworth
Kelly fan otherwise, and so to see this for the
first time was pretty revelatory. Um. He wanted a space
(19:58):
of calm and light and is uh the lights association
in that building is just so important and and such
a it's it's such an amazing space to go to.
It's a it's sort of atheistic worship in so many ways.
(20:41):
You know, I think that the the history um um
of Texas is really interesting. And then the point at
which we look at the intersection of music and politics
and and all these things and how cities grow and
then economies folded into that as we was reslted in
this it's Austin is known as being like Athens, Georgia
(21:04):
or Atlanta, a liberal dot in a republican state, and
they hold onto that very closely. Right now, they're going
through a big sort of battle with the governor of
Texas Abbot on homelessness and uh, you know, the governor
wants to crack down on homelessness in in Austin, and
Austin Knights really want to protect that the homeless and
(21:26):
make sure they're cared for. So it's really interesting thing
as as a as an idea. And then you know,
in Austin is a sanctuary city in a in a
state that is definitely not that way. But it's it's
an really interesting place to go to and I think
and musically it's um amazing and there's some festivals there
(21:47):
that are really good for that. And it's notably set
by Southwest, which I've never been to, so I can't
really speak to. But I grew up listening to a
lot of Jimmy dal Gilmore and other Texas musicians who
really sing about Texas. Uh. And then you know, reading
a lot of Cormack McCarthy and things like that. And
so then when you go there and you look through
that prism, you see all that stuff, you see a
(22:09):
city in Austin that's changed immensely but still holds onto
this history is so strongly. Um, the largest employers there
are people like h G B. That's at the grocery
store chain, but then Apple is hugely, huge, massive employer there,
and tell Computer Samsung, IBM, Amazon, So you know that
(22:33):
has obviously impacted so many things. So the cost of
living there, I think is definitely a little a little
more expensive than a lot of other cities. So Austin's
got the slogan. It was actually coined only in two thousand.
It seems like it was totally timeless since been around
for eons, but it's not. And it was coined by
(22:54):
a librarian and Red Wassnich, and Wasnich was making a
donation to KUT, the local MPR affiliate, and so he's
making a donation. He's asked why he's making it, and
he says, it's to keep Austin weird. And really it's
become through advertising and marketing, a thing about support of
small business. But it was really more just off the
(23:16):
cuff than He eventually made a much of bumper stickers
and things like that, and then it went down in history.
But it's got it sort. It's got a beautiful troup
mystique about it. It's a little abstract and its core meaning,
but I think it's a it's a lasting mantra. So
(23:37):
you know what, Let's keep Bustin weird. On the phone
with me now? Is Chris Billheimer. Chris is a graphic designer. UM.
(24:00):
He's done a lot of very famous album covers for
bands like R. E. M, who he worked for for
a long time in Green Day, Uh, the famous Neutral
Moka Hotel album cover, which I think is my favorite
album covery we've ever done. Chris. Chris is in Austin.
How are you, Chris? I'm doing well, Hugh, how are
you doing? I'm good? How long ago did you move
(24:21):
from Athens? Georgia to Austin, Texas. I think, uh, just
a little over ten years ago. And and how are
you liking it? Um, it's been. It's been a fantastic move.
You know. When we we kind of just came here
having never been here, just to sort of visit and
check it out. And it there were so many similarities
(24:43):
to Athens, just it was a bigger version. But it's
just a college town. It had a nice laid back
vibe and uh, just music and art. And about ten
years ago, it seemed like the food scene was just
starting to to get go in and it just, uh,
it just felt really good. The the food scene there
(25:04):
and now is uh to me, I always equated to
it's one of the most wonderful food scenes because it's
actually not it's not uber expensive. Um. There's a lot
of choices and really fairer price points, and it means
that people just go out to eat a lot. Um.
So if somebody's coming from visiting from Athens, or friends
or family from out of town, where would you and
(25:25):
your your dear wife go for dinner and take them? Um?
It's kind of you know it, you have to make
the decision you're gonna go high or low. Um. We
usually will start low and hit some food trucks just
because you know, in Athens there weren't any, and so
(25:47):
it's really kind of a you know, a fun different
thing to just be able to go to a food truck.
And so our usual UM haunts are the Vera Cruz uh,
which we are just amazing tacos, especially the Megat Tacos.
That's actually where we had breakfast this morning. I think
(26:10):
when I'm in Austin, I try and eat breakfast there
every day I can, because they really are the best
breakfast tacos ever, so good, so good, at least once
or twice a week. And then um, you know, any
of the East Side King food trucks are always really
just fun and in different um. And then you know,
(26:33):
if we're going to try and do something h fancier.
One of our favorite places is called in Taro. I
think it's been around for about two years, um, and
I'm just really just blown away by a how sort
of inventive, uh, how things can be kind of simple
(26:55):
and complex and inventive at the same time. And uh
just really love that place. And also been going to
the Carpenter Hall, which is part of a newish hotel here. Uh,
just the food's great and overall vibe of the whole
place is just fantastic. So there's those have been our
(27:15):
recent kind of places to show off when people are visiting.
That's a really cool hotel. It's kind of the the
old redo of that school and the gymnasium and stuff. Yeah,
it's kind of a wild place. And yeah that the
food the Carpenter Hall is really good. Uh. Andrew Knowlton
used to work at Bunt epe Tea and I guess
he's still through it does was really charged with you know,
(27:36):
I think curating all the food and stuff there. So
it did a really good job. So, you know, film
in Austin seems to be a you know, a completely
constant thing that good film emanates from there and from
Muti and Slacker and all that sort of stuff. But
I mean, do you see it in in the culture?
Does it play through because I know you're a big
(27:57):
film person. Yeah, Well, especially being that the last five
years I've been the creative director for the Alamo Draft House,
which I don't know if you've ever been, but it's
been Yeah. Yeah, it's so you know, it started for
people who don't know. It started in Austin a little
(28:19):
over twenty years ago by a couple in Tim and
carry League. Uh. They bought a movie theater in out
in California in the middle of nowhere, and it did
not do well. So they packed the projector and all
the seats into a van and drove it to Austin
(28:41):
and opened up a little theater where Tim ran the
projector and his wife ran out and cooked food and
drinks and they just had a bunch of couches and
it just was, you know, a very low key food
and drink theater. Uh. And over the last twenty years,
it's now over forty theaters across the country. Where should
(29:05):
I have fifty in the next year or two. And
it's just grown into this huge culture around just showing movies.
They have a film archive where they're preserving vintage thirty
five in your films. They have a art wing called
Mondo where they license and create new art for old films.
(29:30):
They have a magazine where they write about films. Um,
they have a film festival. Uh. There's just so much
that the Alamo does outside of just showing movies. And
uh that so I'm I'm I'm neck deep in film here.
Think that moment. As they grow so much, can it
(29:53):
still reflect that Austin vibe in another city halfway across
the country. That is that is the eternal battle, and
that is something that we are constantly trying to be
aware of. And uh, it's it is tough. It's tough
(30:13):
to grow and uh, you know, create a corporate structure
when none of you want to have a corporate structure
and create uh you know the sort of uh oh,
I can't think of the word, which by the way,
is called anomia. Is the you can think of that word,
(30:36):
but not the word exactly. I understand these creation imaginations
and efficiencies they have to have a growing business. Does
that take away from the often angle of what really
genesist Almo in the beginning? That's really interesting. Yeah, it
is something that we focus on and work hard at.
But it's not it's not an easy thing. And I
(30:57):
can see why so often and businesses get big and
lose their charm and that's something we fight against every day.
What are common misconceptions about Austin we see like on
the news now, we see a lot of uh, there's
a lot of homeless issues with tent camps and then
the governor of Texas trying to plow through them and
you know, basically up up and a bunch of people
(31:20):
are just trying to you know, live life. And but
then Austin, like Athens, seems to be this more of
a liberal, more democratic blue dot in a pretty big
red sea. So apart from that, and is that a
real issue? Are we seeing that? That means that the
news talked about there. What are the big issues in
Austin these days? Um, you know, the the homeless issue
(31:46):
is definitely you know, it's becoming it's it's sort of
been moved into the forefront um and you know, the
Alamo's offices used to be uh downtown on dirty sixth Street,
and you know we are right in the middle of
it every day, and you know, you could see what
(32:08):
a problem it was. And you know, I think one
of the things that you know, you you brought up
the governor and how there there is a real adversarial relationship,
to put it, to put it mildly, of the conservative
(32:28):
government constantly fighting with with Austin's more liberal policies. You know,
we banned plastic bags at grocery stores, and then the
state said you can't do that. And then we kicked
Uber and Lift out of Austin because they wouldn't background
check their drivers, and then the state said you can't
(32:49):
do that. And so there's there's a very adversarial relationship
where the state's trying to push back on our own policies.
You know, coming from Athens, which was a very blue
dot inside a red state and then coming here, it
felt very normal here at home again, yeah, exactly, But
(33:12):
you know, it's what's interesting is is Dallas in Houston,
San Antonio are shifting more and more blue as we're
seeing across the country where so much seems to be
becoming more city versus country. And uh, I have no
idea how that's going to play out, but it's is.
It's the dynamic here is I feel is playing out
(33:34):
in a lot of places. Yeah, I think it is. Um.
Every time I go to Awesome, I'm just surprised that
even you know, I can go there once a year
for the last ten years, and I once spent like
three weeks they're shooting TV stuff. But every time I've gone,
it's just the number of cranes and the number of
buildings being built. It's just it's kind of whack how
(33:54):
quickly it's growing. And so you know that's really effects
housing price, in the ability to people would be there,
and roteine that sort of cultural basis that they've they've
created over the last fifty years. So since you moved there,
in the last ten years, what's what's the biggest change
that you've seen. I think exactly what you're saying. You know,
(34:16):
about two years ago, Hillary and I were sitting at
a red light next to downtown with a view of
downtown and we counted thirteen construction crates um and so, uh,
we've been joking that the slogan should be welcome to
Austin the right lane is closed because it's just the
construction and the growth has been really disrupting and it
(34:43):
has changed the culture and the culture has We're seeing
it change in real time and it is it's distressing.
You know, parts of it are parts of it are good,
and you know, I'm not anti growth at all, but
you know, there's there is a pretty serious downside and
we're watching some of that happen, you know as we speak. So,
(35:07):
if if you're tasked with living up to the motto,
how do you keep Boston weird? Oh gosh, man, if
I knew the answer to that, Um, it's you know,
it's something I've been thinking a lot about, especially, you know,
working with the film and the arts and the music communities.
(35:29):
How ah. One of the key things that I don't
think anyone really puts the pieces together is the link
between creativity and cheap rent. You have to give people
a place to just funk around and uh not have
(35:49):
to make you know, two thousand dollars a month to
pay their rent. You know, it's it's when people have
the space, physics, the space and then like economically emotionally
the space to not freak out about paying their bills,
that they have time to you know, come up with
(36:10):
a really stupid awesome idea. Yeah, you used to be
able to do that here, and it's it's that has
has gone away. And you know, I've just been wanting
to go to the city and ask, do you have
any empty buildings that you're not using? We can put
a bunch of weirdos in and they probably do. That's
the thing, and we just don't we don't tackle these
(36:32):
problems in the right way. But you know, I really did.
I've had some great experiences recently in Austin and mostly
just that Hell's Worth Kelly Exhibit and the chapel is
just mind blowingly interesting, and the and the river and
it's just such a it's it is a city that's
got such great things. And the food tine is so good.
So I think you found a good place. So uh yeah,
(36:55):
what's the You're not? Are you a barbecue guy? Uh?
You don't like but you eat a lot of chicken.
You do, okay for people who are listening. Uh, Hugh
catered hel organized wedding and yes, chicken, chicken and biscuits chicken. Um,
(37:20):
you know, I I do. I do the barbecue not
uh you know, several times a year kind of thing.
I can't do it too often. Um. But you know,
there's something that we always say here that even if
you go to the sixth best barbecue place in town,
you're still getting incredibly good barbecue. So I don't pay
(37:41):
attention to the barbecue wars too much because I don't
there's no point. It's always good. Yeah. I went to Valentina's.
I don't know if you've been there, but it was
it was sensational kind of more Mexicans about barbecue and
talkers and stuff, and it was really bad. Ass um So, yeah,
but there's always a new place and that's the great thing.
But then you can drive down the Lubbock and go
(38:03):
to the Smithies and places like that. But they're so interesting.
So it is a good place to be in, a
good place to eat. Well, Chris, thanks for thanks for
answering my questions about the city you now call home. Yeah, well,
thank you so much for having me on. And I
hope to hope to see a face to face here
in town soon will come to Austin. We'll go get
(38:24):
me this excellent. It's a it's a deal. I'm Hugh Atchison.
You're listening to The Passenger from my Heart Radio. We'll
be back after this quick break. I'm Hugh Atchison. This
(38:51):
is the Passenger. One good way to prepare for a
trip beyond packing your suitcase is through media and for
some recommendation, I'm gonna hand it over to Jordan run
Tug is a former music editor of People Magazine at
VH one dot com and regular contributor at Rolling Stone
and Entertainment Weekly. With over a hundred venues showcasing every
(39:15):
conceivable kind of music. Austin, Texas has earned its nickname
the live music capital of the world. These days, millions
flocked to the city each year to catch their favorite
bands and exciting up and comers at festivals like south
By Southwest and Austin City Limits. But a century ago
you had to have the local beer gardens to hear
live music. Austin has long been a cradle of the blues, rock,
(39:36):
and country, but what we really think of as the
Austin sound exploded in the early nineteen seventies when Willie
Nelson moved the town. Yes, you know Willie Nelson, but
it's important to note that this is a pre beard,
pre long hair, and probably pre wed Willie Nelson. Now,
Nashville was definitely hip heck, Bob Dylan recorded Blonde on
Blonde there in nineteen sixty six, but it was not
(39:56):
very progressive musically or politically. At that time. The Nashville
Cats operated within a strict musical framework and didn't know
what to make of Willie's unusual blend of country, jazz,
and folk influences. It's crazy to think now, but Willy
arrived in Austin intending to retire from music, but then
he visited Austin's flagship rock venue, the incredibly named Armadillo
(40:17):
World Headquarters, and he was completely knocked out by what
he heard. Austin embraced Willie and his music, and he
returned to recording, kicking off a string of classic albums
that have become central pillars of alternative country. Redheaded Stranger,
Stardust always on my Mind. He's still close to the
Austin scene, spending much of his time at his ranch
a short drive outside of town. So if you're coming
(40:39):
to Austin, play a little Willie. There's so many to
choose from, but today I'm gonna go with his cover
of Lefty Frazel's if You've got the money, I've got
the time, money, short time, You've got no more money,
honey time? You know whether we Since I travel, one
(41:00):
of the reasons that make these lists. As I try
and figure out if my center point is where I'm
going to lay my head at night, I'm looking for
radius is around there in walking distance or some are
going to be a drive and I just want to
do the due diligence to figure out where I want
to go. I want to get out on my feet.
I want to wander a little bit. I remember walking
(41:21):
across the bridge from the Hotel San Jose when I
was sitting there one time and trying to hunt down
a great coffee shop, and I found Houndstooth Coffee, which
was great. I had a coffee there and walked back
and slowly walked across the bridge and looked at the
water and the people paddle boarding and canoeing and kayaking,
and it was a Saturday. I was kind of bustling
out there and walked by UM the Continental Club and
(41:47):
just on the east side of South Congress and UM
just or passed where the Hotel San Jose was on
the other side of the street. And I was just
getting back with my coffee and wander around. And I
saw Jane some commurtary's name on that poster, and it
just reminded me of first I thought it was his dad,
Larry McMurtry, who's the writer. And I remember watching Lonesome Dove,
(42:09):
which was had been sort of partitioned up into a
mini series and one of the major networks way before
Netflix and all these other things existed. I remember watching
it with my grandmother and in Florida at our house
over the course of a number of of episodes, and
it's kind of like a mini movie series ended up
being like twelve hours long, and it was. It was
(42:32):
amazing writing and interesting, but it really was my first
introduction to Texas. I think we'd driven across Texas and
and seen many things, but it was just this moment
of seeing this McMurtry name, not really tying it in
that it was James, son of Larry Um, dad of Chase,
and really not about writing, but it was still definitely
(42:54):
about Texas. Because James McMurtry sings songs about Texas that's
gone away in a lot of ways, maybe it's still retained.
His latest album has the first song it's basically starts
with a line about don't yell at me when I'm
cleaning my gun, uh, which seems so Texas. I'm not
(43:14):
sure if it seems so Austin, because Austin seems to
be this glimmering light in a sort of tumbleweed state,
this new fangled shiny object trying to hold onto a
lot of path stuff. But I think the McMurtry's are
doing that. You've been listening to The Passenger. This is
(44:00):
a production of I Heeart Radio created by Hugh Atchison
and Christopher Hassiotas. Were produced and edited by Mike Johns.
A researcher is jess Lyn Shields and Christopher Hassiotas is
our executive producer. Special thanks to Gabrielle Collins, Crystal Waters,
and the rest of the crew. If you like The Passenger,
leave us a review on Apple podcast It helps other
(44:22):
people like you find the show. If you're a local
and you want to let me know what I missed
and where should go on my next visit, Or if
you've recently been a passenger like me and want to
share your experience, hit me up on Instagram and Twitter
at Hugh Atchison. Next Time with the Passenger will look
past the potatoes and find out what makes Boise, Idaho
(44:43):
a fascinating international city that isn't our kid Prohibition era
law in Idaho um deep pred stake and naked women
do not mix. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio,
use the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
you listen of your favorite shows. Thanks for listening. Mm
(45:12):
HM
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