Cheer Up Charlies
David Brendan Hall / Design by Zeke Barbaro
Volume 43, Number 31
ON THE COVER:
WE HAVE AN ISSUE:
BY Kimberley Jones
news
Headlines / Quote of the Week
Texas Maternal Mortality Task Force Hasn’t Counted Abortion Death Cases for 10 Years
Committee members discovered longtime omission this year
BY MAGGIE Q. THOMPSON
Travis County Judicial System Prepares for Enforcement (or Not) of SB 4
Judges are urged not to deport people
BY BRANT BINGAMON
T.C. Broadnax Selected as Austin’s Next City Manager
City Council to initiate hiring process next week
BY AUSTIN SANDERS
Travis County Aims to Allow Defenders at Bail Hearings
The defunct program has faced a two-year uphill battle
BY AUSTIN SANDERS
music
How Austin Transformed Danny Brown
The Detroit wild card on getting his shit together (and finding H-E-B)
BY KEVIN CURTIN
Review: Alejandro Escovedo, Echo Dancing
Rechanneling 14 catalog selections’ romantic existentialism
BY RAOUL HERNANDEZ
Review: Creekbed Carter Hogan, Creekbed Carter
Open-road mysticism, brokenhearted yearning, and laugh-out-loud wit
BY GENEVIEVE WOOD
Review: Wonder Women of Country, Willis, Carper, Leigh
Texas-rooted supergroup sharpens each other’s sensibilities
BY ABBY JOHNSTON
Review: Photokem, Half Ton Pet
Layered experimental rock EP swells to quizzical excitement
BY RACHEL RASCOE
Neko Case, the Urban Cultural Fest, and More Crucial Concerts
Live sounds for the week ahead
BY RACHEL RASCOE, CARYS ANDERSON, DEREK UDENSI, MIRANDA GARZA, RAOUL HERNANDEZ AND MADELINE DUNCAN
Live Music in Austin
BY DEREK UDENSI
screens
At Wit’s End: Bob Byington on His Dry New Comedy, Lousy Carter
“My career puzzles people, including myself”
BY SHAWN BADGLEY
Film Reviews
Asphalt City
Sean Penn and Tye Sheridan star as NYC paramedics working a chaotic night shift
DogMan
A thief survives an abusive childhood to forge a soulful connection with canines
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
The two iconic kaiju team up in this sequel
In the Land of Saints and Sinners
Irish action-thriller about a retired assassin dragged back into a life of violence
Lousy Carter
A charismatic David Krumholtz plays the titular lit professor
Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus
The legendary composer delivers his final performance in a stirring concert documentary
Tillu Square
Telugu-language romantic crime comedy is the sequel to 2022's DJ Tillu
arts & culture
Review: Stephen Mills’ POE / A Tale of Madness Is Pitch Perfect
Ballet Austin brings the master of the macabre to life (before killing him again)
BY CAT MCCARREY
Egg Hunts, Trans Visibility, and More Community Events
Meet your fellow Austinites as these goings-on
BY JAMES SCOTT, KATHERINE MCNEVINS, CARYS ANDERSON, MADELINE DUNCAN, KIMBERLEY JONES AND MIRANDA GARZA
Movies, Comedy, Books, and More Recommended Arts Events
Find an art that fits your tastes
BY JAMES SCOTT, KATHERINE MCNEVINS, RICHARD WHITTAKER, RACHEL RASCOE AND BRANT BINGAMON
columns
The Austin Chronic: Cheech and Chong and Toking With a Troll
Stoner icons materialize for surprise C-boy’s appearance
BY KEVIN CURTIN
Qmmunity: Be Fur Real
Chatting with local trans pet play titleholders in Austin kink community
BY JAMES SCOTT
Day Trips: The Big Thicket National Preserve, Kountze
One of the first preserves turns 50 against all odds
BY GERALD E. MCLEOD
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
BY MR. SMARTY PANTS
The Luv Doc: What Grindr Is Not
It’s the singular artistic achievement of the Eighties band Escape
BY THE LUV DOC
We Have an Issue: Everything You Need to Know About The Austin Chronicle’s Best of Austin Awards
When to vote, why to vote, and how to campaign
BY KIMBERLEY JONES
Opinion: Incarcerated Women in Texas Need to Be Heard
A writer in her eighth year of solitary confinement laments widespread neglect of the experiences of women in prison
BY KWANETA HARRIS
Free Will Astrology
Your weekly horoscope, March 29 - April 4
BY ROB BREZSNY
Feedback
Letters to the editor, published daily
sports
The Verde Report: Austin FC Needs Copa Tejas Now More Than Ever
It’s been six months without a win. Can ATXFC reverse their luck against FC Dallas?
BY ERIC GOODMAN
comics
