RAG RADIO / Thorne Dreyer : 'Austin Noir' with Musician and Author Jesse Sublett

Musician and author Jesse Sublett, on right, with Rag Radio host Thorne Dreyer, in the studios of KOOP-FM in Austin, Texas, Friday, February 1, 2013. Photo by Charlie Martin / KOOP.
Rag Radio podcast:
'Austin Noir' with musician and writer 
Jesse Sublett, author of 'Grave Digger Blues'

By Rag Radio / The Rag Blog / February 7, 2013

Austin-based musician and author Jesse Sublett was Thorne Dreyer's guest Friday, February 1, 2013, on Rag Radio, a syndicated radio show produced at the studios of KOOP 91.7-FM in Austin, Texas. The show includes live musical performance by Sublett, and spoken-word performance by Sublett and host Dreyer.

Jesse Sublett is a historical figure in the Austin music scene; his influence dates to the late 1970s, when he founded the seminal punk band, The Skunks, and continues today. His published books include three crime novels set in the Austin music scene, a critically-acclaimed memoir, and the new eBook, Grave Digger Blues, a post-apocalyptic detective story.

Listen to Thorne Dreyer's interview with Jesse Sublett, here:


Jesse Sublett's Austin-noir novels, Rock Critic Murders, Tough Baby, and Boiled In Concrete -- which were written in the late '80s and early '90s -- featured bass-playing sleuth Martin Fender, a character based loosely on Jesse himself. His memoir, Never the Same Again, in which Sublett dealt with his personal bout with throat cancer and with his investigation into the murder of his girlfriend, was hailed by artists like James Ellroy, Michael Connelly, and Rick Linklater.

Jesse has been experimenting with combining music and pulp fiction since the mid-1980s, and his blog, Jesse Sublett’s Little Black Book, combines crime fiction, film, art, and liberal politics. Recently he has been active in social media and ePublishing, where he has channeled the old punk/DIY spirit into the new digital age.

His latest eBook, Grave Digger Blues -- available on Kindle, iPad, and in a bare-bones version at Smashwords -- "is a wild joy ride that Jesse’s longtime fans will recognize for its relentless lyrical drive, dark humor, bright splashes of violence and absurdity." The iPad version includes more than an hour of audio, with an original blues soundtrack and audio chapters produced by Jesse and the Fort Worth jazz musician, Johnny Reno.

Jesse performs three songs live on the Rag Radio show, which also features a snippet of audio from the eBook and a live reading of a chapter from Grave Digger Blues, performed by Sublett and host Dreyer.

Also, go here to listen to an earlier Rag Radio interview with Jesse Sublett -- featuring more about the Skunks and Jesse's musical career -- originally recorded on April 8, 2011, at the KOOP studios.

Rag Radio has aired since September 2009 on KOOP 91.7-FM in Austin. Hosted and produced by Rag Blog editor and long-time alternative journalist Thorne Dreyer, a pioneer of the Sixties underground press movement, Rag Radio is broadcast every Friday from 2-3 p.m. (CST) on KOOP, and is rebroadcast on Sundays at 10 a.m. (EST) on WFTE, 90.3-FM in Mt. Cobb, PA, and 105.7-FM in Scranton, PA.

The show is streamed live on the web by both stations and, after broadcast, all Rag Radio shows are posted as podcasts at the Internet Archive.

Rag Radio is produced in association with The Rag Blog, a progressive internet newsmagazine, and the New Journalism Project, a Texas 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation. Tracey Schulz is the show's engineer and co-producer.

Rag Radio can be contacted at ragradio@koop.org.

Coming up on Rag Radio:
THIS FRIDAY, February 8, 2013: Marjorie Heins, author of Priests of our Democracy: The Supreme Court, Academic Freedom, and the Anti-Communist Purge.

The Rag Blog

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James Retherford : Old Skool Reunion!

Spencer Perskin of Shiva's Headband performs at the Rag Blog benefit. Photoillustration by James Retherford / The Rag Blog.
'Feed Your Head!'
Rag Blog benefit is boffo bash

Photography by James Retherford / The Rag Blog / April 5, 2012

“Feed Your Head,” The Rag Blog's “Old Skool” April Fool's benefit bash, held on Sunday night, April 1, at Jovita’s in Austin, was a rousing success. Featuring memorable performances by historic Texas musicians Shiva’s Headband, Greezy Wheels, and Jesse Sublett -- and with legendary surrealist graphic artist Jim Franklin signing his commemorative poster -- the show drew a packed crowd of nostalgic revelers who came out to support The Rag Blog and Rag Radio and to just plain have fun.

Rag Blog art director Jim Retherford's gallery of photos, below, captures the spirit of the night and the character of the, well, characters in attendance.


The musicians:
Susan Perskin and Spencer Perskin: Shiva's Headband.
Cleve Hattersley and Sweet Mary Hattersley: Greezy Wheels.
Jesse Sublett.

The artist:

Jim Franklin signs his poster.

The celebrants:

The new Rag Blog/Rag Radio t-shirt, designed by Jim Retherford, was premiered at the event.
The Rag Blog

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The Rag Blog : 'Old Skool' Will Be in Session on April Fool's Day

Famed Austin surrealist graphic artist Jim Franklin designed a special commemorative poster for the event.
‘Feed Your Head’ on April Fool’s Day:
Legendary Austin Bands at Rag Blog Bash

A Rag Blog Benefit Bash with
Shiva's Headband, Greezy Wheels & Jesse Sublett
Jovita's, 1619 S. First St., Austin
Sunday, April 1, 2012, 6-9 p.m.
$10 Suggested Donation

“Old Skool” will be in session on April Fool’s Day at Jovita’s in Austin, when The Rag Blog invites you to “Feed Your Head.” A big slice of Austin music and countercultural history will be on display at the event, which will feature performances by Shiva’s Headband, Greezy Wheels, and Jesse Sublett. Austin surrealist artist Jim Franklin will sign a commemorative poster he designed for the occasion.

The event, scheduled for 6-9 p.m., Sunday, April 1, at Jovita’s, 1619 S. First St. in Austin, will benefit The Rag Blog, an Austin-based progressive Internet news magazine published by the New Journalism Project, a Texas 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation.

The Rag Blog traces its roots to Austin’s legendary underground newspaper, The Rag, which was published from 1966-1977. Also with ties to the original Rag is Rag Radio, a weekly public affairs program broadcast on Austin’s KOOP 91.7-FM and hosted by Rag Blog editor Thorne Dreyer.


The bands

Psychedelic rockers Shiva's Headband, founded in 1967 by Spencer Perskin, a classically trained violinist, served as the house band at Austin’s Vulcan Gas Company, and was the first group to perform at Austin’s iconic Armadillo World Headquarters. The Shiva’s Headband album, Take Me to the Mountains, was the first nationally released album by an Austin rock band.

Pioneers of the “progressive country” movement in the 1970s, Greezy Wheels was for years the unofficial house band at the Armadillo. Guitarist and writer Cleve Hattersley and “fiddler extraordinaire” Mary Hattersley, led the group that, according to the Austin Chronicle’s Margaret Moser, “owned Austin” in the mid-70s.

Bassist Jesse Sublett -- also an Austin-based mystery writer and visual artist -- founded the legendary alt-punk band, The Skunks, which debuted at Austin’s Raul’s in 1978, and Sublett continued to be a mainstay on the Austin music scene.


Jim Franklin's poster

Austin surrealist artist Jim Franklin has designed a limited edition poster which he will sign at the Rag Blog event. Franklin, as house artist at the Armadillo World Headquarters, helped turn the lowly armadillo into an internationally recognized symbol for the Texas counterculture. His artwork graced the landmark Shiva’s Headband album, Take Me to the Mountains, and his surrealist armadillos appeared on several covers of the original Rag.

Graphic designer James Retherford has designed a new Rag Blog t-shirt, which will also be unveiled at the Jovita's event.

Proceeds from "Feed Your Head" benefit the New Journalism Project, the nonprofit corporation that publishes The Rag Blog. Suggested donation is $10. Jovita’s has a full bar and food menu. There is a Facebook event page for the Rag Blog benefit.


The Rag and The Rag Blog

The Rag Blog, founded in 2006 after a lively reunion of staffers from the original Rag, features commentary on news, politics, and cultural affairs. The Rag Blog, which has developed a worldwide following and has become an influential force in the progressive blogosphere, has received a million and a half unique visits in its short lifetime. Many of The Rag Blog's contributors are veterans of The Rag and of the Sixties underground press.

Rag Radio features hour-long in-depth interviews with newsmakers, artists, and leading thinkers from Austin and around the country, and its archived podcasts are creating a significant oral history library -- much of it previously undocumented -- that includes unique profiles from Austin's countercultural history. Broadcast Fridays from 2-3 p.m. (CDT) on Austin's KOOP 91.7-FM, a cooperatively run all-volunteer community radio station, Rag Radio also streams live to a widespread Internet audience, and is rebroadcast on Sundays at 10 a.m. (Eastern) by WFTE-FM in Mt. Cobb and Scranton, PA.

Rag Blog editor and Rag Radio host Thorne Dreyer was a pioneering Sixties underground journalist and New Left activist who was a founding editor of The Rag in Austin and Space City! in Houston. Dreyer was also an editor at Liberation News Service (LNS) in New York, was general manager of KPFT, Houston's Pacifica radio station, and worked with the early Texas Monthly magazine.


Where it all started

The Rag, called "one of the few legendary undergrounds" by historian Laurence Leamer, first hit the streets in Austin on October 6, 1966. The Rag was one of the earliest of the Sixties underground papers, was the first underground paper in the South, and was a model for many papers that followed it.

According to author John McMillian, whose definitive work on the Sixties underground press, Smoking Typewriters, was published in 2011 by Oxford University Press, The Rag "was a spirited, quirky, and humorous paper, whose founders pushed the New Left's political agenda even as they embraced the counterculture's zeal for rock music, psychedelics, and personal liberation." According to historian McMillian, the underground tabloid was regarded by the Austin community as "a beautiful and precious thing."

Austin -- and especially the University of Texas campus -- played a major role in the development of the Sixties counterculture in the United States. Austin was a center for civil rights, anti-war, student power, and New Left activity, and was a major player in the early "psychedelic" music scene -- incubating talents like Janis Joplin and the Thirteenth Floor Elevators -- and in the underground comix and poster art movements -- with Franklin's armadillos and Gilbert Shelton's "Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers" gaining iconic status.

The Rag Blog

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Rag Blog : Don't Forget to Feed Your Head!

Art by Jim Franklin; poster by James Retherford / The Rag Blog.
‘Feed Your Head’ on April Fool’s Day:
Legendary Austin Bands at Rag Blog Bash

Go to the Facebook "Feed Your Head!" event page.

“Old Skool” will be in session on April Fool’s Day at Jovita’s in Austin, when The Rag Blog and Rag Radio invite you to “Feed Your Head.” A big slice of Austin music history will be on display at the event, which will feature performances by Shiva’s Headband, Greezy Wheels, and Jesse Sublett.

The event, scheduled for 6-9 p.m., April 1, at Jovita’s, 1619 S. First St. in Austin, will benefit The Rag Blog, an Austin-based progressive Internet news magazine, and Rag Radio, a weekly public affairs program broadcast on Austin’s KOOP 91.7-FM and hosted by Rag Blog editor Thorne Dreyer. The Rag Blog and Rag Radio trace their roots to Austin’s legendary underground newspaper, The Rag, which was published from 1966-1977 with Dreyer as its original editor.

Psychedelic rockers Shiva's Headband, founded in 1967 by Spencer Perskin, a classically trained violinist, was the house band at Austin’s Vulcan Gas Company, and was the first group to perform at Austin’s iconic Armadillo World Headquarters. Their album, Take Me to the Mountains, was the first nationally released album by an Austin rock band.

Pioneers of the “progressive country” movement in the 1970s, Greezy Wheels was for years the unofficial house band at the Armadillo. Guitarist and writer Cleve Hattersley and “fiddler extraordinaire” Mary Hattersley, led the group that, according to the Austin Chronicle’s Margaret Moser, “owned Austin” in the mid-70s.

Bassist Jesse Sublett -– also a mystery writer and artist -- founded Austin’s legendary alt-punk band, The Skunks, which debuted at Austin’s Raul’s in 1978, and Sublett continued to be a mainstay on the Austin music scene.

A poster for the event, designed by James Retherford, features original art by Austin surrealist artist Jim Franklin, who, as house artist at the Armadillo World Headquarters, helped turn the lowly armadillo into an internationally recognized symbol for the Texas counterculture and whose artwork graced the landmark Shiva’s album, Take Me to the Mountains.

Proceeds from the event benefit the New Journalism Project, a Texas 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation that publishes The Rag Blog and produces Rag Radio. Suggested donation is $10. Limited edition Jim Franklin posters and special Rag Blog t-shirts will be available. Jovita’s has a full bar and food menu.

The Rag Blog, founded in 2006 after a reunion of staffers from the original Rag, has become a force in the progressive blogosphere and receives 50,000 unique visits a month. Rag Radio features hour-long in-depth interviews with newsmakers, artists, and leading thinkers. Broadcast Fridays from 2-3 p.m. (CDT) on KOOP 91.7-FM in Austin, it is also rebroadcast on Sundays at 10 a.m. (Eastern) by WFTE-FM in Mt. Cobb and Scranton, PA, and also streams live, with a widespread internet audience.

The Rag Blog

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Rag Blog : 'Feed Your Head' on April Fool's Day!

Art by Jim Franklin; poster by James Retherford / The Rag Blog.
‘Feed Your Head’ on April Fool’s Day:
Legendary Austin Bands at Rag Blog Bash

Go to the Facebook "Feed Your Head!" event page.

“Old Skool” will be in session on April Fool’s Day at Jovita’s in Austin, when The Rag Blog and Rag Radio invite you to “Feed Your Head.” A big slice of Austin music history will be on display at the event, which will feature performances by Shiva’s Headband, Greezy Wheels, and Jesse Sublett.

The event, scheduled for 6-9 p.m., April 1, at Jovita’s, 1619 S. First St. in Austin, will benefit The Rag Blog, an Austin-based progressive Internet news magazine, and Rag Radio, a weekly public affairs program broadcast on Austin’s KOOP 91.7-FM and hosted by Rag Blog editor Thorne Dreyer. The Rag Blog and Rag Radio trace their roots to Austin’s legendary underground newspaper, The Rag, which was published from 1966-1977 with Dreyer as its original editor.

Psychedelic rockers Shiva's Headband, founded in 1967 by Spencer Perskin, a classically trained violinist, was the house band at Austin’s Vulcan Gas Company, and was the first group to perform at Austin’s iconic Armadillo World Headquarters. Their album, Take Me to the Mountains, was the first nationally released album by an Austin rock band.

Pioneers of the “progressive country” movement in the 1970s, Greezy Wheels was for years the unofficial house band at the Armadillo. Guitarist and writer Cleve Hattersley and “fiddler extraordinaire” Mary Hattersley, led the group that, according to the Austin Chronicle’s Margaret Moser, “owned Austin” in the mid-70s.

Bassist Jesse Sublett -– also a mystery writer and artist -- founded Austin’s legendary alt-punk band, The Skunks, which debuted at Austin’s Raul’s in 1978, and Sublett continued to be a mainstay on the Austin music scene.

A poster for the event, designed by James Retherford, features original art by Austin surrealist artist Jim Franklin, who, as house artist at the Armadillo World Headquarters, helped turn the lowly armadillo into an internationally recognized symbol for the Texas counterculture and whose artwork graced the landmark Shiva’s album, Take Me to the Mountains.

Proceeds from the event benefit the New Journalism Project, a Texas 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation that publishes The Rag Blog and produces Rag Radio. Suggested donation is $10. Limited edition Jim Franklin posters and special Rag Blog t-shirts will be available. Jovita’s has a full bar and food menu.

The Rag Blog, founded in 2006 after a reunion of staffers from the original Rag, has become a force in the progressive blogosphere and receives 50,000 unique visits a month. Rag Radio features hour-long in-depth interviews with newsmakers, artists, and leading thinkers. Broadcast Fridays from 2-3 p.m. (CDT) on KOOP 91.7-FM in Austin, it is also rebroadcast on Sundays at 10 a.m. (Eastern) by WFTE-FM in Mt. Cobb and Scranton, PA, and also streams live, with a widespread internet audience.

The Rag Blog

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