Editor In Chief
Adam Schragin
Adam began writing for the Austinist in 2007, when he joined Paige Maguire’s cabal of music writers. From there he became books editor, tacked on music editor, and then just went for editor-in-chief of the site. He also contributes to The Austin Chronicle.
Music Editor
Julie Schlembach
As an eternal music lover who completely missed all ‘80s pop culture due to living overseas, Julie now considers Austin the only place she could ever dwell. An avid runner, beer imbiber, and small live show attendee, Julie also works way too many hours in the music technology industry but enjoys most of them.
Film Editor
Caitlin Moore
Caitlin was born in a state known for its gently swaying fields of wheat and excellent basketball (Rock Chalk Jayhawk) but Austin's robust events calendar and beautiful people persuaded her to leave it all behind. These days she spends her free time writing, going to movies and shows, living a healthy yet beer-enhanced life, and hanging out with her dog, Raef.
News and Politics Editor
Barbara Strickland
After a childhood spent in conservative Southeast Texas, Politics Editor Barbara Strickland escaped to the weird and wonderful Galapagos Islands of liberal Austin and now considers herself multilingual, speaking several dialects of Conservative, Libertarian, and Progressive Liberal (including a smattering of Wingnut Religious and pidgin Moonbat Woo). When she's not keeping up her political CEU's by reading American Conservative, she enjoys country dancing, writing, and crafting in the sweet beautiful ATX.
Food and Drink Editor
Tom Thornton
Tom Thornton is the food + drink editor and a music contributor for Austinist. By day, Tom works as a broker associate at Realty Austin selling residential real estate. He lives in Southwest Austin with his wife and two daughters. He has been featured as an Austin culture expert in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and BBC Radio. He has traveled to 29 countries, and thinks that isn't nearly enough. When he's not working in real estate or writing for Austinist, he enjoys tacos, bourbon, travel, wine, music of many varieties, and craft beer. He is an investor in Jester King Craft Brewery and a board member of the Austin Food & Wine Alliance.
Urban Development Editor
Shawn Shillington
Shawn is an urban acolyte in the tradition of Jane Jacobs. He was born in Oklahoma, raised in Texas and educated in New York City. Shawn likes cool breezes, integration, longs walks in the city, street front retail, shotguns, trees, right angles, choice architecture, bikes, black and white. Shawn doesn't like hot air, isolation, direct light, highways through cities, parking, suburbia, hippies, boomers, colors or cancer.Art Editor
Sean Ripple
Sean is a practicing artist, writer, arts administrator, and musician (don't read an ascending or descending order into this list). He loves non-fiction writing that's heavy on technicality, but can only take a sentence or two in a given sitting. Central Texan since birth... will he ever leave? This faux third person bio can be used for your own online dating service bio for a small fee.
Photo Editor
Chad Wadsworth
Before arriving in Austin, self-taught photographer Chad Wadsworth's visual history of jobs worked and cities resided in could best be described as a spirograph. There was that stint in a cake factory and maybe something related to a bingo parlor, but he is here now, snapping bands doing their thing since way back in 2005. We hear he has flirted with nationals like Spin and Blender (RIP) but he finally got smart and decided to go all the way with the Austinst.
Interviews Editor
Nick Courtright
Nick Courtright is the author of Punchline, a National Poetry Award finalist published by Gold Wake Press, as well as the chapbook Elegy for the Builder’s Wife. He teaches English, Humanities, and Philosophy at a number of local colleges and universities, and lives on the east side with his wife, Michelle, and son, William.
Theater Editor
Elena Passarello
Elena Passarello is an actor, a writer, and the first female champion of the Tennessee Williams Stella Shout Out screaming contest. Her book on the human voice, Let Me Clear My Throat, drops October 2012 with Sarabande Books.
Events Coordinator
Adi Anand
Adi grew up in New Delhi (south side represent), India. His family moved to Tejas in the 90s and he ended up in Austin at the University of Texas. Adi loves music, sports, kitties, and much much more, not necessarily in that order. He enjoys attending concerts and shows, sports events, and general fun occasions. He likes to play fútbol, tennis, ping pong, basketball, cricket, etc. In 2007, Adi fulfilled a life-long dream by sitting at the KOP end at Anfield. He watched the match too.
Administrative Coordinator
Jason Callahan
Jason has lived in Austin since 1999. After ten years at UT, where he earned a PhD in mathematics, started a record label, toured with friends' bands, and booked/promoted shows, he is now a professor at St. Edward's. A longtime friend of the Austinist, he's thrilled to officially be part of the family.
Amy Kritzer
Amy
is a food writer and recipe developer originally from Connecticut. She
moved to Austin in 2009 to escape cold weather, only to discover her
love of queso and country music. In her spare time, Amy enjoys cooking,
theme parties and cowboys.
Andrew Hilbert
Andrew Hilbert was born and raised in Southern California, moved to San Antonio in 2010 for a job and to Austin in 2011 for better living. His short stories and poems have been published but for money he is a freelance writer and runs a blog called Cheesepaper.
Anna Hanks
Anna
is a fan of: flannel pajamas, umeboshi plums, winter sunshine, vintage
sunglasses, well-reported stories, savory pies and the twitter, where
she can be found as @annainaustin
Arian Brumby
Arian
was born in San Antonio, and has lived in Austin for the last few
years. She like's to take pictures of bands, things, and naked ladies.
She does both photography and interviews for Austinist.
Art Levy
In
the 6th grade, Art did a lip-sync to the Temptations’ “My Girl,”
resulting in a multi-album, major-label deal and international tours.
But the dream ended in a haze of drugs and debauchery as the bills and
rumors piled up surrounding the long-delayed lip-sync follow-up. Today
you can find Art music-ing in a variety of formats across a range of
platforms, connecting people and finding solutions in a complex, 21st
century world. When he’s not music-ing, Art is referring to himself in
the third person, sprinkling in unnecessary infinitives and made-up
verbs. He’s come a long way since 6th grade, but the dream will never
die.
Becky Bullard
By
day, Becky works at a local indie ad agency, but by night she practices
her talent for biking to happy hour in high heels. She covers the
Austin food and drinks scene for Austinist, and occasionally blogs about
food and other fun things at LettuceBeefFriends.com.
Chris Galis
Chris
arrived in Austin by the way of Dallas and Colorado. He began
contributing to the Austinist's politics section in the fall of 2011.
Previously, he's written for Colorado-based Scene Magazine, The Austin
Sound, Space City Rock, and the Texas Observer Magazine. Along with the
Austinist, he currently contributes to Austin Monthly Magazine's music
section and acts as Kindform webzine's music editor. By day he works the
grind in search marketing and runs a small production company.
Clifford Allen
The
Austinist's current resident jazz scribe, I have been a student of the
music since college and have written about it since 2002. In addition to
The Austinist, my writing and interviews can be found in Signal To
Noise, Paris Transatlantic, The New York City Jazz Record, All About
Jazz, and Tiny Mix Tapes. I have also penned liner notes for releases on
ESP-Disk', No Business, FMP, Unseen Worlds, Clean Feed, Speetones and
612 Sides. My blog is called Ni Kantu, and is also worth a read. I've
been in Austin since 2006 and am currently working as a processing
archivist.
True Craig
Truecraig writes amongst the ranks of the 78704, practices regular bearding, drinks in a sporting sort of way (like a two-day game of cricket), and believes that the production of sincere panda pornography might be the key to the survival of that particularly lazy bear species. Truecraig thinks that everyone takes themselves far too serious. Even you. But Truecraig likes you anyway, and wishes you would call him more often to talk about cuddly puppies, open sewage, and where all that killer-bad graffiti be at.
Elizabeth S.
Elizabeth
S. comes from a long line of native Texans and has lived in Austin most
of her life. A few of her favorite things: watching classic movies at
the Paramount, Horizontes on KUT, and the Austin Public Library. She
still refers to the Mueller redevelopment as "the old airport," and
perhaps always will.
Georgia Young
Georgia Young hails from the Boston area, but is addicted to Austin's near-perpetual summer. She likes really loud music, cinema, and writing about the Austin theatre scene for Austinist. Ginny Bell
Ginny
grew up in Corpus Christi, developing a world-class palate for
breakfast tacos at an early age. After learning to form sentences and
type while at the University of Texas, Ginny felt obligated to show the
world her new found skills. She is a firm believer in the lesser known
'wine, cheese, and bread' Food Triangle and is probably thinking about
her next meal. When not writing about food for Austinist, she is usually
playing with the limits of daily caffeine intake or tweeting while
driving.
Gregory Topscher
Gregory
went to college in the more colonial of the two Williamsburgs. He came
to Austin in 2009 to uproarious applause. He writes tech news for
Austinist, as well as book and theatre reviews. He also has a very
neglected Shakespeare blog and has been known to make things out of
paper.
Gregory Haley
Gregory
Haley is an Austin native and political nerd extraordinaire with a bad
habit of visiting foreign countries during popular uprisings. He was in
Thailand during the Red Shirt uprising and trapped in San Pedro Sula for
the Honduran coup. The State Department got tired of his calls for
rescue, so now he's a permanent Austin resident working as a writer
covering local, state, and national politics. Greg holds a Ph.D. in
Rhetoric and Writing from the University of New Mexico and enjoys
correcting everyone's grammar and punctuation. He naturally, of course,
has very few friends but lots of fans and followers.
Jessica Skinner
Jessica
is an Austin-based music writer and event planner from New York's
Hudson Valley. In addition to her addiction to live music she's
actively involved in farm-to-table potlucks, reclaimed wood projects,
greenbelt adventures, record collecting, wine consumption, and her day
job with Texas Coffee Traders. Sometimes she blogs at hungryhearted.com.
Josh Huck
Both
a military brat and a preacher’s kid, Josh Huck is a bona fide handful
who adores indulging his wanderlust and shootin’ the shit. Born in New
Zealand, he is currently based in the tanned, patchouli-scented bosom of
Austin, TX.
Julie Holden
Julie
Holden is a 5th (maybe 6th) generation Texan who hopes she's not
related to Judge Holden, but who knows? An exclamation-pointed
multi-hyphenate, she divides her time amongst many hobbies and passions:
family, real estate, theatre, and My Little Pony are tops on the list.
Awwww, yeah!
Kaely Coon
Miami-born
copywriter moves to Austin, seeking music for ears, tacos for mouth.
Everyone asks - "How was the drive?" Save you 20+ hours: bridges,
bayous, boredom, busted McDonald's coffee in Mississippi. And then
you're right where you need to be.
Katie Friel
Katie
is a native of the East Coast who moved to Austin for school but
stayed, honestly, for the tacos. Her favorite thing about Austinist is
getting to write about the ridiculously weird things that seem to only
occur in Texas. She has a dog she loves like a brother and, like most
freelance writers, spends a stupid amount of time at coffee shops.
Ken McCandless
Ken
came of age while reveling in the Los Angeles music scene. During a
fit of common sense he earned a BA in anthropology at UC Berkeley.
Although the National Science Foundation and the University of Illinois
allowed him to continue his work in Mexico, he spent a good deal of
time researching popular music and its history from anthropological
perspectives. He’s glad you will never be subjected to that. Since
2003 he has lived in south central Austin, and is consistently amused by
people who ask him what this place was like “back in the day.”
Matt Shiverdecker
Shiv moved to Austin from Cincinnati when WOXY.com
relocated here in the fall
of 2009. While he still catches plenty of
live music, more often than not you
can find him at an Alamo Drafthouse
watching a movie or at home surrounded by
shelves of vinyl and Criterion
Collection discs. He saw 209 films in 2011, 97 of
them theatrically.
This seems excessive to his mother, but makes him feel like
a casual
filmgoer in this town of extreme movie nerdom.
Matthew Frederick
Matthew
has been known to speak out of turn more than once and has been warned
about it repeatedly so let us know if he does it again. He loves Austin
as it's one of the few places he can walk five dogs and not get (too
many) funny looks. Hiking and biking are things he likes to do though he
doesn't do then as much as you’d think, if he likes them so much. He
always wanted to start a band but doesn't play anything and only sings
well when alone in the shower...alone.
Meredith Morrow
Raised
just north of Austin, Meredith Morrow now sleeps, works, and writes on
the East side. She spent almost all of 2010 wandering around New Zealand
and to this day can’t stop talking about how great it was. But
seriously, you guys should visit. It’s paradise.
Michelle Nail
Michelle
Nail is a busy and important woman. She assumes that at some point a
rotund British man with a handle-bar mustache will write her
biographical information for her. She lives in Austin with her wonderful
husband, crazy son, 2 guard-birds, multiple semi-aggressive fish, 1
persnickety cat, 1 malodorous dog, and three talented hens.was. But
seriously, you guys should visit. It’s paradise.
Neil Epstein
Neil Epstein is a graphic designer
with his hands in cookie jars around the city. He is left brain by day,
right brain by night and no brain by the early morning hours. Neil is a
New Yorker gone native who enjoys films, scuba diving, useless knowledge, and going feral in Prospect Park.
Nick Barbieri
Nick
returned to Austin after strutting around Boston University, New York,
and Los Angeles. Contributing to Austinist before and after a few of
those sojourns, Nick finds that he most enjoys leaning in suggestively
during film festival interviews. He's really, really good at writing
birthday cards, dogsitting, and personally identifying with Stevie Nicks
lyrics.
Paige Maguire
Paige
Maguire is a geek who likes to write about music, technology and
design. Her favorite place is the Internet. Born in Portland, raised in
Austin, she currently lives on the east side with her son, her fiance,
and a myriad of full-time and foster animals.
Phillip Pantuso
Phillip
Pantuso is a UT graduate and an Austinite of seven years. When he's
not spinning records or cracking a book at home, he enjoys bar-hopping
on the east side, shows on Red River, vegetarian kitchen experiments,
and riding his bike anywhere. You can find his writing at various
publications around town, follow him on Twitter @phillippantuso, or
email him something funny, thought-provoking and/or angry at phillippantuso@gmail.com
Pooneh Ghana
Pooneh
is a student and freelance photographer currently living in Austin. She
enjoys spending what money's she's got on polaroids, new camera gear,
impulsively traveling around the world to go to shows, and endless
Mountain Dew to keep her up at night so she can edit photos (chronic
insomnia at it's finest).
Rosa Barnes
Rosa
has five years of blogging/ writing under her belt with published work
on music, fitness, and Austin-related websites. When Rosa is not writing
she, along with the help of her husband, is busy guiding her curious
and energetic toddler through life. Rosa’s pastimes include happy hours,
reading Rolling Stone (since, at the moment, magazine articles are all
her attention-span can handle) and filling her head with music.
Ruth Griffin
Ruth
Griffin currently studies at Southwestern University in Georgetown
where she majors in English and minors in History. Also an intern
working for the Texas Music Office, her passion is music and writing.
When she isn’t working or studying, she enjoys going into Austin as
often as possible, going to live shows, and spending time with her
family. Miscellaneous interests include 30 Rock, gin rummy, and
obsessively collecting her ticket stubs.
Ryan Lester
Ryan
is originally from Sugar Land, TX, and has been a dedicated music
writer since 2009. He is currently a senior at St. Edward's University,
where he is studying communication. In addition to writing for the
Austinist, Ryan's work has been published on PopMatters, the A.V. Club
Austin, and his own blog, Flipside Sounds. A former intern of WOXY.com
and KGSR, Ryan is always on the lookout for new music, and spends the
vast amount of his free time researching and listening. Other interests
include media studies, gender studies, and meeting new people. He is a
little weirded out writing about himself in the third person.
Ryan Pollack
Ryan
came to Austin by way of Maryland, Virginia, and China, where he
developed an interest in photography. A technical writer by day, he
enjoys technology trends, baseball, heavy metal, funky house music, drum
& bass, and explaining things. His love of feta cheese knows no
bounds.
Siobhan Welch
Siobhan
is a Houstonian at heart (don't hold that against her), but now she
lives in South Austin with her husband Johnny and their three cats. She
writes about-and sometimes even reads- books.
Steve Hopson
Steve likes to photograph Austin and all its varied scenes.
Terry Martinez
Terry
is a researcher for the Texas Senate and food writer who will try any
dish once, from chicken feet to beef tongue--but don't ask her to eat a
salad. She just doesn't get the hype.
Tracie Chan
After a few too many tumbles on black ice while studying business and
sociology at Ohio State, Tracie effectively ended her lifelong
relationship with cold weather in 2006. That year, after a brief detour
to Rio de Janeiro, she moved to Austin for AmeriCorps. During her year
of service, Tracie discovered breakfast tacos and Lone Star beer and
knew she couldn't move back to the Midwest. She now works in healthcare
finance and spends lots of time in yoga classes and at art shows.
Travis Sandoval
Travis moved to Austin to attend the University of Texas and because he loved
this city so much, he decided to stay. He likes to think of himself as a
multimedia designer, filmmaker, and burgeoning style icon. Aside from
the usual Austin attractions, he also enjoys a good drink special and
the company of his skinny dog, Tripp. If you see him on the street, feel
free to compliment his hair.
Trent Lesikar
Trent was born in Tyler, raised in Dallas, and lives in Austin but Texas is
the common denominator. The only job he ever had that wasn't related to
photography found him wiping kids' poo off inflatable slides. Never
again, he says. Trent started photographing live music around 2006 and
never stopped (and probably won't). His work has been featured by USA
Today, The Atlantic, CBS, MSNBC, Pitchfork and more. His favorite band
is Xiu Xiu and he would like to talk to you.
William Bass
I am a native Texan who hopes to keep Austin's uncompromising cultural
heritage alive into the next millennium. I can be spotted drifting
between the alleys of the liminal spaces that seem to keep re-asserting
themselves regardless of whatever prohibition is at hand. I enjoy very
brief walks on the beach, boxer-briefs, and carbonated water.
William Mills
Following his voracious curiosity for all things interesting and insane turned
Will into a writer. He loves discovery and incredible storytellers. Will
studied journalism in South Carolina before moving to Austin on a whim.
In the land of endless summer, he craves rain and colder temperatures,
but the city keeps him occupied with the outdoors and an endless stream
of entertainment.
Tips
Dig It
Contribute
Latest Tip:
Being Elmo: A Puppeteers Journey will be having its last screening at SXSW this Saturday, 3/19, at t
[more]
Recent Comments