Fellow Texan Sam Cummins of Nymphet Alumni fame joins us for our Valentines's Day special. Together we explore the life of a notorious Texas jeweler of legend. James Avery is known for his tinkling silver charm bracelets, sleazy love life, and vigorous Episcopalianism. We discuss the TX archetype of The James Avery Girl, sleep away camps, talismanic charms throughout the ages, charm bracelets as autobiography/protection/handcuffs, Milagros, Queen Victoria The Influencer, Texas-Euro-kitsch, what it takes to be a true romantic, and more... Thanks for listening to Texas Overture :)
Extra reading:
https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/gods-jeweler/
https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1040106/
Wrangling tumbleweeds, we explore the deception and promise of the West Texas desert, Baudrillard, the mythology of Marfa, Donald Judd's unique criticism and minimalism, the viability of artist enclaves, the precarity of small towns, 10,000 year old clocks, the rise of 'instagrammable spots', survival, surveillance, etc.
We're back -- and we're developing a Spiritual Map of Texas. Born from a dream Faith had, we each select a special TX location and unravel its many layers on historical, emotional, geological and geomagnetic levels...
We are joined by friends from Campo de Estrellas, a conservation burial cemetery in Bastrop County. We discuss contemporary burial practices in Texas, climate concerns, the allure of lingering in cemeteries, being a good ancestor, memory in land, death in industrialization, and more.
Companion reading:
Campo de Estrellas website
At Rest in the Fields by Sarah Wambold
https://www.texasobserver.org/celebrating-childhoods-end-at-eloise-woods/
We discuss legendary Texas artist Jerry Hunt, a pioneering presence in the development of electronic composition and experimental new music. Influenced by everyone from John Cage to John Dee, Hunt was a virtuosic pianist by trade who made his name through his experimental, interactive, and technical way of making music. He is noted for incorporating celestial alphabets and occult themes in the composition and programming of his oblique and complicated work. Through challenging conventions Hunt gained world renown in New Music circles. He was also funny and strange and lived a beautiful life in East Texas for most of his life with his partner, Stephen Housewright.
Books:
Partners by Stephen Housewright
Transmissions from the Pleroma by Blank Forms
Our playlist:
Links:
Jerry Hunt website with interviews, reviews, links to books, etc.
Irida Records on Bandcamp
Episode Sounds:
John Cage and Jerry Hunt
We discuss the legacy of Don Pedro, the famous South Texan curandero, healer, and folk saint. We are joined by Ixa, a Texas woman whose great-grandmother actually studied under the man in question, for a broader discussion contextualizing modern spirituality, her family's experiences with 'the healer of Los Olmos Creek,' herbalism, prayer, and more.
We explore the glamorous and enterprising heyday of hot healing water resorts in Texas — from Mineral Wells to Marlin. Many of these places were built (late 1800s-early1900s) around natural, mineral imbued springs that were said to have a wide variety of benefits. The attracted everyone from Hollywood elites, grifters, miracle workers, and magnetic healers. Many of them have fallen to ruin.
Plus, we sit down with our friend Professor Jonathan Paul De Vierville, who may be the world's leading living expert on Hot Wells in San Antonio. We also learn he knew Steve Pollock in the 70s... everything is connected.
Other topics include: Mesmer, balneology, hysterical women finding solutions, Jung, the state of "healing" today, modern elixirs, the spiritual and physical health benefits of a good soak, and more. This is our season finale, thanks for listening to TO.
Reading:
"Crazy Water, The Story of Mineral Wells and Other Texas Health Resorts" by Gene Fowler
In this special episode of Texas Overture, we break traditional narrative form to enact an eerie dream Faith had one fateful night. Armed with our metal detector and a reservoir of "summer feeling" we explore the rich and colorful scent pathways and silent forces of various outdoor locations in our local environment.
Listen for: Jonathan Richmond, dispatches from the dreamworld, memory mapping, summer field recordings, droning cicadas, Barry Hannah & Texas Overture fragrance line research.
Zoyd Wheeler (@ShakenJack) joins us in the East Texas wilderness to discuss the Archives of the Impossible conference, inter-dimensional love, Husserlian phenomenology, the perils of tragic romance with orbs of light, Medieval mystics Hildegard of Bingen and Margery Kempe, near death experiences, UFOs & the Nation of Islam, disinformation campaigns, Raymond Carver, small town legends, and more.
Plus, we reconnect with the Mystic of Matagorda - Forrest Bess.
A special bonus episode of Texas Overture... We break down our upcoming road trip to the big Archives of the Impossible Conference at Rice University.
We discuss the state of cryptozoology in Texas, industrial dance music, Texas Bigfoot, time slips, science, and "The Big Bird" with local cryptozoologist Ken Gerhard.
We dive into alchemy, the unconscious, and the strange visionary life of Forrest Bess — the East Texas shrimp fisherman, outsider artist, and mystic.
