Live & Local - March 2021

March 11th - Shannon Sionna

This week on Live and Local, we find Balance with featured artist Shannon Sionna as she delivers captivating rhythms and ear worm melodies aplenty. While learning about her earliest influences and creative process, we also get a behind the scenes look at some of the different ways she expresses herself creatively as well as a sneak peak of what's on the horizon for this San Antonio based R&B boss!

March 18th - 8th Light / GLUE Studios

It takes a great deal of heart and determination to achieve success as an artist or as an engineer; somehow, 8th-Light has managed to tackle both by diving headlong into the creation of GLUE Studios. Whether it be by producing instrumentals, mentoring aspiring talent, or working on his own personal projects, this is one musician who truly gives himself to his art 110%. Join us in the journey to learn the process behind the product for the Texas hip-hop heavy weight.

45th Anniversary Recap!

On January 23, 2021, KRTU celebrated its 45th Anniversary with a virtual music event. We featured performances by local and regional bands. KRTU’s Music Director Kory Cook hosted the event, with KRTU staff and community supporters providing commentary. Donations received during the online event went to support KRTU’s Tower Initiative.  

San Antonio indie bands, Demitasse, Collective Dreams, Dreambored, We Leave at Midnight, and Garrett T. Capps with D.T. Buffkin plus Auggie Myers and friends all contributed performances. Check out the YouTube video of this momentous event below.

Michael Thomas, the host of KRTU’s flagship Indie Overnight show, Music for Listeners, curated a four hour show on January 23rd to celebrate the occasion. The show began at midnight and consisted of songs released each year KRTU has been on the air beginning in 1976 through 2020.

Here is the Music for Listeners - 45th Anniversary Playlist or click on the image below for an archived recording of the show!

Gods, Guitars, and Gigatons - The Latest From Pearl Jam

Reminiscent of the story of Dionysus from Greek Antiquity, Pearl Jam’s “Dance of the Clairvoyants” evokes feelings of ecstasy, confusion, and madness. Just as the Greek God’s frenetic followers, known as “maenads” follow Dionysus into their own demise, listeners who fall under lead singer Eddie Vedder’s melodious spell are called to action. Vedder, along with the syncopated rhythms of Matt Cameron on drums, staccato licks from Stone Gossard and Mike McCready, both on lead guitar, and the steady pulls from Jeff Ament on bass, pull their listeners into a nearly irresistible clairvoyant trance. The lyrics “confusing it is to commotion” launch us into the track’s chaos. The kaleidoscope of natural imagery is featured throughout the remainder of the track, situating the listener in the vast and uncontrollable nature of our Earth.

Gigaton, the band’s first studio album in seven years, is a tribute to mother Earth in itself. Released on March 27, 2019, just a month shy of Earth Day, the album title is almost prescriptive, begging us to take care of this finite realm we call home. In the scientific community, a “gigaton” is used to measure carbon emissions. According to the U.S Energy Information Administration (and Pearl Jam’s Website), our world emits 32.5 gigatons of carbon --the equivalent of 32.5 billion metric tonnes-- annually. 

The group seamlessly intertwines the idea of the crazed maenads from the story of Dionysus and the great implausibility of our Earth. Perhaps Dionysus is leading us to the top of the hill to show us our oncoming and inevitable destruction. Whatever the message, Pearl Jam’s thirty year career leaves us with an impassioned, ethereal warning that we stand back when the spirit comes. 

Music Matters: James Blue

On the seventh edition of Music Matters, KRTU’s Dominic Anthony chats with San Antonio-based artist James Garcia — better known as James Blue — about his new album, Shade of You, and the biggest changes he’s noticed in the San Antonio music community over the past decade.

Music Matters’ Decade In Review series will continue through the end of January.

Music Matters airs every weekend night at midnight.

Music Matters: Gary Davenport

On the sixth edition of Music Matters, KRTU’s Dominic Anthony chats with longtime San Antonio-based musician Gary Davenport about his time with Mannequin in the 80s and his new compilation album, which The Numero Group just released.

Photo taken by Mark Nikolewski in 1984.

Music Matters airs every weekend night at midnight.

Music Matters: Ruru and Mellow Fellow

On the fifth edition of Music Matters, KRTU’s Dominic Anthony chats with Manila-based artists Ruru and Mellow Fellow. They are on their first U.S. tour, which comes to San Antonio on Friday, November 15.

Music Matters airs every weekend night at midnight.

Music Matters: Michael Seyer

On the fourth edition of Music Matters, KRTU’s Dominic Anthony chats with Miguel Reyes — better known as Michael Seyer — about his new EP, Nostalgia. It dropped on Friday, November 8.

Music Matters airs every weekend night at midnight.