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City Cast Austin

We ask local movers and shakers the essential questions.

Amparo Garcia-Crow loves stories. Garcia-Crow, a writer, director, actress, and professor, founded 

The Living Room - Story Time for Grownups

, a monthly event where people tell true life stories, in 2009. Since then, Garcia-Crow has found a community of listeners.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What is The Living Room and what inspired you to start it?

“I’ve always been a storyteller with all the things. Whether I’m giving a lecture, whether I’m putting a workshop together, writing a play, a screenplay, a story, a memoir, whatever, at the heart of it, it’s making connections with a community of listeners.

What I really love is, scientifically it’s been proven that our brains (are on) when we’re listening as an audience. That’s why I’ve always loved doing theater. There’s an unmistakable communion that occurs. It’s energetic, and even if you don’t like everything you’re hearing, it’s still a feeling of surrendering and becoming a child, curious again to hear somebody else’s life story.”

“They’re all true. That’s the criteria. As the organizer and in some ways, the director of it, I try to have a beginning, a middle, and end for the night itself. What I’m listening for is stories (about) love, sex, death, health, and spiritual transformation, and that at least one story represents, at the heart of it, any of those possibilities.”

What should Austinites know about your son, musician Shakey Graves?

“I love that he still trusts the unknown. That takes a lot of love for what you’d like to create more than whether it’s gonna be successful or not. It takes a lot of courage to trust the impulse and to let yourself still have lots of fun without knowing where it’s gonna go.”

Amparo Garcia-Crow runs a storytelling group in Austin.

A Mile in Their Boots: Shakey Graves’ Mom on Storytelling in Austin

What Austin celebrities, public figures and key citizens have to say about living here.

3 Questions With Austin Public Figures

3 Questions With

Dewi Smith is a community connector, a voting motivator, and someone you love the minute you meet her. Smith, who is on the city’s Bond Election Advisory Task Force, gave us a peek into her work.

How would you describe your job in Austin?

“My day job is in tech operations. I say this all the time – I’m like the Kelly Rowland of somebody else’s Beyoncé for customer support.

You’re not gonna see me be the face of the thing. But what you can be sure of is – be it a commission, be it a board seat – I’m gonna ask all of the questions that God ever sent to somebody’s mind. I’m not going to volunteer and not make that time productive.”

Why is the Bond Election Advisory Task Force important?

“Even though 2026 is the year that the bond will be considered, [we are] taking time now to meet and hear from the various city departments about their criteria for prioritizing projects being proposed and for us to get a sense of just the volume of products or projects that need funding.

I’m learning a lot of new lingo and I’m just there for the community. I am like, ‘Yep, I’m gonna ask a regular person question.’

I'm looking at what's being presented. I'm also asking about historically underfunded things. I count myself as a regular old person asking regular old person questions.”

Why should Austinites serve on committees?

“It is so important. If you have the bandwidth, and it's on your heart and (you have) the capacity and the willingness, get on boards of all stripes (and) commissions of all stripes. Be that at the city level, be it for school districts, that representation matters. Because what I now understand as an adult of a very grown age is, where you think decisions are being made, they probably have been made three steps earlier.”

Dewi Smith is on the city's Bond Election Advisory Task Force.

A Mile in Their Boots: Dewi Smith on Participating in Your City

John Waters does not own any cowboy boots.

And, he probably won’t be wearing cowboy boots at his performance at Paramount Theatre in downtown Austin this weekend, unless he becomes a rancher in the next three days.

 “I feel that if you are a Texan and you work on a ranch, you look great in it. Otherwise, in Las Vegas, you look like a bad hooker,” 

Waters, the creator of “Hairspray” and “Pink Flamingos,” and frequent collaborator with the iconic drag queen Divine, is bringing his show, “The Filthiest Birthday Ever!” to Moontower Comedy Festival. We caught up with Waters before his trip to Austin in what can only be described as a dream interview. Here’s what we learned:

🎤 Waters’ Show Is About, Well, Everything.

If you were able to nab a ticket to Waters’ Saturday show, expect a 70 minute monologue. (

The show is about, “politics, fashion, movies, sex, your parents, how you can rebel, how to be old, how to be young, everything," Waters said. “It’s a pretty crazy comedy show and it happens to be in my birthday week.”

Waters believes humor is political and you can use it as a weapon for change.

In Texas, anti-drag and anti-LGBTQ+ bills 

 in the Texas Legislature. But Waters says Austinites shouldn’t feel like they have to leave a town where more 

 in the last presidential election than before.

“There’s cool people everywhere,” he said.

“Stay wherever you are and make it better. You don’t have to leave. You make it better where you were born and then every country, every city will be cool,” Waters said. “You don’t have to be the majority. Who wants to be the majority?”

🌈 Gay Is Not Enough To Make Good Films.

As a gay filmmaker himself, Waters has advice for queer Austinites looking to get into the filmmaking business: Your work has to be more than just gay.

“I think that gay is a very good start, but being gay is not enough. You have to be more than just gay. You have to be gay, and funny, and change things, and make people look at all sexuality in different ways,” Waters said.

For more Waters advice and hot takes, click here!

Waters is performing at the 2025 Moontower Comedy Festival.

John Waters’ Advice for Queer Austinite Filmmakers: Be More Than Gay

John Waters’ Advice for Queer Austin Filmmakers: Be More Than Gay

 is busy. She is the artistic director for OUTsider Fest, a University of Texas at Austin associate professor in Latinx Studies in the College of Liberal Arts, and associate dean in the College of Fine Arts. We caught up with Gutiérrez about her work in Austin.

“I'm able to have a research practice that allows me to be beyond the walls of the university confines and allows me to be very much engaged with what's going on in the local scene, particularly in the art scene, of course.

… Specifically in Latinx studies, I focus on aesthetics whether it's performance or visual arts. I'm able to use a lot of my research and my knowledge on that to be able to work and collaborate and partner with different art organizations.”

How has OUTsider Fest changed over the last 11 years?

“(OUTsider Fest at the beginning) was about mixing the different disciplines under the large rubric of queer and trans art. That vision is what started OUTsider Fest and made it unique, right?”

Since then, Gutiérrez says, “There has been a growth in mainstream culture to quote unquote accept queer and trans artists. We know politically that is not the case.”

“OUTsider is still interested in what mainstream culture is not interested in, like really thinking about the misfits (and) freaks. I still think that there’s a lot of outsiders outside of mainstream culture where mainstream culture would not be able to deal with the types of performances that we have featured throughout the years.”

We’ve been seeing a lot of people saying that rest is revolutionary. As a queer, brown woman, what do you do for rest in Austin?

“I love to walk and I was mostly alone, but sometimes with friends. If there’s a path by a river, that’s my go-to place. I also turn off by just sitting on the couch and telling myself, ‘ Rest, rest, rest. Rest time is resistance.’”

Laura Gutiérrez is the artistic director for Outsider Fest.

A Mile in Their Boots: Laura Gutiérrez on How OUTsider Fest Has Changed

, spending days in people’s homes after they’ve died, organizing, sorting, and eventually selling the things they’ve left behind. We caught up with McQueary to learn about his unusual job, which he’s been in for 31 years.

💀 McQueary’s Strangest Estate Sale Items Were Human Skulls.

You didn’t read that wrong. McQueary ran an estate sale that had two human skulls. Including the skulls in the sale involved a lot of research, McQueary said.

“We went through all the 7,000 rules – what you can sell, what you can’t sell. I was terrified,” he said.

Every person has something fascinating about them, McQueary said. Teachers leave behind cabinets of old school work and supplies. Musicians leave behind records and instruments.

“My job is the best job anywhere,” McQueary said.

Most sales McQueary hosts, he could write a book about. Every sale has a weirdness or an oddity or 

“Everyone has an interesting fact. Everyone has an interesting background. Everyone has an interesting thing they’ve done or did or do and they all leave signs of it around,” he said.

✨ Taking Care of People’s Things Is a Serious Job.

Everyone has stuff. But, it doesn’t matter if you’re famous or rich or poor – everyone dies, Mcqueary pointed out. And what happens with your stuff then?

“Someone has to deal with your stuff, your things, your belongings, your ephemera, your personal things,” McQueary said.

McQueary makes sure people’s things are taken care of in a respectful and loving way after they’ve died.

“It's not always that way, but with us it is,” he said.

What Austinites Leave Behind (Sponsored)

Carl McQueary runs Estate Services of Austin.

A Mile in Their Boots: Carl McQueary on What Austinites Leave Behind

Lloyd Maines, musician, songwriter, “Austin City Limits” Hall of Famer, and yes, the father of “The Chicks” lead singer Natalie Maines, has never taken a music lesson. He got his first guitar at 13 and taught himself chords with a $2 book. He’s since become an Austin centerpiece, appearing on “Austin City Limits” 

We caught up with Maines this month. Here’s what we learned:

🎶 Maines Did His First “Austin City Limits” Show in 1978.

Twenty years before moving to Austin, Maines did his first “Austin City Limits” show with Joe Ely. Doing the show, and the ones that followed, helped Maines understand Austin because most guests had a connection to the city.

“I know that when I first came here from Lubbock, it was like coming to a different country,” he said.

Since then, the show has mushroomed, spreading what Maines calls the mystique of “Austin City Limits” worldwide.

“It made people want to come and check out Austin,” he said. “In fact, I heard this interview just last week about someone who had moved here because they saw ‘Austin City Limits.’”

💌 Need Advice on Making It in Music? Maines Has Tons.

When we asked Maines if he had any advice for musicians, he said: “Actually, I do. I always give this advice and people listen to it about half the time, maybe. I’m not sure it ever soaks in.”

Always, whether it’s a recording session, gig, interview, or whatever, show up on time, Maines said. If you’re late, you’re infringing on your own time and other people’s time.

“That sounds kind of frivolous, but it’s true,” he said.

His other advice is to take your work seriously. Maintain your focus and your integrity, Maines said.

“Also, hone your craft. If you’re going to go in and expect to be a studio player or if you’re just doing your own songs, don’t settle for second best,” he said.

Maines’s interview, where he shares his advice and his favorite Austin spots to catch a live show, on the City Cast Austin podcast is out today at 11 a.m.:

Why Musician Lloyd Maines Loves Austin (Sponsored)

Lloyd Maines has become an Austin centerpiece, appearing on “Austin City Limits” more than any other performer.

Austin's Lloyd Maines on Making It in Music

A Mile in Their Boots: Lloyd Maines on Making It in Music

Filmmaker Ivy Chiu has been working as a cinematographer on films, commercials, and documentaries in Austin since 2010. They produce and direct independent films, too. We caught up with Chiu to learn about their work.

How did you get into this line of work and what attracted you to it?

“You know, I never anticipated being a filmmaker. I always wanted to be a musician, but at the end of the day, it was always about storytelling and maintaining connection to the people around me, and also being an artist, and trying to understand the world through music.

I ended up going to film school at (the University of Texas at Austin), and I think that journey sort of progressed naturally.

It just became a way of life and I figured out how to make it work.”

“I need it to survive and thrive in this world. A lot of times we just go through so much – our current political climate and the wars going on, (and) the genocide going on in the world. I think art is a way to process all of the challenges and difficulties in life.

“I think in order to affect change, you have to start in your own life. And it can be so hard to wrap your mind around, ‘How do I create change in the world?’ And I believe that when we start with ourselves and we start with the communities around us, it ripples out. And so I think it matters, because everyone's lives matter.”

Filmmaker Ivy Chiu has been working as a cinematographer on films, commercials, and documentaries in Austin since 2010.

Meet the Austin Filmmaker Who Started Out as a Musician

Meet Hannah Gabel, the literary director for the Texas Book Festival. 

The festival is this weekend in downtown Austin

. We caught up with Gabel to learn about the festival and more.

“My all time favorite book I would say is The Alchemist. It's just such an inspiring and wise story that I try to read once a year.”

Let's walk a mile in your boots. What do you do on an average day? What does that look like for you?

“I spend a lot of time connecting with publicists and authors. Right now, we're kind of working on getting all the final details and information out to authors and answering questions from publicists (for the festival). That's really kind of year-round.

Once the festival's over, early in 2025, I'll be focused more on reading 2025 releases. Reading is certainly a very big part of my job, which is great, because I love to read.”

Why does expanding access to literature matter to you?

“I've always felt that reading is one of the reasons I personally love reading so much, and obviously there's tons of statistics that show kids who read do better in school and are more empathetic and so on and so forth. For me personally, I feel like reading gives you the ability to view the world through someone else's eyes.

Whether you're reading fiction or non-fiction, I think there's so much we can learn about people, communities, identities, and life experiences that are different from our own through books and generally becoming more knowledgeable about people, places, or things that you weren't previously familiar with. I think it leads to a deeper sense of empathy and understanding.

For that reason, I genuinely feel the world would be a far better place if more people were avid readers.”

Texas Book Festival runs Nov. 16-17 in downtown Austin.

The Austinite Putting Texas Book Festival Together

Live fire cook Jess Pryles is a meat science grad who has made a name for herself as the “

,” which is the name of her cookbook and spice line. We caught up with Pryles to learn about her work:

Let's walk a mile in your boots. What do you do on an average day?

“It could be anything. If I'm out of town, it's usually filming for my TV show, which is also called ‘Hardcore Carnivore.’ I was in Nashville last week doing an event with Kingsford. I speak at a lot of events. I do a lot of demos.

I often get asked like, ‘What do I do during the day?’ And sometimes I sit back and think, ‘I can't even tell you what I did today. I can just tell you that I did it for at least 12 to 14 hours because I ran out of time.’”

“I think my work matters to me because it contributes something. In today's social media climate, it's very much just about entertainment, and shock value, and quickly digestible and disposable videos. And I still like to make videos that have a purpose. So maybe they're teaching someone something. Maybe someone can learn to be a better cook or more confident in how they cook or how they choose their meat.”

“Austin changed my life when I moved here. It wasn't just about coming to Texas and falling in love with the Texan lifestyle. I fell in love with Austin. I love the great spirit of this city. It's so welcoming and so open to all groups of all kinds, but then you can still dip in and go to learn to two-step at the Broken Spoke, or you can drop your deer at Hudson's on South Congress.

It still has these wonderful quirks of a really Texan lifestyle in a fantastic modern cosmopolitan city. And that's what's allowed me to bloom here.”

The ‘Hardcore Carnivore’ on Why She Loves Austin

She taps, she teaches, and she’s been doing it for more than three decades. Meet Acia Gray, the producing artistic director who co-founded Tapestry Dance Company in 1989. We caught up with Gray to learn more about her:

“I feel that we're an institution here in Austin. Back in the day when we were founded, I mean it was 35 years ago this season, Austin was a lot smaller. So if you took the top five arts organizations in the city, Tapestry was one of them.

I'm actually also a solo artist and teacher in the wonderful art form of jazz tap dancing.”

So let's walk a mile in your boots. What do you do on an average day?

“I am still teaching tap dance here in Austin and we have a facility on Riverside Drive, and I only teach adults and teens, so I don't do kids.

We did have a full academy of professional, salaried dancers until mid-COVID, when we couldn't do it anymore. So now, instead of being in rehearsal for 30 hours a week with that company, I have to contract artists to do shows. We use our facility to put shows together and usually it's two to three shows a year.

I tour around the world and the nation teaching and performing. I choreograph on and off, but the next thing on the slate is our (Soul 2 Sole) international tap festival, which is in its 25th year this year.”

“I believe why Tapestry's work matters and, because my work is most within Tapestry Dance Company, is that our full productions have never been showcasing choreography and technique for that sake only. It's always been, and most definitely since the mid 90s, if not before the early 90s, it's put together with a concept.

But I truly believe that my work is a message of staying present, and listening, more than anything.”

Acia Gray is the producing artistic director who co-founded Tapestry Dance Company in 1989