InterviewWith Erin Cuny

By Heather Mattingly

BBL 3023.901 Frequently when talking about the Southern Texan culture it is assumed that the people in this culture have to be Mexican American. There are many white anglo people who have grown up in south Texas who can appreciate this culture and everything that comes with such as the food, music and style.

The following interview was conducted in San Antonio, TX on May 1, 2009. Erin Cuny is a native from San Antonio who has spent almost her entire life living in the same house in the north central part of town. She has 3 sisters and relishes her time with family. One of the influences in her life that she attributes to her parents is her musical taste. They introduced her to the

Tejano or Conjuto sound at an early age and though they did not force in on her it was always being played. When she was in high school she discovered a love for the sound that she has never been able to forget. In the interview we explore the relationship she has with music and how she developed her musical taste. Erin also discusses her style and who she is as a person.

She defines herself as a true Southern Texan and appreciates and loves the culture that comes with that. Okay, why don't we just start this off and you can tell me a little bit about your parents and

your family's history in San Antonio.

Um, ok my father was born and raised here, um his dad was a Borden's milk man and his

mother worked as a nurse urn, he grew up in central, north central San Antonio off of

Fredricksburg road, a little are called Los Angeles Heights, still there, house is still there, he was

one of six.

And they all lived in the house together?

Fortunately his oldest brother, he was out of the house while the two younger ones, he was out

of the house when he and his younger sister were born, so urn by the time they were there the

older two were out, and by the time the next two were born they were out so there was a

rotation, uh yeah one bedroom house, they turned their dining room into a another bedroom

for the girls and they had a little TV room that could be a bedroom, but they turned it into a

boy's bedroom.

Did your dad like to listen to any particular music growing up? Was there any particular

music the family listened to?

Well, I think because of the separation of ages there was a lot of diversity as far as the music taste in music. I don't know my grandfather, I mean I don't know all that much about my

grandfather because he wasn't a social man when he was alive and I was old to be curious about that or know. anything.. But I do know his oldest brother who is in his upper 701s, my dad is not 60 yet, but he is a huge Bob Wills fan, he still enjoys listening to Bob Wills. We do a

Christmas exchange every year where the cousins will buy stuff for the uncles and aunts or you buy for one aunt and uncle or one cousin or what not and he was excited when I said I wanted the Bob Wills cd and he was like "which one do you want?" and waahtever and um, so I know there was a lot of the Texas music definitely. I know this has nothing to do with anything, my cousin, his son just had a baby and made the onesies, so he got a whole set of Texas Tornadoes and we did the Texas Playboys.

What about your mom?

She was um my grandfather flew as a pilot in the army, her mother was a teacher she was actually born in Arkansas and moved to Sa when she was, I guess she was in high school or was getting ready to go to high school because she went to Ursaline Academy and her younger brother went to Jackson Middle School, my grandfather designed and built their house off of

Marburough which is still there.

Do they stilllive there?

No. They moved to the hill country off of Lake LBJ I guess when my aunt Annie, the youngest in the family was in college. How did your parents meet?

Um, through a mutual friend, well a mutual friend, um Ursaline academy cheerleaders cheered for the what's it called? A crap, off of West Avenue, I can't think of the name right now, the

Apaches. Do you know it's in Castle Hills off West Avenue.

Is it San Antonio Academy?

No, uh crap, I can't believe I cant remember, but it was an all boys school and ursaline was an all girls school, so the cheerleaders would come over and cheer for the um I am hoping it will just come to me ...it's not an all boys, its off of West avenue and Castle hills, I can't believe I can't remember the name

(pause to find name of school)

Ok so we were talking about your mom was a cheerleader,

Well my mom didn't cheer, it was her little sister, there are 4 kids in my mom's family and the sister just under her, my aunt Marsha was a cheerleader and she would cheer at the Antonian football games and what not, because it was an all boys school and my dad had graduated from

Anotonian and had friends that had graduated from Antonian and she would have friends that cheered ... Met through my aunt, knew some of the boys that attended there, so there was come connection there but they didn't actually meet until after my mom was in college and stuff so

So when the first started dating or um that point of their life where either one of them into a

particular type of music?

Yeah I think so, I mean you're talking the early 70's and my dad's music collection was is he's got The Doors and he's got The Grateful Dead and standard for the time. My mom was more

into the country music, she liked Neil Young, Willie Nelson, all of that comes from, if you look through their record collection those are the ones that are marked Margaret Cuny or Margaret and my dad is like "who listens to the Doors, gross" but they both listened to a lot of Dylan urn, both like Johnny Cash, things like that urn, my dad is anywhere from Frank Zappa to SirDouglas

Quintet to his range in music was all over the place at that time, he still is real into exploring music and all that so.. Did they um, spend time going to concerts and stuff like that?

No, I'm not sure about that, I've asked them questions about that and financially, my moms family had the money, my dad's family didn't but I don't think concerts were something that

they did a whole lot of, you know 1pretty much, my dad spent some time in California, he has been to California twice um to bring his little sister back home who was in the whole hate

Ashburry thing,at the request of his parents went to bring her home but he was in the military but other than that I mean my mom has been overseas and spent some time in France and my dad has those two times and spent some time in Arkansas other then that he's a local San

Antonio Texas boy, most of his life has been here, he's not well traveled, he's not a traveled.

So, moving forward um, how does that shape you how your parents are and how you are, do you have brothers and sisters and how does their musical, your parents musical taste, how does that affect you?

Well, 1didn't really have any appreciation for music, Born and raised in San Antonio, like I said my dad hasn't really left San Antonio at all, I was born at Methodist Hospital here in town, moved to the house that my parents still reside in when I was 2, which makes them living in that house almost 30 years um, so were pretty much homebodies in that regard. As far as music goes, I was never one to have a band, I was in middle school listening to the hip music, you know the crap music, listened to my mom, I knew every song on KONO, I knew who Bob

Dylan was I knew he sounded like a mix of Tom Petty, I knew who Tom Petty was, we used to play the artist guessing game, who is this, who is this, and I had two answers, it was either the Beatles or Elvis until I was 13,l always answered the Beatles or Elvis, my dad always asked me

for Beatles or Elvis Songs. But when I was in high school I, my music tastes sucked, you know I didn't really like Wilson Phillips any more (laugh), but I went through all of my parent's records and pulled out a handful, and 5 of them were Dylan albums, and some of them were Johnny

Cash and Paul Simon and Dire Straights, and all of them were albums I heard while we were cleaning the house, when we cleaned the house we would listen to the vinyl. All of those were I had remembered from when I was a little bit younger. So I revisited them and thought, um let's see what I think about his, and decided that I knew what it was like to fall in love after my third

Bob Dylan record of the night, I was like "I love this man, I love everything I've heard" and have been an avid Dylan fan ever since but you know along with that revisited Johnny Cash, you know I hated country music, I would listen to Wilson Phillips but I wouldn't listen to country music, country music on the radio is one thing but country music that is you know Johnny Cash country music, Willie Nelson country music is like classic country music is a completely different thing from pop country music. Pop country music yes I don't like. I would listen country music any day of the week. So I guess that is, my freshmen year in high school when I started to really get into the music scene as far as have an interest in it and began to explore it. With that being said I don't really explore or have or listen to anyone outside of the classic era, I guess I am close minded in that regard, my friend always used to say "you don't like any kind of music unless it is someone who is either dead or over the age of 60" Backing up really quick when you were talking about your dad growing up here and always being in San Antonio and you, how do guys view yourselves as part of San Antonio and San

Antonio having such a large Mexican American population and you not being but being white? How do you view yoursetf as fitting into San Antonio?

Well, that is a very interesting question. You know I went to Robert E. Lee high school which is in the North East school district but of the north east school district or high school district, I went to Jackson Middle School, it is definitely a more inner city then some of the Churchill or the Regen, well Regan wasn't around at that time, but our population if you wanted to do

demographics there, the white population was definitely a minority at that time. 1remember

playing sports and what not and liking the fact that I went to that high school. You had

Churchill that was 5 minutes away and Clark that was 5 minutes away from our house, I think I

have always identified myself, well my family has always identified themselves as San

Antonian's, South Texans. There is a San Antonio culture you come from Austin and you come to San Antonio and things are different here, things are slower. There is a bumper sticker that says "Keep Austin Weird" and there is a bumper sticker that says "Keep San Antonio Lame" and the A is the Alamo and I'm like "hell ya" I want one of those for my car. I'm definitely proud to

be in San Antonio. 1like the local scene here, 1like that there isn't any frills. Do you think going to a high school where you were more of a minority, did that affect your musical tastes at all, did you have a lot of exposure to the Tejano sound?

Yes, but also I think you know on a larger spectrum, even more then that a respect for the culture in general. There musical taste, their people that I am like what is that, but there are others that are I could like this, 1 like that beat I like that sound that sort of thing. Anyway I think my high school experience mostly gave me a respect for the culture.

When you were in high school, did you attend any sort of festivals or events, or like the local things, what kinds of things did you and your family go to?

Um, we have always attened the Folk Life festival. That has always been a big one for my family. But even the local school carnivals, you know my little sister would be having a carnival at this elementary school. "will you go with me" and my basketball friends would go or whatever but yeah attending certain events, I was the only, my senior year in high school I was

the only senior on our basketball team and 1am 6 feet tall and um, I was the only anglo

American, whatever you want to call me, which I think was rare for the North East high school team which I think was rare for the school district, I think it was rare to have one white girl on the team but anyways so I was I had a couple of African American but the majority was

Hispanic. Which was always interesting when we would play other schools, I mean there's me and not to stereotype or anything, but I am 6 feet tall and significantly taller than anyone else,

but I loved my high school experience, I loved my elementary school and 1loved my middle school. My college experience was, well my college was a small Texas college, private school, majority white, we did have a diverse group, but the majority was white. We did have a few

Hispanics, but 1remember meeting people and um, I remember one of my friends telling me I

was more Mexican then they were and they were Hispanic.

Kind of while we are on your college experience, where did you go to college?

Southwestern University, Georgetown

Ok, so by Austin, living there how did you think the culture was as opposed to?

I was not a 6th street girl I was not an Austin girl. Austin has a great music scene apparently, but you are either from San Antonio or Austin. But maybe not, mayne I'm being

But did they have the same type of music? I know they have their alternative scene but did they have ...

Absolutely, there is South Texas there as well. Definitely, some of my favorite artists now got their start in Austin. Austin is a great place and I just was not a 6th street there at all. Do you think while you were in college and what you listened too, do you think that shaped

your music taste or do you think it had already formed?

I think it was already there forming I think had already discovered that I had an appreciation for

a certain sound, discovered that 1had a really a joy in listening to those certain things, 1 love

hearing the steel guitar, I love the fiddle, I love the accordion I love the different instruments.

So my appreciation for music, I pretty much was formed, I pretty much knew where I was going,

my taste was pretty much formed after that high school experience. It carried over into my

college years.

So you don't think you're very eclectic when it comes to music?

No, I'm pretty much ...um when 1like somebody I like somebody all the way. How many Dylan

Cd's do I have? I probably every single one from his first album to his newest album. 1have a

handful of Willie Nelson and 1 have a good handful of Neil Young I have a good handful of

Johnny Cash. I love the Sir Douglass Quintet and how many young people know who the Sir

Douglass Quintet are? They are one of my favorite bands. 1mean there is a Doug Sahm day in

San Antonio. So you know Me not being from here, I don't know anything about that so maybe you can, I don't know tell me a little about the Sir Douglass Quintet and what is they have done for you?

In hearing the Sir Douglass Quintet for the first time I was not surprised that I thought "I really

like this band" I like this sound, um not that he or it is like Dylan or like anyone in particular, 1 like the quality of his voice, he has a fantastic voice, the instruments are all parts drum and bass. Auggie Meyer is playing the accordion in the background and Flaco Jiminez is playing the organ well Flaco is in the Texas Tornadoes. All of those different sounds are sound I still like now. I collected several different Sir Douglass albums. The Texas tornadoes came and did a

concert fat Grand Central Station off of Fredricksburg and 410,l think it burned down, but 1had never been but had a benefit show forthe Katrina victims and Doug Sahm's son sang for them.

You have Flaco Jiminez on accordion and Auggie Meyer was there and Doug's son sang there was no Freddie Fender, anyway the Texas Tornado was a group that was formed after the Sir

Douglass. Auggie Meyer and Doug Sohm were part of the Sir Douglass and Texas Tornadoes was formed with Flaco Jimenez. So what is it about that type of music that appeals to you? I know you said you like the sound

the instruments make but is there something more to it, something about what there songs

are about or something about who they are as people?

I think there is a certain quality as a certain truthfulness and honesty that I fell. It doesn't fell

produced to be appreciated and loved to sell millions and millions of record, it is music that is

written for the people who are writing it and if people like it then that's a bonus. I guess a lot

of music was created because it was what the people liked to do. I like hearing about places

that I know about, is anybody going to San Antone. OK, a song about my hometown,

automatically 1am going to listen and see if I like it. There is just a certain pride and authentic

absolutely. You Know I listen to the radio stations and I will put it on a Tejano station, you

know I know a little bit of Spanish, but I am not a Spanish speaker by any means, I would rather

listen to, and I know there is a difference there to there is tejano pop and what not but I would

rather listen to, give me a classic Spanish station and I would rather listen to that then 105.3

anyday.

So with all of that and how it shaped your musical taste do you attend concert and musical

now and do you like for that sort of music.

Absolutely, but I am not the sort to look for any sort of festival or concert. I like going to

concerts, but I am picky about who 1will go see. I will go to the folk life festival I vegone to the

Cove which is a all in one restaurant/live music/carwash/laundromat type of place. My dad

likes the Los #3 Dinners which is his favorite band. I went to the Lumanaria festival not to long ago and the band called the Krayolas, which is the first new band, which I don't even know if

they are new, but they are local, and I was like "gotta stop and listen to this one" my most

recent interest in music was definitely that one. The accordion festival is held here every year

and uh, Doug Sohm day is in November, and I try to attend all of these every year.

So looking ahead if you ever have children, how do you think the past between your parents

and how you grow up, what do you want them to get out of what you know?

Definitely a little of all of it for sure. I have two cats right now and they are named Flaco and

Auggie. And actually when we saw the Texas Tornadoes at that benefit concert we got to

talking to both of them and we had a few tequila shots and my sister, my older sister decided

that she needed to tell Flaco, Flaco Jiminez that we had named our cat after him. After we got

done talking to him he was like "take good care of that gat0 for me." You know absolutely

gonna pass that on, culturally, visiting Mexico to make sure they know it, I want to go past the

Mexican food, it is a great culture and yes, definitely I want them to know it.

So it is definitely something you would want to pass on?

Well we were talking earlier about it earlier, and I was thinking about Auggie Meyer and the whole German influence in his music and to a lot of the Tejano music. My father is German and my mom has some German in her as well, so it is fun to be a German, South Texan, New Braunfels. That whole culture mixed with the Hispanic, Mexican American culture is a neat mix and I think you hear it in the music as well.

When you go to these places like the Cove, what kind of people are there? What types of people are there, is it diverse, do you feel like a minority. it is absolutely eclectic from age to gender to race and everything. Typically you will see

Hispanic or white, pretty much generalizing but OH eclectic, but fun in that regard. Men and women up there dancing and singing and shaking it to songs about San Antonio but are probably 50 or 60 and then in the front row kids that are 10 or 11 who are probably their kids, it is definitely a family sort of atmosphere which is fun to see them passing it down. You know going there with my family with my dad you have a few beers it definitely crosses the generations.

Well kind of straying a little bit from the music because a lot of times with music comes style and fashion, how do you think your musical taste has affected just your personal style and who are your are?

I would say ... Or do you think they are separate and music doesn't have anything to do with it?

No I would say I love my cowboy boots, I need a new pair but really 1just need to get these resoled, they fit my feet. I would say that I am not what I would call a fashionista, I am not into the top trends of the day.. 1love my blue jeans, I love my belt buckle with the Lady Guadalupe

on it, 1am kind of a want to be Cowgirl but not over the top cowgirl.

Do you think that isa reflection of the type of music you listen to?

I think that it is a reflection of the music, 1think that people who like that type of music would have a certain personality and the personality would like a certain type of clothing, not a high maintenance I would not consider myself a high maintenance personality. Not a poser, I wouldn't consider myself a cowgirl but if you gave me the farm or the ranch I would gladly work

it so maybe I am, 1wouldn't say that if you saw what I wear and what kind of music I listen to you would think they go hand in hand. I think if you saw me drinking in a bar with the way I was dressed you wouldn't be surprised.

Well I think that is about it, I don't think I have much else except do you have a desire to move away from San Antonio with all of this being said and feeling the way you do about San

Antonio do you think you could carry this with you?

I think I could leave San Antonio I think that if and when I start a family I would want to be in not necessarily San Antonio but South Texas or the same area. It would have to be Southern California, or Mexico or a completely different country. I don't have any desire to go to

Pennsylvania or the mountains. I want to be close to the beach, I want to be close to the hills, I want to be close to the mountains and I want to be close to the dessert and Texas gives you that. California gives you some of that but I don't think I could deal with the people in

California, so yes to live and die I would want to stay in South Texas.

The following isone of the things we discussed that were not recorded.

If your dad did not have a lot of chances to listen to music, how did he begin his record collection?

My father bought his first record when he was in California for the Marines. He was looking through records at a store and he found the Sir Douglass Quintet and bought it because it reminded him of home. This iswhat sort of started his musical career, which is sort of how mine started as well. When I was listening to all his records this was one that I instantly fell in love with and listened to over and over.