Synopsis
"Pat Blashill's beautiful book of photos captures the poetics and energetic eccentricities of the post punk Austin, Texas music scene of the '80s, things one will never get on the internet. Long live books and this one kicks ass."''"''''"Kim Gordon "There's certainly an art to photography''"''''"and there's also an art to being in the right place at the right time. Pat Blashill demonstrates both of those things over and over again in Texas Is the Reason. Great bands come out of great scenes, so Blashill shoots not just the shows but the community. Even the intimate moments scream punk rock, and even the punk rock moments scream intimacy. 'Transcendent music is sometimes made by actual humans, ' Blashill writes in his equally vivid essay. 'After you understand that, you don't need rock stars anymore.' Nailed it."''"''''"Michael Azerrad, This Band Could Be Your Life "A profound experience for me"''"''''"Richard Linklater, Arriving in 1978, hitched to the back of the Sex Pistols' tour bus, Texas punk rock soon became as mythic as the state's devotion to football, cattle and prayer. Confrontational renegades like the Huns, the Big Boys, and the Dicks led a defiant new era of blood, sweat and cross-dressing cowboys. Austin son Pat Blashill grabbed a camera and uncovered a story of creative deliverance, set in trailer parks, low-rent shared living and wild, Texas bucket-of-beer bars. Joining over 300 deep black and white photos by Blashill are essays by director Richard Linklater (Slacker / Boyhood), singer David Yow (Scratch Acid / Jesus Lizard), drummer Teresa Taylor (Butthole Surfers) and local luminaries Adriane 'Ash' Shown and Donna Rich. True mavericks banded together to make a stand and... Texas is the Reason.
