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Get in-depth coverage of news, reviews and conversations about Texas barbecue. It's basically Christmas every day for barbecue-lovers.

Guardsmen move along the Rio Grande in small boats past rows of concertina wire placed to help curb illegal crossings on February 1, 2024, in Eagle Pass.After a day of whiplash federal court rulings that eventually led to the blocking of Texas’s new boundary-testing immigration enforcement law, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments Wednesday on whether Senate Bill 4 should go back into effect while the broader legal case plays out.SB 4 seeks to make illegally crossing the border a class B state misdemeanor, carrying a punishment of up to six months in jail. Repeat offenders could face a second-degree felony with a punishment of two to twenty years in prison.It’s designed to give state and local authorities new power to enforce the state’s border with Mexico, a job that has previously been left to the federal government. The law also requires state judges to order migrants returned…

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Busy Philipps as Summer, Sara Bareilles as Dawn, Renée Elise Goldsberry as Wickie and Paula Pell as Gloria in Episode 301 of GIRLS5EVA.WHO: The women of fictional girl group Girls5eva—Dawn (Sara Bareilles), Gloria (Paula Pell), Summer (Busy Philipps), and Wickie (Renée Elise Goldsberry), who definitely would not like being listed last—as well as songwriters Jeff Richmond and Meredith Scardino.WHAT: “Tap Into Your (Fort) Worth,” a song from the season-three premiere of the Netflix sitcom Girls5eva. WHY IT’S SO GREAT: Girls5eva, a satire on the music business centering on four middle-aged women attempting to revive their one-hit wonder girl group after twenty years, is great on its own, stuffed with high-speed Tina Fey–style humor (she’s an executive producer, though show creator Scardino likely deserves much of the credit). But in its best move yet, the show’s third season opens with an episode titled “Fort Worth,” set in the…

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Get in-depth coverage of news, reviews and conversations about Texas barbecue. It's basically Christmas every day for barbecue-lovers.

Writer-at-large Sean O’Neal at the Plemons family ranch in Mart on December 23, 2023, as photographed by Jesse Plemons.Some of Texas Monthly’s most discerning readers regularly ask me, “When will y’all publish your next article by Sean O’Neal?” They look forward to Sean’s authoritative, witty takes on movies, TV, and music—and his occasional forays into the performative aspects of politics. (His first piece for us, in 2019, delved into the playlists at campaign rallies for Julián Castro and Beto O’Rourke.) Born and reared in Arlington, between Dallas and Fort Worth, Sean knows the state well. And his years spent working outside it have left him curious about how homegrown artists represent us to the wider world. This issue’s profile of rising Texas actor Jesse Plemons marks the first of Sean’s stories to grace our cover. It’s a fine example of his approach to reporting…

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Get in-depth coverage of news, reviews and conversations about Texas barbecue. It's basically Christmas every day for barbecue-lovers.

Four Reasons April Is a Great Month in Texas CultureAlbumA la Sala, KhruangbinDead Oceans and Night Time Stories, April 5 It may sound like trite exaggeration to say Khruangbin’s fourth studio album blows the doors off the barn—except the trio records its music in one, located on the family property of guitarist Mark “Marko” Speer, in tiny Burton (population three hundred), about 85 miles west of Houston. Speer, Laura Lee Ochoa on bass and vocals, and Donald “DJ” Johnson on drums create a globe-trotting surf-rock sound, though, that is about as far as you can get from stables and haystacks.ALBUmAct II, BeyoncéParkwood Entertainment and Columbia Records, March 29 Queen Bey is, at last, entering her country era, in the second installment of her three-act project, a genre-spanning exploration of American music’s Black roots. The first, 2022’s…

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Get in-depth coverage of news, reviews and conversations about Texas barbecue. It's basically Christmas every day for barbecue-lovers.

Roar of the CrowdFurther TestimonyI have been a lawyer for almost fifty years, and your article about Carlos Jaile and Estella Ybarra [“The Juror Who Found Herself Guilty,” February 2024] reminded me of a man named Faith (whose last name I’m omitting for his privacy) who I represented in 1975. I have forgotten the names of most of my clients, which is partly due to age and partly due to representing thousands of people. But I never forgot Faith. He was convicted of robbery and aggravated assault, and he was totally innocent. No police misconduct. Just an incorrect eyewitness identification. I appreciated that your article gave credit to the prosecutors who were willing to take another look at the case. I most appreciated that you brought humanity to…

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Get in-depth coverage of news, reviews and conversations about Texas barbecue. It's basically Christmas every day for barbecue-lovers.

This story was originally published in January 2022 and has been updated.The Metroplex is too big for just one barbecue guide. Fort Worth already got its own, so this one is dedicated to Dallas and its many suburbs, which are packed with smoked-meat stops both old and new. We have our favorites, of course. Last year Texas Monthly released a list of the best new barbecue joints in Texas. In 2021 we published our top fifty barbecue joints list, along with fifty more worthy of honorable mentions, but our barbecue recommendations don’t stop there. You can get a great meal at any one of the joints below.Before we get to the newer crop, here are some historical spots to visit. The Bryan family barbecue business began with the opening of Bryan’s Barbecue…

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Wade BowenIt may be the most apropos interview ever featured on One by Willie. Wade Bowen is one of the biggest stars on the Texas country/red dirt scene, the 2023 winner of Texas Regional Radio’s T3R awards for male vocalist of the year, songwriter of the year, and single of the year—for his dancehall floor–filler, “Honky Tonk Roll.” And the focus song he chose to discuss was Willie’s original road anthem, “Me and Paul,” a 1971 chronicle of life on tour with his erstwhile partner in crime, drummer Paul English.Given Willie’s founding-father status, as Wade rightly and readily acknowledges, of the touring circuit where Wade made his name and earns a living, the song was a perfect pick. And then, to make matters even more perfect,…

The post Wade Bowen on Willie Nelson’s Road Anthem “Me and Paul” . . . From a Tour Bus Broke Down in Iowa appeared first on Texas Monthly.

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flyana boss sxswIt was the third day of Rolling Stone’s Future of Music showcase at South by Southwest, in Austin, and Nigerian artist Pheelz had just cleared the Moody Theater stage. A crowd of about six hundred attendees chatted and danced to the music of Dallas DJ OGK as they waited for the next act. Under the stage’s blue lights, I spotted a few heads of colorful hair and a pointy ear or two in the crowd. Flyana Boss’s people are here, I thought.Since late February, hip-hop duo Flyana Boss has been on the road for their first-ever headlining tour. But even though SXSW sets weren’t part of their official Bosstanical Garden Tour duties, they made time to swing by Austin for two festival shows. The duo…

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Editorial coordinator Meher Yeda, fact-checker Will Bostwick, and coordinator for TV, film, and podcasts Aisling Ayers.The Texas Monthly editorial staff has already expanded in 2024. At the end of last month, we welcomed both Aisling Ayers and Meher Yeda, and this week Will Bostwick joined the team. We are excited to have these three, who are all familiar faces around TM, on staff in an official capacity. Aisling Ayers is our new TV, film, and podcast coordinator. Prior to graduating from the University of Texas at Austin in the Moody College Honors Program last May, Aisling reported on and produced a narrative podcast, Forsaken, for the Drag Audio. She also spent time in college as a reporter and an editor for the Life and Arts Department of the Daily Texan, wrote features for the Austin American-Statesman and Austin Woman magazine…

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Get in-depth coverage of news, reviews and conversations about Texas barbecue. It's basically Christmas every day for barbecue-lovers.

The Supreme Court of the United States building is seen in Washington D.C., United States on March 15, 2024.The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that a law allowing Texas police to arrest people suspected of illegally crossing the Texas-Mexico border can take effect while a legal battle over the new state law empowering local law enforcement plays out.The decision comes a day after the high court had extended its temporary block of the law.Justice Samuel Alito had issued the block as the high court considered an appeal from the Biden administration, which has argued Senate Bill 4 is unconstitutional because it interferes with federal immigration laws.The legal case is far from over. The case remains pending before the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Eventually it has to be resolved in a federal court in Austin, where the lawsuits were originally filed.In…

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