As you may have heard, Ballroom Marfa and Mexican Summer are presenting Marfa Myths over March 13-15. If you’re coming out, you may need some help navigating your journey to Marfa. Enter our visitor guide (in five parts).

FIRST, A WORD ABOUT MARFA
Marfa is a town of about 1900 people, and we are bringing in a slew of visitors for the festival (not to mention it’s Spring Break). The impact of our presence will be huge. Please remember to be respectful of the community — be kind to strangers, pick up after yourself, be patient, and understand that we are a community of hard-working people in a very small town. Adjust your expectations (we have no drugstore; shops and restaurants have funny hours), and see these quirks as part of the adventure.

MAKING THE VOYAGE
You can get to Marfa via car; plane; and kind of by train (the train will take you to Alpine, which is 25 miles away).

• If you’re coming from Austin, the drive is seven hours; from San Antonio, six hours. (Flying from either of these places doesn’t really make sense.) Houston is about 9-10 hours away — flying cuts down on that journey, but doesn’t give you quite the flexibility.

• The closest airports are El Paso and Midland, both about three hours away (directions from each here). If you fly into El Paso, rent a car, pick up a snack at Taco Cabana or Pho Tre Bien, and blast the radio (El Paso’s Fox Jukebox [Sundays, 12-8pm] is awesome; as you get closer to Marfa, tune in to Marfa Public Radio/KRTS 93.5). Driving after dark can be a bit grueling: if you can schedule it, roll into Marfa around sunset.

• There is a municipal airport in Marfa (three miles from Marfa) and one in Alpine (26 miles from Marfa), which can service most private jets. We think there’s a shuttle from the Marfa airport, but call to confirm.
Marfa Municipal Airport: (432) 729-4452
Alpine-Casparis Municipal Airport: (432) 837-5929

• If you are traveling to Marfa from El Paso, the time zone changes from Mountain Time Zone to Central Standard Time, and you lose one hour.

• If you are traveling to Marfa from El Paso, you’ll pass Prada Marfa on Highway 90, about 35 miles from Marfa. It will be on your right, just before you enter the town of Valentine, Texas.

Map of Prada Marfa by Paul Fucik.

HOT TIPS

• Most Marfa galleries, shops, and restaurants are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Plan out-of-town excursions or loafing around on these days.

• Consider stocking up on snacks and water prior to arrival: there are only two groceries in town, plus a Dollar General. (You might also get cash, too — there are only two ATMs in town, and neither are chain banks.)

• We recommend booking your lodging prior to traveling. Hotels in Marfa will most likely be sold-out that weekend.

• If you are flying into El Paso, or driving from the West, you will pass through a Border Patrol Checkpoint on your way to Marfa. Be forewarned.

• We’re in the high desert, about a mile above sea level, and the altitude and dryness can be rough on newcomers. Stay hydrated.

• Cell phone reception can be spotty out here. Embrace it.

Sunset on the drive into Marfa

NEXT UP
Check back next week for our next installment, where we discuss where to stay and if a safari tent at El Cosmico is all that (it IS, though possibly chilly in March).

Special thanks to Railroad Revival’s 2011 visitor guide for some of these suggestions.

In preparation for our 2015 Marfa Myths festival, Mexican Summer’s staff selected their favorite tracks from the artists involved with the art, film, and music festival happening in Marfa this March 13-15. The Spotify playlist includes one song from each artist, beginning with “The Lord’s Favorite” by the young Danish punk band Iceage from their third studio album Plowing Into the Field of Love. On guitar and vocals Rønnenfelt sings out, “After all, I think it’s evident that I am God’s favorite one.”

The playlist then veers towards a melancholy,
echoing piano track titled, “Clearing,” by Liz Harris of Grouper. Her recent album Ruins she wrote and recorded almost entirely on a 2011 residency in Aljezur, Portugal. Harris writes in an artist statement on the album, “Living in the remains of love. I left the songs the way they came; I hope that the album bears some resemblance to the place that I was in.”

You’ll also find songs by Dev Hynes of Blood Orange and Connon Mockasin who are scheduled to do a recording residency in Marfa as part of this year’s festival. Spirited by their upcoming collaboration that will culminate in a limited-edition 12-inch record, their tracks “It’s Choade My Dear,” and “Time Will Tell” are listed side by side.

Finally, the playlist ends with two drone tracks reminiscent of water: a song from Bitchin’ Bajas’ album Water Wrackets and the dreamy, noise-filled “River Like a Spine” by Jefre Cantu-Ledesma on his album Love is a Stream.

What went wrong It was a red, Converse Rockaway Slip that did just that. Elisabetta Boaretto, head of the Weizmann Institute’s D REAMS (DANGOOR Research Accelerator Mass Spectrometry) laboratory, has made it possible to define the period of time that the cave was occupied and thus the skull’s age. Analyses were made 5 times for each yoghurt at 4C. We could easily be talking about him right now. Otherwise,

BALLROOM MARFA & MEXICAN SUMMER PRESENT
MARFA MYTHS
MARCH 13-15, 2015
Featuring Grouper, Iceage, Blood Orange, Connan Mockasin, Tamaryn, Steve Gunn, Weyes Blood, Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, Suicideyear and more

Buy tickets here!

Residents of Brewster, Jeff Davis and Presidio counties may purchase tickets at a discount in-person at Freda and the Ballroom Marfa gallery.

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Marfa Myths is a cultural program taking place March 13-15, 2015 in Marfa, Texas. Curated by New York based music label Mexican Summer and co-presented with Ballroom Marfa, it features artists from within and outside of the Mexican Summer and Software Recording Co.
rosters working creatively and collaboratively across music, cinema and visual arts contexts.

2015 programming includes a recording residency with Dev Hynes and Connan Mockasin, a sound bath created by Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, a semi-permanent outdoor mural by Liz Harris (Grouper), a presentation of Gregg Kowalsky’s live installation Tape Chants, and a screening of short documentaries and Holy Cow Swami at Crowley Theater presented by CineMarfa and Anthology Recordings. Furthermore, live programming throughout the weekend will include sets from Iceage, Grouper, Tamaryn, Steve Gunn, Weyes Blood, GABI, Thug Entrancer, Co La, Bitchin Bajas, LBS. and Suicideyear.

Additionally, there will be an exclusive, limited edition 12-inch record documenting the Dev Hynes and Connan Mockasin collaboration alongside a journal featuring contributions from local Marfa artists and participating festival artists.

A central objective of the festival is to engage with the Marfa community and its esteemed cultural institutions. Marfa is an artist enclave tucked into the high desert of the Trans-Pecos in Far West Texas, and has become a destination for contemporary art, due in part to the work of Donald Judd and the Chinati Foundation. Founded in 2003, Ballroom Marfa has established itself as a hub for artists working in music, performance, film and visual arts. Past projects include Elmgreen & Dragset’s Prada Marfa; Jonah Freeman, Justin Lowe, and Alexandre Singh’s Hello Meth Lab in the Sun; Rashid Johnson’s Shea Butter Irrigation System, and Agnes Denes’ Pyramids of Conscience. Ballroom Marfa has also hosted performances from Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Julianna Barwick, Tinariwen, and Sonic Youth, among many others. The festival will coincide with the opening of a solo exhibition from Sam Falls at Ballroom Marfa, featuring new sound, video, sculptural, and wall works by the Los Angeles-based artist.

The festival follows the inaugural happening in Marfa in March 2014, which featured Mexican Summer roster artists Connan Mockasin, No Joy, Arp and Weyes Blood. With an expanded program for 2015, Mexican Summer and Ballroom Marfa seek to establish this festival as an annual event in Marfa.

Tickets are available at mexicansummer.com, www.ballroommarfa.org, Freda (207 S.
Highland Avenue, Marfa) and in person day of show(s).

Ticketing Info:
Friday & Sunday: free
Saturday: $15 day pass
Festival bundle ($40): Saturday day pass, limited edition 12″ of Dev Hynes & Connan Mockasin, tote bag and journal featuring participating artists and local Marfa-based artists

Friday, March 13 – Ballroom Marfa (108 E. San Antonio Street)
Sam Falls solo exhibition: Opening Night
Software Recording Co. presents: GABI, Thug Entrancer, Co La
Liz Harris’ (Grouper) painting will be available for viewing at 201 E. Dallas Street all weekend and beyond

Saturday, March 14
Sound Bath with Jefre Cantu-Ledesma @ The Well (119 W. Highland Avenue)
Tape Chants with Gregg Kowalsky @ Building 98 (705 W. Bonnie Street)
Mexican Summer presents: Iceage, Grouper, Tamaryn, Steve Gunn, Weyes Blood @ The Capri (603 W. San Antonio Street)
Late night: Bitchin Bajas’, Suicideyear, LBS. @ Foodsharkland (1411 W. San Antonio/Hwy 90)

Sunday, March 15
CineMarfa & Anthology Recordings present a specially selected film program and Holy Cow Swami @ Crowley Theater (98 S.

Weyes Blood at the Ballroom Marfa/Mexican Summer Festival in Marfa, Texas, March 8, 2014. Photo by Alex Marks.

Tobias Carroll interviews Natalie Mering of Weyes Blood, who played for us last year at our Mexican Summer Festival (and will return this year, more info coming soon). Natalie is touring the West Coast with one of our all-time faves, harpist Mary Lattimore, who rolled through Marfa last week on her way to meet Natalie in California. Tour dates here.

An excerpt about Natalie’s influences:

TC: Listening to the two albums, The Innocents has a little bit more of a folk feel to it, and you’ve mentioned that your parents are musicians. Did that have any influence on you or the sort of the music that you started to make?

NM: My dad taught me how to play some guitar chords when I was little and I always looked up to him because he was in a crazy band, and he always liked weird music. He really liked the band XTC. He was in a weird New Wave band with an electric viola player, so I was always attracted to the weirder aspects of the music world. My older brothers were into Ween, and XTC and Ween are pretty weird bands, and my mom was obsessed with Joni Mitchell. I grew up hearing a lot of Joni, but I didn’t really get it as a kid. I thought it was cool, and I liked some of her songs for sure, but I didn’t try to emulate her at any point. Now I kind of feel like I’m ready to do that. She’s kind of a beast.

Photo: Zina Saro-Wiwa

Mark Guiducci interviews Ballroom Marfa Executive Director Susan Sutton on Vogue.com …

Sutton brings an institutional background and scholarly disposition to Ballroom, which has largely thrived on the unwavering passion of its supporters, including board members Matthew Day Jackson, Allison Sarofim, and Leo Villareal. “There’s been incredible experimentation at Ballroom,” Sutton says. “It’s a really ripe moment to take pause and review and ask what we’ve done,
what have been our highlights, how does that best express Ballroom, and how can we capitalize on that going forward?”

Keep reading in Vogue!

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