ABOUT
Marfa Myths is an annual music festival and multidisciplinary cultural program founded in 2014 by nonprofit contemporary arts foundation Ballroom Marfa and Brooklyn-based music label Mexican Summer. With Marfa Myths, the two organizations bring together a diversity of emerging and established artists and musicians to work creatively and collaboratively across music, film, and visual arts contexts. The festival is inherently embedded in the landscape of Far West Texas, and engages with Marfa’s cultural history and present-day community.
For more information visit marfamyths.com
Lineup
The 2019 festival included a host of Texas artists including Khruangbin, OG Ron C & The Chopstars, Jon Bap, and Money Chicha. We celebrated musicians who paved a path of adventurous sound including Annette Peacock, Träd, Gräs och Stenar, Vivien Goldman, Jess Sah Bi & Peter One, and The Space Lady, and those that followed in their footsteps, including Deerhunter, Nadah El Shazly, Tim Hecker & the Konoyo Ensemble, Cass McCombs, Makaya McCraven, Jerry Paper, Photay, Josey Rebelle, Emily A. Sprague, and Jess Williamson. We also introduced some comedy to the program with Kate Berlant & John Early and Superstar & Star.
Recording Residency
Drugdealer & Tim Presley
Drugdealer and Tim Presley Recording Residency. Marfa Myths 2019. Photo by Alex Marks.
Drugdealer
L.A. artist Michael Collins recorded under the monikers Run DMT and Salvia Plath before making the change to Drugdealer, mirroring a change in musical direction as well. 2016’s The End of Comedy takes inspiration from early ’70s soft rock and features an array of guests including fellow Mexican Summer musician Ariel Pink and alumna Weyes Blood.
Tim Presley
Tim Presley is a musician, singer, and songwriter who began his career with the hardcore punk bands Model American and The Nerve Agents. Presley currently releases music as White Fence, and collaborates with Cate Le Bon under the moniker DRINKS.
Artist in Residence
Natalie Anne Howard
Natalie Anne Howard. Photo by Rowdy Dugan.
Natalie Anne Howard’s hypnotic illustrations speak to a nonsensical world, channeling poignant visions through direct line and vivid color. Her layered paintings and one-of-a-kind assemblage garments transport the viewer to a web of glowing dreamstates and swirling compositions. The images often focus on the relationship between humans and the natural world, frequently using references from music to imagine surreal narratives. Her personified characters and constructed symbols reflect the small realities that form a greater experience.
Woodworker in Residence
Cate Le Bon
Photo by Alex Marks.
The Welsh artist, Cate Le Bon, who couples her haunting voice with angular sounds, is known for both her acclaimed solo work and collaborations with White Fence and Perfume Genius. In addition to her own four albums, Le Bon is also the producer on the forthcoming Deerhunter album. She previously recorded with Bradford Cox as the Artists in Residence for Marfa Myths 2018. After attending the world class furniture school, Waters & Acland, in 2017, Le Bon returns to this year’s Marfa Myths to build a chair with a design that is informed by her forthcoming album with Mexican Summer this May.
Painter in Residence
Photo by Sarah Vasquez.
Whether bending genres or collaborating with artists like James Blake, MGMT, and Charlotte Gainsbourg, Connan Mockasin has always maneuvered in mysterious ways. After touring with the likes of Radiohead and Neil & Liam Finn (Crowded House), the R&B surrealist continues assembling a cult around his theater, nay spectacle of life with Bostyn ‘n Dobsyn screenings and performances of his latest album, Jassbusters.
Myths Moments
Acknowledgments
Marfa Myths has been made possible by the generous support of Kenneth Bauso; Arki Bosson; The Brown Foundation, Inc. Houston; Marcos Castro & Rodrigo Feliz; Christina Civetts & Ed Sheetz; The City of Marfa; Fairfax Dorn & Marc Glimcher; Steve Ells; Virginia Lebermann & Family; Lebermann Foundation; The Moody Foundation; National Endowment for the Arts; Eliza Oaborne; Elizabeth Sarnoff; The Texas Commission on the Arts; the Ballroom Marfa Board of Trustees; and Ballroom Marfa members.
In-kind support provided by Adelbert’s Brewery, Austin Eastciders, Big Bend Coffee Roasters, DAY Beer, Karbach Brewing Co., Kikori Whiskey, L & F Distributors, Marble Brewery, Mikelle and Matt Kruger, Saint Arnold Brewing Company, Southern Star Brewing Company, Topo Chico, Twisted Brewing Co.
Special thanks to our partners The Capri, The Chinati Foundation, Crowley Theater, El Cosmico, Frama, Freda, Hotel Saint George, Judd Foundation, Lost Horse Saloon, Marfa Public Library, Marfa Recording Company, Marfa Studio of Arts, Pure Joy, Sentinel Marfa, Thunderbird Hotel, Visit Marfa, Wrong Marfa.
Our media partner is Marfa Public Radio.
Special thanks to Elizabeth Abrahamson, Keith Abrahamsson, Ashlie Adams, Lalo Baeza, Vicki Barge, Rocky Barnett, Malinda Beeman, Yvonne Beltran, Monika Bernstein, Big Bend Sentinel, Christie Blizzard, Camp Bosworth, Abby & Phil Boyd, Lissa Castro, Vicente Celis, Century Sound, Inc., Tom Clapp, Laurel Coniglio, Maisie Crow, Rob Crowley, Tim Crowley, Fairfax Dorn & Marc Glimcher, Bailey Elder, Jonah Emerson Bell, David Fenster, Justin Ferrel, Cuca Flores, Rebecca Gardner, Richard Griggs, Suzi Gruschkus, Lucie Harte, Darby Hillman, Hotel Paisano, Hotel Saint George, Gil Israel, Nicki Ittner, Jose Jimenez, Tim Johnson, Buck Johnston, Flavin Judd, Rainer Judd, Max Kabat, Saarin Keck, Sage Keith, Vance Knowles, Warren Konigsmark, Matt & Mikelle Kruger, Virginia Lebermann, Jennifer Lees, Sarah Levine, Susannah Lipsey, Minerva Lopez, Marfa community at large, Alex Marks, Jeff Matheis, Ty Mitchell, Mary Mois, Jenny Moore, Caitlin Murray, Ann Marie Nafziger, Diana Nguyen, Peggy O’Brien, Hannah Parker, Elise Pepple, Pizza Foundation, Jesse Pollock, Christina Pryor, Howell Pugh, Chris Ramming, Riata Inn, Mandy Roane, Emma Rogers, Jerram Rojo, Xavier Romero, Ryan Rooney, Astrid Rosenfeld, Gory Smelley, Thunderbird Marfa, Nancy Tovar, Cory Van Dyke, Richard Villareal Andrea Walsh, Matt Werth, Convenience West, and Emily Williams.
