In Gretchen Phillips’ music, punk provocation and a hefty sense of humor play off each other. The Houston-born musician first came to Austin in the early ’80s and fell in with the city’s trailblazing punk scene. Biscuit Turner of the Big Boys and Gary Floyd of the Dicks led their respective bands with panache and unrestrained queerness, inspiring Phillips to start her own bands and put her sexuality up front. Some of her work leaned experimental, while groups like Two Nice Girls repurposed folk and country tropes for devastatingly funny critiques of American society (see: “I Spent My Last $10.00 (On Birth Control And Beer)”). Decades of music-making and collaborations led to her induction into the Austin Chronicle Music Hall Of Fame in 2001.
These days, Phillips calls Canada home, but on a recent visit to Austin, she put together a guest DJ set for us. Her My KUTX is full of Austin memories, featuring love songs, political songs, and the many projects of Gary Floyd, Thor Harris, Kathy McCarty and more. Hear Gretchen Phillips’ My KUTX on Saturday, August 6 at 6 p.m. or listen anytime in the player above.
Playlist:
- Patrice Pike – “New Cool”
- Rob Halverson – “Thinking Of You”
- Nancy Scott – “Cashmere Sweater”
- Jo Carol Pierce – “Sacrificial Island Tombstone”
- Sister Double Happiness – “Keep The City Clean”
- The Meat Purveyors – “We Kill Evil”
- Pocket FishRman – “Let The Faces Of The Revellers Shine”
- Stick People – “Cup Of Excitement”
- The Devil Bat – “The Corner Store”
- Paraguay – “The Best”
- Moist Fist – “Flowers And Weeds”
- Glass Eye – “The Big Moment”
