Jesse Sublett

Jesse Sublett was born in Johnson City, Texas, where he was valedictorian at Lyndon B. Johnson High School. He attended Southwest Texas State University for two years, then moved to Austin in 1974.

Sublett and his wife, Lois Richwine, were married in 1984. They have one son, Dashiell Sublett, who was born in Los Angeles in 1993.Jesse Sublett, Never the Same Again: A Rock 'N' Roll Gothic (Ten Speed Press, 2004), {{ISBN|978-1-58008-598-4}} ([https://books.google.com/books?id=-6yPxcrGqfMC&dq=Jesse%20Sublett&pg=PP1 excerpts available] at Google Books).

Sublett founded The Skunks in January 1978 with bandmates Bill Blackmon and Eddie Munoz. Soon thereafter, The Skunks and The Violators (a band that included Sublett on bass guitar along with Kathy Valentine (later of the Go-Go's), Carla Olson, and Marilyn Dean) made their Austin debut at a University of Texas area club called Raul's,Barry Shank, [https://books.google.com/books?as_isbn=9780819562760 Dissonant Identities: The Rock'N'Roll Scene in Austin, Texas] (Wesleyan University Press, 1994) ({{ISBN|978-0-8195-6276-0}}), p. 102-104 ([https://books.google.com/books?id=v79of-KXnfgC&q=Violators&pg=PA102 excerpt available] at Google Books).Margaret Moser, [http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Music/Blogs/?oid=oid:715634 "Yesterday When I Was Younger Than Yesterday"], Austin Chronicle, December 15, 2008. marking the beginning of the punk/new wave scene in Austin.Jan Reid, The Improbable Rise of Redneck Rock (new ed., University of Texas Press, 2004), {{ISBN|978-0-292-70197-7}}, pp.282-283 ([https://books.google.com/books?id=qCDF5fFuBT8C&q=Skunks&pg=PA282 excerpt available] at Google Books).

Sublett left The Violators after six months to concentrate on the Skunks, and the Violators disbanded thereafter, but the Skunks recorded numerous singles, EPs and LPs, and played across the US, including the punk meccas of New York City, CBGB's and Max's Kansas City. Sublett sang and played electric bass in the band. He also wrote most of the band's original material.See the Skunks compilation CD, "Earthquake Shake: Live," 2000, or their other releases. Munoz left the band at the end of 1978 to join the Plimsouls. With his replacement on guitar, Jon Dee Graham, the band saw some touring success as headliners and as opening act for The Clash, The Ramones, and John Cale.Andy Langer, [http://weeklywire.com/ww/07-28-97/austin_music_feature2.html "Out of the Shadows"], Austin Chronicle, July 28, 1997. The band more or less disbanded in 1983, but more recently have performed annual reunion shows at their favorite Austin club, the Continental Club.Joe Gross, [http://www.austin360.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/music/entries/2008/12/15/the_skunks_play_continental_cl.html?cxntfid=blogs_austin_music_source "The Skunks play Continental Club Dec. 26"], Austin Music Source at Austin360.com, December 15, 2008. The Skunks were inducted in the Austin Music Hall of Fame in 2007.[https://www.austinchronicle.com/austin-music-awards/hall-of-fame/ "Austin Music Awards Hall of Fame"], Austin Chronicle, retrieved July 20, 2024.

Sublett is credited with naming the "New Sincerity" movement of alternative rock bands that arose in Austin from about 1985 to 1990, and who were perceived as reacting to the more ironic outlook of punk rock and New Wave bands. He used the phrase during a casual conversation with his friend, local music writer Margaret Moser. Moser began using the term in print, and it ended up becoming the catchphrase for these bands.Barry Shank, [https://books.google.com/books?as_isbn=9780819562760 Dissonant Identities: The Rock'N'Roll Scene in Austin, Texas] (Wesleyan University Press, 1994) ({{ISBN|978-0-8195-6276-0}}), p. 148–149 & p.271 n.84 ([https://books.google.com/books?id=v79of-KXnfgC&q=crap&pg=RA1-PA171 excerpt available] at Google Books).[https://web.archive.org/web/20100122071814/http://jessesublett.wordpress.com/the-skunks-the-band-that-blasted-austin-out-of-the-1970s/ "Jesse's Music Bio"] at [http://jessesublett.wordpress.com/ Jesse Sublett's Little Black Book] (retrieved September 18, 2009).

Sublett played in numerous other ensembles over the years, including Secret Six, Flex, and a stint playing with ex-Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor and Carla Olson, as well as a band called World's Cutest Killers featuring Kathy Valentine, Kelly Johnson (Girlschool) and Jebin Bruni (Public Image Ltd.).Ken Lieck, [http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid%3A79685 "Young, Loud, and Cheap: The Skunks, the Band That Broke Austin Out of the Seventies,"] Austin Chronicle, December 8, 2000. Sublett currently performs in various club ensembles, variously known as Jesse Sublett's Big Three Trio and The Murder Ballad Show (the latter featuring his longtime collaborator and friend, Jon Dee Graham). His most recent musical performances feature his upright bass work, a grittier vocal style and an ongoing fascination with the work of Howlin' Wolf and various jazz, blues and traditional composers.[http://motr.communication.utexas.edu/musicians/PROD75_005938.html Musicians Off the Record: Jesse Sublett] at University of Texas at Austin College of Communication website (retrieved September 19, 2009).

Sublett began writing seriously in the 1980s. As of 2024, 12 books have been published under his name.[https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/new-book-tells-the-story-of-austins-last-gangster-and-the-man-who-worked-to-take-him-down/ "New book tells the story of Austin’s ‘last gangster’ and the man who worked to take him down."], Texas Standard June 3, 2022.Jesse Sublett website [https://jessesublett.com/author/ "Jesse Sublett, Author"], retrieved July 19, 2024.

His first novel, Rock Critic Murders, was published by Viking Penguin in 1987, followed by Tough Baby and Boiled in Concrete.

Sublett's 2004 memoir, Never the Same Again: A Rock 'N' Roll Gothic, relates the story of his girlfriend's murder when he was 22, his career with The Skunks, and his battle with throat cancer. Writing in the Los Angeles Times, critic Marion Winik described the book as "riveting" and chose it for the Times{{'}} list of "most surprising new books".[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-dec-04-bk-survey4-story.html "Reading List"], Los Angeles Times, December 4, 2005. Austin Chronicle critic Greg Beets described it as "a gripping memoir that never feels forced or emotionally manipulative... Sublett's prose remains rich, fierce, and humbling."Greg Beets, [http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid:212952 "Sheet Music"], Austin Chronicle, May 28, 2004.

"Adaptation," Sublett's 2008 piece in The Texas Observer, chronicles his years-long work researching and writing a book about the Austin underworld of the 1950s-1970s, centered largely upon a group known as the Overton Gang.Jesse Sublett, [http://www.texasobserver.org/article.php?aid=2809 "Adaptation: One writer's long, strange trip from fact to fiction"], The Texas Observer, July 11, 2008. Sublett's nonfiction book on the gang was published in 2015, titled 1960s Austin Gangsters: Organized Crime that Rocked the Capital. The Austin Chronicle called it "a remarkable piece of scholarship" that "makes you think that Sublett should be hailed as an Ellroy-level master of modern crime writing."{{Cite web|url=http://www.austinchronicle.com/arts/2015-10-02/jesse-subletts-1960s-austin-gangsters/|title = The capital city depicted in Jesse Sublett's look back at the small-time mobsters of the Sixties is weirder than any municipal marketing slogan could imagine – and more fun}} Sublett mined the history of Austin crime and corruption in the 1970s for another true crime chronicle in Last Gangster in Austin: Frank Smith, Ronnie Earle, and the End of a Junkyard Mafia, published in 2022 by University of Texas Press. The book is "a rollicking narrative of a criminal underworld," wrote critic Jason Mellard, as well as "an exemplary microhistory with close attention to currents that broader accounts of modern Austin have missed, if not outright ignored."Jason Mellard, [https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/134/article/885687] “Last Gangster in Austin: Frank Smith, Ronnie Earle, and the End of a Junkyard Mafia by Jesse Sublett (review)"], "Southwestern Historical Quarterly

Texas State Historical Association", Texas State Historical Association, Volume 126, Number 4, April 2023, pp. 604-605.

Sublett's essays and journalism pieces have appeared in the New York Times,Jesse Sublett, [https://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/26/magazine/lives-rock-n-roll-gothic.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1 "LIVES: Rock 'n' Roll Gothic"], New York Times, August 26, 2001. Texas Monthly,[http://www.texasmonthly.com/authors/jessesublett.php Index of articles by Jesse Sublett] at Texas Monthly website (retrieved September 20, 2009). and Texas Highways.Jesse Sublett, [https://texashighways.com/culture/people/a-cancer-survivor-on-the-healing-nature-of-birds/ "A Cancer Survivor on the Healing Nature of Birds, Writer-and-musician Jesse Sublett found solace in popular Texas birding spots"], [Texas Highways], December 19, 2018.

Sublett's adaptation (written with director/producer Stephen Purvis and Tom Huckabee) of the Austin play In the West was produced as a feature film entitled Deep in the Heart (of Texas).Marjorie Baumgarten, [http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Calendar/Film?Film=oid%3A139339 Review of Deep in the Heart (of Texas)], Austin Chronicle, May 8, 1998.Claiborne Smith, [http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid:523439 "Deep in the Art: How In the West Became Deep in the Heart (of Texas)], Austin Chronicle, May 8, 1998.

Sublett has also written extensively for non-fiction television, contributing to numerous series broadcast on History such as The Great Ships, Search and Rescue, and Boneyards: The Secret Lives of Machines." A two-hour documentary, The Killer Storm (chronicling the so-called "Perfect Storm" of 1991), which Sublett wrote, aired on the History Channel in 1999 and also premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin. He wrote the original book for a stage play called Marathon which debuted in 2007 with music by Austin-based singer-songwriter Darden Smith.The Austin Chronicle'', February 8, 2008 In 2009, however, Sublett asserted his sole authorship of the play and announced that future productions would feature his own original score.Writers Guild of America-West #1202313

Broke, Not Broken: Homer Maxey's Texas Bank War, by Broadus Spivey and Jesse Sublett, published in 2014 by Texas Tech University Press, is one of several works co-authored by Sublett.{{Cite web|url=http://www.austinchronicle.com/arts/2014-09-26/not-without-a-fight/|title = What if, in It's a Wonderful Life, Mr. Potter were the hero and George Bailey the heel? Then you'd have Broke Not Broken, the true tale of Lubbock banker Homer Maxey}} Armadillo World Headquarters: A Memoir, by Eddie Wilson with Sublett, published in late March 2017, tells the history of the famed music hall affectionately known as "the 'Dillo" which served as an Austin music industry stage and incubator of Austin culture far beyond the decade it was in existence (1970-1980).{{Cite web|url=http://www.mystatesman.com/entertainment/books--literature/the-definitive-history-austin-iconic-armadillo-world-headquarters/lSIy7qZjfTvMQk4t7QfGvJ/|title = The definitive history of Austin's iconic Armadillo World Headquarters}} And, in Esther's Follies The laughs, the gossip, and the story behind Texas' most celebrated comedy troupe, Sublett chronicled the colorful history of Esther's Follies, Austin's longest running comedy, magic, and political satire stage show, which debuted in 1977 on the city's infamous downtown Sixth Street.Jesse Sublett, [:https://www.esthersfollies.com/book?gad_source=1 “Esther's Follies The laughs, the gossip, and the story behind Texas' most celebrated comedy troupe "].Jesse Sublett, [https://www.esthersfollies.com/book?gad_source=1 “Esther's Follies The laughs, the gossip, and the story behind Texas' most celebrated comedy troupe "], Kirkus Reviews, February 15, 2018.

Sublett has also written a history of the Texas Turnpike Authority.Jesse Sublett, History of the Texas Turnpike Authority (The Authority, [1995?]), [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/32811546?tab=tags OCLC 32811546], also indexed at [http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/statepubs/annualindex/95agencylist.html Texas State Publications 1995 Annual Index] (retrieved September 19, 2009).[http://www.tollroadsnews.com/node/2870 "Dallas TX:Broad turnpike vs skinny tollway"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101222033207/http://tollroadsnews.com/node/2870 |date=2010-12-22 }}, TOLLROADSnews, February 4, 2001 (retrieved September 19, 2009). His papers are collected in the Southwestern Writers Collection of the Wittliff Collections of Alkek Library at Texas State University–San Marcos.

• [http://www.jessesublett.com/ Jesse Sublett official website]
• [https://www.austinchronicle.com/arts/2022-06-10/jesse-subletts-latest-true-crime-book-takes-on-the-last-gangster-in-austin/ "Jesse Sublett's Latest True-Crime Book Takes on the Last Gangster in Austin, The rise and fall of the Junkyard King"], Austin Chronicle, June 10, 2022. Jesse Sublett Interview by Joe Gross.
• [https://www.amazon.com/stores/Jesse-Sublett/author/B001K8H6XU?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1721504358&sr=8-1&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true] Jesse Sublett author page on Amazon.
• [http://www.well.com/conf/inkwell.vue/topics/215/Jesse-Sublett-Never-the-Same-Aga-page01.html "Jesse Sublett: Never the Same Again: A Rock 'N' Roll Gothic"], interview of Jesse Sublett at The WELL, June 2004 (retrieved September 18, 2009).
• {{IMDb name|id=0836967|name=Jesse Sublett}}
• [https://archive.org/details/RagRadio2011-04-08 Jesse Sublett on Rag Radio] Interviewed by Thorne Dreyer, April 8, 2011, with live performance. (52:42)

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Category:1954 births

Category:Living people

Category:Musicians from Texas

Category:Music of Austin, Texas

Category:Writers from Texas

Category:People from Blanco County, Texas