Musician

Please allow David Garza to reintroduce himself.

Get the head rockin’ with Shed Light, the best of this multi-instrumentalist’s 21^st-century music. It’s sure to be in heavy rotation alongside his Deep Ellum-inspired and Austin-honed tapes and discs, the sounds of your 90’s misspent youth.

Then let the eyes drink in his feverish paintings at The Continental Club Gallery. Or see if the mind can catch up with the ears when he unleashes his lyrical flow representing Texas at Montreal’s International Poetry Conference “Peace in the Borderlands” in June 2011.

Next sit back and let a drama unfold thanks to his soundtrack, for the theatrical work “Fantasmaville,” for his scene-stealing performance in the independent feature, “Largo The Movie”, for the groundbreaking documentary ”Wretches & Jabberers” (with Ben Harper, Scarlett Johansson & J.Ralph).

Or maybe you want to get back to the “Dah-Veed” you thought you knew.  Alright, then, dodge the plastic cups at your feet, and elbow your way to the stage, where Garza is raising the bar and the roof, making soul shaking music with Fiona Apple or Jeff Ament  or Jon Brion or Sara Watkins … Soon your hips will know why Pearl Jam hand-picked David to perform two shows at their first ever music fest in September 2011 in Alpine Valley Wisconsin.

Just don’t let the legend-status accolades fool you.  Sure, in 1999, he was voted runner-up for Austin Chronicle Musician of the Decade—second only to Stevie Ray Vaughan. But be on the lookout now as David Garza brings you the sounds, songs & sights of tomorrow, and beyond.

Sandra Cisneros is the founder of the Alfredo Cisneros del Moral Foundation,
the Elvira Cisneros Award and the Macondo Foundation, all of which work on
behalf of creative writers. She is the recipient of numerous awards including a
MacArthur. Her writings include novels: THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET and
CARAMELO; short stories: WOMAN HOLLERING CREEK; and poetry collections:
MY WICKED WICKED WAYS and LOOSE WOMAN. She is currently at work on
several writing projects including WRITING IN MY PAJAMAS, essays; INFINITO,
stories; HAVE YOU SEEN MARIE?, an illustrated book for adults; and a children’s
book, BRAVO, BRUNO. She served as Grand Marshall at the 2010 Poteet, Texas
Strawberry Festival. She makes her home in San Antonio, Texas, where she is
writer in residence at Our Lady of the Lake University.

University of Texas-San Antonio

John Phillip Santos is a visiting fellow at the Watson Institute for International Studies. At the Institute, he works with Global Security Program Director James Der Derian on the Global Media Project. Santos is an author and media producer, most recently as a Berlin Prize Fellow at the American Academy in Berlin, where he worked on The Farthest Home is in an Empire of Fire (Viking/Penquin, 2005) and the development of Teletopia Labs, a production workshop for documentary media performances. Before that, he held various positions in media, including stints as a producer at CBS and PBS.

Santos received his BA in philosophy and literature from the University of Notre Dame and his MA in English literature and language as a Rhodes Scholar at St. Catherine’s College, Oxford University. He is the author of Places Left Unfinished at the Time of Creation, published by Viking/Penquin in 1999, which was a National Book Award finalist in nonfiction. Santos also was an Emmy nominee in 1988 for “From the AIDS Experience: Part I, Our Spirits to Heal/ Part II, Our Humanity to Heal,” and in 1985 for “Exiles Who Never Leave Home.”