I want to take a minute to tip my hat to the artistry and lifelong work of Winker Withaneye (Don Emmons). He’s a treasure. I asked him today if he had a photo from a night at the Saxon Pub, and he said “I have more than 100 from that night you can take a look at.” When I wanted to pay him for the use of a few, he just said, “Give it to HAAM or SIMS.” So I did, to both, in his honor.
Winker has built an extraordinary body of work and archive – decades of Austin musicians through his lens. Standing in front of his wall of photographs, I saw faces like Steve Fromholz, Jerry Jeff, Rusty Weir, Chris Wall, and so many heroes and friends and contemporaries back when we all had fewer gray hairs.
What a gift he’s given us: not just pictures, but a memory bank of a music scene and a city that keeps changing, framed by someone who knows how to see the best of it.
Thanks Winker!
The photos he shared with me today included these:
