Margaret Moser (May 16, 1954 – August 25, 2017), or Margaret Moser Malone, was an American journalist, music enthusiast, critic and historian,

groupie The term groupie is a slang word that refers to a fan of a particular musical group who follows the band around while they are on tour or who attends as many of their public appearances as possible, with the hope of meeting them. The term is usu ...

, and backup singer. She was best known for her work as the director of the Austin Music Awards (AMA) in the

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...

festival and for her career in music journalism and criticism, which lasted more than thirty years. Moser also supported young artists, helping them get started and finding appropriate

venues Venue is the location at which an event takes place. It may refer to: Locations * Venue (law), the place a case is heard * Financial trading venue, a place or system where financial transactions can occur * Music venue, place used for a concer ...

where they could play. She has been called the "patron saint of Austin music" by the Paramount Theatre.

Early life

Moser was born on May 16, 1954 in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

to educated parents, Phyllis Jackson Stegall and Willard Cummings Moser, and raised in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, and

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. She

dropped out Dropping out refers to leaving high school, college, university or another group for practical reasons, necessities, inability, apathy, or disillusionment with the system from which the individual in question leaves. Canada In Canada, most ind ...

of high school. In 1973, Moser moved from San Antonio to

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

with her boyfriend Gary Kellaher.

Groupie years

For several years, Moser was a groupie, getting into "where the action was." She often was seen with a group of other women called "The Texas Blondes", as

John Cale John Davies Cale (born 9 March 1942) is a Welsh musician, composer, singer, songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the American rock band the Velvet Underground. Over his six-decade career, Cale has worked in various styl ...

, with whom Moser had a five-year relationship, named them. The couple met in 1979, as Moser was getting out of her first marriage. The Texas Blondes partied with musicians and were given free tickets and backstage passes. Moser was the leader of the group. They were active in the groupie scene until around 1982. Moser also performed as a backup singer in the 1980s for Dino Lee, as one of the "Jam & Jelly Girls."

Journalism career

Moser worked at the ''

Austin Sun The ''Austin Sun'' was a biweekly counterculture newspaper, similar in nature to ''Rolling Stone'' during the latter's formative years, that was published in Austin, Texas, between 1974 and 1978. She got her first interview when she told the newspaper's ''Backstage'' columnist that she knew

Randy California Randy Craig Wolfe (February 20, 1951 – January 2, 1997), known as Randy California, was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter, and one of the original members of the rock group Spirit, formed in 1967. Life and career California was bo ...

and could interview him. When the ''Sun'' went out of business, the ''

Austin Chronicle ''The Austin Chronicle'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demogr ...

'' hired Moser in 1981 for its gossip column, "In One Ear." The column "became essential reading for Austin music fans," according to the ''

Austin American-Statesman The ''Austin American-Statesman'' is the major daily newspaper for Austin, the capital city of Texas. It is owned by Gannett. The paper prints Associated Press, ''New York Times'', ''The Washington Post'', and ''Los Angeles Times'' internation ...

.'' Moser's writing about music and the scene in Austin was honest and included her own experiences with the "rock and roll lifestyle" in Austin. Alvin Crow said of her music criticism, "She knows how to draw the distinction between serious rock & roll and bubblegum. She's a true critic. She tells me somebody's good, I believe it." On December 4, 1984, Moser married Mike Malone, a tattoo artist also known as Rollo Banks, and moved to

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. The couple separated in the early 1990s; Moser returned to Austin and to the ''Austin Chronicle'', where she began to write about the history of the Austin music scene. She worked on the history of rock, punk music and the

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

, and the origins of music in Texas. In 2012, Moser, along with Michael Ann Coker, established the South Texas Popular Culture Center (known as "Tex Pop") in San Antonio. Moser's husband, Steve Chaney, also helped her found the museum, of which Moser acted as

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

. The museum's collection focuses on

South Texas South Texas is a region of the U.S. state of Texas that lies roughly south of—and includes—San Antonio. The southern and western boundary is the Rio Grande, and to the east it is the Gulf of Mexico. The population of this region is about 4.96 ...

music from the 1950s to the 1980s.

Cancer diagnosis and death

In February 2013, Moser was diagnosed with Stage IV

colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel mo ...

. She retired as director of the Austin Music Awards (AMA) in 2014. Before she retired, a small area next to the Austin Music Hall was named Margaret Moser Plaza. In that same year, she also retired from the ''Austin Chronicle''. In 2016, the AMA started the Margaret Moser Award to recognize women in the Austin music community. Around June 2017, Moser ended treatment for her cancer and had gone into

hospice Hospice care is a type of health care that focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's pain and symptoms and attending to their emotional and spiritual needs at the end of life. Hospice care prioritizes comfort and quality of life by ...

care. She invited friends to visit her before she died, holding a Sunday Open House. On August 25, 2017, she died at her home in San Antonio.

Publications

* * *

References

External links

A Margaret Moser Primer: Essential Articles from Austin's Greatest Music Champion

Margaret Moser Exit Interview
in the ''

'' (May 22, 2014)
''Check This Action''
(April 17, 1995 edition) on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moser, Margaret People from Austin, Texas 1954 births 2017 deaths People from Chicago People from San Antonio Groupies American women writers American women journalists American music critics American women music critics American women singers Singers from Illinois 21st-century American women