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Home > Austin Music Source > Archives > 2008 > March > 15 > Entry
Scene: Rachael Ray and John Cusimano
The Food Network’s Rachael Ray may be most well known for her love of things culinary, but she loves music, too. And Ray, who took up drum lessons at 37, and her husband John Cusimano, whose band The Cringe is playing SXSW, both love Austin. So it doesn’t seem so unusual that Ray is hosting the Feedback day party on Saturday, which includes her SXSW Seven-Layer Slider burgers and a band named Holy (expletive).
“We have very eclectic taste. We listen to everything,” Ray said in an interview with the American-Statesman in Austin Friday night. “We are both devout followers of the Foo Fighters. We both love John Coltrane, Ella Fitzgerald, opera and indie rock. That’s what I like about Austin, it’s not just one scene.”
Ray first discovered Austin a number of years ago after she saw Bob Schneider on “Austin City Limits” and decided to make a trip to Texas. “I wanted to come here because it was the live music capital of the world. And, I wanted to see Bob Schneider,” Ray said. “He’s just such a great musician, a great storyteller. We (Ray and Cusimano) were both listening to his music on the plane on the way down.”
Though Schneider will not be playing the Feedback party, a number of emerging bands, including Scissors for Lefty, Autovaughn, the Stills and, of course, The Cringe, will be performing for the invitation-only event at the Beauty Bar on Saturday afternoon. Ray and Cusimano selected the lineup themselves, citing the Sirius “Left of Center” radio source for discovering much of the music.
“We are psyched about the lineup. We were lucky enough to get the Raveonettes, which was great,” Cusimano said. The showcase also features DJ sets from Efrem Ramirez, better known as Pedro from “Napoleon Dynamite.”
A lunch menu by Ray will include the aforementioned SXSW seven-layer sliders (burgers based on seven-layer dip), macaroni and cheese suiza and barbecued ribs.
Ray and Cusimano are looking forward to their first SXSW. They hope to see Vampire Weekend, as well as the Vines and Bob Schneider.
When in Austin, Ray and Cusimano stay at the Hotel San Jose and hit the South Congress shops and restaurants, from the vintage shops to Service Menswear to Jo’s for coffee. Ray also likes the coffee at Cissi’s Market. “We’re going home with a pound of coffee and some peanut butter from there,” Ray said. Both hope to eat at favorite spots including Shady Grove, Iron Works, Home Slice, Guero’s and the Salt Lick.
The September issue of her magazine Every Day with Rachael Ray will feature the visit to Austin on the cover and include recipes from the showcase.
— Meredith Hight
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