May 5, 1985-San Antonio Espress-News

Auggie in tune with San Antonio

The power of culture and art is transformative, to the extent that it influences a person to alter perspective, to redefine the meaning of life. San Antonio has that kind of power - one which can lead to self-empowerment.

It is a power that is gentle, yet assertive, vital and serene. Some artists possess that kind of strength, and it fows with a soothing sensibility when the artist has arrived at a maturity in lifestyle, definition, and acceptance of mortality.

Such an artist is Auggie Meyers. He literally flows through life, seemingly aware of his humanity as it touches other realities - very unafraid of being known. So unafraid of others that he can dare to accept differences as being par for any course of life.

A settled moment

That is how I first came to know him in a settled moment, just sharing a bit of rum and many tall tales and truthful visions.

The only enigma about Auggie that I could see was the one created in peoples' minds about him - an outright fabrication based upon misconceptions.

The Auggie who sat with me, just to talk about literature and art, is a caring person, the kind who relshes what he is doing with life. Music is more than a job for him, more than a calling. It is the exploration of the essence of his life, the means to understand what being can mean.

"I played in my first band when I was 13 years old" he reminisced. "Heck, I quit school when I was in the 10th grade, - did not want to dissect frogs. Wanted to take typing, but I was told that it was for girls, and that didn't seem right...so I quit and concentrated on music."

It sounded like an old story, for many a youth has quit school in order to forage within a way of life that makes sense to the person but not to the guardians of educational institutions.

It cannot seem much of a shame for someone of Meyers' power and understanding to have quit a formal and mechanical process.

Would he now be doing the things he enjoys if he had not quit school? Perhaps. It is an iffy proposition.

His parents divorced when be was 16. Though his father never heard him play, it was his dad who first got him to listen to "Spanish" music.

"Dad was hard of hearing, but he used to listen to Spanish music," Auggie said. "He told me to listen to the beat, told me to learn to play the accordion."

A wisful hope filtered through Auggie's voice. A lot of emotion danced within his words.

"Mom, I love her," Auggie continued, "I send her albums, but she will not play them. She will show them to her friends and family - 'that's Jr.'s records' - but she will not play them. She's proud of what I am doing, and I love her dearly."

International fame

Auggie was born and raised in the San Antonio area, and he reflects a sensitivity that is very much in tune with the cultural diversity here.

"I am a fanatic about conjunto,"Auggie said, "Mexican music in general. My family does not like to travel with me because I play mostly Mexican music on my tape deck. I enjoy listening to Guero Polkas a lot."

Asked about his musical lineage, he responded, "Where did we get our music, our roots? Others can trace culture, ethnic heritage. White culture is inaccessible."

Auggie has arrived at a good niche in life. He will go back to Europe for a 15-country tour on May 15. He will be taking his Mex-Tex polka, jazz, R&B, country and blues accordion playing to Iceland, Holland, Norway, Italy, Belgium, France and other nations.

"I like to go to different lands," he said. "Wouldn't mind going to Moscow. The world is all in one place, but people sometimes do not consider that. It is all one world, only one planet, and people respond to music like they do to literature and art. It's all just being human."

Music is the vehicle as well as his message, with his most political statement being a succinct: "Peace is the greater power."

"It is all there," he added. "Conjunto music is there, all over Europe, and it is loved. Flaco (Jimenez) and I will play together in Holland later this year. He sold four albums to a music publisher there."

Asked about exposure, he spoke of stations in Europe that regularly feature Flaco, Los Pavos Reales, Esteban Jordan and other conjuntos in their programming.

"Stations here will not play my records," Auggie mused. "They demand national stars."

An irony when one considers that he has achieved a certain international stature.

San Antionians will have a chance to catch Meyers preforming this week. He will be bringing his accordion magic to St. Mary's Bar & Grill, 3000 North St. Mary's, Thursday.

After that he will depart for almost half a year of playing and to record some albums in London.

He will be taking a bit of San Antonio on the road, savoring the landscapes of our planet while sharing condiments and spices with a Bexar sensibility.

"I love the foods of an area," he laughed. "I always carry a case of tabasco with me when I travel. It is part of my heritage - I am Polish, German and Spanish."

He is that and much more, he is that new Tejas evolving, part of a new aesthetic wherein all hues can commingle to create a statement of human interaction and understanding.

As such I envision him having a bier at "Bar Santo Domingo" in Amsterdam playing his accordion with Spanish gitanos joining in a farruca a la Auggie.