Amy Rigby is back with The Old Guys (Southern Domestic), her first solo album since 2005’s Little Fugitive. A veteran of NYC bands Last Roundup in the ’80s and the Shams in the ’90s, Rigby recorded the 12-track The Old Guys with husband and musical partner Wreckless Eric in upstate New York, where the couple resides. Not only is Rigby currently on tour in support of her new LP, she’s also guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week.
Rigby: I discovered barbecue around the same time I got into country music and Southern writers. Some of the gospel of the South—Flannery O’Connor, Loretta Lynn and George Jones, the Carter Family and barbecue—was brought to New York City by a wave of Southern art students I met back in New York’s East Village in the early 1980s. Barbecue was like this secret religion passed around by word of mouth and essential written guides like Road Food. Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley of Yo La Tengo were early BBQ aficianados, and I remember pulling over to a phone booth somewhere in South Carolina to call them for directions to a place they’d mentioned. It seemed almost more important than finding the venue for that night’s show!
The first time I tasted ribs at Payne’s of Memphis, I was so excited to share the bounty I packed up a slab in a Fed Ex box and shipped them back home to New York. (I may or may not have remembered dry ice; either way, it was a disaster.) Since those days, I’ve eaten BBQ all over this country, and while I hate to choose a favorite, I am partial to Texas brisket and the unique bite of hot links. If you’re ever traveling between Austin and San Antonio, follow the scent of smoke to Kreuz’s. If you can’t get there, order some to have shipped to you. Thermal dry ice is standard these days.
