Frito Pie Surprise!

What's a nice candidate for governor like you doing in a place like this?

Just hangin' with the aspirant guv: Meagan Biscamp, Amy Teykle, The Wendy, and Katy Koonce
Just hangin' with the aspirant guv: Meagan Biscamp, Amy Teykle, The Wendy, and Katy Koonce (photo courtesy Katy Koonce)

What would you do if you saw Wendy Davis eating a frito pie?

Naw, that's not the choice in a silly "Would You Rather?" scenario nor the opening line of some steamy lezbo erotica. It's the spot in which local bon vivant and Bon-Scott idolizer Katy Koonce found herself backstage at ACL.

The lead singer of Austin's Butch County and trans-identified psychotherapist donated to pal Patrice Pike's upcoming album The Calling and accepted the premium of an ACL VIP wristie for her trouble.

She knew she'd see stars, but had no idea she'd meet a bona fide she-ro.

"She made me more nervous than rock stars," said Koonce, no slouch when it comes to how-to-talk-to-rock-stars confidence. But there she was, Wendy Davis, the future guv and her bag of chili con corn chips, all a'cuddle with her snack, devouring that frito pie in the VIP Grove.

We're getting stoked to knock door-to-door just thinking about it (not to mention hungry). Lucky Koonce.

The scene, as one can imagine, was a mix of backstage too-cool and thunderstruck starstruck. Some folks who'd apparently missed the last few months of news coverage at the capitol altogether approached Austin celeb, ex-mayor Will Wynn for the skinny. Ol' Wynny couldn't help but bask in the limelight for a bit himself, as, according to Koonce, every time someone would ask who the attractive blonde "stranger" was in VIP, he'd pronounce, "That's my girlfriend!"

That's our ex-mayor! (We miss ya, hizzoner!)

After Koonce's missed connection with Sen. Davis on Saturday (and the subsequent tossing-and-turning night-guilt of not talking to her), the singer donned her Wendy goggles on Sunday and BAM! There she was again in the VIP lounge. With the urging of Koonce's friend Amy, the two went in for a picture with a freshly charged iPhone.

"She was just the nicest," says Koonce of the pair's convo with Davis. "She even remembered seeing Amy's [NSFW] anti-Rick Perry sign at the rally. It was one of her favorites." All was calm while the friends snapped some some pics. But Koonce thinks it was the calm before the storm.

"I can't imagine what she has ahead of her, but she seems tough." Koonce adds "There's something about her that's sexy – other than the fact that she's a bad-ass."

Koonce was tempted to sing for the filibustin' feminist. Davis – who announced Thursday that she will in fact be (running for) governor – was sadly not granted a serenade that Sunday afternoon. Koonce even had material picked out: a number that Koonce and friends Alex Barron and Heather Baade are currently writing. Yes, it's about Davis being a bad-ass.

While Koonce mulls the missed opportunity, she waxed on the art of photobombing: "We might have even taken a little video of us singing the song behind her."

A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.

Support the Chronicle  

READ MORE
More Politics
Fish or Gay Bait
Fish or Gay Bait
Response to D6 candidate Matt Stillwell's least-common-Dem politics

Kate X Messer, Nov. 3, 2014

GOP Politics Only at State Water Board
GOP Politics Only at State Water Board
Employee fired for emails about Shea campaign

Jordan Smith, Dec. 18, 2012

More Music
Texas Music Venues Could Receive Rebates Up to $100,000 Under New Program
Texas Music Venues Could Receive Rebates Up to $100,000 Under New Program
First-of-its-kind Texas Music Incubator to offer alcohol tax refunds

Kriss Conklin, June 22, 2023

Roxy Music Airs Out Its Deep Cuts At Ragged-Edged Austin Show
Roxy Music Airs Out Its Deep Cuts At Ragged-Edged Austin Show
Even with weakened chops, the HoFers enjoy each other's company

Mike Clark-Madison, Sept. 22, 2022

More by Kate X Messer
LBJ Library at 50: All the Cake
LBJ Library at 50: All the Cake
Getting some free cake on LBJ's birthday is a rich tradition

Aug. 26, 2021

The Gay Place: It's Aliiive!
It's Aliiive!
You can't keep a Gay Place down; just ask Sarah Marloff

Jan. 20, 2016

More by Sarah Marloff
<i>An Army of Women</i> Tells the Story of a Criminal Justice Crusade in Austin
An Army of Women Tells the Story of a Criminal Justice Crusade in Austin
Julie Lunde Lillesæter shines a light on the women who made Austin a better place for rape survivors

March 8, 2024

City Acknowledges Its Debt to Sexual Assault Survivors
City Acknowledges Its Debt to Sexual Assault Survivors
Seen and heard

Feb. 4, 2022

KEYWORDS FOR THIS POST

Politics, Music, ACL, Wendy Davis, ACL Fest, Katy Koonce, Will Wynn, Frito Pie, Patrice Pike, Vintage Trouble, Austin City Limits

MORE IN THE ARCHIVES
One click gets you all the newsletters listed below

Breaking news, arts coverage, and daily events

Keep up with happenings around town

Kevin Curtin's bimonthly cannabis musings

Austin's queerest news and events

Eric Goodman's Austin FC column, other soccer news

Information is power. Support the free press, so we can support Austin.   Support the Chronicle