Jonathan Cronin, 2014 TXF Intern

Jonathan Cronin is a senior at Texas State University and will earn his Bachelor of Science in Applied Sociology in May 2014. With all other coursework completed, Jonathan is excited to be serving as a Program & Events intern for Texas Folklife this Spring. With graduate school under consideration, his research interests lie in the areas of ethnography, qualitative research, the sociology of music and the history and the sustainability of unique Texas music such as conjunto. He will be assisting Sarah Rucker in the new season of The Big Squeeze. In addition, he will be assisting various projects and day to day operations at Texas Folklife.

For as long as he can remember, music has been in his blood. From jazz, blues, rock, to Tex-Mex conjunto and everything in between, he listens to it all. Whether it is Duke Ellington's legacy as as a composer or the music of conjunto legends like Mingo Saldivar, Cronin is versatile in discussing a range of genres or artists and the social forces in play that shape cultural narratives. As an Austin native, he owes some of his musical interests to his father. His father accumulated quite the record collection while working at some of Austin's legendary bygone record shops in the late 1970s and early 1980s, such as Sound Exchange and Yesterday's Records. As a kid, he watched his late maternal grandfather, a retired Austin school teacher, roam his house on W. Milton St (in the heart of Austin's old 78704), singing corridos, strumming the guitar and blowing the harmonica while a fresh batch of arroz con pollo stewed on the kitchen stove.