Margaret Moser

Early life Moser was born on May 16, 1954, in Chicago to educated parents, Phyllis Jackson Stegall and Willard Cummings Moser, and raised in New Orleans, Houston, and San Antonio. She dropped out of high school.

Groupie years For several years, Moser was a groupie, getting into "where the action was." She often was seen with a group of other women called "The Texas Blondes", as John Cale, with whom Moser had a five-year relationship, named them. The Texas Blondes partied with musicians and were given free tickets and backstage passes. Moser was the leader of the group.

Journalism career Moser worked at the Austin Sun starting in 1976, initially as a janitor before writing about music. She got her first interview when she told the newspaper's Backstage columnist that she knew Randy California and could interview him. The column "became essential reading for Austin music fans," according to the Austin American-Statesman. Moser's writing about music and the scene in Austin was honest and included her own experiences with the "rock and roll lifestyle" in Austin. Alvin Crow said of her music criticism, "She knows how to draw the distinction between serious rock & roll and bubblegum. She's a true critic. She tells me somebody's good, I believe it."

On December 4, 1984, Moser married Mike Malone, a tattoo artist also known as Rollo Banks, and moved to Hawaii. The couple separated in the early 1990s; Moser returned to Austin and to the Austin Chronicle, where she began to write about the history of the Austin music scene. Moser's husband, Steve Chaney, also helped her found the museum, of which Moser acted as curator. The museum's collection focuses on South Texas music from the 1950s to the 1980s.

Cancer diagnosis and death

In February 2013, Moser was diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer. Before she retired, a small area next to the Austin Music Hall was named Margaret Moser Plaza. In that same year, she also retired from the Austin Chronicle. In 2016, the AMA started the Margaret Moser Award to recognize women in the Austin music community.

Around June 2017, Moser ended treatment for her cancer and had gone into hospice care. She invited friends to visit her before she died, holding a Sunday Open House. On August 25, 2017, she died at her home in San Antonio.

Publications