In the words of friend and Feminist Music Geek blogger Alyx Vesey, Esme Barrera was “a lightning rod of a woman”—a 29-year-old Austin, Texas teaching assistant and genuinely uplifting individual who positively affected all those around her.
An avid music fan, she was an “an integral part of our Waterloo [Records] family,” volunteered with Girls Rock Camp, and starred in John Wesley Coleman’s video for “Come On Cops” from last year.
Barrera’s life was tragically cut short in the early hours of New Years Day, the victim of an unresolved homicide at her home in Austin.
The news has sent visceral shock waves across the local music scene and social media, resulting in a wave of grieving and condolences. And it reverberated beyond Austin, showing once again how social media can take a local tragedy and bring it beyond local borders into the world at large.
“She embodied all of the values of the girls rock movement,” the camp stated in an email. “She was small in stature, but her presence was large and positively exploding with infinite possibilities. She helped empower a lot of girls, and indeed helped empower us all.”
Tributes have poured in across Facebook and Twitter, with posts by Okkervil River, Centro-Matic, Allo Darlin’, and the Octopus Project, while Ringo Deathstarr, an Austin noise-pop band, released a digital cover of Bad Brains’ “Sailin’ On,” available in exchange for donations to Barrera’s family at the blog, For.Our.Esme.B.
“Much is being written and reported tonight about Esme’s work as an educator, her volunteer efforts for Girls Rock Camp, and that’s legit, admirable stuff,” wrote Matador Records co-owner Gerard Cosloy on his sports blog Can’t Stop the Bleeding, a post that was and shared more than 100 times on Facebook. “But even if you only knew her thru the kind of moments that never show up on someone’s resume — the late night recaps of what happened the previous night, the number of times she’d leave a mind-blowing show and try to pretend it wasn’t that great (never quite pulling it off, either), how much she tried to do for the people in her life, new and old — you weren’t merely lucky, you won the lottery.”
The online outpouring has also helped raise awareness about her alleged assailant.
The composite sketch of the suspect has circulated on near-repeat on local television news outlets and across social media platforms. One friend of the victim even turned to Reddit in hopes of tracking down more information. The thread received 48 comments, mostly in the form of condolences and shared experiences of living near where the incident occurred.
The loss of Barrera, however, reverberated far outside Austin city limits.
“I was privileged to briefly know an inspirational person from Austin, Tx., who was murdered this NYE,” posted Ted Leo. “Her name was Esme & she’ll be missed.”
Brooklyn Vegan reported on a benefit at at Permanent Wave in New York on Jan. 12, featuring Kellie Scarr and Jo Schornikow of the Shivers, and a compilation of Barrera’s favorite local and national bands is reportedly being assembled by Literature guitarist Kevin Adickes. Moreover, Ray Patrick Colgan just announced A Night For Esme in Austin at Beerland on Jan. 28, with Ted Leo, the Golden Boys, Grape St., and Colgan’s band, the Crack Pipes.
Perhaps the most fitting tribute to Barrera’s legacy is the newly created Tumblr, Esme and You, a collection of photos and playlists from recent years.
Like Rob Sheffield’s Love is a Mixtape, the Tumblr is an emotional reminder of the way music shapes, connects, and uplifts our lives together. Vesey said it best.
“Esme got it,” she wrote. “She knew rock and roll was eternal. As long as we’ve got the sound, we’ll never lose her.”
