J.A. Strub

• J.A. enjoyed cooking and eating at a young age, influenced by his Veronese grandmother and the diverse surroundings of his New York neighborhood.
• While living in Austin, he ran a catering business, Tacos el Buen Viaje.
• He enjoys compiling recipes from throughout the eastern coastal regions of Mexico.

Experience

J.A. is a versatile writer, educator, and creative leader whose interests lie at the intersection of music, food, culture, and history. He has published his journalistic work in outlets including The Nation, Edible Queens, Fader, and CityLab, and his academic scholarship is featured in journals such as Frontiers in Psychology, American Music, Chiricú Journal of Chicano Studies, and the Journal of Music, Health, and Wellbeing. Originally from New York, he currently resides in Xalapa, the capital of the coastal Mexican state of Veracruz, where he conducts research, runs a small audio production company, and studies traditional music and indigenous languages with local masters. J.A. is currently the assistant editor of Latin American Music Review, one of the premier academic journals on the subject. His 2024 book "¡Maldito Coronavirus!: Mapping Latin American Musical Responses to the Pandemic Moment" surveyed over 3,000 examples of music written during and about the COVID crisis in the region. As a visually impaired individual and avid walker, J.A. is involved in various groups dedicated to promoting pedestrians' rights and walkable cities and has contributed chapters to "I'm Walking Here: A Pedestrian Manifesto" (2022, ELP Press).

Education

J.A. earned degrees in economics and statistics from Hunter College, the City University of New York, and is currently completing a dissertation in Ethnomusicology at the University of Texas at Austin.