Update 5 (Oct. 11): A sad denouement in the Fiona Apple saga: Word comes today that singer-songwriter Apple will not be rescheduling her postponed Sept. 20 ACL Live performance; instead, it will be canceled. According to the social ticketing platform Ticketfly, customers who purchased tickets will be refunded the purchased amount in five to ten days.
Update 4 (Sept. 24): The Fiona Apple arrest saga, in the words of indie music website Pitchfork, "just keeps getting crazier." On Friday, Sept. 22, Pitchfork posted video of Apple's performance in Houston, the day after her canceled Austin concert. The performer excitedly spoke about her time in jail, making reference to "inappropriate and probably illegal" behavior on the part of four sheriff's office employees, and cryptically referring to secret evidence of her mistreatment she left behind at the jail:
I'm the only one who holds the key, and you and I will be intimate forever because I will hold that secret forever. Unless of course the celebrity that you had so much interest in but you wanted to accuse me of bringing up while you laughed at me all night?
You can read more here (some language may not be safe for work.)
Today, Hudspeth County Sheriff's Department Public Information Officer Rusty Fleming released a statement telling Apple to "just shut-up and sing." The letter also seemingly brags about Hudspeth County's reputation for arresting traveling musicians and celebrities on drug-related charges:
[Have] you ever heard of Snoop, Willie or Armand Hammer? Maybe if you would read something besides your own press releases, you would have known BEFORE you got here, that if you come to Texas with dope, the cops will take your DOPE away and put YOU in jail...
A make-up date for Fiona Apple's Austin performance has yet to be announced, but her North American dates are currently scheduled through Oct. 21.
Update 3: KUT News has received this statement from the Hudspeth County Sheriff’s Office:
September 20, 2012 Sierra Blanca, Texas On September 19, 2012 at approximately 8 pm. a 2004 White and Blue Prevost Tour Bus traveling eastbound on I-10 approached the U.S. Border Patrol Checkpoint located in Sierra Blanca, Texas. During a routine check of U.S. citizenship the inspecting Border Patrol agent, a canine detected the presence of concealed humans and/or controlled substances emitting from the inside of the vehicle and requested the driver to pull into the secondary inspection lane for further inspection. The agent requested all subjects to exit the bus so that a canine working the checkpoint could conduct an inspection of the vehicle. Upon entering the bus the canine alerted to a blue colored back-pack. A further search produced a glass container containing marijuana weighing 0.010 lbs. Also inside the glass container was a small plastic container holding a brown-clay-like substance that later tested positive for hashish. (Also weighing .010 lbs) Fiona Apple Maggart, freely admitted that the controlled substances belonged to her and she was placed under arrest by U.S. Border Patrol agents and detained. At approximately 930pm the Hudspeth County Sheriff’s Office was contacted and upon arrival, Ms. Maggart was taken into custody and transported to the Hudspeth County jail. The next day September 20 Ms. Maggart posted a $10,000 bond and was released shortly after. No other information is available at this time.
Update 2 : KUT News just heard from ACL Live at the Moody Theater. Tonight's concert has been postponed. Additional information will be posted on the theater's website and on social media this afternoon. The concert will be rescheduled, with all tickets for good for the future performance.
Update 1: Still no word on what Fiona Apple's arrest means for her scheduled Austin performance tonight, but the Associated Press reports she "spent Wednesday night at the Hudspeth County jail and would be bonded out Thursday."
Original post: Enigmatic singer songwriter Fiona Apple was arrested in Texas yesterday – a day before her eagerly-anticipated Austin performance.
Gossip website TMZ reports that Apple was arrested on a drug charge in Sierra Blanca, Texas – the same small-town that has ensnared Willie Nelson and Snoop Dogg on similar charges.
Apple is scheduled to play ACL Live at the Moody Theater this evening. It would be her second performance in Austin this year, although that initial performance over South by Southwest was an intimate affair compared to the Moody Theater.
According to Google Maps, Sierra Blanca is 488 miles, or 7 hours and 28 minutes from the ACL Theater.
It’s unknown at this time whether the arrest means a cancelation of tonight’s show. KUT News is waiting on information from the Moody Theater and will update this space later once we hear back. You can also follow developments on Twitter using search term Free Fiona.
