In memory of Jonathon Joss, listen to 'The Red Corn Band'

Fans of pioneering Texas anime, King of the Hill, can rejoice as the widely beloved show is returning with a 14th season, 15 years after the original run was cancelled by Fox. Ratings for KOTH actually surpassed The Simpsons at points as Mike Judge offered character-driven, grounded observational comedy compared to Matt Groenig’s slapstick propelled satire guiding his jaundice-tinted characters. But for as much excitement there is surrounding the reboot, there is just as much weirdness around the panel discussion and subsequent murder of Jonathon Joss, voice of John Redcorn.

At the panel on Friday, May 31, Greg Daniels and Mike Judge were the first introduced, followed by the showrunner, Saladin K. Patterson, Pamela Adlon (voice of Bobby), Lauren Tom (voice of Mihn and Connie), and Toby Huss (voice of Kahn and Cotton—and Dale in the reboot). The cast expressed their gratitude for being involved in the series, how foundational it was for their careers and excitement for the reboot. At a certain point, the moderator pointed out the deceased cast members from the show, Johnny Hardwick, Brittany Murphy and Tom Petty.

As one of the panelists was prepping an answer, the crowd became distracted by the appearance of Joss at a Q&A mic. With security forces mounting, and a dead mic, Joss moves across the front of the stage to the other side to deliver a seemingly prepared schpiel. He said he’s “an actor who can’t find a microphone…” Joss mentioned the loss of his family home in San Antonio due to fire, and his three dogs, while interspersing lines of dialogue from his character on the show to voice his disappointment that he wasn’t involved in the panel discussion.

The silence could have been plucked out of the air, swallowed and shat out it was so palpable. Though the discomfort could be felt on the mezzanine, the cast onstage allowed Joss to speak, and especially Toby Huss looked like he was offering support and empathy. As Joss finished his speech, Mike Judge introduced him, “This is Jonathon Joss, voice of John Redcorn…”

The crowd cheered for Joss, in support, not in jest.

On Monday morning, a San Antonio news outlet released a developing story that there was a dispute and a shooting possibly involving Joss. After some light internet sleuthing, my buddy and I agreed it to be just as likely for Joss to be the victim as for him to be the assailant.

In the wake of someone significant passing away, its easy to comb the internet for salacious morsels to wash down some of the more complicated feelings. It seems especially easy for some folks to lower the pedestal of a non-white with their misdeeds from the past.

Instead of unearthing anymore dirt on a stranger I’ve never met, I’d like to share with y’all a little nugget of gold left behind by Joss- Did y’all know he recorded two EPs as ‘The Red Corn Band’???

Its fucking awesome—I believe these predate the John Redcorn “Big Mountain Fudgecake” episode, (where John Redcorn forms a heavy metal band) which raises some questions for me… The Red Corn Band delivers music that sounds precursory to BMFC, traipsing through the demilitarized zone between metal and folk, Joss delivers lyrics that would require a forklift to heft, carried by simple acoustic melodies in his musical expression.

With tracks like ‘Arlen County Blues’ and ‘Still No Good’, Joss incorporates tropes from the series to make cultural critiques. Some songs like ‘The Mouse’ run longer and have more of a ‘jam’ feel than more rigid compositions. It seems The Red Corn Band gave Joss more agency over his personal creative expression, and I think the world would have benefitted from more recordings and perhaps better promotion of his live shows.

Of all the shame and disappointment around Joss’ death, an underrated one is that he didn’t produce more music. We should appreciate the two albums he left even if we lament that these are all we’ll receive from The Red Corn Band.