I have been listening to *lots* of this Teddy Thompson CD this week. Just what I need... another favorite artist to add to my list. I didn't just fall in love with his voice after the brief show at the No Depression Party at the Cactus last week.
That happened a few years ago. KGSR used to spin this Richard Thompson song called "Persuasion", a heart-achingly beautiful gem which features a duet with Teddy (his son), co-written with (and also recorded by) Tim Finn. To my knowledge, the duet can only be found on this CD, Action Packed: The Best of the Capitol Years. It was the main reason I bought the CD, although it's jam-packed with plenty of other tunes that are worth the rest of it all by themselves too.
"Nobody gets by here without a donation!" say the Stair Trolls.
"pssssst... a little catnip will do fine."Mar 18 - Musicians: Keep the Politics In Your Songs (Billboard Magazine)
BY JAMES MCMURTRY
Once at a show of mine in Plano, Texas, a woman took it upon herself to dance around in front of the stage with a handwritten sign that read, "Keep Politics Out of Music." She had not liked the anti-Bush rant that I had inserted into the song "Levelland." I wonder what she thought of the works of Woody Guthrie, John Lennon or Bob Dylan? And would she have been equally as offended by the sentiments expressed in the songs of Merle Haggard, Toby Keith or Clint Black? Was it politics in music that she objected to, or more specifically, my politics in my music? I probably lost a fan that day, not the first or the last.
I used to try to keep politics out of my music not for fear of losing fans - I had no fans - but rather for fear that my songs would become sermons. I did not want to be seen as another mediocre folkie up there preaching with righteous conviction to mask the fact that his songs sucked.
It was a while before I realized that it is possible to write a good politically motivated song. Steve Earle's "The Ballad of Billy Austin," written from the point of view of a death-row inmate, showed me that it could be done. It is a great song first, a biting social commentary second. Kris Kristofferson's work has the same qualityit gets his point across without sacrificing his art. Oddly, when I first heard Kristofferson's songs, I did not notice the political statements in them. I was a child then, and the Vietnam War so thoroughly colored the world I came into that I could not even see it. The war was like your grandmother's kitchen wallpaper you had seen since you were 3 and no longer noticed. The sight of those glum-faced, young soldiers in the airport was perfectly normal to me.
The soldiers are back in the airports, but they are older now. I did not want my son's generation to grow numb to the sight of them, to become "blas about war," as Lennon once said. So I took a chance and put out a song called "We Can't Make It Here"put it out first as a free download. I received a lot of nasty e-mails right off the bat, but the download got more attention than anything I have put on a CD in the last 10 years.
Now, a year and a half later, WXRT Chicago, a station that has not added a James McMurtry song since the early '90s, is playing its own edit of "We Can't Make It Here" and doing quite well with it. (Yes, I am indeed blowing my own horn here. Somebody has to since my last manager threw up his hands and ran screaming back to Connecticut.)
WKIT, Stephen King's classic rock station in Bangor, Maine, was on the song as soon as it hit the Internet. Maine has lost 30,000 jobs to outsourcing, one of the facets of modern American life that the protagonist in my song complains about.
You could say that my little song became a hit in Bangor. That is good for me, but not so good for Bangor. "We Can't Make It Here" is not popular in Bangor or anywhere else by virtue of it being a great song. Its popularity, like that of most popular songs, lies in the fact that people are hearing their own lives in it. The lives they are hearing in this song cannot be much fun right now.
In a recent article in The Austin Chronicle, interviewer Andy Langer said to Kris Kristofferson, "Some people say the smart thing for folks like you and the Dixie Chicks is just to shut up and sing."
Kristofferson's response was, "I would say back, 'Shut up and listen.' "
Kristofferson is not the darling of country radio that he once was, but he has not gone away. He has continued to use his voice, and his power as a performer has only increased. Last year at South by Southwest, the Continental Club was dead silent when he sang. Even the people on the sidewalk watching through the open door were silent.
But, sadly, most of us so-called artists are afraid to use our voices, afraid to take a stand for fear of committing career suicide. We have to get over that fear because in succumbing to it we become invisible, and invisibility, for an artist, is true career death.
We cannot please everybody and we should not bother trying. It is not our job to be loved. It is our job to be remembered.
Wednesday: Newton Faulkner, Kris Kristofferson, Stephen Bruton, Jessi Colter, Friends of Dean Martinez, James McMurtry, Steve Wynn and the Miracle 3, Tom Freund, Scrappy Jud Newcomb, Glen Phillips, Steve Wynn (again).
Saturday: Norah Jones, Rosanne Cash, Nic Armstrong & IV Thieves, Peter Case, Steve Wynn (again!), Grassy Knoll Boys, and Stringdusters.
Having a recovery and catch-up day today from the whole SXSW fun week, plus a Nickel Creek show yesterday. Took tons of pictures, and will do an in-depth post on all the goings-on soon, today or tomorrow probably. I am way behind on reading everyone else's blogs too, so sorry about that and I'm getting behinder by the minute. Here's a pretty picture to have as a sampler. That's Norah Jones at Waterloo Records.
Jax is attending the South-by-Southwest (SXSW) Music Festival and after staying out until 2 a.m. every morning he's pretty pooped in the daylight hours, as you can see. Jax is especially relaxed now that he no longer sings the Stray Cat Blues.
This weekend helped to smooth out my attitude, which could only have improved. Saturday we went to see the long-awaited The Libertine, the Johnny Depp feature that has been basically shelved for 2 years. I thought he was really great in it, and probably uglied up more than I've ever seen before. It got thumbs up from us, and do see it if just for him... and no... that picture's not an example of the "uglied up" version.
Happy Holidays!!
Even though it is only March, please keep Tuesday, December 5th open, for the __________ Holiday Dinner Party. Because it was so much fun last year, the dinner will again be held at the ____________ Restaurant. Please mark your calendar and save the date.
More information will be coming in the months ahead.
We look forward to seeing you on December 5.
Legendary Austin Texas guitarist who came out of Lubbock, first white man to play at Stubb's in Lubbock, guitarist for Joe Ely Band and the Flatlanders. Here's a benefit show gallery from almost a year ago. Even though he was the recipient of the benefit, he played his ass off with almost every band that day.Austin American-Statesman obituary: Jesse Taylor loved playing guitar so much it became his middle name. Jesse, who passed away at his home in Austin Tuesday at 55, first heard an electric guitar blaring from a garage band in Lubbock. Jesse 'Guitar' Taylor set out to make his life being a rock 'n' roll musician, and to the lasting enrichment of Austin and Lubbock and many points in between, he managed it with the grace of his upbringing and an uproarious roadhouse style. Jesse had some wild hairs. He once walked out of an Austin beer joint during a band break and hopped a freight, just because he missed riding the rails. He jumped off the Congress Avenue bridge one night and surfaced in Town Lake with the realization, well now, that shore there is a pretty fair swim. The goatee and tattooed forearms and booted swagger were part of his statement. But when health slowed him down, he proved himself a gifted painter. Within all that was the heart of one of the world's kindest men. Born April 10, 1950, Jesse was raised in Lubbock by a remarkable mother, Martha Fain. She came from a family of Czech cotton farmers. He spent summers on the farms of his uncles, who at their dinner tables spoke the language of the old country. Jesse's friends growing up were a constellation of talent - Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Butch Hancock, John X. Reed, Ponty Bone, Loyd Maines, T.J. McFarland. In 1967 Jesse joined the band of another Lubbock contemporary, Angela Strehli, and they headlined with rhythm and blues shows at the Vulcan Gas Company and in holes-in-the-wall on the east side. He was bouncing between Austin, California, Colorado, and back to Lubbock. He hitchhiked to get around, and one day a black man in a Cadillac picked him up. His name was C.B. "Stubb" Stubblefield. He parked the car in front of a barbecue joint and said, "Well, this is where I'm going." Jesse said he'd always wanted to go in that place. "I'll tell you what," said Stubb. "I got a barbecue sandwich and a cold beer that's got your name on it." Which led to the storied jams that Jesse organized on Sunday afternoons, and in the general migration of those years, brought the institution of Stubb's Barbecue and music to Austin. Jesse was the guitarist in Joe Ely's band from 1975 to 1982. Bonnie Raitt tried to hire him away, but Texas was where his loves and friendships and children were. He toured with Billy Joe Shaver and Kinky Friedman and, with his old friend John X. Reed, he recorded South Side Guitar in 2001. Jesse knew he was ailing by then, but the lead instrumental he composed was as rowdy and inspired as ever. The piece was called "Don't Give Up." Jesse is survived by his sister Kathy Taylor and brother Timothy Fain; his daughters Nicole Taylor, Chelsea Taylor, and Carrie Young; his niece Cara Fain; his grandsons Taylor Peterkin and Lucas Butler; and his loving partner Kim Elaine Stewart. Visitation to be from 7:00 p.m.- 9:00 p.m. Thursday March 9, 2006 at Cook/Walden N. Lamar in Austin, Tex. Funeral services will be held at 1:00 p.m. Saturday March 11, 2006 in the Resthaven Abbey Chapel on W. 19th St., Lubbock, Tex. Anyone wishing to help defray funeral expenses may send contributions to Kathy Taylor, 912 Koerner Lane, Austin, TX 78721.
Published in the Austin American-Statesman on 3/9/2006.
In an extension of my shallow TV and movie reviews, I am making my predictions on which characters are going to survive this season of 24. I was right in predicting that we’d lose Edgar. I am sad to see him go. I liked Edgar. He’s a good guy, and like Chloe, not a “Hollywood” character… more like somebody you actually work with. I hope that Chloe makes it, really. Chloe and Jack. To the end. And Tony! Yeah!
Well, Spring is here and it's time for some changes. We have been trying to attract as many birds to the yard as possible, but everything seems to be working against it. First a hawk of some kind cleared the area pretty good of all birds, one way or the other, then we cleaned out the houses to find a lot of wasp nests.
Then this de-wasped house was moved closer to the house, and right away got the wasps back again. We are officially giving up on this birdhouse. Want a free birdhouse? Scrub it down before using.
My husband's been finding these great yard art bargains. I love this!! Cheap, funky, and pre-rusted. $7 at Top Drawer Thrift.
Here's another one!
In addition to almost giving up on birds, we also lost two trees this Spring. It really hurts but they were damaged and needed to go. Also, one was a big water-sucker, and we are still in a drought. It's going to be a lot sunnier in the yard, but, hey... welcome to Texas. This is one new little addition planted near where one of the old ones stood. It's a tiny baby live oak. Get ready for shade... in about 20 years.
Here's what's in the area of the other lost tree. I call these Robo-pots. Tub-Dudes. Gotta contain that bamboo though. We don't have enough real estate for invasives. I would love it, but not sure the neighbors want a yard full of bamboo. We have to ask ourselves, "What would Hank Hill want?" Um... probably not that.
There it is, the backyard in Spring, ready for thick wildflowers which will start busting out this month and peak next month... plus tons of butterflies... and tons of mosquitoes too. It's just that time of year.
We saw Chris Whitley once. It was a couple of years ago at a SXSW showcase. We weren't familiar with him, but really liked his sound. Steve Barber was playing keyboards in the set. We intended to see him again sometime but never did. All the musicians playing at the Tribute show also spoke about the last time they saw him. The picture is of Dan Whitley, his brother. We went not because we were that familiar with Chris, but because there was a good lineup of musicians, and it sounded like it would be really different, plus it was a good cause, and I'm very sad that Chris is gone.
Just in time for the Oscars! This pair is up to $80 on eBay!!
Henry is just doing what he's best at, being the cutest and sweetest cat in Texas, and most likely beyond. Without a mean bone in his body, this 14 year old snuggle machine can be fluffed up and placed in nearly any spot, and he will purr, coo, make a few biscuits, and go to sleep, which will be followed by an even cuter little snoring session.
His poor eye needs prednisone to keep it from itching and scarring, but Henry doesn't complain. He's got nuthin' but love.
This kind of stuff gets me thinking about the monetary value of things. Take a look at the painting. Maybe it is created a little differently - by pouring thinned paint on an unprimed surface. It's pretty. I like the colors, it's very pleasant-looking. If you saw this painting in the thrift store, you might pay... what? $10? $20? Maybe $20 if it matches the sofa. At Sears you might pay $100, maybe $200 (the frame would cost that!!). This painting is valued at 1.5 million dollars. That was before a 12 year old boy stuck his wad of chewing gum on it at the Detroit Institute of Arts. It has now been stained by the gum and they are researching the proper chemicals to restore it.
I think that maybe they should leave the chewing gum there. We now have a physical marker of a newsworthy event where a young person was maybe making a personal statement about this art. Noooo... you aren't allowed to stick gum on or otherwise mess up other people's stuff.... but $1.5M? Interesting. Yes, I know. I'm crude and have no taste. No need to tell me.
