The diversity and wonderfulness of performing arts and music makes me so happy! I almost turned my “Sunday Night” posting in a huge list of diverse artists, but I thought it would be better to stick with just 2, and keep it focused on the story telling honky tonk side of things.
The problem is, I could go on forever. And that’s without touching on the obvious ones! I mean, I could be posting, “hey, have you ever heard of Big Mama Thornton?” but I’d almost be insulting your intelligence if I did that. It’d be like asking, “Beyonce? Can she sing?” But as Johnny Vector points out with his obligatory XKCD reference: “you’re the lucky 10,000!” sometimes. I figure the game theory looks like:
(tongue firmly in cheek)
I do admit that I probably shocked a few of you by admitting I’d never heard of Bruce Cockburn before. I’m shocked, too! Clearly the music industry and the Trump administration have failed to put such an amazing performer in front of me. It’s not my fault! How could I know how cool he was until I was rescued by Johnny Vector?! But I am trying to be suitably appreciative and reforming my ways, etc.
In the off chance that some of you liked Ray or Fred and haven’t heard of these, here’s some more:
Todd Snider’s schtick is a little annoying sometimes but I like it. The beautiful thing about music and performing arts is we each get to make our choices and there’s really no objective way to get in someone’s face and say “What do you mean you don’t like Ray Wylie Hubbard, what’s wrong with you!?!?” because then some Sisters of Mercy fan’s going to get in your face and ask why you haven’t got every single bootleg ever, and what’s wrong with you? (I may resemble that caricature, btw…)
Bonnie Whitmore and Hayes Carll kill this one:
I learned about Hayes when Ray Wylie Hubbard was doing a bit in a song about the French poets (Rimbaud, Apollinaire, Jarry, etc) and how they were like the rock stars of their day, and how he met Hayes and was amazed by how bitter and burned out he managed to be at such a young age, so much talent! Ray’s a hoot. Anyway. Another Austin area musician who opened for Ray at a house concert he did in Austin is a fellow named Slaid Cleves:
That is all for now.
SaturdaySundaywhatever
Marcus, you should look for Cockburn’s “Dust and Diesel”. It’s sort of the optimistic counterpart to “Rocket Launcher”.
Are you familiar with Vienna Teng? Her Aims album is wonderful, and it’s all online at her web site. “Level Up” is great (watch the video), and “The Hymn of Acxiom” is right up your professional alley — it’s written in the voice of a huge database! “Let our formulas find your soul… we’ll design you a perfect love… isn’t that what you want?”