Low Key Show Biz

A few nights ago in a blinding flash of inspiration (actually a dimly lit fit of insomnia) I thought I might try to write a very brief history of Bluegrass music.  So far my knowledge of the subject was stuff that I had gleaned from my crazy friends, album liner notes and occasional nuggets from Kyle Cantrell or Chris Jones.  (If you don’t recognize the names of those two fellows it’s because you aren’t a Sirius/XM subscriber tuned to channel 61)  So I vowed that when I got up the next day I’d start some serious research and from that research I would carefully craft a brief but fascinating treatise.

And I did.  At least I started the research.  Using the ever present Google and Wikipedia I began to dig in.  Then I went to our local library and found a couple of biographies of the big names in the business and scanned through them looking for the juicy stuff that might spice up the story.  There was some seamy material but somewhere along the way most of the giants of Bluegrass got squared away and went on to lead productive and not terribly gossip worthy lives.  Almost all of those giants came from humble beginnings and steadily worked at becoming masters of their craft so that they could make music, usually about their humble beginnings.  Or love.  Or faith.  Or work.  Or music.

So that sent me off on another tangent (I’m easily sent off) thinking about what a dull corner of show business Bluegrass occupies.  In other parts of the world of entertainment the big stars can’t seem to get their dirty little secrets out in public fast enough.  Magazines, tabloid papers and TV “news” shows are all about the scandals of singers, actors and politicians.  Talk shows are quick to book the slimiest characters on the circuit.  That reminds me of a line from an article by William Zinsser – “Then talk shows were born and shame went out the window.”  Now that’s a true fact and I believe that Bluegrass artists still understand what it is to have a sense of shame.

There I was with a pile of notes about Bill Monroe, Ralph Stanley, the Louvin Brothers, the Carter family, Ricky Skaggs and many more.  I had stuff about the little record companies and the promoters and festivals.  There were stories about how people from outside the Bluegrass world came inside and scammed some artists and left them high and dry.  But most of my notes were like this.

“Born on a farm in (fill in the blank).  Learned how to play from a grandfather, parent, aunt, uncle.  When he/she heard (fill in another blank) he/she was inspired to try and make a living in Bluegrass.  Struggled for a time, built up recognition, made some records, gradually survived and eventually made a decent living.”

Story after story goes like that.  Of course not all of the big names came from a farm.  But there aren’t many who popped up out of New York City or Los Angeles.  And there are very, very few Bluegrass artists, past or present, who suddenly arrived at the top of the heap.  There is no “Star Making Machine” in the Bluegrass business.  Fan bases are built at a glacial pace, one listener at a time.  And that, I believe, is a large part of the appeal of this music.  It is built so firmly on friendship and honesty that it just feels good to follow and to be involved in, even if being involved is just sitting on a lawn chair at some rural festival.

I’m still going to write that history some day in the future.  I’ve got a lot more to learn before I can do justice to the subject though.  Meanwhile I’m going to see if I can find a concert or show nearby.  It’s time for another shot of that Bluegrass music.

Have a fine day.

 

Modern Culture

It’s high time we considered “culture” (pronounced by some high-falutin’ folks as “cull-cha”) as something more than great novels, symphonies or art museums full of stuff made by dead or dying artists.  And as we begin this discussion I’ll admit that I’ve been less than open-minded in what I consider part of the great melting pot that is modern culture.  In fact I’m a bit of a snob.

The dictionary has a long list of definitions of culture.  For the sake of this little article we’ll use this one from “The American Century Dictionary”:  1a) Intellectual and artistic achievement or expression 1b) Refined appreciation of the arts, etc.  Pretty simple.

In fact the simplicity of that definition opens up the cultural world to include what I’ve always considered to be pretty crappy stuff.  If the arts are literature, music and visual creations then we must consider stuff like comic books, rap and splashing paint randomly on canvas as culturally viable.  Dang.  Of course the definition does open with the words “intellectual” in part 1a and “refined” in 1b.  So maybe we can pare down the volume of material that is truly cultural by using those two razors.

Let’s start with music.  Music is arguably the most widespread cultural pursuit.  People who wouldn’t open a book, even if the title was “There’s Money Taped to Every Page”, still will listen to music.  Many will make up tunes in their head and hum them as they jog along through their lives.  There is a thing called the “Music Industry” and it is sub-divided into dozens of genres or types.  A person’s individual taste, which is formed over a lifetime, will dictate the types of music he or she prefers and considers high on the cultural scale.  Some people have a narrow taste in music while others are open to several types.  I prefer Bluegrass, Beethoven and Mozart, Big Band, Sixties Rock and Folk, Older Country and Melodic Jazz.  One friend of mine will only listen to Bach, Beethoven and Brahms.  He thinks anything written after those guys croaked is anti-cultural.  Another guy that I know is completely obsessed with Heavy Metal, especially Metallica.  But, and here’s the big point of this thing, it’s all part of our culture.  Just because we don’t like a certain kind of music doesn’t mean that music is without value.

Except Rap.  Rap is out.  No, I’m kidding.  Rap is in.  Reggae is in, even the stuff played on steel drums.  So we’ve settled, by the flawless logical method of me making the decisions here, that musical culture includes any type where the artist or writer makes an intellectual effort and garners an audience that has a refined approach to the appreciation of that form.  Even those songs that Barney the purple dinosaur sings have some cultural relevance.  Sad, isn’t it?

Now on to literature we go with our newly discovered opened minds.  Literature should probably be approached in the same way as music.  There are all kinds of literature:  classical, romance fiction, detective and mystery fiction, thrillers, horror, gothic; non-fiction, magazines, short stories, newspapers; cooking books, self-help, inspirational, religious.  (Did you see all those colons, semi-colons and commas in that sentence?)  You see what I’m getting at here, right?  You have to decide for yourself the parameters of how high or how low on the cultural scale your preferred form of literature should be.  If you think James Patterson ranks up there with Shakespeare, well that’s your decision.  Just be advised that some folks will take exception to your choices.  They may even call you a mindless twit.  But don’t let it bother you.  I’m sure people called Shakespeare a mindless twit at one time or another.  But not Stephen King.  Nobody calls him names. 

Of course I’m sure we can all agree on one major fact.  The highest of the literary arts, the form of literature that sits at the tippy-top spot on the cultural scale is Poetry.  And not just any poetry, no, it must be the good stuff.  And if you want some recommendations to beef up your own cultural standing I’ll be happy to oblige.  Just contact me.  There will be no further discussion on literature.

Now we move on to the visual arts.  There are a bunch of visual arts and they include, but are probably not limited to – painting, drawing, photography, film, television, sculpture, pottery, making little villages out of popsicle sticks, dance (which combines music and motion), graphic art and graffiti.  It is especially important that we keep the “intellectual” and “refined” guidelines in mind when it comes to visual art.  Coloring inside the lines most likely does not constitute an artistic accomplishment.  It’s a good thing and should be rewarded with refrigerator placement but it isn’t art.  Television is a very tough art form to judge.  Some folks might think that the Jerry Springer Show is art.  It’s not.  Others might think that “Dancing with the Stars” is art.  Since it has dancing as a part of the show it can be considered art.  At least it could until they brought Bill Nye the Science Guy onto the set.  Then it slid into just being silly.  Now I honestly shouldn’t be making these judgments about TV since I almost never watch that art form.  For good information on where TV shows place on the cultural scale you should probably check with TV Guide, People Magazine or some other high-class publication like that.

Other kinds of visual art are easier to rate on the cultural scale.  If a piece of art looks like it has some intellectual basis and can be appreciated by at least a handful of folks then it just might have some cultural standing.  If a piece of art looks like a piece of crap that some wacko put together just to get a reaction then, sadly, it may be art.  That doesn’t mean you have to look at it or if you accidentally get a peek you have to like the thing.  Nope.  Art critics will disagree about the cultural value of the stuff.  Just find out which critic hates the same thing you hate and in artistic discussions agree with him or her.  That’s called having an informed opinion and it’s all the rage in cultural circles.

Well I’ve got over a thousand words on “culture” now.  I hope I’ve brought some understanding to all you good folks.  I made my big point a few paragraphs back.  In case you forgot already the big point is that “culture” is a very large and varied thing.   It’s worth studying.  It’s worth finding some cultural things to appreciate because they will help you grow intellectually and maybe even spiritually.  But if you don’t like something that is considered high on the cultural scale don’t feel that you’re less of a person.  Just be sure you approach your cultural decisions with intellect and refinement.

Now go do something artistic and have a fine day.

 

Putting Politics Aside

The government partial shutdown is over, though the talking about it goes on.  We were, according to some accounts, brought to the very brink of disaster, the near collapse of the world economy, the permanent loss of our vast wildernesses so ably protected by forest rangers in cooperation with Smoky Bear.  I know I was worried.  After, all how would all that nature survive without federal help?

But the disaster was averted thanks to the stellar leadership of our valiant Senators and a few stalwart members of the House.  In all my nearly sixty-seven years I’ve rarely seen such cohesive and concerted leadership.  Deals were made.  And I’m sure the deals were all to the benefit of the vast majority of Americans.  We’ll never really know of course.  I guess one Senator, from Kentucky I believe, is denying that the two billion dollar dam project in his state had anything to do with the deal making.  Of course not.  The deals that are yet to be revealed will also have nothing to do with anything more than furthering the cause of the whole nation.

It was interesting to see that the Congress and the administration and all those hardworking federal bureaucrats will now be fully participating in the new health care system.  They aren’t?  Funny, I thought sure that would have been a concession on the part of the party in power.  So once again a law is passed, all nice and legal like, that doesn’t apply equally to all the citizenry.  What a surprise.  If there is one thing that we need to learn it’s that the folks we elect to high office take the “high” part very seriously.  They very quickly come to believe that they are high above the ignorant masses that sent them to the glory land that is Washington, DC.

Now some of my kind readers may feel I’m being sarcastic towards, and harsh on, those well intentioned elected folks and the entourages with which they surround themselves.  And that may be true.  One time I did a little research and learned about the costs of keeping our Senators and Congressman in the manner to which they so richly deserve.  I’m not going to go on and on with an itemized list of transportation costs, office expenses, salaries for aides and administrative assistants, cafeterias, postage, fitness opportunities and the like.  We all know it’s a tough job representing the people.  It’s tough learning all about the issues and then reading the bills that come before them so that smart votes can be made.  Yes informed votes are important which is why it’s curious to learn (by their own admission) that our legislators often pass bills that they don’t read or of which they’ve only read summaries.   But I’m just covering old ground here.

And covering old ground is easy because those folks in Washington do it over and over again.  They fight the same battles in the same foolish way.  They are as predictable as sunrise and sunset.  They are so firmly set in their self-serving circle of being self-serving that when we see honest representation we are truly surprised. When a few members of the House actually try to represent their districts with actions following their campaign promises the news agencies think those members are trying to pull a fast one.  Or they accuse them of being crazy radicals.  Strange world over there in Washington.

But I’m putting politics away for a little while.  I’m going to focus on poetry, family reunions and other more positive things.  If we come to the brink of disaster again I’m sure I’ll pick up hints from friends and relatives and then I’ll be sure to start paying attention.

Now have a fine day.

Shutdown: A View from the Bottom

I guess it’s a pretty serious thing, this government shutdown.  After months of debate (or has it been years?) a final impasse has been reached and all of the federal bureaucracy, the House, Senate and Executive branches, the Supreme Court and lots of things I can’t remember have come to a halt.  The national parks are closed, the military is on furlough and PBS has no money to broadcast.  And what about the post offices and OSHA and the EPA and the IRS?  Closed as well, I suppose.  But as kids today say:  “Not!”

My political position has been discussed in previous blogs.  I’m not registered in either major party.  I’m not a libertarian or socialist or Whig or even a Bull Mooser.  But I am registered to vote and I exercise my civic privilege whenever any election comes along.  My tendency is always to vote against incumbents.  I’m a big proponent of giving someone else a chance to try and bring some common sense to the business of governing at all levels.  Term limits seem like a common sense idea as well.

The monstrosity that is the federal bureaucracy rolls along even while the folks who supposedly control the thing declare it closed.  The election last year re-endorsed the current administration at the same time that a bunch of legislators were put into office on the promise that they’d try to slow down the progressive agenda.  Seems like both constituencies are being well served. 

It’s a complex thing, governing a nation of over three hundred million people.  In some ways it seems impossible.  Here in Delaware we have a population of just over nine hundred thousand stuffed into three counties.  As small as we are there is still plenty of difficulty in getting anything useful done by the government.  And we are pretty much run by one party, a party that fully buys into every federal program that plops down from the folks in Washington.

Our unemployment rate is up close to eight percent and we have a pretty large public assistance program as well.  In our state the number of government employees (including state, federal, county and city) is three times larger than the DuPont Company, our largest corporate entity.  To me that is a scary number.  When the taxes are collected to fund this huge number of government employees, and the seemingly never-shrinking public assistance programs, we have to be at least a little bit worried about how those taxes will affect the economy of our state.  It’s not looking too spiffy right now.

But back to the shutdown.  The television and other news media love to sound the alarm about closing the government.  Politicians love to stir things up even more, declaring that their opposite numbers are holding the American people hostage (or some such crap) or threatening the very stability of democracy and the safety of the free world.  I’m not so sure about all that.  Even these moronic politicians seem to know enough to keep the military and basic services going.  But they sure do have a problem devising and adopting a basic balanced budget without fudging the federal deficit.  I’ve been trying to recall a single truly balanced federal budget in my lifetime.  Bill Clinton claims to have had one but as I recall that was largely the work of the House of Representatives under Newt Gingrich.  However that budget consisted mostly of long term projections regarding deficit reductions.  Do you see how easy it is to make the numbers serve your own cause?

Of course balancing a government budget is just accounting trickery and is not at all like running a real business.  Government operating is far removed from running a real business and yet the people in control of our government, and their supporters, keep wanting more and more of the functions of real business under direct governmental control.  That’s another thing I can’t understand.  When we look at the track record of government programs (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Farm Subsidy Programs, SEC, NSA, IRS etc.) then we just might want to reconsider giving those folks more control.

Well, that’s enough about this.  I’m disappointed that some compromises couldn’t be reached but not at all surprised.  The folks in control in the Executive Branch and the Senate have no real good reason to check with the electorate about programs involving health care and such.  After all they won the election and they are a fairly arrogant bunch who think they know what’s good for you and me.  And they’ll continue to chip away at our freedom to make our own decisions.  But, friends, there are more elections to come (at least we hope so) and we’ll have the opportunity to make ourselves heard once again.  Of course that doesn’t mean fifty-one percent of our neighbors will agree with us, does it?

Enjoy the shutdown.  They probably won’t be taking any money from you for a few days, right?  Want to bet?  Have a fine day.