2006年 03月 5日 日曜日 00:36

I don't have a laudry list of bands I've seen live. I don't see many bands live. Not many bands play live where I live, where I have lived, or where I imagine I'll live anytime soon.

Growing up up Fargo ways the fair brought in the regular hat acts. The first show I recall was theOak Ridge Boys at the lutheran college (I was 7 or 9 or something). Charlie Daniels was the closest thing to rock-n-roll I saw. After a couple shows to wet my musical wistle, I vividly recall Willie Nelson's show. He got up on stage, said "Hello". Then he played his guitar & sang. Then he played alot more. When he was done he said "I hope you enjoyed the show". He did what he came to do and didn't clutter it up with fluff. I wish I woulda listened, cause I spent alot of growing up years listening to clutter.
Soundtrack of high school: Stardust.

Chicago
I went to college at Illinois-Urbana (Oskee-wa-wa!) It still kills me that Alison Krauss was attending the local community college & playing around town, and just downstate Uncle Tupelo was inventing alt.country. I was completely clueless, mostly listening to stoner metal from the college radio station and whatever cover band was playing the bars. Best thing I did was buy old Robert Johnson on vinyl. I dragged my friends to Alabama and they dragged me to Scorpians, and to see Chicago WLUP DJs (Jonathon Brandmeier and Steve Dahl) where Sears HQ now sits. I screwed up our tix for Guns n' Roses and missed Stevie Ray Vaughn's last show up to Wisconsin. I did see Bill Cosby and Graham Champman of Monty Python. Spam spam spam spam, spamity spam! spamity spam!
Soundtrack of college: The Meaning of Life.

Denver
Went to grad school at CU. Denver's got a great music scene, but I was a flatlander among the mountain gods. If I had money and time, I fled to the highways not the honky tonks. I think I saw Hot Tuna and Tom Petty with a date--the tickets were free, she went home with another dude. I stuck to the mountains. I did see John Conlee play a small town bar twice. He's a great guy, and a slow two-step is better date music than headbanging.
Soundtrack: The sound of purple sage on the great divide.

Montana
Bozeman, Montana, is getting too big to be small, and is certainly too small to be big. It's the middle bear in the Big Sky state. Montana State University, the ski resorts, Yellowstone National Park, and a lively community of luthiers and artists attracts an intersting stream of live acts. Listening to community radio KGLT I fell in love with roots music--americana, bluegrass, alt-country. I saw Alison Krauss & Union Station in an old high school auditorium, local bluegrass band Kane's River, Patty Griffin opening for Lucinda Williams in an old junior high school, Lyle Lovett in the college basketball arena, and more. I still spent most downtime up the mountain or in a trout stream, but living where I could walk to shows (and stumble home after too many Moose Drools) helps.
Soundtrack: Down from the mountain.

Home on the (Front) Range
A couple years ago I stepped out and volunteered to help a new community radio station, KRFC-FM, get started to serve Fort Collins and the Front Range north of Denver. I'd moved back to Colorado for a new job and brought a family with. Community radio is a wonderful, social, frustrating, amazing process and product. It's live, local and exactly what the volunteers put into it. I saw many acts perform live on air and at the clubs in town, Open Road, Uncle Earl, Mary & Mars, Kim Townsend. I got to talk to Drag the River, Joel Melton, Tom Brosseau, and Graham Lindsey, and many more by phone, email and messenger pigeon. It was a hoot. Besides, working local radio is a reminder that behind the glitz and glam and media campaigns, real live living people make the music.
Soundtrack: KRFC-FM webstream.

Minnesota is home now. New job, back in the midwest. Fewer trout, more walleyes. I'm 100 miles from the nearest music venue of any interest. NPR, last.fm and the webstream are my lifeline. I am spending more time with the kids out here on the farm. Not likely to see live music soon. Too many lakes to fish to mind much. That feels good.
Soundtrack: Indians Cowboys Horses Dogs.

-jc