Shot In The Dark: Bush Rally Epilogue

August 19, 2004

Bush Rally Epilogue

I've heard a few commenters note that they were underwhelmed by the presence of Ricky Skaggs at yesterday's rally.

Go forth and seek enlightenment.

Back at my first country radio job (KDAK, Carrington ND, 1982), country music was near its creative nadir (and that's in an industry that's usually pretty mediocre, creatively speaking).

There were three artists that broke the unending horror of those years. One was Emmylou Harris, who is wonderful beyond compare.

The other? Ricky Skaggs, whose straight-up bluegrass was a breath of fresh cowflop among the overproduced, almost-pop product that swamped most of the genre at the time. Straight, unabashed hillbilly techno, done by brilliant musicians. Ricky Skaggs plays more instruments than I do, and - here's the kicker - plays them all brilliantly.

The fact that he's playing Bush rallies is just icing on the cake; you could have had Lee Greenwood, for crying out loud.

Quitcherbeefin'. I'm hoping Skaggs plays the next rally.

Posted by Mitch at August 19, 2004 08:04 AM | TrackBack

Comments

Doh. And the third was Rodney Crowell - along with his then-wife Rosanne Cash, now that I think about it...

Posted by: mitch at August 19, 2004 09:09 AM

Hi Mitch, I met you along with my friend at the NARN Blog party at Keegan’s, You were kind enough to lend us your ear while you ate. I am the guy who did one of the NARN logos (Golden Microphone) and the new Fraters logo. I talked to you about doing some NARN tshirts. Let me know if you want any work for the SID site. I am between cheap and free... my name is Derek Brigham . We have just thrown up a new Pro-Bush MN site We are still getting it together. But please check us out and add us to your MN links if you feel us worthy. We will definitely be adding you as soon as we get our act together in the Links organization. HTML is fine, CSS is a bit new to me.

Keep up the great work.

Check our write up of the MN Bush Rally...

http://www.freedomdogs.com/

Posted by: Derek Brigham at August 19, 2004 11:30 AM

Mitch:

"At the time"?

Posted by: ccwbass at August 19, 2004 11:56 AM

I thought Ricky Skaggs was great. Hearing the mini-concert made me think of buying a cd from them. As Policy Guy pointed out, the sound system was doo-doo, so any music played that evening would suffer to some degree.

Yeah, unfortunately there are loads of peeps who just don't like the way Bluegrass smells.

Those folks should rent a copy of "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" by the brothers Coen and see if they get it then.

This subject sorta dovetails nicely with last weeks concerns about the Rock For Change tour. The Left does not have all the stars.

Posted by: pinkmonkeybird at August 19, 2004 12:44 PM

I though Ricky Skaggs and company were awesome yesterday.. they played their instruments masterfully, and despite the so-so sound system, they sounded great!

Posted by: pete at August 19, 2004 03:03 PM

I forgot to note (in a different comment) that I actually do own a Ricky Skaggs CD. "My father's son," I think it's called. I don't know where it stands in the history of his works, but I like it.

Still, the mini-concert was less than totally satisfying. For one thing, I couldn't make out any of the words (I was sitting behind the band.)

Posted by: PolicyGuy at August 20, 2004 09:35 PM