Kent and list, This post is totally awesome. I agree completely. Mike Huckaby does impressive things for Detroit. It wasn't too long ago that he lost his job at Record Time after 14 years of amazing education and service to Detroit and was faced with trying to figure out new ways to make a living and contributing to Detroit at the same time. Clearly he is succeeding at this.
Denise On Thu, Aug 11, 2011 at 10:43 AM, kent williams <chaircrus...@gmail.com> wrote: > Mike Huckabee's educational work is amazing. He's a guy that, unlike > many of his peers in Detroit, stayed in Detroit and dedicated himself > to keeping it a vital center for musical innovation. He did it, I > believe, at a personal cost. If all he cared about was making money > and becoming famous, he could easily have moved to Berlin, gotten a > good booking agent, and hooked up with European labels. I don't mean > to criticize the people who have taken that path -- if it works for > them it's fine -- but there's no denying that moving away changes > their music. > > Instead he's stayed true to the city, true to his own music, and > perfected the art of DJing. And he's taken direct action to help the > young people of Detroit, who face serious obstacles to finding a place > in the world. > > I admire a lot of Detroit musicians, and certainly isn't alone in his > commitment to Detroit. In particular Underground Resistance and > Submerge have demonstrated a deep and sustained commitment to the > people of Detroit. There are others but to list them is to risk > leaving someone out. > > What really makes me return again and again to the music that comes > out of Detroit isn't a particular style, it's the deep, clear-eyed > emotion and soul that infuses the best Detroit music. Music can point > to itself, it can reflect listeners' aspirations back on them, it can > start a party. Or music can do all that, and point up and out of > itself. It can make you think about the world in a different way. > > > -- Denise Dalphond Ph.D. Candidate Department of Folklore & Ethnomusicology Indiana University http://schoolcraftwax.com/
