Sorry. I like puns. Even (or especially)
bad ones. (One more reason I'll probably lurk a lot..)
I'm writing about the PBS specials,
natch.
The series-opener focused on the North (and to me less
interesting) end of the river. It was pretty good...and I expected each episode
to get better as the show moves South. Last night confirmed that for
me.
But I'm struck by the whole concept...the River. Is it
relevant or coincidental?
>>At first I wasn't sure if it was actually the Bottle
Rockets. ...Brian Henneman talked about the importance of the river on their
lives and their music. <<
I give the show's writers and producers credit for not
overplaying the whole River thing. Until Henneman's comments, I'd come to the
conclusion that the River is not especially inspirational or even necessary to
the creation or the location of the music featured thus far in this series, St.
Louis riverboat ride notwithstanding. It occurred to me that the Minneapolis
rock and Indian music and the polka and the Swedish folk music of episode one
could all have been found, in better and worse incarnations, elsewhere in the
heartland, hundreds of miles from the Mississippi. Same could be said for the
St. Louis gospel and R&B.
Come to think of it, even *after* Henneman's comments,
I'm not sure the Mississippi is all that central (figuratively, not literally)
to the music featured.
*Not that there's anything wrong with that.*
Sure, the Mississippi River (and most especially its Delta) richly imbues
the lives and culture that rise up around it.
But if, as it seems to me, it happens to be a convenient framework for
highlighting some great roots music, then fine. If you think there's more to it
than that, enlighten me.
Tasq
