Hey there,
Dave, who hates all things Chicago...
>Yep, I've said that out here, oh, 30 or 40 times <g>. When I was
>there, if you take away Robbie Fulks, you're not left with much (the
>Wacos are fun, but face it, they're a rock band). Since then, the
>fabulous Kellys -- Kessler and Hogan -- have emerged, along with
>Anna Fermin, so perhaps things are getting better. Although
>Chicago scores extra negative style points for Moonshine Willy and
>the Handsome Family, two of the worst alt.country bands of all
>time (though, I did like a couple of HF songs Mark Wyatt played for
>me, and though I'm told they're quite nice people, they're not my
>bag of chips live).
>
>Bring it on, CK.
Mark snipped...
>As for Jerald's note about the Statesman rating Chi-town as an
"overrated
>music scene," be aware that they practice what I like to call
"opposition
>journalism" so take that into account.
OK, we've got "Austin's just jealous" covered.
And the rest of this is gonna be quick and not that well developed but
perhaps I'll write more this weekend.
Remember back when Chicago was the 'new Seattle'? Urge Overkill, Liz
Phair, and The Jesus Lizard were all over the place. THAT THEN was an
over rated music scene.
THIS NOW is alot of people playing the same type of music. And due to a
bell curve some are gonna suck and some are gonna be great. And some are
gonna start out sucky and practice real hard and then get better. And
because there are alot of places to play and alot of bands you're gonna
hear just about all of that bell curve once or twice.
And as far as your specific examples go, you eliminated one from the
genre - even tho they are the 'corner stone band' on an insurgent country
label, and you dismiss another band (who loads of people like) because
they're not your 'bag of chips.' Kinda reduces the number of data points,
eh? Read Linda's concert list tomorrow - there's ALOT of stuff going on.
And are we separating press coverage from the acts themselves? Is there a
fantastic Sioux City music scene with all great original alt.country
bands and no sucky ones and there just arent enough music journalists to
cover it? Doubt it. Do folks pay attention to what it going on in Chicago
just because its a big city? Yup. What's on the list of "Cities with good
alt.country music scene's that get a large amount of press." Um, Austin,
erm, Chicago, maybe Nashville, maybe St. Louis - that's about it isnt it?
And one more thing...
>Funny...I was at a real country bar out in the county on Saturday,
>and remarked to a bandmate that someone like Moonshine Willy or
>SCOTS would get their asses stomped if they got on stage.
Does this prove anything other than people in real country bars are mean?
Later...
CK going to see the over rated chicagoan Sally Timms opening for the over
rated Alejandro Escovedo Orchestra
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