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/
