The Tubes. Delbert McClinton. Supertramp. George Benson, Bill Withers, George Clinton, Cold Chisel (big right now among troops in Afghanistan). Those are exactly the years I was in the service, so I was fortunate to be exposed to tons of music from all over the place, and stationed in Memphis twice. I made it a point to find Sun Studios, and Beal St was cheap, dangerous, and nothing but the blues, long before they realized they could make money off of it.

If you'd said The Outfield, I'd have sent you a drone strike.

Back to the men in the photos. What bikes do you think they ride?

I'll be blunt. There's fantastic music being produced nowadays. It's just much of the method of distribution and avenues for finding it have shifted in major ways. Not everyone has adjusted to this (I haven't fully, even with record stores making a comeback) Every now and again I find something that shakes my critical sense. The latest is the 357 String Band, who have made me rethink bluegrass, which, to quote Bob Christagau, had unfortunately morphed into "the anal spawn of Bill Monroe ". There's a lot more, I'm just uncertain where it all is. But I find it enough to have my faith in things musical restored. Anyone who thinks great music is not being produced today has simply shut off their ears. Or hasn't figured out how to look for it.

It pains me to see my generation repeating the sins of the Baby Boom, who seemed to think no one after 1976 produced anything of worth (leaving aside the need for nuclear retaliation on the Eagles and Glenn Frey) . The Clash and U2 are great. They're not superior or worse to what is going on now. Nor were they superior or worse to the Dead or the Stones. Just filtered differently.

LOL @ The Tubes - that was an odd, clever band. Great showmanship! Sort of like The Flaming Lips, but the music was listenable.

Pogue - I'm sure there's great music being made right now, but I'm too old and stubborn to look for it. I also prefer trolling bike sites than trolling for new bands - and I'm in bed too early to see new bands. If a good new band finds me, terrific...but I just can't actively look like I could in college.

Gram Parsons is to U2 as Mario Confente is to Cervelo.

(ducks behind the bar as the shot glass smashes into the bottles of whiskey above the bar).

Have you heard Cowboy Junkies cover of Las Vegas? Amazing. I've been obsessed with Townes Van Zandt lately.

No argument there. At all.

Pogue.. is probably right, but I'm just too confused and worn down to actively engage new music.
My son is my source for newer stuff, and sometimes it's good. A lot of it I can't figure out.

I even have limited "alone" time on the Sennheisers, which is where I do all my non-thinking.

killer writer, and who is he named after?

Also, Cotton Smathers is reuniting for some reason, supposed to play next years SxSW.

I'm sure you like the Flatlanders, then. I have an eight track somewheres... seriously, if you like Gram, Townes, Guy Clark, JDG, check out the 357 String Band. Sorta like the Pogues filtering Doc Watson via Steve Earle. Hard to explain, really quite themselves. "Thunder From the North" is along with "Carolina Funk" (an amusing and amazing collection of rare funk from the sixties and seventies from the Carolinas, truly eye opening) one of my fave things music wise during the last couple months. That kinda good.

Saw the Minuteman around '85 at The Plant in North Hollywood - I had been a fan for a few years and was thankful to see them that one time. Blood on the Saddle opened for them. I love Husker Du and Bob Mould's later stuff as well.

Saw them open for REM just before the crash that took D Boon away, at the Mosque/Landmark in RVA. One of my fave shows of all time. Not quite up to the Mekons, though. Or the second Richard Thompson show I saw, at the Iriquois Club in Roanoke. That was a blast, especially the part where he excoriated my bud Matt from the stage.

Not sure who Townes was named after...I've heard Cotton Smathers...they're good, but not quite up my alley.

Pogue - I'll check them out.

I went to go see The Black Keys in concert once. They were the opening act. The audience sat through the whole set. Then a band called Kings of Leon came on stage and everyone jumped up and cheered. I promptly left.

Talk of Joy Division of Bike Forums. Awesome.

https://www.amazon.com/Return-Of-The-.../dp/B00000JMXD

Return of the Grievous Angel is the perfect GP gateway drug, I mean album.


Track Listings
1. She (Pretenders & Emmylou Harris)
2. Ooh Las Vegas (Cowboy Junkies)
3. Sin City (Beck & Emmylou Harris)
4. $1,000 Wedding (Evan Dando & Julianna Hatfield)
5. Hot Burrito #1 (The Mavericks)
6. High Fashion Queen (Chris Hillman & Steve Earle)
7. Juanita (Sheryl Crow & Emmylou Harris)
8. Sleepless Nights (Elvis Costello)
9. Return Of The Grievous Angel (Lucinda Williams & David Crosby)
10. One Hundred Years From Now (Wilco)
11. A Song For You (Whiskeytown)
12. Hickory Wind (Gillian Welch)
13. In My Hour Of Darkness (The Rolling Creekdippers)


And, YES, I love Jimmy Dale Gilmore (the Flatlanders). My best day of brushing up against rock and roll greatness was back in 1993. I saw Jimmy Dale Gilmore play at the local bar in Columbus, OH. I stuck around afterward and played pool with Jimmy Dale (he won). Then, I went to an after hours party and hung out with Kelly Deal, of the Breeders. She wanted to drink mudslides, so we all went down the bar where I worked, opened up, and drank mudslides til the sun came up. Then, she went out on the street, and took a taxi cab from Columbus to Dayton....

I go to bed by 10pm these days.

Jimmy Dale and Gram are gods. Along with Dave Alvin, Billy Bragg, Elvis Costello, and Doug Sahm.

I absolutely love The Blasters...

I can actually blame Greg Norton for getting me into the music business.

At the time, the band was practicing in our Northern Lights record store basement.

They were still a four piece and this was right around the time they played their first shows.

This included the Christenson's bar show which was was very well attended by about thirteen people.

I went on to be a big fan and an occasional check signer at Reflex Records, their own label which put out "Everything Falls Apart."

That record, produced by Spot, is an absolute must own. The cd reissue had additional tracks and great liner notes by Terry Katzman.

Terry did their sound for years and to me always was the fourth band mate.

He is a great guy and had a real ear for cool sounds.

Nice. This is pretty cool. Back when they still had hair, and with Dave sporting a Gilley's t-shirt...https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...C0HZPTNA#t=33s #t=33s

Ah, The Tubes. The Completion Backward Principle and Remote Control are two albums that I don't let far out of my sight. "American White Guy Power Music" another member of the forum called it, or something to that effect. To be sure, but those guys could really play their instruments. Consummate musicianship. Something I don't hear much any more. Poguemahone may be right, that there is some great MUSIC being produced today, and perhaps I don't know where to look to find it. Or maybe I'm in Robbie's camp; just too old and tired to engage the new stuff. I've tried, but after a few minutes on the "New Music- Alternative" radio station, I have to switch it off. It's a gross generalization, of course, to say the Baby Boomers think nothing after '76 was worth anything. People listen to and love what they're familiar with. That which provided a sound track to life at a certain point. My mention of the Kings of Leon was a stretch. I don't buy their CD's or listen to them. But I remember that when I heard them I was pleasantly surprised that someone was actually playing electric guitars fairly well again. For my part it's mostly about melody and great singing. Writing great melodies and singing very well ain't easy, of course. Every time I hear something like Wilco, Moby, Lucinda Williams, The White Stripes, etc., etc., ...I wonder where the singing went. Or maybe the nasal, atonal droning is just the style nowadays and I don't get it. Entirely plausible and likely. So, I just put on something like Tim and Neil Finn, to name but one example, to remind myself that someone can/could actually write good melodies and sing. If there is a modern-day counterpart, I guess I haven't found it yet. I like music, so I'll keep looking.

Before they became Wilco, Jeff Tweedy was in one of my all-time favorites known as Uncle Tupelo.

They were college radio darlings and played great live shows here in Minneapolis.

When they splintered into Son Volt and Wilco, I didn't know what to think.

I kept an open mind and here I am almost twenty years later, still buying their music.

Jeff Tweedy's voice may be an acquired taste for folks, but has almost always sounded just right to me.

....and man, can he write tunes!

Uncle Tuperlo did a great cover of Now I wanna be your dog...

I was actually in a Sun Volt video...in an audience pan.

Any Drive By Truckers love? I know we've discussed Jason and the Scorchers before...

A band that not enough people talk about - Bottle Rockets.

Well, I just listen to the bands you guys mention when I want to hear good music. I should be in the age that I should be discovering new bands, but i gave up. I'm in the journo business and a close friend and wonderful music writer of mine keeps suggesting all kinds of new bands which she likes and reviews, but honestly, few have plucked my strings in a meaningful way, while on the other hand I spend three full days with townes van zandt (thanks to aaron!) and am now off to the youtubes for some The Tubes . And don't even get me started on the commercial crap by all these stupid starlets singing about party nights. Kesha and Katy Perry, the horror!

Photo? What photo?

Oh. I think the guy in the middle with the Bone-O glasses rides his 59 Bianchi.

Cool on all 3 counts. There's a great club here called the Hideout. The Stage room accommodates about 100 people. Saw the Truckers perform their Southern Rock Opera there, as well as Neko Case back when Furnace Room Lullaby came out. I need to get out more. But, like many, most of today's music seems like derivative drivel to me.

Could just be me being old and cranky, but today's music seems to be largely a rip off of 70s music, or 60s soul.

You might be right, but then I hear great new bands like Delta Spirit and the Lumineers.

Major song writing talent in both groups. They are both capable of sticking songs in my head for a whole day.

This helps when I am stuck in the car with my thirteen year old and all he'll listen to are Gym Class Heroes, Lupe Fiasco, and seventeen other female singers that all sound like Katy Perry to me.

i have a 6 year old and 10 year old daughters, so its justin beiber all day long. man i hate that dude....