Caminofeld
09-02-2014, 11:36 PM
I don't usually get too sentimental on here, but had to vent about something that happened at work the other day and has been on my mind a bit...
So I'm orienting a veteran Nurse that's new to the ER from the ICU. She's a friend of mine who I have delivered countless patients to over the years and we occasionally see each other outside of work due to having mutual friends. She has been telling me how she and her husband have a band they're trying to get off the ground and after orientation the other day she played me a few of their songs. They are all original (and pretty damn good), and pull vintage influences such as The Band, the Stones, etc. I asked if they were playing any shows soon and she said they really want to, but don't know where to start. I'm a veteran guitar/bass player who has been in quite a few bands over the years, so I was giving her some advice on the best way to line up a local gig; Which was to get a 45 minute set together and play a local music showcase at the 8x10 with a few other bands (If you bring 10 people, you can play for free). She told me they really have a disdain for cover bands (which I agree with), but I explained how the bar scene works and suggested incorporating a few covers to get their proverbial foot in the door and to hook the audience. She was wondering about what I've been into since I don't currently have a band (I recently gained 50/50 custody of my little guy and he's with me every day I'm off, so I'm devoting 100% of my time and energy into being the best Dad I possibly can)...I played her a clip of me laying down the drums for a new song I wrote that has a Cuban/Afrobeat feel to it and related it to Vampire Weekend...to which she expounded on how much she loves them and went on to tell me about her taste in music. We chatted for a bit more and the topic of Country music came up. Her response was the same one I've heard from so many of my "hipster" friends...which was that they like "real" country like Johnny Cash, but hate "fake" Country like Brooks and Dunn, etc. because "it's so corny" or "it's so fake", or "Do they really have a pickup and a tractor", or something similar...
I consider myself to be a pretty well-rounded appreciator of music, and I've thought the same thing about Taylor Swift, Lady A, Jason Aldean, Luke Bryant, etc. So I'm going through some relatively hard times and am trying to get a startup farming operation off the ground along with realizing my mantra of self-sustainability. For some reason, I recently got a free subscription to Sirius FM on my cable, and my GF and I have been rocking the "Prime Country" channel pretty much non-stop for the past month or two...and let me say that we both LOVE it. It's a good mix of 70's, 80's, and early 90's Country. It was only today while clearing some brush on my property that I realized why I've been so into this channel lately...
I didn't grow up on this stuff. In fact, my Dad raised me on Soul and the great rock of the 60's and 70's. He was the white lead singer in some well-known [otherwise] all-black soul bands of the era...so I grew up listening to Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, Allman Brothers, Hendrix, etc.
Really I have only a few memories of Country music in my childhood...
The first was at The Raven Inn; which was the bar that sponsored my Dad's softball team in the 80's. This was an era where kids could be at bars, seatbelts were optional, and if you wanted to call someone you needed a quarter...The jukebox took nickels and had a seemingly endless supply of Alan Jackson, Elvis, Garth, Alabama, etc. We weren't allowed to sit at the bar, so the Dad's would give us change to play music, Pac-Man, and pinball. On any given Tuesday night there would be about 20 kids there, so we would play our favorite Country songs and dance the night away ("There's a tear in my beer" comes to mind). My Dad's team would also always have parties, so we'd hear plenty of Country music there too. Thinking back I can recall so many great memories from those times.
Then there was my Grandparents on my Dad's side; Whom weren't Country at all, but were the 2 greatest people I have ever known. Poppy was born in 1919 and had 6 brothers. After losing 2 to the Spanish Flu, he survived the Great Depression and worked as a brakeman for Canton RR. From there he worked his way up to President of Operations and "retired" rather than do the company's bidding and fire the people that worked under him. Anyways, they would often babysit my Sister and I and take us on "adventures"; which could be anything from fishing to building a teepee and camping to picking apples in the Fall...and I'll always remember them playing Patsy Cline's greatest hits in the cassette player.
The time I remember most was a camping trip to Lake Gaston in Ga. in the early 90's with my Parent's friends Hal and Laura and Hal's son Stephen and their daughter Heather. Hal's son Jeremy was a good friend of mine and was killed a few years before after being hit by a car while running after a ball. Hal was a mountain of a man, a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, and about the burliest man I've ever know...and my Dad wasn't too far behind. Anyways, the campground was half tent and half trailer; with those string tiki lanterns, pontoon boats on the lake, and an endless supply of catfish on our fishing poles....so obviously there was too much going on for us to sleep. We ran to Stephen and Heather's tent, rousted them, and then came to the realization that our parents were nowhere to be found. We wandered for a bit then came upon a rather large single-story building with loud music coming from inside. We snuck up to a screen window and there they were; Our parents country line dancing! We hid behind the door and watched them dance everything from upbeat Country swing to slow, romantic country songs until the sun began to peak over the lake. We only slept a few hours before they woke us up, but kept the secret and never told them what we saw.
So I could never in good conscience put down even the cheesiest of country music; because there could be some kid out there having the same experiences that I did when I has his age.
So I'm orienting a veteran Nurse that's new to the ER from the ICU. She's a friend of mine who I have delivered countless patients to over the years and we occasionally see each other outside of work due to having mutual friends. She has been telling me how she and her husband have a band they're trying to get off the ground and after orientation the other day she played me a few of their songs. They are all original (and pretty damn good), and pull vintage influences such as The Band, the Stones, etc. I asked if they were playing any shows soon and she said they really want to, but don't know where to start. I'm a veteran guitar/bass player who has been in quite a few bands over the years, so I was giving her some advice on the best way to line up a local gig; Which was to get a 45 minute set together and play a local music showcase at the 8x10 with a few other bands (If you bring 10 people, you can play for free). She told me they really have a disdain for cover bands (which I agree with), but I explained how the bar scene works and suggested incorporating a few covers to get their proverbial foot in the door and to hook the audience. She was wondering about what I've been into since I don't currently have a band (I recently gained 50/50 custody of my little guy and he's with me every day I'm off, so I'm devoting 100% of my time and energy into being the best Dad I possibly can)...I played her a clip of me laying down the drums for a new song I wrote that has a Cuban/Afrobeat feel to it and related it to Vampire Weekend...to which she expounded on how much she loves them and went on to tell me about her taste in music. We chatted for a bit more and the topic of Country music came up. Her response was the same one I've heard from so many of my "hipster" friends...which was that they like "real" country like Johnny Cash, but hate "fake" Country like Brooks and Dunn, etc. because "it's so corny" or "it's so fake", or "Do they really have a pickup and a tractor", or something similar...
I consider myself to be a pretty well-rounded appreciator of music, and I've thought the same thing about Taylor Swift, Lady A, Jason Aldean, Luke Bryant, etc. So I'm going through some relatively hard times and am trying to get a startup farming operation off the ground along with realizing my mantra of self-sustainability. For some reason, I recently got a free subscription to Sirius FM on my cable, and my GF and I have been rocking the "Prime Country" channel pretty much non-stop for the past month or two...and let me say that we both LOVE it. It's a good mix of 70's, 80's, and early 90's Country. It was only today while clearing some brush on my property that I realized why I've been so into this channel lately...
I didn't grow up on this stuff. In fact, my Dad raised me on Soul and the great rock of the 60's and 70's. He was the white lead singer in some well-known [otherwise] all-black soul bands of the era...so I grew up listening to Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, Allman Brothers, Hendrix, etc.
Really I have only a few memories of Country music in my childhood...
The first was at The Raven Inn; which was the bar that sponsored my Dad's softball team in the 80's. This was an era where kids could be at bars, seatbelts were optional, and if you wanted to call someone you needed a quarter...The jukebox took nickels and had a seemingly endless supply of Alan Jackson, Elvis, Garth, Alabama, etc. We weren't allowed to sit at the bar, so the Dad's would give us change to play music, Pac-Man, and pinball. On any given Tuesday night there would be about 20 kids there, so we would play our favorite Country songs and dance the night away ("There's a tear in my beer" comes to mind). My Dad's team would also always have parties, so we'd hear plenty of Country music there too. Thinking back I can recall so many great memories from those times.
Then there was my Grandparents on my Dad's side; Whom weren't Country at all, but were the 2 greatest people I have ever known. Poppy was born in 1919 and had 6 brothers. After losing 2 to the Spanish Flu, he survived the Great Depression and worked as a brakeman for Canton RR. From there he worked his way up to President of Operations and "retired" rather than do the company's bidding and fire the people that worked under him. Anyways, they would often babysit my Sister and I and take us on "adventures"; which could be anything from fishing to building a teepee and camping to picking apples in the Fall...and I'll always remember them playing Patsy Cline's greatest hits in the cassette player.
The time I remember most was a camping trip to Lake Gaston in Ga. in the early 90's with my Parent's friends Hal and Laura and Hal's son Stephen and their daughter Heather. Hal's son Jeremy was a good friend of mine and was killed a few years before after being hit by a car while running after a ball. Hal was a mountain of a man, a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, and about the burliest man I've ever know...and my Dad wasn't too far behind. Anyways, the campground was half tent and half trailer; with those string tiki lanterns, pontoon boats on the lake, and an endless supply of catfish on our fishing poles....so obviously there was too much going on for us to sleep. We ran to Stephen and Heather's tent, rousted them, and then came to the realization that our parents were nowhere to be found. We wandered for a bit then came upon a rather large single-story building with loud music coming from inside. We snuck up to a screen window and there they were; Our parents country line dancing! We hid behind the door and watched them dance everything from upbeat Country swing to slow, romantic country songs until the sun began to peak over the lake. We only slept a few hours before they woke us up, but kept the secret and never told them what we saw.
So I could never in good conscience put down even the cheesiest of country music; because there could be some kid out there having the same experiences that I did when I has his age.