Hometown by Handlebar

In the past, I lived in plenty of fascinating places and history was everywhere. While teaching in the Czech Republic, if I had a three day weekend, I would hitchhike to Vienna, spend a couple of days in Prague, or take a trip to the ruins of a robber baron castle a few kilometers from my home. There was always something new to learn. These days I am back home in Fort Worth, and I focus my attention on Texas in general and my immediate surroundings in particular.

A blog that I really enjoy is Hometown by Handlebar. When I first starting reading it, little did I know that it was written by former Fort Worth Star-Telegram writer Mike Nichols. When I was kid, I always loved reading his humor column after getting home from school. In fact, it was probably Nichols' tutelage through that column that landed me at the UIL state journalism competition my senior year of high school. Here is the link to Hometown by Handlebar.

http://hometownbyhandlebar.com/

Carolina Chocolate Drops

This morning we enjoyed listening to the Carolina Chocolate Drops while we ate bagels and lox. The Carolina Chocolate Drops share a wealth of knowledge about traditional music (and African-American string band music in particular) in their liner notes. Their musical influences are broad, and their erudition is impressive. They have even recorded a Tom Waits tune and played with the Chieftains.

Here they are playing "Your Baby Ain't Sweet Like Mine." It'll put a smile on your face. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjyw-nW0D90

To Live is to Fly

Guy Clark is one of Texas' great songwriters. He wrote "Desperadoes Waiting for a Train," "L.A. Freeway," "Instant Coffee Blues," and many other well-crafted songs. He also plays a touching, soulful cover of his good friend Townes Van Zandt's "To Live is to Fly." Incidentally, these are the very words that are found on Townes' grave, which is just a couple of miles down the road from my house.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcjWeBpIbSE

Gillian Welch

Lately I have been listening to Gillian Welch. The song "I Dream a Highway Back to You" is just beautiful and desolate. I can almost see the landscape.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvREUDH2BZ0

Texas Musicians Museum

We recently visited the Texas Musicians Museum in Irving. In my opinion, the crown jewel of the collection is a field recorder that was used by the Lomaxes when they were collecting songs for the Smithsonian. I would love to know where that recorder traveled in the years that it was used. I wonder if it was the machine that first recorded Lead Belly at Angola Prison or if Woody Guthrie ever stood in front of its mike.

http://texasmusiciansmuseum.com/

Many Rivers to Cross

These days I am reading Many Rivers to Cross by Thomas Zigal. After reading about a hundred pages, it was apparent why Mr. Zigal was honored with a Jesse Jones Award for Fiction by the Texas Institute of Letters. Mr. Zigal's characters have believable, nuanced inner lives, and the writing is clear, honest, and well-crafted.

I have no personal connection to Mr. Zigal, other than the fact that I spoke with him briefly at the Wildcatter Exchange in Fort Worth earlier this year, but I do want to let others know about his work. Here is a link to the TCU Press website, where his book is available for purchase. A sample of Many Rivers to Cross can also be downloaded there.

 http://www.prs.tcu.edu/book-pages/zigal_many_rivers_to_cross.asp

Jimmie Dale Gilmore

Jimmie Dale Gilmore's cover of "Ripple" by the Grateful Dead is a thing of absolute beauty.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnKxnrDDWuw