I saw JP was bringing in new, young artists as much as he paid tribute to say Blaze Foley or even John Garfield. I saw him with Kurt Vile a few times plus Conor Oberst/bright eyes. Those guys are really young & up & coming though I know they’ve both been around far longer than most would think. He introduced me to Shakey Graves which is an awesome share. And so often I find that a song or artist I really like is somehow friends with JP like finding out who Dan Reeder actually is & about his record label. I first heard Jason Isbell on PBS like 11 years ago but didn’t realize they knew each other until I saw his Hello in There cover for charity. IDK how Zach Brian ties in but I just know he does. There are references like words found in his lyrics that are a tip of the hat to earlier John Prine lyrics. I had no idea that he was buddies within Jimmy Buffett but it certainly makes sense. They say he was a friend to every man basically. He’s like everyone’s own private best friend. Yet he was a huge part of the music community so much more so than I ever really knew. I’ve heard so many stories by now about Steve Goodman that I feel like I knew him well even though he died so long ago. That was a fun skip backwards down memory lane. 😂What usually is an awesome way for me to ease into a new artist is to be introduced first to one of their slower more emotional songs like say a love song. That began so long ago with heavy metal…like if someone wanted me to like ozzy - they’d do best to share Changes first with Black Sabbath. Or say AC/DC… out of all the rocking songs, hearing Ride On or The Jack first would tend to make me totally receptive to the rest. So, if you were around & actually ever took the time to backtrack here with me, I’d ask you what track you’d recommend because I’ve literally heard nothing other than this - & the same day/song/session with you not singing a verse as well as a group session for the track vs this with just you & Alejandro. I guess I didn’t even know you were a singer-songwriter. I’ve known your name mainly in association with Escovedo so perhaps I figured you played in his band at times or some such. I bet if I research it now that I’m thinking of it, I’ll find a whole history I’m unaware of… I’m wondering who you are to AE… good friend? Both lived in Austin? Were you friends with JP? How is your work often categorized? Country. Folk. Contemporary. Rockabilly. Americana. I hate that there are so many categories now when say with JP, I refused to ever call it any of that bc it was all of that. When I see it listed as country now I hate it because that automatically turns off a large group of close minded ppl. So much of music is an acquired taste that once it’s integrated, it’s just integral… On the 2nd to the last House of Strombo with JP (it’s filmed in black & white), JP says that his lyrics really are all this one big joke. Okay I get that like his plays on words/witticisms/fun games of semantics with fantastical imagery/metaphors/analogies… he said that he only hopes that before it’s all said & done that some fans will get the punchline. Sigh. I listen to so many live performances, award shows, talk shows, interviews… I read article about things that he said, things other people said, & one thing I’ve noticed is there isn’t just one story for any song or any thing. If you listen enough, he has many stories that are all true… he was one of the most honest human beings that I’ve ever encountered as evidenced by the lyrics that he shares. I’ll be listening to a concert & he’ll begin a song that I’ve already heard a popular story about but he then shares a completely different story which is also true. It’s just another part of the whole story & things really get complex. I want to hear all of the stories so I can put it all together so maybe I can get the joke. His record company oh boy! …I was listening to him telling someone (I think Bobby Bare) on a television interview that its name is as such so that if things go well one day he can come home & when asked how it went he can say: oh boy! If it wasn’t so good he could say the same. OK, that fits but what’s even so much more obvious & fits perfectly to me plus something I’ve never heard anyone say, is the connection to Buddy Holly & the crickets. I mean, there’s even a version of the song oh boy backed by the crickets in a more recent album that was put out with John Prine singing the lead. Surely he named the record company oh boy! In tribute to that song & to Holly. Don’t you think? One thing I don’t think I will ever find is any kind of story of the two albums that he was trying to get released in live recordings since they were on universal I believe…they aren’t even available on his website: common sense & pink Cadillac (two of my favorites if I can have a favorite album). I find that so many fans don’t even know about those two, but there are some fantastic songs & especially wordplay on them. There is one song called forbidden Jimmy, where basically all of the lyrics are nonsensical, unless you are in his mind, which is impossible. He never played that one live that I know of & not at any concert I attended. I’m afraid I’ll never know the meaning behind that one. I really need to know! I found out something fascinating a year or so ago. He has a song: crooked piece of time which has been covered by a lot of people, especially in tribute. There’s a line where he says: yesterday morning an ill wind came, blew your picture right out of the picture frame. Even blew the candle out from underneath the flame, yesterday morning an ill wind came. I was listening to a podcast where this guy was interviewing a newer artist that I don’t believe is actually associated with JP although he’s actually from Muhlenburg county. It was an interview of Benjamin Todd who named his band: the lost dog street band. Of course this is kind of interesting because JP had an album called lost dogs & mixed blessings. Also I’ve never heard of anyone else having ties to Muhlenburg county. They were talking about bad weather with a lot of tornadoes that came through that area a couple of years ago. The guy interviewing said that while he didn’t really have too many problems, his sister had some strange wind issues. He described this picture frame with a picture in it where a downdraft actually went through the house & sucked the actual photo right out of the frame. OK, I’ve never heard anything like that & I don’t doubt it at all but wow! Based on all I’ve learned about JP‘s music, so often he’s not making euphemisms at all & he’s actually just saying something literally but it just sounds like a euphemism. I can now guess that exact situation is what he’s describing instead of just imagery of the removal of the picture… where a phenomenon occurred that I’ve never even heard of that sucked a physical picture right out of a frame. How fascinating! Take care, Chuck! ✌️❤️♾️
