Musings

Eventually I realized that all my previous prejudices against music from the 1970s were incorrect; there was great music in the 1970s and bad music in the 1970s, and Sly Stone was absolutely the turning point in that personal realization.

The Whippersnappers and I recently recorded a batch of new hot-rod-themed songs for an upcoming EP, and yesterday we shot a video for a song I wrote called “Ridin’ with the Devil (Goin’ Fast as I Can Go).”

In 2009, I had the honor of meeting and interviewing Letritia Kandle, the pioneering female steel guitarist from Chicago who invented the “Grand Letar.”

This holiday weekend, I took advantage of the brief time off to visit record lathe gurus Len and Jacob Horowitz to get my new Grampian/Gotham mono cutting head and amplifier setup going.

I may not be a wealthy man, but I am rich in autographed hillbilly photos!

I don’t think about Arkansas that much, but when I do, I remember my two heroes from Newport, Arkansas: Sonny Burgess and Billy Lee Riley.

One of the highlights (for me) on the recent Underground Garage Cruise was getting to sit in with the Flamin’ Groovies on two of their shows. The Groovies have always been one of my favorite “cult” bands. Amazingly, they have been together since 1965.

We went to parts of the island where no tourists ever go, where locals would roll down their windows next to us at stoplights and say, “You okay?” as if we must be lost. It was fun.

I spent the day out in the Texas Hill country with Jimmie Vaughan of the Fabulous Thunderbirds (and yes, he’s also Stevie Ray’s brother).

Memphis-born professional wrestling Hall of Famer and friend of Elvis Presley, Jerry Lawler was probably most famous for his feud with comedian Andy Kaufman in the 1980s.