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Sometime in the 1980’s, I began to find myself increasingly unhappy with the music I loved: Rock. Maybe this was a result of the disco craze. Or music videos. More likely, it was tied to the death of radio as an effective way to deliver fresh new music. Corporate consolidation and the rise of request driven playlists seemed to become stations that played the same 100 tunes of a particular genre over and over again. Were they pandering only to listeners content to hear endless replay of the same six or eight ”favorites” who would also make the effort to call in their requests every day? When the last album rock station (those that played a back-to-back group of songs from a single album) disappeared, I abandoned radio and for a number of years confined myself to acquiring cassette tapes and later CDs. Then a couple of chance occurrences helped me find my way out of the wilderness. I acquired U2’s Joshua Tree CD which included a track featuring Bono and B. B. King in a rendition of “When Love Comes to Town.” This was the first time I had ever heard B. B., but it was a memorable track on a great album. Then about the same time, while plowing through the $2 CD rack at Half-Price Books, I came across a disc called The London Howlin’ Wolf Sessions. I picked it up because it featured Eric Clapton and some members of the Rolling Stones. I had never heard of Howlin’ Wolf. When I listened to it, I was astounded. Here was everything I loved about rock, without all the clutter, in songs I had never heard of before. I was hooked on the blues. Imagine my surprise then, when a few years ago I was delighted to discover the T-Bone Walker Blues Fest in nearby Linden only to find out that I had missed the first three years of the event! It was at that time a relatively unknown event, at least locally, and today remains an under-appreciated asset in the Piney Woods even though it has brought topnotch talent to our area. If you have never heard of the Blues Fest, then you have missed the first five years, including Keb Mo, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Delbert McClinton, Marcia Ball, Jimmie Vaughn, and Johnny Winter, to name a few. See what I’m talkin’ about? Amanda Retallack covers the details of the 2011 event in this issue, but I want to devote a little space to T-Bone Walker and his place in music history. Although his recording career extended over forty years, Walker did his most significant work in the mid 1940’s. To many modern listeners, even blues fans, T-Bone’s vocals have a suave old-fashioned sound. But his guitar solos are instantly familiar to our ears, because they embody the innovations that he has passed down to the musicians of today. Having absorbed the blues style of Blind Lemon Jefferson while growing up, Walker also learned and adopted the techniques of the remarkable Lonnie Johnson, known to be the first guitar player to play individual notes with a pick rather than strumming chords. Then, in 1935, shortly after he left Texas for California, Walker became the first blues player to use the electric guitar. His enormous talent, flamboyant stage performances, and work energy drove him to popularity, and his innovations were widely copied and adopted, both in the U. S. and in Europe. For these reasons, he is widely regarded, along with B. B. King, as the creator of modern blues music. In fact, it’s difficult for me to imagine any contemporary music, whether blues, country, folk, or rock, without the influence of his electric sound. So we celebrate the celebration of T-Bone Walker with our first annual music issue. In addition to coverage of the Blues Fest, this issue includes Amanda Retallack’s interview with the Matthew Davidson Band, Jim King’s interview with Kurbsyde Paradox, profiles of local musical talent, and our regular musical columnists. Randy Brown’s “B-Side” discusses artists, contests, and losers while Larry Tucker’s “Home Grown” examines blues music and the contributions made by a number of local African-American musical artists. African art and African-American artists are the subject of two feature articles this month. Retallack examines the collection of African masks and artifacts currently being shown at Marshall’s Michelson Museum, and we catalog the accomplishments of local African-American artists in “Piney Woods Renaissance.” Longview artist and writer, Jan Statman, joins us as a regular contributor with her column, “Artist’s World,” which will feature commentary on the local art scene. This month, she bridges the gap between art and music by interviewing a number of local artists on their “at work” music listening habits. Jan also contributes a feature on the Longview Symphony. Emmitte Hall continues his theater coverage with a review of the history and operations of the Tyler Civic Theater. We return to dance coverage with Mike and Kathy Woods’ article on Tyler’s Fly Kids, and our ”Art in the Home” series examines the fascinating apartment of Tyler residents David and Ann Nell Wallace. There is more, of course, but I am out of room! What’s on your mind? Tell us what you like, or don’t like, about Piney Woods LIVE, or how you feel we can do a better job of promoting the arts. Email publisher@pineywoodslive.com or join the artist community discussions at www.facebook.com/pineywoodslive. P.S.: Coming in July – Theater coverage including a preview of the Texas Shakespeare Festival! Gary E. Krell, Publisher
Page 02 - June 2011
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