Hello from out west! Nashville seems like ages ago! I am missing the crew lots but I miss experiencing music first hand (sorry guys! Close second, I promise).
You can have the best sound system that money can buy but it would not be anything like the experience of the tunes floating through the air straight to your soul. It’s something special that I have a hard time describing because nothing seems real enough to do live music justice. I was thinking about my younger years when I went to concerts. I was not aware enough to realize the real goodness of music, but hey that’s why things can change. I honestly did not like going to concerts until I hit about 16 and my taste in music drastically changed.
Most everything that rolls into town are big name shows. I call it a show because it wasn’t real to me. Rehearsed as if it were a play. Sure, it can be fun but something is missing. Where is the natural flow of the music and the honest emotion of the artists if everything is on a timeline? Life isn’t perfect and clean. It’s messy and mostly unorganized. That is what I can appreciate and love about the Americana genre. It doesn’t have the “staged” quality that cuts the heart out of the music. You bet your ass if Ragweed wants to jam, they sure as hell are going to! No timeline there.
A favorite story of mine is when some friends saw Ragweed in Sun Valley and kept screaming for ‘Alabama’. Cody finally said, “Alright, we’re going to play ‘Alabama’ so these girls quit screaming”. While it’s the “annoying” example, it shows how real things are. Being at a place like The Music Fest and seeing so many artists jumping in on other sets and shaking things up is what makes it so awesome. You are pretty much guaranteed to hear a song and never hear it the same again. And when you hear it playing on your stereo in the car or living room you can’t help but think about the times you heard it live. Behind the lyrics and melodies, you have your own memories imprinted in song that roll like an old film in the background.
-Sheila
