It has been quite a week of events, with Palm Sunday, taxes, 420, Passover, Earth Day, Good Friday, and then Easter tomorrow. Hope you have had the opportunity to be spiritual,  social, a good citizen, a steward of the earth, and “had a good time” this week (Wink). Today is historically quiet. The On This Day website declares that in 1900 the term Hillbilly was used for the first time in print in The New York Journal. It is also the day the first video was uploaded to YouTube in 2005.

I think a lot about going off the grid these days, of becoming a newfangled hillbilly; to make my own electricity, clothes, food, and life. I am uncomfortable with the disparity in society. I am bothered by how addicted we are to the superficial - our electronics, entertainment, and oil. And I am especially troubled by the politics of the day. Have you ever read the marvelous Studs Terkel book Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression. That so many people are going through these stages - losing jobs and houses, having their dreams dashed, wondering how the future will take root, I offer a song called “Hard Times.” It comes from the band Meatyard, whose line-up changes from project to project, though the songwriting is handled mainly by the brother team of Josh and Philip Welsh. Josh plays rhythm guitar and sings with Molly Hansen, who also plays cello on their second record Sweet Old Green Life, which came out last year. The video for “Hard Times” was produced by Abigail Severance.

-Jessie Scott