From: Colin.Irvine@spamcop.net   
      
   On 16 Feb 2005 16:24:48 -0800, knowleman@talk21.com (Knowleman)   
   squeezed out the following:   
      
   >I was driving home about a month ago, late at night down an empty   
   >motorway (freeway), in my home country, England. I was surfing the   
   >channels on the radio and completely unexpectedly, heard this great   
   >music. Turns out it was Alison Krauss, as the radio announcer informed   
   >me.   
   >   
   >Next day, we ordered Alison's latest album. My wife and I loved it,   
   >and we ordered another. Our interest prompted us to do a little   
   >research on the internet and we discovered the term "bluegrass" for   
   >the first time. This then led us to a bunch of additional artists that   
   >we thought might be interesting but we have now put our new found   
   >musical interest on hold.   
   >   
   >The reason for this is because we regard ourselves as relatively well   
   >informed Europeans and as such, have some serious concerns about the   
   >culture within the american states with which bluegrass is naturally   
   >associated. We dislike George Bush and his politics, we dislike racism   
   >and we dislike religious fundamentalism in any form, whether it be   
   >islamic from the middle east or evangelical christian from the   
   >central/southern states of the USA. We believe all of these things are   
   >bad news for the planet and for the future of our kids.   
      
   I completely agree with your politics, to which I would also add a   
   dislike of patriotism. I'm a huge fan of bluegrass music. I was   
   brought up on Earl Scruggs and have every one (I think) of Alison   
   Krauss' albums (not that she's particularly bluegrass IMHO).   
      
   A lot of the songs are to do with old-fashioned values, many of which   
   I don't believe in. For example - I think "Let the church roll on" is   
   a cracking song, but I look on it as an historical record of a quaint   
   world I'm glad I missed.   
      
   I don't mean to decry those whose beliefs are the opposite of my own -   
   I'm merely saying I believe bluegrass music has something to offer all   
   of us.   
      
   You need to keep looking, and reject the artists you don't like.   
   There's rednecks in all cultures!   
      
   --   
   Colin Irvine   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)