From: AM@highwire.net   
      
   He Who Kontrols Zee Mixer Kontrols Zee OutKome   
      
   Every five years or so I give the bucktoothed bigots another chance, just in   
   case I may have rushed to judgment (somewhere in the course of, now, a full   
   quarter-century of relentless redneckery). I sat in at a bluegrass "jam." I   
   place the term, jam, in quotes, because I feel very deeply that to the exact   
   extent a jam is hierarchical and repressed by ignorant, parochial,   
   subjective rules of order, it fails to meet the definition of jam. The   
   bluegrass "circle jerk," on the other hand, requires the rigid adherence to   
   tired conventions that directly prevent and controvert jam.   
      
   I did not, as usual, have a good time, because one never feels truly free   
   under Redneck Rules, as one is never able to quite shake the feeling that   
   whatever one is playing is not quite narrow-minded enough for at least one   
   of the participants, who will, thus, glare at one disapprovingly, and if   
   that's not sufficient, eventually come over and "redneck" you (with a rope,   
   if necessary). While the sound of a bluegrass circle is not unpleasant, I   
   think there are few that would describe it as either exciting or inspiring.   
   It is merely functional - - - for those who lack any musical sense of   
   adventure.   
      
   Redneck Rules are, of necessity, very simple, and may be readily defined as,   
   essentially, "Anyone Not A Pig-Fucking, Redneck Moron Must Take Orders   
   From The Nearest One Who Is." Jam really does not require a Control Freak   
   Egomaniac In Chief, but the culturally, intellectually, and   
   psycho-spiritually underdeveloped cling desperately to the naive   
   (self-serving) notion that it does.  While it should go without saying that   
   anyone whose artistic significance actually warranted subservience on the   
   part of others - - - would not be found hosting some small-time open mic,   
   this manifests, nonetheless, as the "necessity" for a jack-ass mixer-prick,   
   euphemistically referred to as a "host," who greedily gobbles his 30 pieces   
   of silver for exploiting and abusing the talents of the rest of the   
   community through the presumptuous, preemptive determination of what,   
   when, where, and how everyone else plays, while surreptitiously assuring,   
   through control of the mixer, that he looks good by making everyone else   
   look bad, and that every musical event is not just good - - -   
   but Pig-Fuckin' Good!   
      
   Now, if the host at a restaurant systematically blew snot in the face of   
   each of the patrons for enjoying food he, himself, did not appreciate, he   
   would, no doubt, be fired the very first night, would he not? The hosts at   
   Folkwad/Grasshole events, however, do so with impunity, with the full   
   support of management, the stoop-fart participants, and all the pig-wit   
   patrons who believe, ever so fervently, that everything really should be the   
   same redundantly boring thing over and over again.   
      
   It boils down to a conflict between those who play music from memory versus   
   imagination, from the intellect rather than the soul, from a "dawgmatic"   
   adherence to some musical One True Way, as opposed to those whose sense of   
   artistic adventure leads them to seek union with the Creative Force through   
   an egalitarian, synergistic, co-creative process, unfettered by subjective   
   preconception of what must occur.   
      
   The circle will, apparently, be unbroken when we are all the proverbial   
   "bundle of sticks" - - - bound by the Ring of the Niebelungen.   
      
   Bluegrass Uber Alles.   
      
   "Heil Hitler, y'all!"   
      
   --   
   ***************************************************   
   "Oneness is not achieved through conformity or subordination, but   
   through the full expression of everyone's unique piece of the puzzle."   
     --AM, the Synthesist   
   ***************************************************   
      
   bogul"  wrote in message   
   news:Xns965C9AF39D56Dbugulbugus@129.250.170.82...   
   > John Albert  wrote in   
   > news:428CABBF.2A442B80@snet.net:   
   >   
   >> In an earlier posting, Steve Daniels wrote:   
   >> << Folk music in general, and bluegrass in particular are genres   
   >> attractive to the most liberal of our citizens.  Not to say that there   
   >> are no Christian conservative people that like it, but in general   
   >> folkies are pretty liberal. >>   
   >>   
   >> Folk music is liberal, of course, but bluegrass? Of course NOT!   
   >>   
   >> I will take it that you are _not_ from America, right?   
   >>   
   >   
   > be nice.   
   >   
   >> Bluegrass is probably one of the more _conservative_ American musical   
   >> genres out there. Bluegrass is more than just music; it's a   
   >> philosophy, a culture, a declaration that one believes in a particular   
   >> way of life. This is why the Gospel tradition is one of the most   
   >> important parts of the music, as well. Bands always seem to be at   
   >> their best when singing Gospel - as if they were reaching out to a   
   >> higher cause.   
   >>   
   >   
   > Ok... Let's reign it in a bit. For SOME artists it's a "philosophy, a   
   > culture, a declaration that one believes". Some folks like the musical   
   > form of bluegrass. I know cause I'm one of them. I get a kick out of   
   > bluegrass instrumental numbers. Awesome stuff.   
   >   
   > Gospel bands are at their best when they sing Gospel songs... that's   
   > kinda why they're know as gospel bands. To say that that is the ONLY time   
   > ANY band is at it's best is over the top.   
   >   
   > Historicly, bluegrass themes have tended toward religion. But this is   
   > changing for the betterment of bluegrass as a music form. I'm not against   
   > nor taking a stance that the gospel stuff isn't good stuff. But it's not   
   > the total fan base of the music.   
   >   
   >   
   >> To fully embrace Bluegrass is to embrace the culture it represents.   
   >> I'm not saying one can't be a liberal and like it - of course one can.   
   >> But if one doesn't _believe_ the message that Bluegrass is singing   
   >> about, well, that's being nothing more than a Bluegrass dilettante.   
   >>   
   >   
   > I couldn't disagree more. Perhaps I'm not a "real" bluegrass fan.   
   > Whatever that really means. And I think you'd be hard pressed to define   
   > that the "bluegrass culture" truly is. Unless you define a culture and   
   > then only accept bands which represent that as being "real" bluegrass".   
   >   
   > Music is typically classified by it's musical makeup rather than its   
   > lyrical content... except for specifically religous music... and those   
   > are still classified somewhat based upon musical form.   
   >   
   >> You can pick around the edges of Bluegrass as if you were nibbling   
   >> from a plate of cheese and crackers. Or you can dig into a full meal.   
   >>   
   >> It's your choice.   
   >>   
   >> - John   
   >   
   >   
   > Feel free to spit out the seeds... but by all means dig in.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)