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memphis slim at antone’s in austin, tx, 1986-ish
(mel brown under the hat behind him, sitting at the b-3)
Buddhists say that in every moment there are 108 opportunities to wake up fully and completely, to transcend the sorrows of this world and attain bliss without end. You might find your moment in the sunset or the […]

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clifford & albert king & a flying v
One year ago, a dear friend died suddenly. He was the founder of a blues club I worked in. But that doesn’t really describe him. This man, Clifford Antone, devoted everything he owned and everything he was to blues music and musicians. It’s not like he was a […]

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Today’s New York Times has an op-ed piece entitled, “Authentic? Never Mind” by Paul Krugman. It’s about how presidential candidates are trying to appear authentic. (Oxymoron.) Fred Thompson, for example, switched from a Lincoln Continental to a pickup truck to appear authentic during his Senate run. Does anyone really fall for #(@) like this?
Substituting the […]

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I heard that Sam Cooke dreamt the song A Change is Gonna Come,woke up and wrote it down. It scared him. He thought it meant he was going to die.
The song sounds like this.
Lately, I’ve been listening to it repeatedly. Like maybe hundreds of times in the last several months. It makes me cry every […]

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i forgot. this is what music is supposed to sound like. listen to cyndi lauper offering tribute to joni mitchell at some awards thing-y. (mtv?) vocal is relaxed and intensely focused. the singer is listening to the band. the band is listening to the singer. the performer is deeply seated within herself. no one is […]

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