Freight & Salvage - Rodney Crowell

So the Freight & Salvage Coffee House got new digs back in 2009.  Not being a committed folkie, I didn't make it to a show until last night.  My bad.  What a nice room!  Good sight lines, great acoustics, punchy sound system.  I saw Rodney Crowell, (my personal alt. country god), along with Steuart Smith (outstanding country/rock guitarist) and Mary Karr (witty novelist/poet and budding songwriter/singer).

Crowell and Karr where there to support their new release KIN.  It's a very nice collaboration between the two focusing on the similarities of their hardscrabble Texas upbringing, and the resultant pain, humor, and resilience it fostered.  Smith was there as a special guest to fill out the sound, and just generally astound the audience (and his two bandmates) with incredibily tasty and technically masterful guitar playing.

Why I Gave Up On Being a Republican

Not me, for crying out loud, but Michael Stafford.  He lays out the reasons in this compelling article;

In the grip of this contagion, the Republican Party has come unhinged. Its fevered hallucinations involve threats from imaginary communists and socialists who, seemingly, lurk around every corner. Climate change- a reality recognized by every single significant scientific body and academy in the world- is a liberal conspiracy conjured up by Al Gore and other leftists who want to destroy America. Large numbers of Republicans- the notorious birthers- believe that the President was not born in the United States. Even worse, few figures in the GOP have the courage to confront them.

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