In conversations about music, the phrase, "I like all kinds of music, except maybe country" has probably exited your mouth and been further qualified with something like, "But I like Johnny Cash."
There's a good reason for this caveat. ***image2***
Top 20 country music embodies a specific corner of American culture in a way that mirrors all things that are hyper-commercialized. Contemporary country music is often over-simplistic, vapid and just plain stupid. Toby Keith, for instance, one of country music's current alpha males, has followed a well-traversed career path built on jingoist sing-alongs and idiotic mantras about simple country living and military retaliation. Sure, there are genuinely talented musicians like Brad Paisley in contemporary pop country, and nowhere else in music will you find witty titles like the classic tune from Jerry Reed, "She Got the Goldmine, I Got the Shaft." But choices are slim when looking for a little soul.
"That polished, slicked out Nashville thing-man, I hate that music-has more to do with Madonna than the stuff we're presenting," Mike Koster of Thirsty Ear says. This statement makes me like him immediately. For eight years, Koster's music habit has materialized in the three-day music blowout he founded called the Thirsty Ear Festival. Thirsty Ear is one of a handful of music gatherings in the United States that, like the Telluride Bluegrass Festival and Festival International de Louisiane in Lafayette, La., is devoted to a vast spectrum of roots music, a style of threadbare music that ranges from world beat to zydeco. In the US it's often categorized as Americana or alt.country and is, as you may have guessed, the antithesis to pop country.
Since its inception eight years ago, the Thirsty Ear Festival has been committed to American roots music of all kinds. From the delta blues of Coahoma County, Miss. to the Cajun waltzes from Breaux Bridge, La., the Thirsty Ear's lineup covers a range of musicians immersed in their respective communities and musical traditions. The Thirsty Ear Festival, held at the Eaves Movie Ranch, is gaining a national reputation for its diverse music samplings and its pairings of lesser-known acts with internationally acclaimed artists.
"From the very beginning the idea has been black folk music meets white folk music in the high desert with a little rock music all around the edges," Koster, a former journalist turned music promoter says. "This is the cliché I've used for the last eight years. Our idea is to get back to that old thing of cross pollenization." Koster refers to an era of music-specifically the '60s and '70s-when R&B-based bands and artists such as the Grateful Dead and The Byrds crossed freely into different styles of music and created a mix-match sound of country rock with bluegrass blends and touches of gospel harmonies. "The cool thing about roots music," Koster continues, "is that it's not subject to the whims and winds like rock 'n' roll or pop music. It's got a much stronger foundation. You don't have groups that get really popular and then die out. It's a solid, steady thing."
It's difficult to say how this year's lineup compares to previous years. Again, as a genre, roots music embodies a vast and dynamic musical landscape so, by default, the Thirsty Ear assumes a new personality each year with each lineup. Nevertheless, among the performers scheduled for this year's festival there are a few exceptional acts worth noting. The Flatlanders, from Lubbock, Texas, is a trio made up of singer-songwriters Joe Ely, Butch Hancock and Jimmie Dale Gilmore. Far from being a regional band, the Flatlanders consists of three of Texas' most beloved musicians. The iconic Robert Earl Keen makes his second appearance in Santa Fe this year at Thirsty Ear. Blues musician Corey Harris puts his anthropology degree to good use by building a personal music catalog that rivals an ethnography study. Harris dabbles in Afro-beat, blues and, most recently through his new album, Zion Crossroads, reggae. Michael Doucet and BeauSoleil is perhaps the most well-known act at this year's Festival. The cajun and zydeco pioneers have been making music for more than 30 years and have always kept its sound close to its southern Louisiana roots. Michael Doucet and BeauSoleil closes out the Festival on Sunday. Local artists show off their talents as well and contribute throughout the three days. R&B group the Pleasure Pilots are joined by the western swing tunes of South By Southwest and Albuquerque singer-songwriter Jenny Gamble performs some of her new tunes on Friday.
Maybe I'm being too harsh on pop country. Johnny Cash did have his own television show, after all, and frankly, I consider drinking beer, shooting guns and dipping Copenhagen very good things. But it's not about lifestyles or personal ideas of fun, it's about music that floats under the radar of red carpets and press junkets; it's about a gathering of musicians devoted to the craft of songwriting, musical skill and traditions not without adventuresome innovators and lonesome avatars playing music for all to enjoy.
Thirsty Ear Festival
6:30 pm Friday, Aug. 31; 1 pm Saturday,
Sept. 1; 1:30 pm Sunday, Sept. 2
$39-$60
Eaves Movie Ranch
NM 45 off NM 14
988-1234
