Living and Learning

I get Texas Monthly magazine. I don't always read a lot of it. It tends to reflect the very localized political perspective of Austin and over-looks a lot of hard-core conservative Texas. But, there's usually a bit of Lone Star history and often a feature on a mid-sized to small town in the state with some interesting sites to see. I've learned about Texas Rangers, both the ball-playing and the ball-busting kind. I've been exposed to the political musings of Kinky Friedman and I've learned that with good writing you can make mediocre BBQ something to drive three hundred miles for and wait in line.

It's a mixed bag for sure.

This month there's a feature story about the emergence of Outlaw Country music. I've sort of liked Willy for a long time and I had the pleasure of seeing Waylon close-up and personal when he performed at our Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Colorado Springs. Long ago I used to watch Austin City Limits after coming home late at night from a party somewhere. But, I never was into the real distinction between the outlaws and the rest of country. It's a Nashville vs Austin thing, the magazine has explained.

Austin is bare-bones, hard-core and maybe a lot of smoke in the air. Nashville is over-produced, traditonal and more Lynchburg Tea than tequila. I started listing to the Outlaw Country channel on XM. I like a lot of it and there is a lot of cross-over to the R&B and Southern-fried rock of folks like the Allmans, Lynrd Sknyrd and 38-Special.

Here's an example: