Meeting your Heroes

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“Look in their eyes, stand in their shoes. Put ‘em on the ground right next to you. So many jerks and so many fools. Oh, it will make you laugh when you meet your heroes.”

–“Meet Your Heroes” by House of Freaks, 1989*

The above epigraph from a song by one of my favorite hometown bands suggests that it’s often disappointing when you meet your heroes. No doubt it is often true, especially if your heroes are celebrities or wealthy public figures with publicists and others who help them to carefully cultivate and maintain idealized public personas. That song echoes in my mind when I have the good fortune to meet someone I admire. Fortunately, it is not always thus!

A few weeks ago, I had the good fortune to be able to meet one of my heroes, B.J. Barham of American Aquarium. The band was playing at The Sinclair in Cambridge, MA, and I’d signed up for a meet and greet pre-show thing that ended up being canceled. Nonetheless, when I arrived at the venue, I was taken backstage to meet Mr. Barham, a gifted singer-songwriter who’s not afraid to speak his mind. In fact, it the band’s 2018 sing “The ‘World is On Fire” that first brought this Raleigh, NC based band to my attention.  The song begins with the the singer recounting a couple’s experience of watching 2016 election coverage, and the gradual realization that the unthinkable had happened.  It ends on a note of hope and defiance alluding to Trump’s campaign promise to build a wall with the singer hoping that the baby girl they are expecting in the Spring will bust through any walls that may be put in her way. It’s a well-written, powerful song. Though clearly political, it is not didactic as many political tunes are wont to be.

BJ Barham and I at the merch table after the show

Barham was gracious, friendly, and seemed genuinely interested in meeting me. He played that song for me backstage, and it’s still as powerful as it was in 2016, perhaps because the real impact of the 2016 election is only now being felt, the show in Cambridge happening only a week after the Supreme Court overturned Roe V. Wade.   

I’d like to be able to say that I took the opportunity to ask probing questions so that I could write this up as an interview piece, but the opportunity to speak with Mr. Barham one on one was unexpected, and I probably came across a bit star struck; indeed I was.

I’ve wanted to interview Barham ever since downloaded a sampler that was available on BandCamp. American Aquarium songs resonate with me well beyond the politics: The deep ambivalence toward the culture of “The South,” an awareness of heritage that is often a source of pride but equally as often a source of shame, strong family connections to families, lives profoundly touched by addiction and tragedy, etc. I had a lot of things I would have liked to ask him about his career and music, but instead I really just gushed about how much his music has meant to me.

Anyway, I probably went on longer than I should, but he was gracious about it, and kindly played a solo version of that song for me.  It was amazingly cool, and he’s a genuinely nice guy.

I hope to earnestly revive the music coverage of this site at some point. Perhaps that will include an actual interview with B.J. Barham. In the meantime, be sure to check out American Aquarium’s new album, Chicamacomio. Barham has called it his most personal album, and the title track is a perfect example of that dealing with a couple facing a profoundly personal tragedy from Barham’s personal life. Yet despite is specificity, it also comes across as a timely anthem for all of us hoping to wash off the collective traumas of the past few years. Another good example is “The First Year,” which deals with the loss of a beloved parent.

To paraphrase the lyric of another song on the album, if you want to feel better, even if only for a little while, sometimes all you need is a good cathartic song. Somehow American Aquarium manages to release an album of songs that seem to apropos to the moment, and right at the time I need it most.    

The show was brilliant, of course. The members of American Aquarium genuinely seem to be having fun when they play together, and they really are a talented bunch! Barham is a charismatic front man, punctuating the show with just the right amount of anecdotes and banter. So do yourself a favor and catch them live!

Of course, I also have to mention Caroline Spence, the show’s opener, as I was impressed. I admit that I was pre-disposed to like here because she hails from my home state, but she merits the praise. I can’t imagine being a soloist with a guitar opening for rockers like American Aquarium, but she held my attention with strong melodies and powerful lyrics. Check out her music, too.

Caroline Spence Opens
American Aquarium on stage: BJ Barham; Shane Boeker, guitar; Neil Jones, pedal steel; Rhett Huffman, keys; Ryan Van Fleet, drums; and Alden Hedges, bass
Note: These photos are not among my best. They were taken with my iPhone from the balcony where I had requested seating. An injury to my ankle and knee prevented me from standing in my preferred spot right in front of the stage.

Linda Martell: a Black Woman in Country Music in 1969

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I was only 5 when Linda Martell’s album Color Me Country was released, but Apply Music recently brought it to my attention. Recorded over the course of 12 hours, one wishes more of the raw energy that must have been present to sustain such a long recording session had been captured on the record. Nonetheless, it is a nearly flawless Country album.

It reached #40 on the Billboard Country Music charts, and three of the singles also charted, one reaching as high as #22. Apparently that wasn’t good enough for Shelby Singleton, with whom she had signed a recording contract, because she never recorded another album. It seems he saw her as a novelty act, releasing the record on, I kid you not, his “Plantation Records” label! He never had her record another album.

However, she did continue singing live. She the first Black woman to play the Grand Ole Opry where she received 3 standing ovations and was invited back about a dozen times. The clip below is from one of her rare television appearances, this one on the Hee Haw show in 1970.

Martell’s granddaughter is working on a documentary about her grandmother, and has launched a campaign on GoFundMe to raise the money to make it happen. I plan to donate as soon as I finish this post. This is a story that needs to be told.

Clearly it was racism in the recording industry that cut Martell’s career short. In the 1920s recording labels and radio began promoting music from the South as either “Hillbilly Music” or “Race Music.” This was not a distinction made by the artists. In fact, often the same songs, especially traditional folk or religious songs, would succeed in both genres, just not by the same artists! The names quickly feel by the wayside, but the division remained under different labels.

Fun fact: The first album recorded by Tina Turner was Tina Turns the Country On! It has never been released.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tina_Turns_the_Country_On!

But I digress. Things have changed since then. Charley Pride is no longer the ONLY name that comes to mind when one is asked to name a Black Country star. There’s Rissi Palmer, Darius Rucker, Rhiannon Giddens, Jimmie Allen, Kane Brown, Miko Marks, and others. Though CMT presented Linda Martell the “Equal Play Award” in 20212, the Country Music industry just wasn’t ready for her in 1970. Consequently, her recording career was cut short. I hope that more recordings will be discovered in the making of the documentary and her granddaughter will also release a soundtrack album!

Donate to support the documentary here!

Shortlist Announced for the 15th Cycle of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture

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The shortlist for the 15th-cycle of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture (AKAA) was announced today, and is featured on Archnet. The recipients will be announced in the fall.

My association with the AKAA is very limited. As Archnet Content Manager, I assist my colleagues at the Aga Khan Trust for Culture‘s offices in Geneva with getting AKAA information into Archnet and, subsequently, getting bringing attention to the projects though the social media for Archnet and the Aga Khan Documentation Center at MIT. So you may wonder why I am posting about the 2022 shortlist announcement on my personal website.

Quite simply, it is because I am proud to be associated with the AKAA even in my limited capacity, and even more so because I’d like to make more people aware of the projects that award has highlighted since the First AKAA Cycle, 1977-1980.

The Aga Khan Award for Architecture is an internationally recognized award that focuses on regions too often neglected by the juries of most major prizes in the West. I won’t speculate on the cause of this neglect except to say that it certainly isn’t due to a lack of merit in the projects built there. So many projects are nominated each cycle that even many that don’t make the shortlist are worthy of commendation.

More and more, some of the world’s most innovative and exciting structures are being built in Africa and Asia, hardly surprising given these are areas on the front lines of some of the most challenging problems that world currently faces.

Moreover, it is an award that places functionality on the same level as aesthetic criteria. Indeed, to be eligible for nomination, a project has to have been in use for at least a year. Projects that ultimately receive the Aga Khan Award for Architecture are projects already fulfilling their purpose.

Finally, I appreciate that the award honors diverse projects, from grand towers to schools made from locally available materials. In the speech he made at the 2016 ceremony of the Award, His Highness the Aga Khan explained this is an explicit goal of the AKAA. I’ll close this piece with those words.

The Spirit of the Award has been an inclusive one, valuing all manner of buildings and spaces from skyscrapers to mud huts, from residences to work and gathering spaces, from reforestation and financing projects to cemeteries, bridges and parks, from the accomplishments of signature architects to those of anonymous craftsmen.  This pluralistic approach may not echo the usual definition of the word “architecture”, but it is the closest we can get to the central inclusive message we want this Award to convey.

https://www.akdn.org/speech/his-highness-aga-khan/aga-khan-award-architecture-2016-ceremony

Weeds!

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This will sound crazy to many of you, but I think weeding has become one of my favorite parts of gardening. I got an early start with weeding and mulching this year, before we even hand plants in the ground, and so far they are basically under control.

That’s what makes it so much fun. When a weed pops up, it has usually traveled under quite a bit of mulch to come up in the sun, or it is new growth on a really deep tap root. So it’s like a game to see how far along under dirt a root has traveled, or just how big and deep that single root is. That’s assuming you get the root to begin with. Weeds are more than willing to sacrifice and above ground tuft if it means they survive to shoot up again.

Here’s one from today, laid out on a car hood. Compare the height of the green to the length of the root. It’s a trip to realize it’s just going to keep going. It broke off at the garden fence, so who knows how much further it went! Notice that it’s also headed in the other direction!

Of course the weeds won’t really go wild for another few weeks, so don’t be surprised if next month I’m not enjoying the weeds so much!

Then there was also this little thing, harmless and kind of pretty, yet it still set my heart racing. It froze completely still until I finally looked away to go about my business, then it was gone!

I hope it doesn’t go too far! I need all the help I can get against the critters that like to chew on my vegetables.

Friends and Wheelbarrows

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Photo by Ivan Radic, Flickr

Today I did some work in the garden, mostly hauling mulch, manure, sawdust from where it was piled for communal use to where we needed it in the garden.  I used a large, single-wheel barrow, and couldn’t help but think of “The Red Wheelbarrow,” a beautiful, short poem by William Carlos Williams.

Unless one thinks of rust as shade of red, my wheelbarrow is not red. I think it may have been green originally, but you can no longer tell. But it is still sturdy, and much does depend on it. 

As I trekked back and forth between those piles of mulch, manure and sawdust, it occurred to me that good friends are like wheelbarrows. You only need one good one that is dependably ready to help with the burdens you must bear, but it that burden is heavy, it can be hard to get the wheelbarrow rolling. Once you are on your way, you need to push them along and keep them steady, otherwise they will flip, and you’ll need to pick up everything yourself.

What do you think? Does the analogy hold up?

My Christmas Decorations

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Even though I planned to go home to Richmond for the holidays, I felt an urge to put up a Christmas Tree. I’m not sure why; I suppose nostalgia and sentimentality. Every year I am given at least one Christmas ornament for the holidays. I also pick them up as souvenirs of places I visit. There are ornaments I made in school, ornaments made by my mother, grandmothers, siblings, and nieces, so unpacking them and putting them on the tree becomes a walk down memory lane. 

This year I also wanted to put up my Grandma and Grandpa Toler’s Nativity scene for the first time in a very long time. It’s a little worse for wear with some broken pieces, but it has enormous sentimental value. As a boy, I’m sure I tried the patience of both my grandparents and parents over my obsession with the Nativity scenes they’d put up. I was quite a religious and Christmas was my favorite time of year. I truly believed it to be a day on which all the world would be filled with peace and love for the rest of humanity. I also found the story of the birth of Jesus to be deeply moving. It touched me deeply that he was born in a stable, placed in a manger instead of a crib, and that humble shepherds were the first to receive news of his birth.  

Photograph of a Nativity Scene under a tree

I knew the story so well, so to me, it was imperative that the scene be arranged accurately. It was much more important than any aesthetic considerations. I’d insist that the shepherds come into the scene from the front and left for the manger, and that the wise men come in from the right.  In my mind the east was to the right, probably because that was the case on every map I’d ever seen. I thought of all that as I put up my decorations, and it brought me joy.

  • Room at night with Christmas Tree

Concert Gallery: American Aquarium at the Broadberry

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My recent trip to visit family in Richmond, Virginia happened to coincide with a December 3 concert by one of my favorite bands, American Aquarium at The Broadberry, a club that some Richmonders will remember at The Cellar Door on Broad Street. I’ve been a fan of American Aquarium for a while, now, especially since just after the 2016 elections when they released a song that so perfectly spoke to my feelings that night, “The World Is On Fire,” (See the video at the bottom of this post.) but I’d not had the chance to see them live. They did not disappoint.

The show opened with a low-key, but beautiful set by Tommy Prine, son of the late and truly great John Prine. He has yet to put out an album, but he clearly has inherited a fair amount of talent from this father.

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What I listened to in 2021

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Something doesn’t add up! I’ve just gotten my Replay 2021 report from Apple Music, my primary music service. It tells me I spent 1,095 hours listening to music in 2021, but that I listened to 2,663 different artists! That’s a lot of artists, more than 2 per hour.

I have much on constantly, during my commute, while working, even lulling me to sleep. I also listen to many different types of music, depending on my mood and what I’m doing. I sample a lot of different music from many different genres, ranging from the catch-all label of “World Music,” to jazz, rock, blues, and classical.

I listen to a fair amount of jazz, and classical music, which often has more than one credited artist on a track. Popular music is much less generous in acknowledging all performers on a track than are those genres. But the most logical explanation is that I listen to many cast albums from musicals. Those albums inevitably have multiple artists on each track.

This hypothesis is supported by the list of my 15 top artists. Two of them, M. Pokora and Nico Lilliu I’ve only listened to on the “Robin de Bois” (Robin Hood) cast album. The other 13 are probably on the list of artists I listen to the most in any given year: American Aquarium (I spent 26 hours listening to them in 2021), Prince (22 hours), Ryan Bingham (17), Tyler Childers (14), Sturgill Simpson (11), Mavis Staples (9), Jason Mraz (9 hours), Bruce Springsteen (9), Langhorne Slim (8), Passenger (8), and new favorite artists Adia Victoria (7) and Anthony da Costa (9).

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An Open Letter for the People of Richmond, Virginia:

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Giving Tuesday is not until tomorrow, but I am heartened by the support the Legation’s fundraiser for the Women’s Literacy Program has received so far! We’re nearly 1/2 way to our goal! Thank you to all who have donated to or shared the fundraiser. 

It brings to mind very fond memories of the support I received from the United States, and especially from those of you in my hometown, back in the 1990s when I was establishing a general interest English language library at the Legation for the benefit of Moroccan students and teachers of English. You donated thousands of books, as well as the funds to ship them to Tangier! I was grateful then, and I am grateful, now. Many of you probably supported both these endeavors because you knew they were important to me. Nonetheless, I also want to thank you on behalf of the Legation and, more importantly, on behalf of the women and their families that benefit from the Legation’s Literacy Program.  

These modest efforts are part of the long history of US-Moroccan relations. That history is the tale of an old, unbroken, friendship that has lasted longer than our relationship the United States has had with any European power. Indeed, it makes a post-WW II alliance like NATO seem like a recent phenomenon! 

We should not forget that it has always been a reciprocal relationship. In this collage, diagonal from one another, you see the Giving Tuesday logo and one of the graduates of the program receiving her diploma. But you also see the 1987 stamps issued by the US and the Kingdom of Morocco marking the 200th anniversary of the Treaty of Friendship and, in the upper right, a letter from George Washington soliciting the help of Sultan Mohammed ben Abdallah.

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In that letter, the humble first president of this country, then still just a strip of former colonies along the East Coast, writes to what he calls the “Emperor of Morocco” saying:

“Within our Territories there are no Mines, either of Gold, or Silver, and this young Nation, just recovering from the Waste and Desolation of a long War, have not, as yet, had Time to acquire Riches by Agriculture and Commerce. But our Soil is bountiful, and our People industrious; and we have Reason to flatter ourselves, that we shall gradually become useful to our Friends.” 

That quotation has always humbled me, and I expect it always will!

If you wish to support our fundraising for the Women’s Literacy Program, you can do so by donating online through the Facebook fundraiser listed above, or through the PayPal Giving Fund. Once again, I thank you for your support.

Empathy and Fiddles

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Bowregard hat and Radical Empathy T. Not a great picture, but you get the point.
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This t-shirt and hat are both recent acquisitions. Let’s start with the easy one, the Bowregard hat. It doesn’t fit all that well. I guess I have a big head (literally that is, though maybe metaphorically, too. After all, I’m writing a blog entry about my clothes!) because I always have to set adjustable hats as to the last pin on snapbacks, of to the widest possible link, if there’s a buckle. Still, I love the logo and the black denim. I’m also really into the band.

This hat was a replacement perk for a donation to Bowregard’s Kickstarter Campaign to make their first album. I didn’t know who this band was when I pledged, but the clever name caught my attention. Sure enough, I liked what I heard, and I wanted to help. I’m a failed musician, by which I mean I not only failed to make a living in music, but also that I failed to manifest any real musical talent. Perhaps that’s why I get such satisfaction in helping people with real talent to get other people to hear them.

The album, Arrows, is now available, and it’s excellent! That’s probably not surprising, given that the band has already won over fans in their home state of Colorado. They won both the 2019 Telluride Bluegrass Band Contest and the 2018 Ullrgrass Bluegrass Band Contest. I’d probably be wearing their t-shirt, too, but they were out of stock, so I’m waiting on that. I can’t wait until they come my way on tour, but in the meantime, I’m watching concert video on their YouTube channel.

The t-shirt is a slogan that first caught my attention through the Instagram account of The Bitter Southerner. I love the irony of that name, The Bitter Southerner. It sounds like it should refer to what B J Barham refers to as those “old men” still defending “monuments to treason,” (“A Better South” by American Aquarium). When in fact it refers to those of us who are bitter about our region being reduced to a caricature because of the antics of those people who cherish symbols of slavery and oppression and who refuse to relinquish unearned privilege so that our society can actually move forward!

The notion of “radical empathy,” as I understand it, goes beyond just putting ourselves in someone else’s shoes, but of taking that commitment to the next level. Not just imagining how someone else might feel a certain way or believe a certain thing, but by actively seeking to understand why this might be the case. It also means actively interrogating our own positions, and seeing where we are prejudiced by our own position vis-a-vis others.

Most importantly, radical empathy means not just understanding the position of another, but also actively seeking the best possible redress for the situation. That may be as simple as just getting out of the way of progress.

As I said, that is how I understand it, but there’s a better explanation by Terri E. Givens on this page.