Category Archives: music

Music for the coming Depression

About a week or so ago I got Robert Crumb’s Heroes of Blues, Jazz & Country which I have been totally digging. The book has been reinforcing an informal education I’ve been getting through my various conversations with Folklorist Gary … Continue reading

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The DeZurik Sisters

Thursday night I had the good fortune of spending an evening with Kent Ippolito, who is one of Fredericksburg’s foremost treasures. He is an amazing musician, cartoonist, and person. As is often the case, when we get together with Kent … Continue reading

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Jack Johnson’s Jazz Band

In stark contrast to the Uncle John Scruggs video, check out this video of Jack Johnson’s Jazz band performing “Tiger Rag” on December 21, 1929 in the great city of New York, NY. Now, I’m not sure how much you … Continue reading

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Uncle John Scruggs

The above footage was taken by the Fox Movietone News, in Powahatan, VA on November 8, 1928. According to USC’s Center for Southern African American Music: Uncle John Scruggs was born a slave, [and] is a good example of white-influenced … Continue reading

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Jimmie Rodgers in The Singing Brakeman

I do enjoy working at a university, for on a regular basis new cultural gems come my way. I’ve been working with Gary Stanton on his “Memory and Culture in American Vernacular Music,” and through this course I came upon … Continue reading

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Mildred Pierce Double Feature

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Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five: The Message

While working my way through The Wire, I found myself thinking about the iconic rap song “The Message” by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. A song which traces much of the same social themes of urban decay as this … Continue reading

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36 Hours in NYC

I just got back this morning from a 36 hour marathon trip to NYC. This uncharacteristically short trip was instigated by a workshop I got invited to do at Brooklyn College (which was a lot of fun), but the larger … Continue reading

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It Came From Celluloid: So Where Were the Spiders?

Hello. Guest poster Mikhail here with what could be a new column on Bava Tuesdays, “It Came From Celluloid,” where I’ll bring to your attention a connection between a movie or two and some manner of pop cultural artifact. For … Continue reading

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Uncontrollable Urge to Sell-out!

I was already deeply disappointed when I first heard that Devo was selling off song rights for two-bit commercials – something just seems lost when music you believed was critiquing mindless consumerism is being employed to hock a Twix! Below … Continue reading

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