I haven’t posted much here in recent weeks but I can’t stop myself passing this along.
http://www.backroadsofamericanmusic.com/archive/2009/05/04/charley-nelson-piney-woods-piano-man.aspx
It’s an obit of someone who sounds like he must have been one of the last musicians to exist untainted by the music industry, which we all serve in our ways.
It’s a powerful reminder to me of what the spirit of music might once have been.
When we, by which I mean critics, rant on about one artist or another being more authentic or more real than another, we don’t even get close to thinking about the Charlie Nelsons of this world, do we?
I play at acoustic nights out here in the wilds of Wiltshire where unpaid musicians gather to entertain each other. I really enjoy those nights, and they feel real, and occasionally someone will get up and sing a song that really moves me.
Maybe we’re a little way towards old Charlie. We’re certainly a long way from the X-Factor and that’s one hell of a good thought.
