Music, Music, Music

Lots going on. Finished chairing my first dissertation of the year today. Another fresh Doctor pushed from the Ivory Nest. This one has a long flight back to Thailand to take up his teaching position. While the "congratulations" after his oral defense may have been music to his ears, it is not the cause for this post's title. Last weekend was ambushed by music of various quality. People in Alabama do love their Karaoke. You can find it in multiple places on most nights and once it gets rolling, the mic is hardly ever left unused. Now it is important to note that I still have not found a state that takes its singing as seriously as Indiana. An "average" church choir in Indiana has a dozen American Idol worthy singers and the musicianship is also typically first class. That has not been my experience every where else in my travels. Not that the other states are bad, but they certainly have been less consistently good. My typical Friday hang out has Karaoke with a usual cast of characters, most have nice voices, some are very good entertainers, and a few of the regulars make it possible for absolutely no one to have an excuse for not taking a turn (if you know what I mean). I have managed to dodge the bullet because there has been a long line of willing singers. Last Friday, however, was an usually dead night at the Yacht Club, and before closing time arrived, they were out of people. My bluff was called and there I was trying (mostly in vain) to get through Over My Head (Cable Car) by The Fray. A couple of lessons learned.; You never sound as good as you do in the car by yourself, headed south on I-65 at 3:00 AM; there is a tipping point where waiting long enough for no one to be there to hear you runs up against having talked over everyone else singing so long that your voice was as shot as it would be following a three day water polo tournament (indoors); Your real friends will tell you you did great no matter what. I have waited a week to tell everyone of my exploits because I wanted to perfect my YouTube search skills to make sure that there is no actual evidence of my crooning available on the web. What does one do after making their Alabama karaoke debut? Go to another place and take the dare to do a duet. The victim "Meet Virginia" by Train.
The next night I found out why the small crowds on the Eastern Shore on Friday. The annual music festival held in Mobile called Bayfest was going on. This was my first experience being around a lot of southerners since spending part of one 4th of July at Stone Mountain in Georgia. It was raining in Georgia, so this that one doesn't really count. First the music and then a few other random observations. The main headliner on Saturday was Kid Rock. Warning to my parents - Do not Google this band! In my Uncle Gary's vernacular every song would have to start with the phrase "Cover your Ears." I knew what I was getting into, but clearly there were some parents that had not been paying attention. See it turns out that the most popular song in Alabama right now is Kid Rock's Song "All Summer Long" which features guitar riffs and references to the Lynard Skynard Song "Sweet Home Alabama." This song has been written and then slightly edited to permit heavy radio play (an believe me, down here it fits EVERY radio stations' format). Well, it might be the only song in his repertoire that is radio worthy with only minor edits. Needless to say, there where plenty of 10 year olds that begged their parents to take them to see Kid Rock based on "All Summer Long", that had know idea what they were getting into. I did not hear any of those parents provide the wisdom of my mother by telling their children " when you get to be a million selling record artist you can speak like that too." That would not be too bad a deal considering I had to become a four star general or get admitted to Harvard (these are deep family inside jokes, so if you don't get them, don't worry and just keep reading). Now for a couple of other observations, southern girls for the most part...are short. I came to this conclusion standing in a mob waiting to get a corn dog and sweet tea (everything else was sold out). Anyway I was surrounded by of a group of young women (normally not a problem), however this time they all had these over-sized purses (shoulder bags really), that when combined with their consistent 4'10' statures, placed those oversize Prada bags at exactly crotch level for me. If anyone moved, I got whacked. BTW, the corn dog was OK, but not worth beating I took. Second observation; in the south your shoulders are a fashion accessory. Lots of spaghetti straps, strapless for girls, muscle shirts and no shirts for guys. Third, other than the girl fight that broke out waiting at the corn dog stand, everyone was as polite and good manner as the legend of southern hospitality would have you believe. The civility of the traffic alone would amaze the folks in the Northeast.
This weekend is Shrimp Fest in Gulf Shores. Stay tuned for that report.