Goin' Down South

Dear friends,

People often ask me what kind of music gets played around the Concord household. The answer is not as simple as you may think. While much of what we listen to falls squarely within the category of indie rock, we do like to mix it up every now and then. You know, a little Raffi here, a little Barney the Dinosaur there (just kidding- Baby Concord hasn't learned how to control the stereo yet). Lately we've been listening to a bunch of CDs from the fine folks at Oxford American. This is a literary magazine that focuses on writers from the South, and every December they put out a music issue that includes a compilation CD. Now, I'm not going to pretend that I have any interest in Southern literature (in fact, I never actually read the magazine), but that CD is a must-have. Each year the writers and editors put together a wide-ranging selection of songs from musicians with Southern roots, spanning several decades and genres of music. As you would expect, there's a lot of old country, blues, and rock & roll that fills the disc, but the choices are never obvious and usually interesting in one way or another. It's like a really good mixtape made by someone with an amazingly eclectic record collection. And they always manage to throw in a few truly oddball songs- Van Dyke Parks' weirdly catchy "G-Man Hoover", for example, or a cheesy 70's-era tune by Muhammad Ali. Mostly, though, it's a fascinating trip through the roots of American music, as represented by some of its lesser-known artists. A new one comes out next month, so take Uncle Concord's advice and pick up a copy at your local newsstand- you'll be glad you did.