This is the first post in what I hope will be a series of thoughts on music, teaching, scholarship and whatever else interests me.
I know it’s not fashionable for “classical” musicians, but I’ve been truly loving Ken Burns’ new documentary on Country Music. I grew up in central California hearing Johnny Cash, Eddy Arnold, Buck Owens and Willie Nelson as much as the Beatles, Bach and Berlioz. One particular quotation stuck out to me, from Charlie Parker, of all people, telling another jazz musician why he liked country:
“It’s the stories, man.”