Show Your Color
First, I have a confession to make. You know when you're sitting at an intersection, and some clown rolls up next to you bumping their stereo? I am that clown.
Now admittedly, my car stereo isn't that loud. And having the windows more than a little open isn't feasible because the wind noise and air pressure gets funky - so only so much sound can leak out. But still, I do my best to invade people's audio space.
Why you ask?
I'm not going to lie - there aren't a lot of good reasons. At it's core, I like loud music. I like feeling it, I like hearing ever nuance, and I like having my awful voice drowned out when I sing. But it's way more than that and way more juvenile. It's clinging to the teenage belief that blasting your cool music makes you cool - yet paradoxly knowing for *certain* that isn't true. There's also the equally delusional belief that someone will roll up next to you, hear something they like, and consequently you will become best friends forever.
But also deep down in that swamp of justification is a subtle attempt to counteract one of my biggest beefs with Knoxville: it's homogeneous, overly-caucasian, alarming lack of mental, cultural, and yes, musical diversity.
When it comes to music - I really am one of those people who 'likes everything', but in a true and real sense. I love old jazz singers like Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald, guitar-driven gypsy jazz, and any swing song with a moving bassline or hot piano. I love rock from the 50's like Fats Domino. I like *tons* of stuff from the 60's and 70's.
And then when you get to the 90's, my musical diversity goes nuts. I like reggae and ska. I like all manner of 90's hip hop. I like grunge rock, and hardcore, and even some pop. And most of all, I love many genres of electronic music, especially house, drum & bass, 2-step and speed garage, and 10 other flavors my average 40-something reader has never heard of and would surely not like.
As I've come to understand, this range of musical taste makes me somewhat unique in Knoxville. That isn't to say I haven't met a few people who dig the same stuff, but when I say 'few', I mean like one or two people. For most it's just rock and country, country and rock.
It's easy to prove too via the ultimate local music baramoeter - the 'musicians' section of Craigslist. If you check out the Knoxville Craigslist all you'll see are rock, country, and some blues, and of course the still-scary-to-me religion-based musical styles. By contast, check out New York's Craigslist. "Jazz singer seeks trio". "Thrash/HC Bass and Guitar Needed". "Punk Band Searching for Drummer". "Teenage to mid 20s singer sought for Rock / Emo band".
As you can see there is a divide there as wide as the oceans. I seek to help bridge that divide in any way I can, even in small and obnoxious ways. I want people to ask "what is that racket?". I want kids to ask "Mommy, what kind of music is that?". I want someone who has a mild curiousity about different types of music to go to the Internet and research further. And most off all, I want there to be someone sitting at the traffic light who is not like everyone else.
But it's not just about music, and it's not just about me (for once). It's about all of us, sharing (or imposing) the things that make us diverse and different with Knoxville. Our sense of humor, our politics, our personalities, our fashion, our ideas, and our culture. I've come to realize it's our job to infect and mutate this homogenous land and influence our coworkers, and neighbors, and associaties with our Yankee agenda.
And it's not just we carpetbaggers who feel this way - it's also the locals who have a clue. It comes up every time we talk about moving. "Don't go" they say. "We need people like you around here". "You don't understand what it was like before you started moving here". "We can't go back there".
That said, will I still leave here one day? Probably. I'm still not looking forward to my son thinking elevators are amazing and counter-acting some of the more primitive social currents around here (political, relgious, musical, etc.). But before the exodus, I'm going to do everything I can to taint this area with my Yankee ideals. I encourage you to do the same.
Now admittedly, my car stereo isn't that loud. And having the windows more than a little open isn't feasible because the wind noise and air pressure gets funky - so only so much sound can leak out. But still, I do my best to invade people's audio space.
Why you ask?
I'm not going to lie - there aren't a lot of good reasons. At it's core, I like loud music. I like feeling it, I like hearing ever nuance, and I like having my awful voice drowned out when I sing. But it's way more than that and way more juvenile. It's clinging to the teenage belief that blasting your cool music makes you cool - yet paradoxly knowing for *certain* that isn't true. There's also the equally delusional belief that someone will roll up next to you, hear something they like, and consequently you will become best friends forever.
But also deep down in that swamp of justification is a subtle attempt to counteract one of my biggest beefs with Knoxville: it's homogeneous, overly-caucasian, alarming lack of mental, cultural, and yes, musical diversity.
When it comes to music - I really am one of those people who 'likes everything', but in a true and real sense. I love old jazz singers like Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald, guitar-driven gypsy jazz, and any swing song with a moving bassline or hot piano. I love rock from the 50's like Fats Domino. I like *tons* of stuff from the 60's and 70's.
And then when you get to the 90's, my musical diversity goes nuts. I like reggae and ska. I like all manner of 90's hip hop. I like grunge rock, and hardcore, and even some pop. And most of all, I love many genres of electronic music, especially house, drum & bass, 2-step and speed garage, and 10 other flavors my average 40-something reader has never heard of and would surely not like.
As I've come to understand, this range of musical taste makes me somewhat unique in Knoxville. That isn't to say I haven't met a few people who dig the same stuff, but when I say 'few', I mean like one or two people. For most it's just rock and country, country and rock.
It's easy to prove too via the ultimate local music baramoeter - the 'musicians' section of Craigslist. If you check out the Knoxville Craigslist all you'll see are rock, country, and some blues, and of course the still-scary-to-me religion-based musical styles. By contast, check out New York's Craigslist. "Jazz singer seeks trio". "Thrash/HC Bass and Guitar Needed". "Punk Band Searching for Drummer". "Teenage to mid 20s singer sought for Rock / Emo band".
As you can see there is a divide there as wide as the oceans. I seek to help bridge that divide in any way I can, even in small and obnoxious ways. I want people to ask "what is that racket?". I want kids to ask "Mommy, what kind of music is that?". I want someone who has a mild curiousity about different types of music to go to the Internet and research further. And most off all, I want there to be someone sitting at the traffic light who is not like everyone else.
But it's not just about music, and it's not just about me (for once). It's about all of us, sharing (or imposing) the things that make us diverse and different with Knoxville. Our sense of humor, our politics, our personalities, our fashion, our ideas, and our culture. I've come to realize it's our job to infect and mutate this homogenous land and influence our coworkers, and neighbors, and associaties with our Yankee agenda.
And it's not just we carpetbaggers who feel this way - it's also the locals who have a clue. It comes up every time we talk about moving. "Don't go" they say. "We need people like you around here". "You don't understand what it was like before you started moving here". "We can't go back there".
That said, will I still leave here one day? Probably. I'm still not looking forward to my son thinking elevators are amazing and counter-acting some of the more primitive social currents around here (political, relgious, musical, etc.). But before the exodus, I'm going to do everything I can to taint this area with my Yankee ideals. I encourage you to do the same.
posted by Knoxville Yankee at 9:00 PM - Permanent Link
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