Save A Horse Ride A Cowboy

Ray Minich · Post by **Ray Minich** » 12 Aug 2004 2:09 pm

Joe, what night(s) ya gonna be in Erie?

Bill cole · Post by **Bill cole** » 12 Aug 2004 2:33 pm

Joe you really should leave the hat at home. It is affecting your good thinking and not so good for your good looks

Joe Miraglia · Post by **Joe Miraglia** » 12 Aug 2004 3:03 pm

Bill, If B.E. could see me in that hat.

Ray, Willow Creek and me on steel ,will be playing it the Best Western Aug, 20,and 21 Fri and Sat. Also Fri. and Sat. Sept.10 and 11 at,DOC Holiday's Erie,Pa. Joe

http://home.alltel.net/dvstrom/willow.html

Bill cole · Post by **Bill cole** » 12 Aug 2004 8:10 pm

Joe BE would throw up Ray he don't play a steel he plays a Carter he just aint figured out the Diff. yet. Joe I love ya

Kevin Hatton · Post by **Kevin Hatton** » 12 Aug 2004 8:37 pm

Joe, I'd come to see you but I'm playing both nights.

Bill cole · Post by **Bill cole** » 13 Aug 2004 1:32 pm

Hey Joe maybe we should start a band called the over the hill gang cause we are over the hill and headed down the odder side real fast

David L. Donald · Post by **David L. Donald** » 15 Aug 2004 1:59 am

Country music is different for EACH generation.

Our dad's country was not ours, and our kids country is not ours either.
But many of us have since learned to like our dad's country.
Eventually this is likely to happen to the kids of today too.

What they used to do you can still hear on record..
and it is exactly the same. Hank Snow still sounds like Hank Snow.

Don't tell me outn' "the country" is the same,
Ain't too many pickle barrels in general stores these days,
nor people queing up to use the towns only hand crank phone in the store either.

TImes change, music changes.
Same as it always was.

So don't expect the music to stay the same either.

John P. Phillips · Post by **John P. Phillips** » 15 Aug 2004 8:54 pm

Hey Bill, I'd love to join your over the hill band. I can give you some real traditional sounds on the spoons, and don't forget the washboard too. Might be a lot of fun. OBTW, how did we get over the hill and not know it anyway ?

------------------
JUST 'CAUSE I STEEL, DON'T MAKE ME A THIEF www.geocities.com/squire592001/jason.html

Bill cole · Post by **Bill cole** » 16 Aug 2004 11:55 am

Getting over the hill was the easy part. I have been knowing it for a long time just putting it off. You talk about a wash board well we had a band with a washboard and a wash tub bass spoon player and a fellow with the Jews harp. Now this new band will have the spoons the washboard, washtub, Bobby Seymour has decided to play the Swinette so it is comming togather real good. Have a great day

Todd Meadows · Post by **Todd Meadows** » 16 Aug 2004 6:19 pm

these two can't even speak in tune. so if they can write good stuff thats what they should do. I turn it off everytime it plays. but I guess to each his own

Don Joslin · Post by **Don Joslin** » 17 Aug 2004 1:20 pm

At the risk of being flamed and maybe banned from the forum, I'd like to say this. Just because someone listens to music does not make it bad or good. Just because a musician plays music does not make it bad or good. While in college majoring in Music Theory and Composition I was required to listen to, and technically analyze hours and hours of music. Some of it was very enjoyable and some of it was at best a chore. But I learned that just because something is new or different does not make it bad.

You should try listening to the great Viennese Atonalists Anton Webern and Arnold Schoenberg for a day. They employ dodecophony - basically nonrepeating chromatic composition with no key center whatsoever. After that stuff a diminished chord sounds like "Mary Had a Little Lamb". It's beauty can only be found in its structure. I initially rejected it as even being music. But the more I listened and analyzed it, the more beautiful it became. Country music, and most rock music for that matter, are at best primitive.

Big and Rich are certainly not in the same league as Webern and Schoenberg. Like most popular artists, B&R will be around for a year or two. If they are more successful then maybe for another five or so years. They will certainly be replaced by another popular group that will be rejected for what they are trying to do. After listening to their entire CD, I'd wager that they don't take themselves nearly a seriously as you guys do. And, they are having a blast doing it and probably laughing all the way to the bank. In the grand scheme of things it makes no difference one way or the other if you, or I for that matter, think they are good or bad.

Finally, on being over the hill. Only your body can be over the hill. Your mind is still pretty much under your control. It's a door that you can either open or close. I'm now 51 years old. In the winter I snowboard 5 days per week and have become a Level 1 certified instructor. Hopefully, I will never be over the hill. I still write lots of music - country, rock, orchestra, solo works, etc.. Some of it I like. Some of it might approach good but the jury is still out on that one. Bottom line is, don't downgrade something just because it doesn't appeal to you.

'Nuff said...

Don

Edit: The snowboarding analogy was to illustrate that youth is nothing more than a state of mind - sorta got side tracked there.

Edit 2: spelling correction

------------------

"When you come to a fork in the road, take it! ~ Yogi Berra

[This message was edited by Don Joslin on 17 August 2004 at 02:38 PM.][This message was edited by Don Joslin on 17 August 2004 at 02:40 PM.]

Kevin Hatton · Post by **Kevin Hatton** » 17 Aug 2004 3:20 pm

Don,I like your thinking. We are both the same age. I try to listen to as many different kinds of music as possible, including Rap at times. When I am not listening to or playing country, I prefer jazz or classical most always. I agree that its in one's mind that will keep them young. I hope that I can always relate musically to the next generation no matter how different their music is from what mine was. Thanks for the post.

Tay Joslin · Post by **Tay Joslin** » 17 Aug 2004 5:02 pm

Don,
I could not agree more. I certainly do not claim to enjoy many new genres of music, but it has never been my place to put those genres down because of a lack of enthusiasm on my part, and likewise for those in my generation who probably have never heard of Hank Williams. Honestly, I am not open-minded. However, I am not critical. Therefore, I feel that I have a fine balance of musical appreciation and musical education. THE STEEL GUITAR FORUM SERVES AS A VITAL PORTION OF MY MUSICAL EDUCATION. So, I salute those of you who remain true to tradition, and for those of you who chose to push the envelope a little bit, I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors, too. As for me, I love the rut I'm stuck in! FINE TOPIC, DON JOSLIN!

Yours truly,
Tay Joslin
Newbern, Tennessee
U.S.A.

David Mason · Post by **David Mason** » 18 Aug 2004 3:10 am

The passage of time has a way of weeding out some dreck too. There was a lot of really bad 60's and 70's country, just as there was a lot of really bad classical music, jazz, rock, and probably anything else you could name. Does anybody remember the worst song Hank Williams ever wrote?

Stephen Gambrell · Post by **Stephen Gambrell** » 18 Aug 2004 4:19 am

A bit off topic, but what is the relationship between Don and Tay Joslin???

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 18 Aug 2004 5:33 am

I initially rejected it as even being music. But the more I listened and analyzed it, the more beautiful it became.

Excuse me, sir? Are you lost? This is the steel guitar forum. Perhaps I can help you find a more, ahem, comfortable place to hang out...?

James Lutz · Post by **James Lutz** » 18 Aug 2004 5:44 am

Ah yes, home of the immoveable opinion, the iron-clad be all and end all of I know best and you can't make me think otherwise. The perpetual residence of all things carved in stone and surrounded by guards from the days of yore. Where is yore, anyway?

Tay Joslin · Post by **Tay Joslin** » 18 Aug 2004 8:12 am

To the best of my knowledge, there is NO relationship between Don Joslin and myself. It is possible that we are related, but we have NEVER met, and we live hundreds of mile apart. We recently met here on the Forum. Let me make an "on-topic" comment here: "Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy" comes across as vulgar, even by today's standards (or a lack thereof). I have never listened to the song because I hear way too many redneck teenagers request that song when I am onstage. As a result, I am able to narrow it down as being a very untraditional song. I sing Johnny Cash, Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, Hank Williams, Ernest Tubb, Marty Robbins, Charley Pride, and the list goes on and on. So tell me where that song fits into my show? IT DOESN'T AND IT NEVER WILL! However, I can appreciate the fact that it is probably making a few of Nashville's elite very prosperous. I can appreciate the fact that not everybody who digs this song is a redneck, but I feel that this topic ties into the topic "Are Audiences Getting Stupider?". What person in their right mind would request that kind of song at an all-traditional Country show? 'Nuff said. Back to you, liberal media.

You know, I suppose I have lied; I am critical.

Tay Joslin · Post by **Tay Joslin** » 18 Aug 2004 8:22 am

By the way, Stephen, Don Joslin is an intelligent man who you should get to know. You might not see eye-to-eye with him, but you will be able to appreciate his diverse tastes. He and I e-mail each other occasionally. It is almost like talking to a real-life gunfighter from the Old West. He has a Mark Twain feel to his words. Yes, this was very much "off-topic", but give Ol' Don a chance. You'll like him.

Yours truly,
Tay Joslin
Newbern, Tennessee
U.S.A.

Stephen Gambrell · Post by **Stephen Gambrell** » 18 Aug 2004 9:45 am

Tay, I never said I didn't like Don, I just wondered if you guys were kin. And in your previous post, you refer to this song and my "Audiences Getting Stupider" thread. This song is actually what I had in mind when I started it---And now, after finding out more about the Big and Rich MuzikMafia thing, I can't help but wonder how much more marketing we can take!
The song, and the video, ARE vulgar, in the playful way that Hank jr's. "All My Rowdy Friends are Comin' Over Tonight" was, but Hank had proven himself as a hitmaker who could come up with some serious tunes. I guess the jury's out on Big and Rich...

Don Joslin · Post by **Don Joslin** » 18 Aug 2004 10:25 am

Thanks to the guys who saw the message in my comments. Just a couple of more comments - I promise just a couple.

Jim - correct me if I am wrong but I believe this is the Music area. What it says under the Music heading is, "Musical topics not directly related to steel guitar". Since I was a Theory and Composition major and I write music almost everyday, I feel really comfortable here.

Second, (remember I said just a couple

) I would wager that anybody here who has made anti-B&R comments has never sat down and listened to the entire CD. First, it's called "Horse of a Different Color". That in itself should tell you something. I would encourage you to listen to songs like "Saved", "Deadwood Mountain", and even the initial release "Wild West Show". They are extremely well written songs. B&R bill their music as "Country Music without predjudice". I just appreciate their open-minded approach to writing and I don't mind telling you that I bought the CD the day it was released - I had already heard all of the cuts on the B&R website. Though, "Save A Horse" was not one of the cuts that led me to purchase it. If you are that sick of marketing are you going to stop buying things like aftershave, laundry soap, and shampoo? My issue wasn't with the opinions, just the predjudice against musical styles. Personally, I really appreciate the diversity.

OK, sorry but just one more. The musician game is really pretty simple. Musicians playing in clubs are there for one reason. That is, to keep people dancing so they get thirsty and buy drinks. For this to happen, we have to play what people want, not what we want. Those folks hear songs on the radio and either like or dislike them. They request the ones they like. Soooooo, the songwriters try to write songs that people will like (so they can eat) and the Nashville execs and performing musicians try to choose and release music the folks will like (so they can eat) and the club owners want you to play the music that is popular so that they can sell drinks (so they can eat) and musicians have to play it. You can either have fun doing it or be miserable. It's a conscious choice. Like it or not, if you are playing clubs you are nothing more than a human jukebox. Why? So you can eat.

Thanks for listening...

Don

Edit: Spelling correction.

Edit: Jim's smiley

------------------

"When you come to a fork in the road, take it! ~ Yogi Berra

[This message was edited by Don Joslin on 18 August 2004 at 11:57 AM.][This message was edited by Don Joslin on 18 August 2004 at 06:22 PM.]

Tim Whitlock · Post by **Tim Whitlock** » 18 Aug 2004 10:51 am

There are some original bands out there, and bands that do not kowtow to the top 40. If I had to do that I would quit performing.

Don Joslin · Post by **Don Joslin** » 18 Aug 2004 10:58 am

Like I said, it's a conscious choice.

Don

------------------

"When you come to a fork in the road, take it! ~ Yogi Berra

Bill cole · Post by **Bill cole** » 18 Aug 2004 11:05 am

First off I have never heard of B-R nor the song your talking about and it is for sure I never will. Having said that my question is. Why when they can't find nothing there music fits into they it becomes country? Bands that openly laugh at country music the minute they start playing they are country? Not to knock Kevin but if he puts it on the table they aint within a 100 mile of real country not saying they don't play good or play good music but call it what it is and that aint country. I have had people come in and ask what we were playing and I can tell you for sure they do not come any more country then we are and they laugh because to them it is not country. and today anyone can buy a steel guitar and learn to slide the bar up and down the strings and he becomes a steel player on the guitar if you know 3 cords your a guitar play. Enough said