Tag: politics

MAR 29, 2012 - Legend and master banjo player Earl Scruggs, who was the father of the three-finger banjo picking style, passed away on March 28, 2012 at the age of 88. Born in 1924 in Flint Hill, N.C. he taught himself how to play with his 2 other  brothers, including the guitar and autoharp. He started his musical career with Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys in 1939.

IN 1948 Earl and guitar player Lester Flatt left the Bluegrass Boys and formed a duo,  their peak being in 1962 with the theme to the Beverly Hillbillies that virtually everyone knows. Earl Scruggs was a progressive when it came to music and social issues, and wanted to bring in some popular sound, maybe even some saxophone; but Lester was very conservative and hated long-haired hippies, and it caused a rift and breakup of the duo in 1969.

Earl Scruggs became one of the very rare country/bluegrass musicians to ever add his musical activist voice to the anti-Vietnam War movement, performing his classic song "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" at the Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam demonstration in October of 1969. Earl Scruggs later said in an interview of his performance, "I think the people in the South is just as concerned as the people that's walkin' the streets here today... I'm sincere about bringing our boys back home. I'm disgusted and in sorrow about the boys we've lost over there. And if I could see a good reason to continue, I wouldn't be here today."

Watch a video of the legendary Earl Scruggs performing his "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" with some friends below.

MAR 26, 2012 - Last Friday on March 23, 2012 in Tampa, Florida Bruce Springsteen performed his controversial song "American Skin (41 Bullets)", a song he had only performed twice before. The song was written back in 2000 and was about the horrible shooting death of Amadou Diallo, who was shot by police 41 times when he was taking out his wallet. When Bruce performed the song in Atlanta back in 2000, the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association called for the boycott of Bruce Springsteen when he came to Madison Square Garden in NYC, where he sang the song again. The call for a boycott had no effect, Springsteen did an amazing 10-show run at MSG.

Many people are saying it is obvious the recent shooting death of Trayvon Martin in Florida last month inspired Springsteen to perform the song again. Millions of people and us here at JTMP have been shocked and horrified by the hunting down and murdering of a young man, and that the murderer is free. There is a petition over at Change.org with over 2 million signatures calling for the prosecution of the killer. The lines from the song unfortunately show in America you still can get shot for the color of your skin:

Well, is it a gun, is it a knife 
Is it a wallet, this is your life 
It ain't no secret (it ain't no secret) 
No secret my friend 
You can get killed just for living in your American skin

Listen to audio of the performance of "American Skin (41 Shots)" below.

MAR 23, 2012 - UPDATE: JTMP earlier reported on the anti-gay band Junkyard Prophet that put on a a hate-filled attack on the LBGT community at a high school and shocking the students who were unable to leave. (Watch the video below). The principal of Dunkerton High School facing heavy pressure resigned his position, but tried to assert he was leaving the position anyway for a superintendents position. Yeah right. A promotion for him? Turns out the band has spouted their hate at the school several times before.

Junkyard Prophet is part of this hate "ministry" called "You Can Run But You Cannot Hide" where they set up tables and pass out flyers filled with hateful attacks on the LBGT community, and they even vowed to return to Dunkertown, Iowa after getting all the heat following their tirade at the school back on March 8. The Dunkerton Community Hall board of directors denied them access, and the superintendent says they will NOT be performing at the school. "It won't be here" said school superintendent Jim Stanton. They ended up meeting Dunkerton parents at a church and tried to "explain themselves".

Bradlee Dean, founder of You Can Run But You Cannot Hide, clearly lays out their anti-gay, anti-equality stance on the ministry's website: "...we cannot accept the proposal that homosexuality is either private or moral." They also ridiculously assert that the gay community "is nothing but a political opportunity to the liberals".

MAR 22, 2012 - Hailing from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, musician activist Tokyo Rosenthal brings a rich southern country sound and terrific songwriting to speak for the common working man. His latest song "What Did I Used to Be?" speaks about the plight of many today: unemployment, credit card debt, etc. He told us he wants it to be an, "Anthem for job loss, outsourcing, and desperation." He also said, "It's a song that captures the frustrations and shattered illusions of workers all over the globe. Outsourcing, reinvention, natural resources, and desperation..."   (photo credit: Tokyo Rosenthal/Facebook)

Tokyo adds, "It didn't take much to inspire me to write this song. All you have to do is turn on TV and the stories are all there. These are tough times and hopefully the tune and the video capture some of the frustration and misery that's all over the world. If it gets people to stop, think, and react, then I'll be happy. I don't expect to change things with a song, just stir things up a bit and document our present history." Check out his great song and video below, and connect on the Web and Facebook.

MAR 21 - Guitarist Joe Walsh from the James Gang and Eagles fame has put out a new solo track, his first one in 20 years. The new song "Analog Man" wonders if in this digital age we might be disconnected from one another, and asks is it all real? Joe also longs for the day of reel-to-reel analog tape and vinyl records, and worries that we might have become slaves to our electronic appliances, and wonders if our new HiDef TVs with fiber optic cable are raising our kids. The album, titled "Analog Man' will be out June 5, listen to the track and read a review over at UltimateClassicRock.com.   (photo credit Alexander Visual/Flickr)