FISHERMAN'S BLUES

The Waterboys play "Fisherman's Blues" in 1986. Mike Scott, the band leader, originally from Edinburgh, moved to Ireland in the eighties and brought along ragpickers, junkmen, carnies and grifters and taught them to play a unique blend of Celtic, folk, country, and rock he had heard in a dream. Great song.

ROSANNE CASH BETTER VEEP THAN PALIN

Rosanne and her father, Johnny Cash

If you're like me, you love Johnny Cash--and the whole damn Cash family. If you think country music is all slick and heartless and commercial (Toby Keith leaps to mind) you should explore the classic country of the Cash family, along with the heartsick blues of Hank Williams, the sweet pop of Patsy Cline, and the tooled-leather ballads of Willie Nelson. These folks have soul, pure and simple.

And they're not all knee-jerk conservative dunderheads, either. Rosanne Cash just wrote a great piece for The Nation, entitled "Why I'd Be a Better VP than Sarah Palin." It's well worth reading, so click HERE.

Here is a clip of Rosanne Cash and another outlaw country liberal--Steve Earle--singing a juke-joint classic penned by Roseanne, "Seven Year Itch."