My wife and I are going to have the honor of hearing John McCutcheon for the forth time this coming Sunday in Tallahassee. For anyone who doesn't know John's music, I envy you the pleasure of discovering it for the first time. He's a folk singer/musician whose progressive politics (it's funny to call it progressive when he's singing about the labor movements of the early twentieth century) are in line with the Daily Kos readership.
More about John and thoughts on the state of arts in this country below.
From his website:
...John McCutcheon has emerged as one of our most respected and loved folksingers. As an instrumentalist, he is a master of a dozen different traditional instruments, most notably the rare and beautiful hammer dulcimer. His songwriting has been hailed by critics and singers around the globe. His thirty recordings have garnered every imaginable honor including seven Grammy nominations. He has produced over twenty albums of other artists, from traditional fiddlers to contemporary singer-songwriters to educational and documentary works. His books and instructional materials have introduced budding players to the joys of their own musicality. And his commitment to grassroots political organizations has put him on the front lines of many of the issues important to communities and workers.
When you are sitting in the audience listening to him perform songs about baseball, the labor movement or dogs and telling stories about life - he's as good a storyteller as he is a musician - or hearing him throw out a joke about the idiot in the White House, you begin to feel like you live in a world that has a future as will as a past.
The United States of America is one of the toughest countries to live in if you are a musician or an artist. One reason is the lack of universal health care. If we can pass a universal health care package, a side benefit will be more music, art and literature. Artists will be healthier and live longer. Beyond health care we need to find a way to provide a living wage for the tens of thousands of Americans who spend their lives entertaining the world. Remember electing progressive politicians is only a step on the stairway to a better world.