Ruminations of a Rock-n-Roll Accountant

I mentioned this before, but I’m not originally from Texas. While I was born in the U.S., I spent much of my formative years living in western Canada, and only moved to Texas when I reached my early teens. I say this because I’ve become more and more aware of how that fact has influenced my perceptions and tastes. Growing up where I did, country music (in the most traditional sense possible) was the major player on the radio. In fact, until I was 12 or 13, I hadn’t ever listened to FM radio in my little hometown – we didn’t have an FM station! There were 2 major AM radio stations and the one with the stronger signal played country.

In one of those “I vividly remember but have no idea why, as it’s not important” moments, I remember riding with my Dad and a friend of his in this guy’s pick-up and listening to Johnny Horton’s “Battle of New Orleans” on the radio and loving it. By the time I reached my early adolescence, I was (of course) too cool for country – it’s one of the things that my parents liked … how was I to enjoy country knowing my parents approved? I had to do things my way - like any 12 year old will. I embraced rock & roll – not just the flavor-of-the-week rock, but I developed an obsession with KISS (who clearly had their own way of doing things).

Moving to Texas was nothing short of “country come to town” for many reasons. Sure there was the “new kid on the block” thing but primarily I felt like an outsider because I didn’t have any Texas in me. Looking back, I wasn’t ever treated rudely or anything of that nature - it was more that I didn’t understand what living in Texas meant. Since then, I’ve lived in Texas for all but 2 ½ years and I now understand things better.

I’ve embraced Texas and all that it has and embodies. I love the state pride, I love the geography, I love the history, I love the people and most of all, I love the “outlaw” spirit that I think resides in everyone who truly loves the state. It’s that “I’m doing things my own way on my own terms” attitude that appeals to me. I’ve always had a hard time accepting the status quo … I’ve always had admiration for those who did things on their own terms. Texas & Reckless Kelly are all about that.

For me, finding Reckless Kelly was a fortunate accident. It’s actually all due to Cowboy Mouth. RK was to open for Cowboy Mouth at an arts festival or something like that. I hadn’t heard of any of the other bands playing so I hit the link to the RK site and was hooked in about 14 seconds. I can’t remember how many revisions of the official site ago it was, but no matter, I was in. Plans were immediately changed to make sure I saw RK and then Cowboy Mouth. CDs were obtained and that was the start of it all … and now look where it’s taken me.

There have been all manner of threads over at Club Millican about why we love the band and I’m not going to get all meta and repeat it. Simply said, it fills a spot inside me. It’s not just music for music’s sake … It fills that AM radio, small town, Texas-loving, "do things on your own terms with a rebel attitude" spot in me. Whatever label you put on their music, (Americana, Roots Rock, Hick Rock … take your pick) it’s not about the label - It’s about the music that they play.

Getting a place to put my thoughts in print is suddenly much more daunting than I ever imagined it could be .. That said, I’ll try and offer up something worth reading every couple of weeks… I’m going to start out with part of an e-mail I got from one of the great new friends I’ve made since starting the site. One of the great things about the fans that I have met is their collective nature – we all seem to be friendly, accepting and open to meeting new friends. We all know we’re at the shows for the music - not to be seen, not to show off our newest outfit or anything else … we’re there for the music. At the core of it all is the music of Reckless Kelly. I think this e-mail shows just how that core is bigger than any of us knows …

Train rider's lament... found out that two fresh batteries will play M&MC's twice before they need to be replaced. Took 3 RK's and the M&MC's on the 40 hour train trip to LA and fell deeper in love with Which Way From Here if you can imagine that!

I went out to the desert the other day and MMC's songs just kept coming into my head, and not just the songs on the CD but stuff they have been doing live. I've been so lucky and ever diligent about seeing them now while I can because you never know what tomorrow may bring. I definitely love the music and soul of both bands and each offers something the other does not. So my lament for not being around Austin has turned into a never-ending appreciation, and acknowledgement that our lives are connected in so many wonderful ways if we pay attention. Hope everything is going okay on your end and I just wanted to give you a shout and wish you the best. Always the best!

Thanks to everyone for the support you’ve given us so far in this adventure … I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible.

Take care and I’ll see ya down the line …