That like/different idea applies to music as well. Australia is home to what may be the biggest Country Music center outside of America - certainly the biggest out of North America. The crucible of the Outback was a refining furnace for the original Scots-Irish music similarly to how the Appalachias melded our version of those same old songs into the Ur-Country music. The 1950s and 1960s saw the internationalization of popular music, with Slim Dusty (Oz's Johnny Cash) bringing American influences to the music scene Down Under.
Slim's daughter Anne Kirkpatrick has an almost Emmylou Harris purity of the style, although hers was born of the Outback "Bush Ballad", not from Coal country. But the differences highlight the similarities. It's very like what we're used to on these shores, but different. And that's a good thing. G'donya, mate. This Sheila can sing, fair dinkum.
So good on ya, Jay. Careful with the grog.
4 comments:
You're dead on with this one BP- She DOES sound a lot like Emmylou Harris!
I love reading this blog. Your music posts win--completely, consistently, and across a notably broad stylistic spectrum.
Not enough people Stateside know about Slim Dusty, let alone his daughter. Good tunes! (Couldn't resist bustin' out a fiddle to play along.)
Jeremy, thanks for the feedback. Your tastes in music are clearly as weird as mine. ;-)
But the Oz music scene is pretty impressive, and it's WAY more than skin deep.
The odd thing is our incoming Congressreptile is named Ann Kirkpatrick(to be voted out as soon as possible) and for a moment I thought you were talking about her...
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