Thursday, January 11, 2018

CULTURE MYTH - Day 1: Des Moines

Starting today, and continuing on or near the 10th and 25th of every month, we will be reprinting a post from Chad Taylor's blog, Culture Myth. Chad Taylor was the music reporter for Cityview magazine in Des Moines, although he has also written for other publications like DSM Magazine.

Written by Chad Taylor. Originally appeared on the Culture Myth website on March 18, 2016


Rae Davis' cousin came to see her play tonight.

"All this time, I didn't even know we were living in the same city," she says afterward, still in disbelief. "Then I look up from the stage, and there she is."

The Davis clan is not the only one represented in the Des Moines Social Club's Basement Bar tonight, either. For both Davis and Sara Routh, the venue is full of parents and relatives and friends and loved ones. It's full of family.

For nearly 500 years of our human history, it was customary for people at home to come to the shore and watch ships leaving the harbor. It was a chance to say a final farewell to loved ones standing on deck, and a way of wishing the vessel good luck as it pushed forth into the great unknown or, at very least, the great known but still really dangerous and unpredictable.

It can be impossible to know how luck will fare on a given voyage. Ferdinand Magellan left Seville with five ships and nearly 300 men, and returned three years later with one ship and 18 men, but those 18 men had gone all the way around the world by the time they were done, so everyone called it a net win.


But in those first moments, as people get ready to push off into the realm of adventure, possibilities are endless and hope is in easy abundance. Such was the feeling in the Des Moines Social Club's Basement Bar, as Davis and Routh kicked off the final leg of Routh's "Black Sheep" tour, in support of her album by that name.

The road is nothing new to Routh; she's traveled the world, lived just about everywhere, and hitting the road on Friday towards Omaha marks her third trip in support of this album alone. But no matter how many times you hit the road, having the camaraderie of family on that first stop is something that can not be overstated, nor replaced by some weaker substitute.

Every crowd means something. Just the fact that people have taken their time to come out and see what you do--especially in a new town, where they are often out on little more than a friend's recommendation or an interesting poster--means everything to a musician; the acts of performing and viewing a live show are mutual leaps of faith. So while an artist is grateful and appreciative of every single person who pays a cover or picks up a CD, a crowd of familial faces is uniquely loved.

We have things like GPS in our lives now. We have smart phones and wireless networks and cars that can run for 100,000 miles without a hiccup. When we look out over the distant horizon, we no longer gaze into the night and think "there be dragons." We know what lies out in the Great Beyond. So when family sees you off on an adventure, it is no longer a way of seeing your face for potentially the last time. Instead, any thoughts or fears for the future are replaced by a feelings of love and support. "Go be bold," they are saying. "Be brave, be amazing. Be great."



There will be other crowds on this voyage across the western United States. There will even, heavens willing, be bigger crowds, packed with friends both old and new. But for the first night, for the beginning of a trip months in the planning, there couldn't have been a more perfect one.

Davis' uncle passed away last year. She marks it as a turning point in the relationships among the various extended family members. Everyone came together to celebrate a great man's life, and in that time, they might have rediscovered something great about one another, and it's possible that each person, in some small way, inwardly promised themselves to do more.

Not that an explanation is needed, but when asked, it's the only explanation that Davis can come up with for her cousin's surprise inclusion with all the other parents and children and closest friends down at The Basement.

"We're family."


On or near the 10th and 25th of every month, we reprint a post from Chad Taylor's blog, Culture Myth. Chad Taylor was the music reporter for Cityview magazine in Des Moines, although he has also written for other publications like DSM Magazine.

The Culture Myth website:
http://culturemyth.net/


PREVIOUSLY ON IOWA MUSIC SHOWCASE:

YOUR OWN PRIVATE IOWA - Episode 16: Sisko Diq
https://iowamusicshowcase.blogspot.com/2018/01/your-own-private-iowa-episode-16-sisko.html

EPISODE 59: Favorites of 2017 (and The State of The Website Speech) -
http://iowamusicshowcase.blogspot.com/2018/01/episode-59-favorites-of-2017-and-state.html

A Whole Bunch of Boring Statistics on Favorites of 2016 and the Favorite Posts of the Year -
http://iowamusicshowcase.blogspot.com/2018/01/a-whole-bunch-of-boring-statistics-on.html

YOUR OWN PRIVATE IOWA - Episode 15: Morning Sex and The Good Weed -
http://iowamusicshowcase.blogspot.com/2018/01/your-own-private-iowa-episode-15.html

JAZZMAN JOE VIDEOS - Josh Duffee and The Graystone Monarchs at the 45th Bix Biederbecke Jazz Festival at The Waterfront Convention Center in Bettendorf on Aug 6, 2016 -
https://iowamusicshowcase.blogspot.com/2018/01/jazzman-joe-videos-josh-duffee-and.html

Two weeks ago...
YOUR OWN PRIVATE IOWA - Episode 10: H.D. Harmsen -
http://iowamusicshowcase.blogspot.com/2017/12/your-own-private-iowa-episode-10-hd_28.html

Three weeks ago...
YOUR OWN PRIVATE IOWA - Episode 9: Courtney Krause -
http://iowamusicshowcase.blogspot.com/2017/12/your-own-private-iowa-episode-9.html

One month ago...
EPISODE 58: Happy Hawkeye Holidays 2017, Part 3 of 3 - Scrooge -
http://iowamusicshowcase.blogspot.com/2017/12/episode-58-happy-hawkeye-holidays-2017.html

Three months ago...
EPISODE 52 - Happy Hawkeye Halloween 2017, Part 1 of 4: Killer Cows and Other Iowa Furry Monsters -
http://iowamusicshowcase.blogspot.com/2017/10/episode-52-happy-hawkeye-halloween-part.html

Six months ago...
OTHER SOURCES: Pants Off Mixtape Vol. 1 -
http://iowamusicshowcase.blogspot.com/2017/07/other-sources-pants-off-mixtape-vol-1.html

One year ago...
Episode 42: The Acts of Iowa Music Showcase Live -
http://iowamusicshowcase.blogspot.com/2017/01/episode-42-acts-of-iowa-music-showcase.html

Two years ago...
Episode 24: Favorites of 2015 -
http://iowamusicshowcase.blogspot.com/2016/01/episode-24-favorites-of-2015.html

Three years ago...
Episode 1: Iowa Pride -
http://iowamusicshowcase.blogspot.com/2015/01/episode-1-iowa-pride.html


OTHER IMSC WEBSITES AND LINKS:
Feed:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/IowaMusicShowcase
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Iowa-Music-Showcase/364796883703114
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/iamusicshowcase
Instagram:
https://instagram.com/iowamusicshowcase

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