The Southerner Journal

By Ronald Sitton

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Sept. 28) -- I plan to semi-officially end "Hell Month" today; I'm finally mowing my yard.

As you can tell from the picture, nary a weed-wacker impeded the growth in the front yard in the last month. My neighbors sneer at this pariah as I drive into the driveway each weekend, grab dirty clothes, two bags of papers to grade and a computer out of the truck before disappearing into the house I call home.

I'm told I worry too much about my job, I need to slow down, I should find time to smell the roses. Roses? I always said just when you think you're sitting on a bed of roses, you get stuck in the ass with a bunch of thorns.

So I got up at 8 a.m. and started the lawnmower. I'm sure the neighbors love me now. In an effort to do my part to slow global warming, I used my 1977 Montgomery Ward 3.75 hp electric weedeater with a 14" cut, on the front yard at least. No exhaust on this baby, but I'm sure I'll see the results in my electric bill.

The 38 percent increase passed on by the city made it jump to $270 this month. I felt bad about that until I found out my parents bill hit $315 and my best friends bill hit $420, even after I helped him install cellulosic insulation in the attic this past spring.

Anyway. The electric weedeater gave up the ghost after edging the driveway, before I even got around to edging the house or the rock curb that blocks the torrent of rainwater rushing down the hill, sweeping what's left into my cavernous back yard. The curb knocks the water into the culvert that divides my neighbor's yard and ours. But it doesn't keep the weeds down.

Onto the next weedeater, a 1/5 hp electric Craftsman with a 10' cut. But it doesn't have a spool for some reason. Two carcasses now sit on the curb. I go to the gas-powered Troy-bilt DB70SS to finish the front. So much for helping global warming.

The annual raking of the front yard takes about 45 minutes. I should rake more, but we've got a Magnolia in the front and it's a pain to keep clean. However, the pine needles fell from the neighbor's house, so I finally had to do it. Time for the second cigarette.

Age makes a person take breaks.

My front yard could fit in my back yard twice. If I didn't break now and again, my heart would grind to a halt in the middle of the hill, and that wouldn't do. So I start by cleaning the porch, then getting the back-yard mower out to tackle the base of the hill.

The grassy slope haunts me. It seems every time I think I get a handle on it, it wins again. Ruined two mowers on it my first year living here. I put the best parts from the two together to make a back-yard mower; if it tears up, I'm not crying. Planned to plant giant sunflowers on it, but never quite got around to it.

The base wore me out, so I sit to let the sweat evaporate and watch the birds pick at the leftover detritus. A bluejay flies up to greet me, then joins in the feast.

Breaks provide perspective.

As I gander over the back yard, I realize I've already accomplished a lot ... though there's still a lot to go. I think back over the first month of school, "Hell Month" as I call it. Working at home during the summer cannot prepare the body for September. Like sitting on the beach watching a tidal wave approach, you can only brace for impact.

Filling up a schedule - or three or five depending on the semester - can help. Grad school taught me I must schedule breaks to remain sane (OK, breaks and two black cats gave me a sense of sanity in grad school). The only way to schedule breaks involves scheduling work - a wicked cycle. But it works. When I come to a break, like this weekend's WINEAUX FEST in Altus, I take them whether I can afford them or not.

Sanity remains one of the faces we show the outside world; one must unwind before springing into the next abyss.
Trust me, everyone will appreciate it. Though my calendar fills, it feels good to mark off each day's assignment. As I trudge along, I see the goal before me, resting occasionally to look back where I've been. Appreciation for where I am pushes me to continue.

Roll another cigarette ... 38 seconds to microwave the coffee ... finally, I'm ready.

I decide to weedeat the slope, a skill I picked up mowing a mountainside with a weedeater when I lived at the House of Misfit Toys between K-town and Oak Ridge. Up and down and up and down and up and down and up ...

Along the way I find rocks to finish the bed I'm making for herbs or flowers or whatever will grow in the shade. I pick up a fallen nest and decide to see if I can trick a bird into landing in a lion's mane. I spy a yellow and black snake about a foot long sunnin' under my porch. He sees me, goes his way and I go mine.

By the time I finish this year's last lawn-mowing adventure, a shower beckons. Water cleanses my body as steam clears my head.

Have I said mowing the yard is not my favorite activity? Yet as with many things, it must be done or suffer inevitable entropy. Another job always remains. But the physical activity prepares the mind. Now on to the real work so I can play tomorrow.

Posted by Ron Sitton at 03:08 PM | Permalink

by Michael Ford

CROSSETT, Ark. (Sept. 20) - With incidents like the recent ones in Jena, La., the South deserves its reputation as being the most racist region of the United States. Any white person that hangs a noose anywhere should face prison time. The white students responsible for the nooses at the Jena high school didn't even get expelled, but merely suspended for three days. I got suspended for five when I skipped a day of school in junior high.

If it was up to me, it would not only be illegal to hang nooses, but to fly the confederate flag. I hear Southerners ramble on about the importance of their heritage. It's unfortunate that said heritage consists of close-minded, racist bigotry that any decent person should be ashamed of. Instead of admitting such and trying to improve upon the ignorance of their ancestors, many Southerners celebrate it, tricking themselves into thinking it's something to be proud of.

Blind allegiance, patriotism, etc., is the root of all evil. We should be striving to improve upon the ways of those who came before us, not mimicking them in a celebratory fashion.

For those unfamiliar with the story I speak of, I submit to you these videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSUAl_CImBU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_rntP6iw4U

Posted by Ron Sitton at 09:09 AM | Permalink

By Ronald Sitton

LITTLE ROCK (Sept. 17) - Dubbed the "Kings of Little Rock Honky-tonk" by local musician Kevin Kerby, The Salty Dogs are promoting their new album "Autoharpoon," a 12-song compilation of new and used cuts that fits like your favorite T-shirt.

The band's second full-length offering provides another welcome reprieve from the slicked-up Nashville sound dominating the country music airwaves. Brad Williams provides lead vocals, plays lead guitar, acoustic guitar and mandolin, and writes the vast majority of tunes played by The Salty Dogs. Bart Angel plays drums and percussion, pairing with Mike Nelson on bass to form a formidable rhythm section. Local legend Nick Devlin rounds out the quartet on electric guitar, lap steel and autoharp. Angel and Devlin often provide backing vocals.

An independent label out of Colorado that that focuses on traditional country, country rock and a couple of bluegrass bands, Big Bender Records picked up The Salty Dogs in February, providing full distribution so that country music fans can grab the album at Best Buy, Sam Goody's and iTunes. Of course, the album can also be found on the band's Web site and MySpace page, or by e-mailing Miles of Music.

However, don't think the band intends to change to attract the major record labels.

"I think if the opportunity came available where we could do something else, we'd have to think about it long and hard," Williams says. "I don't see us beating any doors down (to land a contract from a major label)."

Reinventing an old sound

Described anywhere from "Grand Ole Opry-style Country" to "a natural heir to the Bakersfield Sound" to "Traditional Country & Western with a hip flavor," the band reminds listeners of how good country music could be before Garth Brooks and others turned the genre into a pop-music playground. Yet, some critics of The Salty Dogs contend the band's influences are too apparent.

Courtesy of The Salty Dogs

On Stage - Brad Williams (left) and Nick Devlin (right) perform during the Memorial Day Weekend.

Williams agrees.

"I don't see how a band cannot reflect its influences," he says. "Someone's subjective view will compare to something else."

Williams should know, as he's often accused of mimicking Dwight Yoakam (though he doesn't wear the skin-tight jeans). Yoakam faced similar criticisms from people who thought he sounded too much like Buck Owens when singing the Kentucky bluegrass sound.

"I think ultimately it's a compliment," Williams says. "I do respect Dwight Yoakam. In the same sense, it's not that you're trying an impersonating act."

"I'm tired of hearing it," Angel interjects. "I'm sure you are."

"That's a lot of people's frame of reference," Williams continues. "I take it with a grain of salt. You do want to be known for what you do."

Williams notes his influences came from the bluegrass and gospel music he heard growing up in Marked Tree, where he was raised listening to Ralph Stanley, Bill Monroe, Jimmy Williams and Sun Studio artists including Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley.

"Every time I write a song, I write it as a bluegrass tune," he says, somewhat to the surprise of Angel. "To write a pop song, it's hard for me to do."

Williams' songwriting skills might be genetic. His grandfather, Roy Wagner, passed away in the '80s, but not before he had written a bunch of songs, some funny and some with a Gospel influence. Williams found the words to "Holding to my Lord" and wrote the accompanying music. His mother, Virginia Williams, provides background vocals on the track that appears on "Autoharpoon."

"I know it means a lot to her and a lot to me," he says. "We have three generations in the song."

The opening track, "Starting now," features Elvis' drummer, D.J. Fontana, known for his instantly recognizable intro to "Jailhouse Rock." Williams contacted Fontana and asked if he'd be interested in recording.

"(Fontana) said, 'Let's do it,' and set aside a date," Williams says. "We went to Nashville with a friend to record it. After two run-throughs, he knocked it out. He was in and out in an hour."

Not that Angel needs to worry about losing his place in the band. Though he grew up listening to Kiss and Cheap Trick on his own and Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings through his parents, he owns a peculiar style in that he stands to play his drum kit. While his kit may not be as big as Johnny Cash's drummer, W.S. Holland, Angel still gets a full sound.

Cash's influence can be felt in a few different ways. Williams' family would often talk with the Man in Black when he came back to Marked Tree in Northeast Arkansas' cotton country. The band dedicated its first full-length album, "The Salty Dog and Friends," to Cash.

The new album features a song, "When my blood runs cold," that emulates the Cash sound. The Salty Dogs recorded the song for the soundtrack of a Kelly Duda documentary about Cummins Prison, where Cash played in the early 1970s.

"Autoharpoon" also showcases the vocal talents of Devlin on Mickey Newberry's "Why you've been gone so long?" (the song made famous by Johnny Darrell). One of two cover tunes on the album, the song often appears in The Salty Dogs' live show, as does Steve Davis' "Take time to know her," made famous by Percy Sledge.

"We play it off the cuff," Williams says. "I thought it was a great addition to the record. It's still one of my favorite songs."

In an effort to keep reinventing the music, Nelson adds synthesizers to a few tunes, much to the chagrin of some critics. Williams scoffs at their queasiness.

"This record is still staying true to country music, but trying to think outside the box," he says. "I don't think it changed the style of music."

Branching Out

Courtesy of The Salty Dogs

The Salty Dogs - (left to right) Brad Williams, Bart Angel, Mike Nelson and Nick Devlin.

Williams, Angel and Nelson also play in Big Silver, which Williams describes as "Beatles post-Rubber Soul." Between the two bands and some occasional back-up duty for singer-songwriter Amy Garland, each knows what the other will do in almost any situation.

"We get kind of rougher pop with (Big Silver) and traditional country with (The Salty Dogs)," Angel says. "It's kind of a blessing. I approach the three situations differently. It's nice -- as a drummer, I have to approach them differently. It's nice to do that stuff."

Those who've followed the band know that it started as "a lark" to enter The Arkansas Times' Musician Showcase. Big Silver won the showcase in 2000 and The Easys, a pop-rock band led by Big Silver's Isaac Alexander, took the title the next year. Williams and company decided to do "something directly opposite, over-the-top country" in 2003 to make fun of themselves.

"We put together enough songs for a 30-minute set list," Williams says. "We kind of played the role as much as possible, including wearing too much cologne."

According to Angel, guitarist/vocalist Chris Lipsmeyer came up with the name "The Salty Dogs."

"He was going to be a member, but life in general sidetracked him," Angel says. "We kept the name though he didn't stay with us."

As fate would have it, The Salty Dogs won the Arkansas Times Musician's Showcase, the accompanying recording opportunity and the moniker, "Best Original Band in Arkansas." They made an EP, "King of Broken Hearts," and could have been content stopping there. But they enjoyed playing country music more than they realized.

"I don't consider it to be a lark now," Williams says. "I don't think anybody would consider it that. I don't think we have the same motive as during the Times' showcase."

Angel agrees that the band started taking its task more seriously following "The Salty Dogs and Friends," which featured guest appearances from some of their favorite musicians and friends in the Little Rock music community. He credits the continued improvement to Williams' songwriting.

"The more he writes, the better he gets," Angel says. "One of the things people say, we're playing this music that's old in a sense, but we keep it fresh and inject new energy."

The Salty Dogs have opened for Junior Brown, Moot Davis, Hank Williams Jr., Pete Anderson, the Gourds, Old Crow Medicine Show, David Rawlings and the Legendary Shack Shakers. Their rise into the country music consciousness means most shows are played at night, which made their "unofficial" album release at North Little Rock’s William F. Laman's Public Library that much more interesting.

"Amy Brower was doing a summer concert series at the library," Williams says. "She thought it would be cool if we did it. It was a good show. It was a venue where people actually listened and it was the first time we played the new songs. It was pretty cool."

"Brad brought a bubble machine," Angel interjects. "I thought that was kind of cool."

"My daughter got to come to the show," Williams says.

"We got home at a decent hour," Angel adds.

The Whitewater Tavern hosted the official release party. Compared to the library gig, the official release party did not start on time and featured a lot more people and about three times the sound, Williams says. Dan McCorison, a singer/songwriter from Nashville, opened the show with Devlin. All in all, the result was the same: happy people listening to quality country music with good lyrics and little pretentiousness.

If anybody's wondering if The Salty Dogs accept tips at their shows, they do. And they prefer Old Spice cologne.

Catch The Salty Dogs live at the Old State House Museum with Charlotte Taylor on Oct. 4.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the September 2007 Little Rock Free Press.

Posted by Ron Sitton at 02:20 PM | Permalink

By Michael Ford

CROSSETT, Ark. (Sept. 15) - A study published this week in Nature Neuroscience and reviewed in Slate Magazine verifies something most intellectuals already knew: Liberals are smarter than conservatives.

"In a rapid response test—you press a button if you're given one signal, but not if you're given a different signal—the authors found that conservatives were 'more likely to make errors of commission,' whereas 'stronger liberalism was correlated with greater accuracy.' They concluded that 'a more conservative orientation is related to greater persistence in a habitual response pattern, despite signals that this response pattern should change.'"

Does anyone really find this surprising? A habitual response pattern merely indicates someone who is strongly resistant to change, or as they like to call themselves, traditionalists. It still bothers me that the word tradition has positive connotations for most people. For me, tradition has always meant "refusal to evolve." Shouldn't we all be constantly looking for new, improved ways to do things, rather than repeating ourselves, calling it tradition and tricking ourselves into believing it's a good thing.

America still practices quite a few traditions that any decent, open-minded person should be ashamed of, such as only allowing opposite sex to marry, not giving women the right to choose, selling anyone a gun, mistreating immigrants and, of course, invading third-world countries to obtain a finite resource while ignoring genocides. Conservatives would suggest we do those things simply because, well, it's tradition. However, at one time, slavery and not allowing women to vote was also American tradition.

That said, you would think everyone would conclude that change is good and tradition (or habitual responses) is bad, but, unfortunately, that's not the case. Back to the study ...

"'Liberals are more likely than are conservatives to respond to cues signaling the need to change habitual responses.' The study's lead author, NYU professor David Amodio, told London's Daily Telegraph that 'liberals tended to be more sensitive and responsive to information that might conflict with their habitual way of thinking.'"

When I think of habitual responses, I think of the response I get when asking conservatives why they still support President Bush: "He's a good Christian man that's against abortion!" The irony in such a response is staggering considering the president is responsible for thousands upon thousands of deaths. If I was going to support Bush, I would at least come up with a more believable reason, such as his contributions to the English language.

Posted by Ron Sitton at 10:00 PM | Permalink

Prediction: Arkansas beats Alabama, but gets slaughtered by LSU, which loses to the Sabinator. Three-way tie for first. Alabama goes to SEC Championship for being absent the longest, wins the Sugar Bowl. Arkansas loses the Rose Bowl. LSU beats USC for National Championship. Miles goes home to Michigan. Nutt tempted by LSU?

Posted by Ron Sitton at 12:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity.
- Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, about the era of the French Revolution

It was the worst of times, the best of times, but now it's over. Thank dog for the passing of August, 2007 - the hottest month on record in much of the United States and Alabamaland.

The dead leaves from the drought-ravaged trees in the area are already falling and the fall bird migration has officially begun.

But while August was a rough month to take in many ways, let's not forget some of the best political news of the past seven years. President Bush's amoral political aide Karl Rove and his incompetent but loyal Attorney General Alberto Gonzales have left the building – the White House that is – and slunk back to Texas in disgrace.

Senator Larry "I am not gay" Craig announced his resignation yesterday, helping to bring the Log Cabin Republican story out of the closet before the masses and the mass media.

Not since Monica Lewinsky's stained blue dress have so many media organizations struggled with where to draw the line in talking about sex and politics in the same breathless sentence.

It just makes my heart sing when truth and justice are actually in evidence in the good old US of A.

But there's more work to do to right the ship of state that has been careening toward the abyss of history since the Bush gang decided to invade Iraq in the wake of 9/11.

If things go as planned, North Alabama lawyer Jill Simpson of Siegelman affidavit fame will be heading up to Washington in mid-September to brief the House Judiciary Committee staff on what she still sees as an injustice directed from the White House in that political prosecution.

While the Alabama Democratic Party and even Siegelman's own lawyers still don't seem to get this story, it is one of the most important narratives going in the drive to set the ship of America back on an upright course.

There are no guarantees yet that the Democrats in Washington will be able to grasp this information and seize the day to turn this ship around. But at least it's worth a try.

On September 15, we are told, there will be a large mass anti-war march in Washington on the same day Bush's general in Iraq is supposed to report back on the progress of the troop surge. We will be there to cover it.

According to several early stories about that report leaked to national newspapers, the news will not all be good. But since those stories have been out there, the report seems to be changing, at the direction - surprise, surprise - of the Bush White House.

According to all the TV punditry on the Sunday morning talk shows today, Army Gen. David H. Petraeus may now have more so-called "good news" to report, although it will still set off a contentious debate in Washington over what to do about the debacle over there.

Reports Add Fuel to Iraq Debate

If the talking heads are to be believed on "Meet the Press" and the newer Chris Matthews show on NBC, Bush is so politically savvy that he will turn the political debate over the war around and the Republicans will stand by their man and not help the Democrats do anything to de-fund the war or force the beginning of troop withdrawals from Iraq.

I think they are totally wrong from a political point of view and certainly in terms of what is right for the country. Apparently, however, establishment Democrats are still such a part of the Washington taint that they do not have the guts to take the fight to Bush all the way to ending the war and impeaching Bush.

Sources tell us that the Republicans have the dirt on every Democrat in Washington, including Rep. John Conyers of Detroit, Michigan, who was seen in Africa with Rep. William Jefferson of Louisiana - the guy who got caught with a bunch of tainted cash in his refrigerator.

Before the 2006 mid-term election, Conyers was holding hearings in the Capitol basement and pounding the minority gavel saying if the Democrats regained control of Congress, he would move to impeach Bush, one of the worst presidents in American history and whose administration has been riddled with one scandal after another from Katrina to torture to spying on Americans.

Since the Democrats took back Congress, however, there has been very little talk of that, except from Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who is running for president but does not have an angel's chance in hell.

A few weeks ago, there was a lot of talk about impeaching Gonzales. But he did the Washington two-step and got out of town while Congress was on vacation in August, right after Rove announced his resignation and just before Larry Craig announced his. The result? A buried story.

And now it's football season, so the masses are paying even less attention, especially in Alabamaland.

Nick Saban seems to be on the right track with the Alabama Crimson Tide's 52-6 season opening victory over Western Carolina, but let's face facts. The Hoover High School football team could have beaten Western Carolina. It was no true test.

Let's just hope the worst of times are over and that the best of times are still ahead. I don't have much faith. But you've got to hold out some hope in life.

At least we're all not dead yet. And as I often like to say, "you can't win if you don't play."

So let's take the fight to them! What do you say?

Posted by Glynn Wilson at 02:31 PM | Permalink