this one
Paul Moffett

Down On The Corner
By Paul Moffett

· .I certainly hope that Spring gets here early this year, just because I'm so tired of winter. Of course, that's the way I felt last year.

· This issue will mark the completion of sixteen full years of publishing Louisville Music News - the first issue was in April 1989, assembled using text printed out and glued down by Jean Metcalfe and me. (I have tried hard to forget how long it took to assemble it.) The commercial printer that ran the paper converted the photos into half-tones, at $3.50 apiece and it took two-and-half days to get the paper. Now, I assemble all the text in a graphic application (really), output all the pages as graphic images and email them to the commercial printer, who sometimes gets the paper back eight hours later. Works like a charm, saves a lot of time and effort. Hurray for computers, eh?

· The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States reads as follows:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

Once more, musicians and other folks whose speech is not perfectly in line with current politics are coming under the guns of censorship, both pre- and post-publication, particularly on television and radio. Fortunately, Americans' opinions of the First Amendment have recovered from the post-9/11 dip and have returned to the levels that existed before, which means a majority believe in free speech.

On the matter of religion, however, we are faced with a concerted effort from the right to establish Christianity as the more-or-less `official' religion of the country, regardless of what the First Amendment says, using the "salami" method - slice off a little here, slice off a little there and pretty soon, the salami is all gone.

Finally, on the matter of "peaceable assembly," that one appears to be going the way of the dodo, with protestors corralled into fenced-in "protest" sites, usually far away from government officials, where said officials will not be bothered by them. This is usually done under the guise of "preventing violence."

Where is Eric Blair (a.k.a. George Orwell) when we really, really need him?

You can keep with the current state of the First Amendment at www.firstamendmentcenter.org.

· Marvin Maxwell, who has apparently entered the 21st Century and gotten online properly, forwarded this link for all Louisville radio fans over, um, forty or so. For your amusement: http://www.79waky.com/.

· From the Rumor Mill - Will Alan Rhody finally be able to set up a place to showcase Nashville songwriters in Louisville. Seems to be likely.

There seems to be some discussion and plotting and planning to stage a Jugband Festival in Louisville going on. That could be quite an interesting event. Stay tuned for more on both of these rumors.

Corrections And Clarifications

· In Tim Roberts December 2004 story on Hunt Sidway, there was an implication that Billy Bartley's drum tracks were not kept in the final mix. They were.

Codas

Bourne, Ralph W. "Bill," Jr. died in Louisville on February 5. He was a former member of River Cities Concert Band and the Moonlighting Band.

Eberle, David A. MD,56, died on Louisville on February 14. He was a physician who sang with the Motet Singers.

Miller, Keith Anthony "Ka-Flo," 25, died in Louisville on February 9. He was a rapper and was recording his first CD at the time of his death.

Pirtle, Hazel Clyde,86, of New Albany, Ind. died in Louisville on February 18. He was a guitar player and a member of the Country Highlighters band.