Father and Son

 My father was into sports. He had very little interest in music. In fact, I'm not sure he ever owned an album or a CD in his life. I remember trying to introduce him to the music I liked back in the late 60's. Once I played him all four sides of Blonde on Blonde in one sitting. That didn't go over that well. "That guy can't sing" was his take on Bob Dylan. His reaction to the picture of Jimi and the band on the cover of Are You Experienced was the 1968 equivalent of WTF? That was the beginning of the realization that my music was not going to be our music.

Fast forward 40 years and I am now the father trying to get the kids interested in my music. This hasn't been easy. They are developing a taste in music from YouTube videos, the Disney channel and their mother. Nothing good there. I am trying to have an impact, but it has been hard so far.

With mom out of town, I saw an opportunity for the kids to have a live concert experience. This past Saturday we went to the J. W. Marriott Hill Country. Robert Earl Keen was playing a show as part of the Texas Open festivities. After a day at the pool, it was show time.

 It was a beautiful night to be outdoors in the Hill Country. Robert and the band seemed fired up and I think the kids had a great time. When my son wasn't begging to go out into the crowd, he did sit in front of the stage and seemed to enjoy the music. My daughter wanted to hear Ready For Confetti and "that song about Toby Keith." Robert played both of those as well as Man Behind The Drums, which is his tribute to Levon Helm. It was very moving under the circumstances.

It was a great night. Hopefully I got my two students on the right track. I'm thinking of starting them on the Basement Tapes next.