Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Kitty cats, possums, and... country fusion?

We brought in this little kitten, the other day. Apparently, it was the only one out of the litter to have survived. The mother cat was long gone, possibly run over(we live near a busy intersection). It had been raining, so we decided it would be best to bring the cat in, even though it was pretty feral.

We feed a lot of cats around the complex. I have mixed feelings about it; we honestly shouldn't do it, because if we feed a few cats, then a bunch more are gonna start coming around, and that's not good. Still, it feels pretty cold blooded to let them go hungry, or die. Especially when you see them everyday.

On a funnier note, I was outside talking with some of the neighbors, and a possum comes out of nowhere! You'd think they be rummaging around at night, but apparently this one just couldn't wait! It gave my next door neighbor a scare, then ran off into the crawl space. Possums are generally harmless, but if they have rabies, they could bite and infect some of the pets around here. I suggested we call an exterminator to come take care of these things.




This kooky-looking group is the prodigious 70s/80s fusion group The Dixie Dregs. Now, if you're like a lot of people, you might not be into "country" music, because of how banal and insipid it can get, especially with modern country music. The Dregs, on the one hand, are a strictly instrumental group, with a rock n' roll jazz twist to the hoe-down madness.

The group was formed in Augustus, GA(my home state =p) in 1970 by Andy West and virtuoso guitarist Steve Morse. The line-up would change many times over the years, with even the great violinist, of Mahavishnu Orchestra fame, Jerry Goodman joining their ranks.

The Dregs pieced together a tight groove, with bluegrass, rock n' roll and funk overtones, blended with the then popular fusion scene, made popular by the likes of Miles Davis and John McLaughlin. Their music varies from incredibly technical, and diversely musical pieces, to more chilled-out commercial oriented, but still interesting, opuses.

I will say that my interest in this band comes in part from my geographical placement. I grew up surrounded by bluegrass/country stuff, so my liking this bands feels only natural. For those of you who are of the Yankee-urban persuasion, you might not like it, but can hopefully appreciate the talent and hard work these craftsmen put into their, admittedly, somewhat niche music.

For those of you who are into the Progressive Colossi who form the group Dream Theater, you might be interested in knowing that the Dregs were a primary influence to their music - especially to that of their guitarist John Petrucci.

14 comments:

  1. Cool post and generally interesting blog man. Following.

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  2. You had me at the title! Great post man.

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  3. I see opossums all the time. I had two baby opossums as pets once, actually...

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  4. Great music, do they have an album?

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  5. Lmao the picture got me. Thanks for being a great blogger.

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  6. Great post. And I'm glad you feed the cats even though it may not objectively be the best thing. I wish people would get their pets sterilized and not just throw them out whenever they're not amused anymore, if people just took some responsibility it wouldn't even be a problem.

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  7. Nice post! great tune and good info, following!

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