SOUNDTRACK: ASHLEY RAY-Tiny Desk (Home) Concert #125 (December 11, 2020).
Ashley Ray is a singer from Kansas.
Her voice is raw and harshly accented–purely from Kansas. But her voice goes beyond country into what sounds like ancient folk music.
In this Tiny Desk (home) concert, Ray is
sitting on a screened-in porch with producer, songwriter and longtime friend Sean McConnell (and a distant chorus of crickets chirping in the early evening light).
I don’t know what her music normally sounds like, although this blurb says the songs
all from Ashley Ray’s latest album, Pauline feel like a breakout release for this Kansas native, but she’s been putting in the hard work for close to 20 years now, spending much of her time waiting tables while writing songs for better-known artists.
All three songs feature Ray singing. She plays guitar on the first one. She is accompanied by McConnell. He plays guitar as well, but it’s when he adds his harmony vocals that the songs really flesh out. The second song, “Dirty work” almost feels like an X song (or many a Knitters song) with Exene singing lead and John Doe adding the harmonies (and playing the only guitar).
It’s interesting that Ray’s speaking voice is almost unaccented, when a song like “Pauline” is so clearly Southern.
“Just A House” feels more country than the other two–the melody of the chorus, I’m sure. But I like the understatedness of it.
I do not like country music (duh), bit I really enjoyed this. It was devoid of production and twang and felt real.
[READ: January 5, 2021] “Delaware Voters Await Joe Biden: ‘We Just Need Him'”
Today Georgia voters get to decide if Joe Biden will be roadblocked by The Worst Man in America, Mitch McConnell (he may have actually done more damage than trump).
They get to decide if two trump supporters, who have already proven that their role in government is exclusively to get rich and screw the rest of us, should be thrown to the curb (preferably from a moving car).
This election shouldn’t be happening. These two horrible people should in no way be close to winning an election for anything. And yet here we are.
This essay is also a lost cause. It was clear that Eggers was sent to cover a victory (or concession) speech in the giant Wilmington Delaware parking lot where Biden was to appear.
But, in another shock, this election was far closer than it should have been. Even thought Biden won by over SEVEN MILLION votes, it was still way too close. And as such, it wasn’t called on the first night, nor the second night. And clearly that was Eggers’ deadline.
So he talks to a few people who are hoping to catch a glimpse of the man who can undo trump’s damage.
An African American math professor says “we need someone with a plan.” Biden has a plan for the virus, a plan for police to peacefully interact with African-American men and a plan for education in the COVID era.
It is a social worker and her twenty year old daughter who gave the title quote.
The social worker says
I can’t believe the world right now…everything that happened in the last four years–hurting people, the children being taken away from their parents, the derogatory statements that he’s made about women and families and people–it all meant nothing. I mean, who are we?
Her daughter says he was in high school in 2016 and when she saw students and teachers with MAGA hats, she said “I thought we were friends; I guess we’re not friends.”
The penultimate people he talks to are a man with a Grateful Dead mask and a polo sweater. The man was a lifelong Republican but he changed parties after the nomination process in 2016.
They were later shocked to realize that a number of their friends were trump supporters. His wife said, “I’m really struggling now with friendships.”
No matter how you feel about people. If they supported trump, they cannot be your friends. They lie, cheat, steal and now, they commit sedition. Get rid of them all.
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