Downtown Georgetown
'What Does Stevie Ray Vaughan Have to Do With Anything?'
RECEIVED Wed., May 26, 2010
Dear Chronicle,
This letter is a reaction to Margaret Moser’s feature story regarding the five Jimi Hendrix albums released in March by Sony Legacy [”Not Necessarily Stoned but Beautiful,” Music, May 14].
When I first read Moser’s article, The Big Lebowski analogies rushed to my mind as I imagined my the Dude to Moser’s Walter Sobchak. With hopes that my oft-repeated question will actually be answered, I raise my voice to ask, “What does Stevie Ray Vaughan have to do with anything?” This question is a symptom of my exhaustion brought on by the nostalgia peddled by the Chronicle, and Austin in general, on a regular basis. Nearly every week, the names of fallen heroes and venues fill the feature stories and gossip column as if these ghosts were the only major players the Austin music scene had to stand behind. Let’s move on, people. There are hundreds and hundreds of people alive in Austin right now, renting PAs, recording equipment, and rehearsal spaces, making their own music and hoping to be heard. And of those living people, dozens of them truly deserve to be heard by the millions just as the Sahms, Foleys, Vaughans, and Van Zandts have been.
Another way of saying this is that it’s sad that with so many musicians, bands, and songwriters in this town, long-gone B-list dinosaurs like Moby Grape are the ones getting a cover story. Moser, please don’t attempt a feature about the newly remastered and repackaged Exile on Main Street. Rolling Stone already did the heavy lifting on that one.
This letter is a reaction to Margaret Moser’s feature story regarding the five Jimi Hendrix albums released in March by Sony Legacy [”Not Necessarily Stoned but Beautiful,” Music, May 14].
When I first read Moser’s article, The Big Lebowski analogies rushed to my mind as I imagined my the Dude to Moser’s Walter Sobchak. With hopes that my oft-repeated question will actually be answered, I raise my voice to ask, “What does Stevie Ray Vaughan have to do with anything?” This question is a symptom of my exhaustion brought on by the nostalgia peddled by the Chronicle, and Austin in general, on a regular basis. Nearly every week, the names of fallen heroes and venues fill the feature stories and gossip column as if these ghosts were the only major players the Austin music scene had to stand behind. Let’s move on, people. There are hundreds and hundreds of people alive in Austin right now, renting PAs, recording equipment, and rehearsal spaces, making their own music and hoping to be heard. And of those living people, dozens of them truly deserve to be heard by the millions just as the Sahms, Foleys, Vaughans, and Van Zandts have been.
Another way of saying this is that it’s sad that with so many musicians, bands, and songwriters in this town, long-gone B-list dinosaurs like Moby Grape are the ones getting a cover story. Moser, please don’t attempt a feature about the newly remastered and repackaged Exile on Main Street. Rolling Stone already did the heavy lifting on that one.
Alex Livingstone
