SONGS ABOUT A HOMETOWN

Growing up in Beaumont; it was common knowledge when exactly country star Tracy Byrd was back in town for a visit, and why exactly rock-n-roll legend Janis Joplin had her face on every tourism brochure ever released. Then, as the years go by and music taste became more refined and knowledge of American music legends grow, you learn about the many more legends who called our neck of the woods home. George Jones, blues artist Willie Johnson, Rapper Bun B, Clay Walker, Mark Chessnutt, the list goes on; ranging from the mainstream to the obscure, the electric guitar to the banjo. Something besides hometown binds them together: soul.

"Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything." Plato

Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/p/plato109438.html#VfQVkshmg6wACqo5.99

Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/p/plato109438.html#VfQVkshmg6wACqo5.99

Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/p/plato109438.html#VfQVkshmg6wACqo5.99

It was about growing up in the southern bible belt and struggling with finding level footing on an uneven terrain of wealth, poverty, traditionalism, and social advancement. And about doing what a kid who spent most his life barefoot does best, expressing life in their own way with little concern for dirt on their toes and a lot of connecting with the ground and the sky, and the beauty of being alive.

Many songs have been written about this aspect of Beaumont life from the perspective of the hometown legends as well as a surprising number of outsiders. Some of these songs highlight a simple and happy life and many illustrate the pain of the southern struggle. Many of these songs croon about the beautiful Beaumont women.

Here is a little playlist for you of current and classic artists from around the world spanning the decades singing about what Beaumont means to them. Enjoy these selections but I also encourage you to support the artists or their surviving families by making their full albums a part of your permanent collection. Many are available for paid download or at local record stores.

1927: Beaumont resident Blind Willie Johnson composed this beautifully emotional piece which was included in the Voyager selections that were sent out into space to represent the scope of human existence on earth, and has been featured on the West Wing and House of Cards. Willie received much of his inspiration directly from his life experiences within the bible belt and harshly segregated deep south.
Hear "Dark Was the Night" here

1959: Sydney and the Dreamers is a name known only to the most devoted of Rockabilly fans. And perhaps I am partial, Sydney Wayne Ester is my great Uncle and a native of Southeast Texas. While many of his songs are about life and love in the region, one in particular sticks with me. "Farm Road 318" is a fictional rout number that was originally Farm Road 418, located 30 miles north of Beaumont in Silsbee. And the apparent site of a 1950's alien encounter.
Hear "On Farm Road" here

1989: This collection would not be complete without a contribution from George Jones. This song tells the story of a beautiful girl who outclasses the life she lives in the oilfields of the gulf.
Hear "Pretty Little Lady from Beaumont" here

1990: For something a little  unexpected, British 80's acid-trip band The KLF released a 1990 album musically narrating a trip across the Gulf Coast.  One song on the album is titled "3am Somewhere out of Beaumont" Warning, uncomfortably experimental. Perhaps it is still ahead of its time.
Hear "3am Somewhere out of Beaumont" here

2006: "Mrs Belmont of Beaumont" by Johnny Edson, describes a Beaumont woman that becomes an object of comical fascination to the narrator.
Hear "Mrs Belmont of Beaumont" here

2008: Current musical artist and everyone's favorite hometown friendcrush Greg Jr, son of previously mentioned Greg Sr., wrote this lovely piece in response to lazy citizen criticism about the state of the community. You won't find it on the top of any radio charts but it's a great listen for inspiring hometown pride.
Hear "Love Your Town" here

2008: Chart-topping Houston country artist Hayess Carl wrote "Beaumont" for his 2008 album "Trouble in Mind" It tells a love story about the long distance relationship between a Houston woman and a Beaumont man.
Hear "Beaumont" here

2013: Youthful traveling band Lily and the Tigers were inspired by this region's inhabitants to write the heartfelt ballad "Beaumont" as a celebration of the free spirit.
Hear "Beaumont" here 

Honorable Mentions:

2001: George Strait
Hear "Stars on the Water" here

1976: ZZ Top
Hear "She's a Heart Breaker" here 

1968: Willie Nelson
Hear "Texas in my Soul" here 

1980: Johnny Cash
Hear "Rockabilly Blues" here 

What do you think of the evolution of songs about our hometown and how we inspire and affect bands passing threw? Do you know of some other contributions by local or out of town artists?

Dreams for the future, 

Betty 

WERE YOU BEING DRAWN?

I always love those neat little inserts that all the newspapers and magazines around here have. Street Peeps, Were you "Seen", Out and About, and a few others by local publications always bring a smile to my face when I spot friends and loved ones. Once in a while they may even elicit a squeal or cringe when I spot my own face gracing those glossy pages. Today as I was out and about enjoying the springtime air, an idea hit me. I would like to include a blog segment similar to this titled "Artists About Town"

"Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment." -Buddah

I will be regularly updating this blog post to include new 60 second artwork every few weeks capturing unsuspecting strangers at bars, festivals, eateries, and charity events within Beaumont, Texas. This segment will also occasionally feature the work of guest artists. Check back regularly to see if "you were being drawn."

This week 3/20/14: Banh Mon Renegade Food Truck
Show and share to identify. 

...

FEAR OF BREATHING

Breath it in. Spring is near and with it comes the Neches River Festival, an annual reminder to myself that this is the time of year where my life story, for all intents and purposes, started. 

In 2012 I completed my first painting in five years after having been on hiatus from the art community for much too long. It was a rapturous moment for me. Beaming with pride, not at the (mediocre)skill or content of my work, but at the realization that work had actually been produced in completion; I hurried to enter it into the Neches River Festival art show at the Beaumont Art League and paid the admission fee of $15 with the quarters that I had intended to do laundry with later that day. I received a phone call the following week. “We need you to come to the reception, your entry has won second place.”

Second place meant the world to me. To place at all made me feel like an absolute champion---not in a challenge against my fellow artists, but against myself and my own habitually low expectations. The universe had set everything in place that day to shout into my ear one little message, “You can do this!”

For the next two years I pushed and I worked and I forced creation from my mind and hand, desperate to never allow a laps in production to occur again as it had those previous five years. 

While re-entering this beautiful way of life, old demons revisit me and crippling adolescent fears reemerge. A fear of facing failure. A fear of bringing creation into the world at the wrong place and time. A fear of drawing a blank---forever. A fear of constructing a mirror that teaches me that maybe I did not know myself as well as we thought I did; bringing into the world irrefutable and permanent physical evidence that I am indeed flawed.

But even greater than these types of fears is my desire and urge to contribute. To be heard and repeated. To breath in the knowledge and visions and ideas of peers and exhale my own. No matter how small or seemingly inconsequential.

All around this city I see the open sharing of ideas become increasingly more beautifully incubated by the emergence of social media and instant communication. There is a trend amongst genY and millennials toward a more intimate sharing of reference and recommendation that in decades past had fallen entirely into the grasp of aggressive advertisement. People all around are creating and producing and failing and recovering. Bravo to you. Bravo to the dreamers and the creators and the teachers and the talkers, and the failures and the martyrs and the learners and the rebuilders. Bravo for making this 85 square mile part of our world something great and something beautiful---and a place worth being in.

"In creating, the only hard thing is to begin: a grass blade's no easier to make than an oak." -James Russel Lowell

If it has been a while sense you last created, whether for fear or apathy, please take a moment this week to fight yourself and win. And share it with your community. Cary sidewalk chalk to work, post a locally inspired meme, video yourself talking about your favorite bar, write something meaningful in a public place or online, yarnbomb a lamp post, ANYTHING! Just do it. And see how good it feels. Breath in the ideas of your peers and exhale your own. You may find yourself never breathing the same again. 

Deams for the future,

Betty 

A VILLAGE TO CULTURE A CHILD

Having children does not have to mean cartoons and crayons for the next ten years of your life. In fact, finding ways to incorporate your child into a creative adult environment can prove to be very beneficial to them. A few months ago I brought my 5 year old daughter along to a small music and art festival, much to the surprise of a friend. My response came easily from my lips. "I bring her to these things because I want to raise her amongst artists and musicians, I want to raise her to be cultured and self motivated, entrepreneurial and philanthropic, with a style all her own and an appreciation of the new. Basically, I want to raise Olivia Busceme."

Olivia's father, Greg Busceme, is executive director and co-founder of The Art Studio Inc. and has been bringing her to art, music, and charity events for years. "It just felt natural to bring them with me, there are old pictures of me carrying both of [my kids] in my arms, and it was hard to find a sitter, and why not?" Olivia, who according to her father started organizing band nights at around age 14, grew up to be one of the most well known and respected figures in the local music booking industry and has served on numerous festival committees insuring consistently high quality entertainment. "She just had that public service thing about her, she can't help herself." Greg insists that Olivia would have found a place in the art and music world no matter what, but believes that the constant exposure she received as a child played a big roll in her development. 

There is no deficit on summer art camps, craft days, family centered festivals, and children's learning activities. And lists abound on things your kids can do to keep boredom at bay or grow intellectually. BUT WHAT ABOUT YOU? What kind of life are you supposed to live when you can never find a sitter on Friday night and that child just won't stay hushed in the movie theater? Your life can go on, you can still have a little fun, do fabulous things, and meet new people.

You may be surprised to hear that there is a lot out there that you have been avoiding this whole time, and didn't really have to. If you can talk yourself into relaxing about their non schoolnight bedtimes, there is an abundance of fun and excitement made just for you--the adult. And if you have to bring the kids along, no one here will give you any nasty looks. 

I recently spoke to some parent friends of mine to discuss some of their favorite places to bring the kids. Shanna Hawa is an indie model, artist, producer, and mother of two. Richard Tallent is an art photographer and father of a newborn baby girl. And Monica Cobb is a successful food truck operator, trained chef, caterer, and mother of two. These are some of our recommendations. 

“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” -Benjamin Franklin

For some live music: The Logon Cafe/Pub
This cafe/pub is a great fan of more youthful and energetic bands, and even a sober karaoke. If you are tired of the two step, step into the Logon for a full blown dance party or just a bite to eat. Sit with the kids a little farther back from loud speakers and order them a french fry and rootbeer at the bar. This pub abstains from hard liquor in favor of craft beer and wine. And bar revelry typically reaches backyard family bbq levels at most. My only word of caution is to clear the area by ten, when crowds occasionally reach standing-room capacity.

For some fine art: The Art Studio, Inc.
Art receptions ignite visions of fancy old ladies looking down over their nose at oil painted flowers as they nibble complementary cheese cubes and twirl their fingers over their pearls as they repeat "I say, what wretched hooligans". The Art studio is anything but. Opening night of art shows is a huge social event and a great way to meet new people as you strike up a conversation about the work you behold. For more energetic children, avoid sculpture shows and artists with a propensity for explicit themes.

For a social lunch occasion: Lunch on the lake
The warmer season in Beaumont welcomes foodtrucks every Monday to the event center for a little taste of something new. Unlike larger cities, food trucks in a small city like Beaumont rely on word of mouth success and thus uphold a higher standard of health and sanitation in order to compete. Well dressed and sunglasses clad accountants, lawyers, artists, and thespians enjoy plates at a luxurious event center outdoor seating area along the lake. There is plenty of room for children to skip rocks along the water, or wonder over to the playground as you gossip with the girls or meet with clients. 

And a few more!

For Saturday Shopping: Saturday Morning Farmer's Market
Great educational opportunity and much less hectic than the super market. "Stop standing in the buggy!"

For Acting Fancy: Community Picnics at the McFaddin
Listen to some smooth live music at sundown and sip some wine on a checkered blanket in the grass with your loved ones.

For something different: Lunch at the Banh Mon
Chef Monica Cobb often brings her own kids along on summer days. They sale their art as dad and friends keep you entertained with live music.

For something chill: Beer Swaps by Slow Food Beaumont
A family backyard bbq atmosphere with room to run and play. Always at a new location and with new surprises. 

For some exploring: First Thursdays on Calder
Start at the Tattered Suitcase for live music, antiquing, and the occasional fashion show. Then on to Tacos La Bamba for special entertainment and authentic tacos, or on to fancy dining at Katherine and Company where outdoor seating removes the stress of telling the kids to settle down.

For a big party: The Grassroots Art Festivals (daylight hours only)
A hippy drum circle, an art sale, a bon fire, and live music mark this independently planned festival of magic and wonder.

For an easy night: Logon Cafe Movie Nights (check age ratings) 
Sit and eat a meal, dress in themed costume, enjoy a movie. Easy as pie. Which they have. 

Dreams for the future,

Betty

THE TRUE LEADER IS THE FIRST FOLLOWER

The past two weeks have been a complete blitz of cultural activity and celebration. I have hardly had much time to collect myself and pull from this beautiful romantic haze of melody, education, and flavor. So much time has gone into costume coordinating, volunteering, planning, scheduling and just down right attending/supporting our local creative movement in the best way I know possible: by simply being a follower...
Hold off the hounds!

A few years ago, I watched a short little TED clip that changed my life. It was presented by Derek Sivers, music business innovator, as he analyzed and explained the development of a most interesting scenario that he titled, "How to Start a Movement"

 

 "If you really care about starting a movement, have the courage to follow and show others how to follow." -Derek Sivers

As we go out into the world, we are encouraged to be leaders. And we learn that we do this by simply getting things started. Initiate, self-motivate, create, manage! And it breeds ideas that shine like a star. A big bright powerful star, seen as a shining grain of dust from a thousand light-years away, somewhere within a pool of a thousand more, and only when the weather is right, and when not obscured by the city lights, and easily forgotten and lost.

The past few weeks in Beaumont had been anything but quiet for the astronomers of the idea world. It was difficult to do it all with the three-day-long Boomtown Film and Music Festival, Acquae Obscurae: A Menagerie of Art, Mardigras Festivals, Gumbo Festival, Organic Gardening Festival, Several Theatre Productions, several Formal Attire charity events, an Untimely Halloween Bash in February, agreeable Skate Park weather, an elbow-rubbing full-packed craft beer swap, (the ill-fated) Biggie Killed Bambie Rap-n-Roll Swindle, the anticipated return of Lunch on the Lake Foodtruck Days, and multiple big name acts at accessible street venues (namely 90's Grammy award winning Bone Thugs n' Harmony)

All started as a little idea in the mind of a single person that just had to make it happen. And then what? What made these tiny ideas grow day by day into an almost uncontrollable burst of energy and festivity? The followers. I spend much of my time and energy on co-coordinating, planning events, volunteering, and serving on leadership committees, but the work I do is almost miniscule to the power I feel and in no way compares to the work it takes to talk myself into joining in with the first dancers on the floor.

"The first follower is what transforms a lone nut into a leader." -Derek Sivers

There is a core group of dedicated fans in our local area that spearheads this effort. These are the people that show up early so the opening band won't have to play to an empty room. The people who will pop in on an event despite knowing everyone else stayed in for the night. These are the people who will buy that $5 thingamabob off your craft table even if they are not sure what it is. Because you had an idea, and without them, your idea would be nothing. And one day, they are going to have an idea too. And they will know... you've got their back. 

Dreams for the future,

Betty