Most of you know that I have written hundreds, if not thousands, of songs that never make it to paper or a recorded medium. Thanks to the Geegsters, I am about as prolific as Barry Manilow on poppers, only I don't make any money at it. Until the Geegsters get what they deserve, and that is a standing run at the Andy Williams in Branson, or someplace classy in Vegas, that's just the way it's gonna be.
Last night I was treated to some top-shelf American folk music with father/son banjo and moving analog illustrations, and it was fabulous! It made me want to hitchhike to an Appalachian music festival where you can buy your own jug to play jug music on and drink fresh-squeezed lemonade out of a Mason jar. The other thing that really hit my emotional buttons about the father/son banjos is that these dudes are Armenian, and the father reminded me a lot of my grandfather: the same squishy-face-heavy-eyes-big-nose combo that was my granddad. Who, by the way, did not play banjo but did have a mean repertoire of folk songs.
Though I portray my grandfather as a part-time coward/full-time money-lusting SOB who turned fig orchards into strip malls, that's only partly true. When he wasn't enabling sub-cunt's sickest trips to the borders of Borderline, he was actually an artist. Let me say that again: my grandfather, known far and wide as being a ruthless businessman, MADE ART.
I am one of the few who know this. Now you know.
During the War, he had some sort of boring-ass timewaster job watching for something or other. So he had a lot of extra time on his hands to ride horses and paint gorgeous Biblical scenes. My mother has a few sprawling drawings of Jesus and Mary in her possession. These were all done before she was born. The family/responsibility bug bit grandpa hard and he spent the subsequent fifty plus years chasing the almighty dollar instead of illustrating his favorite Bible scenes.
I was inspired to write an American folk song about the villain of my novel, "The Ballad of Dahlia Y." And I was also reminded that I need to be fair to the man whose money allows me to be a Lady of Leisure, so he is going to get softened up in the novel. He deserves it.
I miss him now. I was so mad at him for so long, but now I really do miss him.
Posted by Zerd at March 7, 2007 02:24 PM