_TR_ wrote:
> howldog wrote:
> >_TR_  wrote:
> >
> >>
> >>Yet you remain a feminist.  This is a good indication that you will
learn
> >>NOTHING about communicating with men OR even communicating with
women who
> >>don't share your cult's rituals and dogma.
> >
> > well we dont know that she has announced to her bandmates that she
is
> > a feminist.
>
> You and I can understand that.  Proclaiming one's feminism is roughly
akin
> to announcing to all within earshot that you're the proud owner of a
case
> of genital herpes.  She is a feminist.  She clings to a cult of
victimist
> fools as if her life's energy depends upon it.  She may very well
have
> announced her affliction to the band (assuming that there really is a
> band), only to be tolerated as long as her husband/boyfriend/walking
wallet
> keeps her mouth in check.

I answered this in another post. While my feminism might drive my
behavior, being a feminist doesn't mean I'm spouting propaganda all the
time. Just when I feel it's appropriate.

> > I mean, lots of those old blooooz tunes arent exactly
> > about celebrating diversity or women-first-er-isms.

No shit. But I love a lot of those old blues, and sing some of them -
some are better for our "boy" singer (if I'm a "chick"
singer) so he
does those. Or we change the gender references, and sometimes the songs
play even better.

> Blues isn't a propaganda parade, although I'm sure many have tried to
make
> it so.  Blues is the music of the soul.  Blues springs from one (or
both)
> of two experiential reservoirs:  1) suffering and endurance, or 2)
sheer
> talent.
>
> Number two is out for this bimbo.  She admits to "emerging late in
life".
> If she had true talent, it would have been recognised long ago.
>
> Number one is slightly more likely, but being an overindulged
feminist, the
> only endurance and suffering she'll have experienced is her perpetual
PMS.

Oh I've sung in public many times, just not with a blues band. Just
took me this long to get the courage up to move beyond church groups
and karaoke and so on. Was too busy working and raising my girls and
all that. It wasn't until I hit forty that I decided to hell with it, I
was going to try something I'd always dreamed of doing, and see where
it led. Wish I had been this brave earlier in life. Endurance and
suffering, well. We've all had that in different ways.

> > I cant exactly see her preaching about lack of women's rights in
the
> > middle of Willie Dixons Hoochie Coochie Mama or something.

> Blues women have put down men for as long as blues men have sung
about "de
> wummon what done me wrong".

Yeah, there are an awful lot of songs about heartache and deception,
from both sides. Doesn't look like either gender is the only one to
experience love and loss.

> Blues has featured female talent since before the mountains turned to
dirt.
> Nothing new about that.  Most of this talent is confined to women
whose
> only instrument was their vocal chords, most of whom use the
instrument
> well.  Then there comes a crop of fools who think that just because
they
> open their mouths and wail, they should be considered "blues
performers" of
> merit greater than the typical shower diva.  As for Susan Tedeschi
and
> Bonnie Raitt, both are highly overrated.  So, they can pick up a
guitar and
> at least strum a few chords, maybe put in a four-measure dose of
> quasi-melodic improvised riffs ... Big Deal!  Their professed
"talent"
> focusses on their inclination to strum and wail.  What a
non-surprise.

Two people - I'll even say two men, if you like - are handed identical
guitars. Apart from the fact that they will each play it with their
individual and personal inflection, even if they have the same amount
of raw talent, you are going to get two very different results. At the
moment, all I do is open my mouth and wail, I suppose, if you want to
call it that. But, though it's not man-made, a voice is an instrument,
and can be modified to give different effects, if you know what you're
doing with it.

> There ARE proficient blues musicians, Big Mama Thornton and Katie
Webster
> to name just two.  Unfortnately there seems to be a vast shortage of
blues
> guitarists:  Raitt and Tedeschi just don't make the grade.

I wish the guys in the band could have the same interest in Wille Mae
and Katie that you do. They don't seem to be too interested in them,
and when I suggest songs they seem to prefer people like Lou Ann Barton
(which is fine, except she tries to be too tough most times, and growls
a little too much) and Marcia Ball. Actually, if I could, I'd have them
do some Billie Holiday, but most of her stuff is too jazzy for them.

> Back to the matter at hand.  This bimbo is a self-professed
"bluesmama"
> whose talent is conveniently (and I suspect mercifully) not in
evidence.
> And she's already demonstrated her crdibility (specifically, the lack
> thereof).  If she sings the blues with no better proficiency as she
shows
> when she indulges in Usenet arguments, then she is doing the art a
great
> disservice.

Our harp player is a brilliant man, and a very intuitive player. No
musical training, can't read music, plays everything by ear. Just tell
him what key the song's in and off he goes. But read his emails, and oh
my. Proficiency in one area doesn't necessarily correlate to
proficiency in another.

> > Blues is predominantly a man's music world, with some famous female
> > singers, the most famous of whom, usually got fuct up and slept
around
> > as "bad" as the guys in the band did.
>
> No disagreement from me.
>
> > Janis Joplin for example. True, some women are finally making names
for
> > themselves as blues musicians instead of just singers, Susan
Tedeschi,
> > Debbie Davies etc
>
> I don't know Debbie Davies, but Susan Tedeschi is nothing but a
lo-talent
> marketing phenomenon.  She is "talented" only because her agent says
she
> is.  Just another strummer and wailer.

Susan Tedeschi's covers of Koko Taylor and Janis Joplin and so on are
fine, but she's never been a favorite of mine, whether it's her playing
or her singing. Debbie Davies is alright. I like Bonnie Raitt's voice,
and she's a good slide player, but I'd just as soon as listen to Elmore
James.

> > The point is, a blues band with all men is probably not a great
place
> > to take a stand for feminism.
>
> If you mean that her victimist cult is probably not going to be
endorsed by
> the male members of the band, then you're probably right.  But so
what?
> "Hubbie the drummer" has the duty of keeping her mouth in check, lest
he
> find himself looking for another band.

We don't often discuss ideology. Sometimes religion gets brought up,
but only incidentally. I've never found the need or the appropriate
occasion to start in with the feminist rhetoric.

> >>>  And as far as singing goes, I
> >>> _know_ I'm a singer,
> >>
> >>That's irrelevant.  Thousands of no-talent fools JUST KNOW they can
sing.
> >>You have no basis to distinguish yourself from Yoko Ono.
> >
> >
> > we dont know that she cant sing either.
>
> We do know that she is a feminist.  Feminists lie.  Not only that,
being a
> feminist requires that the cultist dogmatically accept the biggest of
lies.
> So, perhaps you'll understand that her claims of musical talent, fine
> feminist family and any other *hidden* accomplishment are less than
> convincing.

Some feminists lie. Some masculinists (?) lie as well. I lie sometimes,
as I'm sure many people do. But it's usually white lies to get myself
out of a door-to-door encounter with the Mormons, or something. Or when
someone calls for donations and I tell them, I'm sorry, my husband
makes all our financial decisions.

> > BUT it is definitely a stereotype, chick singer who cant play an
instrument
> > at all, boyfriend or husband in the band.
>
> Indeed.  So, she lives a stereotype and dreams that it were
otherwise.
> Nothing new about that, especially for a feminist.
> >
> >>
> >>> The band's doing just fine, even with my presence.
> >>
> >>Then they must be masterful musicians to be able to compensate for
your
> >>self indulgences.
> >
> >
> > I wonder if she helps with the load in and load out of equipment.
>
> Are you kidding?  Ask her.  She's a feminist.  She'll concoct some
tale
> about how she loads, unloads, designs and actually builds the entire
stage
> set-up from scratch.

Actually, I should mention at this point that I invented the whole
concept of music. ;-)

I'm useless with power tools, never felt comfortable around them. I
think that's probably more gender conditioning than lack of potential,
though. My sister's quite handy with them, but she used to hang out
with Dad in his workshop. I was up in my frilly pink bedroom,
pretending a hairbrush was a microphone.



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