Willie Nelson = Globalization

As I noted on my facebook page, he's looking really old. He is a master
showman, though! Emily and I shelled out our $110 (for the two of us)
for pretty good seats to the concert at Red Rocks Ampitheatre. Aside
from a cameo appearance by Dennis Kucinich (which makes me roll my
eyes), the concert was fantastic. Old stuff, new stuff, that same old
guitar that had holes in it fifteen years ago (at least)... Awesome.

In some ways, Willie Nelson represents much of what's right with
America. Not the fact that he looks to be 232 years old, but the
remarkable number of musical traditions that you hear wound up in his
music. Jazz, blues, the African-American spiritual tradition,
bluegrass, cowboy ballads, folk, rock and roll... He's managed to
incorporate all that and more--and each of those musical genres has its
own complex global pedigree. Africa, Ireland, the Caribbean, New
Orleans, New York... Like the states. We don't have a single,
monolithic culture, but we've combined an almost infinite number of
cultural traditions, blended them together, and produced something new.
And maybe (at least in Willie's case) something better.

"...on the road again..."