STICKY DOORKNOBS

40 (Secular) Songs for 40 (Holy) Days (Pt. 2)

Part 2 of 5:

"Presence of the Lord," Bind Faith. Clapton, never much of a spiritual sort in the 1960s and 1970s, did sing these lyrics while part of Blind Faith: "I have finally found a place to live / Just like I never could before / And I know I don't have much to give / But soon I'll open any door. / Everybody knows the secret, / Everybody knows the score. / I have finally found a place to live / In the presence of the Lord. Later in life, Clapton talks openly of his 12-step experience and the beginning of his prayer life following the death of his son, in 1987. Read Christianity Today's piece on Blind Faith's "Presence of the Lord" here.

"Gotta Serve Somebody," Bob Dylan. "Slow Train Coming," Dylan's "Christian album" is chock full of songs fitting of the season, and this one cuts right to the point.

"Roll Me Away, Bob Seger." OK hang with me on this one it may be a stretch. We were made to be free, and given a freewill ... and Seger's anthem to personal freedom is as close to being spiritual as any song that's not actually a spiritual song. The melody itself will lift you up. There ... I'm stickin' with it.

"Shenandoah," Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops. Sometimes (many times even) words aren't needed and the melody alone is enough to move the spirit.

"The Rising," Bruce Springsteen. If you don't get a cold chill considering the meaning of these lyrics, wow ... not sure it's possible not to feel it. Miami Steve's chlling slide guitar work mixing with the choral vocals tell the story of the firemen who ascended the Twin Towers on 9/11 ... only on subsequent listens those lyrics could just as easily pertain about the first responders' climb up a stairway to heaven. One of the most emotional, spiritual rock and roll songs ever written.

"Love is the Answer," England Dan and John Ford Coley. John Ford Coley told me a couple of years ago when he and former singing partner, the late Dan Seals, wrote the song, they were practicing a non-Christian religion. You wouldn't know it listening to this timeless message of how love makes everything right.

"Jesus Was An Only Son," Bruce Springsteen. "Well Jesus kissed his mother's hands / Whispered, "Mother, still your tears, / For remember the soul of the universe / Willed a world and it appeared." Springsteen alludes to his Catholic upbringing often throughout his career -- so often you could probably make a half a lenten song list composed of nothing but Springsteen songs. Nowhere is he more direct in his religiosity than in this from "Devils and Dust."

"A Ride Back Home," John Mellencamp. The song's narrator is as down on man's inhumanity to man as you can get, but he still has hope of getting through the pearly gates -- if only Jesus will give him a hand up.

Extra credit:

Thanks to Lisa for submitting Radney Foster's "A Little Revival"

WTAMU Symphonic Band delivers powerful evening of music, highlighted by stirring rendition of 'Angels in the Architecture'

I've always wondered what professional and high school-level sport is most closely matched in terms of quality of play and athletic ability. With the growing number of insta-stars in the NBA one would be led to believe that's your answer, with perhaps the NFL next and baseball a distant third. The photo caption on a picture of highly touted phenom pitcher Stephen Strasberg in today's Sporting News Online edition says Strasberg, who pitched in college, can trow heat with the best of MLB pitchers, but doubt remains whether he is ready to throw it in the majors. It takes a while to hone the craft of baseball and not many player make the jump from high school to the majors.

There are of course exceptions based on individual ability and those with extra heart. Not so the musician, it seems. College orchestras and bands often seem almost as talented as those who are paid professionals and all the evidence you need of that is to have seen the UTEP Wind Symphony last month or Thursday night's performance, which was on a par with UTEP, of the West Texas A&M University Band at the Lee High School auditorium. These musicians are highly skilled and exceptionally talented, the products of hours of devotion to their craft and no doubt much money spent on individual tutelage.

UTEP's handling of the phenomenal modern classical composition, "Angels in the Architecture" was astounding as was the band's flawless interpretation of Luigi Denza's "Funiculi-Funicula Rhapsody." The program, weighing in at more than hour, was worth every moment and closed with a piece called "Cadence." Composed by a former WTAMU music theory student, the piece is literally a marching drum cadence that has been transformed into a symphonic piece, created by B.J. Brooks, of Portales, NM. But it was the opening number, by Frank Techili, a Monroe, La., native and Richardson Berkner HS graduate, that stole the show. "Angels in the Architecture is a marvel of modern composition with all its chaos, conflict and beauty rolled into 20 of the most captivating musical moments you'll hear. The most remarkable aspect is that "Angels in the Architecture" was written by a man from the suburbs of Dallas and first performed at the Sydney Opera House in July 2008 -- a scant 19 months ago. "Angels" could comfortably sit alongside anything by Gustav Holst, John Williams or Charles Ives. That a piece written and performed for the first time so recently has already been picked up by high school bands to perform at UIL contest -- which the Midland Lee Band will do next month -- is proof of not only the quality and complexity of the composition, but also that the future of classical music is in good hands indeed.

As is the future of classically trained musicians. Fifteen of the WTAMU band's members are from the Permian Basin including 11 who graduated from Midland High or Midland Lee. The Midland-Canyon pipeline continues to be a powerful conduit of continuing musical education.

Thursday night's concert opened with keyboardist Kristin Williamson, of Midland, and conductor Don Lefevre dedicating "Angels" to Bryce Hodges, a 21-year-old Lee graduate who died Thursday morning.

Those Midland High and Midland Lee graduates who are members of the WTAMU Symphonic Band include: Flute -- Kirsten Guerra; Clarinet -- Charlie Hammerle; Bass Clarinet -- Colby Swails and Alta Striggles; Trumpet -- Breanna Munoz and Jovan Munoz; Horn -- Alex Bowen; Trombone -- Travis Marks; Percussion -- John Benton, Stephen Galvan; Keyboard -- Kristen Williamson.

Congratulations to the entire 67-piece WTAMU Symphonic band for a stirring and professional evening.

Photo: WTAMU Symphonic Band, fronted by conductor Don Lefevre, bowing.

40 (Secular) Songs for 40 (Holy) Days-Pt. 1

Some people read or write devotionals during the Lenten season. Plenty of people give something up or do something to get closer to God. Fewer, perhaps, hear music that brings them closer to God, especially secular music. Buried within the volumes and volumes of rock, pop, country and other secular musical genres with negative messages are a handful of songs, by comparison, that glorify God in a less than conspicuous way than a Christian song would. Over the next 40 days, we'll give you 40 songs for 40 Days. Music you may have heard but maybe never made a spiritual link.

Part 1 of 5:

• "Down to the River to Pray," Alison Krauss. Krauss's voice alone can carry any tune to near heavenly heights, but the message of redemption in this a capella feature from the movie "Oh Brother Where Art Thou" dually qualifies it.
• "Forever Young," Bob Dylan. Before it was commercialized in the last few months by a soft drink company, Dylan's ode to youth featured some of the most golden rule-like lyrics on the radio: "May God bless and keep you always / May your wishes all come true / May you always do for others / And let others do for you. / May you build a ladder
  
  to the stars / And climb on every rung / May you stay forever young."
• "I Wish You Peace," The Eagles. Likewise the SoCal band in their pre-'Hotel California' days, The Eagles had a history for tossing in an orchestral song that was, for lack of other words, quite beautiful. This was that song from 'One of these Nights," with an easy guitar backing Randy Meissner's tender vocals.
• "Sweet Life," Paul Davis. Known mainly for "I Go Crazy," Davis' had a clearly Christian element to his lyrics, and this talke of blissful wedded life is one of his most loves.
• "Get Together," The Youngbloods. Amid the protestations of the anti-war music of the late 1960s came this gem from Jessie Collin Young and his band. It's message may have been lost even after all these years, but there is no mistaking the song's intent: "Some will come and some will go / We shall surely pass / When the one that left us here /Returns for us at last  / We are but a moments sunlight / Fading in the grass  / C'mon people now / Smile on your brother / Ev'rybody get together / Try and love one another right now."
• "Stop," Ryan Adams. The spirituality of Alcoholics Anonymous, it has often been said, is often more profound than the church experience because of the honesty laid bare. Adams' tribute to those who meet with others to try to overcome their weakness is borderline spiritual and only sort of fitting for the season. Unless you battle the bottle.
  
• "Shower the People," James Taylor. The unconquerable power of love in a 4 1/2 minute pop song.
• "To the Morning," Dan Fogelberg. The late Illinois songwriter had a gift of conveying the beauty of God's creation in melody. "To the Morning" is what a pristine mountain sunrise sounds like.

Thirty years ago last night, a guy from Austin shined brightest

A few observations and other unimportant stuff:

-- Thirty years before Beyonce strutted her way to six Grammy Awards, a quiet guy from Austin set the record for five Grammys in one night: Remember Christopher Cross. His year was 1980, and he won Record, Song and Album of the Year, as well as Best New Artist, and Arrangement, for "Sailing," the song that put him over. Wow, things change in 30 years don't they? I mean ... things ... have ... realllly ... changed.

-- Let me save you $15: Remember, also from 30 years back, when this new band came along named Klaatu? The buzz was they were really The Beatles and the Fab Four had come back and were recording, under the mysterious name, songs about outer space, including "Calling Occupants (Of Interplanetary Craft)" and other tunes that had us all wondering what if? Thanks to Forever Young, a retail treasure trove of old CDs in Grand Prairie, I found that Klaatu album. Umm, how do I put this: Klaatu was NOT The Beatles. Not even close. Easiest way to tell is to just listen to the quality of the songs 30 years later. What has stood the test of time and what hasn't?

-- Speaking of which, Ringo Starr's new CD, 'Y Not" ... not bad. Not bad at all. Ringo, of all people, has given us a good solo effort 40 years later.

-- I know I'm about 10 years late on this, but Meryl Streep's movie "Music of the Heart" is a really good, wonderfully inspirational movie. Rent it if you haven't ...

-- Lubbock fell in love with Mike Leach and became Raider Nation. So, if it falls in love with its new football coach, will they call the town Tubervilleville?

-- Tim Tebow gets raked over the coals for filming a pro-life ad that will run during the Super Bowl ... yet we will parade around nearly nude women in an assortment of demeaning beer ads throughout the game and no one will say anything that will be heard in the press. What's wrong with this picture? Kudos, by the way, to Tim Tebow. If there is a role-model in waiting what with the retirement of Kurt Warner, it's Tebow.

-- Speaking of class acts, Tim Duncan recently became only the 4th player in NBA history to score 20,000 points. No flash, no bling, no tantrums, no gunplay in the locker room. Just hard work from a guy who has year in and year out made it look almost effortless. Maybe the last of a dying breed.

-- And speaking of controversial ads, the one that should really be banned is the new print ad by Nike for Kobe Bryant and  Lebron James with the tagline: "I do what it takes to win. I don't leave anything in the chamber." Nice. The warped gang mentality makes another inroad into every day life.

-- Finally, when you hit 50, you realize one of the most blessed things in life is harder and harder to find: the pull-through parking space.

Teddy Pendergrass: a giant voice silenced

If you were anywhere near adult contemporary radio in the 1970s, you were struck by the power, energy and charisma of Teddy Pendergrass's voice. Strong and confident, he is most well known for "If You Don't Know Me by Now," "Love TKO" and an early call-to-social action song, "Wake Up Everybody," which still rings loud and true today, almost 40 years after it was first recorded. He first made a name for himself as a member of Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes as a drummer, but soon became their lead vocalist. And what a set of pipes he had.

Pendergrass' death to colon cancer this week was a sad end to a life that was cut short once before when he was rendered a quadraplegic after running his car into a tree.

After his accident, Pendergrass took to heart his own words from "Wake Up Everybody" when he began helping others with spinal cord injuries. He continued recording after the accident but those close to him say he could never breathe the same way he could before the accident which affected his unique vocal stylings dramatically.

His voice was a giant part of the 1970s and the ladies loved him; in fact, today's rap 'artists' who record what they seem to think are sexy songs would do well to follow Pendergrass' lead: recording romantic, sultry songs without ever once using coarse language or disrespecting a woman. That was another art form Pendergrass truly mastered.

His death brought to mind the wonderful songs the soul singers of the 70s gave us; romantic ballads that were smooth then and if it's possible as smooth if not even more so today. Some of those great songs have more than stood the test of time.

I made a playlist of some of those songs I remember and loved back in the 70s. It might have been awhile since you've heard any of these but you may find more than one of them sticking in your head for the rest of the day -- or longer.

"Betcha By Golly Wow," "Break Up to Make Up," "I'm Stone in Love With You" and "You Are Everything," The Stylistics.

"Kiss and Say Goodbye," "Shining Star," The Manhattans

"That Lady," The Isley Brothers

"If You Don't Know Me By Now," The Love I Lost," and "Wake Up Everybody," Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes.

"Have You Seen Her," and "Oh, Girl," The Chi-Lites.

"Love Train," (maybe the happiest song ever?)" and "Used Ta Be My Girl," The O'Jays.

That genre of music could not have lasted long enough to suit my musical tastes. Beautiful stuff all, thanks at least in part to stylists and powerful personalities like the great Teddy Pendergrass.

The 2nd Annual Jimmys -- The Best (and Worst) of 2009

It is that time of year when many of the periodicals publish their "Best Of ..." lists; this year there's even a "Best of the Decade" list, which may be one too many lists for me.

My lists rarely jibe with the national publications, but I know what I like. Take it or leave it, but here's the the 2nd Annual Jimmys ...

Best Book I Read in 2009: "Drunkard," by Neil Steinberg. The Chicago Sun Times columnist writes openly  about his struggle with alcohol addiction. Startling in its honesty, and often hard to read, his writing makes James Frey's pale in comparison, especially since Steinberg's story is true and Frey's "A Million Little Pieces" was, well, not.

Best Video: "John Adams" Glued-to-your -seat history. Paul Giamatti is excellent as Adams.

Best Music Video: "Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood Live from Madison Square Garden." Highlight: The 15 minute version of "Voodoo Chile," equal parts dramatic with Winwood's vocals and Clapton's guitar.

Best Rock Album: "Wilco (The Album)" Honorable Mention: "Big Whiskey and The Gru Grux King," Dave Matthews Band. (Matthews' "Why I Am" was one of the year's most enjoyable songs.)

Best Blues Album of 2009: "Blue Again!," by the Mitch Fleetwood Blues Band. Runner-up: "This Time," Robert Cray, and "Together Again," Bob Dylan.

The Tell-Us-You'll-Never-Do-That-To-Us-Again Award: To whoever is responsible for Bob Dylan's Christmas Album.

Oddest Duet of the Year Award with Winning Results: Norah Jones and Willie Nelson's take on "Baby It's Cold Outside." Just weird in theory, but these two could sing a road atlas and it would sound good.

Most Overblown Music Releases of the Year: "No Line on the Horizon," U2, and "Working on a Dream," Springsteen. Talk about over the top, overexposed, overblown marketing ... U2 on Letterman five nights in a row? Enough already.

Duet of the Year Award with Losing Results: Anyone sick of John and Kate? Do we really need to hear about these people anymore?

Best TV (Drama): '24' ... And less than three weeks until the new season debuts.

Best TV (Comedy): '30 Rock': Despite a noticeable downturn this year, it is still the best comedy show on TV.

Best Pop/Rock Album of the Year: "The Fall," Norah Jones and "Get Lucky," by Mark Knopfler. Knopfler's CD is actually a better listen though both would be great music for a snowy day. Or a hot day.

Best Classical Album of the Year: "Beethoven Symphonies 1-9" by Bernard Haitink and the London Symphony Orchestra. Seven hours of what musical perfection surely sounds like.

Best Country Album: "Willie and the Wheel," Willie Nelson and Asleep at the Wheel. Honorable Mention: "The List," Rosanne Cash and "Hills and Valleys," The Flatlanders.

Best Throwback Album: "By a Thread," Government Mule. What 1970s music sounds like in 2009.

Best Greatest Hits Compilation: "Let It Roll," George Harrison.

Best Christian Album: "Church Music," David Crowder Band and "The Long Fall Back to Earth," Jars of Clay. Song for song, as good as anything I heard all year.

Best Movie I Saw: Until I saw "The Blind Side," there wasn't one.

Ten Memorable Tunes from 2009:

"Beyond Here Lies Nothin'," Bob Dylan

"Dive In," Dave Matthews Band

"Oh, Happiness," David Crowder Band

"Days is Almost Gone," Derek Trucks Band

"Heart," Jars of Clay

"Hard Shoulder," Mark Knopfler

"Rattlesnake Shake," The Mick Fleetwood Blues Band

"Chasing Pirates," Norah Jones

"Day is Done," Ryan Bingham

"Moment of Surrender," U2

"Bull Black Nova," Wilco

"Baby It's Cold Outside," Norah Jones and Willie Nelson

 

 

 

 

 

Lovett's latest void of songs about Texas, long a Lyle staple

Lyle Lovett has made a career of quirky songs, brilliant gospel-tinge foot stompers and plaintive ballads, and has proven with 10 or so albums that he rightly belongs alongside giants like George Strait and Willie Nelson when it comes to making listeners feel the sense of place that is the Lone Star State when listening to his music.

His latest, "Natural Forces," released Tuesday, steers away from Texas more than previous efforts, yet he still most definitely deposits listeners wherever it is he happens to be singing about -- the Bayou, the road of middle America or the wayfaring life of a rodeo cowboy in this case. On Lovett's latest, he has taken up the cause of the Native American, the down on their luck and the cowboy, but has still found room for his trademark innuendo-laden humor, found on "Pantry" and "Farmer Brown/Chicken Reel," both not so subtle plays on bedroom humor.

His nods to Texas are sorely missing but the poetry he both writes and interprets, and the way his voice delivers the material as only it can makes up for it, sort of. What the Texan listener is left longing for are his odes to their great state. There is nothing here that approaches the singular greatness of "That's Right ("You're Not From Texas)" and the album as whole doesn't quite equal the thoroughly memorable "My Baby Don't Tolerate," but as is the case with Norah Jones (who will release her new CD Nov. 17), anything Lovett puts out is at the very least a few steps ahead of most anyone else.

10 Great Texas Songs by Lyle

"That's Right ("You're Not From Texas)"

"San Antonio Girl"

"The Truck Song"

"Cute as a Bug"

"South Texas Girl"

"Texas River Song"

"West Texas Highway"

"Wallisville Road"

"Texas Trilogy"

"Don't Touch My Hat"

Steve Miller, Johnny Cougar give the people what they want

What made The Steve Miller Band's show Tuesday night at the Ector County Coliseum so thoroughly enjoyable was that it was obvious the guys on stage were having loads of fun. The fact that they had a wide body of work no doubt helped plenty, but at 2 hours and 15 minutes, Miller and his band went way beyond just punching in, working a shift and punching out.

It wasn't a perfect show -- why Miller decided to sing "The Joker" twice (once acoustic and once with the band) was a little puzzling, and the straight on video shot of him playing on the jumbo screen made it look like the veteran rocker was auditioning for "American Idol" -- but it was the best fundraiser for the Ector County Education Foundation in at least four years, maybe longer. With more spontaneity than Huey Lewis and a higher energy level than Chicago, Miller's performance had to be among the best in the immediate past history of the series.

What worked so well, too, was Miller's sharing of the spotlight. Sonny Charles, a bluesman from 1960s Indiana, signed on to tour with Miller last year and when the band broke into some gorgeous electric blues in the middle of the set, it was without question one of a couple of high points of the evening, the other being a raucous version of "Fly Like an Eagle," featuring fiery dueling guitar solos, and the exceptional amount of fun that was being had on "Take the Money and Run." By the time the Dallas native broke into "Money," people were up and dancing.

Miller was gracious and conversational and the array of guitars brought to him by a stagehand -- seemingly a new one before each song -- showed why he has been called Stevie Guitar Miller. I don't know how you define a nostalgia rock act, the kind the ECISD foundation has been bringing in, but it the definition includes that they have no new music of late, the way these older era musicians perform, the effor they put into what they do and the fun they have must be determining factors in setting apart the average from the memorable.

Steve Miller was a hit and judging by the crowd's reaction, one who flew higher than an eagle. Sorry. Had to go there.

THE BOB DYLAN SHOW
   On the other hand, Saturday in Lubbock was the mixed bag known as The Bob Dylan Show, three old hands who are in the middle of a barnstorming tour of stadiums (tonight's show in Arizona, btw, cancelled due to extreme heat). Last weekend's concert can be summed up fairly simply: Willie was Willie, Dylan was invisible and Mellencamp was memorable, saving the show with the kind of energy only someone formerly named Johnny Cougar could provide.

Watching Willie is like going to a museum to watch the Mona Lisa, and there once was even somewhat of a resemblance. You know you're watching art history and while you might have marveled at it more 30 or 40 years ago, you still appreciate it for what it is and the beauty of it all today. We don't know how much longer we'll have the 76-year-old singer around; he moves a little more slowly than he used to and he no longer unfurls the Texas flag at the outset of the show, but hey ... Willie is Willie and seasoned Texas concert-goers know they are watching an American treasure.

It was a disappointment, maybe even a huge disappointment, that the artist for which this tour was named was so mysterious. While Willie and Mellencamp came to the front of the stage like a star is supposed to do, Dylan for some reason used the occasion to blend in with his band. He was hard if not impossible to see and if you don't know his lyrics, it's likely you wouldn't know what he was singing. I regret not liking this show because he is a huge, huge piece of modern music history, and the musicianship of the band was exceptional, but Dylan's absence was so noticable that if you told me he really wasn't there and the vocals had been piped in, I'd probably believe you. His choice of tunes, too, was odd: a summer nostalgia tour during which each act played about an hour, tops, made his decision to include the almost 8-minute "Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again," a song that never charted, rather odd.

Mellencamp, though, was unquestionably the high point. His volumes of midwestern angst and rebellion, and subtle lyrics that hide behind what at first sounds like anthemic odes to man and country, put him, along with Springsteen, as an obvious successor to Dylan; Mellencamp, once shed of the Johnny Cougar image and beyond his 'Jack and Diane,' days, turned into a voice for his generation, my generation. You might not always like what he has to say, but he has at least had the backbone to say it. While I likely wouldn't travel 100 miles to watch Dylan again, I would easily travel twice that distance and pay maybe  twice as much for a longer set from this Indiana roots rocker. He simply saved the Bob Dylan Show.

Photo: A fuzzy picture from an iPhone of Steve Miller, seen on the jumbo screen at right.

Michael Jackson: There was a reason he was dubbed the King of Pop

We tend to over-dramatize a person's significance in the immediate wake of their death. Prominent world figures and newsmakers most especially. 'We' meaning everyone, but certainly the media tops the list of worst offenders. When TV heads began addressing issues of what happens to Michael Jackson's kids and who will get Michael's money (if there is any left) Friday morning on the network morning news cartoons, the story of the death of Michael Jackson quickly went from valid news item to the charade these things usually turn into. So Friday morning came with no real surprises.

Having acknowledged that, I will say a couple of things. Yep, Michael Jackson had serious issues in life. Like most of the rest of us, he was flawed. His tabloid life was sordid and if even 10 percent of what was alleged was true, he was a dark and deeply troubled individual.

But there is no mistaking what he was from a professional and creative standpoint: as big a musical giant as the other giants who came before him. And you can start the name dropping with Elvis and the Beatles. In the pantheon of cultural icons, he rests alongside both those names for many reasons, not the least of which was his ability to draw the masses into collective ogling at mere mention of his name. More importantly, though, was his contribution to popular music. He had several massively successful albums. Two of them, "Thriller" and "Dangerous," were nothing short of pop excellence. And within the other CDs he released through his 40-year tenure were pop jewels which became legitimate additions to the history volumes of modern music.

Within the context of the 1980s, Michael Jackson wrote, sang and performed perfect songs. They simply got no better than "Beat It," "Billie Jean" and "Thriller" in that era. Proof of that comes even today, 27 years after "Thriller": How many millions of people can still successfully conjure up the melodies in their head at the mere mention of the song title. Cliche though it is, he defined a generation and along the way he changed the music industry by showing how powerful music's message could be when supplemented by video. It's up to you to decide whether that's a good thing or a bad thing. There have certainly been worthy videos. Personally, I think video, slick imaging and marketing has destroyed country music.

Even Michael Jackson's professional contributions when it comes to the music video and his stake in that sub-genre are not without asterisk for purists, but be certain about one thing: he was the very best at what he did. His dark side must be acknowledged simply because it is part of his entire story and for that reason his impact and death should be kept in proper perspective. He was no god or messianic figure and should never be thought of as such. But when you focus solely on his craft it's hard to deny his impact.

One of my favorite quotes since the news came yesterday, a sad day that also saw the loss of Farrah Fawcett, herself an icon of the 1970s, was made by a New Yorker who like many people grew up in the iconography of both Michael and Farrah: "These people were on our lunch boxes."

Maybe not on my lunch box or yours, but on enough to prove the point. You don't often make it on a school lunchbox without being someone who people will remember for quite some time.

Beat of different drummers not coming to Midland this summer

It's been a high point on calendars in summers past: Drum Corps International's "Thunder in the Desert" event at Grande Communications Stadium, and it routinely features some of the most excellent, athletic and adept college-age (and some high school) musical talent in the country. The event has a fundraiser for the Midland High School band in years past. But not this year.

According to the DCI Web site, mid-July tour stops in Texas in 2009 include Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Denton.

After stopping here for probably the last 4 or 5 summers, Midland is not on the list, which isn't surprising given the small handful of people who have enjoyed the event in years past. It is unfortunate, though.

(Pictured: The Blue Devils.)