The Golden Ticket To Nowhere

American Idol has been around long while now. Spanning numerous judges, two networks, and a bunch of years to show lives on, but I've never being much of a fan.

Truth be told me, I am not a huge fan of most mainstream music. Pretty voices, even prettier faces, all packaged nice and neat by corporations ran by well dressed mean behind mahogany desks. Predictable, boring fluff. And American Idol is simply the breeding ground for the next wave of cute predictable stars.

Growing up, my mom worked at our local civic center so I saw nearly every big concert that came to town. From Liberace to Metallica. Huey Lewis to George Strait. Lights, pyrotechnics and sequins no longer interest me.

I prefer to see a songwriter sit alone upon a plywood stage in some dimly lit bar. I prefer to hear a relatively unknown reveal the inner working of his mind over a "big star" strutting around and belting out lyrics someone else wrote.

A singer that sings songs written almost entirely be others is no more than a karaoke performer in my opinion. The equivalent of someone with a good voice reading aloud stories written by someone else and then receiving kudos, fame, and fortune for being a talented "artist."  

I wanna hear a little gravel in that voice. The pain of that lost love. And no I don't care if the tone is "a little pitchy dawg." Sometimes it is in that pitchiness that contains to very soul of the song.

Yeah, I do believe I'll skip American Idol. Give me the musical styling of someone like Slaid Cleaves and a cold bottle of Shiner any day.