This week, Ron shares one of his musical influences. Read on... Joe Strummer was someone I came across when I was about 15 or so, when I was just starting to develop a political consciousness and, coincidentally, a taste for songwriting. I saw Joe putting his heart and soul out there on the stage and the sheer manic energy and the sweat was an inspiration and an addiction for me. I wanted to be that commited. I wanted to be that alive and on fire about ideas and about guitars and about jumping around on a stage like a maniac marxist preacher. As I got to know more about Joe Strummer I found out that this persona was a character, that Joes real name was John Mellor and that he was the son of English foreign service workers and that the past I had imagine for him was far from reality. If at first this confused me a little it later helped me develop a richer sense of political understanding and commitment in that people find their tribe, people grow from their past experiences and committed souls and artists find their true calling through trial and error and groping, sometimes blindly, toward actualization. His voice was gruff and his pronunciation sometimes unintelligible but every word sunk deep into my psyche and inspired me to try to devote my life to instilling that inspiration, even if only a fraction of Joes inspiration, in other people. Godpseed J.S. youtube/watch?v=YcOpZhQ7MEM&sns=em
Posted on: Mon, 28 Jul 2014 15:00:45 +0000