Saturday, September 21, 2019. I had two tickets to see the one and only Ray Wylie Hubbard from the front row at the Harvester Performance Center in Rock Mount, Virginia https://www.harvester-music.com/ which is not coincidentally located not far from one of the best BBQ joints in the region called Buddy’s BBQ. https://buddysbbqva.com/
Those two premium tickets went unused. To this day I have not seen Ray Wylie Hubbard perform live despite being a fan for most of my life. On September 21, 2019 I was at Farm Aid in East Troy, Wisconsin via Chicago at the Alpine Valley Music Theatre as they call it. http://alpinevalleymusictheatre.org/ From my experience it is a huge amphitheater in the middle of farm country with some of the steepest angles for walking I have experienced at any venue. More on that in a moment. Meanwhile I bought my tickets to see Ray early in the year and had spent most of the year with a smirk on my face knowing I was about to see and likely meet a guy that I had been listening to since I was a teenager in rural Mississippi listening to Texas roots music. I could not wait to hear “Snake Farm” and all his incredibly cool music. I know the lyrics to a ton of his decades of hits so I would have a hard time not singing along at the show. I am still looking for the printed out tickets I had somewhere…I even offered to give them away on Facebook and on the venue web site. I felt so bad about not being there in so many ways.
I am such a dedicated fan of Farm Aid the festival, Farm Aid the mission, the people who play at Farm Aid, and the year-to-year guests I just could not miss one. I am not sure I have written about all my experiences at Farm Aid but I will go back and check to see. They all deserve some words about what they are, what they were, and what America should do for the family farm. At the time I had my Ray Wylie tickets I had no idea Farm Aid would land on that weekend. So many concerts, so little time. Yep, I ended up at Farm Aid.
I have some things stored up to talk about Farm Aid 2019. https://www.farmaid.org/festival/farm-aid-2019-videos-photo-gallery/ A few photos, many stories of the weather and what I saw, the music, the feeling. I will get to that in another post. As I say all the time I am behind but I will be catching up when I draw my last breath.
Ray Wylie Hubbard. Here are a few things I have been listening to as I wrote and thought about all of this. His video about Ringo inspired me to stop and write these thoughts down on a Saturday night. One day I will see him on a stage. I am still waiting.
This song is by Ray Wylie Hubbard and appears on the album Off the Wall (1978).
He was born in Oklahoma
And his wife’s name is Betty Lou Thelma Liz
He’s not responsible for what he’s doing
His mother made him what he is
And it’s up against the wall, redneck mother
Mother who has raised her son so well
He’s 34 and drinkin’ in some honky tonk
Kickin’ hippies’ asses and raisin’ hell.
Sure does like his Falstaff Beer
He likes to chase it down with that Wild Turkey Liquor
He’s got a ’57 GMC pickup truck
Got a gun rack
“A Goat Roper needs love too” sticker
And it’s up against the wall, redneck mother
Mother who has raised her son so well
He’s 34 and drinkin’ in some honky tonk
Kickin’ hippies’ asses and raisin’ hell.
M is for the mud flaps she gave me for my pickup truck
O is for the oil I put on my hair
T is for T-Bird
H is for Haggard
E is for Eggs
R is for Redneck
And it’s up against the wall, redneck mother
Mother who has raised her son so well
He’s 34 and drinkin’ in some honky tonk
Kickin’ hippies’ asses and raisin’ hell.