Turning On A Light

While reading the liner notes to Jimmie Dale Gilmore´s After Awhile (see post below) I happened upon the following Gilmore quote, describing his early, pre-Flatlanders days in Lubbock, Texas. "A number of factors and people influenced my writing. To begin with, there´s a guy named Terry Allen whom I met in highschool. He´s a couple of years older than me, and he´s a pianist, a songwriter, and also a very accomplished painter and sculptor. We became very good friends, and meeting someone who actually wrote songs turned on a light for me. I realized that you could just do it, you didn´t have to wait ´til you were forty years old."

Some inspiration. I´ve been digging Allen´s rather obscure ´79 masterpiece Lubbock (On Everything) for a long time now. It´s an album every country music fan worth his salt should own, but for some reason only a happy few know it even exists. So if you´re "all caught-up with the need, to trade in some emptied out spaces for some speeeeed, an that good ol´ American Dream," check out the fine songs below.

Terry Allen - The Wolfman Of Del Rio MP3

Terry Allen - New Delhi Freight Train MP3