Here’s the trailer with all the old wood ripped off. Looks mighty fine, don’t ya think?

Today’s paper has a segue from my trailer to musical trailers – a big story about Trailer Records. Trailer Records is a small indie (started in a mobile home) record label producing Iowa artists – Greg Brown, Bo Ramsey, Brother Trucker, etc. It’s interesting that the commodification and lack of diversity in farming is also present in the commodification of music – as Dave Zollo explains in the story.

I loved his discussion of keeping the “Iowa Sound” alive – a sound Zollo describes as “a sound that arose from Iowa’s proximity to the Mississippi River and its status as a gateway to the West, with different socio-cultural crossroads. You’ve got country music, blues and folk music, all with long and rich histories here.” Although Iowa may be most famous musically now for metal-mongering, chart-topping Slipknot, there’s something to be said for the mix of blues, folk, and country that somehow defies categorization (and therefore no play on Clear Channel).

For a heap of good music that defies Clear Channel, visit Miles of Music and make sure to scroll down and listen to some of the samples.