I want to rant and rave about Little Richard and the 16th annual Monterey Blues Festival, but I'm going to hear three Texas artists this stunning Sunday afternoon in California, so I'll save the entire story until the next column. But, I'm here to say Little Richard, at about 70 years of age, is an icon of American music. He still rocks!

I brought a CD from a local songwriter to the Young Rhetoricians' Conference (young in spirit!) in Monterey, planning to use it in my workshop on stories and songs in the classroom. Rex Foster has a new CD's out with songs from his heart.

If you have ever attended the Kerrville Folk Festival, you have seen this gentle man selling his exquisite jewelry, always with his music close by. This year "Buffalo Zen," an Agarita CD produced by none other than Peter Rowan and endorsed by Steve Earle, was sitting proud and pretty amidst the pieces of bone set in silver and leather. On the cover we see a road heading off into the distance with a buffalo and a car heading away from us, one in each lane.

I describe this cover, produced in various shades of blue/gray, to say that from first contact, the listener gets to experience the spirit of the music-serious (usually), quiet and contemplative. Like Zen.

I told Rex at the festival that I see no separation between him and the music he makes. His CD is an authentic expression of what Rex values and holds dear. Rex has lived through two (or several) lifetimes-once almost dying in a hospital in San Antonio and returning to shift the way he creates in the world. From Rachel's Children and psychedelic music to Buffalo Zen, the road has been a long and winding road.

Steve Earle writes his statement of support on the cover, saying that Rex always treated him with utmost respect as a young songwriter (15 years old at the time). Steve says, "Today, when I'm approached by a young songwriter and I'm tired and just want to get on the bus, I remember that night and my good fortune to find teachers along this long, weird highway, and I try to smile like Rex did back then and say, 'What you got there, man?'" Rex treasures this support, and Rex gives this support to others as well.

I've played the CD driving down my own Zen road, Highway I-10, and I've felt my appreciation for it keep growing. He says things like, "I walked a worried road/Gave help to the weak and tired/Got lost in clouds too pink to hold," and "I don't know why mountains crumble or what could hold the stars apart/And I may never know but still I wonder why you let me in your heart/I love the rain...." 

The music is gentle, the sound is harmonic, the songs are thoughtful. Rex Foster and Peter Rowan, two gentle men making music-this time together. Check out rexfoster.com for more information. He calls Comfort home, and he travels the world with his music and his jewelry. 

I'm wearing a Rex Foster bracelet of five silver nuggets on brown leather as I head out to the Monterey Blues Festival this afternoon (Sunday, June 24). I'll hear three Texas artists in a row, on the main stage: W.C. Clark (the godfather of Texas blues), Sonny Rhodes (Houston) and Shemekia Copeland (the daughter of Johnny Copeland, now taking blues to new heights and depths.

Free Leonard and down the road. 

Kathleen
kat@maverickbbs.com

www.texasheritagemusic.org

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