Cash

Music and I are co-dependent. Music infuses my memory of time and place. My house is always full of music, I cannot live in silence, even and especially when I'm intently studying something. So when I think of Johnny Cash, I think of a time and a place.

I made a promise to myself that every time I found myself in Denver, I would listen to country music. Of course when I drive across Texas, I basically have no choice, but Johnny Cash reminds me of an overpass just north of SFO. It was there that I heard him singing 'Amazing Grace' during an NPR retrospective on his life. Since that day in 2000 or 2001 (NPR's memory is different than mine, and I don't have the patience to listen again), I remembered something about soul music. At that moment, I recall looking towards the south and thinking of all those souls who come and go. Do they hear music with words that speak to the soul?

Bill Benzon knows how to express the magic of music. He's one of the smartest men I know and I often miss his company. In his lee, I don't bother to write much. I simply listen and DJ to myself and my friends. I burned some CDs and made sure that my kids hear "Folsom Prison Blues" and get the rhythms.