The Celestial Monochord now has its own domain and a better technology to work with.
However, its design is still up in the air (The Institute’s Advisory Council for Electronic Publications has degenerated into open warfare over the color scheme … you know how these things can get political). Anyway, let me know if you have any suggestions or requests about the new features or design.
I hope to see a new life for the Monochord, of some sort. Although I try not to blog about blogging, the changes here seem like a good time to take stock. Start over and concentrate, as Gertrude Stein told Ernest Hemingway.
Years ago, I began reading Robert Cantwell, Greil Marcus, and a few others who’ve written about “roots music,” whatever that is. After quite a few unhappy years in an English graduate program, I found it intensely refreshing to read good writing and valuable insights from people who were writing about what they love, as opposed to writing about what they hate.
There’s a place for everything, of course, and I certainly have my own list of things I detest, but I think if I am capable of making a lasting contribution — or even a lasting impression — it is through The Way of the Monochord. There is no shame in loving things, even if they are just banjos and telescopes …