OKOM

OKOM, short for Our Kind Of Music, is an expression used my music listserv to signify the kind of music that can’t be categorized. It’s called folk, Americana, bluegrass, alternative, western, rockabilly, roots, rhythm and blues, sometimes even country or blues or rock. The things they have in common are that they’re honest, powerful, quality music. If you get a chance to see them perform live, it means good times, full of energy and fun.

The artists are intelligent, thoughtful, insightful, ironic and sometimes have a sly sense of humor. Think Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Neal Young, Hank Williams, Jimmy Buffett, Randy Newman, Stevie Ray Vaughn and the king of all things Rasta, Bob Marley. If you wrap them up, you start to get the idea.

I used to call it kpig music, from a radio station in Santa Cruz CA. We would tune in as soon as we approached the town and keep it on the whole time we were there to soak up as much real music as we could. Since they started streaming on the web, everyone can get turned onto incredible music at kpig.com.

Do yourself a favor and open yourself up to this and it will change your life. It literally changed mine. Music is a central component of my life and my relationship with my husband too. We plan our year around music events. We’ve met a lot of our friends through our love of music.

My favorite artists that I’ve had the pleasure to see live are: Todd Snider, Dave Alvin, Paul Thorn, Jr. Brown, John Prine, John Hiatt, South Austin Jug Band, Lyle Lovett, Richard Thompson, Jerry Jeff Walker (Mr. Bojangles). And endless blues artists. I could go on and on.

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PS -- I cannot stop listening to Jackie Greene's American Myth. Amazing! There's a reason they call him the next Bob Dylan. If you like Jack Johnson or Ben Harper, you're going to eat this up.