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hanging with Elvis in Tupelo…

May 5, 2016 By Talya Tate Boerner 6 Comments

hanging with Elvis

Oh, you know, I’m just hanging with Elvis as one does, especially when one visits Tupelo. Quick story: I was invited to the Alabama Book Festival and immediately said YES not only because—Book Festival!—but also because to get there from here, I would drive smack through Tupelo and into the depths of Mississippi Blues land.

Tupelo is Elvis’s birthplace. He lived there until his family moved to Memphis when he was thirteen.

Graceland is Elvis’s deathplace. And what a contrast between the two.

I’ve experienced Graceland many, many times. When you grow up in the 1970s just across the river from Memphis, Graceland drivebys are a normal thing—just to look at the iron gate, to see the trees in front of the house, to see Elvis’s gardener outside, that sort of thing. Elvis was ours because of the nearness of him, and news of his death tore up our little town.

I toured Graceland BK and AK, which for non-Memphis people means before the kitchen was open to the public and after the kitchen became part of the tour. Graceland is most certainly worth a visit, but, not to brag, having grown up just down the interstate in the Bat Cave which boasts its own jungle room, major earthquake fault line, and scars from a real live state trooper shootout spanning three states and culminating in your own carport, well, it takes a lot to impress me.

Really, I’m more impressed by not a lot.Continue Reading

Bad Mountain. I can’t get my fill.

January 22, 2016 By Talya Tate Boerner 12 Comments

Bad Mountain - I can't get my fill.

This is the first time I’ve written a blog post only to showcase a musical pairing—Union Hill by Bad Mountain. I believe music has a way of tapping into buried emotion, a way of carrying us back to our roots or uncovering long forgotten memories. That’s why I always include a musical pairing with each blog post. Believe it or not, sometimes I spend more time selecting the music to accompany my posts than I do writing or preparing the photos. And who knows if anyone listens.

But I hope you’ll listen to this.Continue Reading

Music: Life’s Soundtrack

October 18, 2013 By Talya Tate Boerner 14 Comments

photo courtesy of Memories of Toymorrow 

From the plastic Fisher Price record player Santa gave me as a child to the last song I downloaded on iTunes, music has been playing in the background, a sort of This is Your Life soundtrack. Of course when your Daddy wakes you up before sunrise to Waylon Jennings, music is bound to play a significant role.

As I think back on the concerts I’ve attended, I laugh at the wide variety of music and entertainers on my list. Bad Company, The Jacksons, Britney Spears, Squeeze, Elton John, David Allen Coe, Santana, The Doobie Brothers, One Direction.Oh and Keith Urban. My best friend Becky would NEVER forgive me if I didn’t mention Keith Urban…

Although my list is diverse and spans forty years, none of these concerts matched the thrill of my very first time—The Osmonds.
O
Be
Still
My
Heart
♥

 

In 1970-something when The Osmonds concert ended in a scream of tears and thunderous clapping, I could have died a contented teeny bopper without ever hearing anyone else sing another note. That’s how much I loved Donny.Alas, we were not meant to be…
A couple of weeks ago I saw Aaron Neville in concert at Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Although I’m not a huge Aaron Neville fan, his versatile music took me back to different places, different times, different people.
My favorite moment was The Grand Tour, not because of Aaron Neville’s buttery rendition, but because it reminded me of George Jones and Friday nights spent watching Hee Haw and summer trips to the lake where we sang along to the eight track player Daddy rigged up in the boat.
 
Music speaks to us.
With only few notes, we are magically transported to Christmas Eve, first dates, Sunday service, joyous occasions, times of great sorrow. You never know when a song might knock you to your knees.

Where words fail, music speaks. –Hans Christian Andersen

talya

Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

This was written specifically for GBE 2: Blog On Week #126 Free Choice. 

P.S. And for those inquiring minds…the last song I downloaded from iTunes…

Summertime Sadness, Lana Del Rey


Hi! I'm Talya Tate Boerner. Writer, Reader, Arkansas Master Naturalist / Master Gardener, Author of

THE ACCIDENTAL SALVATION OF GRACIE LEE (2016)

GENE, EVERYWHERE: a life-changing visit from my father-in-law (2020)

BERNICE RUNS AWAY (Now Available!)

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