3 Chords & the Truth: What just happened?

What just happened here?

Well, as this episode of 3 Chords & the Truth came together and headed to the Internet tubes, a former president of the United States was convicted on 34 felony counts in New York. That's a first in two and a half centuries.

Momentous stuff, to say the least.

And, unsurprisingly, convicted felon Donald Trump and Republican politicians from soup to nuts -- emphasis on the nuts -- are waging a brutal rhetorical war on the American justice system. Throw some dude in the 'hood under the jail, our criminal courts are great. Convict a psychologically damaged, orange authoritarian? THE TRIAL WAS RIGGED! DEMOCRATS ARE WAGING WAR AGAINST THE PEOPLE!

EVEN THOUGH our system held here, even though we saw that no man is above the law -- in New York state, at least -- the United States remains in a world of hurt. American patriots (the real ones, not the performative ones) continue to fight for our democratic lives.

Interesting week to come out with another Big Show.

And the existential question remains: Which side are you on, boys? Which side are you on?

Here, we're on the side of America -- the noble idea of America. America is an idea, you know. It's a creed, an aspiration. We haven't fully lived up to the tenets of that creed yet, but the defining characteristic of Americanism is that we keep trying to.

Our national bond, now so horribly frayed, is in the trying . . . trying to live up to the words of the Declaration of Independence. Trying to remain faithful to our constitution.

This is a music program, however. We're also on the side of great music, and we're pretty firmly rooted in that respect. I'd recommend, after the day -- after the decade -- we've had that you kick back and chill with the musical greatness of the Big Show.

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.

3 Chords & the Truth: Seeing darkly via rose-colored specs

Life is a mixed bag, and not everything was better when we were young.

Actually, lots of things were awful, even cruel, when we were young. To deny that, it seems to me, is to fall into what I like to call malignant nostalgia. Rose-colored glasses tend to make your hindsight blurry.

Perhaps even offensive.

THAT'S WHAT is on my mind as another edition of 3 Chords & the Truth goes into the can and onto the Internets. For instance, I think the music from my time back in the day was, overall, pretty damned good. That doesn't mean it all was . . . God, no! A lot of it was crap.

Same goes for today. There's a lot of crap on the radio -- and on Spotify or whatever, There's also a lot of amazingly good stuff which, as was true to a lesser degree when I was young, can be less in your face and might take a little effort to connect with.

But the thing about the Big Show is that we celebrate the good. The bad, we don't mess with.

That, methinks, is all that needs to be said here. Really, it's time to get to the music now.

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.

3 Chords & the Truth: What can I say?

What can I say?

Well, I don't know.

I've been in a contemplative mood but, unfortunately, that hasn't readily translated into something in particular to actually say on this week's 3 Chords & the Truth. Guess the music will have to do the talking.

Good thing the music, as usual, just says it all.

That's the Big Show for you.

And that is all I have to say.

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.

3 Chords & the Truth: Nudge dread

"These are the times that try men's souls."

Thomas Paine opened his essay "American Crisis" with that sentence in December 1776. The revolution against Great Britain wasn't going so well at that point.

Two hundred forty-eight years later, with a country riven as much as it's been since the Civil War, with a deranged authoritarian commanding the loyalty of a good 40 percent of Americans -- with American democracy itself teetering on the sharp edge of oblivion -- these are the times that try people's will to get out of bed in the morning.

SCRATCH MILLIONS of average Americans, and you're likely to bring forth a flood of existential dread. It's been that way for much of the past nine years.

And here I am doing a music podcast. You may have heard of it -- 3 Chords & the Truth. And the Truth is, we don't know how much more of this mess we, and the United States, can take. Think of the 3 Chords part as a pleasant refuge from the encroaching dread.

Ninety minutes' peace a week from existential dread ain't nothing. Well, that's one way to market the Big Show.

The quintessential 2024 way to market a music program.

Fortunately, that 90 minutes a week of musical refuge are 90 quality minutes of musical refuge. An absolute dread-free zone.

Thank God.

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.