So, I got overly sappy on Twitter and I feel I have to explain myself before doing a lazy-ass reposting of what I wrote here. I’ve lived in the city of Tuscaloosa since the age of five. (I am currently 23 years old, if you like your math.) I’m both aware of the history of my town, and naive to the continual change. I never went to the Chukker. I just graduated from the University of Alabama. I wasn’t aware of the history of Egan’s before I got here, or places like The Booth, or how much of our past is staring us in the face while we readily ignore it for another beer.
I bitched and whined not too long ago about how people view our music scene, as I think it is fantastic. People were quick to retort that I should do a blog about local music. Essentially pointing to me that this is not their job, which is fair. I did write for three years at the Crimson White and a majority of the work that I’m most proud of during that time was about Tuscaloosa music. But Tuscaloosa is also a troubling place. That is why I wrote this in a mix of fury and, I guess, inspiration. It’s all the frustration of a community that I’m still sort of trapped in and also fond of being around. It’s a mix of worry and hope.
https://twitter.com/TreyIrby/statuses/372854022861881344
I’m from the university of a student-run Greek political system that seeped into actual state politics.
— Trey Irby (@TreyIrby) August 28, 2013
I’m from a university of football, but also of tearing down its history. I’m from the university that had a president resign after 7 months.
— Trey Irby (@TreyIrby) August 28, 2013
I’m from a university where that president was replaced by a former member of a sorority and her brother is now on the board.
— Trey Irby (@TreyIrby) August 28, 2013
I’m from a city where so few people voted for an outcome that affects so many because they stopped giving a shit.
— Trey Irby (@TreyIrby) August 28, 2013
I’m from a city where we’re so used to transient things that our ideas become that. And then we go. Most of my friends left town.
— Trey Irby (@TreyIrby) August 28, 2013
I’m from a place that has so many good people, and yet I can only think about the shitty ones.
— Trey Irby (@TreyIrby) August 28, 2013
I’m from a city that breeds artists, creative minds, and geniuses, but also a toxic governmental system that infects and hinders that.
— Trey Irby (@TreyIrby) August 28, 2013
I’m an alumnus from a university that taught me to not be an asshole. I love it, even if the beneficiaries are assholes.
— Trey Irby (@TreyIrby) August 28, 2013
And I worry that if we left this all be facts, we’re going to be watching Tuscaloosa from a fisheye lens. Just another place we left.
— Trey Irby (@TreyIrby) August 28, 2013
And it’s never been just one thing with my city. Either we harbor a strained arts scene, or when we progress, it’s a strained political mode
— Trey Irby (@TreyIrby) August 28, 2013
We tore down buildings for kids that won’t see the new ones after a few years’ time. We catered to the transient people.
— Trey Irby (@TreyIrby) August 28, 2013
We have fantastic beer. I love our bars. And yet, they can’t seem to house enough of our art. Enough of our talent.
— Trey Irby (@TreyIrby) August 28, 2013
When a blog says that they are surprised Tuscaloosa has talent, I snark back, but why should I be surprised? We grow to not even expect it.
— Trey Irby (@TreyIrby) August 28, 2013
Maybe it won’t matter. We have football in three days. I mean, that’s definitely exciting. We probably will drown our concerns in that.
— Trey Irby (@TreyIrby) August 28, 2013
Ok, I’m done. Going to beg family for beer money or something similar.
— Trey Irby (@TreyIrby) August 28, 2013
The Chukker days where filled with some great music. I was a little younger than you back in ’03 during the last reincarnation. Hank Williams III, Rev. Horton Heat, Eye Adrift, Cat Power, The Woggles, The Dexateens, Carl Denson, Southern Culture of the Skids are just some of the bands that played there. That was just during my tenure. Egan’s is probably one of the only bars left for high minded lowlife’s anymore in Tuscaloosa. Thick smoke, cheap beer, great music. Go in and have you a cold beer and just look on the walls that bleed the music history of The Strip. Homage to the past record stores like Vinyl Solution, and great Blues Society act’s, not to mention the new memories being made every week. It still represents the real underbelly of Tuscaloosa. The ugly side of Tuscaloosa that grinds out real people. Not the cookie-cutter, Bama belle, debutante, Leave- it-to- Beaver Tuscaloosa, but the work all day, party all night, drug addled, beer soaked, red-eyed, smack you in the face Tuscaloosa. I say anyone who wants take a step off the beaten path. Take the red pill, and strap yourself in. This ain’t the Tuscaloosa your momma and daddy told you about.
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I half-jokingly talk about how I hate Tuscaloosa, but I did have some good times at the Chukker seeing Pain play. I hate the arrogance of that place- but honestly Auburn has turned into another version of it. It’s weird to say but I am now old enough to see what the “good old days” looked like and feel alienated at what passes for each town’s culture.
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