a date, with destiny........

Back in the mid 80's , early 90's- I found myself listening to a lot of country music. There were tons of great songs and performers, Dwight Yoakam, Rodney Crowell, Lyle Lovett, Carlene Carter, John Anderson, Marty Stuart, Foster and Lloyd- well you get the idea.

I found myself having a huge crush on Roseanne Cash, I loved the music and I loved her look, Ah, the 8o's. Even in country music they were sporting the spike hair and tutus and lace, etc. I think part of it was the fact that she was the image of a girl i was dating at the time (my young lady friend was blond but other than that, pretty close)

My taste in music is eclectic, catholic (small c), fickle. As the years went by I found myself listening less to the country artists, but Miss Cash was always nearby.

She moved to New York. A friend of mine was the principal of the school her kids went to, he told me " I talk to her every morning , she's an absolute delight"

A few years back I read her memoir, Composed, a beautiful book. It's every thing a great memoir should be, personal but not private. I don't need to know every excruciating detail of your life, but I treasure moments of insight and discovery. She tells her story and like any good story she rambles forward and back in time, letting a moment from her 20's illuminate where she is now.

Like many fans I was fascinated by "the List"- this is a list of 100 songs that her dad, Johnny, gave her as a gift. It was his take on the songs that provide the foundation of country (american) music. Years later she made an Album, based on that list. One hiccup- she couldn't find The List, so she choose songs that she remembered where on it.

This Year, I read a book called "Always Been There" by Michael Streissgut, about the recording of that album. It's fun, but not a must read. One thing about it, like me Michael had a huge crush on Roseanne and at times whatever insight he has about the music is overwhelmed by his gushing about how smart, and talented and beautiful she is. All true, but remember Mike, personal not private.

Oh and a few months back , there she was hosting a show on PBS. Way back when she was married to singer/songwriter/ producer Rodney Crowell, but alas it was not meant to be. In her book she shies away from talking about the circumstance of their divorce, no need to go into details, she does let us know that it was a painful time.

I was delighted to see Roseanne and Rodney together on the PBS show - talking about music and singing together (can't remember the song they sang)

Because of all this I can say with great confidence that our paths will cross one day- nothing romantic, nothing untoward, just a meeting of the minds......