Work Work Work

We just got the call Summer's basketball team is playing in the caprock this weekend. We were hoping not to have to do this one because she has a golf tournament on Monday and Tuesday of next week.One at Hillcrest and the other in Denver City then the next day after that she has the Little Dribblers National Tournament in Brownfield ten days straight of some kind of athletic activities. This is going to be a real test of endurance and double so considering the heat factor it has been really hot lately. I am hoping it will cool off a little and soon or these golf tournament my be cancelled for her anyway. You have to draw the line somewhere when it comes to your health and a possible heat stroke. It really depends on how many kids are playing and how long it will take. I know Hillcrest will be full but I am not sure about Denver City.If the field is not to big she can get finished in the morning and it won't be that bad. At this point she is shooting 200 jump shots a day and chipping and putting for one hour just to keep from losing any ground on her skills. With her playing 10 golf tournaments and all her basketball this summer we are hoping she will be able to perform her best next fall for the school teams. If you want to be good at anything you have to practice everyday. No body is going to give you anything in this life if you want it you have to work hard and take it. So WORK WORK WORK.    

Allison's Gone

Unfortunately Donnie Allison lost his battle with cancer. He fought the fight for years is what the TV said. All I know is Donnie was one of the nicest Guy's you ever won't to know. He had a lot of personality and karisma and talent and when you get all those together it is unusual to be so nice that is right most people with those attributes are not nice people they are arrogant assholes if not to your face behind your back. But not Donnie he was real all the way through.He is kin to one of the Crickets from Buddy Holly and the Crickets so he had that musical legacy hanging over his head and trying to live up to all the expectations he put on his self and the one's other people put on him. I first met Donnie when he was the front man for a little local band called the Nelsons. They were a bunch of young guy's who had a lot of energy and two very important ingredients one was John Sprott on lead guitar another real talent. And Donnie on lead vocals and lets face it when he was young he was a real good looking kid and could sing his ass off. Kevin Mackey was on drums another real class act as far as a person go's.Now these guy's were on there way to some level of music success. They won a MTV contest and were on the verge of getting a record deal then. Ricky Nelson's son's got in a battle over the name and won the rights to use the name the Nelsons. It just blow away like a hand full of dust after years of promoting this name now it was gone. And anyone who has ever been in a band know it is a very fragile thing and the more talent you have the harder it is to stay together. After a few more years the boys broke up for good. This is the time I got to know Donnie was at the Main Street Salon A drummer named Joe ran a Jam open mic what ever you want to call it there and Me and my close friend Kirk Sanders would go up there and perform when we had the time. Me and Donnie would hang out between acts and talk about music and smoke pot out in the ally. I finally grew out of that so I did;t see him for years then he turned up over at Belly's doing a one piece acoustic act in the afternoon. I went and seen him a few times he did good a lot of old Buddy Holly stuff not anything like the rock sound he had with the Nelsons. After a few more years I seen he was playing Buddy in a stage version of the movie down at a little music theater here in town there is where he found his home musically and performed there until he got sick and passed away. I know there are a lot of people out there who knew Donnie a whole lot better than me. But this is how I knew him and How I will remember him a nice guy.   ONE MANS OPINION

       .           

Schools Out

School is out this Thursday and what a releaf it has been a long year and a hard one the 8th grade is a tuff one to get through all the petty teenage bullshit you have to endure. The hormones the peacking order the pimples the school work. The constant compitition with everyone in everything yes it is a hard year. That is why I am so happy and proud of Summer for making it through the school year with no major drama. Teenage girls seem to thrive on drama and especially at this age. So to go all the way with out any I am surprised. Now a relaxing summer and some time to regroup and get ready for high school. And it does get a little easier in high school your not around those same old people as much and as you dilute the pool it becomes more benign The kids are more worrying about themselves than about you. When you try to elevate your self by tearing someone else down that is a sign of immaturity. That is what you get in junior high most people grow out of this in high school. But some never grow out of it. Some people have such low self esteem they continue this there whole life. Because they learn it in middle school to criticize people. And girls are bad about it. Look at that dress she is wearing she looks like a slut yea or a whore. I think she wears to much jewelry That looks cheap. Who are these people the fashion police the holier than thous the church crowd if you don't look like them you are beneath them. These people should eat shit and die and keep their opinions to their self this is one of the biggest problems in our society snooty people creating drama with their insecurity's. They are like sheep a mindless herd blindly following some one who is lost. And that is the middle school mentality and I am thankful Summer is out of it. Don;t you know if you call someone stupid that makes you stupid. And if tell someone they are ugly that makes you ugly. If you tell someone they have no taste you have no taste.     ONE MANS OPINION


                

What you think is what you get

Yes when you are a teenager you have to be careful. About what you spend your time doing and thinking about. What you need are some real goals that are believable and achievable. And even if they are not who cares as long as you believe. This is the time to dream big and shoot for the moon and don't let anyone tell you can't. You are still a kid and you should act like one. Take your time growing up don't be in a hurry. You have your whole life for that. Be a rock star, a baseball player, an actor or some other seemingly imposable occupation. Don't just sit around wanting to have sex with your boy friend and think that is going to make you a grown up. It's not it is only going to reinforce the fact that you are still a kid. No job no money no skills and on the verge of having a family. Most teenagers who fall in to this trap are the ones who don't talk to their parents they won't use condoms because they don't know how and  the girls are not on the pill because they are to young and are afraid to tell their parents they mite need them. If they go to the wrong party or over to the wrong persons house it could happen so fast. Then there you are a teenage mother or a little girl in the abortion clinic. Neither one is a good place to be. I was at a basketball tournament last weekend and one of the teams had a young lady who looked to be 15 or 16 and was caring for her baby in between games and her mother was there telling her she was wasting her time playing ball with a baby to take care of and she needed to grow up. All I could think of was she can't grow up she is just a young girl. It does not matter if she has a baby or not she is still a kid.. So there is the dilemma when teenagers start having sex and trying to grow up to fast. Talk to your teenagers all the time and try to see where they are and what you need to be talking about with them. Get them the pill tell the boys how to use condoms. You have to be proactive here if you wait to react it may be to late..
                                                 ONE MANS OPINION


        

Sunday and no Rapture

I am so disappointed this morning I was suppose to be in the presents of my lord today yes I was going to be raptured out yesterday The man in California said it He even bought a large billboard stating the fact that the 21st of May was judgement day and the Bible guarantees it. Now in the aftermath it seems he was mistaken or perhaps misleading now which is it is he a stupid man who can not interpret scripture and has a limited proficiency in Mathematics. and just made a simple mistake. Or is he a little more sinister I don't have all the facts but was this man selling some type of prayer packet to help people be raptured out is this a for profit event. You create a need and then you fill it. I am not sure but if this man was doing something to this effect. Is he not liable for fraud. It will be interesting to see if there are any repercussions coming from this whole fiasco.
 But hasn't this happened many times before some religious fanatic says the end is coming and a lot of under educated people fall pray to a predator who is out to separate them from their money.Sell everything you own a give it to the church because you don't need it no more you are going to go to heaven on this day or that. And the church can use it to convert more people after the rapture. The poor souls who are left behind the sinners the unbelievers the infidels. I think the rapture happened but no one was worthy it's like Sodom and Gomorrah. If you can find 50 good men I won't destroy the city's well maybe 10 well maybe you should get your brother and his shit out of there. So who would know if the rapture happened or not. This country is one of the most corrupt evil country's in the world. Money greed sex violence lying cheating stealing this place is full of it. And at all levels well it was just a little white lie. I did not won't to hurt their feelings. Well then don't be an asshole.. Then you can tell the truth..If you sell some one something for more than it is worth that is stealing. You are a thief . And this is America I am so sorry we did not get captured I mean raptured
ONE MANS OPINION 


      
      

Time to Reflect

Looking back on all the ups and downs and In's and outs and twist and turns of life I have to say all in all it's been well worth the price of admission. As it didn't cost me nothing to be born and it has not cost much to be here these years now. When I was young I wanted to own everything yes you have to own your own house you don't want to pay rent. It is your biggest monthly bill usually so get it out of the way as fast as you can buy a house and pay for it. Don't get tied down in to a big mortgage you will be paying for the rest of your life that is just like rent you never own it you just think you do. A car by the time you get a new car paid for it is worn out and sometimes it wares out before you get it paid for that is when you get up side down.on it.. The most important things in life are your friends and family they love you when your car and house are broke down. They love you cause you make them laugh or you give them good advice or you just listen when they need to talk. One of the most valuable skills a person can have is the ability to listen and it is kind of hard to get. It takes years for a person to be able to just listen and not interrupt and not judge just be a friend and understand it's not the problem that's important it;s the process of caring. They know what they are going to do they are not asking for your help or your opinion just your ear. Just to look in your face and see how you react to what they are saying. So looking back I remember what my grandmother told me to have a friend you have to be a friend through the good times and the bad times. And that don't cost nothing. The best things in life are free. You have to pay for all the shit,,, you won't.....And the reality is we are here for  such a short time we don't own anything we just get to use it while we are here. Who is going to be playing my guitars when I am gone or my golf clubs who will be playing with them somebody will so you see I own nothing. I am just using this stuff for the small amount of time I am here. Then it will be someone else's turn . One Mans Opinion...........




              

Electric Cars

They can't keep the Leaf on the lot Nissan is selling the shit out of these things as long as gas prices   continues to raise they are going to fly off the lots. America is tired of the oil company's scare tactics every time some little something happens gas prices go up cause of this or that and everyone knows it's not true it's just a excuse to steal more money there is no limit to the amount greed in corporate America and it is spreading world wide. Everyone thinks it is a game to see how much you can get and the down side is most cheat and steal there way right to the top. With no regard for all the people they hurt in the process. It's like the jet pilot he does not see the people he kills with his bombing mission but they are dead just the same. To him it is just another day out flying in his airplane the freedom the feeling of power and superiority over people on the ground the ants.He is not a murderer a killer of thousands he is a Christian but that is just his job. Calling it your job doesn't make it right. The CEO of Exxon raises gas prices cause it is his job to make his company the most money he can. So the next time you fill up your gas tank just remember go out and lie cheat steal do everything in your power to get as much money as you can so you can keep up with this insane greedy economy  we live in. And be sure to arm your self because at some point it will come to that.... My Opinion....         

Spring has Sprung

Now is the time to mow the grass plant the garden paint the house repair all the little boo-boos that the winter weather did and it was to cold to fix then. Yes get out there and go to the Home Depot the Lowes the Ace hard wares and all the little lumber yards around the country if you are lucky enough to still have a local lumber yard most are not. Fix-up fiddle and repair is a big business in this country and the service side is exploding there is more competition now in the Home improvement and repair business than ever before because the housing market is so down all those men who were building houses are now in the home improvement field and it is flooded so the price and quality are suffering. You see most of these guy's are good at one thing be it drywall, framing roofing, flooring, electrical, or plumbing what ever there main trade is Now they are out there doing what ever they can get so the quality will go down. You can learn how to do any trade but it takes about 10 years to see enough different problems to be a real Master at any of them. Just because you can read a tape and estimate a job does not mean you have the skills to complete a project in a workmanlike manor and get professional quality that takes years of experience. It's like watching a guy with a hawk and a trowel do stucco it looks easy. Just like the pro golfer it looks easy. It's years and years of doing it and developing the skills to do it. So when you get out there and get to work on your spring projects just remember it's not easy and if you need professional help be careful and get an older guy with some experience you won't regret it.. My Opinion..             

Texas Blues Men

Sunday morning an old friend posted on my facebook a song from the past that hit me right in my memory lane. It took me back to when I was 13 or 14 years old I think those are the pivotal times in our lives musically you are old enough to start liking your own style of music and you are influenced by your pears more than your parents. Anyway it was ((Just Got Payed Today)) by ZZ TOP a great Blues band from Texas who combined Rock and Roll with a lot of Blues guitar curtice of Billy Gibbons and had a sound all there own in the late Sixties and Seventies this is from Rio Grande Mud there second album. Before they made it big. and like most sold out to there signature sound and just made the same songs over and over with different words. But before that they were a great band and there first three album are unbelievable. Real original music with alot of power The White Album, Rio Grande Mud. and the cudegraw. Tres Hombres the album that took them into the main stream. If you like the blues these are the definitive Texas blues albums along with Steve Ray Vaughn , Jimmie Vaughn,The Winters Brothers. There are hundreds of others but these are the ones who took it nation wide. And in the early days of rock and roll they were Texas answer to the British invasion groups. And the answer was loud and clear we can play with anybody..................



        

No Amarillo

Can you believe our coach did not get us signed up in time to play in the Amarillo tour. It is full and no way to get in for my money I think that is great. I don't like to go to Amarillo anyway the girls do but not me.I would rather stay here in Lubbock and wait for all the good teams from around this area come here and play. And they all do the good teams from Midland and from Amarillo they come to town for at least one tour.
Well what the story is. Is that we were suppose to play in Monahans for the Little Dribbler regional tournament and What we were told was they didn't what us to go down there and beat everyone and discourage them. So last weeks tournament in Leveland was our qualifier and all our teams won. Now it comes to my attention that the Majors and maybe the minor are playing in a tournament over at Cooper One of the girls from my Mob team last fall plays for Frenship and just posted that they are playing Shallowater tomorrow Sat. at 8:00 am. Looks like this was the plan all along and we were just not in the loop even though our schedule has us playing in Amarillo. Well that is before our coach decided to do the little dribbler thing.. That is the how it sounds anyway. Now we have not played any real competition well really this year ..I think me and Summer will go to Cooper to see the majors play it could be a great game.....          

Hoop 10

Yes it is time for our yearly pilgrimage to Amarillo for the hoop 10 girls AAU qualifier it's a pretty big tournament and it is a nice change from the Caprock tournaments her in Lubbock. The big differences are they play a running clock and they let you play if you think you should call every foul don't go up there because that is the way they play and you better get use to it. Or go home to your mama..... It is a fast rough game and a lot of competition especially if Denver show up. That is a big market and the annie gets upped quite a bit when they show. They will win every age group. You don't get better if you don't play better teams. And being a big fish in a little pond is not worth nothing when you leave your pond. Right Ha ha. So every now and then you have to go and take an butt whipping just to keep everything in perspective and this is a great place to get that lesson. Makes you play more team ball cause if you don't you have no chance I am hoping our little dribbler teams go to Amarillo. So they can play some better teams and lose some games before the National Tournament. Get that out of the way so they don't have that problem when they get there.It's hard to play if you are undefeated you are all way afraid of that first loss. And then the recovery time so you can accept it. And get back to playing your game. You don't want to deal with that in a big tournament. It is better to get it over with in a tune-up tournament. Like the hoop 10 then you can blame it on the referees and the running clock so it does not tear down your player egos to much. Just enough to make them focus more in the big game. Nothing like a loss to make you get you stuff together. Anyway that is the plan for this weekend Hoop 10 in Amarillo. Go girls and remember you play to have fun and your good at it....... 



                  

Idalou Golf Tour.

The wind blew like crazy all day Monday but they had to play there was no time to reschedule it was now or never so every one got in groups of three or four and teed off. Let's see Shallowater was there Idalou of course Denver City, Roosevelt, and Abernathy Slaton was suppose to show up but they canceled. Anyway
it was just like last year a terrible day to play golf so the director of  the tournament moved all the tee boxes up. He did not know he was setting the course up to fit Summer's game that is right Summer drives the ball long and straight and then she has a great short game around the greens so this was tailor made for her. So it was know surprise to me anyway for her to shot a 43. She boogied Holes 12569 and double 4 and pared the other holes for a seven over. Bailey shot a 55 Carly shot 59 I think Sherrie 60 Lynsey around 60 and Bailey made it in as a alternate Bottom line is Shallowater won the team competition first place and Summer won the first place medallist. Was a great tournament for Shallowater as the boys won first place also as a team .           

All stars Who's who

I am going to take a little time here and kind of review the player on the Shallowater all stars Seniors The  Mayors and the minors I have not watched them play enough to know who are the best and who are getting better so I'll leave them for another time. And focus this article on the fore mentioned team. Now the Seniors a bunch of player I know a lot about because my youngest daughter Summer is on this team. Now I may be a little biased but for my money Summer is the best player on this team because she is the only complete player She can handle the ball she plays great defense she has size and strength she is not a noodle she can score points tremendous Basketball IQ she passes the ball to you and not at you. She is the number one player. Now next is Kelsey She is a great shooter be it around the basket or from the three point line she is by for the best. And she is tall at 5 10 in the 8th grade she tower over the other teams and has good ball handling skills strength and defence are the two things she needs to work on. Number three is Morgan she is the point guard and is a really good one great IQ see the whole court passes the ball to you not at you a real drummer she controls the timing and tempo of the game better than girls two or three years older needs to be a better shooter and work on her spot. Number four is Shelby she is a true post player she is not as tall as Kelsey but she has so much more power and her drop step to the basket is becoming automatic and when she gets on a roll and they feed her the ball she can put up some numbers and rebounds put backs block shots She has no ball handling skills and is not a good passer when you shoot the ball all of the time you never get a chance to be a good passer that is just the way it is. Number five Hannah she is tall and young and plays pretty much that way she is a good player but does not do anything great but does not do anything bad either she just needs to grow up to get better get bigger stronger calmer patience these are the skills she could use.Six it's Carly she is a ball of fire great ball handler good shooter an all round good player knows how to drive and dish and can finish needs to learn how to slow down and be more patience is a out standing over all athlete fast good jumper aggressive.Seven Kellian she was a post player who is getting passed by other players height wise she needs to get a ball and dribble it for two hours a day and get her ball handling skills up to play guard she is a very good player she just needs to change positions.she is already a great outside shooter she never misses a free throw.  Eight is Kandice she is a good guard she is fast can shot it and makes good passes she just needs to learn to drive and dish more and not to shoot every time she will mature and get this she is only a seventh grader. Nine is Kaylie  she is another fine post player unlike some of the other post players she is fast real fast a all around athlete a good shooter and will play defence is thin but is not a noodle not going to let players come inside and push her around..          

Leveland Tour.

The girl played a tune-up tour. at Leveland Sat. The minor majors and new division seniors Summers on the seniors and it is basicly the same girls that won the national tour. two years ago as 6th graders. Their were only six teams from around here playing just a practice thing really. Let's see there was of course Leveland then Monahans and Lamesa and Denver City , Idalou Whitharral,and Shallowater. The minors are 3rd and 4th graders then the Majors are 5th and 6th graders and the seniors are 7th and 8th and given the fact that for the last two years Shallowater has won the National little Dribblers back to back the minors and the majors this year is a pretty big challenge to three peat and adding the seniors on to the ballot to boot but everything went as planed Sat. with a sweep for all three teams All three won first place so when the regional tour. is played in Monahans later this month now the teams we played will know what to work on and how to prepare and so will we having played most of the teams in our region. and beating them That is a big psychological advantage and should pay dividends at the regional and national tour. It is hard to lose once you get used to winning it feeds on it's self somehow. As is evident by our record over the last two years. No one had ever won both the minors and majors the same year until we did 2009 then we did it again in 2010 so Shallowater is in uncharted territory here and now we have the seniors so it would be a true three peat with three different teams. This is going to be hard to do but nothing worth wild is easy. So go girls have fun and play hard......................




     

Idalou Golf Tour.

Lorenzo yes that's the location of the Idalou Invitational Golf Tour. this year. For some reason we don't have enough schools with golf teams in the 3-A ranks so our middle school team will not get to play in a district tour. But they are going to go and play at our old district tour Idalou. And the bad part about that is Idalou closed there golf course. My friend Jimmy Senz went broke over there and the city repossessed the course and sold it to some one who has not open it back up to the public. I think it is going to go private not sure.
Anyway so the Idalou tour. now is played at Lorenzo and it is a nice little track small tiny greens with a lot of slope and crown not long but OK. There are some elm trees and the fairway are hard and dry I don't think they have water for the fairways so if it does not rain well, you get the picture. The greens do have at lest 8 to 10 feet of elevation not like Abernathy the greens are right on the ground  maybe 12"inches of elevation. The tee boxes are slightly elevated to. Everything considered it is a course well worth the 10 dollars to walk 18 holes and 5 dollars for students. It is not comparable to say Reese and Reese is not comparable to the Rawls Course. As you spend more money you play better harder courses. That's just the way of the world. But for my money the course at Idalou was the best one for these school tour. Because it is long and it was built by the city for there waste water treatment with a substantial grant it was pretty much done right. It is a nice little 9 hole track. It is to bad the city did not reopen it. And sold it to someone
who just took it off the market. It was an inside deal because it was never advertised it just sold and for less than 1/2 of what the city sold it to Jimmy for. That don't sound right but a small town. Nepotism Cronyism and corruption go hand and hand. Sounds like a brother in-law deal to me. That is the only reason they took it from him was someone in that town wanted it. So they all stopped going to play golf out there and would not support it anymore that is when he could not make the money to keep the course in shape and the greens he was losing them and that was one of the stipulation of his contract. He had to maintain the greens.  Which is hard to do with on money. You have to baby that bent grass. That is enough of that. Now only 5 boys and 5 girls get to play Monday in the tour. but everyone gets to go I think that is great even if your skills are not quite there yet you still get to participate by going and help find balls or keep score or something that is great .So everyone have a good tour Monday and remember you play because it's fun and you are good at it........




                    

Little Dribblers

For some reason  my daughter is playing in the Little Dribbler League again. Well really not the league just the championship tournament. Our program over here in Shallowater is from the 1st grade to the 6th grade it always has been now our 8th grade girls and a few 7th graders are going to play in the senior division. Even though most of these girls are on AAU teams and have been for many years. Why they are going back down in competition level to the Little Dribblers is beyond me unless it is just an attempt to win the title again. Now I am not saying there is anything wrong with that. My thought has been for the last two years is let's make a run at the AAU national tournament. I know that is a big nut to crack but you have to dream big and set your  goals high just to hit the board if you don't you will fall way short I know this... That being said I know a bunch of skinny girls from a small town in West Texas are not  your number one pick for winning in AAU tournament but these girls have played two tour. this year and won both easily they are all exceptional basketball players and the grade behind them have not lost a game in two years so there is a lot of talent here and should be taken as far as they can go. There is a lot to be said for the fact that our Little Dribbler Program contends if not wins the National Tour. every year and the exposure our kids get to a big event helps them when school ball starts they are not as nerves as the average kid.Who do not have the experience of playing on a bigger stage the traveling  the motel rooms and the fact you are there because of them this is a real ego boost and will stay with them for the rest of there life. So it is hard to vote against playing in the tour. over in Leveland it is not in Houston there won't be a lot of travel cost. Thank God  Well after looking at it from as many angles as my little mind can. I say just remember why you play basketball #1 it's fun and #2 you are good at it. Now just have fun. Just my opinion

             

School Golf

Monday Summer played in the golf tournament at her Middle School it is a real casual thing with parents helping keep score and walking and talking and helping the kids play their best. It is played at a little rural course that is not much more than a field with flat greens and rock hard dirt fairways no ruff so you can't lose your ball when you hit it. It just goes forever. Anyway we caught a beautiful day nice and cool no wind that is so unusual for this time of year in Texas most of the time the wind blows bad. And it has been but not that day. Now you have to understand most of these kid don't play golf they come out in the spring and think they are going to learn at school there are to many and to little time for that. We are a small school with a small budget and you have to know how to play to make the team. That is the reality of it so out of the 35or40 kids
5 girls and 5 boys are all that make it. I know it's not fair but it is just economics.
 Summer was pared with two other girls one was Carly a girl who also is on her AAU basketball team and the other was Bailey  both are really nice girls. But their are not golfers they didn't look like they had played very much. If any. Summer was a little nervous and shot a 51 for 9 holes and the other girls shot 62 not that bad being there experience level. And the best boy was 46 so she wasn't far off the pace. She was the best girl. So I was happy for her and glad to see all the hard work paying off a bit. She just needs to take her time and stay in the moment and give her self a chance. .         

Blues

I have been playing the blues for a long time for some reason the 1 5 7 is a standard and everybody plays it. From  lead zeppelins whole Lotta love to the milk cow blues by George Strait. Every singer and band at one time or the other does some rendition of the blues Muddy Waters Jimi Hendricks Steve Ray Vaughn . So what is the deal is it the simplicity of it the three chords or is it that the lead does not have to follow the melody. So the guitar or what ever lead you have is free to just soar with out regard for the Vocal melody or structure of the song.As long as it stays with in the three chords and turn around. So it has a wide open door as far as being able to express ones self and put your style and personality on a song with out having to come up with a chord arrangement that is your own. It is build in  of course there are no new chord arrangements any more every combination has been played and put in to thousands of songs. But the blues is special in that you can play it real slow to real fast and it still holds up and  can become a great song a hundred years ago and people are wighting great songs even today. So what is it. Does it come from the slaves of the last century  in the American south or is it of Celtic origins from Ireland and the blacks just  heard there masters playing this style on there stringed instruments and slow bluegrass is just the blues that high lonesome sound from the mountains of the south. So to say the blues and jazz are American music styles is a little misleading because most of it comes from France in New Orleans and folk music from Ireland and England and Germany yes the immigrants brought this music with them and when you mix it all together Jazz Blues Country Western and Rock and Roll and even Hip Hop and Rap is what it has turned in to. And I believe these melody's are as old as the plains of Africa and the Ice Age in Europe. And that my friend is why this music hits people so deep. Just my opinion.......Enjoy the music.....