Paramount Theatre
Ignore Review; Give Hayes Carll's Music a Chance
RECEIVED Mon., March 17, 2008
Dear Editor,
I was shocked and offended to read Jim Caligiuri’s Friday review of Hayes Carll’s new album, Trouble in Mind ["SXSW Platters," Music, March 14]. Caligiuri harshly criticizes Carll and claims he is “derivative and uninspired.” Hayes Carll may be a lot of things, but unoriginal is not one of them. As a longtime fan of Carll’s, the thing I admire the most about his songwriting is his ability to take a common theme, such as love or alcohol, and depict it from a different angle. Clichés become clichés because there are truths behind them, and Carll writes at a deeper level to prove that songs about “whiskey and girls” can actually be about life.
I strongly urge your readers – and anyone else who believes sounding too much like Todd Snider and Steve Earle can never be a bad thing – to forget Caliguiri’s disservice to him and give Hayes Carll’s latest work a chance. I’m confident that when it comes to Trouble in Mind, the only thing that’s recycled in this case is Caligiuri’s review and the Friday edition of The Austin Chronicle.
I was shocked and offended to read Jim Caligiuri’s Friday review of Hayes Carll’s new album, Trouble in Mind ["SXSW Platters," Music, March 14]. Caligiuri harshly criticizes Carll and claims he is “derivative and uninspired.” Hayes Carll may be a lot of things, but unoriginal is not one of them. As a longtime fan of Carll’s, the thing I admire the most about his songwriting is his ability to take a common theme, such as love or alcohol, and depict it from a different angle. Clichés become clichés because there are truths behind them, and Carll writes at a deeper level to prove that songs about “whiskey and girls” can actually be about life.
I strongly urge your readers – and anyone else who believes sounding too much like Todd Snider and Steve Earle can never be a bad thing – to forget Caliguiri’s disservice to him and give Hayes Carll’s latest work a chance. I’m confident that when it comes to Trouble in Mind, the only thing that’s recycled in this case is Caligiuri’s review and the Friday edition of The Austin Chronicle.
Lorri Underwood
Spring
Spring
