Four music links from Arts and Letters Daily: a piece saying that there is no longer a popular music mass audience, another one blasting boring, pompous Bono and his inauthenticity, one on the durability of Goths (whose music I just cannot stand), and a review of a book whose thesis is that all performed music is by definition inauthentic.

My definition of "authenticity" in music: if you're doing it because you like it and it's what you want to do, it's authentic. If you're doing it just to make a buck, then it isn't. Pretending to be someone you aren't doesn't necessarily make you a phony; look at Bob Dylan, for example, who clearly loves all American music and whose lyrics are an honest attempt at meaning something. Yeah, when he was a kid he pretended to be a "real folkie" like Woody Guthrie, who of course wasn't a "real folkie" either, but that's a pecadillo compared to what Dylan's accomplished in his career.

Taj Mahal, a New York blues-country-jazz guy, is playing on the steps of the cathedral in Girona tomorrow night. I can't go, but I recommend that all the rest of you do. Here's a link to Taj's website, where you can hear all of his latest CD, and here are some Taj songs, all videos off YouTube:

"Linda Lu," live.

"Mailbox Blues," live.

"Fishin' Blues," live on a TV show. This one was on the third Let the Circle Be Unbroken CD.

"Lovin' in My Baby's Eyes," live at the Blue Note. Pretty good camera-phone recording.

"The Bourgeois Blues," an old Leadbelly song, live on some TV show.

"Sweet Mamma Janisse," Taj on TV back in 1971. Sound is good, film is bad.

"Tomorrow Might Not Be Your Day," another old appearance live on a TV show.

Let's start this website off with a real hard country set. All links are to YouTube videos, and they all have good sound. Check them all out.

Robert Earl Keen: "Shades of Gray," live on Austin City Limits.

Steve Earle: "Copperhead Road," official videoclip. Just in case you've never heard it.

Jack Ingram: "Mustang Burn," live on some TV show.

Junior Brown: "My Wife Thinks You're Dead," live on Austin City Limits.

The Derailers: "Bar Exam," official videoclip.

Chip Taylor and Carrie Rodriguez: "Keep Your Hat On Jenny," live.

Jason Boland: "My Baby Loves Me When I'm Stoned," official videoclip.

Ray Wylie Hubbard: "Snake Farm," official videoclip.

Cory Morrow: "Live Forever," live in Austin.

Bottle Rockets: "Indianapolis," live in Germany.

Billy Joe Shaver, "Old Chunk of Coal," live.

Joe Ely: "Gallo del Cielo," live in Edinburgh.

Reckless Kelly: "Wicked Twisted Road," live.

John Hiatt: "Tennessee Plates," live unplugged.

BR-549: "Too Lazy to Work, Too Nervous to Steal," official videoclip.

Del McCoury Band: "1952 Vincent Black Lightning," live at the Ryman in Nashville. Just in case you hadn't heard this one, either.

Steve Earle, "Dixieland," solo live at an antiwar protest in Washington. Includes two-minute political rant. Good camera-phone recording.

Robert Earl Keen: "Amarillo Highway," live at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.