Sunset, Tuesday, 12 January 2010

William Theodore Van Doren. Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va. Oil on watercolor block, 16 x 20.

At an intersection today when a massive bassline erupted from a car behind me. I think everyone had their windows up (35°F), so it wasn’t at any sort of pain threshold, but it was all the more impressive for that reason. It was a deep rolling subterranean temblor that traveled right up your brainstem and out your follicles. It was a bass that could style your hair.

I had just been listening to Robert Johnson and wondered what Bob would think if he were at the crossroads and heard this. But now on another channel I had Conway Twitty singing “It’s Only Make Believe,” and at times the oncoming waves of bass broke perfectly underneath the lines of the song. I have to tell you: It was fantastic. “It’s Only Make Believe” with a huge bassline could be something truly awesomely fine.