The route to “Jericho” this week started with a farm report on rural Iowa radio.
During an early morning drive from Omaha to Sioux City, as is often the case when traveling, I scanned the radio for local flavor. Usually that means the AM dial, and especially in northern Iowa. But a man can only take so much corn news. So I moved the dial and found a squeaky clean Southern gospel quartet singing “Jericho Road.” Which over the course of the day sent my mind to The Band’s “Jericho” album and Steve Earle’s “Jericho Road” from a decade ago.
But the musical king of Jericho surely is Oklahoma’s own John Fullbright. Raised in Woody Guthrie’s hometown, Fullbright is inspired by the masters: Bob Dylan, Leonard Coen, John Prine. And the Bible. But his lyrics come from the dark corners of the Bible, all blood and fire, and blowing trumpets and crumbling walls. The man surely must be a student of Revelations.
And so today, I took a journey back through Fullbright’s three albums, and the delivery and images have kept their intensity. The sky is still raining fire, I realized today.
And to think it started with a report on hog prices.
LOST IN THE NOISE 