Are You Gonna Be My Rag || September 21, 2006

My nightmare has begun.

I'm only a few hours away from my flight back to the States (stopping in Seattle for a few days before returning to my favorite letters D), which means I have some procrastinating time to check hometown Web sites (I know I'm late to this, but have you gotten We Shot JR's amazing mix MP3 yet?).

Unfortunately, one is looking as unfamiliar as can be. The Dallas Observer's music section, in only its third full edition since my departure, has melted down to exactly what I was afraid of. Take a good look at the bylines that run through the section--recognize any? You might if you're obsessed with the 19-city-strong Village Voice Media syndicate; Garrett Kamps and Olivia Flores Alvarez are full-time VVM writers/editors in different cities, while Tim Hammill, Bob Ruggiero and D.X. Ferris are freelancers who (as far as I know) don't live anywhere near Dallas (and certainly haven't been part of the paper's usual freelancing roster). Those five writers are responsible for the brunt of the coverage, ranging from great artists (M. Ward) to questionable ones (Bullet For My Valentine?) to the bottom of the sewer (heya, Jet!).

Let's be fair: it's not as if I never 1) used syndicated content or 2) focused strongly on national acts in a given week as music editor. But the number of local writers in this edition is alarmingly thin, as is the utter emphasis on national acts. Is this just a case of a bad week, the staff scrambling to fill a few pages when the new music editor hasn't yet arrived in town? Did some local writers drop out suddenly, forcing the editors to jump to plan B? Wouldn't surprise me; I was the victim of the latter and know how fun that can be. And the local column is quite solid (Noah W. Bailey's take on local festivals is a solid try-out for a position that's already been filled), as are the critics' picks (good to see Michael Chamy contributing again). But if you take a good, hard look at the kinds of articles filling the main pages (feature, B-sides), you might agree with me that a premeditated change of pace may very well be setting up camp on the hallowed Dallas Observer pages. Dallas, Denton and Fort Worth: If you're not careful--or vocal--you might be kissing your local rag's musical focus goodbye within a month. Until then, sleep sweet, Jet-filled dreams. -SM