D Nuts || August 9, 2007

To truly study a local music scene, its media deserves an unflinching eye. From papers to radio stations, from blogs to bulletins, the music story, whether we like it or not, is often about the storytellers. Sadly, the most deserving Dallas target of such attention as of late happens to be Jonanna Widner, the former Fort Worthian who returned to Texas to take over my position as Dallas Observer music editor last year. Quite frankly, any Dd slags in her direction come off as oddly and awkwardly as John Kerry diatribes about George Bush. You know?

So for the most part, I've restrained myself and let her work do the talking--letting great local stories and concert announcements slip by, failing to research the history of bands she has written about, allowing concert and club listings to become a mess, writing repeat stories about a very narrow subset of DdFW's ridiculously diverse pool of acts...I have private complaints as well, but those, even more than that list, come from the music editor in me, not the music fan.

Thankfully, this week's music column has alarmed the Web editor in me, which is a first, so I'm taking advantage. Her column is dedicated to the fracas that consumed We Shot JR last week. In short, WSJR's very long feature about the band Matthew and the Arrogant Sea included the lead singer's claim that the band was part of a pending $6 million distribution deal with EMI. The rest of the band came on the site a day later to kabosh this claim, and between each of these posts, hundreds of reader comments popped up, many of which cast doubt and talked trash.

After copying and pasting a good many of these comments, Widner goes on to express outrage and shock that so many people could post such nasty, mean things. "What does this have to do with music?" she asks, panting, short of breath.

I've got a few more questions than that. How about some context? You could explain that We Shot JR is, and has always been, the local music scene's Beyond Thunderdome--a chaotic desert of anonymous comment banter, held together by the often acidic but always thoughtful posts, tips and opinions of site founder "StonedRanger." And as anybody who's been to the site at least more than three times can attest to, many of the outsider posts can be ignored for the bullshit they really are. A few musicians around town have confided in me that they post rude, crude and weird stuff just for the hell of it.

Since when is this fucking news? People who type crap on their computers and click the "anonymous" button might--WHOA NOW--not entirely mean it? This is 2007. Giving anonymous readers that much credit for their opinions is like leaving your cell phone on when you go to a movie. The concept isn't new anymore. You have no excuse.

That being said, real conversations can be found between the anon shouts. So it's sad to see Widner ask, "Why the fuck would anyone want to engage in an environment wherein the slightest move gets you bombarded by toxic fallout?" The answer, of course, is that there is a conversation to engage in on sites like We Shot JR. No membership, no screened content, no wondering whether or not your contribution will be seen. You click and it's there. And truly, that sense of discussion, passion, insight and even tension is much more meaningful to a creative community than Widner's continually hollow statements: "that DFW has no cohesive scene, that Deep Ellum is dying..."

These two half-sentences are as close as the woman gets to not copying and pasting something in the column, and what does she do to back either of these claims up? Nothing. Moves on to a diatribe on the fractured Dallas scene based solely on WSJR's anonymous commenters. Why use the gift of insight to consider the relatively trouble-free associations between varying bands, MCs and performers around North Texas?

But her lack of work, thought and insight is nothing new. The most startling trend of Widner's tenure at the Observer, the thing I hoped would have faded by now, is that her work is a repeat of her face value experience. This is what Dallas music is. These are the actual words listed on the comments thread. These are the 15 local bands I've bothered to see in concert. What I see, I repeat. What I'm given, I put down in the paper. Conversations require work. Copying and pasting does not.

Control+C, control+V. Hey, look. I can do it too.

...ah, there I go with the John Kerry crap again. -SM