Category: Bhagra

Bakersfield….

I spent some quality time with some of my family in Bakersfield this past weekend. Because my cousin Roman has always been an encyclopedia of hip hop, I always associated his town with thumping bass. But that was only half the picture; I really didn’t know how deep the country roots ran in the city off Highway 99. We were in town celebrating the life of beloved Aunt Nina, so after her memorial we went to one of her favorite spots, The Junction, a serious country music karaoke bar on Buck Owens Highway. I’m a karaoke freak, so I decided to do one of my favorite country songs, Cold Cold Heart by Hank Williams. I had some trepidation seeing the hard core cowboys hanging at the bar, but I did my best to do Hank proud. It’s a great song really.

After that I called it a night, but my brother and cousins went clubbing around town, played some pool, and even hit up a club with a rockabilly vibe. Rockabilly scenes have been around California for a while, most notably, cowpunk with Los Lobos or X or punk rockabilly with bands like The Cramps or the whole swing thing (Cherry Poppin’ Daddies), but in Bakersfield, is there areal connection leading back to the whole “Bakersfield Sound?”