Leaving mid-afternoon, my next stop will take me 42 miles to the college town of Ruston, Louisiana. Although seemingly devoid of any significant places of history beyond Louisiana Tech, the town is the home of famous singer-songwriter Jeff Mangum. Mangum and his band, Neutral Milk Hotel remain one of the most popular and endearing bands to emerge from the American independent music scene in the 90's.
Neutral Milk Hotel circa 1998
Credit: http://assets.rollingstone.com/assets/images/artists/304x304/neutral-milk-hotel.jpg
The band provides a surprisingly original way to engage with Southern culture. Their music combines elements of traditional folk music with psychedelic tinged, feedback driven guitars. The template they set has become one of the de facto sources of inspiration in popular music today, with popular bands like the Arcade Fire citing them as major influences. So in an effort to soak up that unique local heritage, I will explore the Louisiana Tech campus where Mangum DJ'ed as a teen and shaped his musical taste.
Louisiana Tech University
Credit:http://www.byuaccounting.net/mediawiki/images/9/93/Collegecampus.jpg
Ruston's colorful history of musical influence will help me better understand the exciting and unique Southern culture that helps shape the face of popular music and art forms in places far from the South itself. The far-reaching nature and importance of Southern culture exists as a driving force behind the heightened reality exhibited in Wolf Whistle's recollection of a Southern history screaming to be heard.
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