Overview

In sunbaked Terlingua, Texas (pop., a few hundred), residents joke that there is a musician under every rock. Located ten miles from Mexico in one of the remotest corners of the United States, the town had a recording studio before it had a school, a well-stocked grocery store, or even a water utility. Open jam sessions are a daily ritual, and some songwriters make a living from their craft despite being thousands of miles from New York or Nashville. Why does such a tiny and isolated place ring with singing and guitars? Based on more than two years of on-the-ground research, On the Porch tells the story of this small but remarkable community. Chase Peeler invites us into the music, introducing us to a cast of characters as unique as the town itself. He reveals how novices and experts perform together-a rarity in contemporary America. He recounts the devastation brought on by a border closure and describes how music is once again uniting people across the Rio Grande. He considers the impact of gentrification in an off-the-grid paradise, and how this threatens to transform a precarious musical ecosystem. On the Porch is a celebration of human musicality, of the role that music plays and can play in our lives, both in Terlingua and beyond.

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9781477323649

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Interesting and compelling...Peeler's sentences soar most when he's describing the landscape of Terlingua, so much so that it's impossible not to daydream about seeking out this incredible town.-- Texas Observer (9/10/2021 12:00:00 AM)

Author Information

W. Chase Peeler holds a PhD in ethnomusicology from the University of Colorado Boulder, where he has also taught. A multi-instrumentalist and native West Texan, he continues to write and perform from his home in southwest Colorado.

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