Mama Tried
Who’s to blame when teens behave badly?
Hit the road to Troutdale last weekend and dove through the portal of McMenamins Edgefield into the magical land of Fennario, aka a Sierra Ferrell concert. It was an opportunity to be mostly off of devices.
When I checked in, there was plenty to remind me of why it is such a relief and pleasure to put aside the deluge of sturm und drang for a while. Two stories had blown up on my feed. In Las Vegas, a 17-year-old girl had been arrested for stabbing several horses at a barrel racing event. Closer to home, a Sisters teen took it in her head to create a video of herself singing along with lyrics to David Allan Coe’s Lay Me Down Some Rails, which, besides being an ode to Colombian marching powder, contains some noxious, racist language. Apparently an “influencer” found the video and blew it up internationally.
I admit that my first reaction to the Sisters business was to wonder how and why a teenaged girl in 2026 would get hold of a track from DAC’s x-rated “Underground Album,” which was distributed through biker bars and mail-order in 1982. Coe died recently, which must be why that cultural gem has resurfaced.
