On the Porch : life and music in Terlingua, Texas

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. "In the desert of West Texas, ten miles from Mexico, lies the small town of Terlingua. On any given day, most of the people there are tourists visiting nearby Big Bend National Park. But a few hundred people call Terlingua home, and if there is one thing they love, it's music. Terlingua's music scene is the envy of cities many times larger. Local and touring musicians perform in commercial venues seven nights a week, and there is no end to informal porch-front jams. The town had a recording studio before it had a school, a well-stocked grocery store, or a water utility. Why does such an isolated, little-known 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 remarkable community through careful documentation and the testimony of its members. Chase Peeler situates Terlingua in the broader worlds of the culture industry, amateur music, and US-Mexico border politics. He also explores the collision of gentrification and off-the-grid fantasy, as urbanites move in and transform a precarious human ecosystem. Today there are more than a hundred songs about Terlingua. On the Porch celebrates that musical spirit, showing how it sustains a place like no other"-- Provided by publisher