I’m From Lubbock, And By God, I Stan Buddy Holly

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Growing up in Lubbock, you pretty much constantly hear about and see stuff related to Buddy Holly, a dude that died over SIXTY years ago on February 3rd in 1959, a day famously (and very dramatically) dubbed "the day the music died". It's almost as if Lubbock lives in the past or something. But, we all have to agree he is by far the most famous person to have ever grown up here, and like him or not, he is your hometown hero.

I went to Lubbock High (Go Westerners!) and had my "home" period in the same room Buddy did. Hell, I may have sat where he sat for all I know. I've been to his grave and seen his statue and done all the Buddy Holly stuff you can do. The new Buddy Holly Center is a gorgeous testament to his influence.

It would be cheap and easy to be very blasé about Buddy Holly, but here's the thing: I adore him. I adore his music. I adore his rebel attitude. And by god, was he an attractive man, with a dorky-chic look that still holds up in the year of our lord 2021.

Most anyone is familiar, at least in passing, with songs like Peggy Sue and the evocatively titled Not Fade Away, a cover of which was the Rolling Stones' first American A-side single in 1964. My personal favorites are the dreamy, "New York" era True Love Ways and the tic-tocking and tinkling yearning of Everyday, which mega-stars Pearl Jam would cover during their Lubbock appearance.

Buddy wrote beautiful, hopeful, and deeply inspiring music. And I love it very much.

And if you are looking for Buddy art as irreverent as the man himself, check out my darling friend Erika Jane Amerika.