Gilkyson unafraid to mix music, politics

Eliza Gilkyson's new CD, "Paradise Hotel," is featured on this month's Blue State Jukebox,at Buzzflash, and Tony Peyser's near-rave review is well-deserved.

Gilkyson has written two of the best, if not THE two best, songs about the Iraq war -- "Hiway 9" on her last CD, "Land of Milk and Honey," which earned her a Grammy nomination for best folk album, and "Man of God," on her new disc.

In Milwaukee Saturday night to open a show for guitar legend Richard Thompson at Alverno College, Gilkyson was well-received when she took a risk and began talking politics only a couple of numbers into her set. She's based in Austin, knows something about George W and didn't hesitate to speak right up. Her take on why W prefers intelligent design theory to evolution was hysterical.

I thought being that political was risky, anyway, and give her a lot of credit for doing it. This wasn't like playing the Barrymore in Madison, and I wouldn't necessarily expect Richard Thompson fans to be liberal or anti-war. Wrong again, apparently.

She closed the set with "Man of God." Sample lyrics:

“The cowboy came from out of the west/with his snakeskin boots and his bulletproof vest/Gang of goons and his big war chest,/fortunate son he was doubly blessed/Corporate cronies and the chiefs of staff, bowing to the image of the golden calf/Startin’ up wars in the name of God’s son/gonna blow us all the way to kingdom come."

CHORUS: "Man of God/Man of God/That ain't the teachings/of a man of God."

"You never have to tell them how the money's spent/You never have to tell them where their freedom went/ Homophobes in the high command/Waiting for The Rapture like it's Disneyland."

She got a rousing ovation and brought some in the audience to their feet -- a great reception for an opening act who was unknown to much of the audience.

Given the latest polls, maybe it's not so risky to let all of those antiwar, anti-W sentiments hang out, unless you're playing at the American Legion convention or a Bush fundraiser -- two gigs for which Eliza Gilkyson is unlikely to be booked.