Sit back and enjoy food, topics and trends that start on California farms and ranches. take 5
As with so much of Americana, farmers and ranchers have been celebrated in song. Through the years, their work, their crops and even their equipment have made it into the nation’s songbook—and some of the musicians have roots in agriculture.
From ranch to stardom Dave Brubeck, born in Concord in 1920, grew up in Ione, where his father was a cattle rancher. Young Dave went to the University of the Pacific in Stockton, intending to study veterinary science and follow his father’s path, before switching to music and becoming one of the jazz world’s most prolific pianists and composers.
Get back on the interstate! What’s more iconic in the public mind than the humble
tractor? Craig Morgan’s 2007 country hit “International Harvester” takes us aboard a machine from the titular company, where he deals with “late to work road raged jerks” on a country road. (His response: “Get back on the interstate!”) “Hay!” Morgan sings. “That’s what I make.” So do a lot of other people—California farmers grow about 6 million tons of hay each year.
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July/August 2020
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