The Karate Cowboy Chris Devore

January 12, 2022·1 hr 31 min·5 clips

Musician Chris DeVore explains why he stopped calling himself a musician and started calling himself an artist.

The episode opens with a pre-show clip about Lil' Kim and WAP before host Aaron Cheatham formally welcomes listeners to the first live episode of 2022 on The Gray Area. He teases upcoming big changes to the show in four to five weeks and promotes an end-of-month gaming episode where the crew will play the cooperative board game Pandemic. After a BetterHelp sponsorship read, Cheatham introduces guest Chris DeVore as one of his favorite people in Austin and a musician who plays fine-dining venues and may teach Cheatham's daughter guitar. The conversation immediately derails into a detailed breakdown of the Predator franchise, with Cheatham explaining that Predator only hunts armed or dangerous humans and spared a pregnant elite cop in Predator 2 due to its honor code. The two debate whether Predator might be gender-neutral and compare Alien vs. Predator favorably to Indiana Jones-style adventure films. They briefly discuss Alien vs. Predator 2 and the Predalien hybrid before moving on. DeVore reflects on his evolving self-definition, explaining he long considered himself a musician rather than an artist because he plays jazz standards and Russian folk songs rather than original compositions. He ultimately concludes he is an artist because he only performs what he genuinely wants to play, refusing requests for Christmas songs or cover sets. Cheatham reinforces the distinction by noting that artists make songs their own — citing Ray Charles's version of America the Beautiful — while musicians reproduce songs identically each time. The conversation shifts to whether modern music has declined, with DeVore arguing the rot began in the 1990s. He proposes that the Beatles established the rock band format and triggered record companies to perpetually chase the next big thing, producing increasingly diluted copies over 60 years. He suggests today's pop R&B may be the 13th or 15th watered-down rendition of Michael Jackson. Cheatham argues Usher should have been the stopping point in that lineage. Both hosts discuss their complicated histories with artists they initially dismissed — 50 Cent, Lil Jon, Ying Yang Twins, The Weeknd — and how nostalgia has rehabilitated those acts in their minds. DeVore reveals he has been nine years sober as of December 28th and describes how sobriety led him to spend roughly a year dancing nightly at Austin clubs to house music, drum and bass, and dubstep, dropping to 150 pounds in the process. He credits Austin venue Plush and its DJs for mixing hip-hop, dubstep, and cumbia in ways he loved. The two debate whether there is more great danceable music now than in the 1990s, with DeVore arguing yes due to the sheer volume of electronic music available. Cheatham counters that the flood of content makes discovery exhausting, comparing it to sitting through 30 bad open-mic comedians to find one good act. Both agree the collapse of major label gatekeeping is liberating in principle but overwhelming in practice. Cheatham closes by admitting he has retreated to deep-diving older music he missed, including Peebo Bryson.

As heard by us

A loose, funny hang on sex songs, dance floors, sobriety, and the music that still moves a room.

The hosts open on sex songs with a blunt, funny riff that moves from Lil' Kim to Cardi B and then widens into what club music is actually for.

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Why you'd press play

You want the argument that every generation needs a great dick-and-pussy song.

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