It's strange to finally visit a country properly when your assumptions about what to expect have been built up primarily from television and movies. And by properly I mean to interact with the local community; drink in their bars, talk to them over coffee (or tea!) shop in their stores and read their newspapers. Nowhere is this more revealing than in small-town America. This is not the white picketed fence of TV folklore but the real deal; off the beaten track, a single store/bakery, a garage, welcome centre, a hotel (closed) and all within a single main street. Here the wider economy is biting hard and issues as discussed in the local paper and across café tables. Forget the America that is portrayed on TV shows and in Hollywood movies. It's not real. This is where it's at. A proper community. After several weeks travelling around I have learnt a lot more about this strange yet fascinating place.
'True Stories' is the Talking Heads version of the soundtrack to the movie 'True Stories' - A David Byrne side project. The movie was based upon true yet strange stories from small town America; odd, off-beat, heartwarming yet true. Allegedly. Although the songs within the movie are performed by the actors David Byrne convinced his fellow Heads to record their version of the movies songs. It's far from a classic Heads album but it does contain two of their most popular tracks in 'Wild Wild Life' and 'Love For Sale'. We also get the wonderful 'Radio Head' and 'City of Dreams''.
Being a movie that has to, and does entertain, these stories are not a true reflection of a typical American small town..... I suspect that the truth is far stranger!
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