We got to talking the other day about the perfect ridgerunner –– in other words, a liquor car. In other words, a car built to run moonshine from the still to the buyer. Now, while we pretty much came to the overwhelming conclusion that the perfect ridgerunner is either a hot ‘40 Ford coupe or a ‘57 Ford post, we also got to discussing the music coming out of the Southeastern U.S. –– Ground Zero for the Golden Age of moonshine.

And that discussion came around to Bill Monroe. The Father of Bluegrass, Monroe is credited with the first “hat show,” the predecessor to rock-n-roll, a man who launched a thousand more careers, the rockabilly movement, crossover work with the Folk movement and we’re gonna go out on a limb and maybe blame him, ulitmately, for the horrible show that is the “hippy dance” in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park during the annual Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival. Sorry, Bill, we calls ‘em like we sees ‘em.

But, there’s a really good documentary on Bill Monroe presented by Folkstreams (here). It’s well worth the hour and a half –– it’s a strong piece of work that not only documents Bill’s work and influence over the decades, but indirectly talks about the roots of car culture in one of the most culturally rich regions of this here country. Dig on it and let us know what you think. In the meantime, we’re gonna borrow Rolfe’s banjo and get to work…

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In an age when “old school” means 2005, we can’t imagine asking anyone to remember 1999, but here it is: our own Kim Mejia and Trish Ward in a San Francisco news piece on the Swing craze of the late Nineties. With movies like Jon Favreau’s “Swingers,” magazines like Leslie Rosenberg’s Atomic and Rosina Rothman’s Modern Lounge, and the early days of the Rat Rod movement, we’ll argue that those Swing days might not have been possible without the new approach to retro car culture that kicked up dust in the early Nineties.

Those were heady days when retro was new again and it’s been fascinating to see how those Lindy Hoppers have weathered the last decade. Hey, it’s 2010 and new hair greases are still being concocted in bathtubs everywhere, vintage-inspired fashion is back in a big way (see this week’s PRT) and there’s a new focus on repopped vintage speed equipment (well, we mention that to make us feel good more than anything, really).

So, enjoy the retro retro…

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It’s St. Patrick’s Day, so here’s the best performance from the mid-Sixties Bollywood suspense thriller and box office smash, “Gumnaam,” entitled “Jan Pehchan Ho.” Enjoy.