A Mighty Trio

The Kingston Trio influenced popular song far beyond the boundaries of traditional folk music. Aesthetically they may have been a template for boy bands, handsome young men mugging cutely on their album covers. While there is a fair share of love songs in their repertoire, the Trio's more famous numbers are about Tom Dooley being bound to die, Tijuana jails and zombie jamborees. That's more Geto Boys than Backstreet Boys. In 1960, the Grammy Awards created a category for folk music (which the Trio won) in response to the genre's explosion in popularity. Mind you, this is when three-part harmony, a couple of acoustic guitars and a banjo could be described as something explosive. These days if you want to be explosive you simply put the sound of an explosion on the track. Click-click. Ka-boom! Here again, we see a correlation. The Kingston Trio is the great-grandfather of gangsta rap. The Kingston Trio lays down some old, old, incredibly old-school beats 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Bass Performance Hall, Fourth and Calhoun streets in Fort Worth. Tickets range from $35 to $45. Call 1-877-212-4280 or visit basshall.com.
Wed., Oct. 24, 7:30 p.m., 2007