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Music News: Scott Hutchison mural; Kelly Clarkson's 'moment of action'; Skynyrd's historical marker

A mural in Glasgow, by artist Michael Corr, depicts Scott Hutchison.
A mural in Glasgow, by artist Michael Corr, depicts Scott Hutchison.Michael Corr

by Jay Gabler

May 22, 2018

A colorful new mural in Glasgow commemorates the late Scott Hutchison. Scottish artist Michael Corr created the mural in association with this past weekend's Scottish Street Food Festival; he says the mural, which measures about 12'x8', will be on display for a week at the Barras Art and Design venue.

Hutchison, leader of the beloved Scottish band Frightened Rabbit, died earlier this month at age 36. (Pitchfork)

Kelly Clarkson asks for "moment of action"

At the opening of Sunday night's Billboard Music Awards, Kelly Clarkson was scheduled to call for a moment of silence in memory of the high school students who died in a Friday shooting in Santa Fe, Texas. Instead, she asked for a "moment of action."

I'm so sick of moments of silence. It's not working, like, obviously. So why don't we not do a moment of silence? Why don't we do a moment of action? Why don't we do a moment of change? Why don't we change what's happening? Because it's horrible.

Clarkson, a Texas native, has spoken in the past about owning several guns herself. Her speech quickly became the most talked-about moment of the awards. (New York Times)

Lynyrd Skynyrd family home gets historical marker

A cast aluminum historical marker now designates the Van Zant House in Jacksonville, Florida. That would be the childhood home of Ronnie, Donnie, and Johnny Van Zant — the brothers who grew up to play in Lynyrd Skynyrd (first Ronnie, and then Johnny after the former died in 1977) and .38 Special (Donnie).

The house's current owner, Todd Smith, is renovating the house "to look like a time capsule from the '70s, complete with an avocado-green rotary-dial phone and a wooden console stereo with an eight-track player and several Skynyrd eight-tracks that still sound just fine," reports the Billboard. He hopes to make the house available as a short-term rental for fans of the brothers.

Bey makes a buy

Beyoncé has reportedly purchased a century-old New Orleans church near the home of her sister Solange. What's Bey going to do with the church? It's unclear, but the real estate listing ($850,000) noted that the building "affords many possibilities for redevelopment as a single, multifamily, remaining as a Church, possibility of a commercial usage or many other possibilities." The building hasn't been used as a church in recent years. (NME)

"September" co-writer offers thoughts on Swift remake

Recently, Taylor Swift released a cover of the 1979 Earth, Wind & Fire classic "September." When the song came out last month, the song's co-writer Allee Willis was quick to praise the song as "the absolute cherry on top of a very soulful and happy sundae."

Now, though, Willis has apparently changed her tune. At her one-woman show in Detroit, Willis retracted her statement and offered something a little more detailed. (AV Club)

I didn't really think she did a horrible job. Yes, I felt it was as lethargic as a drunk turtle dozing under a sunflower after ingesting a bottle of Valium, and I thought it had all the build of a one-story motel, but, I mean, the girl didn't kill anybody. She didn't run over your foot. She just cut a very calm and somewhat boring take of one of the peppiest, happiest, most popular songs in history.

Instead of talking more about Taylor Swift, though, let's talk more about Allee Willis. Did you know she co-wrote the Friends theme song by Minnesota's own Rembrandts? That she has an alter ego as "Bubbles" the artist, creating sculptures and ceramics? That she runs an online "Allee Williams Museum of Kitsch"? The Washington Post might be right: "Allee Willis is the most interesting person you've never heard of."