---
author: Eric Wagoner
date: '2000-10-12T11:42:43'
draft: false
title: The other night, I was
---

The other night, I was walking through downtown Athens. Despite what Austin, Texas, might claim, Athens really has more music per capita than anywhere else. On any given night, you can find several dozen bands playing throughout downtown. They're not all REM wannabes, either. There's a wonderful mix. The other night, I saw on the street corner a grizzled old bluesman, his electric guitar plugged into a tiny amp on the sidewalk. He looked and sounded like a true delta bluesman. His song had a familiar melody, though I couldn't quite place it. The lyrics were an epic retelling of the Georgia-Tennessee football game from the weekend prior. I smiled, thinking of days gone by when folk songs were written to commemorate an important event. As I walked closer, the verse ended and he began the chorus, still singing and playing in classic blues style . . . "_Who let the dogs out? Who, who, who, who? Who let the dogs out_ . . ."