1/12/07, 5:45 pm EST

Assignment One Finalist: Janie Jones on Jamestown, North Dakota

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Note: This is not an official Rolling Stone article. What follows is a submission to the “I’m From Rolling Stone” writing competition.

by Janie Jones
Age: 25

Imagine, for a moment, that the infamous prairie winds blow you off I-94 into the town of Jamestown, North Dakota. If you were to stop in the tourist info center (conveniently located just off the highway!) to ask about a local music scene, the girl behind the desk would most likely blink at you a few times before muttering something about karaoke down at the Wonder Bar. Jamestown is a town where the radio stations are either country or adult contemporary, the only place to buy a CD is Wal-Mart, and the run-of-the-mill local bar band broke up last year, presumably because things like marriage and mortgages won top priority over providing Bon Jovi covers to Budweiser-drunk working class folk. Despite this rather bleak description, Jamestown could be considered a music lover’s dream for any enterprising and free-thinking souls who happen to have an internet connection.

Here, in the middle of the country, far away from the condescending glare of the hipster, one can prowl iTunes, podcasts, Turkish radio stations, and anything else one can think of in search of the most awesome music around. There are no worries over whether the inevitable backlash against the Arctic Monkeys has yet begun. No one will mock your secret love of James Blunt. And, when you meet someone who digs the Stooges, you can rest assured that you’ ve made a real connection with another person who isn’t just into a band because they are attached to a scene.

While there may be considerable down sides to having no local music scene to speak of, like, say, rarely getting to go to a stellar rock show, there is also one undeniable advantage: When there is no scene, the whole world of music is your scene. And that makes the pickings infinitely better.