Kutchma, Jason
Sundown U.s.a.
In 2012 JKutchma & The Five Fifths were on tour, driving through Detroit en route to a show. As we came into the city, Evan told us how the fire company was instructed to let abandoned houses burn. After decades of decline, there was no more money to save them. During the gasoline crisis of the 1970s, consumers were opting for more fuel-efficient cars produced by foreign companies. The sales and market shares of Detroits automobile companies declined. In the mid-80s, the city borrowed against a promising future that never arrived. There was an exodus to the suburbs. Debt escalated and revenue did not return. The bribery, kickbacks and greed, always greasing the wheels for the desperate and small, were overlooked when the system provided bounty. But now, sliding towards bankruptcy, the corruption was front page news. A city of buildings abandoned. Beautiful, gorgeous buildings shuttered. As Evan drove, I saw a two children playing on a ten-foot high pile of rubble. In the distance, below the early moon in a Detroit sky, there was ignored smoke from an ignored fire of another forgotten building