My amazing family, Part 2: Sam Hinton, folk-music legend and biologist.

Sam Hinton is my grandmother's brother, and he and I share one piece of discographical history. We both have songs released from Bear Family Records, out of Germany. Isn't that wild?

My uncle Sam has had a long, rewarding musical career that began in Texas and worked its way up to legendary status through the decades. He's still alive and living out on La Jolla, too. I remember I went to visit them once and he pointed out his neighbor's house. It was the home of Jonas Salk, the man who invented the polio vaccine. Of course, this was when Salk was still alive. And I went to see the Go Gos with Katrina & the Waves while I was out there, too. And I went to Mexico for lunch. It was a good trip.

I found out my uncle had a band with my aunts Nell and Ann in the 1930s, and they played on the radio all over the place. They were called "The Texas Trio". I also find that pretty bizarre since my friend Shaun Young has had a band of the same name. Cool.

I was floored a few years ago when Bear Family Records released an entire collection of my uncle's music. They were recordings he had done back in 1947 for the Library of Congress Musical Archives. They're pretty damned interesting too, although I myself prefer the more colorful pieces he did on his kids' albums in the '50s and '60s.

A lot of you may not know this about me either, but I have a thing for biology and, specifically, snakes. I took care of snakes every summer for about 5 years when I was in junior high and high school. I know how snakes poop and how to tell the difference between the sexes. I'l tell you if you want; all you have to do is ask. If you want to know what that has to do with anything, read on.

Here's my uncle Sam's awesome story:

http://www.samhinton.org/bio.html