KLTV 7 News Tyler, Longview, Jacksonville |Cursing at the park. Love it or Hate it? Leave your comments.

Cursing at the park. Love it or Hate it? Leave your comments.

Posted by Ellen Krafve - email

TYLER, TX (KLTV) - A folk artist gives a free concert at an East Texas park. But, an e-mail we got from a viewer says the content was not appropriate. The viewer says he took his children to Bergfeld Park in Tyler to hear some folk music Saturday night. But, the viewer says singer Shawn Phillips played a song that included several profanities.

"Mr. Phillips is a very talented guitarist, but he has a problem," wrote the viewer. "His use of profanity in a public venue shows his disregard for people and for the law."

But, according to the City of Tyler, there is nothing preventing a performer from using profanity.

"We don't ask for song lists or lyrics, and, right now, we don't have a policy that gets that detailed and gets that in-depth," said Carter Delleney, a City of Tyler engineer.

"This is the first I've ever heard of anyone complaining about swearing," said Arlo Hennings, Shawn Phillips' manager. "If Shawn did, I can't make any excuses for him. I have to believe that any swear words were done within context of whatever artistic message he was trying to convey."

Tyler Police Chief Gary Swindle says that, for his department to get involved, the performance would have had to incite action, like a riot, or other form of violence. 

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