Home Town Gig

I'm so ready for Saturday night. Sure, it's only Wednesday but Saturday can't come soon enough for me. The fact is, I've been ready for a while now. Oh yeah, there's still is plenty of prep work necessary to make Saturday night the impeccable musical performance I envision. Because that will be a collaborative effort and a major part of the collaboration hasn't exactly happened yet.

So here's the deal. On Saturday, January 31 at 7:30, the curtain rises for my show at The Shedd Performing Arts Institute. And in Eugene, Oregon, that's a big deal. Lots of print advertising featuring my picture, extra airplay on local radio, fancy oversized photographic full-color mailings about my show to several thousand local households and a palpable buzz in our community.

So what's the problem? Nothing really. Except that the 7 musicians that will back me up have never played with one another. Never even met. That will happen on Friday night.

I've played with clusters of them. For example, my two old friends who are LA musicians, Gary and Brent. We played together incessantly growing up in Salem, Oregon, and we've played together a number of times when I've visited LA. These guys have performed with dozens of acts that have achieved worldwide fame. Then there are the local guys, Matt and Pete, both consummate professionals who can and have cut the mustard with numerous other musicians, including Chuck Berry, Andy Summers and many more. And then there's Greg from Portland and Stan from Atlanta, terrific musicians with impressive musical resumes.

The thing is, our first opportunity to play my songs together arrives on Friday night. Then the show is on Saturday. Am I worried? No. Why not? Because they have learned my tunes and they are pros.

I'm excited. I know my audience will include dozens of friends and family members. And it will include many members of my home town who haven't heard me yet. If I merely avoid the indignity of disappointing them, my personal level of satisfaction will be low. Is it wrong to hope for more? I don't think so. When performing my songs, I put my entire being on the line. I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm so ready for Saturday night.

Inauguration Day

January 20, 2009---a date many will remember forever. Any why not? How many of us can remember other presidential inaugurations? A show of hands please? Uh huh, just a few political die-hards and the odd Reagen devotee.
So much excitement shared by so many. And not just in the USA. This inauguration ignited a worldwide celebration and a renewal of the perception that the United States actually deserves its lofty status as the leader of the free world.
Once again, for the first time this millenium, our nation is suddenly respected and admired as a place where people of humble origins can achieve the nation's highest office, including for the first time, people of color.
For most, the lasting images of the day will be those of Barack, Michelle and their adorable daughters. But for some, the most pleasurable image was the sight of W boarding the presidential helicopter and leaving Washington DC for good. Like an uninvited guest who outlived his welcome by 6 years, W's departure came far too late. Some are fond of saying "all good things must come to an end", but so it is too for bad things. And the Bush presidency was bad beyond belief, leaving a legacy of debt and bad will that may take generations to erase.
Could the juxtaposed images of January 20th be more starkly different? Out with the old president, a semi-articulate C student/frat boy (no offense to frat boys) mostly concerned with enriching his buddies and running government like a third rate church. In with the new president, a guy fairly described as brilliant, handsome and incredibly cool, committed to converting our government into a well-functioning organization in a fast changing world and restoring America's reputation as a beacon of democracy.
I've never been so proud to be an American.

Home: You Can't Get There From Here

I didn't want to come to Sacramento. Now I can't leave. I want out. Now. Instead, I'm having a "Groundhog's Day"-Bill Murray experience. No, it's more like Tom Hanks in "The Terminal".
I am aware that fellow travelers have been stuck for days in places like Chicago and Portland. My current predicament is not caused by snow. It's fog. Fog in San Francisco.
You can drive from Sacramento to Eugene in 6 hours on a good day. But this is not a good day. Neither was yesterday. Now I'm pretty worried about tomorrow.
It is January 6. Why is this airport still plastered with "Happy Holidays" signs. Is the fog in San Francisco preventing airport personnel in Sacramento from taking them down? Or do they want us to reflect upon a happy moment in our past? Gosh, the holidays seemed like events that occurred a long, long time ago.
It's 2009 and we are prisoners. True, I have my guitar, which helps. And my laptop. Even free internet which is rare in airports these days. But I want to be home. Today please.