We Built This City...
I week ago I got a Facebook message from a filker, asking for my email address. This is not too unusual; sometimes those turn out to be questions about songs or a request for a songbook submission...so, OK.
Two facts:
1) I've made a point of getting people who know me to understand that I despise travel.
2) Not all that many people on the west coast of this continent know me.
These two things intersected -- or perhaps the right phrase is "failed to intersect" -- with the result that the email that arrived was an invitation to be the international guest at Consonance.
http://consonance.bostoncalifornia.com/
Why did I say yes? Well, I expect to be asking myself that, in various tones of voice, over the next months but the two parts of the answer are really flattery and "San Francisco". The flattery part is implicit. I expect con guests to be chosen based to a great degree on performance ability and that's honestly not my strength. I guess they figured that with Gary Hanak and Wild Mercy they had enough performers. :-)
The "San Francisco" part is a lot more about me. During the summer of 1967, I was 16 and had been in love with pop/rock music for about three years. Suddenly, a large amount of the culture I was interested in shifted to San Francisco and became embodied in musical acts that shaped my tastes permanently: Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, Moby Grape, Country Joe & The Fish, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Santana, Big Brother and the Holding Company...many others.
I never seriously considered visiting the city because self-indulgence would always lose out to flight aversion. Having an extra reason (not to mention partial sponsorship) was enough to tip the balance.
I will probably not show up with flowers in my hair but I'll be imagining them.
Two facts:
1) I've made a point of getting people who know me to understand that I despise travel.
2) Not all that many people on the west coast of this continent know me.
These two things intersected -- or perhaps the right phrase is "failed to intersect" -- with the result that the email that arrived was an invitation to be the international guest at Consonance.
http://consonance.bostoncalifornia.com/
Why did I say yes? Well, I expect to be asking myself that, in various tones of voice, over the next months but the two parts of the answer are really flattery and "San Francisco". The flattery part is implicit. I expect con guests to be chosen based to a great degree on performance ability and that's honestly not my strength. I guess they figured that with Gary Hanak and Wild Mercy they had enough performers. :-)
The "San Francisco" part is a lot more about me. During the summer of 1967, I was 16 and had been in love with pop/rock music for about three years. Suddenly, a large amount of the culture I was interested in shifted to San Francisco and became embodied in musical acts that shaped my tastes permanently: Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, Moby Grape, Country Joe & The Fish, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Santana, Big Brother and the Holding Company...many others.
I never seriously considered visiting the city because self-indulgence would always lose out to flight aversion. Having an extra reason (not to mention partial sponsorship) was enough to tip the balance.
I will probably not show up with flowers in my hair but I'll be imagining them.