Thursday night I ran a webcast for FocusMusic of Tabla For Two. It’d finally happened : one of the groups I work with had booked a performer who’d simply had NO capacity for webcasting… but fortunately HAPPENED to be local – so I drove down to Bethesda, MD and set up three cameras and some mics and pooped’em on out to the world!
Abigail Adams of Tabla For Two. We talked a lot about the universe and though in post I feel like I probably spoke too much (somehow all this reclusive pandemicosity has made me chatty) it was good to be reminded that SOME people are not entirely without context. One of my most hated metaphors is when someone calls Baltimore a “warzone”. Well, listening Masood and Abigail talking about trying to get their friends and family out of freshly-reTalibanized Afghanistan (Masood’s original home) is a reminder that we, happy, secure Americans – have a LOT of problems, but consistent shelling of our homes, rampant conscription of our kids and hangings on every street corner don’t happen to be any of them.
I’ve got the dreadfeels this morning. Last night’s open mic felt like a good warm room, but the protest songs were thick and on the one hand that made me feel good – we’ve got a room full of people that can express those feelings (and express them remarkably intelligently) but on the other hand it sure makes me feel bad about the tiny audience right now. Here’s music that SHOULD be heard, the should be paid attention to – but it’s not really getting the ears and eyes and hearts that it deserves.
I’ve got a moment of peace this morning. Beautiful things have been mine to treasure over the past week or so. The Botanical Gardens and the Ani and Indigo Girls show – running a tabla and harmonium performance for FocusMusic last Thursday. But the bad news comes in. Friends catching COVID. Not-friends catching COVID. People doing stupid things with “personal cocktails” to recover or taking that damned dewormer because they read somewhere that it’d help.
FRIDAY night kept me on my toes with another production of Reverend Yolanda Norton’s Beyonce Mass. She’s one of the only people who can take this atheist to church and though she had connectivity issues her sermon remained strong – a message reminding us that not all of us think alike and no matter how much hatred there is around us, our personal mission needs to remain not giving into it. My addendum to that is – this is not because of a divine message, judgement or proclamation – but because together as a species, one day we need to Live with one another unless we’re truly planning levels of annihilation not yet accomplished. Her new camera disconnected multiple times and we trouble-shot on the fly, having to remind ourselves of the real miracle : that she was speaking in Portugal through me in Baltimore to a congregation in Seattle.
I can only hear one distant siren and the rest of the morning is crickets and refrigerator hum. Tonight’s gig is probably going to be rained indoors. Thursday’s gig is going to be indoors. Saturday’s gig is in crisis because the sound crew caught COVID because they played indoors. Starting Sunday things slow down. Wish Congress would take note.
Hey Congresspeeps, you useless cowards you, I’m having a really stressful week. The world’s generally not doing that much better. Could you all perhaps get your fucking act together, do your jobs and maybe not add to it all?
Let’s end on a high note. Sunday Heather and I walked Catonsville extensively, exploring a couple of new nooks and crannies and buying a donut. Fall is the moment when we can contemplate that our surroundings remain beautiful despite our best efforts.
