--- In [email protected], "curtisdeltablues"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> Thanks for the generous spirit of that post Turq. I think one of
the
> nicest things you can do for someone is to give them an excellent
> reputation to live up to. Very cool. I had an outstanding day
and
> I'll honor your post by describing some of it for you.
>
> Today in Northern Virginia it was Spring for a day. For the last
10
> years or so, I have used such days to play my music in Old Town
> Alexandria, on the boardwalk right on the Potomac river down the
road
> from ol' G. Washington's crib in Mt. Vernon. I think he is famous
for
> being on the one dollar bill or something so people around here
make a
> big fuss over him. Old Town is an international melting pot of
> tourists as well as an upscale Yellow Labrador kind of place. On
days
> like today, the board walk is full of our fellow humans strolling
in
> the beauty and looking for something to do with their kids that
> doesn't involve fist fulls of G. Washingtons flying out of their
> pockets.. They accept the minor ass whipping of a family feed at
Ben
> and Jerry's joint and then they enter my world. I call it my world
> because my job is to turn strangers into paying customers within a
few
> minutes of eye contact. The set up is that I am playing my bass
drum
> and hi-hat cymbals to a nice 2/4 rhythm as naturally as a walker's
> gait. My National Steel resonator guitar is very loud and I slash
the
> slide along the stings to find all those in between notes that
> bluesmen love. I have a harp on a rack which I play from the
depths
> of my diaphragm ( I really should switch to the pill) so it is also
> freak'n loud. On top is what is referred to in Kindergarten as my
> "outdoor voice", projected out like my heroes did for the sole
purpose
> of stopping traffic. It used to be hard juggling all this but that
was
> a long long time ago. Now it is just like driving my car and
talking
> on my cell phone. It all purrs along all on its own and requires a
> very small part of my conscious attention. So what do I do with
all
> that free awareness? Here is where it gets interesting.
>
> What I am doing is looking into the eyes of strangers as they walk
by.
> For an instant most people will look into my eyes and and express
> their appreciation. Girlfriends out with their dudes give me the
sly
> looks out of his sight at the bawdy lyrics "I'm a king bee baby,
> buzz'n around your hive, I make good honey baby, why don't you let
me
> inside". (Slim Harpo) By Summer they will all be in tissue paper
> dresses. Older couples who still feel the groove, white, black,
> brown, Asian, whitebread, they are all out and about and walking
in on
> my concert.
>
> My job is to wink, nod my head, connect with these passers by, and
> most of all to get kids to join me by playing maracas. This is
where
> social outreach of preserving the blues has one too many drinks
with
> pure mercenary agenda and they end up at her place with their
cloths
> off. At first it was a gimmick for me to get the people to stop
and
> listen. Then the kids started teaching me what it is really all
> about. Through the years I have developed a lot of tricks and
bits of
> business to get a shy kid to join me with the maracas. I get
plenty
> of confident kids who come right up, but my personal mission is to
get
> the shy kid to come up and experience performing. Sometimes I use
the
> ruse of spotting a girl in a pink dress and scanning the crowd
telling
> them that I need one girl in a pink dress to complete the band. I
> look everywhere but where she is until the whole crowd is pointing
at
> her and she is jumping up and down like she won the lottery. It
is a
> magic moment. The kids shake the maracas along with the song and
they
> really open up. In between verses I talk with them and build
trust so
> that at the end of the song I can ask them all (it can be up to 20
> kids) to hold the maracas over their heads while they jump up and
> down. In this finale I play a very fast shuffle and go wild on the
> harp. Every kid jumping up and down looks like they are selling
soap,
> big big smile, face lit up with joy, and then I shift my attention
> back to the crowd and watch it spread through the adults. A yagya
of
> pure joy and happiness with a bunch of strangers, a shared moment
that
> all comes back to me. In the end I point to the kids and ask the
> audience to give my percussion section a big hand and the kids look
> out at an audience clapping for them. Each kid hands me their
maraca
> and I give them a high five telling each one "you are good at
music"
> as our hands connect. Then the parent's dollars start flowing... I
> repeat this miracle for four hours, till my lips are chapped from
my
> harp, and I just can't push my voice out at that volume any more. I
> earn more dollars than any local club pays, and sold a bunch of
CDs to
> people who often show up at my club gigs requesting specific
songs.
> It ain't VH1 fame, but it totally kicks ass for me!
>
> I come home physically tired but my heart feels like I have taken 2
> hits of Amsterdam's finest ecstasy. I picked up a nice hunk of
Salmon
> on my way home, so I can crisp the skin and eat it raw on the other
> side. I still am looking into people's eyes in the store as if I am
> performing. It takes a while to shut it all off. So I continue to
> get strangers looking into my eyes for real, hitting me with the
> "isn't life great" smile. I am beaming, I am flowing with
everything
> the crowd gave me. I appear too calm to be deranged (at leas this
is
> my hope!) so even the sour pusses give in and return a smirk.
When I
> got home I turned on my computer and read your post. Shit
brother, if
> it got any better than this I would surely get arrested!
>
> I could spend some time talking about the magic moments when
disabled
> kids come up, or when an supernaturally coordinated 4 year old
dances
> like Beyoncé, or about my local fans who live in the streets and
get
> greeted by name for the first time that day, but that would be
> overkill. I do hear you on the human appreciation angle. Loving
our
> fellow man is a choice. I am doing my best to choose it as much
as I
> can. I didn't create what happened today. I just set up the
> conditions so people could let their best hang out and I got to
surf
> the wave they created.
>
> Thanks again for your post Turq.
>
Thanks for sharing a great day!
