Chris, When I lived in Portland, Oregon, in the mid-eighties I got immersed in the early music scene there. It was marvelous. I found myself on the board of the Portland Baroque Orchestra and was active with them even doing some t'bo playing. Also, I was part of a free form ensemble that had a regular gig at Powell's Book Store (a converted warehouse, 3 stories of used books and a great coffee room) where we played each Tuesday night. The flautist of that group - whose husband was the Poet Laureate of Oregon - and I did weddings, churches, wineries and some "hippeoisie" garden parties. I accompanied her by taking the sheet music and "realizing" the continuo on my kitchen table with tab. I could take my Lundberg ebony & ivory t'bo to any park in the city, sit down and draw a small appreciative crowd just by playing. It seemed everyone not only knew what the instrument was - "hey, that's the longest lute I've ever seen" - and some even recognized the pieces. It was a great time.
In 1989 I moved to Louisville, Kentucky. Culture shock is too gentle a word for what I found. Early music there means bluegrass played before noon. Shortly after I arrived, I took my t'bo and went to a nice park in a lovely little college not far from my house. It was a fresh spring day and I set up on a stone bench and started playing. The reaction could not have been greater if I had just stepped from a flying saucer. All I got was stares that said "what a bozo" and one comment, "Damn man, that there is the biggest taterbug mandolin I done ever seen." I think he was one of the professors. If you live in a place where what you do is understood by 10% of the public and appreciated by 2%, revel in your time and treasure it. Now, in Cincinnati, there is at least some understanding if not overt interest. Luting is a lonely business. Rob Dorsey http://RobDorsey.com -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, September 13, 2006 5:27 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: lutelist Subject: [LUTE] Re: Galant Continuo Taco, My first response is usually an awkward silence. I'm not SURE if the person is joking and so I stand there with a dumb smile on my face for a moment. Then I think to myself "Oh God, should I correct him/her? Is this person going to take it as an insult?" Then I usually say something like, "Um... its a little later than that, more of a late renaissance/early baroque thing..." As you can tell, I've had this happen more than once. Usually I'm taken aback because I'm dealing with folks that I assume know a thing or two about music. (You know what happens when you assume...) Anybody have any good comebacks for this type of situation? Chris To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
