I usually decry those people that complain that some event is so tradition shattering that it portends the end of civilization. The only thing that doesn’t change, is that there is always change, or so I thought. But I was wrong, there is a tradition that’s sacred to me and shattering it does portend the end of civilization. On Friday on the way to therapy I decided to stop into CVS for half-priced Halloween candy. That was a significant element of my taking a mental health day. Imagine my horror when entering the store and seeing the candy display to find that they were still full price! Good thing I was on my say to therapy. When I started the session, it was the first thing we discussed. Was it just that store? Is this the new normal? Have I lost my favorite holiday, Half-Priced Candy Day? The horror.
I hope that didn’t shake My Gentle Listeners up too much. Never fear, the rest of this entry is far happier.
Yesterday was another holiday, Post-Concert Pizza with Mya Day. Mya Byrne and I are Jewish, our holidays revolve around food. We’ve been trying to do this for months. The last time we tried I got sick. This time it worked, though not perfectly. I left myself about a 15-minute cushion to arrive at Rockwood Music Hall on time for the show. Instead I was 10 minutes late. Sometimes the subway system hates me. I was not the only one affected, I wasn’t the latest arrival.
I only knew one other person there, another musician, Mark Aaron James. I didn’t even know he knew Mya; I know him through Christine Lavin. The folk world is very small.
Mya is part of the folk world but doesn’t usually play folk music, it’s more blues, rock, and punk. Then she surprised me, her new songs are folk. A surprising number are about natural disasters. She lived in New York for Hurricane Sandy then moved to the Bay area for Earthquakes and Wildfires. I told her that the fires are her fault. Like I said, we’re Jewish, we do the guilt thing.
Previously with Mya the further from folk the songs were the more I liked them. I considered blues and rock her natural habitat though Jack Hardy nurtured her in the folk world. I love the new material. She found her folk métier. Her voice better than I’ve ever heard her. Her vocal track has had health issues going back to before I met her. This might just be a testament to their current condition. That is not to say that before this she had trouble singing. Singing is not the same as the sound of your voice. She could always sell a song; she was always musical; some roughness around the edges can be a plus for blues and rock.
After the show Mya, Mark, and myself, and three friends I didn’t know went out for pizza at my favorite place, Rosario’s. We had an interesting range of conversations. One was on Drag Queen Bingo at gay bars. Another started with Wegman’s and evolved into love and devotion to other supermarkets. We sounded like housewives from a sexist 50s sitcom. This is very much what hanging out with Mya is about.
Wise Madness 