Mary McCaslin's Roundup

Nov 24, 2001

THANKSGIVING TIME OF YEAR

The happenings of Sept. 11 have so overshadowed every other aspect of our lives that I could not find one mention of the twelfth anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake in any newspaper on Oct.17. Other disasters and events that would normally be big news have been relegated to the back pages.

Paranoia has been whipped to a frenzy. Where once there was a Communist under every bed, replaced in recent times by drug dealers, now terrorists are lurking everywhere and "white powder" no longer refers to illegal drugs. These are truly frightening times and we have to take comfort wherever we can find it.

Often the most comforting thing we can do is to simply take a break from "world events". Turn off the news and put on some music. Take a walk or go for a drive along the coast or up in the mountains. Skip the serious parts of the newspaper and read the arts and advice columns, the recipe section or the comics. Pick up a book or rent a movie. Go to a concert.

In spite of all the bad news and the never ending struggle to make ends meet just to be able to stay here in this Epicenter of Paradise, we still have a lot to be thankful for. We do live in a beautiful place and are blessed with a music and arts scene that rivals and in some cases surpasses many larger metropolitan areas.

Our lives have also been enriched by those musicians and social activists who left us this year: John Hartford, Mimi Farina and Smith Dobson (who received a Gail Rich award just weeks before his untimely death), Jan Curry (wife of folksinger Jack Elliott and friend to all), Elizabeth Gips and her partner Patrick Long.

A few months ago a paddle wheel boat limped into Santa Cruz harbor when it broke a hydraulic line while making its way from Petaluma to Long Beach. It was quite an unexpected sight to see this stately relic of a by-gone era tied up in the water next to the Crow's Nest Restaurant. Actually, the Petaluma Queen was built in the 1990s and does not run on steam and has a G.P.S., but it still looked the part. While waiting to have the hydraulic line fixed, the young men who owned and ran the boat invited curious locals onboard for a tour, which for us included turning on the calliope. I'm sure it was probably heard all the way to Seabright Ave!

While standing in the wheel house, I thought of John Hartford, whose love of river boats was well known. He even became a licensed river boat pilot. His song "The Julia Belle Swain" chronicals some of his river boat experiences. John would have been pleased to know that the Petaluma Queen found safe harbor here in Santa Cruz.

HOUSE CONCERTS

The first time I ever attended a house concert was when I played one in the late fall of 1972 in West Caldwell, New Jersey. The practice of hosting a "living room concert" now takes place nationwide. There is even a web site, www.houseconcerts.com that traveling musicians can use to set up bookings.

There are two house concert series that take place regularly in the Santa Cruz area and others that happen occasionally.

Backroads House Concerts are held at at my friends Jeff and Andrea's beautiful home in Felton. The name Backroads implies that their home is tucked up some hard to find winding road in the mountains. Actually it's very simple to get to their home, just one turn off of Hwy. 9.

On Friday, November 16, I had the great pleasure of seeing and hearing a wonderful singer/songwriter named David Mallett. Dave wrote "The Garden Song" that John Denver made into a hit many years ago and has written lots of songs covered by people like Emmy Lou Harris and Alison Krause. He has always been one of my favorites and it was so nice to sit in a quiet comfortable place to hear his music.

Jeff hosts the Folk Backroads show on KZSC Sundays from noon to 2. They have some more wonderful performers lined up for this season. Call Jeff and Andrea at 335-1310. By the way, as with most house concert series, all the money from the suggested donated for admission goes to the performer.

Another wonderful house concert series, known as the Artvark Cafe, is hosted by Wendy Ettinghoff in Aptos. The Artvark Cafe is a not-for-profit series that presents independent music that is a cross-pollination of jazz, classical, international and folk music. Concerts are held every 6 to 9 weeks and, like the Backroads series, are smoke and alcohol free. There is a suggested donation also and part of the proceeds go to a local non-profit organization. Call Wendy at 688-2225 or check out www.artvarkcafe.com.

FIRST NIGHT

Next month tickets will go on sale for the First Night Santa Cruz celebration downtown. This is a truly wonderful event with a hometown feeling and lots of great performers.

As with so many other local non-profit and charitable organizations, donations to First Night have been way down since Sept 11. As tragic as the events in New York and Washington D.C. were, it will also be quite tragic if local organizations lose the financial support neccesary to provide for the needs of our community. Don't let this happen. By a button for First Night, even if you just go to the Parade; and make a monetary donation to Valley Churches United, or to one of the other charities helping folks in our neighborhood. And remember to pick up an extra can or package of non-perishable food to put into a Second Harvest Food Bank barrel. They're easy to find.

PALOOKAVILLE

It's always sad when a music venue closes and we lost a fine venue a couple of weeks ago. After years of presenting Reggae, World and lots of other great music, Palookaville finally has shut down. The loss will be felt in our community.

Thankfully, the Catalyst is carrying on along with other great local venues such as the Kuumbwa, the Cayuga Vault, the Rio Theatre, Moe's Alley and the Vets Hall.

So we still have a lot to be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving

Email Mary at roundup@marymccaslin.com