Tag Archives: Elks Theater

Least Light

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, impediments, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

December 21, 2023- Least light, across the northern hemisphere, is not a nadir.       It is an anchor, along with its mirror counterpart, most light,across the southern realm.    It offers us the hope of resilience, in the minute-by-minute lengthening of daylight.     It brings us the sights, sounds and feels of nature taking a rest, before it burst forth anew.    It offers us the vision of Mother Earth in a balancing dance with our nurturing Sun and her sister planets, with their own moons, even as the Sun prepares to rage for another eighteen months.                                       I had the pleasure of ringing in the solstice, this evening, as Galactogogues, a Prescott band, launched their first album, at our venerable Elks Theater. The family group-mother Meg Boehrman and her three adult children, along with their extended family, drummer and violinist, have kept local fans on our feet, during many performances at the Raven Cafe and some of Whiskey Row’s more genteel bands. It took me a bit of time to feel enough a part of things to get up and dance, but it happened. A friend, Ken, was inspired by my efforts and danced a bit, in his own space, for a few minutes. Someone else, with whom I recently had a dispute, was also there, but I am done with letting anyone’s presence deter me from following my heart. Meg, in the midst of being greeted by the social elite, told me she was glad for my presence. That was inspiration enough to get up and be a part of things.

Now, getting ready for a night’s rest, before the last day of school for 2023, I am listening to the inspiring, and formidable, Buffy Ste. Marie, offering her vision for the future, through songs that propel a 24-Hour Online Dance. I will not be dancing, but will sleep well, knowing that people like Buffy are charging forth, for the betterment of humanity.

https://www.google.com/search?channel=frsc&client=firefox-b-1-d&q=Mister%2C+Can%27t+You+See#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:f5ce7752,vid:E7f_Tk5bD40,st:0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7f_Tk5bD40

What-version?

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Posted by on in collaborating, Community, Entertainment, impediments, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social

December 10, 2023- The family onstage rocked the house, literally, led by the classical guitarist father (no patriarch, as he shared billing with his daughter and son-and heaped liberal praise on the newly-recruited drummer. Esteban is a widely- revered flamenco guitarist, who is also up to the challenge of rejuvenating rock classics, and doing justice to traditional Christmas songs, in equal measure. Having come to Prescott from Pittsburgh, via Tempe, long ago, he is always in his element, when playing to the hometown crowd.

Tonight was no exception. The Elks Theater is one of those places where people purchase tickets and go to their reserved seats. Then, any empty seat can be taken by anyone who is wandering about, a benign concession to mildly mentally ill people who just want a few hours peace, amongst others. One such person was in our section this evening, and with the performing family’s blessing, was quietly videotaping the concert. There is also a row of folding chairs, along the back wall, where people down on their luck were able to sit-for this concert-though not for every event, in general.

I sat by myself, a seat away from a family I’d never met before, but who later recognized me as one who had been in their confection shop, once or twice. That spurred thoughts about introversion, extroversion and ambiversion. My friend and I have talked about this; she figuring that each of us is a percentage of the first two categories-thus accounting for the third. I am more extroverted than I used to be, but as I said in a recent post, am the opposite, around certain groups, especially if I don’t know their members. I notice that others are halting in their speech and awkward communicators, in initial meetings-and that’s okay. I went over to the restaurant where a young lady, who I love like a daughter, works. After being warmly greeted by her, I enjoyed a light lunch and had a halting conversation with the two bartenders, as that was where I sat. We three seem to approach new people the same way, cautiously, but at the end of the meal, the lead bartender expressed hope that I’d be back.

Speaking of love, Esteban and family offered up a couple of Elvis Presley’s finest love songs, which resonated with me, because of the friend I mentioned at the top of the last paragraph. This is the second night in a row, that a musician has played such romantic tunes-and it may be happenstance, but I sure feel nice when it occurs.

Here is Esteban (nee’ Stephen Paul) playing La Paloma, which also reminds me of my friend.

Medicine for the Soul

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Posted by on in Entertainment, Poetry, Social, Striving

September 17, 2017, Prescott- 

The poor man is, no doubt, sitting with his head in his hands, wondering what his beloved will conjure next.  Rebecca spoke, sympathetically, of her husband’s reaction to her doing things like writing a song a week, for a year or writing a song and a related poem, plus painting a picture, each week, for so many weeks.  I would guess that a certain number of said works are about him.

Last night, Rebecca Folsom and Sally Barris offered two hours of rapturous song, interspersed with the kind of banter indicated above.  They came to us from Boulder and Nashville, respectively, and offered “medicine for the soul”.  The repertoire ran from Rebecca’s songs of her beloved Colorado;  an homage to Judy Collins, Joni Mitchell and Carole King (see below); and a bluesy paean to what women can do, to Sally’s  impromptu “Halloween Love Song”; a tribute to those who accomplish much, with a “Little Voice”; and her signature “Let The Wind Chase You”, which earned a Grammy nomination, in 2009, when it was recorded by Trisha Yearwood and Keith Urban.

The ladies captivated the vast majority of the audience, including me in my box seat, just to the right of the stage.  We joined in, on cue, for the choruses of the Halloween Love Song and “Wilder Girl”.  Their nearly matching red dresses were a sign of the slight ache in their hearts, at not being with their sweethearts, on a Saturday night.  The loving audience at Prescott’s Elks Theater did what we could to make up for it, and like so many of us who have traveled far, in the line of work, they carry on.

There was a bit of personal resonance in the ladies’ presence.  Rebecca’s voice resembles that of my mother, in her prime.  Sally both looks and sings like my late wife did. Both  despite, and because of, that eeriness, I was all in with their performances.  Their work speaks of liberation and trusting love.  They stood, solidly, for the achievement that is in every woman’s soul and by extension, in the soul of the person she loves.

I’m sure I’d be fast friends with either one of them, should I encounter her in a more casual setting.  Perking up a visibly tired Sally, by thanking her for a lovely evening, was enough for last night.  I wish them, and all women, full progress towards that sense of attainment.  In the end, it will serve to benefit us men, as well.