![]() Lance Brenner of the Naked Puritans fetches items from home for the stage at UVA's Old Cabell Hall |
Early on I was a music hound. At fourteen I had a job illegally stapling posters for concerts to City of Richmond utility poles. In college I worked in a record store and volunteered for a student outfit that put on concerts. I fetched Steve Goodman at the Trailways station, took photos of B.B. King and Lucille backstage, loaded equipment on a truck with Roger McGuinn. Talked to Dennis Wilson and Al Jardine (my heroes when I was twelve). Hound, groupie, gofer. But geezerdom and being a hermit took over. After a REMNatalie Merchant show at U-Hall. I realized Id rather buy music and listen at home, concerts disappoint, cant hear lyrics, have to spend money, go to a place with bad acoustics and be surrounded by people, arg! Id lost my cool-license. Bald, deaf, no access. Stay at home and watch PBS. |
![]() Paul Curreri warms up |
![]() B.B.King, Charlottesville, 1971 |
One day I quit purchasing music. Not wholesale quit, but found myself with two children. Draconian budget cuts to the music category followed. The $30/year budget allocation ruled out experimentation. December 2001 I bought my two CDs of the year, purchased new releases from artists (Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan) I figured were reliable. |