( il gato ) quiet quiet winter lights

So, this is my inclusion into the lovely musical event that was Quiett Quiet Winter Lights (QQWL) -- the attempt by the members of "brightblack" (who frequently sleep outside, and who i see almost weekly as one of their members sells bread at the Berkeley farmer's market) to enable all of the city kids to come out, enjoy, and appreciate the great outdoors that is, almost literally, in everyone's backyard. To set-up a time to leave the hustle and bustle of the city to, at least attempt, find serenity in the quiet.

It so happens that I was able to attend the first QQWL one evening back in January of 2004 where a then un-hyped "Vetiver" (w/ Devendra Banhart), Joanna Newsome, and "brightblack" were all performing. As Vetiver came on you could feel something in the air with this long-haired, bearded fellow with the flashy t-shirt. There was something mystical, magical, something in Vetiver's "Amour Fou (Crazy Love)", something in Devendra's energy, that touched into the soul of blues. But not just any blues; playful, whimsical, hippie blues.

Needless to say, with all that occurred within the next year, I came to the realization that that show was a pretty special show, with 40 or so of us packed into a small, rustic bar in downtown Bolinas. So, imagine the surprise to come back the next year, with the event moving to the Bolinas Community Center (with the other nights of the week on their calendar comprised of: yoga, African dance, and a meditative music concert), to be greeted with a completely unorganized, though massive, conglomeration vying to get in the door -- later reports revealed there were 250+ people there that evening.

The center was awash in Christmas lights, with reasonably priced beer and wine and a merchandise table fronted by local female folksy group, "Willow Willow", and the artists themselves. We proceeded to sit down, along with the rest of the crowd, and caught the first act, "Gojogo", comprised of a violin, stand-up bass, samples, and 2 sets of elaborate african drums, plus occasional bass clarinet and drums added in. These people were phenomenally talented musicians, with such intricate, complicated rhymns that one wonders whether they were actually meant for some hard-core industrial group.

However, it was mesmerizing, as was the rest of the night. It all seemed to flow from one thing to the next, from health tonic (whiskey, ginger ale, and orange juice) to Howie's pungent smell to "Vetiver" (w/ Devendra Banhart, who headlined the night before) to Joanna Newsome to a giggly Kate Cosby to "brightblack" and the lead singer's predilection for removing his shirt to the mouth-harp guy we stonily missed to "Entrance" and his Jimi Hendrix on crack impersonation to leaving.

* The guest mouth trumpeting of old folk star Michael Hurley (also on the bill the night before) with "Vetiver"

* My realization that if "brightblack" had Rachel (Ra-bob) sing louder then they would be soothing to watch, and that they have a big fetish for "Mazzy Star", and that they are no longer the "Rainywood", from their "Rainywood", relaxing, lazy folk, crickets chirping, days and e.p. -- an overlooked gem

* The whole community aspect of the whole thing, where all the musicians were friends, and the crowd conversed with them as such, the sound man coming on stage and joking with the band

However, the party had to end, and it did. We scurried out and made our exit before the end of "Entrance" (oddly ironic) and packed our things to go to the beach. There were others with the same idea (as the idea was expressed on fliers for the show), who additionally brought their instruments. And after some slight deliberation, me and the How-man busted out some guitars and started to play. It seems that the other musicians were just waiting for someone to start as they quickly all huddled around, and then we reconvened around another bonfire as it was Northern California beach cold -- a whole category into itself. Eventually the music moved into this guy we just met, Quinn, doing a pretty amazing take on Robert Johnson, and that is when it all dawned on me.

Something I moved out to the Bay area was for musical community and offerings, and this area does not disappoint. From a lunatic Dan Bern (of "Jerusalem", and '...all i ate was olives, a whole lot of olives', fame) taking his guitar to an upper balcony to serenade us from within the audience to Thom Yorke solo acoustic and piano at the Bridge School Benefit Concert to running into Hayden in the bathroom at a show to people up on stage at the end of a Devendra Banhart concert at Bimbo's 365 club (an old gambling joint) giving hugs to each other when the music was over to every performer who plays Cafe du Nord's (an old speakeasy) necessity to walk through the audience to get on stage, to find one of my favorite performer's of the night be a guy named Quinn from Oakland.

I like intimate. I like recognizable musicians and regular musicians as equal. I like when people love each other. I like my inner hippie. I like eating vegetables. I like seeing people protest in the street. I like having hippies as rockstars who want city kids to come to the great outdoors. And if it takes a popular "it" band to allow people to reconnect to their inner roots, to realize that maybe they are not as "Pitchfork" as they might think, then I thank them. And if it causes the same in me, then for that, I bow down.