The Final Beam-Up

For years he was a large part of all our lives, forever beaming up the crew of the Starship Enterprise. James "Scotty" Doohan who passed on today will take his final rocket ride and his ashes will be sent in to space. The phrase "Beam Me Up, Scotty will forever be a part of our pop culture psyche. RIP, Scotty.

Let's get this party started...

For the past coupla days I've been a little concerned about the weather for the AATMF. I mean, this is almost as bad as Houston in April. So I was worried that I would literally rot the clothes off my back due to the humidity. However, my good friends at the National Weather Service have assured me that the weekend will be pleasant and tolerable. Remember though, it is the middle of July, so no flannel or animal skins. See ya there.

Getting ready

As we get ready for this year's All About the Music Festival (or AATMF, as we affectionately refer to it), images keep coming up of great moments from years past...the "you could hear a pin drop" audience focus on Marc Cohn's performance (2001) as the sun set...the audience just as transfixed, no one left even though it was raining, to hear Mary Chapin Carpenter (and the beautiful silk scarves she was selling to benefit land mine victims) (2000)...Raul Malo hanging out for hours in the member area to meet people and sign CD's, and his delight at everyone knowing and loving his music (2002)...Steve Earle on stage with Marah (1999), Richard Thompson on stage with his son Teddy (1999), Patty Larkin on stage with Jill Sobule doing "These Boots Are Made for Walking" (1995), Alexi Murdoch on stage with EastMountainSouth, who turned out to be friends of his (who knew?) (2003)...Rachael Yamagata and Mindy Smith each wowing the audience last year...Solomon Burke waiting to go onstage surrounded by a bunch of his kids (2002)...the fabulous Philly artists over the years--John Flynn, Amber DeLaurentis, Phil Roy, Amos Lee, Mutlu, Jim Boggia, Nancy Falkow, Ben Arnold, Jospeh Parsons, 4 Way Street, Lauren Hart... rocking out with Los Lobos (2002) and Michael McDermott last year and Old 97's (1997 and last year) and Rhett Miller just as rocking solo (2002), Lucinda Williams rocking in her smoldering way (1998). Every time I think about the weekend coming up, another snapshot of the past pops up. I'm sure it's true for you, too, unless you've never attended one of our summer music lovefests...in which case I hope to see you this weekend at AATMF as we make new memories. Come say hi...