Let me back up and talk about events that lead up to last nights concert. Lisa Downing, Myself and Liz Story had a concert in April of this year. We had so much fun that we decided to do it again in September. At this time, many of us were preparing for the Zone Music Reporter Awards in May. That flew by, and things were set in motion in our lives that we had no control over.
Lisa's father passed away from pancreatic cancer, and Liz's super cool dog left this life too. Claire ( our daughter) also found out they were going to be deployed to Afghanistan. We did not know exactly when that was going to happen, she also got engaged to be married when she would come home from deployment. So all three of us were feeling a great amount of emotion. Grief brings everyone together no matter which kind it is.
Lisa decided to bring Julio Mazziotti in the mix. He is a FINE pianist and is from Argentina. We set the date for September 21 - The Hubs and I's 22 Anniversary.
I did not realize how stressed I was.. and for some odd reason this was the hardest of the concerts to do PR. We pretty much did what we did for the April Concert. ( THE Lesson for me this time.. is to hire PR to help with promoting concerts in the future). So many woulda shoulda coulda moments come to my mind, but in the GRAND scheme of things.. it came down to the fact, that the show must go on.
As the Summer slipped away, I became increasingly un-focused.. I had SO much on my plate. Working on media for other people, saving money for forthcoming album, ( still saving), kids getting ready to go back to school, working on a community internet project--> more about that in the near future.
I was feeling a bit cheated from having my daughter leaving the home right after High School Graduation ( 2012)... and her being engaged.. I thought I was going to die. Claire was deployed in August to Afghanistan, and I didn't think it was bothering me. I didn't feel like it was stressing me.. until the Concert started getting closer and closer. I realized that her being SO far away was VERY difficult for me.
So many things had to be put on hold until after the concert, and then FINALLY our children went back to school. Things began to relax.. except for the concert. I had a hard time deciding what songs to play, marketing to people, and THEN I twisted my ankle and tore a tiny bit of tendon. GREAT now I can't walk around marketing like I wanted to...
I did it.. I know it was all in God's hands. No WAY could I have done this on my own. I prayed and had Faith that we would have people to come to the concert and perform.
THEN the Concert... NOTHING prepared me for what actually took place. The day before we all showed up at the Murray Center.. and rehearsed. Took a lot of pictures:
 |
| Julio warming up |
 |
| Liz getting ready ... Day of concert |
 | ||||
| Lisa feeling the groove |
People came, we had to set up extra chairs! DJ Thornton of KSBR 88.5FM Radio ( Host of The Morning Breeze) came and was our Emcee.
A few hours before concert.. I was rehearsing and I wrote a song that I dedicated to Lisa and Liz. For the grief they have experienced in their loss. I felt I needed to share it.. so I did, and had people think of a name for it.. I have several names: A Mother's Call, Embrace... I will record a rough cut of the song and post it to see what YOU guys come up with .
I talked to Liz before I wrote this.. and she shared with me some profound things that have transpired in her life during the summer. I felt privileged she was able to express her experiences with me. I will never forget it.
No comments:
Post a Comment