Mad Dogs and Irishmen: Part Two

After graduation, I started taking lessons from Mary Lynn Norman again. And we had some paying gigs again, church gigs, a gig playing with a concert band at the former Scottsdale Mall, and the Press Club Players, which was the coolest gig of all-- we roasted local celebrities, had all the free beer and Polish food I wanted, and I was paid nicely!!! I loved that gig and playing with the piano player and would still be doing it today, but the group disbanded in the mid-1990's. I also played briefly with a local group called The Company in the mid-1990's. I filled in at the last minute for my teacher (who was then diagnosed with lung cancer) and was treated (and compensated) fairly. And people commended on my skills as a performer. Then after I inherited the gig, suddenly I was not performing up to their standards. The manager and certain members of the group did not treat me kindly. In fact, I was replaced with a 17-year-old boy. And this kid had the audacity to move my drums. My trapkit is worth a lot of money. And it's my property. So I raised hell with the manager, told her off, moved my drums, and left. I met and started playing with a folk musician named Evie in the 1990's. She is an amazing lyricist, poet, singer, and instrumentalist. We played together in 1998-2002. We hit the coffee shops, IUSB performances, and played in Chicago (Ravenswood). Through Evie I met other musicians (Anne O'Meara, Susan Urban, and Bryan Edington). We stopped playing together when I started graduate school and working full time. I will always be grateful to her for this experience. I was able to use music in the library--bringing percussion instruments for story hours, performing shows for families and bringing in percussion groups such as RhythmWorks! I did perform music in a church for over a year... I won't revisit that experience but am grateful for Dave and Kris for encouraging me to play. One more blog posting to finish this story...