Musicians in Awe

Right now, I'm sitting in Harrisburg's coolest place, The Midtown Scholar. It is in the process of changing from day time used bookstore, to night time concert setting. The young musicians and singers for tonight's show are wandering around the place, looking up at the balconies and wooden ceiling and wall murals and saying "this is so cool!". One of them put down his banjo and is making flying leaps across the stage and marveling at it's length. They look so happy.

I remember my very first professional gig, with Rhythm Transfer. It was at "Friendly Fred's Pine Tree Inn", someplace up on a hill about an hour from my mom's house. The Pine Tree Inn was famous for seafood - odd for being a mountain top place in Pennsylvania. They had outdoor seating and inside, some of the tables and chairs were moved aside to make a dance floor. The band played on a little stage that was barely big enough for the five of us to set up. I arrived at the gig a little later than I was supposed to because my mother drove me. I was 18 years old and had no idea what to do, onstage, when I wasn't singing lead. Mark, the bassist, told me I could follow along and throw in backup vocals to the other songs, by following what he played on his bass. That made no sense to me, at the time. The bass notes were so much lower than my voice! I was so nervous that I threw up before we took the stage. That night, I wore a blue and white button-down blouse, a white lace vest and blue jeans. I sang our cover version of Linda Ronstadt's Blue Bayou as well as "Le Freak", by Chic. On that first night, I remember thinking how boring it was to sing the lines "Freak out!", "Now Freak" and "I Said Freak" over and over again.  Maybe if we would have had a crowd on the dance floor, it would have felt exciting - but the 3 women dancing without partners just stepped back and forth to the beat. It also didn't help that Rhythm Transfer was, essentially, playing in the dark.  Our "light system" consisted of 2 home-made wooden boxes, each containing a red, yellow, and blue light that were operated by the guitarist with a foot pedal. That night, I met the "wives and girlfriends" of the band. I never quite knew my place with them, since I was chummy with their husbands and boyfriends, my band mates. But, I'll never forget the comment made by the sax player's girlfriend, Heidi: "Treasure this - these will be some of the best memories of your life" She was right. I sang hundreds of nights after that, in 6 different bands. Nothing compared to the fun I had with Rhythm Transfer. 

The young band setting up at Midtown Scholar has dragged in a heavy flight case-covered amplifier, A big guitar amp and 3 guitar cases. But, they haven't started to set up yet. Looks like they're having too much fun joking around and drinking coffee. May they treasure these moments.