I decided that I’m going to post 366 noteworthy events over the next decade of my life. Since this decade will last 3,652 days, I feel that 366 is an appropriate amount as it comes out to about one event every ten days. Notice that it doesn’t have to be an achievement, accomplishment, or anything big. Nor does it have to be a first time or even a happy or positive event. Just something…of note.
Here’s the first one, then:
On Friday, June 13th, I ventured to Eagles 34 in Minneapolis to see my friend Ryan play a solo set.
Despite the listing, above, Ryan played second. His set consisted of about 10 songs, including one he wrote with his brother Rhett when they were teenagers, a cover a Brian Wilson song (Brian just passed away a few days earlier), and a couple of songs that he wrote recently.
When I was a teenager, so many of my close friends were in bands, and I saw them perform often. Probably a month didn’t go by when this friend or the other were playing some gig somewhere. And when that wasn’t happening, I was at their homes while they were practicing music, or writing music, or recording music. In retrospect I just assumed that’s how it was and that’s how it would alway be.
But, of course, that’s not typical. Eventually, things changed. Friends grew up and grew busy with other endeavors. Some moved away. Others passed away. Inevitably, there were fewer and fewer occasions to see my friends play music.
So I was very happy to learn of this last-minute performance. I knew most of the songs Ryan played, and sang along with several of them. Also, I sat next to his wife, Esther, during the gig, and she had saltwater taffy with her, so that was a nice bonus.