"LET'S PUT ON A SHOW!"

Here’s another idea.

I have a co-worker with a very sick daughter, who’s going to have to have major surgery very soon (not here, but 300 miles away in Portland) for her not-very-rare-but-very-nasty-condition. City’s insurance will cover things about as good as insurance does these days, which is far from completely—and the operations the girl is facing are expensive. (Heck, it’s been expensive already.)

Some of us have talked about putting on a fund-raising dinner—next month, say, after the kid gets out of the hospital. My idea: why not have it be a fund-raising dinner AND DANCE?

I would like to help, and this is about the only talent I’ve got I can throw into the mix. Do I know enough people to put together an impromptu dance band? Maybe. There is, for starters, the Southern Oregon Songwriters Association, whose members include people proficient on bass, congas, keyboard, flute, harmonica, and guitars in a variety of styles. Some of them have even been playing together, something I’ve tried hard to encourage.

What’s in it for them? EXPOSURE. Some of them have regular gigs, some not, but those that do probably aren’t making much money at it. They can show off their skills (collectively, please), and also their material.

Only thing I’d want is for all of it (or just about all of it) to be DANCEABLE. Lots of good country, rock, and blues, with some slow dances and listening music thrown in (‘cause you can’t keep people dancing all the time). Maybe three hours’ worth. Is that doable?

Any of my tunes worth dancing to? A few; the ones I’d throw into a dance with a band are:

Eatin’ Cornflakes from a Hubcap Blues (medium slow swing)
One: I Love You (fast two-step)
Dirty Deeds We Done to Sheep (rockabilly)
Armadillo on the Interstate (another slow swing)
Rotten Candy (very fast two-step)
The Six-Legged Polka (which is—what else?--a polka)
Test Tube Baby (classic rock ‘n’ roll)
Hey, Little Chicken (medium fast blues)
Duct Tape (fast two-step)

But I wouldn’t want it to be just me. I doubt I’m even a good drawing card—not enough people know me in town yet. I’d want to be religious about even exposure for everybody—with us (or some of us) collectively being the band for each of us, maybe doing the Circle Thing with each person doing a song in rotation (which would prevent most everybody from leaving the stage).

SOSA has the sound system, too (though I could throw in a little amp, mike, and some cords). Venue? The Phoenix Grange, which has a big kitchen, dance floor, and STAGE.

Date for the event is going to be determined by (1) when we think we can draw the biggest and best crowd and (2) when the hall is available. And that will close some of the musicians out, because nearly everybody’s got day jobs of one sort or another, and/or other commitments. (Pulling off a big success, though, will net a bigger crew of musicians the next time.) I’d want to get into the hall a week early—daytime or night time doesn’t matter—to practice, just once.

Prior to that, we’d have the setlist—who’s going to perform what songs, and in what order—and everybody would have recordings of the songs and lyric sheets to work from. (I refuse to leave anything to chance.) Armed with that information, I could emcee—but so could some others, who are every bit as good front men as I am. Maybe we could trade off?

And of course, I could do the advertising. It’d be fun.

Shades of the old Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland “Let’s put on a show!” movies. Mickey and Judy aren’t bad role models for this stuff—charging into adversity with big smiles, lots of energy and misplaced confidence, and plenty of singing and dancing.

Lot of fun in a good cause—and potentially some good side effects, too. Want to get some of these good musicians playing together? This does that. Want to get them and their material exposed to people who wouldn’t ordinarily hear them? This does that, too. And it has the sideline benefit of bringing the community together for SOMETHING—and that’s something that hasn’t happened yet, and needs to. Maybe it’s an idea whose time has come.

Joe