“In Italy for 30 years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder, bloodshed. They produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love, five hundred years of democracy and peace. And what did that produce? The cuckoo clock.”
- Orson Welles (from The Third Man)
(from https://puckermob.com/entertainment/top-5-reasons-you-should-support-local-music/)
". . . **That guy or girl sitting in their basements writing songs for nobody might just be one of your favorite artists, and you don’t even know it yet. Maybe their music will speak to you on a level that no one else has been able to reach. You’ll never know if you don’t get the opportunity to experience it!
**Wherever there are musicians sharing their love for creating, there is no doubt a community of people supporting them and befriending each other. My own experiences in music scenes have seen bands of all genres sharing the staging, supporting each other’s music, finding places to sleep while out on tour, and genuinely caring for each other. For fans and musicians alike, a thriving scene for local music provides a group of people that are welcoming to anyone.
**Entertainment. Obviously. Why go to the bar and listen to a DJ when you have the option to hear real life instruments and singers playing live? The passion you get from musicians performing provides an altogether different experience than just listen to popular music being played through speakers.
**It makes your city more interesting! In Annapolis, street performing musicians are encouraged to park themselves on a bench, or on a sidewalk, or really anywhere they can accommodate their craft, and provide music for anyone exploring the streets. Doing this creates a great atmosphere and helps people enjoy themselves, even if they are just there to shop.
**If you’re a musician, having an outlet and support can be the most important aspect of succeeding. Everyone feels anxious performing for the first time, or showing a new song off to a friend, so the encouragement can drive them to keep pursuing their passion. That’s one thing our current society needs more of: people happy with what they are doing and pursing something they love. We’d all be a little better off. . ."
***Brewers Alley [124 N Market St, Frederick, MD 21701; (301) 631-0089; https://brewers-alley.com/]- Songwriter Showcase Concert 7:30PM Piano Prelude - Ray Jozwiak
3 Songs - Jazlyn Sligh
Dual Features - Jeff Talmadge
- Jim Patton & Sherry Brokus
A much-considered topic
Of both philosophy and rhyme
Affecting all; exceptions none
Is the provocative concept of time
No one escapes its extensive reach
Though some, that they have, make the claim
But that is not of my current concern
At piano, considering a song once again
(from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/04/us/politics/trump-mass-shootings.html
". . . a 21-year-old white man is accused of opening fire in a Walmart in El Paso, killing 20 people and injuring dozens more after writing a manifesto railing against immigration and announcing that “this attack is a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas.”. . . The suspect wrote that his views “predate Trump,” as if anticipating the political debate that would follow the blood bath. But if Mr. Trump did not originally inspire the gunman, he has brought into the mainstream polarizing ideas and people once consigned to the fringes of American society. . . While other leaders have expressed concern about border security and the costs of illegal immigration, Mr. Trump has filled his public speeches and Twitter feed with sometimes false, fear-stoking language while welcoming to the White House a corps of hard-liners, demonizers and conspiracy theorists shunned by past presidents of both parties. . ."
". . . The top leaders of the Washington National Cathedral . . . issued a withering condemnation of President Donald Trump‘s inflammatory and, at times, racist rhetoric. . . . With repeated references to the mid-century hysteria around Communism, in which Sen. Joseph McCarthy stoked vitriol and suspicion in public discourse, three top cathedral officials said President Trump was doing much the same now. . . “We have come to accept a level of insult and abuse in political discourse that violates each person’s sacred identity as a child of God,” reads the . . . statement, signed by the Revs. Mariann Budde, Randolph Hollerith and Kelly Douglas. “We have come to accept as normal a steady stream of language and accusations coming from the highest office in the land that plays to racist elements in society.”. . . The trio asked, “As faith leaders who serve at Washington National Cathedral — the sacred space where America gathers at moments of national significance — we feel compelled to ask: After two years of President Trump’s words and actions, when will Americans have enough?” . . . Declaring “the time for silence is over,” the statement continues: “What will it take for us all to say, with one voice, that we have had enough? The question is less about the president’s sense of decency, but of ours.”. . . "
