Kenny Edwards Memorial
I was at the memorial service for Kenny Edwards (www.kennyedwards.com) yesterday in Santa Barbara. It was wonderfully attended by several hundred close friends, family and fans.
Someone read a letter from Karla Bonoff (www.bryndle.com/karla), who was in Bryndle with Kenny and whose first album for Columbia was produced by Kenny. Then Wendy Waldman (www.wendywaldman.com) gave a wonderful and inspirational eulogy. There was a calming and comforting meditation by Kenny’s spiritual guide as well as the Unitarian minister. All in all a beautiful service.
As I looked around at all the faces, I recalled the last time that I saw Kenny perform. It was at Kulak’s Woodshed (www.kulakswoodshed.com) in North Hollywood, there was a crowd of about 25 people and we were all enchanted with his show.
I enjoyed it so very much, I actually bought a CD and you know how hard it is for a musician to buy another musician’s CD, when the idea of trade pops into one’s head.
But I wanted to convey my enjoyment and acknowledgement of his work, and the very best way to do that is to actually BUY the CD.
And on the way home from the gig, I listened to the CD in the car and really enjoyed it. So much so, that I called him from the car and told him so. He was humble and gracious and, I could tell, pleased to hear the reaction.
But think about the folks that were there. A Friday night and 25 people showed up to hear him perform at Kulak’s.
Several hundred showed up for his memorial service and Kenny obviously wasn’t there. So unless there is an afterlife and folks can look down and see that kind of thing, Kenny might not have known how very many people regarded him and his work so highly.
My thought is that, while it is wonderful to show up at a memorial service honoring someone, how much more wonderful is it to show up while they are actually here on the planet performing and demonstrating your regard by your attendance. The profound gift of your time to an artist you admire.
So whatddyasay? The next time that a performer you admire is playing somewhere and invites you to the gig, or you just hear about the gig, how about actually turning off the boob tube, getting off your duff and going out there and attending the show.
I have not been to a live concert where I didn’t learn something; where I wasn’t enriched in some way; and where I wasn’t glad to have gotten out of the house and done something.
Think about it.
james lee stanley
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Reader Comments (3)
You are so right, too often in life we don't tell or show the ones we appreciate that we appreciate them while they are here. That goes for our musician and artist friends all the way down to family members. Then when they pass we wish we'd told them more how much they were appreciated, or we wish that we could have been in that crowd at that last gig for them to look out and see that we were there because we care about them. It means a lot, especially to musicians. I try to support my musician friends whenever I can by buying their cd's as well as going to see them perform. It's always nice to hang around after a show and try to speak to the artist face to face to let them know how much you enjoyed the show. Performing becomes so much easier when you know that there really are people out in the audience that appreciate what you are doing.
My mom always said to celebrate every holiday, every event because you never know who will be missing next time.
Eva
This really hits home with me. My dad is in a nursing home and I'm pretty much the only visitor he gets. I know that when he passes however his friends will show up for the service. You can miss a birthday and that's ok but you can't miss a funeral. How sad.
Diane Archambault