saturday, jan 9

"Just when I think I'm out, they keep pulling me back in."

So after all that optimism about Matt's new digs, the landlady called back around 6 last night to say that after thinking about it, she now wasn't so comfortable with Matt's playing and practicing late into the evening. This was well after Matt and she had hashed it all out earlier in the day. Matt was quite peeved and decided, rightly I think, that whatever agreement they might come to in this regard, the landlady is likely to change her mind at the drop of a hat, leaving him in an untenable position. (By the way, has anyone ever been in a tenable position? What is poverished? What is peccable? How about ept? Sadly, this is some of the stuff I think about. ) So he politely told her to take his saxophone and shove....no, actually, he indicated that her change of attitude left him uncomfortable and he did not want to sign the lease. I was pleased with the way he handled it all, but obviously disappointed that we were now once again scrambling to find a place for him. Of course, it's better to discover all this ahead of time than to have it blow up on him later.

So get this: while he is on the hotel phone getting out of the first apartment, we get a call on the cell phone from some people with whom we had left a message. They have a large home in W. Asheville and rent out a room with common privileges in the living room, kitchen, etc. They are in their 60's, artistic, new-agey, nice, calm, gentle, honest, intelligent, and thoughtful people. They "pay it forward". Matt visited the place and felt an instant connection, to the apartment, the owners, and to Zeus, the couple's 150 pound Pyrenees Mountain Dog. When Matt played for them to give them an idea of what his practice sessions would be like, they flipped and invited him to play or practice any time he wants.To Matt, it really seemed like a perfect fit. He signed the papers and will move here Feb.1 to begin his new adventure.

Ain't life grand?

So then it was hop in the car and head on home. We had 16 hours to discuss many things: Ty Cobb, Miles Davis, the insurance industry, Ada, attention deficit disorder, loyalty, friendship, and love.

Matt's rebirth awaits him in Asheville. It should be quite something. He'll be watched over and well-protected...by his family, his friends...and Zeus!

Be well everyone,

Much love,

Thanks for letting me blog.
j

friday, jan 8

As I look out our hotel window, I see the early morning sun peeking through the haze illuminating a lovely sheen of ice on the highway beside us. I start to wonder, what is it about me that attracts bizarre weather conditions, people in grocery store lines who insist on paying with exact change, drivers ahead of me in toll booth areas who drop their quarters and decide to get out of their cars to find them, people in front of me at the bank who have 18 transactions including one which involves a bag of loose change and a trust fund, golfers in the foursome ahead of me who love the game so much they want to spend six hours playing it, etc, etc, ad nauseum? Luckily, I am now at a point in my life where I can just shake my head and laugh at it all...then I try and find an orphan to kick.

It looks like Matt has made an important decision. He feels moving to Asheville is definitely a good idea. He reached that decision after going out to a club last night and talking to several area musicians. They told him that good horn players are a rarity here. That was certainly music to his ears. (get it?) He was invited to play with a blues band, but they weren't likely to start their set until after midnight and he was still fighting this cold/flu thing he's been carrying around so he declined. When he got back to the hotel, he was upset with himself about not staying to play with them, thereby missing an opportunity to showcase his chops. Hopefully, he'll have a similar opportunity tonight and tomorrow night at other clubs with other groups. Simply put, everyone he's talked to, from musicians, to bartenders, to club owners, has verified the notion that Asheville is a terrific place to live if you want to be a working musician. So he wants to be dealt in.

As far as his living arrangements, Matt signed a 6-month lease this afternoon. This was an interesting place: it is an upstairs apartment in the Montford district. This is an historic district of Asheville with tree lined streets and many large homes that have been subdivided into smaller apartments. The advantage of living here is that it is within easy walking distance to all the downtown music venues. It's a little like Beacon Hill in that regard. The apartment itself is quite spacious and extremely well furnished. The only possible sticking point was that the owner of the home lives downstairs, and Matt had to be convinced that his practicing late at night would not be a problem for her. He went over there today to speak with her and actually played his horn upstairs so she could experience the sound and decide if she could live with that at night. She told Matt it would be no problem and that she rather liked it; also, she said if it ever became a problem, she would get earplugs. Sold!

The photo above is a place downtown called The Mellow Mushroom, a pizza joint/sports pub that had just about the best pizza anywhere. When I visit Matt down the road, he can find me there. I had the Shrimp Alfredo pizza and it was fabulous...no, actually it was pepperoni and mushroom.

Matt will probably head out tonight to play somewhere and, if he can complete all the paperwork for the landlady today or tomorrow, we may be able to leave Saturday instead of Sunday. We did everything we came here to do, have a good feeling about the possibilities, and are ready to get back to where it's warm!

Thanks for following along.

Much love,

J

wednesday, jan. 6

Another freezing day in tropical Asheville, NC. Today we check out three possible apartments for Matt. Just to give you an idea about the cost of living here, all three apartments are some degree of furnished with some degree of utilities included and none are more than $800 a month. Of course once we see them, we may have a different idea about them, but, on paper at least, it looks promising.

Ol' Matt has been fighting a flu/cold since we arrived but has improved to the point that he will be able to go out and sample some "jams" at local clubs tonight. This will give me an opportunity to relax on my own and watch "Law and Order" on the hotel television. I hope they show the episode in which the person you assume did it turns out to be innocent and the guilty party is someone you hadn't thought of. I like that episode!

During our apartment hunting today, we were urged to have lunch in a neat downtown eatery called Doc Chey's. What a terrific suggestion that turned out to be. It's a noodle house, specializing in Thai cuisine. Everything was fresh, delicious and very reasonably priced. It's easily the kind of place a stranger would overlook, but we were well-advised.

...as opposed to the place I chose on my own last night: a fried seafood place that evidently hasn't had a customer since the Truman administration. I should have known it was not a good spot when I saw that the only cars in the parking lot belonged to the Ford dealership across the street. I'd have had a better meal if I tried munching the fender off a Ford Fusion. I ordered shrimp alfredo, not a good item to order from an unknown chef; actually, not a good thing to order from a known chef; let's just say it: not a good thing to order. Luckily, I had only had a few bites before all of my internal organs rose up in rebellion and asked me to reconsider. When they gang up like that, it's hard to ignore them. So a giant order of shrimp alfredo found its way into the hotel trash bin. There will be some stray cats in Asheville tomorrow that won't ever know what hit 'em!

So I leave you now with Matt practicing his Bach cello piece on the tenor, knowing that if I never have shrimp alfredo again, it will be way too soon.

Much love,
j

tuesday, jan 5

Well, there goes that idea!

The reason for this "scouting expedition" to Asheville was essentially two-fold: First, Matt wanted to get a feel for what it was like to play on the streets here. Was there enough pedestrian activity around the downtown area to give him the possibility of earning a reasonable sum each day? Second, assuming he got a good feeling about street performing, Matt wanted to line up an apartment and move by February 1.

The problem is it's barely going to crack 25 degrees each day we're in town, so the idea of having a sample street performance day is out the window. He might as well set up shop this week in downtown Grantham, somewhere between Pizza Chef and Dunkin' Donuts. After we thaw him out, by late April maybe, he can tell us whether he made any money. So Matt had to decide yesterday whether it was worth the trip down, knowing that one big chunk of important information would not be available to him. I decided to stay out of the decision process. This is his project; I'm just along for the ride. (as are you, come to think of it...)

He's decided to go ahead with the trip. He'll do his best to hit the clubs each night and talk with fellow musicians, try to perform with some of them if that's possible, and just get the best picture he can of the musical possibilities here and make his final decision on relocating more on informed guesswork than hard evidence.

We all have to play the hand we're dealt, and if that calls for serious bluffing, well, so be it. (I was trying for profound there, but I think I took a right turn at maudlin and got stuck in the mud.)

We arrived in Asheville at 11 am Wednesday morning. Thankfully, the hotelier (Is that the right word when it's a Sleep Inn?) let us check in early so it's shower and nap time before we head out to explore the city. The final 30 miles into Asheville on Rt. 26 are breathtaking. Beautiful craggy peaks and today they were all covered in frost, sparkling in the sun. I bet you wish you could see a picture of them. Not yet, my pretties. These things must be handled d-e-l-i-c-a-t-e-l-y!

More tomorrow. Much love to all.
j

asheville trip with matthew january 2010

Greetings, friends and family,

Thanks to Josh, Cindy, Sam, Sara, and Matt I am now the proud owner of an HP laptop computer which is why I've decided to put this baby through its paces and send out this daily blog about this little trip to Asheville, NC. I hope you enjoy these posts. And just for the record, most of what you are about to read is true!

This journey has come about because of younger son, tenor-sax player extraordinaire, Matthew. He has decided after many frustrating years to give music a full-time try and, after some research, he has decided to make Asheville his base of operations. To prepare for this sea-change in his life, Matt has dedicated himself to his music. For the past 6 months or so, he has been practicing at least 5-hours a day, has memorized over four hours of performance ready music, including that cool cello piece by Bach you've been hearing lately on many commercials. Hearing it played on a tenor sax is quite remarkable. It actually works! He has tackled both the technical and the artistic aspects of the music and the saxophone. He calls himself "a caged animal" and can't wait to play full time whether it's on the street, in a club, with a group, solo, whatever.


Why Asheville? Well, for Matt's purposes it would seem to be perfect. It's an artsy-craftsy kind of place with a strong music "scene", lots of clubs, etc. The weather is quite tolerable most of the year, and there is a generous municipal attitude toward street musicians, which is how Matt will begin his efforts. Also, the cost of living in Asheville is quite a bit less than most of the rest of the planet which gives Matt a fighting chance of making a go of it.

I am truly excited for him (nervous too, naturally) and I know that a very special friend of mine will be rooting for him as well. She always did and she always will.

So we're off this Tuesday in the late afternoon. The weather forecast looks favorable and our plan is to drive straight through at a leisurely pace, making stops when necessary, switching off to sleep, so that we arrive in Asheville sometime late Wednesday morning. We have a few apartments to look at on Wednesday and on Thursday and through the weekend, Matt will begin his "investigation" of the city and its musical possibilities.

I'll sign off now and will be back "on the air" sometime on Wednesday. I'll even try to post some pictures using the impressive array of IT and computer skills I have amassed over the years. (actually I'll probably just call Josh if I can figure out how my cell phone works.)

Thanks for following my (our) progress on this and other recent journeys. Raise a glass to ol' Matt if you think of it.

Much love,
J