Lifting Music as a solution not a social blight...
A New Beginning...

I'm hoping the tough times have passed, and the fun can really begin. Spring is here, and outdoor music is on its way. There is some productive talk on the message board about what can be and will be done to make things much better for music in the area. (Additional good news - the message board is up and running, and upgraded from the previous version to boot!)

In the April 30th edition of the York Daily Record, something struck me... and I'm betting it was mostly swept under the rug and unnoticed. It was one of those "some brainy guy is expousing his views on how York should be developing" articles. The thing is... he's right!!! I'm hoping I wasn't the only one not too proud to notice the article and agree with it. (Titled "Mr. Rusk goes to college") The article states that he asked college students to stand, then asked those planning to get the heck outta Dodge (my words, not the paper's or Rusk's..) to sit down...any others planning on staying in the PA area were to remain standing. One out of every 3 planned to stay in PA. When I first moved here, I asked everyone I met... where are the young people? It's like babes in Toyland or something..all the college aged kids don't hang out in York to do their thing and keep it lively.

According to the article, Rusk cited Austin, TX, where business leaders "nutured a vibrant music scene...That, in turn, attracted young professionals, which increased the likelihood of economic growth..." The sad part is the reactions people have to forward thinking when it comes to cultural change... I guess people are just too proud to admit that their attitudes can be part of the problems they complain about so much! (My favorite example: People who complain that radio stations play all the same music over and over again, and then go out to see cover bands instead of original music...) I went looking for the article on the YDR web site (http://www.ydr.com) and looked up this brainy guy's name... Rusk. I couldn't find the article on him, but I found a lot of letters to the editor proclaiming the guy a jerk for thinking there was something wrong *gasp!* with York, PA.

Admittedly, I tend to take things beyond the butterfly effect, but I've found at least two quotes from the York paper in the past three days to back up this silly little theory of mine that music can be a key to cultural change and economic advancement. The first quote is above, and the second quote is from the Friday, May 2nd paper in the Local section. There's an article about how public events are now being funded by private money. The article refers to events like York Bike Night and First Night York... BUT here's the key quote that makes me think I wanna be friends with Mayor Brenner (A far cry from Mr. Robertson, who called the fellas from Live a bunch of "foul mouthed kids," then used them to help promote his York postage stamp logo...but I'm gonna stop expressing my political view here now...)...At any rate, Brenner is Quoted as saying, Special events "are extremely important to the economic development, are extremely important to home ownership in the city, and extremely important to the entire York area."

Now here's a thought... We have Harley Davidson...they have Bike Night York. We have musicians all over the place...why can't we put together a music festival for York? Any ideas on what business establishments in the area might be open to supporting such a thing? I'm not talking a polka or heritage festival. I'm not interested in looking at the past right now. I'm interested in building a future and making this area a more fertile environment for my son to grow and succeed, and that, for me, includes major cultural education and music.

I don't expect to be bouncing around town in period clothing (though an 80's night would be entirely too amusing [especially for those who wouldn't be aware that they were participating...hehe. bad me. *holding out hand to be smacked*]) I want to break out of the 80's and at least join the 90's, though it's really 2003... Are we ready to rock, and if so, who's gonna help us to put this together?? (btw... in regards to the "ROCK" genrefication, rock includes blues, jazz, acoustic singer/songwriter, metal, modern rock, emo, punk, americana, folk...anything with a 4/4 or 6/8 time signature to me... I'm pretty open minded...and hey, there was Weird Al Yankovich who did a rock polka...I've seen it done! [in fact, if I remember right, God Bless Our Mobile Home and the Martini Bros. do something to the effect of a rock polka...])

Be safe, have fun, and enjoy every moment... see you out there! - Ang