I observed this morning's moment of silence for the Sandy Hook victims where I have processed other past tragic events swirling around me -- alone in my kitchen after the house has cleared. With the power of music to hold me upright, my week has trudged along with heartfelt sadness. The world might not have ended, but at times it sure seemed like it after the killing of 26 innocent children and the educators who tried to protect them. I can only hope that this is indeed the "tipping point" as the pundits are saying, removing assault weapons out the public domain and calling for additional resources for mental illness.
I'm a firm believer in the power of airwaves since my days as a girl listening to top 40 AM radio on my little transistor, before graduating to WPLJ FM from a prized boom box as a teenager and WLIR FM off a small stereo system. In my adult life, radio continues to be a place of discovery and community, as well as a steady channel for my multi-tasking mind. When I heard about CT Governor Malloy's request for a day of mourning a few days ago I contacted John Richards, dj for KEXP's morning show. Never mind that the show is in Seattle (and as the home of Nirvana that's an appropriate word choice to begin this sentence!) From listening to his show online for a few years now, I feel like I know him as a friend and fellow new music fiend -- I even got a chance to meet him at last year's CMJ Music Festival in NYC. So I sent him a twitter and he responded in minutes...
After the silence a nice selection followed: Jeff Buckley's cover of "Hallelujah" (the song Rufus Wainwright is singing in my last post) and Vince Guaraldi Trio's "Christmastime Is Here" from A Charlie Brown Christmas. It was a poignant moment spent on my own, but not alone. And my point on twitter about music being "salve for the soul" was reiterated beautifully in this email from the Marketing Director of the Fairfield Theatre Company, a bountiful small venue with all kinds of music. "Thankfully, where words fail, music speaks." Trevor Sylvestro writes. I couldn't agree more.
