The Rogue Festival has been over for about four days. I feel like I’m pretty much recovered from the wonderful but long days (and nights). This afternoon and evening I plan on doing as little as possible and enjoying the beautiful Spring day. [Nothing like relaxing on a back patio in the Central Valley in the Springtime with a cold drink of one's choice in hand.]
I count the talk-show Rogue Festival presentation: “The Underground Garden: scene-makers, tall-tales and Fresno rock ‘n roll” as a success.
Sure there were some rough edges, and the 45 minute limitations of the show made us wish we had more time to visit with these folks, but as a teaser of things to come and a pointer towards what such a show could develop into, I think it worked.
I also think it showed that there’s still a ways to go in meeting two main goals that I had for the show:
1) getting people excited about the decades-long musical heritage Central California has
and
2) to continue to explore and appreciate this metaphor of our local arts/music scene as an Underground Garden: a place where things can thrive, a place that is inter-connected, a place where new things can develop, a place that understands it’s history yet moves toward the future—even if it is still, for the moment under-explored and under-appreciated.
Underground Garden events still coming up:
*the completion of the Underground Garden cooperative art piece
(which now has MORE than a dozen local artists working on it)
*and the release party of our band’s album The Underground Garden at Audie’s Olympic Tavern (formerly Club Fred) on Saturday, April 24th.
—THIS show has more than a dozen *musical* guests slated to perform, as well as dancers, food, AND the debut of the above-mentioned art piece.
Stay tuned!