King of My Living Room
Lance Brenner fetches items

Lance Brenner of the Naked Puritans fetches items from home for the stage at UVA's Old Cabell Hall
Early on I was a music hound. At fourteen I had a job illegally stapling posters for concerts to City of Richmond utility poles.
In college I worked in a record store and volunteered for a student outfit that put on concerts.

I fetched Steve Goodman at the Trailways station, took photos of B.B. King and Lucille backstage, loaded equipment on a truck with Roger McGuinn. Talked to Dennis Wilson and Al Jardine (my heroes when I was twelve). Hound, groupie, gofer.

But geezerdom and being a hermit took over. After a REM—Natalie Merchant show at U-Hall. I realized I’d rather buy music and listen at home, concerts disappoint, can’t hear lyrics, have to spend money, go to a place with bad acoustics and be surrounded by people, arg!
I’d lost my cool-license. Bald, deaf, no access. Stay at home and watch PBS.
paul curreri warms up

Paul Curreri warms up
lighting up and Lucille

B.B.King, Charlottesville, 1971

 One day I quit purchasing music. Not wholesale quit, but found myself with two children. Draconian budget cuts to the music category followed. The $30/year budget allocation ruled out experimentation.

December 2001 I bought my two CD’s of the year, purchased new releases from artists (Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan) I figured were reliable.

A week later, on my birthday, a friend gave me a copy of Danny Schmidt’s CD, Enjoying the Fall. Big surprise, I liked Danny’s music better than the Bob-Leonard efforts I’d bought.

I am a deaf-bald photo obsessed hermit. I don’t do live music. I am like Anne Tyler’s Accidental Tourist, even when I travel, I like the illusion of being at home.

So, that’s where Brady Earnhart’s concept dovetails with all my geezer liabilities. In 2000, Brady invited a group of Charlottesville’s singer songwriters to his house for a party. When you get a bunch of musicians together, music happens. Music happened. They had a good time. They took it on the road to Live Arts five times, made a CD King of My Living Room.