Who’s My +1

Music therapy researchers Daisy Fancourt and Aaron Williamon from Imperial College London published a study in April 2016 suggesting that watching live music could help reduce people's levels of stress hormones.  Then, another study done in March 2017 by Australian researchers Melissa K. Weinberg and  Dawn Joseph found that “people who actively engaged with music through dancing and attending events like concerts and musicals reported a higher level of subjective well-being.” 

When I first started promoting concerts in Washington DC during the mid-1990s, my mentor was a woman named Mary.   If I learned anything from Mary during that time, I learned that it is OK to go to concerts by yourself.  To this day, I continue to go see shows on my own.   And while I still believe in Mary's mantra, I have determined that attending a concert can be a more intimate experience that should be shared.  Hearing and seeing the songs that have become the soundtrack of my life in person is not something I take for granted.  As I scroll through my list of contacts in my phone, I cherish the memories and moments of the shows that I have seen with each of those people.

For example, there were the 3 shows in 3 nights in December 1996 with Jamie S.  We drove around the Mid-Atlantic without a care in the world and making sure we savored every moment of our time seeing Maceo Parker perform at The Bayou (RIP); Rusted Root at Constitution Hall and Phish at the Spectrum.  Or the times that now make me laugh – Mills and I thinking that we were going to be arrested before having a chance to see House of Pain at Bender Arena and the time that my son Cobi and I went to see The Commonheart at the Feastival and we remember the sight of the Mandobass just as much the show.  Another moment in time is when my brother-in-law and I saw Allen Stone at Stage AE and I decided to start writing this blog.  There are also the sentimental shows that include Donald Byrd at the Kennedy Center with my father, or the Avett Brothers with my wife at Club Café.  Thankfully, I could go on and on.

I am off to the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival for the first time later this month and I cannot wait to report back on the research that I am able to conduct while on site in Louisiana.   

Thanks for reading!