I think this is where I'll begin my story.

Back in 1993 my old pal Chris Layton of "Double Trouble" suggested that I dare myself to rent a PA system and play original songs during the opening night of my art exhibit at the Blue Star complex in San Antonio.

And what a great idea that was!

After the show my friend Heidi Goebel remarked that I looked as though I was breathing pure oxygen up there on the stage. No truer words have ever been spoken and so I have performed at my show's openings ever since.

As a visual artist, it's hard enough to put together an exhibit that makes any sense, especially if a performance is included in the mix. Now throw in the fact that the show just happens to be in Austin at the Continental Club; AND you've managed to have it open during the internationally renowned SXSW music festival.

This is a perfect storm for performance anxiety of the richest kind. A gorgeous blank page handed to me on a silver platter.
And for this one (once again, in the spirit of George Plimpton) I want to pull out all the stops if for no other reason, just for its own sake.

But here in lies a great delimma. Thanks to my soulmate and mentor of muddling through life, music and art - Jeff Ragsdale's sage advice.. (I paraphrase) "It's time to focus on what's really you in all of this Ben".

He's absolutely right..MY JOB IS TO STEP UP TO THE PLATE BY REACHING DEEP INSIDE AND DELIVERING THE REAL MCCOY, WHATEVER THAT MAY BE...





I've just been pasting together a silly variety show...I really thought I was on to something...Now I feel like David Frost just after he landed the interview with Nixon..OH SHIT MAN, NOW WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?







This is the story of "What now".

This morning I wrote this to Bob Livingston (not my dad Bob, but my new buddy from last years blog on South East Asian supernaturalism which can be found at spirithousesafari.blogspot.com

Here's an excerpt from that letter:

Hey Bob,

I have an art show coming up in March and since it's at the Continental Club, I'd like to also create a performance/show as an opening act. (It will be SXSW so the timing is perfect)

I'd really like to pick your brain about how you formed & structured the building of your Cowboys & Indians show. And then after that, I'll probably ask you to be a part of this thing somehow.

It's pretty far out there (kind of Dada style). This ought to be a fun stretch and I am digging deep for reasons why, beginning with a new blog on the subject that I think I'll call "Continental Drift".

I feel a conceptual connection between our conversation about Karma Yoga and the journey of one who's pulled by the force of an idea and always impulsively striking out into unknown territory for reasons that he can't always understand, much less, explain.

I'm suddenly interested in the contrast of objectives, like finding things without looking for them and/or the sheer love of the hunt. (Which is perhaps (in this context) virtually the same thing.

I hope that this is palatable information for you as I am relishing in this second strong-ass larapin cup of coffee.

Talk to me.

XOBen






Theatre is in my blood. I can't help it.

As the story goes, my grandmother ran away from home when she was sixteen years old. When her father found her in New York City she was getting auditions on Broadway. I'm not saying that I'm interested in that sort of thing, but I am compelled by the allure of the stage. There is a very special energy in the moment up there that draws out a part of my personality that I really enjoy experiencing. This feeling is strangely very natural to me, maybe comparable to a greyhound finally getting to run on a racetrack. I especially like the way that my memory gets better, as I hardly ever forget the words to songs…


A unique opportunity like this doesn’t come along every day and consequently it brings out my most glutinous tendencies begging thoughts of “there is so much that I want to do, and so how can I do it all!” But thanks to Jeff’s guidance, hodgepodge is not the answer. First things first, I need to dig deeper and try and put together some very personal conceptual bones for this thing… So I figure writing is the best way for me get to my inner bone yard.


Okay, here’s the dirt…


I’ve been thinking that because this place and time is so strategic for finagling a way to perform at the venerable SXSW, it’d also be a lot of fun to make a splash by creating a big publicity stunt on top of it all. Why? Because It’s in a place where despite the great mark in music history that Austin has made, things always seem the same to me, like not very interesting or entertaining. I also think that shaking things up a little over there might get some press which is one of my most favorite hobbies…

That said, in my mind, I'd be crazy not to take advantage of an opportunity like this..But What to do? And how to do it with elegant cohesion without coming off as acrimonious or bratty...

Here's an example of a place that I'm not interested in coming from.




Hum...