Annie Benjamin

Annie Benjamin is probably my oldest musician friend.* I met Annie years ago, when she had just moved back to Dallas from New York, and when I had just begun having the courage to play songs in front of anyone.

We both became regulars at a couple of open mics around town. One was at the old Poor David's Pub on Greenville, where Bill Seely was the host. The other was down in Deep Ellum at the Commerce Street Ice House, and was hosted by Bob Ackerman.

Lots of folks drifted in and out of those open mics, but Annie and me were regulars. Later on, she and some of her friends from the band Chattervox started a songwriter group down on Greenville Avenue. We'd meet at a Starbucks there, once a month, to exchange songs we were working on, share writing ideas, and get critique.

That's where I first met Lisa Markely and Beth Cahill, Annie's Chattervox mates. It's also where I first met Bill Nash and Cary Cooper. It was quite a group. I think some folks still find it hard to believe we were all a part of it. And I still miss it quite a bit.

Annie's a good friend, and a great person. She's not just a great musician, but also an involved community activist. She sang on my first CD, lending her voice to "The Sun is Gonna Show," and "The Peace." And her last CD came out that same year. She's been to a lot of my gigs through the years, and vice versa. She and some of those aforementioned songwriter friends came to my CD release and sang with me that night.

I mention all this because Annie's new CD is now done. The CD Release Party for "Some Kind of Wonder" is this coming Sunday, April 1st. And if you are free, you should go.


Here are the details:

CD Release Party for "Some Kind of Wonder"
Sunday, April 1
5:00 pm until 8:00pm
no cover charge, bring donations
Bath House Cultural Center
521 E. Lawther Drive
Dallas, TX
www.bathhousecultural.com
214-670-8749

You can get more info on Annie and her music at her website.

While there, you can listen to soundclips from the new CD, and find out more about this great performer.

I don't see Annie nearly as much as I should these past few years. I bumped into her at the big peace rally, just before the war, and she asked me to sing with her on one of her songs. But, good lord, that's four years ago now! So, I see her now and then, but not nearly enough.

I understand that she's resurrected the songwriter group here and there, and that's a good thing. She works hard to book regular solo gigs, and gigs with her current band, "Rocketgirl." She also sometime performs classical flute, and can sometimes be head at the DMA.

Annie has always been a great encourager of other artists, and I have always been proud to call her friend. She works hard at what she does, forges her own path, and always challenging herself to grow musically and artistically.

What I've heard of the new CD is fantastic. You won't to miss it.

* meaning that I've known her the longest, not that either of us are "old." Right?

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My New Baby: A Santa Cruz Guitar, OMPW

I was born in California. In the LA area. But I don't remember much about it, since my folks moved back to Texas (where they were really from anyway) just a few months later. A few years after that, they moved back to LA for several additional months, and I have vague recollections of Disneyland and apartment buildings from that stay. But it's all very misty in the mind's haze.

I mention this because the one thing that's certain is that when I was just months old, my parents brought the baby-me back to Texas by car. I know this because I have heard the stories of the cross-country sojourn. They drove me back all those 1400 miles to Dallas, where I've lived out the vast majority of my life since.

Last week, our family went on our first vacation in two-and-a-half years. (Specifically, it was back in May of 2004 when Dennise, Maria and me last went anywhere together). Two elections, a new church building, a short-staff last summer, and a host of other really "important" things kept us from going anywhere whenever the chance would come.

But last week, we sensed we had the first real opening for a holiday with all of us together in those two-and-a-half years. And so we took it. We took a Spring Break trip to California.

I should warn you that I do intend to write a long, detailed, and potentially monotonous, travelogue-blog about the whole journey. (It was a wonderful trip) But there's one minor plot twist I just have to share now.

The twist is that while on vacation I got a new guitar.

Back in December, it was clear we'd get a hefty tax refund this year, and that there was no other pressing use for it right now. So, my lovely bride suggested now might be the time to buy the high-end guitar I'd dreamed of for years. It would be my Christmas present.

She told me to start looking around. Which I did. The tax refund came in in early February, and soon Dennise was bugging me regularly about getting the guitar.

Parenthetically, this whole exercise in guitar-buying illustrates a key difference in our personalities. We had the money, she reasoned, so who not just run up to the store, pick one off the rack and bring one home? Years ago, when we'd only been dating a few weeks, I went shopping with her for jean jacket. We went into the Gap, she picked up the first one she saw, said "this looks good." She was halfway out the door with her credit card receipt before I could say "What about this one?"

So, she reasoned, shouldn't guitar buying be the same? See one. Pick it up. Buy it. You know, like, today?

She shops like I man. I shop like a woman. It's an issue. But I digress...

You see, the high-end guitar I dreamed of isn't usually on a store shelf. I wasn't thinking about a Taylor or Guild. Or even a Larivee. (Which, as few years back, is what I was sure I wanted...)

No, what I dreamed of was an Olsen. But that's really still too pricey. So, perhaps a Breedlove? Bill Nash and Tom PR both have them, and I've always loved theirs. That was a serious possibility. And you can get 'em at Guitar Center, so you really can just pick one off the shelf. (I'm still amazed that Guitar Center just keeps them in the shelf like that...) Collings are increasingly popular, and they're even made here in Texas to boot.
So, there were a lot of choices.

But a couple of years ago, I played a Santa Cruz at a store in Garland, and it stayed with me ever since. I'd heard of them, but never played one before that. The actual luthiering (is this a word?) was straightforward, simple, but elegant. And the sound was wonderful. There was just something about that guitar that was really enticing.

So, it was clear to me that Santa Cruz was one of the finalists in my quest.

Back in December, there were a couple at one store here in the Dallas area, and they promised to get some more in stock. But they weren't exactly the models I was hoping to see. They guy kept promising to get a few more in his showwroom, but it's a pricey item to just keep laying around if you don't have a potential buyer on the hook. So, the wait grew longer.

Dennise kept asking about it, confused as to why --after all these years of hoping-- I'd wait even one more second to buy the guitar of my dreams.

But it had to be the right one, not just any old one.

Then came our trip. And for some reason, as we were driving around Hollywood last Thursday morning, it hit me that one of the best known guitar shops in the country is McCabe's in Santa Monica. In fact, McCabe's own website says that they are "quite possibly the best guitar shop in the world." Might sound pompous for them to say this about themselves, but I know lots of folks who would agree. Here's a nice virtual tour of McCabe's courtesy of their website.


And it hit me that not only were they right here in LA, but that we'd virtually be driving right past them on the way to the pier later that day.

Sooo, we stopped in. And there, sitting on the shelf, was this beautiful Santa Cruz OMPW:


"OMPW" stands for "Orchestra Model, Pre War." Orchestra model refers to the body type --slightly smaller than the classic Dreadnaught-- and "Pre War" refers to a pre-World War II type of strut construction inside the guitar. (It's all very technical...) Here are some much better pics, and all the specs from the Santa Cruz website.

Anyway, turns out the body is actually roughly the size of my old guitar.....which makes it a little smallish. I know a lot of folks shun the Orchestra (sometimes called "Concert" size) because of this. And I'm a big guy, so you'd think --for sheer looks sake-- that I'd want a big body to play.

But I couldn't believe the sound of this guitar. It's just stunning. Incredible low-end, and amazing mids and highs too. And it all blends really well together. The sound simply jumps out at you, and the resonance is like very few guitars I've ever played in my life. To me, it sounds very much like an Olsen. (which may be an insult to some Santa Cruz lovers, I realize...)

Not only did McCabe's obligingly sell it to us, but they also installed a Baggs Dual Source pickup and mic the same day. This Baggs system is one I've seen in a lot of other guitars, and been impressed with. It has both a pick up, and an internal mic. The system allows you to either mix the sound of each into mono feed, or actually separate the mic and pickup into separate channels for even more serious mixing later.

The one McCabe's sold me, and Matt installed, has a smaller controller in the sound hole than is shown in this picture above. And Matt actually hid it even more discreetly, so that it's hardly visible at all. (Very nice job, by the way...)

Some folks apparently complain about feedback problems with this system. But playing around with it the past few days, I don't think it'll be a major issue (I've been told that keeping the mic feed out of stage monitors seems to mostly solve it...), and having both a mic and pickup inside really does seem to capture the essence of the guitar more completely than many other systems I've seen.

So, we paid for it, went off to the beach for the afternoon, and then came back and picked it up after dinner. Boom. It was done just like that.

After that, we drove along Mulholland Drive, and saw the lights of the city, before heading back to our hotel at the base of the pier. I played it every chance I got the rest of that trip.

While this seems like some kind of impulse buy, it's actually the culmination of several months of thought and behind-the-scenes patience. Good things come to those who wait. I keep learning that again and again.

And how great to buy it at the famous McCabe's. Glad to have a connection to that fine place. And how cool is it that --just like me when I was only a couple of months old-- our family then brought this new baby back to Texas, making that same cross country sojourn of years before.
It's now safely here at home. And I am so, so, SO terribly grateful to my lovely bride (and to the other family members who contributed towards this in previous years...) for this Christmas gift. Thanks, D.

And many thanks to Matt in McCabe's repair shop, and Nancy on the sales floor, and everyone else there for taking such good and quick care of me. (Here's Nancy playing a Charango behind McCabe's counter...)

And to everyone else....stay tuned for amazing sounds coming your way soon.

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Sweet Sixteen

There's lots of time left in the season, but it's still nice to pause and consider what these Dallas Mavericks have accomplished so far. Charles and Mary invited us to the game Tuesday night, which we knew going in could be history-making in one respect. But we didn't know at the time just how history making the night would end up being.



Here, Dirk sinks one of his 22 points. This is the camera-phone view of Dirk's signature shot from our amazing seats. More and more all the time, heseems Bird-esque. Anyone else besides me think that's the best comparison? Maybe it's the closest, but Dirk is such a unique player (size/skill-wise) that it still doesn't quite capture all he can do. By the time Dirk is done, we may end up saying that Larry Bird was "Dirk-esque."
The game ended the way most Mavs games do this year: another victory. This time, it was a trouncing of the New Jersey Nets. Final score: 102-89. What was most amazing is that even when the Nets got close at one point in the third, it hardly seemed like a real threat. You got the feeling the Mavs were playing with them, like a cat with a chew toy. There was never any real sense of danger, or a feeling in the AAC that the Mavs might lose.

Check out this cell phone video from our great seats (sorry for the poor sound quality...):



Note how much this team passes around, and hustles for the offensive rebound, before going in for the kill.



This is a team with swagger...a confidence that I have not seen in them before. Dirk seems supremely confident. But the person I noticed it from the most was Erik Dampier, who was just dominating. I used to detect a slight tinge of fear in his eyes. When plays didn't go his way, he'd let out a dejected sigh. Tuesday night, he was defiant, and he had one of his best games of the season. (12 points, 13 rebounds).
These Mavs spread it around. Even though they have several genuine superstars, as the video shows, they play like a TEAM. Tuesday night, they had five players with double digit scoring. But as amazing as all this is, none of this gets to the three records they set Tuesday night.

First, they won number sixteen in a row. That's a franchise record.

Second, they are now the first team assured of a place in the NBA playoffs. From what I can tell, that means they could actually lose every remaining game and still be assured of a playoff birth.

Finally, however, the most amazing stat of all...

With Tuesday night's win, the Mavs become the fastest sports team to ever reach 51 wins within 56 consecutive games. That right, not fastest basketball team, but fastest sports team. Ever.

According to ESPN, not only has no basketball team ever done this, but no NHL team and no Major League Baseball team, either. And, even though it's theoretically possible over several seasons, no NFL team has come close to a streak this long.

Gives you pause, doesn't it?

This is a very, very, VERY good team. A dominating team.

And it's fun to watch history being made before our eyes.

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Bragging on Dennise (Again)

As I mentioned two weeks ago, I have yet another reason to brag about Dennise.

Tonight at SMU, Dennise will receive the SMU Women’s Symposium "Profiles in Leadership Award." The Profiles in Leadership Award "recognizes Dallas women who exemplify the purpose of the Women’s Symposium, which is to educate women for social and political leadership."

Judge Garcia is, as you have heard me mention before, the "presiding judge" of the Dallas County Family Courts and the first Hispanic woman elected to a county-wide state district court in Dallas history. Among the other honorees tonight are Rev. Jo Hudson from Cathedral of Hope, and Rev. Bubba Dailey from Austin Street Centre for the homeless.

It's been a pleasure for me to be a colleague to both of them for many years now. I have known Bubba for almost 20 years, and remember fondly many nights when I'd take church groups to the shelter and Bubba and I would "catch up" in between the craziness of serving the clients there. Jo serves a church with many similar social and theological values to ours, and it's been a pleasure visiting with her from time to time about our common dreams and visions for ministry.

Along with Anne Marie Weiss-Armush --founder and chair of the Board of Directors of DFW International-- and Stacy Eppers --who has significant experience in mentoring young women through her work with Community Partners of Dallas-- this is quite a dynamic group of women, and I know Dennise is truly honored to be among them.

What's really fun about Dennise getting this award is that the symposium is an event she was involved in as a student. I recall how, during that first year we met, she worked as a student organizer and participant in the symposium. (In fact, I think the Daily Campus even ran a story about her involvement in the symposium...) So, I can remember how honored she was to be among such women of achievement even back then. And I can specifically remember how honored she was to be among women who broke ground, broke stereotypes, and pushed the boundaries of what women can achieve.

Now, years later, she's one of those women of achievement, breaking ground through her election and service to the courts. And like her election itself --and rise to presiding judge-- I know she's both amazed and humbled at the same time.

She couldn't be more grateful. And you've got to know I couldn't be prouder.

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