Sunday, October 05, 2008

What I see is not what I'm looking at. . .



Yesterday I was winding down 290 toward Dripping Springs en route to my bi-weekly men’s group meeting. Just after the Y in Oak Hill, I was filled with a questionable feeling: was this the right way? I have been up and down this route numerous times for at least 20 years, and yet something about it seemed unfamiliar; or to put it another way, the route seemed fresh. I told this to a friend and she remarked that maybe my mind had been somewhere else all the other times and that I had never really paid attention to the route. This whole situation reminded me of an anonymous quote: "What I see is not what I'm looking at but what I'm looking with."


At this point you may be wondering, "What does this - if anything - have to do with Strings Attached?"
Maybe something, maybe nothing.

I feel like we've been traveling this road to success with noses to the grindstone, and now that I've had a moment to reflect and look around, I realize it’s time to take Strings Attached down a side road that leads to a brand new mountain vista lookout, one that will enable all kinds of creative developments that will excite our listeners into new avenues of transcendence and community.

For the past twenty years I've worked tirelessly to bring creative, challenging music in many forms to the Central Texas area: original jazz, classical cross-over, tribute shows, collaborations with some of the best singersongwriters from Eliza Gilkyson to Ray Wylie Hubbard. I believe our existing body of work proves that it’s not a question of "can they pull it off?” But something has to change. I want this expression which has taken on a life of its own, to grow . . . to move to the next level.

This year I say goodbye to the job of Strings Attached secretary (yes, that would be me), which has amounted to almost 90% of what I do: managing the organization along with all the help from our committed volunteers. I, and any folks who want to join the planning committee, will begin the formation of Strings Attached, the Arts Organization. (Click here if you're interested and fill out this form)There's no reason why we can't take this winning formula and join the ranks of all the other great major arts institutions like the Symphony and ALO. We make great art – art that I believe is an authentic expression of this diverse city.

So this time next year I will use most of my creative energies dreaming up kick-ass show ideas that are truly world-class.

To create the space necessary to take Strings Attached to the next level, this year's season will be a retrospective of the last seven years: The Best of Strings Attached.

December 19th -> Hits of the 60's and 70's
January 17th -> Strings Attached Fan pic show (vote here)
Tell us what show(s) or artists you'd like to see back.

February 20th -> The Songs of Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell
March 27th -> Beatles Abbey Road and Sgt. Pepper Albums Live
April 17th -> Zeppelin Show
May 2nd -> Peter Gabriel Show
June 20th -> The Music of Eliza Gilkyson, Slaid Cleaves, Ray Wylie and Jimmy La Fave
July 18th -> The Music of Shawn Colvin, Patrice Pike, Ian Moore and Darden Smith
August 15th -> Pink Floyd's Dark Side and more . . .

Season Ticket information will be available in the next newsletter post.

Much love to all of you who continue to support what we do!

Will Taylor

2 comments:

Jonathan B. Singer, Ph.D., LCSW said...

Bravo. Will, I love the vision that you've brought to Strings Attached. I'd love to see that vision brought to a larger stage. This week's episode of "This American Life" is all about "thinking big." I look forward to what comes next.

yourtexasmusic.com said...

I think this is a great idea, and we wish you all the best in this new endeavor.