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the listener
Anyone who has spent at least ten minutes in a car with Erin Teegarden knows where & when her musical heart lies. Anyone who has spent at least ten minutes
in a car with Erin Teegarden also knows she likes fortunes, signs from the radio gods signaling our futures. At Rec Room Retro on November 7th, everyone had
the good fortune to experience the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, Rec Room style, and surely the radio gods were pleased, because the night was perfect. Old friends
and new gathered to celebrate three tumultuous and fantastic decades of history and three tumultuous and fantastic decades of Erin.
The evening’s performers included: Avery R. Young, whose soul and lungs grow even stronger every time he sings; Louie Holwerk, or Dr. Funkenstein as he’s
known in some circles, paid some delicious homage to the vivacity and sexiness of Rec Room (we concur); Fred Sasaki, with the help of trusty Jacob S. Knabb
and Erin Teegarden, entertained with his reading of Star Whores; the sublime Abby Cucci, accompanied by the angelic Sam Wagster and the ever-lovely Elizabeth
Graettinger, serenaded us into the break with Linda Ronstadt songs.
Hopefully everyone paused to take in the INCREDIBLE slideshow of music and performance in from 1950-1979. How could we have forgotten how hot Jimi was?
After the break, we returned to performances by: Toni Asante Lightfoot read a poem imagining the future; Meg Barboza followed with electro-shock therapy;
Miki Howald broke out some “kick-ass 1970’s feminism”; Nicolette Bond read 30 short poems written from lines of Beatles’ songs; old friend Sara Zubroff did
a fortune poem for Erin, then read a lovely Brautigan poem about friendship (and catfish); Nina Corwin brought us all together in song; and Krista Franklin
brought the night to an end with an incredible poem by Ai.
But, as always, a night at Rec Room is more than the summary of performances. It was a night of finding rock star parking without trying, endless hugs and
smiles from friends, singing happy birthday with Marilyn Monroe, and basking in the awesome talent of the musicians, artists and writers of those decades who inspired many
of us. Happy 30th birthday, Erin, and thanks for a wonderful party.
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