I'm kind of grown-up now. I have always been artistic, but while I was in college, I was seriously working towards a life as a musician. I played a few different instruments, but made my way through the artistic communities of Cleveland and Columbus, OH, and Philadelphia's awesome indy scene before landing in NYC. After playing in NY for a while, some of the luster of performing wore off for me. I still play, but I do so in a very different context than I did back in school.
When I was an undergrad, I was essentially THE independent musical artist on campus. My guitar and I worked our way through school; I put out a few albums, made some money, sold out a few coffee houses, etc...it was all a blast, and on occasion, there were girls who felt the need to kiss me as a result of my performances. We were a small campus, and I was "the artist" on campus, every 3-4 months, when I performed...It had its perks and I will not dent that whatsoever. Especially as it pertains to my time with Corinne.
I've always been an environmentalist, and as such, I was not shocked to hear from my friend Amy, who ran the Student activities group. She was in charge of this years Earth Day activities on campus, and she called to ask if I would perform at their "closing ceremonies show."
Keep in mind, we are talking about a campus of about 2500 students: small by most standards, but at the time, I will admit, with maybe a small amount of hubris that I was able to get about 1700 of them into a show to hear me play: It was just how things were at the time, and I'll leave it at that.
I agreed to play the show, which was to take place outdoors at Andrews Park. I'd never played there before, but I felt confident about the school's ability to pull of the sound issues, and all that technical crap...
I spent the afternoon walking from tent to tent, helping out a few groups I was connected to, like Greenpeace and the Sierra Club-I actually, more on accident than anything else, ended up serving on a panel discussion concerning the affect of deforestation on the greater Ohio River Valley. I will admit that, as informed as I was, I had to fake my way through that one at times, but I managed.
Anyway, the Earth Day crowd was high and mighty by the time I went onstage. Again, I will allow for my audience to read between the lines there, but for those not so inclined, I will say that the audience was rather relaxed by the time I performed. I do not indulge myself, not even today, but as a result, I can appreciate the "status" that my audience embraced at the time.
I did my set of seven songs and gave the stage to the closing act, a band from Cleveland who's name I forget. I walked off stage and was immediately met by Corrine.
I had seen Corrine on campus before. She was the president of our local Greenpeace chapter and had played a major role in organizing the Earth Day events on campus. She had long brown hair that had a curl to it that seemed unnatural, in an of itself.
Corrine and I were both from NY, and as such had engaged In a few conversations before this moment. I mention all of these things only to make the case that she and I were by no means strangers to one another. We would become even closer before the evening was over.
"Wow-awsome set!" she said as I walked offstage.
