In January of 1995, I moved from Nashville, TN to Baltimore, MD and the first letter that I received in Baltimore was from Alan. Enclosed with the letter was a newspaper clipping with Alan's photo of the S&M Communion Bread bakery in Nashville. He had submitted it to the Nashville Scene and they featured it on their contents page one week. (I may still have it somewhere, but if you do, please send it to me!)
The Adrian referred to here is the former James McBride (he changed his name as an adult), the same James who introduced me to Alan.
Alan signs the letter "R.P." which stood for Rubber Pencil, his nickname in our band, The Pencils. (I was Charcoal Pencil, Larry was No. 2 Pencil, and Brad Markum was Hard Tip Pencil.)
In re-reading it, I was struck with the 2nd paragraph, where he says, "Maybe we can find a way to send compositions thru the 'Net. You know, a sort of virtual studio." That sort of thing had never entered my mind back then, even though I was heavily into computers and music. Then in 2002, I did my first CD with musicians from all over the country, without meeting any of them face to face, without so much as a phone call between any of us. It was all done through email and FTP sites where we shared Acid Pro files. It's like Alan had seen it coming -- seven years before it happened.
Alan was TOTALLY bummed that I appeared to be moving to Portland, OR. As it turned out, the jobs paid 15% less out there, and the cost of living was HIGHER, with a 7% state income tax.
ReplyDeleteSo I moved to Portland, TN instead. Made Alan really happy!