Thirteen years is plenty of time for major changes to take place (and at the rate we see them today, to change back again)— in the waggish NoteToSanta below, we asked for one big item that eventually got delivered, just a bit too late to be fully helpful or appreciated. Birmingham went a long time without a radio station that featured the type of music or artists that were emphasized at Moonlight, and oh we pouted about it continually. Since then, of course, Central Alabama’s broadcast audience has altered its stripes, and the FM landscape hereabouts now features programming that abounds with original acoustic music, on both public radio and a unique commercial station—
https://bhammountainradio.com
https://www.facebook.com/bhammountainradio
On the very day that this email originally went out, a trio of local visionaries flicked the switch ON at Birmingham Mountain Radio, which instantly broadened the selection of broadcast music available to Bumminham listeners who went looking for it… on the internet. As Moonlight drew what could fairly be called the GrayBeard Faction of folk music fans, we discounted the significance of the moment. But the station made a centerpiece of shaggy-bulldog DJ Scott Register, the diamond who had already scratched the glass at the short-lived Live 100 FM with his weekly Reg’s Coffeehouse show. In a few years’ time, BMR’s receptive demographic would earn it a perch on the commercial towers, and on the authentic in-ya-dashboard radio dial— one of the very first internet stations anywhere to make that well-deserved leap.
If Moonlight had any role in nudging this market toward the creation of a superlative AAA-format radio station, well…. we’d humbly accept a smidge of credit. Truth is, Time and Change will go forever hand-in hand, the process of evolution arching over and under it all. Other concert venues, the influence of nearby Southern cities, and the persistence of an expanding cohort of local music consumers all played their parts. As always, fond memory helps us celebrate what we had before, and how it brought us the gifts we have now. Stay tuned!
=—-=
December 14, 2010
Friends of The Moonlight---
’Tis the time of year to make lists, and even if it's not one of your standard tools of orchestration, we'll just bet you have the beginnings of one in your pocket, or on your desktop, right this minute... so many skittering little responsibilities would fly off into the weeds and go untended, lest they be corralled and catalogued, stacked top to bottom, hopscotched over, and struck through when finished. The Christmas holiday generates the widest array of lists, perhaps--- there's gifts to be given, friends to invite, cards to be sent, groceries to be bought, bags to be packed.
Foremost among them, though, is the one that has been a hallmark of the season for each and every one of us, from the minute we were first invited to solicit for ourselves without reservation, an annual gimme-gimme fantasy fling that encourages idle selfishness without guilt---- first scrawled in crayon on blue-lined school paper, later carefully considered while studying toy-store flyers in the Sunday paper, now maybe just savored silently in our tinsel-tangled minds--- here's now, this year's list for The Moonlight....
Dear Santa---
Oh, boy, have we tried to be good this year--- it hasn't been easy, what with a relentless deep-freeze winter and a crematory summer, a tedious three-month supplication to the City of Hoover, and a daily/nightly frenzy of swinging hammers and eating drywall dust. It's all been more than worthwhile, of course, because we have a thousand new friends, at least as many fine memories already, and the good wishes of all who have come to know us. Still, we do have some un-met longings, and as it IS the Season of Fulfilment, we respectfully submit a short list of items for which we are unashamed to ask:
1. Some way to iron out these wild kinks in the Gulf Stream, to keep the extreme seasons from lasting five months each, and funneling huge percentages of our incomes to the gas and power companies... might help ease the turbulence during sleigh flights as well!
2. A variation on the pernicious pine beetle--- we hope for a new insect that attacks tobacco plants worldwide, and makes their leaves taste every bit as nasty as they smell when dried and smoked.... eighty percent of Americans would rejoice at the inevitable results!
3. An application for the iPhone that translates animal vocalizations into intelligible English--- not just to eliminate worldwide cruelty, but to clear things up around our house, so the cats wouldn't consider us such idiots.
4. A palm-sized mini-printer--- with another iPhone app, surely--- that converts ten-dollar bills into twenties.
5. A bold initiative on the part of the SEC to move college football games to Tuesday nights--- so that every aspect of normal life as we know it isn't tied up and held hostage on the fifteen prettiest Saturdays of the year. Jeezis, folks, can we get a little perspective on this?
6. Our most fervent request is for this last item--- that a honest-to-God, come-from-a-tower, get-it-free-in-your-car local radio station (perhaps one with call letters naming the community that directly funds it) would add just a FEW hours of a playlist format completely-- and abnormally--- unrepresented in this, the 54th largest broadcast market in the United States: AAA Americana, roots/folk/blues, original singer/songwriter independent music. Syndicated programming featuring the very artists we present at The Moonlight can be had for the same rates as prosaic classical monotony, and there are long-fallow timeblocks crying for improvement... is it possible that five consecutive hours of "Echoes" is more than enough for a Sunday afternoon?
That's it for now, Santa--- we know everybody else is asking for world peace, and more jobs, and cures for diseases, and better-lookin' boyfriends--- so go ahead and tend to as much of that as you can, we know you got priorities... we'll be happy for whatever we find in the stocking, and we promise right now that we'll be as good as we can possibly be, allllll the way through next year. Cookies and milk are waitin' for ya... and thanks!
------------------------------------------
TWO MOONLIGHT EVENTS THIS WEEK, BEFORE WE GO MISSING FOR THE HOLIDAYS---
Wednesday the 15th--- THE LEGACY BAND, "An Irish Christmas", $15
Yes, Virginia, there ARE other ways to celebrate the end of the year besides standing in long lines at big-box stores, or sitting in traffic on the access road that circles the Galleria... for centuries now, the merry folks of The Emerald Isle have rung out the auld with story and song, never better preserved or presented than by this highly-respected trio and their collaborator, historian Jim Flanagan.
With fiddle, guitar, drum, whistles, and voice, Legacy recalls generations of Irish holiday tradition in a manner entirely befitting this year and next. It's a special program they've worked up especially for the season--- start now to make your Merry Christmas last that much longer! 7:30pm
www.legacyirishmusic.com
The Legacy Band, with Jim Flanagan, December 15 2010, 78 present
The Legacy Band
Thursday the 16th-- CHAPMAN JAMES' Birthday Song Bash, no cover
Like a field of wildflowers--- we have a profusion of singers coming out tonight to pay their twisted tributes to our friend and supporter, Chapman James, in the form he understands so well, the original tune. Chap is a formidable songwriter/player himself, which he will demonstrate in a duo set with Jim Parker, one of at least a dozen celebrants this year who have taken a time slot in this annual Feliz Navidad.
A quick glance at the list of songwriters scheduled to appear confirms our suspicions, we can expect a lively, irreverent, bawdy, yet affectionate display of appreciation for Chapman's friendship and encouragement, as they all have squirmed their way into the world of local live music. Lots of fun and surprises, don't cost ya nothin'! 6 - 10pm
Chapman James, December 16 2010
Finney James
Stephen Sedberry
Kendra Sutton
=======================
AND TWO MORE AFTER THAT---
Wednesday 29th-- RICK CARTER solo, or maybe not, he has many good friends that may choose to join him onstage, we sho' hope so!
Friday 31st-- THE BEATLADS celebrate a British New Year's, Bermuda-style.. John, Paul, George & Ringo, with champagne at 10pm!
========================
I have exceptionally fond memories of that evening, Keith. It was great to meet and get to know you and an absolute delight to play your venue! Thanks for sharing your excellent writings once again! Don Penzien (formerly with "Legacy")