Town Hall Tickets

Town Hall Tickets, originally uploaded by mhall209.

When My oldest son was in high school he and a couple friends got together and formed a three piece band. My son Daniel played guitar, Rigny played drums, and Thomas was on bass. They were the Hydrophobic Fish, and I was the roadie being the only one with a car big enough for all the equipment. Many Friday nights the three of them would be playing for tips at local restaurants. They played instrumental covers of jazz and rock classics, and I was the proudest pop in town. One particular night the owner of the restaurant commented "Hey, that song your playing, the guy who wrote it comes in here all the time!" The song was "Take Five" by the Dave Brubeck Quartet. Turns out the guy who wrote it doesn't come in at all, but Dave Bruubeck does! And no, Daniel never got the chance to meet Mr. Brubeck.

Well flash forward a couple years. On my way home from work one day I was listening to an interview of Dave Bruebeck because of the upcoming Brubeck Institute. Mr. Brubeck was recounting his youth, some 70 years ago. He talked about on Friday nights playing the Mokelumne Hill Town Hall. He had fantastic stories of playing there all night long as a teenager.

Well, this is the ticket booth of the Mokelumne Hill Town Hall. Seventy years ago you could have stood in line and payed a nickle or two to watch a kid named Dave play the piano all night long.