Bringing people to a show for the first time
It's pretty strange luring your friends to a musical performance they're not familiar with.

Tonight, Al Duvall played at Freddy's in Brooklyn, and I was glad to bring six other audience members. Yet, there's something about Al Duvall that some people get, and others just don't. I'm disappointed if my own friends don't seem to respond to him. I mean, I understand why they wouldn't: Sure, he has a (pleasantly) unpolished, warbly voice, and a somewhat coarse style -- but to me, that's a great touch that seems to match the subjects he sings about. I was relieved when two of my friends seemed practically in rapt attention, and at the end, one said, "Good suggestion!" But the other four people I brought seemed utterly disenchanted, even uncomfortable, as if they felt too cool to sit in the confines of this guy's solo performance.

I think Al has guts to go solo singing his brilliant lyrics with his untrained voice and amazing banjo playing; some people, though, cringe. One friend said to me, "Does he have typhus?" It made me uncomfortable to be in their presence as we listened to him. There was this one song, I knew they'd be writhing in their chairs, and I had to leave the room because I just couldn't bear to be around their reaction. It's like...I sensed they were perceiving him as a hick, a rube, which is actually halfway the point. But while I was outside the room, scanning the jukebox, one of their friends was suddenly beside me, commenting on how banjo was something he just wasn't used to, and how, maybe I couldn't stand it too? I said, no, actually, I love the banjo, and Al is spectacular on it. Their friend was just like, "I don't know, I think most people aren't used to it." And I said, "Well isn't that a plus, though? Isn't it important to hear something you're not used to?" And I could tell at that point that he really wasn't interested in continuing the conversation.

It disappoints me when some of my friends seem uncomfortable hearing something that is as sincere, and admittedly raw, as Al. But I'm more disappointed in myself when I allow their discomfort to make me uncomfortable.