by Hunter Gordon, Newtown, PA

I have lots of memorable moments where I met musicians. Been through lots of after-show meet-n-greets, mostly thanks to XPN. But some encounters with musicians, or music-related personalities, exceeded the standard handshake, signature, and the obligatory “Love your music!” comment, all of which lasts mere seconds. I’ve chatted with artists who did the lunchtime show at World Cafe and gotten interesting answers to questions about their influences. (They rarely were the artists that the particular musician sounds like.) And there have been artists who, to their credit, are willing to hang out for a long time and chat in a friendly way that you know is real. (Steve Wynn and the Miracle Three comes to mind as being a stand-out example.) And I also enjoy talking with people who live and work in the music industry, though they may not be musicians themselves.

A couple of my favorites occurred at the first WXPN Beggars Banquet this year (2007). First, I had the privilege of sitting next to David Dye at dinner where I proceeded to interview him. I’m not sure he got to eat a single bite of his dinner. (Sorry, David!) It was fascinating to interview the master interviewer. (A memorable meta-musical moment perhaps?)

After dinner, when the hosts switched seats, I was thrilled to have Jonatha Brooke take David’s place. I’ve followed her career since first seeing her in Pittsburgh in 1991 or 1992 with Jennifer Kimball as The Story, performing songs from their first album, “Grace in Gravity.” Just getting to meet her and chat with her over coffee was so exciting.

Then the band started playing. Knowing I could lose her attention soon, I asked her to dance. And she was gracious enough to accept! We danced for 2 songs (I think) until Rhett Miller cut in. No way I could compete there! But I had two musical moments and couldn’t be happier. On Roger LaMay’s first vlog, there are about 15 microseconds of video showing me sitting next to her. And I still have the photo. (See below.)

Later this year (May), I saw the taping of Mountain Stage at the Keswick where the performers included the Cowboy Junkies, Martin Sexton and Ryan Adams. Adams, hand still in cast, closed the show, performing in his new “darkened stage” mode. At one point he argued with his piano player about the tuning. After 6 songs (all well done) he abruptly said goodnight and left the stage. Larry Groce was not ready but made it to the mic soon thereafter to end the show.

After the show, my wife and I went to the pub across the street. After ordering dinner, the Mountain Stage Band came and sat next to us, filling that table. I chatted them up a little, getting their impression of Ryan Adams, his quirky personality, and his piano incident. (They claimed that turning off all the white lights lowered the temperature on stage dramatically, potentially affecting the piano tuning.) Larry Groce and the band leader then arrived, and the only seats available near the rest of the band were at our table. So we invited them to sit. My wife being from West Virginia gave us a good opener. Then we chatted about Adams. (He had agreed to do 7 songs, but left the stage early due to a comment from the audience he claimed to have heard.) I asked Larry about other artists he’d had on the show and how he picked them, what musical qualities he looks for, whether he liked the music of all his guests. We chatted until after midnight when their bus was ready to go. For me, it was more memorable than the concert performances themselves!

While I’ve become a little jaded about the quick meet-n-greets, I still take opportunities to say “Hi, love your music!” whenever I can. (See Minnie Driver, below.) And my kids took over for me on getting signatures in the meet-n-greet lines. (See Ryan Shaw with Spencer at this year’s XPoNential Music Festival, below.) To me, the music is an addiction. But the people who make the music, or behind the music, make it a real, and genuinely human experience.