Another takeaway—a realization that must have been subliminally received at my mother’s side in the eighties, a bit of wisdom about how the world operates that has slowly been working its way toward the front of my brain for decades now until this very moment—is how invulnerable all the musicians were. They dressed how they pleased and poured their hearts out in the public square. Where I grew up, both of those traits could get you a solid beating, or at the very least a healthy dose of merciless ridicule. It wouldn’t have mattered how good you were at your flute, jackass. How were they
...more
