walkin' with joaquin

Post date: May 03, 2010 2:3:44 AM

On a beautiful April Sunday, Nancy (my band) and I performed our hit single, "Joaquin Miller (went walkin')" at the innaugural meeting of Friends of Joaquin Miller Park. Later, without Nancy, I did a command performance of the singalong with the poets of the California Writers Club.

Surrounded by the poppies, the trees, and "the native grasses waving in the wind," it felt as if a group of us had returned home to Joaquin Miller's artist retreat. It felt as if the mystical, bohemian spirit that inspired writers 100 years ago was born again, even as trees crowded our view of the city close below, the city that had once been miles away. A guide dog threw up native grasses while I led my song, nature's blessing of mischief to keep the moment from becoming too kitschy.  Note: photos taken at this seminal moment are now part of Nina Egert's travelling  Yone Noguchi installation.