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16 March 2003 Got amazingly lucky yesterday evening. That was a close one. I arrived on the 18th floor of the Crowne Plaza hotel at six for load-in, toting my trusty Yamaha P-80 and keyboard stand. Will, the stage manager, greeted me warmly and pointed me to the corner where I could stow my gear until showtime. If there was anything he could help with, he said, just come find him. Thanks, I said. At Lucky Lounge earlier in the afternoon, the keyboard had taken a few attempts to power on, so I thought I'd try it again just in case. Found an outlet in my designated corner, set up the stand, plugged the power adaptor into the jack, and pressed ON. Nothing. Jiggled the cables and tried again. Nothing. Tried a different outlet; tried my backup adaptor; tried several sort-of-gentle, oh-so-scientifically-placed whacks to the keyboard's plastic covering. Nothing. My poor P-80 was dead. Less than three hours before my rare chance to perform for music industry people, and suddenly I had no piano. Sometimes I really, really wish I played the acoustic guitar. By now Will had noticed my troubleshooting: "Are you doing okay over here?" Sheepishly I told him the problem, and immediately the staff jumped into action. Will called rental shops and the festival production managers, seeing if they could track down another band with a weighted 88-key model that we could borrow for an hour. Stacy, the sound engineer, and two other staff members, Geoff and Janina, hunted around for Phillips screwdrivers and a flashlight to take a look inside my P-80. (Being leery of voiding warranty, we didn't pry far, and couldn't find anything obviously amiss.) Everyone in the room racked their brains for possible leads. "I know my neighbor has a keyboard," someone offered. "I could call and see what kind it is." Finally a rental shop called Will back, saying they had a Korg Triton LE available for a few hours -- a small miracle, considering the frenzy of musical activity in Austin this weekend. But no one at the shop was free to deliver it. Geoff and Janina quickly volunteered for pickup and return, and set off with a hastily scribbled set of driving directions. Together, they all saved the day. The Triton arrived safely, Stacy had it up and running in minutes, and I took the stage right on schedule, as though nothing had happened. The show went wonderfully. The audience and I had fun. (And Michael from Virt Records even started breathing again, I think.) I've said something similar before in this journal: the music business may be rife with dishonesty and greed, but the music life -- at least mine, so far -- overflows with proof of all that's good in human nature. Communities rally round in support of an individual. Strangers step in to pick you up when you fall. Now I have a rush repair order to place and a keyboard rental bill to pay, but the people of Austin neatly averted disaster for me, and warmed my heart in the bargain. Yes, I'm a lucky girl. - VT
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