Support a Local Artist Today

Recently I spent some time in Santa Barbara, CA catching up with an old friend. She was on the left coast to perform with a group of Santa Barbara musicians, one of which had written something specifically for my friend to perform. On my long drive home, I reflected on how many events like this there actually are across not only the United States, but around the world. The performance I attended was part of a series of events put on by a community college. If you look on any school's website, you will find a calendar full of instrumental and vocal music performances, plays, art exhibits and other events put on by faculty, staff, and students. Add to this the number of community groups not affiliated with a schools, and you could find something to do every day and night of the week. Most of these groups work as hard to put on a performance but sell tickets that cost a fraction of what tickets to a professional group would cost. Now, before someone gets upset, I am not suggesting that we not ever attend an event put on by a professional organization ever again. I AM suggesting that we find a local group that presents the type of work that we enjoy and attend their performances and exhibits on a regular basis. The amateur groups are most likely comprised of folks that are accountants, doctors, lawyers and the like who want to express themselves in a way that they find themselves unable to in their work and family lives. They are proud of the work they do to prepare for the performance and love it when there is a full house to which to present their work.