Festivals and Memories

This Saturday night I will be reading at the Texas Observer's LitCrawl event at the Texas Book Festival in Austin, and I could not be happier. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to hear writers I greatly respect read their work, and I am extremely thankful to the Texas Observer for allowing me to be a part of the event.

Having such an opportunity reminds me of my rock 'n' roll days back in Europe. My band, By No Means, was an opening act at several music festivals, and I loved getting to listen to the other groups after we played.

One of my favorite memories is of hearing the MCH Band play at the Ctverec Music Festival in Northern Bohemia. The MCH Band is a Czech band founded by Mikolas Chadima, who, along with Nobel Laureate Vaclav Havel and other artists and thinkers, was a signatory of Charter 77, the manifesto criticizing the communist government's human rights record. During communism, Chadima played underground gigs using different band names to elude the police. The danger was real, and another band, the Plastic People of the Universe, was actually imprisoned in the 1970s.   

After hearing the MCH Band, who played one of the most powerful sets I have ever heard in my life, I chatted with Mikolas Chadima by his old car, buying one of the CDs he sold out of his trunk. I was humbled by his artistry and his sacrifice. To this day I am truly thankful to have been given the opportunity to play at that festival, for it provided me the chance to meet a man I will remember the rest of my life.

With that said, I am truly looking forward to this weekend in Austin. There are memories to be made.