On Sunday, April 21st, the Community Music Hangout gathered for the 53rd edition of the Hang. We gathered under clear blue skies and breezy conditions. It was a fabulous day to make music with anyone and everyone who happened by our little slice of heaven in Golden Gate Park. And Freddie, the piano, was in fine condition as we got the day started. Lovely. A little while later, Zach wheeled up with his drums. There was a really cute scene as Zach was unloading his clown car / wagon and setting up his kit. A young fella was standing close by and staring at the work, intrigued at the process. It’s possible that kid had a lifelong passion stoked by that exposure. I love that possibility! CMH #53 was all about the kids, as it turned out. A little while later, I walked up to a young lady who was looking interested and I asked her if she played the piano. Her name was Atarah and responded with a confident and adorable, “yes.” She hopped on and played a bit for us and it was lovely! Great job young miss. Keep it up! We were rolling right along at this point. We met Steve who was just out and about with his melodica and jumped in the jam. I love that. People thinking they’re out for a bike ride in actuality being out to join the music hangout. A bit later, another Hangout regular showed up: Lilah! Welcome back. Always nice to have you at the Hang. And she was joined moments later by two newcomers in Grace and Kelley (but not Grace Kelly, to be clear). Grace did a fabulous rendition of “On My Own” from Les Miserables. I so wish I had video of that! And Kelley jumped in to sing Girl from Ipanema. Great job, everyone!
As we were getting closer to the end of the day, we had another adorable moment with a young one at the Hangout. We had dad Justin and son Jackson ask if they could sing Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da by the Beatles. Of course we could! Justin held the mic up in front of Jackson before we began and he signaled he was ready by saying “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” into the mic in his small cute voice. We all loved it! And they did great in the song too. I will long remember looking around at the smiles on everyone’s faces as we worked our way through that one. That’s what it’s all about.
Before we closed it out, we saw Hangout regular Marshall. Always great to see you, dude! Great singing as always. And some solid blues guitar in there, too. It was around 4pm when we finally packed it in for the day. It was hard to leave, but then it always is. The Hangout is always the highlight of my week, and that’s not because I have bad weeks. It’s just such a happy place to be--out there, under the sun with friends new and old—it really does feel like a slice of heaven to me. Thank you to all who contribute to the scene! We’ll see you next weekend for CMH #54 on Sunday, April 28th starting at 11:30 and running til we run outta gas. At least 2:30 and often more like 4. See you there!