Sometimes it Doesn’t Have to be Funny

As the title suggests, this one won’t be. Oddly enough, in spite of the several funny and ridiculous things that happened to me at my regular gigs this week, I felt more compelled to write about something seriously cool and fun instead.

This past Saturday, I had the privilege of participating in the very first of what will be a 10 week stretch of “Sidewalk Saturdays” going on throughout downtown Decatur and Oakhurst.

Sidewalk Saturdays are being put on by the Decatur Arts Alliance, paid for with a grant obtained by the city of Decatur. It is a collection of professional artists of all kinds doing whatever it is they do right on the sidewalk for passersby to enjoy every Saturday from 3 pm to 6 pm. A true “street performance.” Better yet, a PAID street performance.

There are jugglers, dance troops, percussionists, chalk artists, performance artists, and some folks like me slinging the guitar and screaming out some silly cover tunes. Each performer has a designated performance area spread out across the city. I was in downtown Oakhurst, which is only about 3 blocks from my house, so it worked out perfectly for me.

The experience of playing for total strangers amongst some friends without the use of a PA system took me back to my roots of sitting around someone’s living room in high school after a party and trying to impress the ladies my friends. It was a truly humbling and thoroughly enjoyable experience. I even got a chance to work in every original tune I could remember; an all to rare occurrence for me these days.

So I wanted to share this experience with all of you, because I think it’s just the greatest thing that the city of Decatur, who already does so much in support of the arts, has ever done in support of the arts in my 6+ years of living here. If you are at all a fan of the arts, with an emphasis on the strange and interesting, I do hope you’ll take the time to come visit Decatur during one of the next nine Saturdays.

The dates on which I’ll be performing for them again are all on my calendar at troycono.com. I’m honestly not sure whether I’m looking more forward to playing again this coming Saturday, or to my first Saturday off when I get to walk around and see everyone else perform. Either way, it’s a can’t lose situation for everyone involved.