Roger Miller, the eclectic Roger Miller, not the country singer Roger Miller.
I thought I was plenty lucky to score tickets to see the silent film classic He Who Gets Slapped at Ebertfest, with a live score provided by the Alloy Orchestra. As I cruised the merch table on my way out, I discovered how lucky I truly was—the keyboard and “junk” player in the Alloy Orchestra was Roger Miller (from Mission of Burma, Birdsongs of the Mesozoic, and probably a bunch of other acts). He introduced himself because my brand new SST t-shirt spoke to him. Stunned to realize who he was, I had him sign my shirt with a sharpie and threw down on a bunch of merch to support his traveling silent film orchestra. I didn’t get to ask him what his connection was to SST (I thought MOB was on Ace of Hearts) because the table was being swarmed by old ladies and I didn’t want to block any DVD sales with our punk chat. But I was gaga and starstruck all day. I’d seen Michael Shannon, Tilda Swinton, and any number of movie stars at Ebertfest, but movie stars are boring. This was the first time I trembled with awe. I immediately drifted to the record store Exile on Main Street to explain what had happened to Jeff Brandt, the only person who would understand. He was unimpressed, busying himself with playing Public Enemy’s Fear of a Black Planet over and over in case Spike Lee dropped by. Oh, and I bought the new Warpaint album.
Generation X cultivates strong values in their children, emphasizing the importance of the arts.