As neither a musician nor songwriter, I immediately felt out of place through the entire expo. I must say that despite the shameless self-promotion of a few individuals, I met some very amazing artists who shared with me stories, hardships, and inspirations as musicians. Still the best part of the Expo were the ASCAP Panelists who were extremely diverse... ranging from congressmen, lawyers, publishers, famous songwriters, and musicians (such as Heart, Jeff Lynne, Richard Marx, and many others). Despite being surrounded by musicians as friends, I never knew the real business model of how they work on promotion, earning money, and the various resources out there to protect their rights. I learned the basics of copyright laws, etiquette of reaching out to producers and decision makers, and the most interesting of them all how established songwriters made it where they are. Often times coming from a business background, I complain that despite my academic achievements, it really does come down to who you know to boost your career. In the music world, it's achievement, who you know, where you are, and most importantly PURE LUCK. That's got to be rough.
Some of the most memorable moments from the Expo included the interview with Richard Marx, who wrote "Right Here Waiting", describing his coming to fame being so ironic that it was literally like a plotline for a movie. After explaining his rise to fame, the history behind the song, and what it means to him now, he decided to perform the song and encouraged the audience to sing with him. Now keep in mind it was a room full of performer / songwriters and when the chorus came in, beautiful harmonious singing filled the room. I started crying a little.
Some other memorable moments included Heart's interview where they actually performed some of their songs, completely spot-on with those distinct voices still holding steady from the recording years ago. It made me want to quit smoking forever. Jeff Lynne was the most entertaining interview of all. What a character! (and yes, he had on sunglasses). Although I found the interview and panelist portions of the Expo most informative, I got goosebumps at seeing these and other songwriters perform their own work with such passion all the while being very humble. I realize that I love the company of musicians because not only do you have to be humorous in this industry (because let's face it, NO ONE can take themselves too seriously), but I find myself with no musical talent in complete awe and respect not only of the talent in which they perform their work but the passion and love they have for what they do. I wish I had that sometimes...
Outside the Expo...
We found an awesome watering hole in LA called the Powerhouse right in the middle of Hollywood that we frequented between sessions and at night. The place held quite the combination of characters. In Texas style, we ended our welcome the last night when Christine punched someone in the chest for touching her boob.
Every day I walked past crazy drunken pirate and superman characters that danced around front of the Chinese Theater. To save money, we ended up staying at a hostel down the street, which was a new experience for me. We shared a matchbox-sized room with three strangers in bunkbeds, some with questionable sanity... We moved rooms after a sour confrontation with a bunk-mate who had a manuscript on her bed reading "In 2135, madness was common. Murder was rampant, and she was hungry for more" and seeing a blood-stained pillow on her bed. A, how does one say, over-zealous young man who had a fascination with me ended up checking into the place and following me around to which I was flattered but eventually quite terrified. Needless to say when the time came we checked out as soon as we could.
Christine had rented a mustang, or in her words a "status car" which we ended up taking some wild rides through Muhulland Drive, up and down Sunset, pulling all sorts of illegal maneuvers that only Christine could get away with. At one point we were buzzing in and out of oncoming traffic to catch up to some characters driving in a vintage Cadillac who motioned us to follow them to this place called Jumbo Clown Room, a go-go bar frequented by famous people like Iggy Pop and David Lynch. They were absolutely crazy, like Ron Jeremy-type doctors, accountants, and fashion designers with lots of money and absolutely no respect for personal body space. We got a picture with their car and bolted.Sunday was a beautiful day and being still drunk, it made the terrible
encounter in the morning more bearable. We checked out befor over-zealous man could stalk us and got to the Griffith Observatory then to meet some friends at the Getty, a beautiful hilltop museum with the most gorgeous view in Los Angeles. We had lunch and walked the gardens and photography exhibits and upon coming up some escalators stalker boy was there, with a stern upset look on his face wondering why his 'new friends' ditched him then somehow finding 
where we were. We managed the situation and escaped. It was such a beautiful day for such strange encounters. With a few hours to waste we hit Venice Beach, Christine's old stomping grounds where we ran into the truly colorful characters of Los Angeles... crazy artists, drum circles, beach bums, punks, and gay bodybuilders. We had a few drinks and watched the people then hauled ass to the airport for our late night flight. I shared my flight with the entire TCU Baseball team and Jessica Simpson & Tony Romo. Interesting indeed!I've spent the last days recovering and giggling to myself about the adventure. I'd like to return again for a longer more sedated visit perhaps. A little less bar-fights, creepy stalking, and crazy driving. That was my taste for L.A. Don't think I could ever move there. I've come to the realization the town is meant for ecclectic social individuals who depend on standing out among peers to make connections through crazy antics, clothing, and rarely extreme intelligence. I would love to visit again, but in a long long time from now.
Hehehehe... anyone can be a star.
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