Recently I have seen a few what we will call “aging artists
and performers”, i.e. folks I have been listening to for over 40 years, but the
most moving was Mavis Staples this past Thursday in North Truro at the Payomet
Arts Center with the Rick Holmstrom Band. Ms. Staples had just the day before turned 73
years old. She has had her current band,
the great Rick Holmstrom band and her backup singers for over 5 years and there is a very warm family
feel within the group and they watch over Mavis with great love and care. Mavis is currently having some knee problems
that made her a bit unsteady on her feet.
Mr. Holmstrom is closest to Mavis on stage and helped her several times
to sit on the stool that was onstage, on one memorable moment kept playing his
guitar while steadying her with his arm.
For some reason these days I often think of the passing of B.B.
King. I feel very strongly that with his
passing an entire swath of American music and experience will go with him, the
very same thing is true of Ms. Staples. Folks like Mavis and B.B. represent a deep
and direct connection with the African American culture that fostered so much
of the music we love. Folks like Ms.
Staples embody a vast treasure trove of American music and experience that cannot
be duplicated. There are lots of talented
young people who will and do carry on the traditions of blues, gospel and soul
music, but it cannot be the same. When
we lose folks such as Mavis Staples or B.B. King (you can fill in other names
as well) a direct bond is broken with the past that cannot be undone.
This all struck me the other night as I watched Mavis’s band
watch over her so lovingly and I thought these folks are doing us a great
service. They are the caretakers of one
of our National Treasures, Mavis Staples and they are doing such a wonderful
job.
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