I just came across this fascinating video on YouTube of a 2001 BBC special by BBC reporter Jonathan Maitland. It’s a brief look at the life of Eva Cassidy, and was created only six years after Eva passed away, and right about the time her music had finally been gaining international fame, climbing the charts in England. In the piece, Maitland travels from the UK to my home town of Bowie, makes this comment:
“This is where Eva Cassidy grew up, it’s a town called Bowie, on the outskirts of Washington, DC, and it’s not the kind of place you’d expect one of the greatest voices of her generation, as she’s now been described, to come from. It’s very stayed, it’s very suburban, it’s not very musical …”
HA! I had to laugh and laugh at that last comment. Bowie – not very musical? I can see why a BBC reporter from the UK might assume that to be the case, but we Bowie-ites know better, just as we knew when Eva was still alive and performing here. OK, so the streets of little ol’ Bowie aren’t lined with nightclubs and concert halls. Or at least – they weren’t then, today there are a few coffee shops and other venues in which to perform. And Eva was incredibly talented, we all knew it then and are happy the world knows it now. But other musicians who performed with her then – like Todd Bauchspies and others – are phenomenally gifted performers in their own right. Kathie Lee Gifford broadcasts live every morning fom Rockefeller Center in New York City on NBC’s Today, but she grew up here and started her career in Bowie. Other locals from the surrounding area – like Doc Scantlin and Chou Chou and their Imperial Palms Orchestra, who Forbes called “America’s Best Band” – are still very much with us and performing regularly. This is one of the reasons I created the Skere9 blog, to feature creative talents like Todd, Doc, Chou Chou, and others, in the Skere9 Gallery of Stars.
I love this piece by Maitland. He might consider a follow-up to cover those who are still here and wowing the crowds.
In the meantime, enjoy this excellent BBC video, from March 15, 2001, titled The Eva Cassidy Story.