All 50 States Day 10:
Georgia!
My rule of not counting a state if your only visit is changing planes at the airport still stands; BUT, it turns out the only picture I can find that I’ve personally taken in the state of Georgia was taken in ATL during a layover. I was on my way from a show the previous night at Fitchburg State College in Fitchburg, MA to a show that night at Embry-Riddle University in Daytona Beach, FL (we call that “bad routing”).
But I have been to Georgia for real, I swear! I performed in the New Year’s Eve show at the Punchline in Atlanta on Dec. 31, 2008. When I searched online for evidence of me being in the lineup I even found a video of the club manager promoting the show! Turns out he didn’t mention any of the acts performing in the upcoming show (great marketing!) but he did joke about regretting his decision to hire a little person to play Baby New Year the previous year (I’m not even making that up).
I also played one college in Georgia: Brenau University, on February 20, 2005, and it’s one of the few schools whose swag t-shirts have survived to this day. Since Brenau is a predominantly women’s college with a strong dance program my plan was to wear the t-shirt here in NYC with the hope that various dancer alumnae see it and strike up a conversation. My plan has yet to come to fruition.
The picture from the airport is of a jazz poster that I liked. As someone who’s constantly making flyers for music shows I like to take visual notes of things that appeal to me. The performer in the poster is Rashaan Roland Kirk, a musician who could play multiple saxophones at once and also played flute (including on Quincy Jones’ Soul Bossa Nova, a.k.a. that campy song from Austin Powers).
See? You learn things by traveling!
