Kirby Time!!

My profession,....scratch that,....EVERY profession has its own celebrities.  Men and women who walk into a room of accountants and their hearts swoon.  From software designers that sign floppy discs to architects that have their blueprints framed to keynote speakers at the annual plumber's convention, there's a "quasi-celebrity" nature to folks who have ascended to the peak of virtually every vocation known to man.

In my world, the Mount Rushmore of fame would include directors like Brett Carroll (a dear friend) and David Fehr, choreographer Dwight Jordan (who's never really liked me very much for some reason), and arranger Kirby Shaw.  Kirby Shaw, he of the unusual haircut, Indian-patterned shirts, nonsensical tangents of singing and poetry, sudden bouts of scat-singing,........and more than 1,000 songs in publication and over 30 million copies sold!!  THAT Kirby Shaw!  One of the true highlights of my career unfolded over the past week when I traveled to the Tacoma, Washington area to be his choreographer for a 6-day camp of 48 enthusiastic Spanaway kids.

I instantly liked Kirby, as I walked in on his introductory rehearsal with the kids to find him massaging some vocal lines in "All The Cats Join In".  Sitting behind him at a desk, I didn't even know if he knew I was in the room until he made a point of some sort, whirled around and said, "Don't you agree, Damon?  Oh, by the way, howdy!!"  Any sense of pretense, snobbishness, entitlement, or aloofness has never made it into this man's persona, and he quickly puts anybody who meets him on equal footing as friend and colleague.

For the next 5 days (with the exception of the Tuesday he took off to go hiking in nearby Mount Ranier National Park), Kirby rehearsed, cajoled, twisted, shaped and fortified the sound and vocal acumen of the kids we were entrusted to teach.  Weird stories would pop out of his mouth at any time, and like me, he never feared using completely random and meaningless moments to make the rehearsal more engaging and fun for the kids.  One example occurred when he spent 5 minutes auditioning kids to see who could do the best fake cymbal sound to use whenever he told a bad joke.  Another happened right before the camp's final show when, after both of us gave emotional pep talks about seizing the moment and bringing joy and celebration to the stage, Kirby quietly sat down at the piano and played a blues song about people eating McDonald's Hamburgers!!!  For my part, my best "weirdness" of the week came while teaching the GLEE Medley.  For the dozen kids or so that had never seen the show, I acted out several ridiculous, impromptu scenes of the show playing all the characters myself! (Kirby was impressed,....or perhaps just frightened!)

Some of my favorite parts of the week came out of our nightly dinners.  First at Barney and Norma Jean's, then at Katie's, then finally at Mike's.  Each meal lasted nearly 3 hours, with us talking about everything from the kids to politics to travel to Double Dream Hands having its own apple Iphone app! We talked about music, the future of education, roller derby (not joking!), competitive show choir, Italy,  death rates from auto accidents in different countries, marriage, and Kirby's wife's new hobby of painting with her feet.  We learned about his upcoming travels to Australia to work with jazz choirs in Perth, his history at Colorado State, College of the Siskiyous, his friendships with Roger Emerson and John Jacobson, and how he came to be an arranger in the first place.  From wines, coffees and favorite beers, to family moments, favorite charts and intricate business insight into Hal Leonard and educational publishing, we covered so many bases I could never count them!  Whether it was sitting under a blanket of evergreen-shadowed sunshine or a drizzly mist on Mike's patio I enjoyed every,...single,.....moment!

The final two days of the camp saw us finally begin to work rehearsals in tandem.  Working basically as a "tag-team" of sorts, we quickly brought the show together and pumped more energy, detail and heart into the totally exhausted campers.  Though we took little snippets of time to do things separately, these 2 days were truly a collaborative effort, with me chirping in on vocal details and Kirby mentioning facials and focus points more than a few times.  I was working side-by-side, as a total equal, with a "king" of my profession, and I stopped at one point to simply sit in silence and thank God for the privilege He'd given me.

As we got ready for the final show, Kirby and I went back to Barney's house for an hour to get changed and relax a bit by ourselves.  In the car ride, Kirby suddenly turned serious for the first time all week with me.  "Damon", he said, "I can tell you think you're an underdog in this profession because you've never done Show Choir Camps Of America.  I want you to know from the bottom of my heart that I believe you're in the very top echilon of people that do this in the nation, and that I'd love the opportunity to work with you anytime, anywhere."  I started to interrupt to thank him as I simultaneously found a lump in my throat, but he continued.  "You're heart for kids and music is so evident when you teach, and you really know how to reach these kids in a special way.  My friend, you're a true professional."  When we got to Barney's house I went to the bathroom, turned on the shower,.....and cried.

A successful show followed and as I started to say goodbye with a handshake, my hand was brushed aside and replaced with a bear hug.  We signed autographs (imagine that,.....so funny!) and posed for pictures with the kids, then said goodbye, as Kirby left for the airport and I left to see Miss Chapel (who sang the POOP out of "Sweet Child Of Mine" at the talent show!) play roller derby with the "Hellbound Homewreckers" at Pierce College in Tacoma.

The final smile of the weekend came after my return flight home.  I got FIVE e-mails from Kirby on Monday giving me wonderful constructive criticism and praise for some of my original songs he listened to.  But although I appreciated that more than he could imagine, I was far more touched by how he began the first letter.  He reiterated his joy from the past week, said he was looking forward to doing it all again next summer, and then called me his "very dear, newfound friend" that he'd be happy to collaborate or judge with anytime, anywhere."  Words just can't express how this made me feel.

Is Kirby a flawed guy,....yep?  I think he's a Democrat!! (for my left-leaning friends, that's a JOKE!!!!!)  Of course he's just like the rest of us, faults and all, but therein lies part of the quality of this man.  He doesn't pretend to be anything else.  He's an older guy who still works out, still loves arranging, loves passing down knowledge, has a happy marriage, has maintained the voice of somebody twenty years younger, and serves as an inspiration to those like me, who got in trouble for ripping my shirt open at Yorktown High School while singing Kirby's rendition of "Let The Sunshine In" in 1982!

I'm so thankful for this new friendship, and not only because of the business connection angle of it all.  I'm thankful to have made a new friend, to have a new person to laugh and share music and stories and random humor with, and to look forward to seeing again and again.  A blessing from God, and a story I'm honored to tell.