A Joyful Noise

It's still light when I get to the bar and the music is in progress. There's a surprisingly good crowd for so early in the evening - I see a host of familiar faces and get more than a dozen hugs on my way to a quiet corner - a friend takes my camera bag, pulls out my chair for me and like magic, an ashtray and a diet Coke appear at my elbow.  There are several more hugs before I get set up then like more magic, people smile and back off, giving me space to work.  They will drop by all evening but none will stay long.  These are mostly folks I've photographed for years and they know me well.  It's not a surprise that each time I finish a diet Coke, another appears.  I kind of like being watched over but not interfered with.

We are all there to remember, honor and pay tribute to our friend Hutch.  His death rocked our small world and although no one mentions suicide, I know it's on all our minds.  There are those among us who have come too close for comfort to be casual about it.  Some of the music is dark and introspective but most is raucus, bluesy and loud, just the way Hutch played.  Everyone has a story and they tell it with riffs and harmonies and lyrics.  It goes on well past midnight this blend of old friends and old memories - it's bittersweet and a little hard - everyone says how much he'd have loved it, how they're sure he's smiling down at us.  I hope so.

Driving home in a light rain, I think about him.  Tall, thin, ruggedly handsome with a mane of silver hair past his shoulders, he was a delight to photograph.  Generous to a fault with young, struggling musicians, sharing the stage and his talent, teaching them new tricks.  Almost always smiling despite battling a slow moving cancer for years, despite a troubled life and a troubled marriage, despite a desperately troubled mind.  He wasn't a perfect man, not a perfect musician or even friend and in the end he wasn't able to find his way back. But he was here and he will be remembered and missed.

We celebrated his life and his music because while he was here, he made a joyful noise.