I had a wonderful time today at Politics & Prose bookstore in DC. I surprised my kids by taking them to see Tomie de Paola, the children's book author and illustrator. He was a pure joy and inspiration to listen to. He gave a 45 min. book talk. Well, it was supposed to be about his new book but ended up being about his life and career. This was just fine with me. He signed my book, as well as books for my wife and children. All of us left with smiles from ear to ear. What a great human being!
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Josh Burdette, the face of the 9:30 Club, has died
A little in mourning today. Not for a person who was a friend, or even family member. But for a person that I would see a few to several times a year. His name was Josh Burdette. I only knew him as "that guy" as a whole host of people knew him as well. Later after a few years, I finally learned his first name, as Josh. I didn't know his full name until today. Josh "that guy" Burdette was a fixture of the D.C. music scene. He started at the 9:30 Club in 1997, probably not long before I started attending shows there. He was what people tend to think music fans should look like (unless you're considering American Idol, The Voice, and the like). He was tattooed, pierced, ear lobes stretched, etc...a menacing looking individual. Heck, I even was bit scared of him at first. However, all you needed to do was talk to him for more than a minute to realize that he was just a huge teddy bear. Let alone he graduated from UMD with a degree in psychology. A reinforcement of the adage "don't judge a book by it's cover." He looked out for many people at the club, and really just wanted to make sure everyone had a good, safe time. One night he even helped my wife because she was not feeling well from her hypoglycemia. Another night, I watched him split a few people up who were "not being very nice to each other." This was incredibly helpful to my wife and me as we would have been effected if that situation would have gotten out of hand. Besides being a manager and head security person at the 9:30 Club, he worked elsewhere as well. He worked many shows at Merriweather after 9:30 staff took over. And he even served as tour manager after several bands met him at the club, and asked if he would mind handling that job. But everyone knew him for his position at the club. The world lost a great man, and music lost a great ambassador. He will truly be missed. Seeing shows at the club just lost a little luster. It will be a very different experience. |
B.D.SchmittHusband, Father, Archives
November 2015
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