Ira speaks... and BONGO SOLO!!!!

Well it's not really a Bongo. Some kind of weird ceramic drum with a fish skin head, but we try not to talk about that in front of Fluffy the Kinagree Smith Goldfish.

It's just a Bongo Fluffy, relax.

Anyway.... here's Ira.

Part of joining Kinagree Smith meant playing shows in Second Life. For many months
these shows were for me just wanting to play the music with Jack and Lexie. Second life
was still something I didn’t yet have a firm grasp of; it was something “over there” on the
monitors. I didn’t know any of the people that I would hear them greet and interact with.
More than a year later, so many of you are a part of my life. You’ve become friends,
you’ve come to appreciate my craft, my musical statement and expression and you are
very dear to me.

You’ve heard me characterize Second Life as a 21st century extrapolation of the music
market. It really is a unique opportunity to play a concert, literally world-wide, in real-
time. The upcoming project is very exciting because for me it demonstrates how the
Kinagree Smith experience has touched others globally, both appreciators and players
alike. So much so that Noma, for a second time now and Vinny are moved to travel a
significant distance to participate in music with us. They wanted to long before there was
a documentary-project.

Second Life allows us to create a playing-in-your-sitting-room experience and hence
nurtures a remarkably intimate relationship with the people who listen to us. It’s not
like being on the 34th row of a great concert hall; we’re right there with each and every
person who comes to hear us. This intimacy is something that I’ve come to cherish.
My playing is my everything in ways that I don’t have space in this piece to describe
and this “proximity” allows my fingers to convey my heart-space to individuals that
appreciate and genuinely enjoy it in a way that is vastly unique in the history of the
concert-giving experience. I have deep gratefulness for it.

There’s so much more but Lexie told me three paragraphs so I’m stopping now so I don’t
get in trouble with the boss. In 10 days magic will happen, you’ll see.