When Mr. Frazee asked if
I’d perform a couple songs at the prison, I immediately said
yes, because I was curious to see the inside. And Johnny Cash did
it. While receiving my own private pat down on Christmas Eve morning
I wondered if I should have thought this one through a bit more.
The search wound up being not much worse than what you currently
experience getting on an airplane in the USA. Then again, I don’t
care much for flying anymore.
 Once
we were inside everything was cool. I was expecting all the ladies
in our entourage to be objectified like pole dancers during the
bouncer’s cigarette break. But all the inmates, without exception,
conducted themselves as complete gentlemen. Next year we’ll
try and bring Morgana the Kissing Bandit.
I didn’t expect to complete my Christmas shopping in the prison
yard, but I was shown the oddest assortment of one-of-a-kind gifts
all at rock bottom yet still negotiable prices. There are some serious
artisans in there with some serious time on their hands. My score
of the day was a two-and-a-half-foot tall reproduction of a Spanish
galleon lamp and stash box. The detail on this boat is mind blowing.
I felt guilty dividing the production hours required by the amount
of money I paid.
 I
played middle slot between the blues guitar/didgeridoo jam and the
fusion jam. I’m sure my solo electric punk rock originals
and Ramones covers were the musical turd in the punch bowl to many,
but they were all really polite about it. About 15 or 20 inmates
seemed to be getting a kick out of what I was doing so I played
a five song set instead of my previously agreed upon one or two.
I handed my guitar over to an inmate I’d met named Angel who
proceeded to show me up with some blues guitar soloing, enticing
some of the real musicians into an extended blues jam. The guitar
had never been played so well before. I didn’t know it could
sound that good.
The inmates seemed to appreciate the break from the monotony of
prison life. All the people in our entourage left with a good feeling
from being able to bring some enjoyment to some other peoples lives
for a few hours. I’ll be back this next Christmas Eve, if
they’ll have me.
The Christmas Eve 2003 show was the third concert Tom Frazee has
organized for our local prisoners. The first two were in January
and July of 1999. Besides Toby Marsh, some of the other musicians
that performed were Benjamin Long (bongos/didgeridoo), Doc Diego
Chaffin (guitar), Gabriel Hernandez (keyboards) and Antonio Lozoya
(bass). This was the first time food was prepared at one of the
concerts and 1,200 turkey dogs were cooked and served to the 300
inmates and their visiting families. Mr. Frazee has been working
with various charitable organizations in San Miguel for the past
25 years, among many others: IREE, The Lion’s Club, SPA, Patronato
Para Niños and creating baseball teams for kids. Mr. Frazee
is able to realize these events through the generous support and
donations of local businesses and kind volunteers.
 |
 |
|
