Genetic strands

Holy Gonzaga, Batman!

Like the King of Cheesespread above me, my juices are flowing with March Madness and the impending NBA playoffs. There is just something goddamn spectacular about basketball. It’s a team thing, but people have the chance to create superhuman solo efforts, making it the fastest moving most rock-'n'-roll sport in the world. And it is this ability to go beyond the middle of the road, to defy gravity, to push the envelope of the entire species that I find exhilarating and inspirational. And while Chico may never host a NCCA team, we can lose ourselves in the sheer magnitude of talent that is heading our way.

As no doubt you have heard by now, there are many amazing folks flying into Chico for the 3rd Annual Nowhere X Nowhere Music/Film/Art Festival. Christian Le Doux, an intoxicating singer/songwriter, is arriving in time for NXN, via Rome, where she will be running a marathon. SJK, a heavy metal band, is coming transcontinental to play NXN from their homeland of Romania (they promise to bring the pain). Nyree, who has opened for Jewel and CS&N, will be leaving for a tour of Brazil straight from her performance in Chico. Toy, who sings the theme song for MTV’s show Undress, is flying from NYC for three days. Mos Isley, a jam band ripping up the Midwest, will arrive on the red-eye bunny hop flight from Chicago to Chico. Add to that 700 more performers, and you will begin to apprehend the volume of the NXN world.

With so many artists, poets, filmmakers, musicians, clowns, farmers, cowboys, Greeks, freaks, cops and banditos in town, Chico will, for four days in April, be the richest cultural town in all of California. Something to be proud of. I’m asked daily by bands coming from Washington, LA, Toronto, Oregon, Nevada and points beyond what to expect at NXN. And unabashedly I reply, “You will find the best pizza and Mexican food, the tastiest and cheapest beers, the coolest swimming holes and trails, the widest array of super nice (and good looking) locals and a cultural exchange that cannot be beat.” It ain’t braggin’ if it’s true.

NXN is in need of many volunteers. If you would like to help out and earn a pass to the event, please call me at 879-0378. Of course, if you would rather buy a pass, they are available at Moxie’s and LuLu’s. In any case check us out on-line at www.nowherexnowhere.com.