July Veracity show with Jan Zimmer

Due to random coincidence the first two performers booked for the July Veracity were singer/songwriters, so we decided to add a third singer songwriter and make it my first "theme" Veracity show. Nice idea, but then one of the acts had to cancel and the other act ran into a SNAFU so we ended up with a singer/songwriter theme show with Jan Zimmer playing guitar and singing for us.

Jan's a good friend of the family and teaches piano and guitar, singing and songwriting - my son is studying guitar with her and I highly recommend her classes, check her Facebook page out for details.

I enjoy Jan's songs, she as an open emotional tone and can write some retrospective material out of her life experiences that young artists can't match. As an older listener I appreciate the occasional serious song that remembers - don't get me wrong, I love party anthems and here & now themes too, but I love variety even more. The slightly sad yet ultimately uplifting song about the long ago friend and the depth of that relationship is a beautiful example of that life experience.

Jan has quite a few songs she's written, so the Veracity set only hit a few highlights, but some of my personal favorites got played: I enjoyed the show, although it's too bad the other performers were unable to make it.

We'll probably try to do another singer/songwriter theme show sooner or later; next month it's a punk/hard core theme, so we'e certainly getting some variety.

I'm on the verge of aging out as the Veracity chair, so someone else will be paying more attention soon, but I plan on attending and video taping the shows and participating with the committee, so I'll still be able to influence the selection. The next show was "guest booked" and the one after that will have someone else booking it too, so this may have been my last booking for a Veracity show. If so, getting to see a friend play songs I like was a nice way to end my run.

Thanks to Jan for capping off my year, and thanks to all of the bands and audience members and volunteers who helped make the last year of shows memorable and fun. It's been a blast!