Parish
Psych Fest Synchronicity
RECEIVED Mon., April 29, 2013
Dear Editor,
A true-life Austin Psych Fest moment: About two-thirds of the way through an exuberant Roky Erickson set that was at turns manic and muzzy as it was fuzzy, I spied original Patti Smith Group guitarist, Lenny Kaye, walking the grounds. Struck by the immense synchronicity of the situation, (after all, it was Kaye's seminal anthology of Sixties' garage rock, the Nuggets double album which for many served as their initial introduction to Roky & the 13th Floor Elevators' landmark single "You're Gonna Miss Me" – not to mention, on a larger scale, acting as a veritable aural Rosetta Stone blueprint for subsequent garage and psych movements to follow), I approached him and asked if he ever pondered the butterfly effect, to wit: If he hadn't produced Nuggets, would maybe none of "this" all be here today. He politely demurred, and humbly answered, "I think it would have all happened anyway, but I'm extremely glad to have played whatever small role in helping it along the way." Classy answer, Lenny ... but I, for one, am extremely glad we won't ever have to live in that horrible alternate musical universe where Nuggets never existed. Psych Fest forever, y'all!
A true-life Austin Psych Fest moment: About two-thirds of the way through an exuberant Roky Erickson set that was at turns manic and muzzy as it was fuzzy, I spied original Patti Smith Group guitarist, Lenny Kaye, walking the grounds. Struck by the immense synchronicity of the situation, (after all, it was Kaye's seminal anthology of Sixties' garage rock, the Nuggets double album which for many served as their initial introduction to Roky & the 13th Floor Elevators' landmark single "You're Gonna Miss Me" – not to mention, on a larger scale, acting as a veritable aural Rosetta Stone blueprint for subsequent garage and psych movements to follow), I approached him and asked if he ever pondered the butterfly effect, to wit: If he hadn't produced Nuggets, would maybe none of "this" all be here today. He politely demurred, and humbly answered, "I think it would have all happened anyway, but I'm extremely glad to have played whatever small role in helping it along the way." Classy answer, Lenny ... but I, for one, am extremely glad we won't ever have to live in that horrible alternate musical universe where Nuggets never existed. Psych Fest forever, y'all!
Don Payjack
[Music Editor Raoul Hernandez replies: Amen, Don. Lenny Kaye walked past Chronicle music writer Michael Toland and me as we watched No Joy at the Levitation tent on Sunday – which is where he was headed just prior to Roky’s set. We both did a classic double-take. “Was that Lenny Kaye?” asked Toland. The next words out of our mouths were "Nuggets."]
