I'm sure.

I want to write, take off and feel the flight.

A grand lift-off in broad daylight

As I touch Pluto in mystical right.

Extraordinarily, I feel the stars align.

Like vertebras in my back, the strength of own my spine.

A body that is mine, I am giving and I am taking,

Yet one day, unexpectedly, forever in the making.

I’m looking for myself while creating my own being,

Holding back temptations and words that I would rather be seeing.

So why isn’t it easy, to exchange words that are inevitable?

Why isn’t it as simple as the levels of bass and treble?

Why aren’t you enough to keep a hundred men sane?

Why aren’t I the goddess of Ms. Plain Jane?

Because we are who we chose to be,

Who we can conquer as beings, who we can be, as we are free.

We are beautiful, we are real,

We are everything anyone would ever want to feel.

We have fingers, we have souls, we have more than what we create:

footprints and bowls.

We love and we cry because that’s what we do,

Simple is as simple does, and who you are is you.

It’s beautiful being simple and pure,

Honest and truthful,

And I'd love you, I’m sure.

Pit People

Deep in your stomach, there’s a bottomless pit.

The one that holds emotions and feelings that sit.

They’ll tell you that it’s easy, to forgive and forget.

That it’s easy to undwell on the frets that you fret.

But do not let them fool you, for they are far wrong.

For when someone lets you down, their melody sings no song.

If and when the clock strikes twelve, and you are still unwell,

The feeling will sink into your deep, dark pit, the well of all deep wells.

You’ll fall fast asleep, a temporary forget,

As your mind looses control to the dreaming dreamt bet.

You’ll dream a wild, unimaginable dream,

And your let-down lover has melodies that sing.

But dreams are just tricks that your mind often plays

When people get the best of you, on your best of yet days.

You’ll wake up in a fury, wondering how the song was sung,

When your let-down lover has no strings strung.

So get up, get going, get the best of your day,

Games are just games;

The best are there to play.

Sex Object

An object of beauty, she stands in the dark

As others surround her, rendered speechless from her spark.

“I’m just like you,” she stretches her hand

Reaching out to anyone. She can no longer stand.

“I want to feel the wind, the spirit of you, the unknowing knowing that I am not true.”

But she knows who she is. She can never deny

The truth of her beauty. She invests in a lie.

“You’ll never understand,” she convinces them all.

But they sit completely stiff, in awe of no flaw.

“You’re beautiful, you’re special, you have everything I need!” But she stands in a daze, unaware of their greed.

“I’m pure and I’m honest,” she says with one breath, “My heart is beating right out of my chest."

Men want to be with her, boys stare in the bliss.

But no one can touch her, not even a kiss.

“I’m lonely and tired and extremely hard to please, but if you possibly can understand, you understand with ease.”

May 21, 2011 —

Quite possibly one of the best days of my life.

KISS 108 is Boston’s #1 hit radio station, and in being so,

we are expected to hold the largest events in town.

“KISS Concert 2011” was absolutely no exception.

It was 8:30 in the morning and we loaded into KISS 108’s sales van and started to make our way toward the Comcast Center.

I knew it would be a long day; a long morning of setting everything up, preparation for the artists and a long night of taking everything apart and loading it all back into the vans.

We made our way into the gates, and using VIP entrances and exits, our van was parked amidst David Guetta, Taio Cruz, Tinie Tempah, FloRida and The Far East Movement’s coach busses.

The expectations of the KISS crew were pretty much assumed: you professionally talk to any artist that you happen to talk to without asking for pictures, autographs, etc. We were expected to be helpful, kind and courteous to anyone we came across, because well, we were running the show.

After hours of hanging signs, popping up tents, unloading free swag for promotional tables and getting everything squared away with the I.T. department, we prepared for the artists to arrive at 1:30 p.m.

But the thrill of the day wasn’t in the preparation, as I initially thought it would be as I began to set up promotional tents.

It was no big deal when I was standing behind One Republic holding a Pepsi and they asked, “How are you? And why aren’t you drinking alcohol?”

I thought it was funny that they were genuinely interested in why my other hand wasn’t holding some type of liquor bottle.

I smiled and said, “I’m doing very well, thank you. And... I’m working.”

They continued to carry their instruments into the artist lounge and I made my way backstage to see what else there was to be done.

While being apart of KISS 108’s “Street Team” (the promotional team), you are required to perform tasks in whichever department you sign up to be in. For this occasion, Frankie and I decided to be in “Fan Photo”.

This meant that our All Access Pass would do wonders as we rallied up the crowd, took pictures of as many fans as we could and in the meantime, got to be up close and personal with some of the biggest name in today’s music industry.

There were a few artists that I jotted down as “must-sees”, and when it came time, I carried on my duties of Fan Photo Girl to the front of the stage. “All Access” really means ALL ACCESS- any where and every where I wanted to go, I went. The lip of the stage was technically my best friend through half of the night.

The Ready Set’s “Love Like Woah” was on my must-see list because I play that song on my morning radio show back home in Florida.

The Script’s “For The First Time” and “A Man Who Can’t Be Moved” were also on there for the simple fact that they are both awesome songs.

I had to see Taio Cruz’s “Break Your Heart” because it peaked at number one on the U.S., Canada, Switzerland and U.K. charts.

Sean Kingston’s “Beautiful Girls” and “Dutty Love” were on my list and Tinie Tempah’s “Written In The Stars” and “Pass Out” were too.

I knew New Boyz’s “You’re a Jerk” would set the crowd off into screams.

One Republic’s “Apologize” and “Good Life” songs were on my list along with Jessie J’s hit “Price Tag” that sent her straight into the world of fame.

I could hardly believe that I was going to see David Guetta, so his whole set was pretty much at the top of my must-sees, as the same went for Mike Posner and FloRida.

As each artist went on and off the stage, they relaxed back stage in what we had prepared as “the artist lounge”.

Here, artists mingled with one another, talked to the KISS staff and were able to enjoy refreshments and each other's company for a brief time.

After I watched a few of my must-sees, grabbed some highly anticipated video footage from the orchestra pit and ran around to take fan photos, I was finally able to go backstage once again and wander around living pop culture on my own 5-minute downtime.

I walked into the KISS Trailer parked among the artist’s tour busses to recharge my camera and then walked back out into the parking lot to wait.

It was hot, but not too hot.

Artists were unloading form their busses and private cars and goofing off in the parking lot with each other. I propped myself up against the side of a banister and texted my partner in crime to see if he was able to score any more of the KISS cards that we hand out as we are snapping photos.

But instead of getting an immediate response from Frankie, an artist that looked semi-familiar was staring in my direction.

I could have sworn that he was looking past me, but as he walked up to me, I knew I was wrong.

“Hi. How are you?” he said in his English accent.

“I’m doing great. And yourself?” I said in response, carrying on a conversation with an ordinary person, just as myself.

About 5 minutes later, as he was called away by what seemed to be his manager, he extended his goodbye to a hug. “It was nice to meet you,” he said. “I’m on at 6. If you can make it, that would be cool.”

Immediately and obviously, I knew that he was a performer, but as many songs as I listen to on a day-to-day basis, I hardly ever get a good look at exactly what they look like.

“Sounds good, but you never introduced yourself,” I said to him.

“My name’s Eliza, like Doolittle.”

He smiled, showing off his cute, front-right chipped tooth.

“Oh, wow. My bad,” he said. “I’m Tinie. But I’ll see you soon I’m sure.”

And just like that, Tinie Tempah walked away, turning back a few times to smile at me and what, as it seemed like, to reassure me that he was a genuine person.

My mind went a mile a minute in the slowest way possible.

Fame and fortune is all in lights.

Half of it is amped-up energy.

The lifestyle of an artist is just as fast as anyone else's day, it’s just that theirs requires a lot of traveling, meetings and high-lifestyle attitude.

Nothing that I wouldn’t be able to handle, I thought.

I walked back into the KISS trailer, grabbed my camera and found Frankie.

I told him about my little run-in with Tinie Tempah and just as any other day, we carried on with our duties, running around the Comcast Center to snap hundreds of pictures of screaming, elated fans.

After about an hour of covering the Comcast Center’s grounds, we decided to go back, get something to drink and sit down for a few minutes.

Still on the hunt for extra KISS cards, we walked into the artist’s lounge in search for one of the KISS promotional managers.

But right away, before I could even make it to the KISS double-door headquarters, Tinie Tempah walked back up to me.

“Ms. Doolittle, could you help me find something?” he asked politely as gently rested his hand on my back.

“Sure. What are you looking for?” I asked back. I didn’t know where everything was, but I had a pretty good sense as to what was what, who was who and where things were by then.

“I’m looking for a bit of hot water,” he said.

His Cockney accent was so thick that I could barely hold back laughter.

After a minute tease, I pointed him in the direction of hot water, which was located not even 2 feet away from where we were standing.

I wouldn’t be able to accurately quote the rest of our conversation, but it was along the lines of “I’d like to see you again. Let me know when you’re available. May I have your number? When will I see you again?”

And it was just like that. Simply and plainly, we exchanged numbers and I told him that I would watch him perform, that I would be at the top right of the stage and for him to look for me.

He smiled, thanked me for promising to watch him perform and then I walked away.

Time passed by very quickly from then on.

Sean Kingston was on and off before I knew it, and even during his show, there I was, standing at the front right side of the stage.

When Tinie came on, I immediately started filming.

I knew he was a good performer.

I had heard many people talk about how great it was that one 22-year-old kid with a back-up DJ could get the crowd so amped up.

He began to rap, and as you can see on the video, runs directly to me, bends down to high-five me as I switch hands to record and then goes back to the middle of the stage to finish his song.

(uploading video ASAP)

The story behind why he high-fived me is better than the actual footage of him high-fiving me.

Regardless, it was just really cool to capture on video.

I met up with him, his DJ, his videographer and his photographer afterward for a quick chat before they were off to Rhode Island then then New York.

All of them were very down-to-earth, relaxed guys.

After inviting me out for a night in Manhattan, they left and later shot me a few texts within the next few following days to see if we were able to meet up.

But after Tinie Tempah and his crew left, I met Mike Caputo, a producer in Massachusetts who has previously worked with headlining names in the music industry.

I was set to meet up with Tinie the next day for I thought that I didn’t have plans.

Mike Caputo’s phone was plugged into an outlet behind the chair I was sitting at.

After he pardoned himself for reaching behind me, I sparked a conversation, asking him what his part in the whole ordeal was.

He told me that he was a producer, he had found LFO, Boys Like Girls and worked with JoJo on many of her previous songs. His part in the whole ordeal at the KISS Concert however was to represent a back-up dancer that was there by the name of “Kenzie” because he just had her signed to Interscope Records.

After socializing with Mr. Caputo for what felt like 30 seconds, I was able to tell him my dreams and aspirations, why I was there and what I wanted to do with me life.

“Whether it’s acting, dancing, singing or modeling, I’m your girl,” I said to him.

I was confident. I was real with him.

I handed him my business card as he looked at me sternly.

“There’s a dance audition tomorrow in Plymouth. You know where that is?” he asked.

I had no idea. That was my second day in Massachusetts ever.

The question was foreign to me.

“No idea, but you better believe I will be there,” I said with a smile.

“Great. I’ll text you the address,” he said back to me.

And after exchanging numbers with him, I made a new contact, found out where to go the following day and networked yet another situation.

New Boyz’s 19-year-old member, Ben J, asked me “What yo name is, giiirl?” like I would fall for it just because he was performing at something I was working at.

“Eliza,” I said back to him as I stretched out my hand, willing for a hand-shake.

“Eliza Jordan,” I said. “And usually when you meet someone, you look them in the eyes when you shake their hand,” I added because he was giving me the up-down with his half-opened lids.

“Damn. You sexy,” he said. “I’m Ben. From New Boyz.”

The conversation was short, sweet and to the point.

Ben was nice, but he really didn’t do himself any justice at that point, especially since the last song he performed was “You’re A Jerk”.

A little past 8:00 p.m., I was able to catch up with Far East Movement after their performance. They performed just as I thought they would: eclectically, professionally and tastefully.

And again as I expected, they were even nicer off stage.

I talked to their audio engineer for a good half hour.

We originally began the conversation because I was shivering and he asked me if I would like to wear his Red Sox hoodie.

I thanked him, but resisted.

We talked about how he went to Berkley, met Far East Movement as he was in California and has been producing much of their music ever since.

I gave him my business card as well and asked him to keep in touch.

I felt it a little odd to ask him for his number, so I gave him my card instead.

David Guetta got out of his bus only moments before Mike Posner did.

Artists from throughout the day were surrounding the two as they casually made their way into the artist’s lounge.

Both of them were so calm and collective, so polite and courteous.

Their attitudes really made me appreciate their music that much more (which is ridiculous because I LOVE their music as is).

David Guetta lit up the stage with his energy alone.

(uploading video ASAP)

On either side of him, he had men on stilts, armed as enormous lit-up robots with fog machine guns shooting the crowd.

Not only was his barricaded DJ booth glowing and sparking with lights, so were his synchronized robots.

Guetta put on an amazing act — an act that none other than one of the world’s best DJs could have put on.

I waited for Mike Posner to come out next. Pressed against the front of the stage, I got some of the best footage anyone could have possibly recorded.

“Cooler Than Me”, a song that Posner practically recorded and produced in his Duke University dorm room on his MacBook Pro, was an amazing sing-along for the crowd.

His confidence was appealing, not something that was too strong or overwhelming for the crowd. He acted a part in the crowd, eventually getting off the stage and into the orchestra pit himself.

Seeing an artist take to their “past life” like he did was a nice reality check that all of these artists are still just like us, live lives similar to ours and have been in our shoes.

After all of the artists were done performing, after all of the interviews were conducted, all of the pictures were taken, after everyone was fed and on their ways to different cities, our KISS crew took down all of the equipment and packed it into the separate vans.

On our way home, Frankie and I had a serious talk about life and what was to come of it within the next few years for the both of us.

I’ve known for quite some time now that the entertainment industry is where I’m bound to be. It’s a place that I want to call my home, an industry that I want to work in everyday and it is a passion that drives true day in and day out.

KISS 108- Boston's #1 Hit Radio Station!

KISS 108- My interning adventure begins in Boston!

On Tuesday, May 17th, I jumped in my packed-down Honda Accord and fled St. Augustine, Florida like it was last day on Earth. “Frankie, let’s try and make it in one shot,” I mentioned to my stubborn, summer brother, trying to convince him that NY wasn’t as far away as we both thought.

“Alright Lize, we’ll see how far we can get.”

My precious pup, Honey, jumped in Frank’s lap as we took off in the midst of Florida’s sweet summer night.

After leaving at 10:30 p.m. and driving for 16 hours straight, we finally hit White Plains, New York!

It was only a matter of one short day before Frank and I had to get right back in our little coupe of a car and head to the next phase of our beginning summer adventures.

Boston is only 4 hours away from New York, but waking up at 5:00 a.m. in order to make it to Boston in time for my first day’s worth of training was not the easiest task.

You see, I’ve never been to Boston. Okay, I’ve never even been to Massachusetts.

Months ago, one of my closest, craziest, best friends, Frank Lawton, mentioned to me that I would be a perfect fit at a radio station that he worked at last summer.

KISS 108 is Boston’s #1 hit radio station, so when I was filling out the internship application, I was initially intimidated upon that fact alone. But as I glanced back over my resume time and time again, I realized the re-occuring “radio references” that I had listed below.

Previous production manager and current on-air personality for WFCF 88.5 did not, thank goodness, decrease any of my chances of scoring the internship.

Weeks later, when I was accepted to be Matty in the Morning’s production intern, I was ecstatic. Thinking of this, letting the emotions run back over in my head, I was elated driving from New York to Boston, only hours away from my first day with the crew at KISS 108!

On our way, we listened to Matty rant about several things that morning. It was quite the feeling knowing that in just a few short days, I would be apart of the KISS family, running in, out and around the station like it is my own home.

As Frank dropped me off at the office doors, he yelled, “You’re gonna do great!” and drove away.
I collected myself, walked up to the third floor of the radio station’s headquarters and met Kendra Petrone— the producer for Matty in the Morning and the woman who I had been in contact with ever since the entry of my application.

For 15 minutes, she toured me around the station, showing me the ins and outs, the station maze and the diving sectors between KISS 108 and Jammin 94.5— the two most popular stations in Boston that just so happen to be in the very same building.

“This is where you will bring the stars,” she said as she showed me a seating area specified for celebs.

This, I thought, is exactly where I’m supposed to be.

And boy was I right.

Billy Costa threw me on air, asking me where I was from, who I was and exactly what the hell I was doing in his station.

It was awesome, I thought, to be thrown on air on my first day of just touring the station.

I met Matty as he was leaving the building and mentioned to him that I listened to his show earlier that morning.

"Good girl," he said as he shook my hand and stared me in the eyes.

I left yesterday knowing that things were going in the right direction, that all of my hard work was finally paying off and that this was just the start to a fresh new beginning in a town that I knew I was going to fall in love with.

This morning, as I dropped Frank off at the station, I knew he was going in to do promotional work in preparation for tomorrow’s massive KISS 108 kick-off concert.

What I didn’t know was that my dearest Frannie was chatting about me to the KISS crew, mentioning that I love to talk, I’m extremely extraverted and that I would be a great asset to the promotion crew, The KISS 108 Street Team.

And just like that, I was.

“You’re never gonna believe it,” Frankie calls me, whispering the news about how he just scored me a job in the promotions department on top of my production internship with Matty in the Morning.

“I got you your KISS 108 Street Team tee-shirt and your backstage pass for the show tomorrow. Ready to take pics with some stars?” he said as if it was all rhetorical.

“WHAT?! OF COURSE I’m ready!” I could barely contain myself. Knowing that in just a few short hours, I will be up-close and personal with many artists that I jam out to on a daily basis is making it hard to wind down and prepare for a good night’s rest.

Not only will I be promoting KISS 108, taking pictures and having a blast, but I will be getting paid for this promotional work- a job fit for a newcomer's dream in the entertainment business.

Tomorrow will be the start of something new — something beautiful that I’m itching to be apart of!

Check out the lineup and wish me some luck!

1:30pm - Doors Open

3:00pm - Michael Africk

3:15pm - Varsity Girls

3:30pm - The Ready Set

3:50pm - Taio Cruz

4:15pm - The Script

4:45pm - Cody Simpson

5:05pm - Jordan Knight

5:30pm - Sean Kingston

5:55pm - Tinie Tempah

6:20pm - New Boyz

6:45pm - Big Time Rush

7:25pm - OneRepublic

7:55pm - Far East Movement

8:20pm - Jessie J

8:45pm - David Guetta

9:10pm - Mike Posner

9:40pm - Flo Rida

Wanee Music Festival 2011

The 21st century has a Woodstock that isn’t named “Woodstock”-

its name is “Wanee”.

Photo credit: Phillip C. Sunkel IV

The spirit of Suwannee park was thick and moist in the air- a stale smell of home clung to Wanee Music Festival’s grounds as I took a deep breath in. I stood there gently and watched everyone pass me by on their own time and in their own mind. Everyone was carefree. They were howling with laughter and they were grooving to the live music that continued to play among the hammock-hung trees. Gnomes were scattered throughout Suwannee’s festive park, magical lights were strung between tree branches, people expressed loving, raw emotion and everyone was accepted for exactly who they were.

The back of the Wanee 2011 Festival Guide read “Amazing Musical Adventures at the Suwanee Music Park”, but for all of the Wanee people, "amazing" was an a mere understatement.

Walking up to a community full of thousands of scattered tents on Thursday night was like walking up to a beautiful maze in an Alice In Wonderland dream. You see, in order to get to one’s tent, they had to remember exactly where theirs was, travel through community campfires and other tent yards full of grills, chairs, decorated and hung tapestries and anything else that would possibly make their “home” a home for one beautiful weekend.

After walking through what felt like hundreds of tent communities, we finally reached ours- the community where on a downward slope, four hammocks hung underneath each other and while surrounded by many others, led us to the first few circles of our campfires and tents. This exact specification made up a community full of grateful, caring souls.

Photo credit: Phillip C. Sunkel IV

Our community was known as “The Crew”- a crew of around 50 college kids who were all in need of an escape: some down-to-earth music and trusting, positive vibes. To every concert we attended, we were able to find our crew due to a pool noodle, Mary, that we held high in the air, poked like swiss cheese full of glow sticks of all sizes. The bond that our community built was a long-lasting reciprocation of trust, love and respect.

Everyone was on the exact same page- there was a sense of undeniable, immediate trust. This meant leaving your wallet, phone and keys in your open tent, offering meals and helping each other with whatever there was to have help with.

In a Wanee community, strangers become best friends and prized-possessions are gladly traded for pb&js. Everyone was willing to help and everyone was eager to give. Everyone just wanted to share the same experience with each other.

This crazy celebration of life was not just celebrated among campers, lovers, friends and fire-dancers. Musical talents ranging from The Steve Miller Band, The Allman Brothers, Stephen Marley, Toubab Krewe, Lotus, Widespread Panic and many others partook in the festivities on and off stage with the rest of Wanee’s people.

An array of immaculate talent consistently swept both of the beautiful stages as thousands of people grooved to their unique tunes. According to Suwannee Music Park, around 17,000 Wanee-lovers attended last year’s festival, and although their numbers are not yet calculated for this past weekend’s festival, they have approximated this festival’s head-count to around 20-25,000 people. But this was of no shock to me. For an entire weekend, seas of people swarmed the festival’s grounds in an attempt to collectively dance to all types of sporadic beats.

Kicking off Thursday night at 9:30 p.m., Widespread Panic created an astonishing uproar on the larger of the two stages, The Peach Stage. At the end of an enormous, wide open field, The Peach Stage shook with funky jam-band tunes from the widely renowned band who wowed the crowd for hours.

Photo credit: Phillip C. Sunkel IV

But as one band ended, another began on the smaller stage right down the road- The Mushroom Stage. This was known as Suwannee’s personal amphitheater.

Down a dirt road and past vendors of all kinds, wooden steps and fallen leaves led hidden gnomes and hanging hammocks downward toward a beautiful, one-of-a-kind, tie-dye stage. At midnight, as thousands of people pressed tightly against one another to jam to what the band calls their “jamtronica”, Lotus blew their music and accompanying light show to the trees.

For hours, Lotus fed off of the crowd’s energy, loving our intense dedication, ability to jump to every beat and our decision to go all-or-nothing from beginning to end. And at the end, although the band was done playing, the celebrations of life continued into the night and into the campfire communities that made up Wanee’s majestic magnitudes.

After a night full of highly-anticipated groove sessions, the forest people of Wanee made their ways back to their campsites and continued to have their own festivals. Camp communities were filled with their own campfires, extensive drum circles, electronic dance parties and creative story-telling that seemed appropriate until wee hours of the morning.

Even in the morning, after everyone had been woken up by a live saxophone from a few camp sites over, the pleasant people in the spirit of Suwannee continued to share and interact in peace.

Photo credit: Phillip C. Sunkel IV

Our momentous mornings were filled with remembrances from the previous night’s jam sessions. Everyone had grins on their tired, wet-wiped faces and everyone was perfectly content with building their day around the next show that they wanted to see.

On Friday, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Keller Williams, Toubab Krewe, Robert Plant and the Band of Joy, Particle and The Allman Brothers Band shook the grounds from entrance to exit. Sharon Jones’ powerful voice took charge of the large stage as the Dap Kings accompanied her perfectly, demanding charge in an almost-Aretha Franklin manner. Toubab Krewe’s West-African influenced music had everyone begging for more after their final encore. Particle’s electronic grooves hit the audience full force as everyone swayed intently with their arms flung high in the air. After their set, Particle took pictures of the crowd, saying it was the best jam session they had ever had.

Throughout the entire show, we were synchronized and we were all so ecstatic to be standing right there- just feet away from one of the best concerts we had all ever been to. Not only was The Crew present, but so was our bizarre lit-up pool noodle, Mary, held high in the air to groove right there with us.

Mary, our noodle.

Following Particle, watching The Allman Brothers Band on The Peach Stage at 9:30 p.m. felt like a scene out of an antique movie. Was I really sitting on top of a hill along with thousands of others, watching a Grammy Award winning band that my parents groove to? Their southern-rock, jam-band rocked the crowd as we stood atop a hill overlooking the massive waves of people. Everyone had huge smiles on their elated faces and there appeared not to be a care in the world.

Photo credit: Phillip C. Sunkel IV

Walking back to our camp community that night was a memory that I will never forget. Dressed down in glow sticks and holding hands, our crew stormed the camp ground in a swarm of true, hard-to-describe peace, love and happiness. As our campfire started, musicians from other camp communities gravitated toward our welcoming crew to play tunes for us.

This beautiful collection of people and instruments resulted in a clamor of old Johnny Cash and Bob Marley tunes, and as Toubab Krewe’s lead percussionist, Luke Quaranta, approached our site, it quickly turned to “Happy Birthday” as we celebrated his thirty-fourth birthday with him.

I was able to talk with Quaranta, and so I asked him a few original questions.

Eliza: So, this is my first Wanee experience. What about you?

Quaranta: This is my first Wanee too. But we’ve performed here 4 times before this one.

Eliza: Wow. You guys got together in 2005, right? How many shows have you guys put on?

Quaranta: Yep. Since we’ve been together, we’ve probably played close to 1,000 shows. Probably 200 a year. And we’ve played at Bonnaroo three times.

Eliza: That’s incredible.

Quaranta: Yeah. It was... Um. Amazing.

Eliza: So tell me a little about your West-African influences.

Quaranta: Well, since 1999, we’ve been there five times studying music. We’re in the process of building a music school over there for underprivileged kids- we have our own beer called ‘Toubab Brewe’ that we sell to raise money for that.

Eliza: That’s great. I’ve never been to Africa, but I’m sure it’s beautiful.

Quaranta: It is. Where are you from?

Eliza: St. Augustine- not too far form here.

Quaranta: Oh yeah? We played at a little bar there once. Cool town. I liked it a lot.

Eliza: Haha, yeah? That’s awesome. Maybe you guys could come play again?

Quaranta: Yeah that would be cool. Lemme know.

And that was it. Just like that, we had this crazy down-to-earth, chilled out conversation about music and life.

Photo credit: Phillip C. Sunkel IV

His roomate, Arnaldo Alvarez, was a part of our campground community and I had the chance to sit down with him as well.

Eliza: How did you end up being room mates with Toubab Krewe?

Alvarez: I met Toubab at Voodoo Fest in 2007 and it just went on from there.

Eliza: That’s awesome. Love at first sight apparently. But what is it about Wanee that you love the most? I’ve heard this Wanee topped all others.

Alvarez: Yeah definitely. Meeting new people and having that bonding experience, the music and the venues and the vibes that you get in the feeling of escape-- there’s nothing like it.

Eliza: I can see exactly what you mean. Everyone is so open-minded and ready to explore things with strangers.

Alvarez: Yep. Here, you can expand your mind and explore something beautiful.

And right there, I stopped asking questions. His last sentence made me write it down.

Alvarez's traced hand.

In my notebook, surrounded by questions and answers was that last quote.

I traced his hand and thanked him for being such a cool guy.

“No problem.” he said to me. “See ya tomorrow.” As him and Quaranta walked off, I felt content knowing that they were human- just like me.

As everyone compiled into their day-vacant tents, sounds of drums continued to vibe throughout the forest. I fell asleep that night grateful for the open world, the amazingly understanding people and the feeling of acceptance that I once had lost and now re-found.

On Saturday, I attended more concerts that I had never even heard of. Ween at 2:30 p.m. was an experience all in itself. Gene and Dean Ween (yes, that’s right) created the band to be something that it definitely was- a band with a hard-to-pin-down style. Their contrasting sound styles drove the crowd crazy as intensely dedicated fans were decked out in Ween gear.

Spencer, 22, from Dahlonega, Georgia

I met a kid named Spencer in a taco costume that stood next to me. Everyone was incredibly unique.

After Ween was through, many of our crew members headed back to camp to relax and anticipate the night to come- the second night of The Allman Brothers Band.

Photo credit: Phillip C. Sunkel IV

As 9:30 p.m. made its way, The Crew traveled in a pack to the final night of The Peach Stage mania. A light show reflected off of every tree surrounding the stage, strangers were arm in arm with each other, tapestries were spread out on the open field and welcoming faces from all directions greeted us as we found our spot in The Allman Brothers Band family feeling.

As their encore played, it seemed as though people were floating toward the stage in denial of their final song. Grown women threw glow sticks in the air, kids played ring-around-the-rosie and elderly men held their canes high in the air to cheer on the ever-so-famous band that had us grasping for more.

Photo credit: Phillip C. Sunkel IV

Both here and back at our camp community, I met beautiful people sitting in dirty lawn chairs, huddled around fun face paint and exchanging stories that would stick in your mind for years. One of these beautiful people, Scott Horowitz, known to us immediately as “Scotty”, had an optimistic, giving demeanor about him that was incredibly contagious.

When I asked him where he went to school he said, “I went to Santa Fe in Gainesville but I’d say my university is Spirit of Suwannee.” He began to tell me that this was his fourth Wanee experience, but then continued to say, “I’ve taken other classes at Spirit of Suwannee.” Scotty told me that he had been to three prior Wanee festivals, Bear Creek and Magfest- all of which are held at the very same fascinating park that we were meeting at. After dozens of concerts and many options clear in his mind, I asked him which was his favorite band. “Tedeschi Trucks Band was IT,” he said. “Objectively observing what was going on, the wind would blow in relation to what Derek Trucks was doing.” There was truth in what Scotty said. Everyone felt the exact same way.

Photo credit: Phillip C. Sunkel IV

Doug Franc, one of our crew members and economics major at UNF said, “Saturday night was awesome.” And it was. It was more than awesome. Seeing an infamous band perform two nights in a row was not exactly an average weekend for any of us.When I asked him which band was his favorite, without hesitation he said, “Definitely The Allman Brothers.”

Saturday night was our last night living as forest children. No one wanted to leave, and as the camp grounds cleared, tree trunks became visible as tents and hammocks were taken down. We walked back to The Peach Stage and The Mushroom Stage one last time to see the venues completely bare. It was a strange and unusual sight. I sat on the hill that I sat on to watch The Allman Brothers and day-dreamt about the very moment that was now part of my past, beautiful weekend.

Photo credit: Phillip C. Sunkel IV

Sunday morning, the leaves, decorations, gnomes and sound equipment were all still there, but just shy of 20 people were visibly seen walking throughout the park.We ate, slept and inhaled peace and harmony for an entire weekend, and to go back to reality, was a far-fetched thought that I did not want to come to terms with.

In a festival full of people who were whole-heartedly accepting of quirks and imperfection, I felt at home.

Everyone felt at home. And at Wanee, we were home.

Photo credit: Phillip C. Sunkel IV