Maybe we take for granted what we have in Sundilla. In 2013, we will bring in performers from 12 states (California, Oregon, North Dakota, Iowa, Texas, Illinois, New York, Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama) and Paris, France. All of them make a living by making music; for them it’s their full-time job, not something they do in their spare time. Bringing in diverse talents from so many different places was never something we thought about; it’s just what we do.
But it turns out that it’s a bigger deal than we thought. Before he started his second set on May 31, 2013, Dan Navarro (who has sold an impressive number of albums and racked up numerous awards and played countless venues during his 30+ year career) had this to say to the Sundilla audience:
“The reason to continue to support this place is because you don’t want it to go away. In my opinion, if you lose this place you lose something culturally very rich, and very important. I live in the second-most populous city in the country, Los Angeles, California. When you take in the environs it’s fourteen million people in an area that’s 100 miles one way and 75 miles the other, and we don’t have one of these. We have a good folk club, we have a few people that are presenting, but we don’t have a community-driven non-profit organization that is determined to bring the best musicians to town so that everybody can be enriched culturally, emotionally and spiritually. Do support it, you would not want it to disappear, I guarantee it.”– Dan Navarro, May 31 2013