Wow...While I can completely understand the need to have a life (whatever that is...) I have to say the Y2Ks have been an incredible experience . I think we should all give Rick a big round of applause.
>
> FRO DIDDLY asked about the Y2K-X International Live Looping Festival
> next year.
>
> *"last one? bummer-"*
>
> Yeah, at least for my foreseeable future. I hope you will plan on coming
> and performing so you don't miss out, Fro. Your are cordially and officially
> invited and I'm taking invitations now from everyone.
>
> I love this festival and it has had a huge impact on my live in the past
> ten years but each year it has taken longer and longer to produce and taken
> up more and more of my own artistic energy.
>
> I've been very ambitious in the past 3-5 years and have tried to do a lot of international
> touring, national touring and the festival and I've ended up exhausted and not
> finishing projects that I've had in the pipeline for literally years.
>
> Two years ago it took 6 months to do the festival
> This past year it took 7 1/2 months.
> I've been working a little bit every day less than a month after the festival
> this year for next years' festival so that will put it up at 11 months for this year.
>
> I just need to have a bit of a life for myself and I need to be a full time artist again.
> I figure I have worked my butt off to try and serve this community (and I've received immeasurable
> awards for doing it so I'm very grateful) so I think I've earned a break for a while at least.
>
> Some of this is my own fault as I've tried to make it more and more impressive;
> more and more inclusive, but, at the same time, it has not increased in
> attendance or in it's ability to create income so it has hurt me financially
> quite a bit (especially in the past 2 years because of this horrible recession
> that Northern California is not nearly out of yet).
>
> I love doing theme-oriented festivals so I'm sure I'll do other things, but I just need
> a break. I'm also curious to see whether this mode is sustainable and whether this community will pick up the ball
> in the United States and produce future looping festivals without me putting the lions share of energy
> into doing them.
>
> *"do you have dates lined up yet? or a general time frame?"
>
> *Yes, October 13th - October 18th, 2010
>
> and, unlike past years, I think I'm going to make the entire thing be in
> Santa Cruz and expand the dates for the festival here.
>
> In past years I've always tried to create an event for traveling artists so that they have
> more than one date to come play but it has been tremendously draining for me to not only coordinate
> small festivals in other cities but it also consistently drained financial resources to do so.
>
> Next year I've decided to really make it a Festival/Convention and include
> multiple venues, coordinated clinics and basically turn my traveling artists onto
> the potential of producing shows in other cities on their own (or letting someone in the community
> step up to produce the shows that have typically been done in SF, San Jose, the East Bay, etc.
> in past years).
>
> Lastly, I'm going to recreate what I think was the first self conscious Live Digital Looping monthly gig in
> history at the site where it occurred (MOBO SUSHI) in 1995 and I'm going to bring GARY REGINA here from
> Arizona and together, with my brother, BILL WALKER, the three of us will celebrate that monthly gig we did for
> almost a year as THIRD WAVE. That will probably occur on Wednesday, October 13th.
>
> By the way, loop historians, I have not found anything online that indicates that such a thing existed before this
> date. In the spirit of our dearly departed loop historian, Dr. Richard Zvonar, I want to make sure that
> my claim about this is accurate. Please let me know if anyone knows of an advertised, regular and ongoing
> live looping performance existed before this time so I know that I'm not engaging in historic hyperbole.
>
> Later on, I will post some thoughts about the future as I see it and what will happen
> after this large festival stops under my direction. That's going to be a longer post and
> I"m really curious to hear what people think about the future at that point.
>
> It's been a true pleasure trying to serve this community and it has enriched my life
> immeasurably that this festival has occurred and that so many amazing artists have sacrificed so much
> to come to my home town and play their version of live looping music.
>