NEWSLETTER

JUNE, 2005

HEAR YE! HEAR YE! THE PURPLE ONION CAFÉ WILL ALSO BE OPEN ON WEDNESDAYS BEGINNING THIS WEEK. WE WILL FEATURE JAZZ MUSIC EACH WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH THE SUMMER. ALL YOU JAZZ FANS NEED TO COME CHECK IT OUT. MORE INFORMATION BELOW.

JUNE 1 – JAZZ NIGHT. MARC YAXLEY TRIO FEATURING DANIEL CHAMBO ON SAXOPHONE.

JUNE 2 – DESCHAMPS BAND. This talented group of youngsters will be making its last appearance at the café.

JUNE 4 – GIGI DOVER. One of our favorites.

JUNE 8 – JAZZ NIGHT. PATRICK BOLIN TRIO

JUNE 9 – ROD MACDONALD. Florida-based folksinger.

JUNE 11 – JIMMY LANDRY. High-energy singer/songwriter from Asheville.

JUNE 15 – JAZZ NIGHT. SINGER MARISA HAYES W/ PATRICK BOLIN.

JUNE 16 – CINDY KALMENSON. Singer/songwriter from Nashville.

JUNE 18 – JON TEAGUE. Singer/songwriter from Charlotte.

JUNE 22 – JAZZ NIGHT. MARC YAXLEY TRIO.

JUNE 23 – CHUCK BRODSKY. Great NC singer/songwriter. http://www.chuckbrodsky.com

JUNE 25 – MAD TEA PARTY. “Hip folksters” from Asheville. http://www.whosethatrecords.com

JUNE 29 – JAZZ NIGHT. MARC YAXLEY TRIO.

JUNE 30 – CHRIS COOK. NC singer/songwriter.

JULY 2 – THRIFT STORE DRIFTERS. Fine new NC group featuring old friend, Marshall Ballew.

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As we mentioned in our last newsletter, the Purple Onion will now also be open on Wednesday nights at least through the summer. Each Wednesday through August, we will be featuring straight-ahead jazz for your listening pleasure. Marc Yaxley, a brilliant guitarist from Brevard, will co-ordinate the music for us. He and his bass player, Cameron Austin, will often provide support to other artists he has asked to perform. The music will start at 7 each Wednesday night and last until around 9.

Come for dinner and listen to some fine, smooth jazz. You won’t be sorry. Great food and terrific music. What a fine evening that will make.

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Saluda has become a happening place for art of all types. The music offerings alone are incredible. In addition to what we are doing at the Purple Onion, Frank and Amy Beeson provide music most week-end nights in the parking lot in front of their Front Porch Coffee Bar. Check the performance schedule at www.saludamusic.com. As if that is not enough, you might enjoy the Saluda Mountain Jamboree which features mountain music and square dancing in a family-friendly venue. See www.saludamountainjamboree.com.

This month Saluda also hosted a splendid Arts Festival sponsored by the Saluda Business Association. Some 50 exhibitors were there for the hundreds of people who came by during the day to enjoy not only the art but the ambience of our fine little town.

Last year a movie company shot some scenes here for a lot-budget movie that may or may not ever be seen. It appears that another movie crew will be here for a week this summer for a different movie.

Of course, there is always Coon Dog Day (July 9 this year) but more about that next month.

Several of the reasons that Saluda is such a wonderful and congenial community.

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About every six weeks, I load my truck up with the garbage, trash, recycling and our dog (who gets to come home with me) for the trek to the dump in Hendersonville. Once I arrive there, it is always more than a little unsettling to see how much debris we humans can create in spite of the diligent efforts many of us make to recycle as much as we can. It was even scarier on my last visit there when I encountered buzzards sitting on top of a truck filled with garbage, presumably dining but definitely sinister, as they hungrily eyed incoming vehicles like mine. Is this symbolic of the ultimate outcome for us? What a depressing commentary on the theoretically most highly-evolved of the species.

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On my way home, however, my emotional mood was lightened somewhat by this bumper sticker:

I AM TOO SEXY FOR MY HAIR

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This made me recall the one that we saw in Zihuatanejo, Mexico a few weeks ago:

TRONCONES BEACH

A SMALL DRINKING VILLAGE

WITH A SURFING PROBLEM.

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One of this newsletter’s readers recently suggested to me that it should not contain any observations that could be interpreted as potentially controversial because it might not be good for the café’s business. While he is not the first one to share this opinion with me, I was reminded of the advice I got from my father many (I mean really a lot) years ago as I started my business career when he said that I should never talk about religion and/or politics. Of course, both of them may be right but then this newsletter would be as boring as most of the other such communications that we all get. Besides, the Purple Onion is as much about community as it is about business. To many of our customers, it is like an extended family. I know that sounds pretentious but I have seen and heard it over and over again from our patrons.

So in the spirit of not being boring while hopefully offering something reasonably thoughtful, let me share this quote from the author, Anne Lamott:

“You can safely assume that you’ve created God

in your own image when it turns out that God

hates all the same people you do.”

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Peace.

Robert Seiler

Purple Onion Café

www.purpleonionsaluda.com