This week the Wine Cellar @ Nopolo was the scene of another
musical evening, but this time with a different “Headliner”. James and his wife Jennifer are from Dallas
where he works as a hairdresser and is part of Def Leggend, a professional
tribute band for the heavy metal group Def Leppard, while she heads up a call
center for a major jewelry retailer.
They were first attracted to the Loreto area about 5 years
ago after Jennifer saw the New York Times article that included Loreto on a
list of “Places to see”. They had
travelled extensively in Mexico for years but the quieter, less developed
nature of Loreto appealed to them so they booked the trip – and Loreto did its
magic on them. Skip ahead several years
and they have now purchased an uncompleted home just north of Loreto Bay that
they are planning to custom finish.
However, since both James and Jennifer are close to 50 and they
will continue to be working for the foreseeable future, Loreto will continue to
be a vacation destination for them, even after they complete their home
here. But since spending a couple of
weeks a year here over the past several years, this week’s performance at the
Wine Cellar was not James’ first here in Loreto Bay, in fact he has played the
Wine Cellar before, as well as at another restaurant here and a New Year’s gig
at the Inn at Loreto Bay one year.
James grew up as the only musician in a non-musical family,
starting to play guitar in elementary school.
He started his first band in Grade 5 and music has been an important
part of his life ever since. He started
playing professionally almost 30 years ago and became a hairdresser to keep
himself busy between gigs. His
professional career now is mainly focused on his work in the Tribute Band,
which he describes as a combination of music and a tightly choreographed acting
performance. His band is successful, performing
in many Casinos and Festivals and playing before a crowd of 5,000 the night
before their departure to Loreto for this trip.
But James also has an acoustic repertoire that he performs solo, which
was the music a standing room crowd at the Wine Cellar enjoyed this week. 
I have written here in previous posts how living in Loreto
Bay has encouraged a number of Residents to flourish as musicians, and provided
a venue for others who have had some prior professional experience to pursue
their love of music here. But whether
these musicians had been professional at one time or not, here in Loreto Bay
they can all be considered “Amateur” in the BEST sense of the word. Because they are performing here only for
their love of music – since Foreigners cannot be paid to perform in Mexico
without the necessary work visa.
The performances we enjoy here by ex-pats are officially
unpaid gigs, so the musicians don’t run afoul of the Immigration Service, and I
suggest that “gratis status” adds a special element to the entertainment. These people are playing for the love of the
music and the joy they get from performing it, as well as the pleasure they
receive from the appreciation and support they get from the audiences they
entertain. Removing the remuneration
from the performance, I suspect has an effect on the motivation of the
performer – they are not playing for the money, but for their love of what they
do.
While that difference means one thing for a retired person
who is making music part of their lifestyle here, I assume it takes on perhaps
even greater significance to someone who is still actively involved as a
professional musician and performer. For
the “hobby” musician this environment and community is open, accepting and
supportive of their passion and through that support it creates a safe space
for their skill to develop and their talent to flourish. For someone to whom music is a business elsewhere,
perhaps playing for free in Loreto Bay gives them an opportunity to get back to
the roots of what brought them to music in the first place, and as a “busman’s
holiday” it allows them to indulge their muse in a way that their commercial
career does not.
However, in either case, we – the audience – clearly
receives the benefit and enjoyment from these performances in the ways that
only live music can provide. But, in
addition to the simple pleasure of listening to music, there is a further value
that enhances the experience for us and that is the sense of community and
identity that comes from either knowing the performer as a friend and neighbor,
or appreciating the fact that a Visitor feels so much at home here that they
are motivated to perform to express their enjoyment at being here, and wanting
to feel a part of it by playing for us.
In either case, for these people music is both a form of
expression and an avocation, as well as providing a connection between the
performer and the audience. However, for
other people that expression may take other forms; there is a thriving artistic
community here that takes inspiration from the beauty that surrounds us, others
find more physical outlets through yoga, exercise, cycling and golf, all of
which activities, and more, can be pursued here. For some the water is their passion;
swimming, snorkeling, kayaking, and paddle boarding, not to mention boating and
fishing in one of the best protected marine parks in the world.
So what we have
developed here is providing an opportunity for self-expression, personal
development, or just recreation, and for a growing number of us who call this
place home that may be the best part of “Living Loreto”!
