Bakotopia

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I don’t think I have to go into detail that finding major events for kids’ lives to grab hold of and be inspired by are rare. Tonight was inspiring because Paul Cartwright was invited along with Catfish and Sonny Langely to come and perform at Bakersfield’s Crystal Palace.

People who have met Dude on the Ice know he’s a violinist, a kid who plays in the BHS orchestra, but who has never had private lessons. He’s a kid who seems more comfortable skating on ice than he is in his own shoes. He had never seen Paul Cartwright perform, until now.

How do you explain such inspiration? Such a fiddler and violinist as Paul Cartwright only happens in a city the size of Bakersfield once in a long blue moon. I can’t even describe Cartwright’s musical ability other than phenomenal. Restaurant goers stopped shoveling mashed potatoes to holler and whistle as Cartwright tore into solos that could melt your heart with the beauty of bow and strings. His command over his instrument I have rarely seen; and there are a lot of great musicians in Bakersfield.

I had only seen Catfish perform once, and only briefly. He and Cartwright have performed together for more than three years and tonight had arrived as the Beergrass Boys. His songwriting and storytelling ability is as much of a journey as the music that rides along the length of Cartwright’s magical bow. You listen, you’re carried away, and you almost forget that he’s strumming along and singing about life in Bakersfield and beyond while Cartwright is hitting notes on the violin that I thought weren’t possible.

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