My quoted email to Telluride Tom came down as a result of a private discussion we had.
Recently when folks contacted me about why did I leave the TBF, I sent them the following note.
I think you'll understand why I think that, in fairness, you should have this post . . .
Friends,
This business about Pastor Mustard leaving the festival has allowed me to explore the Buddhist meaning of letting go, even of the habit of what one IDs with.
I'm not seeking my old spot behind the TBF mic. It was a fun 32 years--27 as MC.
I think the festival directors had many reasons to desire, hope for, look for MC change. They were not very clear to me about it. They had me guessing, for sure. If you ever witnessed corporate regime change, the scenario is nauseatingly familiar.
I tendered my resignation because I perceived an unwholesome corporate culture within Planet Bluegrass toward Pastor Mustard. It was very difficult for me to process even though I'd been smelling the coffee for awhile. Eventually I stopped struggling and started breathing.
I slowly learned that Planet Bluegrass had synthesized a new and thrifty policy about announcements. They should be democratic and loveably amateurish with an occasional celebrity drop-in. There was, I guess, Planet-wide consensus that ANY full-time MC/personality grates on the audience. (As audience members, feel free to discuss that concept among yourselves.)
The Planet had a ready sound-bite response to inevitable stop'n'chat queries about Pastor's departure. That's understandable, but an unsavory spin shows up about here.
The spin, heard by my children at the 35th and published on Festivarian.com, is patently untrue. At best it's revisionist.
Here's the quote from the festivarian forum, "He wanted a contract and more money. Craig said that nobody gets a contract, and the Pastor quit."
Hearing this, the intelligent festivarian's spider-sense should tingle. The party line is just too simplistic to be toed verbatim.
So when you get the skinny on (what should have been) our private contract business, understand that compensation talks came about during an attempt at rapprochement--AFTER I resigned. Lucre was not the lynchpin on which the situation swiveled, contrary to blogs, gossip, and what was posted here.
That said, consider the long view . . .
More acts are now staged at TBF in one day than over the whole weekend, back in the day. Much, much more goes on now. Sponsors, Greentown, shake 'n' howdies, tweeners, raffles, workshops, parades, etc.
It was a big, interesting, team-supported job I enjoyed very much--to the point of annual exhaustion. But I'm older now and more physically needy. In the end, yes, I probably priced myself into extinction. I actually valued my talent and expertise right when PB was forming their newly downgraded world-view about career MCs, and probably Pastor Mustard specifically. Coincidence?
My get-back-in-bed ideas were not accepted in the spirit offered, that is, as the start of further negotiations. (Ironically, the multi-year contract model was suggested to me by a long-time TBF investor.) So my resignation stood.
Until 2007 I enjoyed a warm professional relationship with the festival. That right there is a very good memory for me.
My sincere hope is that my leaving darkens no one's door.
I'm fine, you're fine. Be fine.
Best,
Pastor Mustard
Listening to:
The Creaking Doorway of Infinity
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