Travelogue: Keystone Conference 2026 – My Day One, Part Two

That very Rolling Stone magazine cover, framed, graces one of the walls in our basement, representing my passionate love of music memorabilia that speaks to us.

Love me some Dave Matthews Band! Another cornerstone act of the early ’90’s that reignited for the rest of my life, a passion for GREAT music. Not only that, but I introduced our girls to DMB, and I have attended about five shows with one or both of our children, bonding. Without getting too personal here, our youngest, now in her thirties, who suffers with some OCD tendencies (I could not live like she does), goes to concerts all over Chicago. I envy her that. She’s become a music historian (being an actuary, they go deep!) and will even go alone to a show she wants to see. It is a passion for her, and I know that is my contribution to her life (beside her actual existence).

While raising our children, when I was not incarcerated, I preached two things. One, take responsibility for your actions (I lived that to the extreme). And two, music is the all, the everything. It is life. It is the essence of joy. It is it. DMB is the modern Phish, the modern Grateful Dead, a jam band that loyal fans travel to and see show after show after show. Me, if only…

So much to say, so much to say, so much to say, so much to say
So much to say, so much to say, so much to say, so much to say

So Much to Say, off the second DMB album, sums up yet another Keystone, the 16th annual (except during pandemics) Keystone Conference. There is so much for me to say, to tell you all. That is, if I can remember…

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I am now writing this a week later. Laptop held hostage by Dell’s shitty design. This is the second time I simply closed my laptop to a crunch and a $500+ expenditure. Beside the standard things, my PC holds my greatest possession, something I have built for decades, my 14,000+ song iTunes library. Lose that, lose me.

Back to March 20, 2026, after the joy and the absolute frustration of the laptop, the f’d up nature of the immense lack of giving a shit by Best Buy for “customer service” (can I say fuck them loud enough?), I took a breath and another Old Fashioned and enjoyed my evening. My girl, Ashley, hosted a party at the place I christened at our first Keystone at this hotel a few years back. Great times, great friends.

I am not going to lie. I have said this time and again, Keystone is an amazing experience and for me, a liver wrecking few days. I am incapable of hanging at a bar (that is where everyone hangs) without a libation. I also have a very generous friend who covers a few for me. And Ashley has a fully stocked bar available to me the entirety of my time there. All that meant two things. The first, it was karaoke night. I was in a mood. Wearing my emergency dress, seven or eight cocktails in, it was song time! I was the only one who sang outside her purported age demographic. Give me some Offspring! Gone Away, a beautiful song about the loss of a loved one, in true Offspring fashion.

After my performance, three sisters, well my junior (like almost all Earth dwellers) wanted to talk music with me. I hit their sweet spot. Sure! I was in my element. We talked music for quite a while. That was the second thing. This bedtime at 8:00 girl, closed the place. And would do exactly the same things again (except close my PC more carefully).

Here was photographic evidence of what I just blathered about. I did an awful job of taking pictures after I left my room, any pics in the wild you see here were generously taken by others and sent to me afterwards.

How I Felt…

Making Lemonade

Okay for an emergency dress?

Shower Time

Friends

Gone Away

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We change minds slowly, by being visible and gracious.

Postscript: I recently attended a Plexus networking event. I can be seen in a post-event Facebook post. Here I am if you have a Facebook page.