Love Your What?
November 3rd is “Love Your Lawyer Day.” It’s one of those made up celebratory days appearing on your calendar, and leaving you to wonder, “who came up with that?” (FYI – Some organization called American Lawyers Public Image Association created the unofficial day back in 2001).
I am also willing to bet musician Rachel Baiman has never heard of the “Love Your Lawyer Day.” Nonetheless, merely a week after the official celebration date the talented singer and multi-instrumentalist out of Nashville hit the stage at Gundlach Bundschu in Sonoma with a little surprise for yours truly.
A Great Show in Sonoma
Rachel Baiman plays selections from Shame
Rachel, accompanied by Cy Winstanley on guitars and Ashleigh Caudill on standup bass, played an emotional set of originals and time-honored Americana classics. Fully-admitting my bias toward people I work with, Rachel can really sing. She’s pretty darn good on guitar, banjo and fiddle too. If you haven’t heard her latest album, Shame, you should. Aside from the stellar songwriting (I believe members of the headlining act Mandolin Orange played a role) and musicianship, it’s the vocal harmonies which really suck you in. Rachel isn’t shy about her convictions, and the messages of empowerment and self worth resonate through her work making her live show and experience easy to connect with both musically and emotionally.
A Humbled Lawyer
About halfway through her set Rachel paused, asking, “Is Mark Pearson here?” Spotting me standing up front and stage-left, she continued, “He’s my lawyer.” She continued by telling the story about how we’d first connected, when she was approached with a contract by her now record label Free Dirt. She finished by having the crowd applaud me for being a, “really helpful music lawyer.”
A kind and much appreciated gesture that left me shocked, and a little misty-eyed.
Mark & Rachel in Sonoma
It’s humbling to be credited for the work I do. Rachel’s words and actions in recognizing me were a reminder of why I enjoy working with creative, talented and entrepreneurial clients. I feel lucky that as a lawyer in a small firm, I have time to form personal relationships with my clients. I truly care about each business and person I have the honor of working with, and enjoy being a small part of their success. While never expected and always a surprise, it certainly is nice to be acknowledged.
When my name appears in liner notes or in film and IMDB credits, I do feel a little self-conscious. But, when Rachel (or Ziek and Con Brio guys, as they did at Monterey Jazz) call me out while on stage; I admit it chokes me up. Then, I snap back to reality when a lady in front of me turns around to say, “It’s pretty rare for someone to get th whole crowd of people to clap for their lawyer.” She must not have heard of “Love Your Lawyer Day.”
Thanks Rachel.
Shame Available Now
Rachel Baiman is currently on tour in support of the band Mandolin Orange (also a great live act). Her album Shame (Free Dirt) is available on Vinyl, CD and via digital download. Mark A. Pearson is an attorney at ARC Law Group. He can be reached at mark@arclg.com.
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