Alan Chidester:
CLASS OF 1966
Richard Montgomery High SchoolClass of 1966
Rockville, MD
Alan's Story
Life
FORTY-ONE YEARS IN ONE SENTENCE
I left Rockville for college in the Chicago area, got my BA in philosophy from Wheaton College, got married (1970), did conscientious objector alternative service at a Chicago hospital (1970-1972), started an auto repair shop in Villa Park IL (1973-1983) and have been self employed ever since, started a country band, Big Al & the City Slickers (1975-1984), got divorced (1973), traveled to France with a student missionary group (1967), toured Russia and Romania in 1983 with a Slavic folk dance group from Detroit (I was part of the music), lived briefly back east in Fredericksburg VA (1978-79) returned to Chicago (1979) went on vacation for a summer to north Idaho and did not go back to Chicago for seven years, settled in Spokane WA where I joined the American Federation of Musicians local 105 and started another band, Big Slick & the Alley Gators (1984 to 1992), became a fulltime employee of the union local (thatÂs still self employed since I was a member of the union and was thus working for myself: was elected business agent, secretary-treasurer then president), wrote for and edited an entertainment newspaper in Spokane (at no pay, a spin off of the union job), got married (1990), bought the Arts & Crafts Book Bindery (1992) and started printing and publishing books & recordings from Oakesdale WA (40 miles S. of Spokane), served three terms on Town Council, two terms on the Whitman County Law & Justice Advisory Committee ( ...Expand for more
I was not reappointed for a third term probably because I asked too many embarrassing questions), and I now serve on the Community Action Center board of directors (created from LBJÂs war on poverty, administering services for low and moderate income families in Whitman County), ran the local tavern for half a year, got divorced again (1996), got married again again (1998), got divorced again again (Feb. 14, 2007 and wrote a good song about it), play and record music incessantly, getting airplay with some of my songs now, especially Where were You the Night New Orleans Drowned and There AinÂt Nothin Holy ÂBout War and What Country Would Jesus Bomb?, I do a weekly radio show called Fiddlin Big AlÂs Old Time Liberal Revival and Barn Dance on KRFP 92.5 Mos/:cow ID (It streams on the net) 8:15-10 PM Pacific Time Tuesdays, a mix of old and new music with some live performance and calm political / social commentary, I have formed a publishing co-op with some folks from Moscow and am working on the launch of two nationally distributed publications Fugitive Press and The Red State Rag, I still have hope to make some sort of difference in this crazed world of ours, though not as I first envisioned it 40 years ago, and IÂm looking forward to whatÂs next for this member of the Class of Â66, playing music this weekend as usual, despite recent trends the future looks so bright we gotta wear shades!
Have fun, or else donÂt
IÂd love to hear from you
Al Chidester
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