The "woah" effect: those times when life is occurring at its regular pace of 106 mph and an outside force steps in front of your fragile overloaded freight of shit. The "woah" effect will sometimes be spoken out loud (wh-O-ugh) or passively felt within the mind. Regardless, there has been an intrusion on your programmed agenda for that particular moment in time.

Case in point, today I am walking... speed walking... from my internship position to my night time cocktail serving. I am doing a mental check of all the things I did not do by 3 pm on a Friday and how badly I needed a stick of gum. It was at this point as I am crossing the Embarcadaro with hundreds of sports cars whizzing by, that I listen to my surroundings.

Six fine young people stood in the center walkway playing music. I turned to watch the man singing and felt his lyrics wrap around my wrists and pull me towards the band. Between the banjo, guitar, and cello, I was a helpless victim of pure southern folk that traveled from Mississippi just to grab what felt like my heart.

After one song I wanted one more and another. I said woah aloud and felt my eyes water from the beauty that was flying into the air from pure pressure and lung control of human beings. Their hands moved angelically making every motion a symphony of sound. These six people obviously had talent- further more they had power. I looked around seeing more San Franian's stopping from their "woah" effect. The music was a gift for us all- a break from life. A chance to look at the surrounding details rather than the blurring lights passing us by. I picked up their CD before I continued on. One of the boys (Jason) told me of a show they would be playing that evening in Oakland. I wanted to reply with a yes, see you then! Instead I informed him it was back to the work life for me, maybe even at a 130 mph pace since I was now running late. I tucked their album into my bag, awaiting the moment I could unravel the compact disc "woah" factor.

We may control our own accelerations in life. But we truly cannot control the outside forces that make us stop in our own tracks. We live the life, and the impact of others further define the story.

Spirits of the Red City is a group from Mississippi. Their album is titled Hunter Moon. If you come across it or them, this story will mean that much more to you.