I showed the new piece to Scott Weiss when I was in San Antonio last week. His reaction was positive (whew!), but he wasn’t crazy about the title. Scott’s thinking was that “Lone Star” wasn’t, well, great, and the “Polka” part of the title wasn’t accurate. “It’s not a polka,” he told me. Scott suggested, correctly, I think, that the piece is more about cowboy than polka. Plus, “polka” doesn’t sound especially hip.
I spoke to AEJ about it that night, and she started brainstorming. (I don’t know what I’d do without her…) She quickly came up with this new title: “Sasparilla.” I like it, and so far, the reaction has been positive all around. (For those who don’t know, sasparilla is a liquor that used to be served in saloons.) The title fits, as the piece sounds like it tells the tale of an old west saloon. Plus, “sasparilla” is a pretty cool word.
Thoughts?