Contrary to popular belief, the good life in Los Angeles is not all about who you know. The real pleasure of L.A. life is not found in sighting celebs at the Ivy, or overhearing Twitter gossip (about Paramore's nude pix or M.I.A.'s hate tweet) from former Road Rules cast members (who now serve your drinks at the Standard). The real pleasure comes from the mystery of those unknown faces in the crowd. This city pulsates with dream-followers and risk-takers, the best and brightest, most of whom you will never recognize. In a crowd, it is quite likely that you will be surrounded by all of these people at the same time. A social media maven may stand to your left and an Macedonian guitar master may stand to your right. On Saturday night, The Society for the Diffusion of Useful Information offers a chance to meet one of L.A.'s secret geniuses, as acclaimed Serbian guitarist Mrioslav Tadic plays a solo show at the Museum of Jurassic Technology. The guitarist left Yugoslavia to study music at Cal Arts in the early 1980's and teaches there today. Tadic's style gleans influence from across the musical spectrum from gypsy traditions to Hendrix virtuosity, and, like all events at the Museum of Jurassic Technology, the performance will offer you a passageway to another world.

After the jump read an interview with Tadic and watch some clips of the master at work.

(Again, aren't you glad I didn't write about Paramores' Hayley Williams and her accidental naked tweet?)

Saturday, May 29th, 2010

7:00 p.m.

8:30 p.m.

The Museum of Jurassic Technology

9341 Venice Blvd

Culver City, CA 90232

$15 General Donation

$12 Museum members, students, seniors

Get Tickets Here

I left Yugoslavia when I was 19. I was just beginning to develop as a musician. I really didn't pay much attention to folk music then. As a teenager, you're not going to listen to the stuff they're doing up in the hills. I was getting into jazz, people like Coltrane, and I was still listening to things like King Crimson and Yes. I was always into Hendrix too and all of that was much more what I was interested in while I was there.

I went to CalArts in 1979 and I teach there now. I took classical guitar. The reason I left Yugoslavia was because at that time, guitar wasn't an instrument you could study at a conservatory in many countries. It was accepted late as a serious instrument. I had a chance to come to CalArts and it was a dream school. I got a catalog and I was sitting in Yugoslavia thinking “God, I'll never get into this place.” Then I sent them a tape and they accepted me and I came over and figured out how to deal, basically.

When I came to the States, I started realizing when I got some distance, how interesting Macedonian music is. It's sort of like you need to leave the place to realize there are a lot of good things about it. One of the good things about leaving for me was to realize that this music was there and somehow provided me with a connection to my identity as a person. In fact, it developed to the point where it is now closely tied to my identity as a musician. So, I went back very often and collected recordings and brought them back to the States. While I was a student, I started incorporating Macedonian music into my recitals and teaching it to some of my friends — usually American musicians — and it became a part of my regular vocabulary.

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