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Special Guest of Honor: Linda Melnick

Linda Melnick began her involvement with SF conventions in the late 70s. As a member of WSFA (Washington DC Science Fiction Association), she volunteered at various conventions, including one where she first met TJ Burnside and Sheila Willis, and went on to filk acclaim as one third of the group Technical Difficulties. Linda was a professional American Sign Language interpreter for many years, which led to her beautiful and memorable sign language renditions of the group's songs. After TD broke up, Linda started another group with Lucinda Brown and I composer Jean Stevenson, called Musical Chairs, which produced the 1995 recording Sing Language. Although Linda has mostly retired from filk participation, she periodically gets back together with TJ, Jean, and others to perform as Technical Difficulties in its various forms. She currently lives in Asheville, North Carolina with her husband George Campbell, and sings in the Asheville Symphony Chorus.

Special Guest of Honor: Jean Stevenson

Jean Stevenson was born in the last century, lives on Long Island in New York, and has been active in science fiction and media fandom for quite a few decades. She plays guitar, organ, and piano, conducts choirs and choruses, and composes for solo and multi-part choral settings. Jean has written songs and created beautiful arrangements for the filk music group Technical Difficulties, as well as performing with TD in its various incarnations. As a member of the filk trio Musical Chairs, with Linda Melnick and Lucinda Brown, she recorded the album Sing Language, and she has produced a solo recording, Songs for Starvoyagers.
In addition to writing songs, Jean has published stories in various fannish universes, including Star Wars, Star Trek, MacGuyver, Starman, Indiana Jones, Stargate, and more.
Although she has mostly gafiated* from fandom these days, she is happy to appear at FilkCONtinental as part of Technical Difficulties once again.
(*getting away from it all)

Technical Difficulties

The filk trio Technical Difficulties was formed in the mid 1980s, when two committee members of the Maryland Star Trek convention August Party (TJ Burnside and Sheila Willis) encountered fellow Star Trek and music fan Linda Melnick at a convention, and immediately bonded over a shared love of three-part harmony.
Named Technical Difficulties because of the inconvenience caused by the three band members living in three different states for much of the group’s existence, the trio eventually released two album-length recordings: Please Stand By, in 1986, and Station Break in 1988, which contained songs by all three band members and several of their friends, including special guest Jean Stevenson.
Many Technical Difficulties songs have gone on to become filk standards, such as TJ’s “Lullaby for a Weary World,” Sheila’s “Come You Knights,” and Jean’s “Star Sisters.” The group is also known for their humorous parodies of a cappella classical pieces like “The Hallelujah Chorus” and “Dona Nobis Pacem.”
The trio won the 1989 Pegasus Award for Best Performer, and performed at TJ & Mitchell’s wedding the same year, which gave the wedding band a chance to get a beer. Since Sheila’s untimely death in 2013, various individuals have performed TD songs along with Linda and TJ, including TJ’s daughter Jessie (who appeared with the two at GAFilk in 2007 as Technical Difficulties, The Next Generation), Jean Stevenson (at Confluence 2009 with TJ, Linda, and Jessie as More Difficulties), and TJ’s husband Mitchell, who was part of a pickup group at OVFF 1990 called Spare Parts.
TJ, Linda, and Jean are delighted to appear once again as Technical Difficulties for FilkCONtinental.

Discography:
- Please Stand by (tape, 1986/88)
- Station Break (tape, 1988)


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