------------------------------------------------------- FEBRUARY 23, 1996 ------------------------------------------------------- Source: San Luis Obispo County Telegram-Tribune http://www.yessng.net/SLO.html Yes Singer Jon Anderson's Love Affair with SLO by way of Atlantis By Coleen Bondy Jon Anderson, the lead singer of Yes, decided to make this city his home after he saw a cop car giving a stalled Volkswagen bus a push-start downtown. “That was it, really,” Anderson said. “Everybody just seems naturally friendly.” The 51-year old rock music veteran and his wife, Jane, moved to San Luis Obispo last August. His daughter from a previous marriage attends a local high school. The band’s other members are scattered around the globe, as far away as the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea and as close as Los Angeles. “I’ve traveled all the world, and you come here for a while and you say, ‘This is a great town,’” he said. The couple was checking out the Fremont Theatre Thursday, trying to figure out how many rows of seats to take out to make way for the stage at the band’s upcoming concerts. The amiable pair agreed to an unplanned interview, talking openly about their love for each other, San Luis Obispo, and their plans to put the city on the map musically. In the hushed light of the Fremont, the casual but well-dressed couple looked more like the owners of the art-deco theater than a rock star and his wife. Well, except for his long blond bi-level tresses and high-top tennis shoes. Jon Anderson wore a long black trench coat and black pants with his tennies. He held a wood-handled umbrella in a manner that gave him an elegant air. Jane Anderson wore her hair swept up in a twist with ringlets framing her face. Her jeans, blazer, peach V-neck sweater and filmy leopard-print scarf came together tastefully. Jane Anderson said she started coming to San Luis Obisipo 12 years ago to visit her sister, whose husband is a Cal Poly professor. “We love it. It’s so great here,” she said. Jon Anderson said the area offers a wealth of good music, from Irish pub bands and African music to the San Luis Obispo Symphony. He said he is very excited about the opening of the Performing Arts Center at Cal Poly. “I think the town’s virtually imploding,” Anderson said. “I think the Performing Arts Center is going to bring a lot of energy here.” “We’ve been living here, knowing there’s more to this place than meets the eye,” he added. San Luis Obispo also reminds Jon of Northern England, where he grew up. Especially when it rains like it has for the past few days. Jane Anderson said they considered moving to England, to the South of France and to Kauai. But they picked San Luis Obispo because it offers a little bit of all of those places. “The power of the mountains ­ that generates a lot of energy,” he added. The term “New Age” appears to fit the couple. When asked how they met, Jon Anderson said, “We used to know each other in Atlantis, so we decided to come together in this lifetime.” Jane Anderson said that in this lifetime, they met through a mutual friend while she was in charge of selecting music for Hollywood director Ron Howard’s films. Jon Anderson wanted to do musical scores for movies, and she was the person who hired the musicians. “I fell in love right away,” Jon said. “I said, ‘I will marry that woman.’” Asking her out didn’t advance his film-score career, however. ”I never got a gig. I just got the girl,” Jon said. Close Window YesInThePress.com For site comments, inquiries, corrections, or additions, contact yitp@yesservices.com