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Plato's biggest fan

Singer-guitarist Lorna Bracewell of Indian Rocks Beach loves the philosopher, SpaghettiOs and the Stones. The Beatles? Not so much.

At 20, Lorna Bracewell is already a veteran musician. The folk-rock singer-guitarist, who lives in Indian Rocks Beach when she's not majoring in political science at Flagler College in St. Augustine, got her start playing drums for the house band at her Christian summer camp. Bracewell has been onstage ever since.

Home on summer break before her senior year, Bracewell is playing gigs galore and pondering the things that concern folks her age: social issues, the Stones, SpaghettiOs.

(1) Is it true you have an obsession with Plato?

I love Plato. He fascinates me. He thought about everything and wrote it all down 2,000 years ago, when that wasn't easy. He had the passion and the drive to do this.

And you give Plato's works, his books, as gifts to your friends and family?

(Laughs) I've done this, yes.

What's the response?

They ridicule me. Some have actually read the books. For my brother, I wrote a little inscription; this was last Christmas. Eventually I asked him, "Did you read the inscription in the front?" He hadn't even opened the book.

What's your favorite of Plato's works?

The Phaedrus. It's his dialogue on love. The way Plato describes love - he sees the madness of the poet, the madness of the prophet and the madness of the lover as one and the same. Through those inspired moments, we can transcend to the divine.

"The greatest things come by way of madness, indeed of madness that is heaven sent."

My friends are like, "You should write a song about Plato, you have such a crush on him."

Would you go with him, if he were alive?

I totally would.

(2) What's the best snack food?

SpaghettiOs. Franco-American. My sister and I were singing the praises of them just today. They're nothing like spaghetti. People who don't like SpaghettiOs don't like them because they expect spaghetti rather than the creamy, cheesy goodness. They're my in-between-lunch-and-dinner snack.

(3) You're just 20, but you're a performance veteran. How many gigs do you estimate you've played?

A lot. Somewhere between 530 and 540. I started as a drummer in Cross Eyed when I was 13.

Did that help you get over stage fright? You're definitely not shy.

(Laughs) I don't know that I was ever shy.

You're known for funny stage patter. Where do you get your sense of humor?

My father. He's the corniest man alive. Have you seen Big Fish? The father tells the same joke over and over, and it's so funny. But not funny ha ha, like, funny groan. This is what my dad does. He tells these jokes, you can sense them coming, my whole family can. If there's a new person at the table and the opportunity arises, we all start looking at each other, waiting.

(4) The Beatles vs. the Rolling Stones?

The Stones are infinitely cooler. They're bad. They have edge and attitude. If you were a kid in the 1960s and you brought home a Stones record, your parents were worried. If you brought home the Beatles, your parents were like (matronly voice), "Oh, they look like nice young men."

The real truth is that my father is a huge Beatles fan, and on every car trip we ever took, he crammed every Beatles album ever down our throats.

Is there one Beatles song you just can't ever hear again?

Octopus's Garden is the stupidest song! It is. I'd rather hear (Britney Spears') (Hit Me) . . . Baby One More Time. Who likes Octopus's Garden? It's terrible!

(5) Social justice is a big concern of yours. If we created a comic book hero based on you, what, culled from your character, would be her special power to combat evil?

She would humble people in whatever particular way they needed to be humbled (laughs). She would have the power to discern how each evil person should be humbled. Like God in the book of Job (laughing harder). Seriously, I'm mystified by hubris. I've been on this earth only 20 years, and I'm already convinced I'm not the most gifted, talented, special person here.

Lorna Bracewell performs at 7 p.m. Friday at the Blues Cafe, 2699 Gulf Blvd., Indian Rocks Beach, 727 593-2589. Also, 8 p.m. Saturday at Fogartyville Cafe, 800 17th Ave. W, Bradenton, (941) 741-9755, and 10 p.m. Wednesday at Limey's Pub, 1492 Fourth St. N, St. Petersburg, (727) 895-2049. Check out www.lornabracewell.com