when i was living in austin, i had one friend who owned a label, one friend who was a booking agent, one who booked the bands at the club where everyone i liked played, two friends who were music writers, and a handful of friends who are now in successful bands, so i was one degree away from a lot of people. i'm not bragging -- austin is just really small and the austin indie rock scene is even smaller.
but the only one i cared about was jeff mangum. i almost met him once and was totally panicking that i would just start shrieking! luckily for me, he ended up not coming to town that time and then i moved a few months later.