Music commentary #2

This is a continuation of discussing a career in music, being full-time. After 41 years of such a commitment I have had to accept it evaporating. The Covid-19 period has brought most public gatherings, the ones of a nature where I got my work, to an end for the foreseeable future. In one short week of mid-March 2020 I saw 72 performance dates yanked off the calendar. These were all booked by me, painstakingly, over months. The upcoming year of 2020 would have seen me add much more to that total and, thus, have income for that year. And, I would have had all those performing opportunities, something I have always required. Part-timers do not understand this concept. Friends of part-timers do not understand the concept. If you are reading this and have never been a full-time performer it is likely that you do not understand the concept. There are a few who do, usually folks to have worked in show business themselves, be it promoters or booking agents or managers, etc. Those folks have had a direct association with touring performers and would have an inkling of it all. I cannot stress how often I have been forced into conversation about “where” I go to perform, and seeing how it is viewed as a vacation or holiday getaway. “Oh, Chicago! You MUST go see the…!” “Wow, I always wanted to go to Spain! You are so lucky.” They are right, of course. I WAS lucky. But, not for the reasons they think. I was lucky that there WERE PEOPLE IN SPAIN WHO WANTED TO HEAR ME PERFORM. I was lucky that people on the other side of the ocean bought my records, knew my songs, and bought tickets to my show. That is why I went there to tour, and what happened while I was there. I was not on a sightseeing trip. Performing within an hour of my home, for little or no cost to attendees? Sleeping in my own bed after the show? There, I was not always so lucky. It takes strangers in a faraway place to see the merit in an artist, many times. There cannot be any real merit in a RELATIVE or NEIGHBOR or SCHOOLMATE. That person cannot be an artist, or, at least, one with merit. That has to be someone from somewhere else. Here is my generalized breakdown of music performers in the professional realm: On the far left end of the spectrum are the people you know who play music, though not professionally. The uncle who brings a guitar to a family gathering and knows a handful of songs. Maybe, others join in and everyone sings along on familiar “standards”. His guitar strings have not been changed in two years and four months. There is a chord in some of the songs he does not know, so, he leaves them out. If you put that chord in he gives you a mean look and overpowers you with the bastardized version of the song. This person, of course, does not make a living in music. There is the kid in high school who lives down the street, and has a garage band. This means that his “gigs” are rehearsals at the home. The youngsters, all worshippers of a handful of rock stars, only know 6 or 8 songs together. They practice them repeatedly, only on Saturdays. There is a guitarist in the group who seems to believe that songs are never to be played in entirety, only snippets. Once or twice a year these fellows play a public performance of some type. Mommie and Daddy take pictures. They know they best get those shots captured before school is out and “little Johnny” goes into the “real” world (college, military, job). No, the garage-bander is no professional musician. The problem is that most everyone knows these folks, and thinks of these images when thinking of a “musician “ or “performer”. Here is the opposite end of the musical spectrum: Madonna, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Pearl Jam, Garth Brooks, U2. These are mega-stars, and they are artists. They are musicians. They are known by everybody, virtually. The problem comes from the fact that MOST professional music entertainers are not these people, and, are certainly not the uncle with a guitar or kid in a garage band. Most pro entertainers are playing on cruise ships, recording on sessions of demos/jingles/records, are sideperson players for artists (the ones onstage who are not looked at for two hours, while everyone stares at the star). The pros are “Indy” artists on tour, doing it at a grassroots level. They are in the “pit“ or doing symphony work. The pros are touring in blues or jazz combos, knocking down 4-6 nights a week in clubs. They are playing casino gigs, as well as wedding receptions and company parties. They teach music lessons and are instructors at clinics and workshops. They perform at outdoor festivals. Some are doing regular gigs as TV show backing players. The point is that there are MILLIONS of such musicians, all full-time in the profession. They are not household names. They are not as well known of a name as “little Johnny” from the garage band down the street. Their name is not as known as the uncle with crap strings on his guitar. They are not a known name such as Beyoncé or Dolly. But, they ARE a professional musician or artist. They DO IT FOR A LIVING. They are committed. If they are in the biz long enough they could, very well, BE COMMITTED. As in, committed to an asylum! Yes, the years of playing music, creating music, of devoting one’s life to the art form-it can make you crazy. It can break your heart. It can make you anxious, sad, angry, frustrated. It can, also, bring lots of joy. Audiences can indulge in the joy. But, they have to be willing to take joy in it. Like all things in life, all times in life, there is Someone who will relieve the anxiety, sadness, anger, frustration. He is waiting on you to give it to Him. The artist will not find it anywhere else, not in totality, not in the big picture. The artist will not find the rewards from neighbors, relatives, schoolmates. Not in the ultimate sense. That will only come in trusting Someone in particular. That is how my losing a 41 year career of being a full-time professional musician/artist has a rosy ending. That is how I began a new life in a warehouse, and can bare/bear it. He took me there, He dropped me off there, He gave me a once-a-week gig to go with the warehouse job. More on this in a later commentary.

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