From Riches To Rags With A Full Cup

I was just watching an episode of What Would You Do and the very first story began with a ‘Food Stamp’ customer trying to check out of a grocery store with not quite enough money left on her account to buy all the groceries she’d wanted to purchase. She had no extra cash for the remaining $12.00 and the clerk (an actor) was giving the welfare customer (an actor) grief because she was taking Government money which the cashier paid for. Most every other non suspecting real customer paid the $12.00 difference to help the young lady out and sparked sometimes heated conversations with the clerk. This got me to thinking about my own life.

My Family was never well-to-do when I was growing up and my Dad often had more than one job at a time. Three jobs, in point of fact, on several occasions. He did this to provide for my mother and me keeping a roof over our heads, food in the fridge and on the table and electricity for lights and heat. We didn’t have an extravagant life by any means. Often our weekly night out for entertainment would be going to a local stretch of busy train tracks to wait for the trains to come by so we could count the number of locomotives and train cars as each one rumbled by and clacked down the tracks. In the warmer months, my entertainment was found in our yard or in the stand of woods across the street from our house. We were lucky to have each other and everything else we possessed in our little piece of the world.

I myself have had many jobs working for the other guy (mostly Management positions) and I’ve had five different businesses of my own. I’ve also kept up my music career in one form or another and have been lucky enough to make a living at it for the third time now. I have seen the low side of life having lived out of my own car at one point with no job and no place to go much less knowing where my next meal would come from. Conversely, I have been fortunate enough to gross over $6000.00 per day with one of my businesses. I’ve been Bankrupt once and almost had to file a second time but found a way to work myself out of that situation. I can say without a doubt that just making just enough money to pay the bills and go out once in a while is all a person really “needs”.

Many of my friends and family members would/will be shocked to hear that I, too, have been on Government assistance. The EBT (Food Stamps) kept food in my belly when I would have otherwise gone hungry and maybe even passed over into the criminal world to be able to eat had it not been for that Government assistance. I realize that a lot of people are abusing the system. What I am saying is that there are so very many people which need some help from time to time. It wasn’t so long ago that a good friend had a heart so big as to help me get a car running and on the road. This person also loaned me money to pay off a debt and I’m currently paying him back with a payment every month. Now things are beginning to get back on track and life is once again good.

What does all this really mean? It means you shouldn’t judge a person based on their appearance, financial wealth, their education, their job or their past. In a nut-shell, just don’t judge at all! You probably don’t know a person’s situation and would most likely be incorrect if you speculated about them. A person’s worth can only be measured by their every day actions so unless you know them and are around them often, try not to measure their worth. Some of the most generous and thoughtful folks I know have, if you’ll pardon my French, no pot to piss in. (A point of Trivia here. A person’s status was once judged on whether someone had a “Pee-Pot” to use during the night stored under or beside their bed so they wouldn’t have to go outside to relieve themselves during the night. Poor people could barely afford cookware to use for cooking food and did not own a Pee-Pot. The Pee-Pot was considered a luxury item only afforded by the wealthy. If you were a Commoner, or poor, you had “no pot to piss in”. And now you know where the term comes from. You’re welcome!) I’ve ridden both ends of the stick. I’ve been more than comfortable with lots of “stuff” and so broke I had nowhere to live but my car and no food to eat for days at a time. Everyone should be so lucky for only then can one truly appreciate the things they have.

The moral of this little story can be summed up like this: 

(From the Bible, New International Version)  

Matthew, 7-2 - For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 

Toodles for now. 

It’s Been A While...

I have refrained from posting blogs for quite some time now but a great many folks keep telling me I should write more. I find myself discovering new things to comment about or to discuss every single day and you would think that I would write about them. I have come to the proverbial fork in the road at which I must make a decision. Write more often and make my readers either think, smile or laugh or just simply ignore my blog page. Shucks! Let’s pull a Nike and just do it!

I’ll begin by getting everyone caught up on what’s been going on for the last couple of years. I’ve been playing music as much as possible and scratched an item off of my Bucket List and did a Cruise Gig. I did a lot of hired gun gigs as Bassist and/or Guitarist. I became an Ordained Minister then was finally granted an Honorary Doctorate. I currently hold the position of Bass Tech for a concert group named Stone Echo and have done some fill ins with them on both bass and guitar. Though my primary duties are more directed towards making sure the Bassist for the group has everything he needs and is set up and tuned before a show, I also assist the crew with setting up the stage as well as assisting the Lighting Tech. Needless to say I help with the Load Out as well but the Bassist’s gear always comes first. If any of you have ever been on a touring crew in any capacity, you will understand this to be true in a lot of cases.

I have been in the Music Industry in one element or another as a professional since the tender age of twelve when I was signed to a management company out of Nashville, Tennessee. I suppose you might even say earlier than that as my first paying gig was a solo performance for a private event where I was paid rather handsomely for my age and the times. There have certainly been  times where I took the miscellaneous jobs to help pay bills and even had several of my own businesses in the past but I never completely abandoned my music.

For many musicians, the music we perform or compose is at least as bad as alcohol or drugs for an addict. Some musicians are able to just play occasionally while the rest of us become grumpy if we cannot or do not play. This is the meat of what separates us into two major components. The Professional and the Hobbyist. The Hobbyist will put any income from music into the Household funds and can usually be found sitting in an office somewhere or playing with his buddies in someone’s home or garage. This group of individuals can be found on stage at most local venues such as bars or even city-wide events. The Professionals will almost always only put back into their personal finances just enough to pay their bills and all other monies go right back into the business. You see? Music is a business if that’s what you choose to do for your living. Bassically if you don’t work (play music), you don’t eat. It’s just that simple.

Some, like me, have been around long enough that we have seen and done a lot of things which others wouldn’t even believe if we were to tell them about everything we’ve seen and done as a musician. We’ve also met a lot of really well known Artists and have either opened for a number of them or have been on the stage with them performing. Shoot! I partied a few times with Black Oak Arkansas some years back backstage in the green rooms, on their Tour Bus as well as in their rooms. Jim Dandy didn’t do any sort of rescuing when we were partying back in the day. If you are my age, you will most assuredly understand the “rescuing” reference. I have recorded in the studio or been on the stage with Grammy Nominees,  Grammy Winners and Dove Award Winners. I’ve met some of the most popular Artists of their day. I sold a song I composed when I was nineteen and there are not too many musicians who can say they have done that in their lives. 

Though it is a tough job, I enjoy being on a concert band crew. I’m old and have much experience and can pass knowledge along whenever I’m asked. I’m fortunate enough to have the love of a woman who understands the business and is well versed in all of which being Married to a Professional Musician entails. I wish every one of my music family members were as lucky as this business has a habit of tearing many couples apart. 

For what it’s worth, I’ll be posting more often about somewhat more interesting subject matter. For now just try to remember to recognize your journey and be kind to others. King’s X released an album entitled, “Faith, Hope and Love” a number of years ago and truly we could use a bit more of all three in today’s society. 

Until the next time...

...Toodles!