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Another thing I will say is, ……………If you have to play stuff you don’t like, then why do it? There’s a lot of other easier ways to make money. This just makes “music” another job you may hate. Whatever happened to “being true to yourself” as a musician. <...>



At one time in my life I felt like that. After the disappointment when the Mowtown contract fizzled out over money, the band broke up and I got a day gig, working for the telephone company while playing "art music" on the weekends. I thought the music business was too uncertain and I should become a 'fine upstanding member of the working class'.

One day I climbed a telephone pole to service a customer. Climbing a telephone pole is dangerous because you are only held up by about 1/4" of spikes in the wood. Falling is no fun and one careless move will send you down to the ground before you can complete 'Oh Sh***" (the Sh is all you will get out before impact.

To add additional problems to this day were some galvanized garbage cans and 4 chain-link fences meeting at the corner where the pole was. I shudder at the thought of landing on one of those fences.

Anyway, I opened the telephone terminal and immediately discovered about 100 paper wasps had made their home in the terminal. Needless to say, they weren't happy about the intrusion.

Knowing I couldn't do anything quickly as straddling a fence after the acceleration of gravity had increased my speed would be much worse than 100 wasp stings, I slowly and carefully climbed back down the pole. Fortunately the wasps never figured out it was me who was the home wrecker. I dealt with the wasp problem and then repaired the phone.

Now, on those rare times when I feel badly about having to play a song that I either don't like or have played so often that there is nothing else to discover, I think about those wasps, and the song isn't so bad at all. Fortunately these occasions are extremely rare.

And whether I need the wasp memory or not, a funny thing happens. As soon as the music starts and I start playing, that nagging voice in my 'left brain' shuts up and no matter how corny the song is, I just get into playing the music and I enjoy myself.

Almost every musician has to play stuff he/she doesn't care for. When I was in a symphonic band, I didn't enjoy Mozart or Copeland, but I loved Moussorgsky, Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky, Dvorak and Shostakovitch. If I didn't have to play the dull Mozart minuets, I wouldn't have gotten to play a Prokofiev concert suite. It was worth it.

But I guess I'm a little weird. I love performing to an audience. It's my second favorite thing to do (can't tell you what's first in a family forum). Instead of saying "I have to go to work today.", I say "I get to go to work today!" and truly mean it.

Two day gigs, one with the Telephone Company and another as a Field Engineer with a manufacturer of electronics to the Cable TV industry convinced me of two things:

1) Being a musician is not what I do, it's what I am.

2) A bad day playing music is better than a good day at any other job I can think of.

I love the audience, we have a great deal of fun together, and I intend to play music for as long as I live -- no retirement for me. I couldn't imagine not wanting to play for and with an audience.

Of course, YMMV.

Insights and incites by Notes ♫

Bob "Notes" Norton smile Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com

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