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![[Bob Boyd's World of Music]](http://www.nightflying.com/bobswor2.gif)
The only
way most musicians can be musicians, is if they have a “day-job” to
support their habits, like sleeping in a dry place and eating. Those
who actually succeed in earning their living playing music are rare
exceptions, at least in Arkansas and around Little Rock.That’s the way
it’s been as long as I have been a working musician, and that covers
the last 54 years.I have had the privilege of knowing a lot of guitar
players, drummers, bassists and keyboard players during those years.We
all have to juggle our hours at our regular paying day job with their
playing in a band. Some of them I have known are carpenters, plumbers,
truck drivers, store clerks and just about every other occupation you
can name that is legal and moral.
And that’s just fine. All legal and moral work
is honorable, and builds our character. (I guess that’s why I’ve become
such a “character.”) When I first graduated from Mayflower High School
in 1954, I worked as an auto parts stock clerk, apprentice meatcutter
in a supermarket, an ice-cream packer and as a laborer. I helped dig
the sewer ditch for Forest Heights Junior High School, and I worked at
3M Company, cleaning the roofing-granule mixers. But for the past 53
years, I have been blessed to work on a music store sales floor, for
myself and for others. I’m still helping out 2 days a week, at Bryon
Knight’s “Little Rock Frets” in Breckenridge Village, where I still get
to string guitars, make minor repairs, and see and visit with my old
friends from Boyd Music and Sigler Music.
The good side of it is that having a
dependable pay check from a steady job, whatever the type of work,
gives us an opportunity to “have a life,” a family and stability. Road
musicians find there is something missing. Their only friends are their
fellow musicians, and the only home they have is another motel or hotel
room. Some can adapt to that life, just as road salesmen do. But most
people (myself included) much prefer sleeping in their own bed at
night, even if it means working an 8 hour day at a day job, then going
to play their instrument wherever the gig is each night. I know some
guys who teach school every day and play just about every night. I have
great admiration for them, in their ability to pace themselves and
survive and thrive, over many years of working 2 and sometimes 3 jobs.
If we have steady work doing anything, day job
or musicianing, we are very blessed. The “network” of working musicians
help each other. Every drummer I know, for example, knows several other
dependable drummers, and when they’re already booked for a night, they
pass the job along to their drummer friends. That goes for bands, too.
That’s what I call a “yes-yes” deal, when we all help each other
unselfishly, without professional jealousy. I remember a time back in
the 70s when I knew about 5 other good bands who played the types of
music I did. When I would get a call and my band was already booked, I
would take the caller’s number and call my band friends and tell them.
For several years, that resulted in everybody working more. It still
goes on today. If you’ve been around this area very long, you get to
know all the musicians, especially in your own field. Give them a boost
and you help yourself, as well. We’ve still got a pretty good music
market here, and everyone who wants to play in a band can usually find
a job.
During hard times (like now?) that extra money
we make playing in a band comes in handy and makes for a better life
style. I enjoyed selling musical instruments because they can be income
producing, so the buyer can actually pay for their instruments with
what they earn from playing them.
Despite our nation’s current money problems,
we are still the most blessed nation in the world. I have always
believed God had a hand in helping us establish a country where
everyone can survive and thrive. During the Revolutionary War, our
chances of defeating the British were slim and none. But here we are,
233 years later, living in the “great experiment.”
May God continue to bless us and show us how to
remain the world’s greatest nation.
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