When I was twenty-nine I received a phone call that had the potential to change my life. A small but prestigious record label offered me the chance to go to San Francisco and record for them. That would also involve touring to help support sales and they were willing to help with that too. A couple of years earlier and I would have jumped at the chance, but there was some bad stuff going on in my life and this had the potential of making it worse. It only took a moment to thank them and gently refuse. I knew immediately that I had put an old dream to rest and my life was on a new path.
I've thought about this often during the quiet moments. Playing a game of "What if..." and allowing myself to daydream.
Over the years I've met some musicians that were very talented but only played on weekends. They had day jobs, families, drove vans to soccer practices, etc. I've heard of many others that composed, arranged, published, recorded, but refused to tour. The reasons are many but the results are the same.
When we see a local artist we sometimes think that we are looking at someone who just wasn't quite good enough. The artist next door couldn't possibly be THAT good. And yet we still enjoy listening to them. Many of the studio musicians of the '60s and '70s did not look like rock stars. They looked like regular folks. Even today you wouldn't recognize them if they were in line with you at McDonalds. But they helped create hundreds of the songs that you love.
I didn't know it when I started writing this blog a couple of years ago, but I really want to celebrate the local artists. Not just the pop musicians who play on the weekends, but the jazz and classical folks who perform for free for small audiences. The middle school teacher who writes children's books, the grandmother who publishes books of poetry, that odd lady at church who paints.
For most of us, the famous artists are people that we read about. We enjoy their work but we probably will never meet them. We don't have enough money to buy a famous painting and we live far from NYC and may never see a play on Broadway. But that doesn't mean that we live in a cultural wasteland. Many local artists are as good as the world famous ones but are terrible at the business of art. Many times that is the difference between success and failure.
So as we enter a new season of artistic offerings I urge you to buy a book or CD from a local artist, attend community theater plays, go to art shows at local galleries and make a purchase or two. And don't forget the events at your local college. Your life will be enriched, you will support local artists ( which is like supporting a local business), and your community will be better for it.