Klarinet Archive - Posting 000056.txt from 2006/02

From: Mark Charette <charette@-----.org>
Subj: Re: [kl] That's music?
Date: Sun, 05 Feb 2006 23:38:22 -0500

Rommel John (Rafi Jochanan) Miller wrote

>I mean playing bass as a pick-up in a
>Bluegrass band when you're a trained blues or jazz bassist is just going to
>bore you to tears probably, unless you have eclectic musical interests. And
>not everyone has. I know I don't.
>
>
Well, it didn't bore me to tears, since that's exactly what I did. It
payed the bills, I met great and horrid people, played studio gigs,
whatever. I was no dilletante ... I was making a living. No eclectism -
playing a solid bass is what I was paid to do. If I didn't want to do
that then I shouldn't have been in that position.

The music biz is the same as any other biz - I've been working in big &
small business for the last 25 years and I;ve met few CEOs or
presidents that I would consider "nice" if I were their competitor.
Everyone's got to learn to hold onto their wallet.

I think the rest of what you've said stinks of snobbishness to high
heaven - you look down from your high and mighty seat and say "look at
those people ... my, but don't they realize that I represent 'goodness
and light' becuase my taste in music runs 'better' than theirs".

And then you wonder why no one comes to your concerts.

I've played "Stairway to Heaven" and "Cocaine" and "Play that Funky
Music" and "You're Cheating Heart" and "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" and
the "Beer Barrel Polka" and a ton more songs more than any of you have
played the Nutcracker, I'll bet. And if I looked bored or tired I'd be
booed off the stage and out of a job - there's nowhere to hide up there.

That's the difference between working musicians and wannabees. I decided
I couldn't survive as a working musician and it wasn't going to kill me
to stop playing, but those that survive do what they have to. There's no
pact with the devil.

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