A Dollar Short

Thanks to Rex Smith, Maryland.

18 December 2013

If you hang around the bluegrass world long enough you'll hear two distinct statements: (1.  "You'll never get rich playing Bluegrass."  (2. "Bluegrass is the People's Music."  The first statement could certainly apply to a lot of life's endeavors. You'll never get rich for instance, thinking that you could make a life's employment goal out of designing World Fairs, or making it up into the billionaire bracket of the NBA. The second statement is the one that maintains my fascination for this style of music. There are a few slick professionals who have gained much prestige and a more than comfortable lifestyle out of sticking with bluegrass. The bigger picture is filled with hopefuls who had to cross over into "country music" or rock and roll in order to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table. There is another cross-over line that is equally as important: When does a musician decide that this is what they want to be? - a full-time working musician trying to survive on their talents. These are life's challenges with a big dose of living Life on Life's terms. Few really make it to fame and fortune in anything, let alone the music profession. The talent pool is huge and the sharks are always feeding on the abundant food supply.
     Getting back to Statement 2, fame and fortune has to come from somewhere, and every back road and  (now,) urban or suburban housing development in my own stomping ground (Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania) is still turning out talented singers and pickers who are entertaining the People every weekend of the year at local joints and even bigger venues. They barely make enough money to cover gasoline expenses if you think this is some higher form of lifestyle. Some of them have gained a lot of prestige and recognition in their own locales and even national recognition in bluegrass circles, but monetary rewards are so piddling that they'll never give up their day-job. They can't afford to. This is Trench Entertainment brought down to its basic level. It's that 'paying your dues' cliche that you always hear and it's for real. I love hanging around the trenches and talking to these men and women. I'm a former infantryman. I spent my time in the Grunts. We all dreamed and told stories to each other about leading a better life. "We Gotta Get Out of This Place" was more than an anthem of our time in Viet Nam. We totally understood every word of that song. Even now when I hear any song by the Animals I'm right back in the mud and the blood. My life is better now. It's a rich life spent talking to dreamers in another sphere of existence. They love playing music for the people, even though they'll probably never make the Big Time, or even provide a decent living for themselves or their families without substantial help from another avocation. They support each other a lot, too, because they're members of a like-thinking community. The serious ones are continually working on their music and always searching for just the right sound or the right combination of like-minded players. Mostly in the end, they do it for the love of bluegrass.