The Gazette
I remember my first time. It was just like yesterday.
No, more like Thursday, actually. That’s when it finally happened.
It’s one of those things that gets built up in a man’s head for so long that eventually, he wonders if it is ever going to happen, and if it is indeed the stuff dreams from which dreams are made. Will it really be all that?
Where will you be when it finally, finally happens, when this amazing dream comes true?
Well, last Thursday, I was sitting right here at my desk when it happened. And I can say, without hesitation, that it is, in, fact, all that.
Okay, okay, get your minds out of the gutter, already! I’m talking about hearing a song I wrote and performed played on the radio for the very first time. My virgin debut, as it were. Okay, our debut – Frank Johnson and I are The Turn Signals (the most under-used equipment in South Carolina), a local acoustic duo specializing in offbeat covers and quirky originals – and the song DJ Dale played, while written by me, was performed by both of us and featured extra harmonies by a good friend of ours who produced our CD.
It wasn’t AT 40, it wasn’t Sirius or XM, it wasn’t even Chuck 102. It was a small public station in, of all places, Portland, Maine, and I had to tune in via Internet.
But you know what? The show, “WheeeeeDoggies!” is a terrific show – a cool, eclectic blend of a wide variety of musical genres and performers. And when our hostess, DJ Dale got on the microphone and said, “Don’t go away, the Turn Signals are coming right up,” the hair on my arms stood straight up.
Of course, the next song she played was a Native American Tom-Tom chant of the lyrics to “Jesus Loves Me” -- which had me worried that listeners all over the world thought we had written that. If anyone here heard it, we might conceivably never work in this town again, as it were.
But no; she re-introduced that artist, then proceeded to tell the world about our CD, the song she was playing, who was doing what, all that.
Then the needle hit vinyl, or rather, the laser hit plastic, and our song launched into the ether.
People who do not perform probably do not understand the excitement such a moment brings to a performer. And to be fair, music is not my main career path – it’s something I do for the love of it, on the side, because it’s a part of my soul I must continue to feed, or die.
That and it does not offer health insurance.
Playing out is both a living and a blessing – it’s a way to validate what you love to do, share good moments and make positive connections with others, and as I mentioned earlier, feed your spiritual side.
For a musician, one major dream is to hear your song on the radio, period. It’s not the end all be all, but it is one of the peaks to which we strive to ascend. And, no matter how small the format, no matter how fleeting the moment, no matter what time of day or night, when it happens, it does feel absolutely incredible.
How incredible, you might ask?
Well, put it this way, when it was over, I really did want to smoke a cigarette.
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