- After every music awards show, I surf
around on the Web for samples of work by any winners I don't know. Sometimes
I "discover" someone who really moves me, and whose work becomes
part of my life from then on.
-
- Yet many of the best performers I've
ever heard are unknown. Very unknown. As in, "Ain't nobody heard of
them but their mamas."
-
- There's a ton of talent in and around
Paradise. Like the Rock Star Telephone Repairman. I met him when he came
out to fix a problem with the line.
-
- As he checked out the wiring inside the
house, he saw my old drum kit.
-
- "You play drums?" he said.
-
- "Used to," I told him. "A
long time ago."
-
- "I play guitar," the RSTR said.
"My wife says I'm good."
-
- "You play someplace where I can
hear you?" I said.
-
- "No," he said. "I don't
play in any bands. But I can bring you a tape."
-
- A couple of days later, he did just that.
-
- Gwen the Beautiful popped it into our
stereo system - and out came riffs and licks that rocked like you wouldn't
believe. The shy old boy who'd fixed the phone was a genuine rock music
phenom.
-
- The RSTR hadn't stayed to listen. I ran
outside and caught up with him as he started his truck. "You make
me want to get back on the drums," I said. "Want to come over
some evening and jam?"
-
- His face looked kind of green. "I
can't," he said. "Just thinking about playing in front of anybody
makes me feel real sick."
-
- And he pulled away.
-
- Then there's the Young Folk Singer, the
only person who came to an audition we held for my old local television
show. We wanted someone to "sing the news like it's the blues,"
and Folkie gave those of us who heard him a meaty lesson in writing meaningful
lyrics.
-
- "That's it! You're our guy!"
I said when he finished. "We'll have you on every week."
-
- "Oh, I won't be here much longer,"
Folkie said. "I'm a rambler, just hitchin' around the country and
payin' my way with the songs I make up as I go."
-
- "How about if you come back here
tomorrow, and we videotape you singing all the songs you can come up with?"
-
- "I'd like that. But you can't pay
me. That'd ruin my cred. I'd like a CD of everything I sing, though, to
kinda remember myself by."
-
- "We'll give you a dozen CDs,"
I said.
-
- Folkie grinned. "Great. See ya tomorrow."
-
- But we didn't see him tomorrow. We never
saw him again. A few weeks later, I ran into the old boy who'd given Folkie
a ride to the station.
-
- "He hit the road right after he
played for you," the old boy said. "Said he was headed for Jonesboro."
-
- The most talented of all is Paula the
Plumber. She came over to our ranch to fix one of the sinks. When she saw
my drums, she laughed. "Man, those're almost as old as me!" Then
she went right to the heart of the matter. "I'm the greatest girl
singer in the world. Toured for 20 years. Got a voice that'd make Trisha
Yearwood quit the business!"
-
- I didn't believe her. How could I? She
also said she was the greatest plumber in the world, but when she left
the sink still leaked.
-
- A week later, though, I was at Paula's
place about 40 miles south of Paradise. I had to go by on my way to Little
Rock and figured I'd stop in and settle the bill. From inside her storefront,
I heard a country band playing, fronted by the best gal singer this side
of - well, Trisha Yearwood for sure.
-
- And when I went inside, there she was,
Paula the Plumber, rehearsing with some friends. "Need somebody to
sing at a wedding?" she said with a wink. "I'm your gal."
-
- Except that whenever I recommend her
band to anyone who needs a great gal singer they always report to me that
she won't return their calls. And when I call to tell her about a gig she
says, "Sorry, lost the signal," and hangs up.
-
- So, what's the real difference between
the award-winners and those no one knows? I think it boils down to this:
-
- It's great to be the best at what you
do. But first you've got to show up for the gig.
-
- Copyright C 2006 by Larry Brody. For
permission to reprint this column, please write to LarryBrody@cloudcreek.org.
-
- Author Larry Brody's weekly column, LIVE!
FROM PARADISE! appears on his website, www.larrybrody.com. He has written
thousands of hours of network television, and is the author of "Television
Writing from the Inside Out" and "Turning Points in Television."
Brody is Creative Director of The Cloud Creek Institute for the Arts, the
world's first in-residence media colony. More about his activities can
be seen on www.tvwriter.com and www.cloudcreek.org. He welcomes your comments
and feedback at LarryBrody@cloudcreek.org. Brody, his wife and their dogs,
cats, horses and chickens live in Marion County, Arkansas. The other residents
of the mythical town of Paradise reside in his imagination.
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