I play music for fun, and sometimes I play music for money, and most often, we’re talking about the same gig that accomplishes both. The goals aren’t that lofty – have some fun, make a little scratch, so I can buy some strings and go out to lunch during the week.
I had hoped when I decided to play music in public to affect millions of people, and for a thousand reasons, this did not come to pass. So, I’ve resigned myself to enjoy being as good as I can, and bringing some temporary joy to hundreds over the years. Oh well!
But there are times when this “gifted amateur” thing we do has long-lasting effects on listeners, and this is something we should take a moment to remember. This is a more important and significant than just playing music for an evening of fun. Occasionally (probably more often that we realize) we really affect people’s lives. Our performance comes at a particular time in their lives, or at a seminal event, and the experience sticks with them.
Now and again, I get a reminder of this phenomenon. I’ll bump into someone whose wedding I played at, or someone who saw a show – maybe years ago, and it’s an important memory for them. I have had people tell me a cassette tape of one of my bands was the soundtrack for a cross-country trip – something I could not have anticipated when I took their $10 for it years ago.
I played a wedding this weekend, and two people came up to me to say they remembered me playing at a campfire in Kennedy Meadows years ago, at a memorial campout for a departed friend. Of course I remember that gig – it was extremely touching. People singing and weeping around the campfire, with live music provided by my bandmates and I.Since that weekend, I get choked up singing “Ripple” if I’m not careful.
This shouldn’t surprise me too much, because I’m on the other side of it quite often. I see a lot of performances by a lot of artists, and there are performances that are burned into my memory, for a variety of reasons. Sometimes, the band is just that good. Just as often, it’s the overall combination of the music, the place, the people I’m with and the particular time in my life.
This is justification for work we’ve put into our craft. We may come away from a performance bemoaning a missed note, a glitch in the arrangement, but to do so detracts from the real value of what we do and it can be profound to someone. I’m proud to help people make treasured memories.
What an honor! (We better keep rehearsing!
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