Out Here on the Edge of the Desert # 33

OUT HERE ON THE EDGE OF THE DESERT--


    Getting the gig was often the wildest luck and the biggest art you did in music. Your time on stage sometimes went by like an afterthought to the dance you danced for an owner or agent of the bar or concert hall in dear old Tejas to get that gig, or not. The lessons you learned to help you talk that talk would teach you ultimately to walk that walk. It was Show Biz 1.01 you needed to take with you throughout the years.

    Fairness aside, bookers were just another obstacle on the way to getting the next encore. Each joint was a fiefdom. Playing a club was like membership in a sacred pecking order. Like wearing a badge that everyone else recognized. One that was redeemable and celebrated in the one club, but like a red flag to any other club of people in town. In any other club in town.

    To keep bucks coming into the house, we got good at playing for a host of places in the same neighborhoods, belonging to all those inner circles, without pissing off anyone anywhere. We were little political machines if not players of any repute from the time we were puppies. However, sometimes you just didn't get the gig.

    Which brings me to today's tickle. From time to time I hear rumbles from the bad old days. About the night trains we caught and the ones that shined on down the line. Sometimes they're welcome. They're always interesting.

From yesterday's email:

    "Hi Vince,

     Just finished reading a great article about The Flatliners in the San Antonio Express News. I am so proud of you, Steve, and Eric, and wish all the best for the three of you.
     I had a club in Austin in the 70's called ______. I remember the day when a dear, old friend of mine, ______ brought you in to talk about a possible booking. I regret (and am embarrassed to say), that I never booked you. What a fool I was. I often wondered if it was for the young and foolish reason of jealousy, due to the fact that I had been very much in love (or thought so) with her before you two got together. You know the old story..."why did she blow me off and take up with this jerk Bell. " Dumb, huh?
     Anyway, I was wondering if you know what ever happened to _____. I'm very curious to know how life worked out for her.
     Thanks for your time, and hope your future is very bright. You're a giant among men!!

     [From the club manager who came clean and admitted why he never booked me]"


    Though talent may be all you need, the last laugh is

    the point.
    Vince