So for me the creative world isnt what you do after your day job though many professional musicians do this to make ends meet but its something that IS a job. Perhaps thats why Im not as disheartened by the more cold blooded aspects of the industry. Over the course of watching my mother navigate the creative world Ive seen just about every trick pulled that could have been and Ive seen her deposit the checks received for a job well done. When I recently asked her why she chose the creative world she said Early on I decided that if I had to work I was going to work at something that I loved.Im glad she did. As difficult chaotic dysfunctional and crazy as the world in music and the arts can be I always knew that they mattered deeply to her as they do to me.

Last Saturday night I was in a club on the South Side of Chicago listening to live rock music and talking to a guitar playing veteran of the music scene in the city. He looked and talked like the musicians that I recall from my childhood he was a thin cigarette smoking avant garde and interesting guy. We got to talking about a life in the relatively risky creative arts and he said Look you could get that safe job and spend your whole life that way but what are you waiting for When youre ninety-six years old and have three days left Is that when you decide to do what you love