Fourteen years ago I recognized something happening in my life. I recognized the true calling of my soul was to minister to people through music. I had really felt it building for some time, then one day, while listening to a favorite band of mine, it struck me this is what I need to do with my life.
Of course I was young, I was idealistic, I dreamt, I tried to force things. I started off to college and majored in music. I was the music director at an upstart church, one of the music directors at another church, and even worked with youth at another church. I figured, "Hey, if I'm supposed to live out a call as a minister, this is what I do."
I was wrong. I was very wrong.
I busted my butt in school and work, but halfway through my junior year I loathed working at churches and found the rigours of music school left me burnt out on being a musician. I walked away from my church job, changed majors, and started back visiting at my home church.
Management Science is a long way from music. I had no idea how this was supposed to work out, but I knew I was in the right place. I was in the right place even though I didn't feel like my calling had changed.
A few months later, after Shelly had moved to Tallahassee (yes, we had been together this whole time), we started visiting a church there. We felt at home there and thought it would be a good way to start out our new life once we got married. We joined up there, and guess what? They recruited me to play bass there. I wasn't a bass player, I was a rhythm guitarist. I was a song writer, I was an arranger; but they didn't need that so I helped out where I could.
I played bass there just about every Sunday for four-and-a-half years. I got to the point where anytime there were special events in town where other churches or groups needed a bass player I got the call.
Two weeks after Grayson was born I moved to Nashville. I moved to Nashville, not for music, but as an auditor. I worked as an auditor with HCA for three years before moving into operations management with HCA in 2007.
As an operations guy I met up with a fellow musician who had similar tastes. We both enjoyed all types of music, but particularly older country and folk. Very acoustic stuff. He was in a group at the time, but we jammed from time to time nonetheless.
Back in the spring of last year my friend's group was going through some changes. They were moving away from a classic country group to a more acoustic style. Their lineup changed and they needed a bass player. Well, I knew a thing or two about bass playing. They recruited me and now I'm in.
So we are still paying our dues as a group. We go through periods where we play a lot, periods where we can't get a gig. We pretty much never get paid, I think the only radio station that was going to put us on the air might go under because of the recent flood.
This is no career yet, but something cool is about to happen. Monday night we're playing on Music Row. It's another voluntary deal, for an industry group. It's not a big group, it's not going to lead to some big label deal, but it's Music Row.
Fourteen years. It's taken fourteen years of not having a clue how all of these odd-ball pieces fit together. How could giving up music and church work for geeky computer stuff lead me to be the musician I was called to be? Fourteen years after saying I'd do it, Monday night on Music Row I guess I'll find out.
Andy
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