If
you go to a bookstore this week, pick up a copy of Billboard
Magazine. I shouldn’t have to tell you that, of course. For over a
century, Billboard has been the foremost musical publication in
America. (Biased? Who me?) But, this week’s issue (dated September
28) is pretty important to me. I have a story inside – with an
interview of Kenny Rogers, focusing on his upcoming album – You
Can’t Make Old Friends.
Though
the majority of my work for Billboard has been in the digital sector,
I have been blessed over the past couple of years to have landed a
few pieces in the print edition. But, if you know me, this one’s
special.
More
than any other musical artist, Kenny Rogers was the one who inspired
me with his body of work. Go back in time with me to the late 1970s.
Some of my earliest memories of records were watching the clouds on
the United Artists label go around and around while I listened to
songs like “The Gambler,” “Lucille,” and “Daytime Friends.”
His music was a huge part of the soundtrack of my youth. Show and
tell at Burns Elementary? I took my Kenny Rogers records. (Even
though one day, I thought about taking my I Want To Be Like Mr.
Tidwell When I Grow Up T-shirt.
For the record, I’m still trying that one too!) When I was in
middle school, there was a fashion line at J.C. Penney of Kenny
Rogers dress shirts. Yep, I was the only one at JES Middle School who
had them....(I was so much of an individualist back then!)
But,
it was listening to those records that lit my fuse as a music fan. I
became a fan of other artists, sure, but there was always something
special about when Kenny Rogers released a new record - even to this
day.
Since
going to work for Billboard, I wonder sometimes if I act professional
enough. I post a lot of Facebook pictures whenever I meet someone in
the industry – legendary or newcomer – and I’ll be honest when
I say I don’t see a lot of my fellow writers doing the same thing.
But, I can’t help it. I’m a fan. I wouldn’t be doing this for a
living if I didn’t have the passion for it. To be a part of telling
the story of the artists I get to cover is an amazing feeling – one
I don’t take lightly. But, yeah, there was a kid who spent his $ 10
a week on casssettes and records at Wal-Mart as a kid, who begged his
father to take him to concerts at night when it meant another ride
back to Nashville after a long day’s work – I now know how those
trips to Music City add up. So, if I have ever offended anyone with
that I apologize. But, trust me when I say, I don’t mean it that
way. A new artist, Tyler Farr, put this in perspective last week.
During an interview, he talked about taking all the pictures he could
with artists he was getting to meet...because you only get one time
around. So, let me say I am serious about my craft, but I also love
my craft, as well.
Back
to the Billboard issue this week, I do hope you will seek out a copy
of this one. I have to get one or two myself. This one is as much a
tribute to my parents as anything else I have ever done. So many
times in my life, people would ask ‘I know you love listening tp
music, but what are you going to Do
for a living? They always believed. And, though I am little worse for
the wear, and have traveled through a few roads I didn’t plan on
nor did I expect, I am getting to do what I love to do. And, by the
way, Kenny’s album is really good. You need to buy it on October 8!
Later
this week, I will tell you about another country artist that inspired
me recently in a different way......Stay tuned!
