kudzurunner
4710 posts
May 23, 2014
3:49 PM
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I drove my 8-year-old son Shaun to Memphis today to buy him a trumpet. He's been making pretty good sounds, intermittently, on the most beat-up, no-tone, no-working-valves thing for the past three years. So we decided to upgrade.
In any case, we stopped for lunch at a Wendy's in Senatobia (Mississippi, obviously), and as I slid sideways to pick up my order, the young woman behind the counter smiled and said "How's it going?"
It was Sharde Thomas, the fife player. "Fife master!" I said.
It stunned me. Here's a 24-year-old already-legend of the blues: pretty much the only female blues fife player in the world; granddaughter of Othar Turner. And she's working at Wendy's, and wearing the uniform. I asked her if she was traveling this summer, and of course she is, with her fife-and-drum group.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shard%C3%A9_Thomas
It made me think about how many blues players have surprising day gigs. I didn't realize that Diggs worked [CORRECTION: for a teacher's union.] I know that iceman has a business making high-end tapenade and other bottleables. In the blues world of downtown New York, people didn't talk about their day gigs. The music was the point. But it would be interesting, surprising, and enlightening to hear some of what people here do to pay the rent when they're not making music. The Blues Doctors are both college professors--and we genuinely like our day gigs, not least because they allow us some time in which to play some road gigs.
Last Edited by kudzurunner on May 25, 2014 1:07 PM
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GMaj7
419 posts
May 23, 2014
4:24 PM
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Day and night gig.. Pay the rent serving the taxpayer in law enforcement..
Mostly drugs and guns, but some immigration stuff, too..
Good thread Kudz..
EDITED: My favorite day (and night) gig is dad to 5 kids and husband... just thought I should mention that..
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Greg Jones
16:23 Custom Harmonicas
greg@1623customharmonicas.com
1623customharmonicas.com
Last Edited by GMaj7 on May 23, 2014 4:39 PM
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Old newbie
16 posts
May 23, 2014
5:03 PM
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I kill chickens.
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Frank
4341 posts
May 23, 2014
5:11 PM
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Does anyone work in a cheese factory?
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Frank
4342 posts
May 23, 2014
5:47 PM
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I doubt you would want to show up for a gig after workin 8 hours in a cheese factory:)
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Harp2swing
120 posts
May 23, 2014
5:52 PM
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I couldn't work in a cheese factory I like cheese too much.
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2chops
245 posts
May 23, 2014
6:46 PM
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My ideal day gig is to be the cheese cutter at Wegmans. Till that happens I'm a tree climbing instructor/sales consultant.
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I'm workin on it. I'm workin on it.
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CarlA
508 posts
May 23, 2014
6:50 PM
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2chops
247 posts
May 23, 2014
7:00 PM
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Carl yer killin' me. Mmmmm.
Frank, I was a working arborist for quite a while. Mostly power line clearance on company time. Residential trimming on my days off. Gave up trimming last year due to time constraints and I got tired of always working with overuse injuries. But man. There is nothing like cleaning out a tree at height. Still hold my ISA certification though.
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I'm workin on it. I'm workin on it.
Last Edited by 2chops on May 23, 2014 7:01 PM
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kudzurunner
4711 posts
May 23, 2014
7:03 PM
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It would be nice if that big cheese pic were resized downward so that the entire thread wasn't f--ked up, stretched beyond capacity, width-wise. Trim the rind, please.
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dougharps
623 posts
May 23, 2014
7:05 PM
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@Frank
and you're OK!
(Monty Python reference for the unknowing)
38 years of mental health counseling, runaway and homeless youth parent/adolescent counseling, and child welfare social service employment, now retired. Music helped me retain what little sanity remains of the small portion life served me.
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Doug S.
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robbert
313 posts
May 23, 2014
7:41 PM
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Contract mail sorter/carrier (and family man). Work six days a week, but gives me afts. & eves. for gigging.
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Gnarly
1010 posts
May 23, 2014
8:51 PM
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I got a job as harmonica repair guy for Suzuki US a few years ago, still working for them, but most of my life I played music for a living--not original music.
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Brad Arvidson
7 posts
May 23, 2014
9:48 PM
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Nice thread, pretty interesting- at least for.
Hey Frank, don't highjack this.
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superchucker77
445 posts
May 23, 2014
9:58 PM
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I'm a consultation agent in Geek Squad. Mostly diagnosis of computer problems. The guy working behind the counter checking computers and phones in for repair and doing minor repairs.
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Brandon O. Bailey
Official Website of Superchucker
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Mirco
171 posts
May 23, 2014
10:08 PM
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High school Math teacher. I always carry the harp with me at school. It's good for signalling different sorts of classroom transitions or just for getting the class's attention when they're rowdy.
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Tuckster
1410 posts
May 23, 2014
10:16 PM
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Good thread. I've heard that Jimmy Reed worked in a steel mill in Gary,Ind. I did the same for 33 yrs. in Pittsburgh. That is,unfortunately,the only thing I have in common with Jimmy Reed.
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BronzeWailer
1282 posts
May 23, 2014
11:42 PM
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Freelance translator. I can make as much noise as I want in the "office."
BronzeWailer's YouTube
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slackwater
54 posts
May 23, 2014
11:56 PM
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I'm a fisherman, just like my Dad and his Dad before him, and his Dad and his Dad right on back as far as anyone can trace. I've got home from gigs at one, two AM, had a pot of coffee, then gone out on the river- my day job isn't really a day job.
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HawkeyeKane
2524 posts
May 24, 2014
12:41 AM
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Banker here. Although credit unionist might be more accurate. Been in the field for almost 8 years now. Been doing the gig scene for about 6. Its a stark contrast....people you see in your day gig are curt, and semi-despise you because you have all the money behind that counter. They see you out playing later...and then they adore you and say things like "hey, that's my banker!!!"
To this day...still don't always know what to make of that sitch. Just learned to roll with it.
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Hawkeye Kane - Hipbone Sam
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Steamrollin Stan
772 posts
May 24, 2014
1:43 AM
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I own/operate my Pest Management Company....cockroach blues anyone???
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jbone
1626 posts
May 24, 2014
4:45 AM
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I'm not anything like famous. I do have a warehouse/driver gig 5 days a week. Gotta pay them bills!
I have thought long and hard over many years about what it would be like to do music, blues, full time. I see guys on FB and other places who are obviously doing pretty well and having a great time, but I think for me, if I'd gotten a shot in my earlier days, say my teens or 20's, addiction may well have overruled any chance I would have had at success.
At 59 I may be a bit past the window of opportunity, but at the same time going out and playing live locally is so cool and such a big plate of soul food.
When I retire in a few years we will be traveling, to see the country, do some fishing here and there- and play every place we can. Some of you may have occasion to meet us, which I look forward to!
I have always had a day job except when I had to take a night job, which I always switched as quickly as I could so I could hit the jams, work with bands, etc. We tried out a bass player last week who has just had to take a second shift job. Which means we may use him sometimes but we're still looking.
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http://www.reverbnation.com/jawboneandjolene
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000386839482
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wa7La7yYYeE
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JTThirty
245 posts
May 24, 2014
5:35 AM
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Mirco has the toughest day job. I know because I spent 29 years teaching high school English, journalism and world geography. In my geography classes, I taught a lesson about cultural diffusion, where the cultural traits of one culture seep into another. I used a history of the blues harp as an example of how the German invention became an integral part of blues music. Played examples of pre-war harp up through Kim Wilson, Gary Primich and, yes, Adam, etc... Play my own harp to illustrate how a white high school teacher became hooked on the genre.
Now, I write crime novels featuring crime fighting blues harp protagonists
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Ricky B
http://www.bushdogblues.blogspot.com
RIVER BOTTOM BLUES--crime novel for blues fans available at Amazon/B&N and my blog
THE DEVIL'S BLUES--ditto
HOWLING MOUNTAIN BLUES--due out early 2015
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isaacullah
2762 posts
May 24, 2014
5:39 AM
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I'm an archaeologist. Currently employed as a post doctoral research scholar. I do most of my work in the Mediterranean region, researching the long term social and environmental impacts of the adoption of food production (farming and herding economies) starting around 10,000 years ago. I use advanced computer simulation techniques as part of that...
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YouTube! Soundcloud!
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cliffy
87 posts
May 24, 2014
6:38 AM
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I am a Certified Prosthetist... I fit and fabricate artificial limbs and I also make braces for people who have MS, strokes, etc. Additionally, I handle all of the insurance appeals when Medicare or other insurers deny a prosthesis to an amputee who needs it.
I work on the road a lot, going to patient's homes and nursing homes and hospitals, so I have a lot of time to listen to blues in the car and jam along.
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Goldbrick
445 posts
May 24, 2014
8:54 AM
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@Diggs
In the 60's we called it Snellenburg U.
I wonder how many people remember that ?
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Diggsblues
1348 posts
May 24, 2014
9:19 AM
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I do. I took a music class there before it moved to spring garden st.. I used eat at the Horn and Hardart
around the corner.
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Jim Rumbaugh
992 posts
May 24, 2014
9:50 AM
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Optician
I fit eyeglasses and contact lens. The doctor does the exams, I do the "hardware"
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theharmonicaclub.com (of Huntington, WV)
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STME58
832 posts
May 24, 2014
9:52 AM
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@kudzurunner, what kind of trumpet did you get for Shaun? Has he started working out of an Arban Method Book yet? I have found that many of the scale exercises in Arban also work well for harp.
I work as a mechanical design engineer. I do mostly gears motors and mechanisms for consumer printer/copiers. In some ways the work is similar to music. It has a strong creative element, it requires skill to execute properly, ideas are frequently borrowed/ stolen/ built upon, even seemingly unrelated life experiences can go into your work, if you do it well millions of people will enjoy it. I see a possible similarity to a studio musician (although I have never been one) in that I can go into a store and see a product I have helped create on the shelf. If I were to point out the bit I designed to the salesperson and tell them that is my design, they would probably not believe me.
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Goldbrick
446 posts
May 24, 2014
11:01 AM
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Yep H and H on Chestnut and a Chock fulla Nuts too
I lived on Ritner street in South Philly and we used to walk up there for coffee with a box of terminis cannolis
Went to school at Phila College of Art which I guess is long gone too
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pharpo
739 posts
May 24, 2014
11:35 AM
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Retired Deputy Sheriff. Now manage the drug testing program the the U.S. Probation Office......for 102 more working days.....but who's counting......soon to be a part-time fisherman / landscaper / dishwasher / fix-it / painter .
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Procrastinator Emeritus
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Kyzer Sosa
1084 posts
May 24, 2014
11:38 AM
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I deliver pizzas for Domino's.
also: www.facebook.com/HandPaintedPortraits
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Kyzer's Travels
Kyzer's Artwork
"Music in the soul can be heard by the universe." - Lao Tzu
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bigd
536 posts
May 25, 2014
8:27 AM
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Most of the last 2 decades I have worked in a Hospice capacity starting out with the AIDS community and ending up specializing in the pain management of the dying - as both a hands on care and management R.N. These days I am working in the recovery field - alcohol, crystal methadone, and other addictions. I also have been supporting the creative growth of my daughter who has been acting since she is 16: last seen as W. Harrelson's 16 yo daughter in "True Detective", she is currently shooting "Blood Father" which will co-star Mel Gibson....
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Facebook
Last Edited by bigd on May 25, 2014 8:30 AM
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FatJesus
52 posts
May 25, 2014
8:37 AM
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Neat thread. I'm a copywriter slash creative director at an ad agency in NYC--though I work from home on LI. Been doing this for about 20 years.
Pro tip: Never play harp on a conference call with your clients... because then they will ask you to do it on every call.
Also, I am frequently mistaken for the Australian juice guy.
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XHarp
553 posts
May 25, 2014
12:21 PM
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35 years in Fleet. Currently I'm aFleet Manager for a large city here in Ontario.
If it cuts grass, digs ditches, groom trails, flushes pipelines, pushes snow, collects garbage, or sweeps streets and sidewalks I spec 'em, buy 'em, fix 'em and sell them when they're old.
For a real cool job, I'm a Grandfather. Pays horrible but the rewards are huge!
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"Keep it in your mouth" - XHarp
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jnorem
232 posts
May 25, 2014
12:34 PM
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I'm a professional music in a limbo of forced semi-retirement due to a prolonged illness, doing the odd bit of studio work and looking for a band, or at least a guitar to start working up songs with.
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Call me J
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florida-trader
487 posts
May 25, 2014
1:26 PM
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I am a Financial Planner. My wife and I are partners in a small family owned business. We are also the proud parents of 5 great kids.
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Tom Halchak
www.BlueMoonHarmonicas.com
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arzajac
1380 posts
May 25, 2014
1:52 PM
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I run a heart-lung machine.
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Custom overblow harps. Harmonica service and repair.
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Danny_D
1 post
May 25, 2014
2:47 PM
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I'm a civil engineer dabbling in hydrology, hydraulics and flood modelling.
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Goldbrick
450 posts
May 25, 2014
3:19 PM
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Done many things-photographer for car and motorcycle magazines,teacher,telephone lineman,communications engineer, radio disc jockey ( back when we still used records,property manager and now sell guitar and drum equipment ( you can find me on ebay as topptone)
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Jehosaphat
745 posts
May 25, 2014
3:29 PM
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A few Blue collar jobs in the past,Power Company Linesman,oil refinery operator.
Last 20 years working (on contract)for a local Authoriy in Hazardous Substances enforcement and emergency response.
Also have my own consultancy work advising companies on safe storage/use etc.
Being a granddad is the best bit though.(and playin'Harp)
Just noticed that quite a few of us are ex linesmen..something Freudian going on ?
Last Edited by Jehosaphat on May 25, 2014 3:31 PM
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Goldbrick
452 posts
May 25, 2014
3:36 PM
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damn glen campbell got me up there ;-)
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droffilcal
70 posts
May 25, 2014
8:39 PM
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For many years I was a freelance trombonist (classical and studio player) in Los Angeles with a part time paralegal job. Moved to Sacramento area, and have been barely getting by as a musician -- playing trombone, bass trombone, bass trumpet, euphonium, chromatic and diatonic harmonicas, singing, and playing a little bit of keyboard.
It's not a comfortable life by any means, and it wouldn't be happening without family help, but in approx two years my growth as an independent improvising musician has been incredibly satisfying.
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jbone
1633 posts
May 25, 2014
10:13 PM
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We certainly come from all walks of life don't we!
I have had 3 10 year careers interspersed with a lot of odd jobs. I was a rebuild guy for a major garment maker, central shop, redoing a lot of their sewing machines, I then went to manufacturing satellite dishes from 2.4 meter to 9.4 meter in size. Both of these were fascinating for me.
I want to tell you about my wife and duo partner Jolene for a minute:
At age 10 she taught herself guitar out of a Joan Baez songbook with the family acoustic guitar, then set it aside for roughly 45 years. Along came me, and she decided to pick it up again. That was 10 years ago when she brought home a Fender Concord acoustic and asked me to teach her about blues so she could always be my backup guitarist.
She was a clerk until age 40, when she took a chance and began a journalism career which spanned 20 years. Part of that time she was a concert reviewer locally, and she told me she'd never even dreamed of being anywhere but off stage until I came along! We've been busy for most of about 9 years as a duo. It's been a dream come true for me as she has tried to do every song and style I have asked her to. Most times successfully.
Recently she has begun learning a bit of harp and I'm putting a kit together for her. I'm struggling to learn a couple of slide guitar songs so we can switch off here and there!
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http://www.reverbnation.com/jawboneandjolene
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000386839482
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wa7La7yYYeE
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wolfkristiansen
278 posts
May 25, 2014
10:45 PM
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Postman for 8 years. Sometimes played clubs till 2:00 in the morning but managed to get to work at 6:30 a.m. to sort/deliver mail.
Got married, decided to use my brain. Went back to school, became a lawyer for 17 years.
Now I'm an advocate for poor people-- welfare appeals, evictions, workers' compensation appeals, employment insurance appeals, etc. I help unsophisticated people navigate bureaucracies, is the best way I can describe it.
But... all of my jobs were and are day jobs. Not nearly as important as playing, though I've never made a living playing. I love playing live, and will probably wail on the 4 draw as I take my last breath. Hopefully there'll be somebody there to hear it.
Cheers,
wolf kristiansen
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Georgia Blues
124 posts
May 26, 2014
12:58 AM
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For years I paid the bills as a freelance illustrator doing ad and magazine work. Now I teach at The University of Georgia.
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Alex
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