Getting Out

There’s something about getting out of town. A rainy drive eastbound and down, a chance to recharge the old battery, and this time that place was Galveston.

Every time I come here, I remember one particular day.

Back in the ’80s I was the singer in a glam band called Success. We had been accepted into something I’d never seen before, a Battle of the Bands… parade.

Yes, a parade.

Picture one float after another rolling down the Galveston seawall, each carrying a live band playing its own songs. It sounded like an incredible opportunity to get our music in front of thousands of people.

There was just one problem.

We had rented a PA system that we’d never used before.

And since I was the singer, somehow I became the sound engineer.

George knew his way around PA systems too, so the two of us were frantically tracing cables, flipping switches, and wondering why this “special” BOSE sound system refused to make a single sound.

Meanwhile, the rest of the band had already gone to change into their stage clothes.

There I was in sweatpants and the clock was ticking…

I honestly don’t remember what the problem turned out to be. What I do remember is the feeling! The pressure! The troubleshooting! The determination to make the show happen no matter what.

Looking back, I think that was my sink-or-swim moment, and a heck of an introduction to production problem-solving.

Funny how life works.

I started the day worried about getting a PA system to work. I walked away with something that would influence my career for the next 30 years.

We got it working minutes before the float started to roll out. As for Galveston… they got to watch the front man of an ’80s glam band perform with flat hair and sweatpants. Maybe I accidentally helped invent grunge a few years early… probably not 🙂

But I did learn something that day.

The challenges we face have a funny way of preparing us for careers we never saw coming. Sometimes the thing standing between you and Success 🙂 isn’t the problem itself, it’s your willingness to keep working it until the music starts.