Bransonian memories rushing back in recently. When I was a kid we would head there in the summer. I remember being really impressed with the water slides and go-cart tracks. This was many years before the bungee jumping came to town or I probably would've wanted to do that too. We didn't hit any of the small family shows that were the main course at that time, such as the Presleys, Baldknobbers, etc. Just a lot of goofing around and hopefully talking our dad into taking us to a motel with a pool.
The next tier of Branson experiences came in the early 90's. I was back in the area, got in a rough spot financially, took a job down there and it lasted longer than I expected it to. Wasn't bad. Got to sell newspapers and Bit-O-Honey candy bars to Japanese fiddle legend Shoji Tabuchi, sold gasoline to John "That's Incredible!" Davidson, hang out at television shows, meet some mid-level stars, play a few places, write songs, abuse caffeine(1 LARGE tablespoon per cup to be brewed of fresh ground Italian Roast from 'Hey Mon Coffee Roastery' out at the Wal-Mart Mall), drive around, all kinds of stuff. I have to say that I can't really remember meeting anyone there at that time that wasn't basically a decent sort, and that includes the famous people. I'm sure there were some rascals around, but I didn't know them. I did know several folks who came for the work in the construction business and ended up living in tents under the bridge at the state park along Taneycomo. Wives, kids, and everything packed into the car. A modern Grapes of Wrath situation. Housing was at a premium, and even if you could afford it, there might not be any to afford. I lived in an apt. in the old part of "downtown" next to Steak-n-Shake. LL. Olson was my roommate there before he ran off to California and got married. He worked at the Americana cable tv network that was down there for several years.
Musically speaking, my most memorable experience was when me and ol' Jeff did a songwriter's night at a place there, and it was hosted by a big shot writer who had won a Grammy for a song we've all heard probably way too much. Anyways, he told us he wrote a book about how to make a living writing songs. Several weeks later I was down at a music store in Harrison Ark., and came across the book. In it, this guy encouraged any up and coming writer of songs to move to Nashwood, and to start making connections in the business. The ideal situation, according to him, would be to meet some big shot writer, somehow convince him to take you under his wing and to become a writing partner. That having been done, you would take all your best ideas to this guy and follow all his advice to the letter "even if it rubs you the wrong way". That is a verbatim quote from the book that I have always remembered.
Needless to say, we have not followed this prescription for songwriting stardom. Instead, we did it the way we thought was right, wrote a lot of really great songs, recorded some of them, even got a few plays on the radio. We're good. We are the scene/movement/genre. We are the Rosebud Good Neighbor Club.
oh yeah, I ordered a dell notebook. a real hotrod, too.
The next tier of Branson experiences came in the early 90's. I was back in the area, got in a rough spot financially, took a job down there and it lasted longer than I expected it to. Wasn't bad. Got to sell newspapers and Bit-O-Honey candy bars to Japanese fiddle legend Shoji Tabuchi, sold gasoline to John "That's Incredible!" Davidson, hang out at television shows, meet some mid-level stars, play a few places, write songs, abuse caffeine(1 LARGE tablespoon per cup to be brewed of fresh ground Italian Roast from 'Hey Mon Coffee Roastery' out at the Wal-Mart Mall), drive around, all kinds of stuff. I have to say that I can't really remember meeting anyone there at that time that wasn't basically a decent sort, and that includes the famous people. I'm sure there were some rascals around, but I didn't know them. I did know several folks who came for the work in the construction business and ended up living in tents under the bridge at the state park along Taneycomo. Wives, kids, and everything packed into the car. A modern Grapes of Wrath situation. Housing was at a premium, and even if you could afford it, there might not be any to afford. I lived in an apt. in the old part of "downtown" next to Steak-n-Shake. LL. Olson was my roommate there before he ran off to California and got married. He worked at the Americana cable tv network that was down there for several years.
Musically speaking, my most memorable experience was when me and ol' Jeff did a songwriter's night at a place there, and it was hosted by a big shot writer who had won a Grammy for a song we've all heard probably way too much. Anyways, he told us he wrote a book about how to make a living writing songs. Several weeks later I was down at a music store in Harrison Ark., and came across the book. In it, this guy encouraged any up and coming writer of songs to move to Nashwood, and to start making connections in the business. The ideal situation, according to him, would be to meet some big shot writer, somehow convince him to take you under his wing and to become a writing partner. That having been done, you would take all your best ideas to this guy and follow all his advice to the letter "even if it rubs you the wrong way". That is a verbatim quote from the book that I have always remembered.
Needless to say, we have not followed this prescription for songwriting stardom. Instead, we did it the way we thought was right, wrote a lot of really great songs, recorded some of them, even got a few plays on the radio. We're good. We are the scene/movement/genre. We are the Rosebud Good Neighbor Club.
oh yeah, I ordered a dell notebook. a real hotrod, too.
posted by mwc at 2:40 PM
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