While I never intrude into their lives it seems my life is a major topic of conversation. I don't think either one of them has ever read a single article I've ever written, and never mind that I have several albums for sale on practically every download service in the world, published by my own label and several others, these two ignore that and ask me about Social Security. I never want to retreat to that! Even a small success in the entertainment industry beats that purgatory. And I know I'm on the right track because I watch my friends such as Ramona Myong, and Crystal Drument working toward the same thing.
My political views have been refined by conversations with my son, Master Chief Wilbur Witt III and the gentlemen at the Cigarbox. My two detractors couldn't even tell you what political party I affiliate with. One does not need this. I realized years ago that if I wrote "normal" no one would read a word. My style is what it is. I try to be as politically correct as possible while mixing in a distinctive Texas slant. I try to say what a lot of people want to say but just can't find the words.
I'm moving soon to the Texas coast. I would have preferred SoCal, but I was raised in Texas, and that gives me a proximity to Austin, which is important for a host of reasons. Using my blogs and music I try to direct attention to my books. Selling a book is hard. To be a writer you have to write tons! When the formula works it's like a jet whose wheels just left the ground. You may labor for years with no real return, and then, in a moment of time, you find that one thing that works just for you. We live in an age of enormous access to media and public review. Back in the day this was controlled by a very small, select group of people. In the music business you quickly understood that writing a good song was hard, recording it was even harder, but distribution was the key. In one of my songs I wrote, "Well they didn't sell worth a doodly squat, but I learn fast and do you know what, I got a use for a record that just won't sell. Yeah, I put em in the oven and I turn on the gas, and they'll shrivel up like a baboon's ass, then you turn em into ashtrays and sell em to the cheap motels!" Folks, I've made a LOT of ashtrays!
People who long for retirement do not understand the creative mind that never rests. I've noticed that as I get older I get better. My two naysayers have always measured the value of their lives by the hour. One hour of their life is worth this much, or that much, and in the end they desperately cling to the fragments left by a mundane existence. Now we need people like that. Not everyone can be a writer, but don't shoot down those of us who will swing at every baseball until we get a home run.
My one supporter is my son, the chief. He has seen me swing at those baseballs, and he's seen me strike out, but he's also heard my music in bars all around the world, and if I die without ever achieving a big success he will not be disappointed. This was one of the problems I had in SoCal. Wilbur tried his level best to provide me a perfect life. Only problem was I sat there in the perfect world with things left to do. Wine and cheese are all very fine but whiskey in a studio in Austin is much better.
Wilbur's ideas mirror mine. He has served honorably in the Navy and will retire in a couple of years. He is not someone who is going to sit in the yard and check his blood pressure. He has received his Real Estate license in California and will leap into the market without a second thought. I don't think he ever considered that he may retire from the Navy. He was my bass player at twelve years old. I think the Navy tricked him. He prefers California over Texas, but there's medicine for that. He believes in progression of generations. I have a high school education, but it's from Texas so that don't count. Wilbur has a college degree. His daughter will one day be Dr. Kylie Witt! Her daughter, should she have one, will be president!
But I AM Weird Wilbur! I endured Roy Acuff and when he died artists like myself, and Rodney Carrington finally had a venue for our product. I got so sick and tired of corn pone country I wanted to puke! Now, I DO sell a few records. I do sell books, and people do read my blogs. If you're a writer you understand that this is enough. If you are like my two experts it will pass way over your head.
Good post, Wilbur!
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