My Friend In Time of Need

Some time ago I decided to throw my hand in the volunteer ring. Make my contribution to this world I live in. But what to do?

I found my answer in my first love. Music. No, I've never been a musician. Can't sing. Can't play a note. My only stab at the music business was filling notebooks full of lyrics. Whimsical, morose, teen angst, sometimes whiny prose. It was quite a release for my tortured teen soul. But as I matured, started a family and moved on in my life, I let go of my hold on the notebooks. To be honest, part of that was the angry realization that my dream of becoming the next Carole King would never happen. I even ceremoniously set fire to a few of the notebooks, watching the black acrid smoke lift to the sky. My dreams literally going up in smoke and falling back to the earth in ugly black ashes.

No matter how hard I tried to stay away, music continued to have a pull on me. It soothed me when I was sad, elevated my mood when I was blue. There seemed to always be a song on my playlist that would match whatever situation I found myself in. It was always an important and integral part of me.

Because of that, I wanted to give back to it as much as it had given to me.

I found a local grassroots organization that was working to preserve the music of local musicians. To honor and recognize those in our community who had contributed so much to America's music landscape. Aha!! This is it, I thought. This could be where I belong. Where I could give back. Where I could do the most good.

I spent a year helping with various projects and pitching in wherever I was needed. It also gave me a good chance to get to know the members of the board who had founded the organization. Most of them are musicians so I felt a bit out of my league. Not in their clique. But they accepted me and seemed pleased to know that I was there to help and support their mission.

Before I knew it, I was asked to be a member of the board! Quite an honor. And seal of approval. I may not be a musician, but I believe in what they're trying to do and they believed in me, too.

A few months in, and I'm having my doubts. It may take some time for them to see me as an equal on the board and not a glorified volunteer. There've been some little instances here and there which make me feel this way. I'm trying not to be paranoid.

Oh well. I'm willing to wait this out. Give it some time to see how it all plays out. I'd really like to stay on board (no pun intended), help to build the organization into a very worthy and valuable resource for my tiny state. But if my participation isn't viewed by the others as essential for its success, then I'll step down and away. What they're doing is so important, and much bigger than my ego, that I can't be selfish and be upset that I'm not wanted.

But no matter what happens, it won't change how I feel about music. It has been there for me thru thick and thin, the good and bad times, the ups and downs. My friend in time of need.

Health Care For The Music Community - Tune In & Tune Up

About a year ago I began volunteering with the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame ("RIMHOF"). RIMHOF is a "nonprofit dedicated to celebrating, honoring, and preserving the legacy of Rhode Island musicians, educators and industry professional who have made significant contributions to the national and Rhode Island music scene". I was initially partnered with one of the board members who had begun a very substantial project: constructing an online database that would keep track of all the venues state-wide that offered music performances. Within a few months, we were also including non-profit agencies and programs that pertained to music. My role slowly began to evolve and I took on more responsibilities within the community outreach program, such as keeping track of anyone who had expressed a role in volunteering for RIMHOF. I also assist with organizing quarterly meetings for the music community where they can discuss issues affecting them.

Recently, I was quite surprised and happy to be asked to join the board as an official member. I didn't hesitate to say yes! I'm very honored to be associated with a great group of people whose mission is to preserve and support Rhode Island music. All the members have spearheaded various meaningful projects, from an online archive to the community outreach program.

Which brings me to today. This weekend. And one of RIMHOF's newest projects, the health initiative, Tune In & Tune Up. Per the RIMHOF site:

TUNE IN & TUNE UP is the new health initiative of the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame. The program came about because Board members, many musicians themselves, were fed up with the lack of affordable health care options for the R.I. music community. We also fully understand how confusing and daunting it is to understand what may be available to you. If you are a professional Rhode Island musician or industry professional (soundman, engineer, roadie, tech crew etc.) OR the spouse of a musician or industry professional, sign up to become a member of the TUNE IN & TUNE UP program.

In the coming months, TUNE IN & TUNE UP will be offering seminars and workshops, soliciting retail outlets that will offer discounts to our members, and creating a web page (linked off of the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame website) which will try to help you navigate and more easily understand Rhode Island’s health care & wellness options.

A quite worthy and very important endeavor!

To support and raise awareness of the
initiative, RIMHOF will be hosting the 2-day Unity Concerts. The fundraising concerts will be held this weekend at the Ocean Mist in Matunuck (South Kingstown), RI. The concerts will feature some of the best of what RI has to offer. Household names like, John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band, Roomful of Blues and Steve Smith and the Nakeds. Up and comers like Kim Petrarca and The Brian McKenzie Band.

It's going to be a great weekend of great music!

 

To learn even more about the initiative and the concerts, visit fellow board member Herb Weiss' very informative blog post here.

I'll be heading down there momentarily to help in any way I can to make sure that this weekend is a success. Healthcare and coverage are very important to all of us in these current trying economic times, and especially vital to those who are under or uninsured. Music is so important to enriching our lives, feeding our souls. We owe it to ourselves to do what we can to keeping the music playing, keep our musicians healthy and support those special people who bless us with their musical talent.

Hope to see you at the Unity Concerts!! ♪♫♪♫

It's All About the Hair...and Music!

What does my hair and music have in common? Curious? Yes? No? Oh, c'mon. You KNOW you want to find out...so...read on, my friend!

There are so many volunteer opportunities out there but I think I definitely found the one that suits me. I'm working with the RI Music Hall of Fame, a non-profit organization whose aim is to recognize the state's musicians and industry professionals. I love that! And if you know me, you know how much music means to me. No, I'm not a musician. Can't play a note. Can't sing either. (Though I wasted many a wish hoping and praying that I would suddenly wake up one day and find that I had become Joan Jett!)

This past Sunday was the highlight of the year for the Hall when it inducted its second class of inductees: