An Artist's Influence.

Rock me mama like a wagon wheel, rock me mama anyway you feel, hey, ey, mama rock me...

Her folksy voice filled the Potbelly's at the corner of Jackson and Wabash. This song fit her, completely. And, it's one of my favorites.

Dressed in a thin tank and low cut skinny jeans, she displayed her guitar on her lap with poise. She was born to do this.

When I first met the musician, we immediately connected. Laughing at her awkward jokes and random comments, we filled the office with jokes between bursts of hard work. She introduced me to HypeBox and Sosh while we overshared stories about boyfriends and other temp jobs we're looking for all in the comfort of a 9-5 research job. We laughed at each other's phone calls to verify information and whenever the other got frustrated, we listened to the rants and vents of the unfortunate.

We talked of dreams that came up while thinking about college life once again. And one day, she told me that she wished there was someone to push her and keep her accountable. Knowing myself as an enabler, I took on that role, pushing her to play music in a paid position, never having heard her music once. I gave her a reasonable date to go and talk to the Potbelly's manager downstairs. A reasonable yet sure-fire way to complete a task with a goal-oriented person. When that deadline arrived and she hadn't yet gone into Potbelly's and ask for an audition, I walked down with her for moral support.

The managers were really cool about it and they immediately set up an audition. It came up quick, for that next Tuesday. Playing for 1 hour. We brainstormed songs all afternoon. Motivated, excited for the next steps.

Now that she's hired and playing in front of me for pay, I'm inspired. She's making me want to take voice lessons, play piano again on my keyboard that is collecting dust in my apartment. Maybe even write a song.

Artists can do that to you.

#musician #music #Potbellys #artist