“Stealing From Your Favorite Musician” by Nancy Apple
Posted on July 19th, 2012 by Thomas in Offbeat
photo by nasrul ekram
I love being in show business, and I love having fans, even if sometimes they steal my stuff.
I first felt the loss of costly items one year at Woodyfest when I noticed all my dice valve stem covers were gone. I went from a stylin’ PT Cruiser to a Loser. Then the next year at the same festival the skull replacements were “borrowed” as well. Hell, it happens. Sometimes CDs go bye-bye if the merch table is unattended (which is why I seldom even set it up these days – its easier to open my trunk!!) And I won’t even go touch the subject of sharing music online.
Sometimes people take things that don’t belong to them. It’s not like they are mean spirited crooks, I prefer to think these are people who just want a piece of something that belonged to someone they admire or like. That makes it better. Kind of like telling a “white” lie, instead of a plain old mean, dirty rotten lie.
Who knows, but maybe these objects that vanish inspire someone, somehow. I’d much rather just give you a guitar pick though, than you come take the one I have tucked between my strings while I am on break. Maybe some folks think they can hock those trinkets on eBay. Wrong. News flash. I am not Bob Dylan. I am just Nancy Apple. I have dirty dishes in my sink and am behind on three loads of laundry, people.
If you’re gonna steal something, take something you think has soul (but not my guitar please). I have a small piece of wood from Muddy Waters‘ abandoned old house, taken before anyone realized how precious it was. I picked it up from the floor–a loose piece that was already forgotten about. I have bricks from Stax. I picked them up before the building was completely demolished, only to be rebuilt years later. At that time, only a handful of people understood that it was holy musical ground. Both those buildings had soul.
So come on out to a gig folks – pick up a pick I’m still using and stash it in your pocket while I am on break. Stick a magnet on the back and put a little bit of my soul on your fridge.
Written for Music Jobs by Nancy Apple.
