"Sometimes change comes at you like a broadside accident, there is chaos to the order, random    things you can't prevent"  Joni Mitchell 
“You think you're just standing still, one day you'll get up that hill, in the age of miracles,   there's one on the way” Mary Chapin Carpenter
"It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine"  REM

It was the first Monday in January, the time when we head into the New Year with high hopes and lists of resolutions. I was the Music Director at a high profile Adult Contemporary radio station. These were heady days in the music biz. I got my name in the trade papers a lot, record company people came to town and paid for my sushi habit, I got free good seats and backstage passes for any concert I wanted to attend. Back then, local Music Directors had a voice in picking the music for airplay too so it was a job that was all about doing what you loved. Whether it was right or not most of us did stake our identities on our jobs. So when I went into my Program Directors office to use his computer and saw severance papers with my name on them sitting on the desk I did a double take and, thinking it was a joke, went to find out what was up. It wasn't a joke. The station was streamlining the budget and cutting staff to prepare for a possible sale. My job was one of the ones on the chopping block. It was devastating. My source of income was gone, the perks were gone and I was no longer going to get to do the things I loved to do. I was stunned that it had happened to me, my friends in the business were too. None of us knew that this was a glimpse at our collective future. I just got a painful head start on the learning curve.

Fast-forward 15 years or so. My story became everyone's story when the Telecommunications act made it possible for large companies to gobble up stations and slash the overhead by cutting staff. Elite radio people who had spent years at heritage stations were told to pack their belongings then escorted out of the building by security guards. As music sales started to slump and new technologies developed the same thing started to happen to the staffs at "record stores." Big chains that had been around forever closed stores and merged with other chains. Then those stores morphed into entertainment stores that sold games and videos with a little music on the side or just closed their doors. Record companies merged, closed, or cut their rosters to the bare pop hit driven bones. Promotion and marketing people were laid off, so were executives as cuts even hit people who actually started the labels. Music related publications started dropping off the newsstands because they relied on record company advertising. Artists who could not deliver a mega-hit to the pop market were marginalized or cut altogether. Artist development became a thing of the past. You delivered a hit the first time around or you were kicked to the curb with no place to go. Then the economy took a big downturn and people who had purchased music and attended concerts had to tighten their belts. Promoters got gun shy, touring budgets were slashed, record company support became nonexistent. People who had been supporting their families as working musicians had to start looking for other sources of income including "daytime jobs" that are time consuming and draining. Even the trade paper that endowed status to radio stations and industry people and published the charts that everyone relied on shut its doors. Suddenly nobody knew who was "in" and who was "out" or what was really a hit!

And yet, we are still here. Musicians are still playing, although it usually in smaller venues. Radio people are still broadcasting, although most of them are on the internet now. Music writers are still writing, although they're blogging or writing for web magazines now. Musicians are still recording and often releasing their music on their own labels which gives them the freedom to sound like themselves instead of fitting into a format. Record company folks have resurfaced at smaller companies or started doing freelance promotion and marketing for the newly independent musicians.

It has been a struggle for people to figure out ways to do what they do well in a totally different context while keeping a roof over their heads and food on the table. Suddenly the work you consider most important may not be the thing you do for most of your income. Or you may have to really pare down the spending so you can live on the income you get from doing what you love. On the other hand there is freedom that didn't exist before. A consultant will not dictate the playlist on your internet station. Smaller venues create much more of a connection between the musician and the audience and a much more comfortable experience for everyone involved. When you write for a blog or web publication you can update frequently, choose your subjects, and be a lot more honest. There are payoffs to this new business model, even though the paychecks are not as big.

This comes with some catches, though. The old ways don't work and a lot of the new ways are still in the shakedown mode. Some new things will work and some will have to evolve. Some individuals will try to bring their comfort zone into the brave new world and find that it just doesn't fit anymore. Making it up as you go can be scary when you're used to having a clear path to follow. The old voice in the back of your head says "What are you doing? That's not the way it has always been done. Why shake the tree?" Author and teacher Caroline Myss has been challenging her readers to see that their calling may not be their job, that their life work may not be the thing that actually brings in a paycheck. Al Jarreau was often telling his audiences to be sure and make time to do what brings them joy even if it was not their job. That is a shift in thought for everyone, especially for people who were blessed with the ability to get a paycheck for doing their life's work for a while and got used to it.

While we are carving out new ways to do what we love - to keep this candle burning and fan the flame - the front story/back story that is our real lives continues to play. We lose jobs, find jobs, learn to do new jobs or end up with multiple jobs. Relationships come together and fall apart. Things we always relied on go away and things that we can rely on come to fruition. Kids grow up, become independent, and go out on their own. Then they return, often unexpectedly. Parents get older, become dependent, and we end up taking care of them. Health challenges emerge slowly or hit from out of the blue. Over these six years in the life of SmoothViews we have experienced the full spectrum of changes that real life delivers. When you're reeling from too much change, weakened by illness, or overwhelmed by responsibility, returning to the things you love can be both therapy and escape. When the thing you love is music and sharing that feeling with others - the joy of discovery and the feeling of being transported or delighted by a song - it can make those day to day challenges feel a little lighter. This is not the job that keeps our bank accounts afloat but it is the calling that reminds us that we have a place in this world where we can do what we love which is listening to music , writing about it, talking to musicians and sharing their thoughts and creative processes with you. This continues to be a joy for us and we hope it is a gift to you. Enjoy the music and let it be a lifeline when you need it.