A school of broadcasting set out to test the waters; how passionate, loyal and dedicated is the one called Arroe? My laugh and reply on the cell phone rocked the Richter scale in Honolulu, Hawaii, “I know of Arroe but completely stay away knowing I can’t live up to his hourly expectations.”
Silence on the other side…not even a cricket or a toad from a crusty old sound effects library would waste its time supporting the inside joke.
“We may share the same address but I never see him.”
How else can you explain the mind numbing experience of standing where life has taken you; one day your complaining about having one more year of high school then suddenly you’re Skyping with a set of eyes that look like yours but how did they get here and where were you during the ride?
An interview video taped three years ago at the Kellar Radio Talent event hosted by legendary consultant Dan Vallie at Appalachian University in Boone, NC has surfaced; yep, it’s him…long bright red streaks in the hair, eyes that dart across a room quicker than the rabbit in Alice in Wonderland and a story that sinks into core of value versus a Red Bull tainted quickie. Lord have mercy do I really have to sit here and listen to his philosophies on producing radio commercials that affect rather than infect a listener passing by?
Seriously…this reaction is far from being a head hanging loner caught on Atlanta’s Spaghetti Junction; even without a shovel to dig deep into paths created, each who participates with the spins that turn the planet have found it at times or continue to find it extremely difficult to sit still in a room with the many selves and faces we’ve become in the process of growing.
My latest spin connects a lot of chapters and hidden personalities sworn to never meet, the writer, musician, producer and marketing ear of a 32 year on-air radio veteran that stopped years before reaching his potential. How a single thought tossed about the car at four in the morning on I-485 meeting 77 in Charlotte has created such a large wave reaches the part of the island deemed unexplained.
Completely disappointed with being shoved off the air again and again the arguing voice of a thousand in my head said, “Write a book…and call it Conversation with the Devil.
I fought back for three miles! How dare I attempt to use such a title! People will judge it like a cover. And so they did. But I kept pushing forward. Today its read by more residents living in the UK then ones imagination can handle and my sister Susan in Montana uses the book to help alcoholics and drug abusers locate peace. The book inspired music to be born; seventeen songs in a project self dubbed Pieces from a Faceless Beast. The raw tracks influenced a recording studio to pick me up and give it a more serious edge that’s taken over a year to lay down for its final mixes.
Ask me about it and I’ll quickly turn away. Until last week when a school teacher unexpectly mentioned, “I’m looking for someone who writes poetry and figures out a way to turn it into music.”
A two year journey that’s finally reached the point it was intended to touch.
I live by one rule; from Julia Cameron, “Let him display his art so he can learn to ignore criticism.”
I fear you, my mother, my boss and anything else that comes with an opinion yet today I need to know which song or piece of poetry should I share with the five to ten year olds this Saturday morning?
NOTE: None of these songs are professionally mixed they are 100% more raw than a steak found in the meat section of Harris Teeter.
Song one: Hurt So Slow
Written about the most recent loss of a great friend’s son before his time…a daughters words minutes before Christmas rang through all things dark allowing peace to grow in corners that one day would be visited. Although its wrong for me to explain a song because a listener should develop their own interpretation; I believe as writers, every twist, turn or long highway can find strength if you take a simple thought at 4am and give it air. This song has never been shared wtih those who brought music to my writing instrument.
Song two: Stopped By
I had just returned from the Levine Children’s Hospital recording interviews in places the real world never sees unless there is tragedy. In one room a tiny voice asked, “Why are you here?” To which I replied, “I just stopped by…and the song says the rest.” Nobody at the hospital has ever heard it…its been in hiding since its creation.
Song three: The Beast
We’ve all been here…the only problem is, nobody but doctors addicted to prescribing drugs have the power to help get you out. I don’t do drugs. I write…
Now its your turn to vote…which one should I share with the kids this Saturday morning? arroecollins@clearchannel.com
Now its my turn to challenge you to follow your gut feeling. If your mind hears something...see it through. You have no clue how many lives will be touched by something you assume is nothing when to the rest of the world it could be a moment of music creating long sought after peace.
I will always believe in you first...
to vote visit this page: http://www.lite1029.com/pages/arroe.html
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