A VIEW FROM THE MIKE ON THE CONTRARY, I WAS FIRED

A few days ago, friends to a place where there was live music, an outdoor venue where I had performed on occasion, invited me. Unfortunately, the featured band was a band I worked with as recently as 5 months ago. Needless to say, I felt very uncomfortable and left after an hour. None of them saw me, and to be quite honest, I don’t want to be in the same room with most of them; Let me explain… Back in late February, I entered a local club with my band, MDIII, to perform a Black History R&B and funk show, kickin’ the old jams that people don’t hear much of on the scene, a month after being fired by a very popular area R&B/Motown/Wedding/Corporate band. One of the first people I saw was the bass player for this band, who attempted to get my attention. I proceeded to ignore him, and for good reason; he questioned my presence in the band from the start, as well as my talent, and in the end, played a major role in my departure. Besides, I had work to do, and I needed no distractions.

The co-lead vocalist, who brought me in, was the lead voice in taking me out, issuing an ultimatum, which swayed some others, I’m sure. This was not about talent, as my addition significantly improved this band, expanded the fan base, and generated more gigs, some that I got on my own, doing major legwork. I already had a solid reputation. My journalistic background was also a major plus in improving the band’s profile, with them winning a

major award for best band in its category, as well as bringing them a presence in my hometown, which is big time urban, and introducing them to MY friends, MY people.

There were many pluses here at the initial. I met some really nice people who now support all that I do musically, the band was energetic, it kept my vocal chops sharp, and the attention was nice. They had a big following before me, and it doubled in the 2 plus years I was there, a huge e-mail and fans in many parts of Connecticut. The leader of the band was a good cat, someone I respected who shared some of my opinions on improving the product. Sadly those views were swallowed up by factors that had very little to do with music. For me, it was about keeping things fresh, doing tunes that other bands don’t do. In the end, that’s not what happened. I certainly did not want to change things, just augment what could only get better. I did not want to be the man or the top dog; it was all about adding my talents. The co-lead vocalist felt threatened, but since he was the face on the band, he shouldn’t have been. I don’t do what he does, as a performer or singer, and in most cases, I won’t and can’t do what he does. Fellow BLACKPOWER writer Carl Elliott, who has seen this band many times, told me he hates ‘Billie Jean’ now, for it reminds him of this band, and the other brother singing it, loll. It’s safe to say, I won’t be singing it.

In the months leading up to this, I was censored by the bandleader for making a factual comment on face book about Christopher Columbus [we played in the Columbus Day parade, in my hometown, and he

wanted me to not play because of it], the other singer tried to bait me into a fight on 2 occasions, as well as an email from him that suggested that I leave the band if I didn’t listen to what he had to say. This led to a silly meeting called, in part about attention that I got from a woman that another band member was checking out, hell I wasn’t trying to get at her, I have a woman at home, and in this business, you don’t have to say much to attract the ladies. This led to them banning me from dancing with the ladies, which I had no problem with, something that was encouraged in the beginning, consequently becoming part of the deal. But as I got more love, it became a problem, along with unruly patrons violating my space, touching me, grabbing my mice, pushing and pulling me. I understand the flipside, but that does not give you the right to violate me. This led to the ridiculous notion that I was initiating incidents with people, and not ‘following rules’. What rules? No one handed me a rulebook here. My outspokenness and honesty as a writer played against me here, my ability to report things as they are did not fit in with people who have never been where I’ve been, as a front man, as a total artist, as a man. I recall the leader saying he liked an interesting mix of people, as well as my artist’s perspective. Wow, that changed over time. I’m totally allergic to bullshit, and there was too much flying around for my taste. I have never in my 25 years of singing live dealt with anything like this…read on.

Things reached the boiling point in mid January, when after a show, one where I had a good performance vocally, but my movement was limited

due to leg pain as well as a tight area. The other singer asks me if I’m ok, that we need ‘energy’ for an upcoming video shoot, then turns up the heat by badgering me incessantly about it. I told dude numerous times not to worry, I’ll be ready, finally, in a manner too audible for his taste, and walked away to avoid further engagement, I’d been down this road before with this guy.

To my amazement, for the 2nd time in 5 months, this guy follows me! Where I come from, we don’t play that, so I turned to face him, he looks up at me, and takes his jacket off, which stunned me, I mean who does this? Total high-school move. I was mad as hell, but I knew I couldn’t risk my rep on this foolishness, and at the same time, I’m laughing inside at the sadness and absurdity of this, and the rest of the band, watching this and saying nothing. That moment confirmed what I’d been feeling; I wasn’t a valued member of this band, in some ways, resented; the other singer actually told me some time ago that he was jealous of me, a guy I have praised in previous columns here. God kept me from reacting violently, I hadn’t gone there in over 30 years, and back then, someone got hurt, and it wasn’t me.

2 days later, I was fired, with the initial reasoning that ‘its not working out’, I don’t look ‘comfortable’, allegedly after some careful thought. Unless you were building a case, and I know they were, you don’t make a decision like this in 2 days. WTF is that about? A couple days after that I got an email from the leader of this band that basically assaulted my

character, in essence making me the bad guy, as if I was harming his product. The leader made some promises that he went back on due to the reaction to my firing on Facebook by friends, fans of mine, and theirs, as well as musicians in the community, and venues. I guess they underestimated the fallout; so therefore, I didn’t get the golden handshake, so to speak. I was a known quantity long before I heard of this band, this is a small slice or my artistic experience, a respect is there, so the public reactions were understandable. He blamed me for not stopping it. [Wait, you fired me, now I have to stop negative reaction?] Other elements included the fantasy that I left this band to concentrate on mine, that I shouldn’t tell people that it went down like that, it makes me look bad [lol]. The singer, told folk that I wasn’t fired; they love me, public relations, cover your ass bullshit. The lack of integrity does not surprise me. Excluding the main 2 that I know wanted me out, they are decent people, but not very direct, forthcoming, sometimes paranoid, who talk about the guy who’s not in the room, not because they’re bad people, this is just how they do it. You can’t tell me that they didn’t talk shit about me, as I have received feedback.

This has made a mess of things, it’s caused a change that I see as a blessing, and from where I stand, they have only hurt themselves, someone must have really despised me for them to deliberately dilute a good product. I could deal with being fired. It’s how you do it.

As an artist, all I wanted to do is sing great songs, and I didn’t hurt them from a talent standpoint. Honestly, I no longer have to worry about a guy tapping me on the shoulder, telling me what song to sing, them worrying about people leaving the dance floor, etc. As a musician, I give you what I have, which am my best. I’ve done this with great players in great venues for many years, and some of the stuff I dealt with here, I never had to deal with, because it was about music, and wherever I’ve been, the singer was allowed to do his best work. That was not the case in this situation, as so many of my song suggestions were rejected. After all, this was a mixed-race band where many of these cats knew little about r&b until recently, as they were a blues band beforehand. With my band, we won’t have those concerns, we do things differently, and I have players that grew up on this music. Those elements alone make us a force, however, we compete with no one.

As a postscript, I received an anonymous email from a coward close to the last’s band’s circle, insulting, me, my band, my future, as well as my choice to support myself as an artist. When I responded with dignity, they sent another that virtually gave it away. I know who it was. God bless you. As I look onward and upward, it is what it is. For a minute, it was real cool, I met some cool people, had some good times. At day’s end, this is another stepping-stone. I did my thing, but they didn’t appreciate what they had, they may never reach these heights again, and trust me, I hope they do reach them, but they hurt themselves with this one.

As for me, it’s not cold, and I’m not alone, as one of these ignorant emails suggested, emails, that for some strange reason, still show up in my junk folder, where they belong. Now that I’m gone, I can no longer be blamed. By the way, MDIII is more than ok; we are a damn good band, with a network of talented and respected players. It’s nice to be appreciated and respected by your peers. Sadly, that was not the case with the last band, and contrary to the hate mail, I do not wish to be part of this band, although they are respected and loved by many. Again, it comes down to how you handle things, if you try to fool the public, you’ll cry the tears of a clown.