Playing your music: Part I

He was just a roadie, the kind Jackson Browne made famous in a song. He and the others were the first to come and the last to leave. The ones to roll the cases, lift the amps, haul the trusses, and push the countless pieces of equipment up the ramps onto the stage. He needed a job and was glad to be working for this up and coming band with the peculiar name Lynyrd Skynyrd. His name was Billy Powell.

One afternoon when everything was set up and he thought the arena was empty, Billy sat down at the piano. He had trained as a classical pianist, but there was no money in that, so he became a roadie. His hands still remembered how to make music, it turned out, and as he sat there much of his training returned.

Soon, the large space was filled with glorious music. It so happened one of the band members stopped by to pick something up and heard the music. He went up to see who was playing and couldn’t believe it was one of the roadies. That moment changed Billy Powell’s life. It also changed band’s.

The story always makes me wonder who else possesses undiscovered talents? Who’s busy doing work they’re not called to do? Who, if given the chance, could fill the world with glorious music?

Every time I listen to Lynyrd Skynyrd, I listen for the piano and give thanks Billy took the chance and sat down and played. It was where he truly belonged. It was the music that was his to play.

May we all do the same. 

Extra Credit: Listen to the beginning of Free Bird, or listen to this (not great coverage of Billy but you can certainly hear him) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsIqEq9OFxE