Making Music and Making a Living in San Francisco
Guy had just broken up with the folk rock band that he had formed and found himself gigless, bandless and friendless walking along fisherman’s wharf in San Francisco. He had just returned from Sacramento where he told the other three that he could not longer work with them. He wanted to give the reason that it was due to the long commute he always had to make for practice and most performances but the truth had to come out. He felt it was a point of artistic integrity to tell his bandmates that he was tired of their lack of professionalism and he disagreed with their desire to take the band in a pop rock cover group direction.
He walked past one of the hotels San Francisco and remembered the time four years ago he had played in its lounge. That was a solo show and occurred about three weeks before he formed Hawkings YofT with the other three. The name of the band was his idea and was taken from Stephen Hawking’s book A Brief History of Time. It was Guy’s favorite book and he was a huge fan of Hawking. He had always wanted to name a band after him and the other three were originally against the idea but gave in because Guy was so insistent of it. As he walked past the hotel he thought to himself that his life had come full circle and he almost stopped in to have a drink in that same lounge, but realized he didn’t have any money.
After returning to his apartment Guy’s friend Corey called and said his company was looking for entertainment for a convention they were sponsoring. Corey asked if Guy still performed solo gigs as they only wanted a guitar player who could sing. Corey felt Guy’s solo songs were perfect for corporate shows and always tried to encourage Guy in that direction, if for no other reason than it was good money. Guy had always turned him down and preferred playing in clubs and festivals. However, on that day, the phone call and offer couldn’t have come at a better time and somehow indicated to Guy that he had done the right thing and was better off on his own. He accepted the gig and sat down to right some new songs. It was a great day in San Francisco.
Tags: A Brief History of Time, folk rock band, hotels San Francisco, Stephen Hawking