grew up in a fishing community in panama city. graduated high school when he was 16. after having his soccer dreams dashed by recurring ankle injuries, aspired to become a mechanic on the boats. joined an amateur baseball team as their shortstop. threw a handful of solid relief innings after the starting pitcher got injured. did this in front of an mlb scout, and was offered a tryout with yankees two weeks later. despite not speaking english and having never left home, joined the yankees farm system as an underwhelming starting pitcher. moved to the setup role, and eventually came out of the pen as the closer. enter sandman. game over.
the career path of mariano rivera is not ripped from a storybook. there was no silver spoon in his mouth. becoming the single-most valuable player in the history of baseball wasn't originally in the cards. mo rivera found his niche in life, doing something that he loved and making himself indispensable. and he did this with essentially one pitch.
today, i taught a class on careers in music. i have shared several conversations recently with some of my college students, contemplating some eternal questions - what am i gonna do with myself? can i make it in music? should i keep going with this or should i switch out to something else?
the obvious gigs for musicians, to the pedestrian eye, are performers and teachers (and sadly, that is often the order of legitimacy). there are so many avenues to making a living in music. i know performers, arrangers, personnel managers, disc jockeys, concert curators, sound engineers, promoters, writers, studio musicians, teachers at all levels, researchers, producers. one friend mixed the audio for the breaking bad dvds. another is a bicoastal freelance performer. another is waiting for the minnesota orchestra battle to subside. several make the late night tv circuit.
life is a tricky thing. you can never tell if this is the break you were waiting for, or if it is right around the corner. you can never tell if you are really cut out for this kind of thing, or if that epiphany sits on tomorrow's horizon. you can never tell if you will fix fishing boats or become the most successful relief pitcher in the world's biggest market.
patience. preparation. professionalism. positivity. and one thing in particular that separates you from the rest.
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