By: Ken Boone After last week’s blog post, I sat down to write another one listing more examples of things for which I’m grateful. But, there’s a problem with most self-help tools out there: Many of us tend to quickly minimize the negatives (grievances) and move toward pleasure (gratitude). There will be other gratitude lists in the future. They are fun to do and are never exhaustive. I’d like to take this time to thank Celia and her support system for keeping that recovery tool front of mind. I remember when I was a 15-year-old struggling student and fledgling musician. I would race home on Fridays because my family observed the high holy part of our religion from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. I used to enter “the Sabbath” with great resentment, but by the time I was 15, I had about 10 years of it under my belt and had developed a few coping skills. Sure, I couldn’t watch TV on Saturdays until sunset, but my need for television entertainment was replaced by Family Radio. What’s that? It’s a small network of Christian radio stations modeled after NPR. They featured several local and syndicated DJs spinning all types of Christian music, from choir to contemporary. I wanted to own my own Family Radio network! I also longed to own a record label equivalent to Ralph Carmichael’s Light Records. I dreamed of producing dramatic content in the mold of “Unshackled,” a syndicated show styled after soap operas from the 1940s, which told the stories of people who turned their lives around. It was like an AA discussion meeting on super steroids. I was a teenager, so I wasn’t consumed by blind jealousy. However, I knew that those dreams were quite ambitious, so I only shared them with a small number of people. My mom and stepfather weren’t too dismissive of my ideas because they had a lot to do with church. As my godmother so eloquently put it, “at least it beats selling drugs on the street corner.” You had to know Aunt Rose to see that what she said was funny. As time marched on, I got more involved in the performance aspects of Christian music. While I enjoyed that, I still had a secret plan to make the switch from artist to executive. The plan didn’t work out at the time. You know, the old barrier of entry thing. Also, I was a little weak on the planning and execution back then. I found out that there wasn’t a Family Radio outlet near Celia’s childhood home. I think she would have really enjoyed it, and had she experienced those shows, it could have helped our musical shorthand. As we move to current times, a lot of cool things are happening. The costs for doing things, like recording (podcasts) and music production have fallen drastically. In fact, they’re free, if you get creative. Celia and I are at a very comfortable at our price point. We just published our 50th podcast episode! Before you know it, we will have produced over 100 episodes, 50 music tracks, and whatever else we feel called to do. Our latest, and most complexed podcast show to date, “Songs from the Journey,” has two episodes published and is receiving positive feedback. It reminds me a lot of the old Family Radio show “Unshackled.” We don’t use actor portrayals or the classic soap opera organ soundtrack, but we embrace the energy of those shows. We’ve made sure of that! To my delight, the “Unshackled” producers still record live episodes every Saturday at 4:30pm at the Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago, IL. To date, they have nearly 3,600 episodes in the can! But wait... there's more!
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About the AuthorAs owner of the Descant Music & Media Group, Ken is a creator and producer of several podcast shows. He is also a music producer, as well as a writer and an accountant for small businesses and nonprofits. Archives
June 2020
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