I was dreaming about Cash...

I recently had a dream about Johnny Cash...
Before I was much of a performing artist I was a technically minded teenager hard pressed to pay some dues and I did a lot of live sound and stagehand work... Long story short was that I've worked with a few rock stars, some you've heard of... Some I'd like to forget... Recently I had a very vivid dream that I was a stagehand again, only it was 1965 and I was standing on the side of the stage in the shadows and Johnny was taking out all of my footlights! I remember dreaming that I was shocked and horrified at the spectacle in front of me as Johnny in his haze of drugs and booze took out the lights that I had just that afternoon serviced and checked to make ready for the big night in Nashville... The image of Johnny Cash taking out footlights is based on an actual incident that took place in '65 and Johnny was actually put in an elite group of artists that can be considered banned from the Opry. Hank Williams Sr was another member of the ex Opry Star Club...

Now I'm not much on trying to figure out what dreams mean, and honestly I'm not really too hung up on them, nor am I superstitious enough to think they project the future... In my case I was dreaming about an historical event, anyway...

Here's my take away though. Johnny lived in a time of black and white TV and mostly black and white photography, computers such as they were at the time mainly were toys for very wealthy and very big companies, internet was not even a twinkle in any young geeks eye yet and let's face it the Opry was the biggest show in country music! Johnny hit rock bottom around that time and with the help and love and support of some solid people he was able to salvage his life and live on to become one of the most important people in recorded music history!

Now as I jump on lightning fast internet with access to HD video of so many great performances and even collections of vintage and rare performances of Johnny himself I'm also able to see social media and interact in somewhat real-time with friends, family and even strangers all around this planet! Recent logins to my personal Facebook Page show my friends struggling. I see friends having lost loved ones, and jobs, marriages falling apart and I see people giving up on dreams...

Almost all of the friends I had in High School seem to no longer play music, with rare instances here and there... It saddens me to see how life seems to beat us all up and try and rob us of our dreams and goals... Last tour I had a bit of bad luck on the road and totaled the car in Nashville. Not only was my car now a heap of scrap but I was hard put to keep up with the challenges of staying on the road to continue with the tour in order to see my friends, fans and even family. It's actually intimidating me pretty badly now to work up the gumption to tour again and I have so many obstacles in my path again already this year. But the burning desire and the dream to keep on playing music is in me and the songs have got to come out. Keep dreaming and keep walking the line folks!
Caleb.

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