[Harp-L] Is Playing the Harp Well a Health Hazard?

["Bill Kumpe" <bkumpe@xxxxxxx>]

I don't think it's just the harp.  I think it is the unfortunate association
between professional musicians, bars and clubs and the lifestyle watering
they often engender.  A gigging pro may be in a bar or club five or six
nights a week.  It is only natural that a musician so inclined will take
advantage of the available beverages (and other mood altering percs)  and
begin to see the "partying" lifestyle as natural and acceptable in that
environment.  When I was about eighteen my mom heard me playing blues guitar
one night after I came home from the night shift at the factory.  She made
me give her my solemn promise that I would never play professionally because
it had ruined the life of one of her brothers and broke the other's heart.
There was wisdom there.  Alcoholism runs in the family genes and it's a lot
easier to stay sober if you're not in a bar every night.

 

Bill Kumpe
Tulsa, OK