Sickness/injuries and road/studio musicians

Chris Lasher · From: Blacksburg, VA

I sliced my pinky finger on my fretting hand pretty good last night--right on the tip, where I fret a string on my six-string guitars. I'm putting those up for a week until the slice has healed. That's fine for me. I mean, I'm upset, because I love music, and I love (trying) to make it, but otherwise, my life is not affected. However, it got me thinking: what do professional musicians do when they injure a critical body part like a finger, or come down with a kidney stone, or such? If I wake up vommiting in the middle of the night, I call in sick to work that day and go in the next day. What does a steeler with a studio gig scheduled for 9AM that morning do, though? Suppose one of them were to end up on the wrong end of a beer bottle in a barfight and be wearing stitches where he used to wear fingerpicks and thumbpicks?

I suppose you could get a buddy to fill in for you, maybe. But it's not like there's another Emmons, Green, Hughey, Franklin, Johnson, or Dugmore out there. If that one's out, that's it. And what about the headlining stars? Are they just magically protected by God and exempt from running fevers of 102 degrees? Or perhaps they schedule broken bones during the weeks when they're not touring?

How does it work when they can't?

Dave Ristrim · From: Whites Creek, TN

I ripped the meat off my left index finger one time. I really did a number on it. It looked like a sausage that had been snapped open. I think it was a Tuesday. I played 3 gigs on banjo, and 3 on steel between that Thursday and Sunday. I had my index finger in a kind of brace all taped up so I wouldn't use it, which I couldn't any way. I had to finger all my left hand stuff with the remaining fingers. If you play banjo, give it a whirl. It's fun. Steel was easier, I just had to play with my index finger raised and out of the way.
I've played gigs with strep and mono at the same time, broken leg, you name it. The show somehow goes on. Ouch!
Dave

Roger Rettig · From: Naples, FL

Being self-employed has a way of minimising a certain level of discomfort - you'd have to be pretty sick to throw in the towel and leave a tour or a road-show.

We were doing a tour of the 'Always - Patsy Cline' show when our 'Patsy', Kellye Cash (Johnny's niece), fell down the steps of the bus, badly breaking her ankle. She had no choice but to go to hospital, and her understudy was flown out the next day, but Ms Cash was back with us three days later, and limped through the show each night thereafter with a massive cast on her leg!

No-one wants to 'let go' for any longer than they absolutely have to, and it's a rare Production Company (or band leader) who will pay two lots of wages....

RR

John Ummel · From: Arlington, WA.

Our band was 1000 miles from home in Prince George BC. and our drummer's hemmoroids flared up so bad he couldn't sit on his drum stool. He said, no way, he couldn't play. This was a 6 night a week gig and its Friday afternoon. We searched Prince George and could not find another drummer. So we took him to the emergency room of the hospital and they gave him a shot of some powerful painkiller. We sort of propped him up behind his drums and somehow made it through the night.
A different occasion, I was prepping my house to paint and sanding on a door jam I ran a sliver of wood under the fingernail of my picking thumb. I could not remove it (nor could my wife)I normally use a National size medium thumbpick, I found a huge thumbpick in my bag and kind of glued it to my thumb somehow, a few shots of Jack Daniels got me through the night. Next morning I went to doctor and it was sweet pain went he pulled that thing about an inch long out from under my nail.
johnny

John Cadeau · From: Surrey,B.C. Canada

Where abouts in Prince George did you play. Our band used to play there on a regular basis at the P.G. Hotel, and the Yellowhead Inn. I enjoyed playing the P.G. more than the other place. I think the worst injury I got playing places like that was to my liver.
John.

Webb Kline · From: Orangeville, PA

I caught my wedding band jumping off the Prentice Loader on a log truck once and filet my finger. Broke the tip, and half of my finger only hung on by a 1/4" strip of skin.

I still could play steel and I played right-handed piano. Everybody thought I was fantastic that I could play with one hand. I was too proud to admit that it was a lot easier that way.

John Ummel · From: Arlington, WA.

Yea John, it was the Prince George Hotel. Boy yea, people like their beer there. Sunday morning it was time to pack up and head for Terrace,(Terrace Hotel) our bass player wouldn't wake up, so we went down to the kitchen and got the biggest soup pot they had and put it over his head and played it like a drum.

Ricky Davis · From: Bertram, Texas USA

I was out on a 3 month tour back in 1990 with my first road band; and I ended up breaking my Jaw in 3 places(won't go into it); so my parents came and picked me up; took me to the hospital and got my jaw/teeth wired shut and a week later; I was back out on tour, drinking through a straw for 7 more weeks....Yeee freeeekin' haaa.....
You just grin and bare it man...do what ya gotta do when it's your living.
Ricky

Jim Peters · From: St. Louis, Missouri, USA, R.I.P.

My wife broke 2 ribs on a loading dock one night, sang propped on a chair! I have had over 25 kidney stones, and played many gigs vicodined up, where I could barely stand. Got out of the hospital late one afternoon, morphined up from a particularly painful stone, I do not remember that one at all. JP

Pat Burns · From: Branchville, N.J. USA

Arty Passes · From: Austin, TX

I broke a bone and tore a ligament in my left thumb on a free (+$2000 in med bills after insurance)ski trip in January. I was able to play, but had to have surgery and played with a cast for a few weeks. I had to use my single neck, and put the bar under my middle finger. Wasn't elegant, and took some getting used to, but I'm not wowing anybody with my blazing speed anyway. Had to stay away from the higher side of the neck because I couldn't see the frets.
http://kevinfowler.com/on_the_road/bluebonnet.htm http://kevinfowler.com/on_the_road/zops/ZopsArty.jpg

We're at a disadvantage, because we can't afford to be without arms, wrists, hands, fingers, knees, ankles....Bass players could get by on 2 fingers! I shouldn't make fun of bass players - I looked around the other night and our's was missing - there was a window behind the stage, he crawled through it to go outside and get sick outside, then came back in, never missing a note......

Arty

[This message was edited by Arty Passes on 10 August 2005 at 10:19 AM.]

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