Having Passion for Something You Do

Way back in 1976, as I recall, I read an article in Guitar Player magazine about the founding of Alligator Records.

 It was a Blues label, and at that time Blues as a musical form was at its lowest ebb ever. African-American music was still alive and kicking, but it had grown slick and commercial. There weren’t that many black musicians back then who wanted to be involved even with 1960s-style R&B--much less the blues—because they mostly wanted to be part of that polished “Philadelphia Sound” (think of The Commodores, featuring Lionel Ritchie—or of Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes). Or, failing that, they all wanted to jump on the Disco bandwagon, God help us.

Young white American musicians of the era weren’t too keen on the Blues, either. The Ramones from NYC were the prototype, but Punk Rock--imported from the UK—was all the rage, as I remember, and the blues-based psychedelic hippie jam bands of the 1960s were scorned and abandoned.

Alligator Records, based out of Chicago—for many years itself a bastion of the Blues—was formed when its founder, Bruce Iglauer,  noticed that there were still a lot of Blues cats practicing their craft at small clubs in the Windy City even though their music wasn’t “trendy” any more. They were playing out every night for small audiences because they loved it, and they didn’t care about “making it big”. They just wanted to play their music.

They had a passion for what they were doing.

Blues music is of course much healthier these days (as is the jam band scene, now that I think of it), and some of those musicians are still going strong. They’ve had respectable careers doing something they loved because they followed their hearts.

Fast-forward to the present.

I’ve been spending a lot of time in the blogosphere of late, checking out the blogs of indie writers like myself. One refrain I’ve heard repeated over and over again is how excited so many of us are about the opportunities that now lie before us.

Some writers are overjoyed to release their work to the world for free. That’s a beautiful thing right there, and I’m glad for them.

Others of us are hoping to derive some income from our work somewhere down the line, but one thing we all share is a passion for what we’re doing.

But those are topics for another day. Because, right now, I’d like to introduce you to my favorite computer tech—the guy who just saved my ass--a young man named Jesse Warne.

Here’s somebody else who’s got a passion for what he does. When I asked him how he got started in computer repair, he told me he read a big thick book about A+ Computer certification when he was 14 years old.

And never looked back.

He installed the hard drive from my old computer into a slightly newer computer that was light-years ahead of what I’d had before. He offered me so many options that my head grew dizzy. Any glitch in the path was promptly countered by a wizardly click into an obscure corner and some well-placed lines of type. I was very impressed.

If you live in Western North Carolina, Jesse’s services are available for hire. Overnight service or in-home, virus removals, custom PCs, upgrades, networks, and consultation. This is a very articulate young man who really knows his stuff, and I highly recommend him.

His business slogan is Best Rates; Guaranteed Services; Fast. Marvelous, don’t you think?

A lot of computer repair people are just in the business because they completed a course, or it seemed like a good direction to follow, or they thought it might be a good career path.

Jesse’s a computer tech because it’s a calling of his heart. That’s the sort of person you want fixing your computer, because he knows way more solutions then somebody who’s just going through the motions. 

Visit his website at http://www.theexpertcomputerrepairs.com                     

And do tell him that I sent you.