...is part and parcel of this industry or even ministry.
A few incidents stand out. Last year, I remember being asked to sing lead vocals 2 songs for a Christian album. I wasn't feeling too comfortable about it, because the keys were on the high side. But the producer said that it wasn't possible to change the key of the song, because this was the key the church wanted to sing in. After finishing one session for them, the producer called me and said I was not needed for the other song. The church felt that my voice was not 'church' enough. It was too 'pop' for them. Whatever that meant.
When the CD was finally done (and a copy was given to me. Free CD's are generally given to people involved in the album), I saw that they had supplemented the track I sang on with another male lead vocalist. It was obvious that I had been found wanting.... It stung. Although it was never my ambition in any way to be a 'church'-ey singer, it still stung when people thought I wasn't good enough to be one.
Incident number 2:
I was recommended to be a keyboardist for a semi-Christian/evangelistic event in April. I say "semi" because even though all the artists invited to the event are all believers [or at least known to be believers], the musicians in the team might not be christians and the way things are run are 'secular' or 'business-like'.
The music director called me and said the musicians was needed to record some backing tracks for the event yesterday. I was asked to set aside the whole working day [approximately 6-7 hours]. I agreed and adjusted my schedule accordingly. A couple of confirmation messages and phone-calls followed, up to the day before the recording. Then, an hour after the last confirmation, the assistant of the director called and said the recording was postponed because the demos were not ready, therefore it would be inefficient for the musicians to record the tracks. He apologized for the last minute postponement of the recording.
I was fine till I found out from a fellow musician involved in the event that the recording was not postponed after all. The assistant had given me what he thought was a polite excuse...but to me it's just a bunch of lies. Apparently, they didn't need so many musicians on that day for the recording. So they cancelled me and told me a bunch of lies. I was apparently still needed for the event, but just not for that day.
I mean, COME ON. The truth would have been fine. Although I would have been annoyed at their last minute cancellation, I would have not been this angry if they told me the truth. Did he really have to lie to me that the recording day was postponed? If I wasn't good enough to be in the recording, or they wanted the other keyboardist [there are generally 2 keyboardists], he could have said, they only needed one.
Well. Apparently BS excuses are really normal in the entertainment 'circle'. Or rather BS in general is normal. One of the things I found out about Taiwan that I really dislike is the propensity of people to sound a lot more impressive verbally than through actions. A lot of people have the gift of the gab. They say they can do a lot, they promise a lot, but they don't do what they say more than half the time.
Sigh. God. You are sovereign in the midst of all these little downs. Help me to lean on You
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