Are Musicians Temperamental?

I hear this all the time: “Musicians are moody and hard to get along with!”

No, we are creative, and that makes us special!

My music experience started as a nine-year-old when I would crawl through the window of my church to play my heart out on the piano!

In my fantasy world, I imagined angels taking my amplified sounds and piping the music to nearby hobo jungle to make their hearts happy!

I was tiny. Some would say skinny, so my dad bought me a small 12 base accordion. I was limited to the keys I could play.

He purchased a 72 base white accordion as a surprise. It was not too big and fit my small body frame, but allowed me to play in almost any key.

When I moved to Conroe, I played for a boys trio, and we traveled to churches in the Houston area to sing for special events and revivals. It required many hours of personal practice time to play the music and time with them to learn their parts!

There was a period in the ’60s when the snake-handling movement was popular in some churches! You remember the scripture in Mark 16:18, They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; (KJV)

Well, I informed the guys they best not book us to sing at one of those religious establishments, or they would be singing Church of Christ style!

Their pianist would be finding the nearest exit!

 When Coleman McDuff of the McDuff Trio in Houston, Texas, asked me to play for a revival Wednesday through Sunday in Huntsville, Texas, I said yes.

He talked with me on Friday night and said Connie Smith appeared at the Huntsville rodeo on Sunday and was a friend of his. She had agreed to come on the final night, to sing and give her testimony. He then handed me a probable list of her songs!

I had no idea who she was! When I found out she was a big country music star, I about flipped out, but she was down-to-earth and a sweet Christian lady!

Fast forward to Texarkana! I was playing for a friend who led praise and worship for ladies’ groups, and many of the meetings were in hotels that did not take proper care of their pianos!

During one meeting she scheduled, I walked into the room to check out the instrument. I said, “Marejohn, several black keys are missing on the piano!” We muddled thru, but after that night, we got an electric keyboard to take to the meetings!

Odis knew I loved playing the piano when we married and had previously played for gospel groups.

We had just come in from picking blueberries and were preparing them for the freezer when I got a phone call. The stranger on the other end of the line said they had a gospel men’s group with an engagement for Sunday night, and their pianist had to work. My name had been given to them as a possibility to fill in for them. I looked at Odis, and he said, “Go! I’ll finish these!”

After I accepted, my suspicious mind kicked in, and I said, “What if they attack me and kill me?”

He said, “You’ll be fine! I’ll pray for you!”

I’m so glad I had a praying husband. They liked my style and asked me to play for them permanently.

I’ve had a great time playing and ministering in music! It was never hard work, and I’ve often felt it was a small part compared to the Gideon’s giving out bibles, a teacher of a Sunday School class, or preaching, but Odis reminded me how important the musicians of the Old Testament were!

I pray my music has been a blessing of ministry to the people I’ve played for in revivals, women’s retreats, and meetings!

It has been a great ride for me!