john goodin, library technical services

John Goodin states:

Don't Give Up Your Day Job

Many persons with vocations in the arts find themselves “called” to work in other fields. Often these are closely related fields (“those who can't do, teach”) and often they are different but complimentary. I find myself in that latter category and have come to discover that, after 25 years of laboring in the library vineyard, I now see myself as someone with two vocations. Add to this the commonly held idea that today's students will likely work in several different fields during their lives and I find myself primed for some focused reading on the meaning and usefulness of the concept of vocation.

From this perspective I can see that much of my reading over the years has been concerned with discovering and learning about kindred spirits. I have also personally come to know many serious amateur musicians from all “walks of life.” Biographies, autobiographies, serious interviews, conversations and even liner notes of sound recordings have been key sources of information in this lifelong attempt to better understand my own place in the world.

I realized as early as high school (1965-1969) that I had little interest in art without a spiritual component and that those spiritual qualities were not easily defined or contained by Roman Catholic or, later, Christian orthodoxy. This was a fairly common notion in the artistic community throughout the 1960's and 1970's. Examples that come quickly to mind are people like Thomas Merton (both poet and monk, Catholic and nearly Buddhist) and John Coltrane (musician, raised in the African-American Bible tradition and a serious student of many Eastern spiritual traditions).

I see this vocation grant as an opportunity to do several things. I might choose to re-read some material with my (hopefully) more mature perspective as well as read several new books. These readings will focus primarily on musicians working in the American and European vernacular traditions (folk, jazz, ethnic and popular) and how vocations develop and are made manifest in these traditions. I will complement this with a few more general readings on the nature of vocation and the arts.

Bibliography

Palmer, Parker J. A hidden wholeness : the journey toward an undivided life : welcoming the soul and weaving community in a wounded world.

Palmer, Parker J. Let your life speak : listening for the voice of vocation.

Khan, Hazrat I. The Music of life.

Mindfulness and Meaningful Work: Explorations in Right Livelihood.

Florida, Richard. The Rise of the Creative Class: And How It's Transforming Work, Leisure, Community and Everyday Life.

Ray, Paul H., Sherry Ruth Anderson. The Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million People Are Changing the World.

Sinetar, Marsha. To Build the Life You Want, Create the Work You Love : The Spiritual Dimension of Entrepreneuring.

Rooney, James. Bossmen: Bill Monroe and Muddy Waters.

Ewing, Tom (ed.) The Bill Monroe Reader.

Black, Bob. Come Hither to Go Yonder: playing bluegrass with Bill Monroe.

Smith, Richard D. Can't You Hear Me Callin': The Life of Bill Monroe, Father of Bluegrass.

Spellman, A.B. Four lives in the bebop business.

Porter, Lewis. John Coltrane : his life and music.

Cole, Bill. John Coltrane.

Malone, Bill C. Singing cowboys and musical mountaineers : southern culture and the roots of country music.

Duckworth, William. Talking music : conversations with John Cage, Philip Glass, Laurie Anderson, and five generations of American experimental composers.

Tick, Judith. Ruth Crawford Seeger : a composer's search for American music.

*Wolfe, Charles. The Devil's Box: Masters of Southern Fiddling.

O’Connor, Nuala. Bringing It All Back Home: The Influence of Irish Music at Home and Overseas.

Chafetz, Lester. Ill Tempered String Quartet: A Vademecum for the Amateur Musician.

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