So me and my sis get to the counter of Jet Blue to find out were three hours late for our flight. F*c K me in the A$$!! Right.
But that’s not it… the counter lady says we have to pay about $1000 to get back home to South Florida.
I felt like a sack of loser bricks.
But then a miracle happened. Stevie Salas is going through the check point the same time as we are! It was divine intervention. I truly believe this.
So you know, I don’t want to be a psycho stalker and be up his ass every step he takes. We go do our thing and strategically plan what is the best way to spend a few moments with this guitar god.
Having a conversation with Steve was spiritual. Like, there are no accidents in life. Fate.
We make our way back around the corner to where he is and he waves for us to join him. Stevie is great. He’s real. He’s just himself. I love people like that. All pretention’s aside. I ask if it’s ok that we do a mini impromptu interview and he was cool with it.
Conversations are great. They let you go anywhere you want. As opposed to questions that are scripted and basically have no life.
He asks if we got everything taken care of for our flight home. I said ‘ Yea, I need to pay better attention to detail’ and he’s like ‘Obviously’.
‘It’s my first time flying and I misread the itinerary’ I said. And he almost falls out of his chair like ‘what!, are you serious?’
Regardless of the circumstances surrounding ‘the morning after’ it was all worth it to sit with him and get to know the man who was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 11th Annual Native American Music Awards.
He has worked with Mick Jagger, Rod Stewart, George Clinton and Justin Timberlake. The music director of American Idol's Chris Daughtry, Jordan Sparks, David Cook , Allison Iraheta, Kris Allen and Adam Lambert. He is the host and executive producer of a show called ‘Arbor Live’ in Canada. He also works with the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian on contemporary music programming. He produces and develops other music artist.
This conversation went from here to there in a span of about 30 minutes. Here are the highlights.
- ‘Working against ourselves is the stupidest thing we could do’ Stevie says. He went on to explain that in order for Native American entertainment to achieve mainstream status we need to compile all of our information in one spot like BET, Univision and Al Queda. The information includes publicity, managers and talent. Development from experts who have the knowledge on how to get us where were supposed to be.
- I complimented his career. He says 'If I can do it, you can do it. You got to work harder and keep doing the best you can. Career is like mountains. There are ups and downs. Mountains and valleys. You wont always be hot and you wont always be cold.'
The moments spent listening to him talk was the development I needed to get back on track. To return to my original plan and be do what I set out to do.
Stevie is life. He lives. No regrets.
http://www.myspace.com/steviesalas
