Meet Steve...self-proclaimed ultra conservative and reluctant entrepreneur. I am using the picture on the right without his permission so I suspect I'll be hearing from his attorney shortly. Just kidding...he'll probably just have my legs broken. Seriously though, Steve Chapman came closest to being my manager, agent, promoter, producer and spiritual adviser over anyone. Frankly, people weren't standing in line for the priviledge but he took it upon himself to help bolster my music career and help me get heard. Steve had a lot of talent back in those days. He was a musician himself and he knew virtually everyone else out there who wanted to play too. Anyone familiar with our small town of Slidell back then could tell you that it was tough to get noticed because there were very few venues of opportunity available. Enter Steve. Steve Chapman was always thinking of ways to make money and a lot of those ways involved me investing money in those ideas. I was always skeptical but I have to give him his due. I watched in amazement as he opened his own music store with virtually no money and I saw first hand what a flair for organization and sales he had while he sweet talked representatives from music companies. Without going into a long explanation let me just say that Steve was responsible for encouraging me to write and record my music. Not only that, but he set up the recording sessions through connections that he had and at one point arranged to have my music played on the local radio station while at the same time promoting his store. I believe that's called marketing. In a perfect world Steve would have been an agent or concert promoter and I would have been a star because he saw potential in a lot of people who had no clue about self promotion.
Over the decades Steve never veered far from his love of music and the hardware it took to make it happen but I will always wonder how things would have turned out if he had himself been pushed to at least try his hand at realizing his own larger dreams.
True words, Mr. Otis; very true. I have never met a man with more ideas and resources and he could charm s**t out of people that wouldn't give you, me or anyone else the time of day. I can't think of a truer friend than Steve Chapman. The first time I met him was in Mississippi Mucis in the Jackson Mall. I walked in to get this Guild guitar setup to play better. I asked, " Are you the guitar repairman?" He said, "Yeah, what can I do for you, fat boy?" I didn't kill him (which I would have normally done) but was immediately drawn to this little troll and struck up a freindship that has lasted the better part of 35 years. No matter where I have been or what I have been doing, he has always been there. He was at the birth of all 4 of my children...like I said, true friend; one in a million. Good words, brother Rick, thanks for sharing.
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