Road Warriors: Dave Kirby
TEXT OF STORY
Kai Ryssdal: When you do it voluntarily, traveling can be great. When you do it because you have to, then it’s work. People spending their days in generic corporate conference meetings, nights in impersonal hotel rooms.
For our series Road Warriors, producer Michael Raphael is introducing us to some business travelers, and the music they listen to when they’re out on the road or waiting at the airport.
Dave Kirby: I’m Dave Kirby from Minneapolis, Minn. I’m one of the owners of a company that does business seminars and consulting for the hair salon and spa industry.
One of the songs that I listen to very often when I’m on the road is a song by Garth McDermott called “Some Other Year.”
“Some Other Year” by Garth McDermott
There are some lyrics from the song that pop into my head frequently when I’m traveling. It’s the opening lines of the song: “I’ve got nothing up my sleeve that gets us out of here / Look at all these strings that don’t pull anything.”
You know, being a frequently flyer, I get a lot of perks and privileges, but there are certain situations where none of that stuff helps you — like when Mother Nature throws a hissy fit and there’s a big snow storm. Everyone’s kind of in the same boat, and in those instances, I use the music to kind of help me maintain equilibrium and equanimity, while the rest of the flying universe is going insane.
My dad was a musician while I was growing up, and I’ve been playing in bands since I was in the sixth grade. So music’s always been a really deeply personal thing to me and I’d say that I feel it more than hear it.
I became a hairdresser in 1983 after getting kicked out of cosmetology school twice. You know, I just managed to get around some good people that helped me turn my career around and taught me the business of making money in the salon business. And it’s an industry that’s largely been filled with artists. There’s never been a resource for them to learn the business of the business, and so being one of the owners of a company that provides those tools to people is really an amazing thing. And we’re helping a lot of people, and to me that’s the most enjoyable part of it.
Kai Ryssdal: We’ve got a new music section on our website. You can check out Dave’s other favorites there or offer up your own playlist. It’s all on our homepage, Marketplace.org.
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