Work ethic, pornography and "the road"

Potter Stewart an associate justice for the Supreme court said this about pornography (though I don't quite agree with him on porn, I like the quote) in trying to define the undefinable "...I know it when I see it...". Contents (and a stretch) aside, that's my thoughts exactly on "work ethic". I can't quite define it but I know it when I see it. These past few weeks I've been going out on the road with a few bands and getting just a small taste of life as a road musician. These guys drive MANY hours sometimes to make a coupla hundred bucks (sometimes more or less). It's a grind, it's gotta be tough on the family life, not predictable or reliable and I'm not sure if people wanting to get into "show business" know what kind of life that it can really be. These are some DAMN talented musicians too! I sure the hell don't know the life myself  but last Thursday morning about 5 AM, I found myself pulling into a Nashville Kroger parking lot after taking only a 4 hour drive (NOthing to them) from a great Misty Loggins show (in Atlanta) thinking I've pulled off some kind of physical feat or something! All the while, I'm following a hard working manager, artist and another truck-load (NOT the nice fancy bus) of musicians.
Musicians, road managers and a LOT of artists know this story all too well. I didn't and my admiration for them has been growing every day in my "new road" I'm travelling down. This past weekend I traveled with 4 of them on a 7 hour trip to play a Friday and Saturday night show for people that didn't know WHO the hell they were. It was a GREAT eff-ing time! It was this little band playing with Chris Cavanaugh (the artist) opening for Thompson Square ("Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not"). It was kind of "them against the world" type of feeling where they go out there and have to convince a sellout crowd (for TS who traveled the same road a few years earlier) that they were worth their time.  Chris and the band played like rock stars and sold a helluvu lot of CD's and added a ton of new e-mails. It was my peek at life in the trenches for those guys playing every where they can. It just inspired the HELL out of me! Think I'm gonna LOVE working for the "underdogs" :)
God bless them every one : Billy Brimblecom,Gary Ishee, Brian Bixbie, Aaron Wolfcale, Misty Loggins,  Alex Gallagher,William Ellis, Bandon Taulbee and Chris Cavanaugh.