Musicians Web pages - Nashville Musicians Association

8 The Nashville Musician October-December 2006
Mr. Harold Bradley, President of the
Nashville Association of Musicians’ Local
257, is finally getting a little of the recognition
he so greatly deserves. On Saturday,
Aug. 19, the Country Music Hall of Fame
& Museum saluted Harold, celebrating the
Music City Session Players. This year he
is also being inducted into the Hall of Fame,
in the Recording and/or Touring Musician,
Active Prior to 1980 category. What a huge
honor! Harold is a humble man, a man of
truly great talent, wisdom, and experience,
one who represents you with great compassion
and kindness. He’s been a blessing to
this Local for many years, and we’re all so
very proud of him.
With an adjustment to our phone system,
calling our main line will get you a
personal, friendly greeting. That’s right,
personal. We’re now turning off the automated
system during business hours, and
directing your calls, per your request. It’s
been very well-received, and we’ll do our
best to maintain the communication during
our busier times of the year. Thanks for
letting us know it’s important to you.
Your 2007 Annual Membership Dues
are upon us. Your present membership card
will expire Dec. 31, 2006. To remain in
good standing, you should pay your full
membership on or before that date. Postcards
are being mailed to all active members,
notifying of all itemized amounts, due
Producer’s notice
All payments for recording sessions
are to be made through the office
of Local 257. Please be advised
that AFM may be notified of instances
where this is not done. In such
cases it could jeopardize and violate
the terms of your AFM Phonograph
Record Labor Agreement. Your recording
license with the AFM could
be subject to cancellation! Check with
us now.
CHANGE IN BENEFICIARY?
Be sure to report important
changes to the Union office!
Call (615) 244-9514
Please patronize
The Nashville Musician
Advertisers!
Member’s accounts payable
now via VISA or MasterCard
For the convenience of our
members, we now accept both
MasterCard and VISA credit
cards. For information, call
Billy Linneman, Secretary-
Treasurer, Tel: (615) 244-9514,
Ext. 224.
Office
Manager’s
Notes . . .
By Sherri
Dickerson
dates, late fees, etc. The 2007 regular membership
renewal rate is $204.00, and lifetime
members pay a reduced fee of $115.25.
The only increase this year is in the AFM.
Per Capita Dues amount. The Federation
charges each Local a set amount per member,
a small increase of $2.00 this year,
which we pay on a quarterly basis.
If you know of a member who has recently
passed away, please ask a family
member to contact us in regards to their
Funeral Benefit Fund. This fund is paid into
by all members, and has a benefit for any
active member at the time of their death.
The procedure is simple. As a new member,
please fill out the beneficiary card and
we’ll keep it on file. If you’ve been a member
for a while, it may be a good time to
review your listed beneficiary. You can fill
out a new card at any time. Upon the death
of a member, we’ll need an original statecertified
Death Certificate for our files.
Member must be in good standing, with all
dues and charges paid-to-date.
Thanks to Mr. Otto Bash, who graciously
performed the fall trimming of our
Ficus tree. Great job, Otto! I wish you, and
all our members, a very blessed holiday season.
[Note: The Office Manager can be
reached on line at Sherri@afm257.org or
by calling (615) 244-9514, Ext. 240.]
Carolyn Austin displays ribbon
won in official cooking bake-off.
Carolyn Austin
former Union
admin assistant
Carolyn Austin was not only Assistant
to the President, but she was handling the
Electronic Media Services Division
(EMSD) workload for Local 257 over 15
years ago, when we started editing The
Nashville Musician.
The lady’s incoming box appeared to be
bottomless, meaning Carolyn would often
burn the midnight oil to make sure people
got their checks in a timely manner, sometimes
working 15-hour days.
“I always wanted the musicians to know
that I was here for them, not merely to collect
their work dues,” confided Local 257
member Austin, in an earlier interview with
this reporter. “I genuinely enjoyed hearing
what it was they did, and to learn about them
and their families. I know whose wife was
sick or who was having a baby. I heard it all:
the good, the bad and the ugly. The members
were my children - and I’m gonna miss
them.”
Sadly, they will now miss Carolyn Totty
Austin, who some affectionately referred to
as “Mama.” She died on Aug. 24 at age 65.
Carolyn was the wife of Local 257 drummer-educator
Tony Austin for 45 years.
On St. Patrick’s Day 1995, when Carolyn
stepped down, her replacement was immediately
assigned an assistant. Today, Melissa
Hamby Meyer heads up this operation, with
an assist from four employees and a parttimer.
“Carolyn Austin retired March 17, after
20 years of dedicated service to our Local,”
stated President Harold Bradley, acknowledging
her tireless devotion to duty in 1995.
“Carolyn is a special person whose heart
went out to all of our musicians and their
families. I especially want to thank her for
the wonderful job she did for me as Assistant
to the President for the past four years.
We all want Carolyn and Tony to enjoy themselves
in retirement, although all of us will
miss the delectable food she so graciously
served to us on numerous occasions.”
Since 1989, Carolyn’s job was to run
EMSD and also Assistant to the President.
Prior to that her duties included scheduling
Music Performance Trust Fund shows and
various other tasks such as assisting members
at the reception window.
In our interview - after 20 years and a
day of service - she explained, “My primary
responsibility was to see that members got
paid for the work they did. For recordings,
which can emcompass demos, limited
pressings or masters; for all types of television
(shows), including network, public television,
pay television, cable television; for
whatever they do, there’s a scale for that particular
type of work. If it’s not a ‘live’ performance
and it’s recorded in any shape, form
or fashion, then it goes to the Electronic
Media Services Division.”
As Nashville’s contract supervisor, Austin
had different regulations to comply with:
“The federal government says here are our
guidelines, then the Federation has its rules,
and Local 257 has its rules.”
Carolyn’s duties as Assistant to the President
included dealing with prospective signatories
who wanted to engage musicians for
projects: “I would explain the difference between
union and non-union. A lot of them
don’t know what’s happening, so I tried to
be helpful and tell them.”
She remembered, too, that there were a
number of unscrupulous types arranging recording
sessions, who “come in and talk to
me and though they don’t mean to, they give
themselves away with every word they
speak. Those people are not concerned about
paying a fair share for the musicians’ talents,
they’re only interested n lining their own
pockets. They may have a huge budget for a
recording session - and I mean big bucks -
but the musicans are the cheapest part of that
package. In some instances, my guys won’t
even be a tenth of it.”
Carolyn admitted that dealing with both
sides - session producers and musicians - required
real diplomacy: “Sometimes it was
like walking on egg-shells.”
Despite a heavy workload, she would
bake “goodies” for the office staff or anyone
who wanted a taste until the plates were emptied.
It was in 1975 that then-President
Johnny DeGeorge, a neighbor of the Austins,
called to see if Carolyn would be available
for temporary work at the Local?
“I had a plumbing bill staring at me for
$400 and I didn’t know how we were going
to get the extra money to pay that. Then
Johnny called and asked me to work two
weeks to fill in,” she smiled. “Until that time
I had been tending kids before and after
school, doing arts and crafts for fairs and
Carolyn with her pet Katie Mae.
sewing for people in order to send my children
to private school.”
When DeGeorge realized what a great
worker she was, her duties expanded to full
time, which included working with the
Local’s bookkeeper, Gertrude (Gertie)
DeGeorge, the president’s wife: “There was
no actual job description that we followed,
and for a long time we could basically interchange.
That was good if someone was
out sick or on vacation.”
After DeGeorge departed, she continued
working with subsequent presidents,
Jay Collins and Harold Bradley, each of
whom she noted had different styles. Being
on the job for two decades she saw a lot
of changes, including moving into the
Local’s own building at 11 Music Circle
North, after being located at 1806 Division
Street just off Music Row.
“Of course, the Opryland complex was
just getting going and when they started The
Nashville Network (TNN) in 1983, it created
even more contracts for us. And the
face of the Row has really changed so . . .”
She said her personal musical preferences
ran the gamut: “I love everything
from toe-tapping bluegrass to the Nashville
Symphony and anything in between . . .”
Among her favorite artists were pianist
Floyd Cramer, crooner George Morgan and
folk favorite John Hartford, all of whom she
got to know. She shared a humorous incident
with us concerning Cramer: “The first
time he ever came into the building after I
started working, I was eating a sandwich
and had just taken a bite. When I looked up
and saw Floyd Cramer, I swallowed, but it
just hung there. Here I am choking to death
and everybody in the office is laughing so
hard, nobody thought to pat me on the back
so I could breathe. How I got that bite of
food back up, I’ll never know. I remember
thinking, ‘Lord, help me!’ and then I
thought I must have been blue in the face
and I wasn’t pretty! When I asked him if I
could have his autograph, he said, ‘Sure.’
Then I pulled up about 15 albums I’d been
saving for him to sign!”
Carolyn Totty was born in Memphis,
daughter of D.A. and Ida Totty. She grew
up there, then moved to Chester County,
where she graduated from Chester County
High School in 1959. She later attended
Freed Hardeman College. Tony and Carolyn
were wed in June 1961.
Since 1966, Tony, who was also a
schoolteacher, and his wife, who sang and
played piano, had lived in the Nashville
area. A member of the Bellevue Baptist
Church, Carolyn enjoyed helping several
area organizations with whatever their
needs were, such as baking, cooking and
sewing, at which she excelled.
According to longtime friend Otto
Bash, today the Local’s Sergeant-At-Arms,
Carolyn was a “giving of herself soul.” He
said she collected labels from soup cans
which helped funding for elementary school
playground equipment, and also aluminum
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