DUANE EDDY - Nashville Musicians Association
DUANE EDDY - Nashville Musicians Association
DUANE EDDY - Nashville Musicians Association
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By Craig Krampf<br />
Greetings my Fellow Brother and<br />
Sister <strong>Musicians</strong>. Michelangelo<br />
said “The greater danger for most of<br />
us lies not in setting our aim too high and<br />
falling short; but in setting our aim too low,<br />
and achieving our mark.”<br />
It is only natural to meet a new year with<br />
plans, resolutions and new ideas about what<br />
we want to accomplish. I have some personal<br />
goals set for myself, and Dave and I have<br />
many ideas and plans for our union. Will we<br />
accomplish success? It is possible, as long as<br />
we give full effort to our high goals. We want<br />
you to know we will work hard and will need<br />
your help. This is our union and we are all in<br />
this together.<br />
The Goal of the AFM<br />
I hope you have followed news about the<br />
AFM during the past year. The election of<br />
Ray Hair as our AFM president, and so<br />
many new AFM IEB members — including<br />
our own Local 257 president — has given<br />
me the most hope I have had for the future<br />
of the AFM in a very long while. The reign<br />
of exclusion is over. All AFM members, no<br />
matter the field of expertise, have a voice that<br />
will be heard by our IEB and acted upon. It is<br />
what our union is supposed to be. We are all<br />
brother and sisters who have been brought<br />
together by this incredible, very unique<br />
profession.<br />
Many people have commented on AFM<br />
Secretary-Treasurer Sam Folio’s column in<br />
the January, 2011 edition of The International<br />
Musician. Some feel the column has an<br />
element of bleakness because it addresses<br />
many of the AFM’s financial problems. I<br />
see it as a positive step towards fixing wrong<br />
policies and business decisions made in years<br />
past. To me, Sam’s column is a reality check,<br />
and that is always necessary to implement<br />
positive change. I believe Sam’s statement,<br />
“Let’s be a union, and if it can be organized,<br />
let’s do it,” is a great goal for the AFM.<br />
The Financial Goal<br />
Finances have been our priority at Local 257<br />
since we took office. We have had an ongoing<br />
mission to reduce costs and improve service<br />
to members. We will save more than $4,000<br />
by not spending money on a mass printing of<br />
the Local 257 Directory, so we have put this<br />
on hold for now. We will be happy to print<br />
a directory for any member who wants one.<br />
However, please remember that the online<br />
private directory on our website is updated<br />
at least once a month and is also printable.<br />
Go to www.nashvillemusicians.org and click<br />
on “directory” for access. We will continue<br />
cost-cutting efforts this year and hope to be<br />
able to pass along more positive news about<br />
our financial condition next quarter.<br />
A Goal for The Emergency Relief Fund<br />
We want to say thank you to all who have<br />
given the voluntary $2 contribution to the<br />
Emergency Relief Fund (ERF). The ERF<br />
has come to the aid of many musicians going<br />
through hard times and is something very<br />
special our local offers. In January the IRS<br />
granted The <strong>Nashville</strong> <strong>Musicians</strong> <strong>Association</strong><br />
Flood Relief Fund 501c3 classification,<br />
which allows contributors to be able to claim<br />
their donation as a tax deduction. My hope is<br />
that this year the ERF will also attain 501c3<br />
tax classification. The legal process to attain<br />
the 501c3 status for the ERF is now in the<br />
beginning stages. Hopefully, attaining this<br />
tax status will encourage larger and more<br />
frequent donations to the ERF.<br />
The Goal for New Membership<br />
We have taken big positive steps and our<br />
number of new members has grown over the<br />
last two years. We will continue to spread<br />
the word about the benefits of being a union<br />
musician, and we need your help. Whenever<br />
possible, talk with non-union musicians and<br />
explain why you are a member and what the<br />
benefits mean to you.<br />
Make the point that there is strength in<br />
numbers and if we stand in solidarity, we all<br />
gain much more than if we have an everyman-for-himself<br />
mentality. If we don’t stand<br />
together, wages will fall and musicians will be<br />
taken advantage of. Our union has worked<br />
for over a hundred years to make sure this<br />
won’t happen. Help spread the union word.<br />
These personal interactions are key to success<br />
with gaining new members.<br />
Communication and explanation are<br />
important elements with any relationship.<br />
We get to interact frequently with nonunion<br />
musicians; young road musicians,<br />
musicians playing live gigs such as The<br />
Opry, and even the occasional non-union<br />
musician on a recording session. Instead of<br />
The <strong>Nashville</strong> Musician January - March 2011<br />
New Grooves<br />
the old-fashioned threats, we explain all the<br />
positive reasons for being a union musician.<br />
We tell non-members that the union is in<br />
the business of helping musicians. The new<br />
methods are working — negative perceptions<br />
are being changed! Our goal is to improve on<br />
the last two year’s number of new members.<br />
The Goal to Inform<br />
So many phone calls and emails are<br />
devoted to the same questions. Our job is<br />
to help you in any way that we can, and we<br />
will gladly take the time to help answer your<br />
questions. But in the interest of trying to<br />
inform, I will devote the rest of my column<br />
to two of these topics.<br />
Life Membership<br />
There are two requirements in the AFM<br />
Bylaws. First, members have continuous<br />
membership in good standing with the AFM<br />
for a period of thirty-five years. Second,<br />
members must have reached the age of sixtyfive.<br />
Members meeting both requirements<br />
shall automatically become Life Members.<br />
You don’t have to be a member with thirtyfive<br />
years of good standing membership of<br />
Local 257.<br />
Membership in any local is also counted,<br />
as long as it has been continuous membership<br />
in the AFM. In most cases, our records only<br />
go back until when you joined our local and<br />
so, please let us know if Life Membership<br />
hasn’t kicked in for you when you meet the<br />
requirements. We will then check with the<br />
AFM New York office.<br />
The Pension Fund<br />
As a rule, the pension fund will not<br />
release any information about an individual’s<br />
pension, except to that person. Please contact<br />
the American Federation of <strong>Musicians</strong> and<br />
Employers Pension Fund (AFM-EPF) at<br />
afm-epf.org or write to American Federation<br />
of <strong>Musicians</strong> and Employers’ Pension Fund,<br />
One Penn Plaza - Suite 3115, New York, NY<br />
10119. You may also call 800-833-8065, Ext.<br />
1311<br />
Epilogue<br />
One of our union musician brothers, Les<br />
Brown, the famous bandleader, said, “Your<br />
goals are the road maps that guide you and<br />
show you what is possible for your life.”<br />
My wish is for you to aim high and to have<br />
success in reaching your goals and what is<br />
possible this year. My wish for our Local 257<br />
is for the same. May we meet the future with<br />
hope, faith, love and peace.<br />
Craig Krampf is secretary-treasurer of AFM<br />
Local 257. You can reach him at craig@<br />
afm257.org.<br />
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