"The First Gig"

Shane started to turn his life around. Shane was again placed in a group home in Manhattan, New York. This group home was different than the ones in the Utica area as it was geared to helping state cared for youth in a setting to prepare them for adulthood in the "Real World."

"The first thing this place did was allow me to get my G.E.D. Back then it was not like today, where it is just a basic understanding of high school studies, but back then you had to know everything a regular eleventh grade student would. When I passed, the first thing I had to do was get a job. Those were the rules."

"I found myself at this club which shall remain nameless and lied on an application to get a job as a clean up person."

"One day I was in the DJ booth messing around with the lights and the owner walked in. He wasn't mad, like I thought he might be with me playing with the lights. Instead he asked if I wanted to do that as a bonus to get some extra cash and I said sure. So during the day, I would clean and practice on the turntables, then run the lights on the weekend."

"One Friday night the DJ didn’t show up. To fill in, the owner told me to go spin until the DJ got there. I did and next thing you know he offered me the job."

"That was my first paying gig as a real DJ. After that I was playing all sorts of clubs and performed with guys like Grand Master Flash and DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince.

<< Previous    1  2  [3]  4  5  ...11    Next >>