I share this story to inspire you.Our daughter got married this year. It was in March and the wedding was in Baton Rouge. William and his family are from that part of the country and our daughter now lives there. She has a great job and two dogs.Instead of flying, Tim and I decided to drive from Minneapolis to Baton Rouge, straight south. It's a two-day drive, actually a lot shorter than I thought it would be. We both thought it would be nice to take our own car (it has 180,000 miles on it) and take our time. It would be our only vacation this year and we'd be there a week. On a fun note, Tim volunteered to be the DJ at the wedding reception (can you imagine how great he was . . . ), so we had a lot of sound gear to pack and bring along. For me, I liked the idea of driving because I thought it would be nice to just sit and do nothing. We work so hard.About six hours into the trip, I had my iPad out and told Tim I had heard that some of my retired and out-of-print music books were starting to become valuable. It was rumored that people were trying to sell some of my books on Ebay for big bucks. I've never looked at that kind of thing before, but because I had time, I decided to look on Ebay and see if there were any Lorie Line music books for sale. Sure enough, Music From The Heart was the first book that popped up. Two people were trying to get $300 to $500 for their book. (Personally, I have one copy and there is a sticker on the cover that says DO NOT SELL. LORIE'S COPY.) Well, I scrolled down and here comes up another book, VOGUE. The seller was asking $1700 for the book. Are you kidding me?! Now, they probably won't get that kind of money for the book, but how flattering was that! Here's the deal. Some of my books are retired and/or out-of-print because the licenses are just too expensive to purchase again. With about 50 books in our inventory, we have to decide if the cost (and the risk) is worth it. Because of this, some of my books have become valuable. Well, the next book that is out of print and starting to become valuable is SIMPLY GRAND.So, today I'd like to share with you the story of SIMPLY GRAND.Seventeen years ago I recorded this solo piano album and published the music book. I made the horrible mistake of giving it to our local Minneapolis music critic, Jon Bream. Now I would describe Jon as "old and curmudgeonly." I would never be his type. No matter what (although the most flattering thing he ever said about me was that I was a modern-day Audrey Hepburn). But I'm not his type because I'm not a granola girl. I love beautiful things. I have a different faith. And I'm happy.Jon is the kind of critic who says a few nice things about you, then takes you down. Oh, so low. It cuts straight to the heart. Or really the gut. For my album SIMPLY GRAND, he said a few nice things, but his last sentence is one I will never forget . . . something like . . . "this album is nice, but really it is just a little more simple . . . than it is grand." Ugh.Straight to the heart. My heart. Of course I recovered, but I never passed along another album to him, and to this day I have never seen or heard another word from Mr. Bream.In church the other day I listened to how Abraham waited and waited for God's promise to be fulfilled. How he begged God to give him a son, bless him and multiply his family. How God took him outside and showed him the stars in the heavens. How he waited and waited, until it was impossible to even conceive a child. But God said, "oh, you just wait. . . ." Abraham was in his 80's. And then it happened. So here I am . . . 17 years later. And now I'm almost 60 years old. Here's how my story ends. Today, if you type in my name (Lorie Line Radio) on Pandora (which is the most popular digital music radio station in the world), guess what comes up? A song off of my SIMPLY GRAND album. It's called Time To Say Goodbye. I would have never predicted this. It's been playing since Pandora came into existence.So . . . guess how many times this one song has played on Pandora over the years? 100,000 times? Ah, that's a good guess.A half million times? That's a very good guess.A million? Really? You're kidding me . . . but you're getting closer.Ok Lorie! Five million spins! (that's what they call it on Pandora . . . "spins"). No. Wrong.10 million times. No.So. . . I will now tell you.Are you sitting down? I am. Because it's so hard to believe. It's like God taking Abraham outside and having him look into the heavens and count the stars. So let's go outside. Come outside with me. Look with me into the heavens.Look up. Count the stars.Are you ready? Here we go.85 million times.Yes. I will type that one out. Eighty-five million spins for Time To Say Goodbye off of SIMPLY GRAND. One song. And I have 14 additional songs off the album that have been played a total of 64 million times (In The Looking Glass; Norwegian Wood; Sweet Dreams; Nevada Skies, and more). Unconceivable.I don't think I could ever count 85 million stars in the sky. I guess sometimes it pays to be . . . simple.Oh victory in Jesus, my Savior forever.SIMPLY GRAND is Lorie Line's best selling music book of all time. If you are interested in hearing Time To Say Goodbye and other songs off of SIMPLY GRAND, just type in Lorie Line Radio on Pandora and the songs off this album will come up on your play list.Time To Say Goodbye is the number one Lorie Line download on SheetMusicPlus.com, an official web site that sells copyright music. You can purchase it on this web site.Nevada Skies is currently the featured FREE download of the month (September) on the official Lorie Line web site. Pandora pays a fraction of a penny for every 1500 spins. To this day, Jon Bream remains a critic at the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
About four years ago Tim and I were invited to a dinner party just up the road. I would consider this group my smart, entrepreneurial group of friends and we get together a couple times every year. We all own our own businesses. The host owns a very successful driving school. His wife owns (and most recently sold) a large equestrian retail store. The next couple - he is a surgeon in a private practice and she produces independent documentary films. And then there's Tim and me in the music business. It's an interesting group, that's for sure. We have nothing but everything in common.I know you're not supposed to do this at a dinner party, but we can't help ourselves. We are all super passionate about the world and we typically end up talking politics (and religion . . . to make it an even trickier night). We don't always agree, but we always end up friends at the end of the evening. Obviously, because we've been doing these dinner parties now for 20 years.This one particular night four years ago is one I will never forget. We were all speculating who was going to run for President and the host said, "I don't care if our next President is a Republican or a Democrat. I just want a business man to run our country." And there it was. The first time it was ever said out loud. Well, maybe the first time I was listening and heard it. A business man. Someone who might understand our complex and difficult business world. Understand and rally for the entrepreneur. Who in the world would that possibly be?Two years later Donald Trump came down that escalator. A Democrat? A Republican? The "business man." Most of our entrepreneurial friends said the same thing. "No matter what, we are voting for him." A year later (during the primaries when the 17 Republicans were dropping out) we happened to be invited to another social dinner at a country club. We were seated next to a Congressman and Tim asked what he thought the chances were of Donald Trump becoming our next President. The Congressman laughed and said, "he'll never be the President." Underneath the table, Tim and I were kicking each other. We just knew. We were out there hearing the people. He was going to win. And he did.I tell you this story because, no matter what your politics are these days, you can't help but to be fascinated watching the daily news and all the gatherings at the White House. I get excited when I see the chairs lined up all in a row in the press room. I love the beautiful gold draperies behind the desk in the Oval Office. A reporter will be standing on the perfectly groomed grounds. President Trump will walk down that famous walkway to the helicopter. Yes, I get excited.Because I've been there. The year was 2000 and I just so happened to have a Christmas concert at Constitution Hall, located across the street from the White House. There was an intern from Concordia College (Ms. Marty Hoffman from Moorhead) working for President Clinton who was a huge fan of mine. She saw I was coming to D.C. and asked if I might play the next morning after the concert for the families of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. It was a transitional day. President Clinton was leaving, President Bush was coming in. And this particular day both Presidents would be in the White House.Well, of course! Yes! I'd love to play!!! Are you kidding me??It was so exciting. When we arrived we went through the security gates and they took us to a holding area underneath the main common area at the White House. Actually, truth be told it was kind of scary. We were in a very small room. A holding tank. Waiting. Once we got clearance, we headed up some stairs and it was like a magical wand waved over me. I was walking . . . quickly . . . in a crowded area with family members from both Presidents on both sides of me, shoulder to shoulder, wall to wall. There were beautiful Christmas trees and Christmas decorations EVERYWHERE. It was spectacular. The security guards hurried us along until we came to a roped-off area. There it was. The famous Steinway underneath the John F. Kennedy portrait. And my bench for the morning. Everyone was gathered around the portrait and behind the ropes. I started to play and it was as though I wasn't really there. I was watching with everyone else. Off to the side were two musicians from my Pop Chamber Orchestra . . . Kenni Holman on soprano sax, and Carolyn Boulay on violin. These two musicians had been with me the longest, so I selected them to join me for the day. At first, the woman in charge would not let them play, said it would be "too loud." But after an hour or so, I politely asked if we could try one song. She agreed, and Carolyn and Kenni joined me for the remainder of the morning. I think we could have played together all day.The following morning we were all invited back to have breakfast in the Mess Hall, and take a tour behind the scenes. They said I could bring four guests (and Tim of course). It was tough to decide who would come. Since Kenni and Carolyn went the previous day, I selected vocalist Robert Robinson and Tricia Lerohl (horn) to join me as they were next in line in seniority. That left two open spots. It just so happened that in the year 2000 our sales team was made up of (none other than) our dads. Yes, my dad and Tim's dad sold merchandise for us in the lobby that year, so we invited them to come along that morning. They were thrilled. Neither had been to the White House before.The Mess Hall was a tiny restaurant where all the Representatives and Congressmen dined. Back then, Tim and I weren't so politically savvy, but we recognized a few famous politicians eating in the area. Following breakfast our cute little Concordia intern asked if we wanted to go and see the Oval Office. President Clinton was gone that day. She knew his secretary and had cleared the way.Sure enough, next thing we knew we were being greeted by President Clinton's famous secretary, Betty Curry. She put her lipstick on, and took a few photos with us around the President's desk. Socks the cat walked by. Was I dreaming?The last stop was the China Room. It was my personal favorite room in the White House (well, that . . . and the kitchen). All First Ladies have had the privilege of designing their own pattern of china. (I would love that assignment!) On display in beautiful cabinetry were one-of-a-kind place settings of china designed by all of the former First Ladies. It was tough to pick the winner.This was truly an experience of a lifetime. Democrat or Republican. business man or professional politician. Whomever the President, I hope to have another opportunity to play, even just one more time, underneath the beautiful John F. Kennedy portrait.To this day, my favorite piece of art on my wall in my home is a simple framed thank-you letter from President Clinton's Social Secretary at the White House.There were no cell phones back in 2000, so I only have a few precious photos of this day. Last week we had dinner with our entrepreneurial friends. We got caught up on life, talked about our careers, our kids, religion, and of course . . . politics. Not everone voted for President Trump.
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