Have you ever seen the television show, “What Would You Do”?

It’s an interesting show that examines what real people would do in real situations.

For example, imagine that you’ve always dreamed of being a musician… but it means you'll probably struggle to make ends meet.

Now imagine that you were offered a high paying job. One that was safe, secure, and prestigious.

You know… the one with a corner office and a view of the city skyline.

You’d have to choose between doing something you love and struggling financially... or, doing something you don't love, and being secure.

Fulfilled… but broke.

Or not fulfilled... but secure. 

It's a tough decision.

So, what would you do?

In Part 4 of The Church Boy Who Encountered Troubled Waters, we’ll see how Johnny Stephens grappled with this decision and the choice he ended up making.

Spoiler alert!  If you’ve not read Parts 1, 2 and 3, you'll want to do so before going on to Part 4.  The links to them are below.     

If you have read Parts 1 through 3, then hallelujah!  You're all set. You can continue the amazing story of Johnny Stephens below.

The Church Boy Who Encountered Troubled Waters - Part 4

Crazy Happenings

In Part 3, we left off with Tara’s friend liking Johnny’s music.

They didn’t just like it though. 

They loved it.

In fact, they wanted to use it for the song they were working on that day.

Johnny was stunned!

He was only there to observe an album being recorded.  

To go from being a fly on the wall to being on the album... now that was as crazy as it gets!

Unfortunately, Johnny and Tara had to leave for the long drive back to Scranton before the song was finished.

They left having no idea if the song would make it into the album. Some of the songs being worked on would not.

But even if it was on the album, Tara’s friend might not even use his piano composition. 

They could easily go in another direction as the song developed.

So, Johnny put it out of his mind.

Him, Johnny Stephens, on a big album? Yeah, right. Very unlikely.  

The Album

A few months later, his phone rang.

Hello.

Hi. Is this Johnny Stephens?

Yes, this is Johnny.

Hi Johnny. This is Suzette from Columbia Records. The album is very close to being released and I’m working on the album credits. I’m calling to find out how to spell your name.

Wait... what!  Are you saying I’m on the album?

Yes... you didn't know?

I had no idea. I was just a guest that came in to watch them record.

Well, you are.

Oh my God!  That’s... that's... incredible!

Well, we appreciate your contribution and think the album is going to do very well. So, it’s very important we get your name right. Is it Stevens or Stephens?

After Johnny spelled his name, Suzette said, “One other thing. We also need to know your fee so we can get a check out to you."

My fee?

Yes, you know... your musician's fee.

Johnny was flabbergasted. He hadn't even thought about getting paid. 

He didn’t have a fee.  And he didn’t have a clue as to what it should be.

But to a broke college student back then, $500 was a lot of money. So, he said $500.

He found out later that he could have asked for much more.

Even after finding out, he was okay with it. He was thrilled just to be on the album. 

But that thrill was nothing compared to the thrill that came next.

Track 13

When the album finally did drop, it took the world by storm. 

By every measure of success in the music industry, the album was a smash.

It raced to the top of the charts and won multiple Grammy’s at the Grammy Awards.

When friends would say, “Hey Johnny, have you heard that new album yet? It's off the chain!” 

Johnny would say with pride, “Heard it?  Man, I’m on it! 

Oh, come on bro. You ain’t on no album.

Seriously, I’m really on it.

Whaaaaaaaaaaat?

Yeah, that’s me playing the piano on Track 13.

Daaaaang!

Johnny was so excited that he talked about the track everywhere he went.

He talked about it so much that his friends started calling him Track 13.

A Tough Decision

But like many on an artistic path, Johnny’s breakthrough brought him to a fork in the road.

He now had a tough decision to make.

Life could be a financial struggle for musicians. 

But Johnny had something going for him that many musicians didn’t.

He was a brilliant student who was graduating from an elite university.

That meant he had options. Attractive options.

And therein lay his dilemma.

Was track 13 a sign that he should pursue his dream of being a professional musician? 

Should he throw away an expensive college education?

Should he walk away from something he spent four years of his life attaining?

Or… should he be smart and opt for a secure, high paying career in corporate America?

It was a tough decision… and one that he thought about long and hard.

On the dream side of the ledger, music was his life... his passion.

But on the job side of the ledger…

He had no money.

He had student loans to repay.

His classmates were getting incredible job offers for mind boggling amounts of money.

It was true that he was on a big album. But that could have been a fluke. 

It could have been a lucky break that came from knowing Tara. 

The whole thing could be a flash in the pan. One gig did not a music career make. 

And even if he got more gigs, could he get them consistently enough to support himself?

Music was risky.

Unsure of what to do, Johnny decided to see what the corporate world would offer him.

He prepared a resume and started interviewing for jobs with companies that were coming to campus looking for young talent.

The Job Offer

It didn’t take long before he was offered a great job.

It was shockingly good. They were offering $50,000 a year! 

It was more money than his dad made.  

And Johnny would be making it straight out of school… at the age of 20.

But there was also a big downside. 

The job was in Boston.

He didn't have anything against Boston... but it wasn’t a hotbed of soul music.

It wasn't Philadelphia, New York or Los Angeles.

But childhood dreams were childhood dreams… and grown-up realities were grown-up realities. 

He loved music, but it didn’t have to be his occupation. It could be his side hustle. 

So, after weighing all the pros and cons...

Johnny took the job.

Death of a Dream 

He took it because he figured that he could still dabble in music by driving down to New York on the weekends.

And that’s exactly what he started doing. 

He'd hit the road on Friday after work and head to the Big Apple. Then he'd drive back to Boston on Sunday night.

But it soon became apparent that something was wrong.

He couldn’t write songs anymore.

And he couldn’t compose.

He no longer felt inspired. 

Yes, he had money.

Yes, he could buy nice things.

But he had lost something far more important.

Like Samson leaping from Delilah's bed to fight the Philistines... his musical anointing was gone.

The musical energy that had been flowing from the time he was a little boy... had died.

The Epiphany

And that’s when Johnny had an epiphany.

Like a rainbow shimmering in the sky... a revelation came.

He'd only come to Boston for one reason. Money.

But that decision had disconnected him from the creative energy a community of musicians generates. 

He was like a stereo that wasn’t plugged in. The music inside him had stopped playing.

And his dream, which was no longer getting nourished, was slowly dying.

If his dream died… 

He would die too… at least on the inside.

Then, he’d be truly broke. 

For as Martin Luther King once said, the truly impoverished man is not the man without a penny…

It’s the man without a dream.

If Johnny was to have even a remote chance of resurrecting his dream, he had to get connected again.

He had to get back to the source.

He couldn’t just sit back and let his dream die. 

If he did, he'd end up like all the cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat. 

At the very least, he had to give his dream a fighting chance to live.

And that meant… 

He had to make a change.

Put a bookmark in Johnny's journey here dear reader. 

And join us next week for the conclusion to The Church Boy Who Encountered Troubled Waters. 

In it, we’ll find out how Johnny made his way back to the source, and in doing so, changed his life forever.