JEFFORD CURRE'
CIVILIAN
ENGAGEMENT
Episode 1
An excerpt from the
''Jefford Curre' Epic Memoir''
Now on STARS IN PARADISE
The all Bahamian movie channel
@starsinparadise.com
@starsinparadise.com
After
5-1/2 years of non-stop action and 37 successful intervention missions
in the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, I needed a major therapeutic
transition back into civilian life. I decided to follow up on all the
concert festival invites, generated by my latest monster hit record,
“Joykanoo”, As a recording artist I had just about won almost every
conceivable music award the Bahamas had to offer at the time. It was
time to go to work on my international outreach campaign. So with the
help of a few friends I launched into my 1st concert festival tour. The
tour kicked off from Miami with much help from WVCG radio who plugged
my record like crazy. I experienced a tremendous response at live
events. Judging from the incredible turn out, I knew we were in over
our heads, in more ways than one, but somehow I knew we were on the
right track. At the half way point of working our way through all 50
states, I took a short break after a spectacular sold out concert in
Nashville. My professional profile was rising but there was still so
much I did not know about how to make a transition to an artist that
could live on his craft without a regular job on the side. Then I heard
of an artist that was doing just that in a manner that was not only
impressive but successful. His name was David Baroni. We had a lot in
common, but it was obvious that I was the one who needed to take the
student position. I needed to fully benefit from what I would call a
course in how to live a life of artistic integrity, make money and still
go to heaven. He invited me to hang out at his place for a month. I
eat oversize country breakfast made by his wife Reta and rode along with
him on tour. It was indeed a much needed tour mentoring experience for
me. After Nashville I made a few loops back and forth between the
Bahamas and the U.S. It’s so important to do this if you’re pursuing
art career advancement or educational research travel. Not only for
legal reasons but also for psychological reasons. If for no other
reason, do it because no one is going to take care of anything for you
while you are like they say in the Bahamas “Up and down lookin for what
ya ain’t put down.’’ If you are fortunate enough to travel be good at
taking care of business. When you are away it is perceived that you are
avoiding your responsibilities. Regular communication of your progress
and most of all let them know in specifically how your success will
impact their life. This will relieve a great degree of the irritation
that could be generated from your success stories.
Finally
the opportunity for a major career expansion arrived. Like most
worthwhile opportunities it began with an opportunity to learn something
new or something that maybe out of the plan or even out of the comfort
zone. My first arrival into Hollywood was nothing like I had
anticipated. My ability to make friends that were completely different
from me in many ways came in very handy. It was suggested that I
approach the next level of my career with movie industry training, by
attending workshops and seminars in production and marketing at UCLA. I
was also fortunate enough to receive overwhelming assistance from a few
European philanthropists and business professionals, who gave me an
in-resident opportunity to advance my career. It was at an appropriate
time, as I was experiencing a major transition, both in my business and
personal life at the time. I also had to make the difficult decision of
organizing the details for my wife and newborn daughter to stay in
Miami for a short time with her Aunt Joan. This arrangement allowed me
to take full advantage of an opportunity to increase my earning power.
Making this difficult decision would not have been very acceptable in
the culture that I grew up in. I had to play down the reality of the
live-in situation, as much as I could. I mean way down, in order to
avoid reflecting a fun filled escape from reality. After taking up
residence, I realized that there was no reality at all. There was a
sense of freedom for a while, but I soon got lonely to see my wife and
daughter. It so happened that My wife’s aunt was going through a
transition period and needed to relocate from Miami. Assisting in her
transition to Los Angeles created an opportunity to solved a part of
my problem. My wife and daughter would relocate with her and be closer
to me living in Los Angeles. However, I did not think they would be
happy living at my training location. There were about 30 to 40 really
beautiful ladies (let me correct that, I mean smoking hot looking
girls). They were not only intelligent and friendly, but some of them
also sat down very badly most of the time). They were not up to
anything, but their sitting style would be considered a little bit too
comfortable by the ethical code of my Bahamian culture. Only four guys
including myself lived in with them as permanent residents. No one was
in a big hurry to get back into the real world. In all honesty, reality
sucked in comparison to the Artist-In-Resident program. The whole thing
felt like a two year studio course in box-office leadership and
international relations with a minor in non-stop fun. In my entire life
I had never gotten so much……to be continued
