Labor Day

I went to the Old Dominion concert at the Nebraska State Fair last Friday. More on the State Fair in a future blog I’m sure, but for now, lessons I’ve learned from Old Dominion.

I’m relatively new to country music, and Old Dominion has been my favorite from the beginning. I first fell in love with their music, but now I’m in love with their joy.

In some ways they are new to fame. In fact, they have only released two full-length albums. The first time I saw them in concert (in a hallway at Ralston Arena- seriously- those of you who were there can attest to this) half of what they sang were “covers.”

But they weren’t your typical covers. Old Dominion is made up of songwriters, and the band was formed to showcase the music they wrote. Every one of those covers was a song that they wrote.  They sing their own songs now, but almost every country singer you know has sung their songs. Luke Bryan, Blake Shelton, Cole Swindell. People knew their songs, but people didn’t know them.

Most would credit the Sirius Radio station The Highway with much of their success. Break Up With Him got serious airtime.

The rest is history as they say.

About this time, those of you who can’t stand country music are wondering why any of this matters. Well first of all, there is a serious rock and even a hip hop feel to some of their music. But musical taste aside, there is a joy to their music, and especially to their performances, that inspires me.

They love what they do. I mean they really love it. You can hear it, see it, feel it. There is joy that is contagious.

I want that for all of us. I want our labor to be a labor of love.

I’m not naive. I know that we work because we have to buy food and housing and clothing. We work to contribute to an economy. And there are times when the work we do is hard. But I want to go to work most days with the same joy I felt at the O.D. concert on Friday.

I guess I was just reminded on Labor Day that our work can also be a joy!