Welcome to State Of The Union, appearing each month in bluegrass now magazine! This column provides the spouses of professional bluegrass musicians with a forum in which they can share their insights, observations, and experience with fans and other bluegrass spouses.
January 2004: Suzanne Lawson on THE BUSINESS OF MUSIC
Last year, she gave up her duties as booking agent for Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, her husband's award-winning band. Bookings for DL&Q are now being handled by Monterey Peninsula Artists, the agency that books for Ricky Skaggs, Mountain Heart, The Del McCoury Band, and many others. But Suzanne says the pace hasn't changed. I thought I wouldn't have anything to do, but it seems like I'm pretty busy! she says, speaking quickly, matter-of-factly, in sentences that race to overtake each other. We don't have a manager, so I'm pretty much the manager, is what that amounts to. I still get the contracts, look 'em over, file 'em away . . . I still have to get directions! Quicksilver will celebrate its 25th anniversary this April, and Suzanne has handled its bookings almost since the beginning. After Doyle's open-heart surgery in August 2002, though, hiring an agency made sense. He was too busy for not enough money. If you're so busy that you don't have time to turn around, then you're not charging enough. Doyle doesn't need to be out there working five days a week! So we're gonna try and go up on our price a little bit, and cut back on some of the work. A lighter schedule wasn't the only factor. Big agencies like Monterey Peninsula routinely get their client bands booked at a wider variety of venues and events. I could have asked for more money; I don't know whether I would have gotten it or not. But Doyle needs to play in some different places. I want him to have what I see other groups getting-more recognition than I can get for him.
Quicksilver has been around almost as long as the Lawsons have been married--they celebrated their silver wedding anniversary in June 2003. Suzanne says she's always worked for Doyle in some capacity. I've answered the phone, booked work; tried to help with expenses. If you don't do 'em weekly, it gets to be a great big mountain of paperwork! She handled the band's expense accounting for the first seven years or so, but when it became overwhelming, she gladly gave the task to her sister, Mary Jane (whose nickname, appropriately enough, is Sister). I'm not very organized! Suzanne confesses, laughing. The members of Quicksilver are contracted musicians, receiving regular salaries. I think this is the best place Doyle's ever worked--not because he's in charge, but because this is the best he's ever been able to do for the people that have worked for him. The guys that work for Doyle get paid vacation; he withholds Social Security and Medicare and matches that; he takes their taxes out and sends 'em into Uncle Sam every month, so they don't have to manage themselves like most contract musicians out there. It's a lot easier for families to manage their money when they work here. Now that their children are grown-their youngest daughter, Kristi, is 20 and a college student--Suzanne expects to be able to travel with Doyle more frequently. We look forward to the future and all that it brings, and we think it's gonna be good. We've got an alternator or something cracked on the bus right now, but even that will pass! Visit Doyle, Suzanne, and Quicksilver online at www.doylelawson.com .
The Legend of Cardboard Doyle It's a bandleader's nightmare. What do you do when your band's committed to a jam-packed schedule of appearances, just as your doctor announces that you need open-heart surgery? The day before Doyle went in the hospital, we took a picture of him standing with his mandolin, just like he would at a show, says Suzanne. My sister took the photo to Kinko's and had it blown up, glued it on stiff board and cut out, and put a stand on the back of it. For the two months of Doyle's recovery, Cardboard Doyle traveled with Quicksilver, making numerous appearances on stages across the country! There were occasional mishaps. They let him blow over in a wind onstage, and the headstock on the mandolin got bent. So my sister put him on our dining room table and glued him up again! The story has several happy endings. After his exciting tour as Doyle's proxy, Cardboard Doyle was auctioned off on Quicksilver's Website. Shortly thereafter, the real Doyle Lawson, recovered from surgery, gratefully presented a $600 donation to the Cardiac Rehab Center in Johnson City, TN.
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Suzanne Lawson has a pretty hectic life. 
It becomes apparent, early in this conversation, that Suzanne is fiercely protective of her family. My husband and my children? I take care of them, she says. As she recalls, Doyle was a very proactive cardiac rehab patient, but Suzanne didn't hesitate to step in when she felt it was necessary. A couple things he really wanted to do came up before he was released to go back to work. I just told the doctor how much work we were talking about-not being home for 2½ weeks. The doctor said, 'No, you can't do that!' Doyle probably wouldn't have presented it quite like that . . . but that's how it was.
