Thanks for sharing this with me.
I don't post often, but I sincerely hope this will be considdered
appropriate.
----- Original Message -----
From: Greg Brayton
To: Alana Mcneely
Cc: Sally Ann Brayton
Sent: Tuesday, October 05, 1999 8:25 AM
Subject: The nicest thing.
The nicest thing anyone ever wrote about me.
the Sounds of music
By Thea Rozetta Lapham
Brayton and Sons Productions is a typical recording studio. Voice level and
sound mixer lights twinkle like
so
many stars against a midnight sky. A computer hums in the background,
surrounded by a quad-level tower
of recording equipment. And everywhere you turn there are
hundreds of switches, slides and knobs to be monitored.
Greg Brayton, owner of the 12-year-old company, has never seen his studio.
Blinded by a form of retinal
cancer before his first birthday, Brayton does not view himself as
a blind recording professional. He is a recording professional who just
happens to be blind. -My blindness
has nothing to do with who I really am," he said. "The music is who I am."
>From demo tapes to complete CD albums, Brayton has a demonstrated ability to
help artists put their best
voice forward. He has also partnered with nationally-known motivational
speaker Art Fettig on several
projects.
Word-of-mouth referrals keep Brayton as busy as he wants to be. "I like to
have a flexible schedule," he
said. "I don't want to work 60 or 70 hours a week. I will not miss one of my
kid's ballgames, even though
they'd probably prefer I stay home and make money to buy them things latert
But to me, that time is
priceless. The opportunity to be with those kids, to see them succeed - and
fail - is more important to me
than making money."
Brayton, whose life revolves around music, said the sound studio is not
blind-friendly. "I can't change the
fact I'm blind but I also can't change the fact I'm a musician, heart and
soul. My only choice was to find a way
to use equipment designed for sighted people. A friend of mine introduced me
to the original system and
I've taught myself the rest, with the help of my wife, Sally. "When it's a
matter of necessity, you can learn
anything."
Brayton learned computer skills at the Rehabilitation Center for the Blind
in Kalamazoo. "The technological
advances are just incredible," he said. There are screenreader adapters that
verbalize everything on the
monitor. My dream is to hook up the entire studio to this system. Right now,
I have to ask my clients what
they see on the
screen. When everything is hooked up I'll be able to take total
responsibility for it. "I'll also be able to set up
a web page and promote my clients that way. And I'm launching a new audio
magazine, 'Studio Time.' It's a
talking magazine, available on
CD or cassette, for musicians and anyone who wants to be entertained and
motivated."
Brayton, born in Coldwater, was enrolled in Michigan's School For the Blind
when he was six years old. But
his biggest dream, during his time at the Lansing institution, was to return
to Coldwater and go to school
with his sighted friends: something he was able to do in the 7th grade. He
went on to graduate from
Coldwater High School in the top third of his class.
After graduation, he attended the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. But
after a year, he realized he wasn't
a composition" man, he was a "tune" man. "I came home, started jamming with
some friends and decided
this was a better life than sitting in a stuffy classroom everyday."
The band, "Blind Man's Bluff," toured extensively. "I got to be the blind
guy" Brayton, who played guitar,
sang and composed for the group, said. After eight years of touring - four
of those years as a married man
- he and his wife returned to Coldwater. "I joined the family business and
put my musical career on hold,"
Brayton said. "My dad and my brothers owned Certified Sand and Gravel and
co-owned Johncock-Brayton
Ready-mix, in partnership with auto racer
Gordy Johncock."
Initially, he worked as the company's truck dispatcher. But the soul of the
musician could not be stifled. "Just
for fun, I wrote a couple of commercials for the businesses," he said. "You
could hear the pride in my
father's voice when I played the tapes for him. From there, one thing led to
another. Other local merchants
began paying attention to the commercials and asking me to record for them
too. "I thought, 'well, shoot. If
they like what they're hearing on a 4-track portable studio, imagine what we
can do if we take out a loan
and build our own studio.' So, to
make a long story short, that's what we did, we took out a lone and built
thebuisiness.
Today, we continue to take loans out and reinvest in the business."
Asked what his life might have been like had he not lost his sight.
Brayton - brother of the late Indi Racing
League driver Scott Brayton
- said he probably would have ended up on the racetrack as well. "But I
don't have any regrets." he said. "
I've always landed on my feet. If I had to choose between having my sight
and racing cars, versus the music
, I can't say I'd want to do It i;
can't imagine giving up the music."
It's been three years since Scott died at the track in Indianapolis. HE was
always one of my biggeSt
supporters," Brayton said. "But. their again, he was always one of my
biggest critics. If he didn't think I was
achieving as much as I should be, he let me know about it."
In a perfect world, Brayton said he would have both: sight and sound. But
for the man who has literally made
a career of pushing the outer limits, he is as content as the Siamese cat
that roams his two-room studio. "I
love what I do," he said. -Every day I get to work with some body new
and, in most cases, I get to decide who that is. Instead of intimidating
me, new equipment and technology
excites me. And I'm blessed with a great family. "Sure, I get frustrated.
But it's not' because I'm blind, it's
because, I'm involved in a fast-paced industry that relies on imperfect
technology."
In addition to his new magazine Brayton is tapping into a motivational
speaking tour circuit in conjunction,
with Art Fettig. "I will be conducting, workshops on overcoming adversities@
he said, "not only from the
perspective of being blind but from the perspective of losing Scotty. Both
of those things have taught me
that there's more than enough grief to go. around for everyone. So when the
good times are here, grab
them and enjoy them. You can always find some excuse to resign and quit
trying The challenge is to rise
above the obstacles and focus on the opportunities."
Thea Rozetta Lapharn is editor of,; Business Insight.
BUSINESS INSIGHT , SEPTEMBER 1999
www.bizinsight.com
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