Richard Antoine White, I'M POSSIBLE: A Story of Survival, a Tuba, and the Small Miracle of a Big Dream
[0:01]Hi, I'm Sivi Owens, and you're listening to the award-winning podcast,
[0:05]Moms Don't Have Time to Read Books.
[0:07]If you like this podcast, you will love my new anthology called Moms Don't Have Time to Have Kids.
[0:12]Check it out, and you'll hear from 49 authors about all sorts of things
[0:16]Moms Don't Have Time to Do. All the authors have been on this podcast.
[0:19]Also, check out my TikTok at with Sivi and Tracy.
[0:22]My other podcast, Sex Talk with Sivi and Tracy.
[0:25]Check out Moms Don't Have Time to Write on Medium.
[0:28]And of course, my new publishing company called Sivi Books.
[0:32]And now back to our daily author interview site and a quick hello from some of my kids.
[0:37]Hi, hello.
[0:38]Enjoy the show.
[0:41]Richard and Juan White is the author of, I'm Possible, a story of survival,
[0:45]a tuba, and the small miracle of the big dream.
[0:48]Richard began his tuba studies at the Baltimore School for the Performing Arts,
[0:52]where he graduated with honors.
[0:54]He went on to receive his bachelor's degree at the Peabody Conservatory of Music,
[0:58]and his master's in doctoral degrees at Indiana University.
[1:01]Dr. White, sorry, I called him Richard before.
[1:04]Dr. White was principal tubist of the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra from 2004
[1:09]until its untimely demise in 2011.
[1:11]He is now principal tubist of the Santa Fe Symphony,
[1:14]and is in his tenth season as principal tubist of the New Mexico Philharmonic.
[1:18]He enjoys teaching at the University of Mexico where he is associate professor of tuba.
[1:23]Slash, euphonium.
[1:25]Welcome, Richard.
[1:26]Thank you so much for coming on my website.
[1:28]I have time to read books to discuss.
[1:30]I'm possible a story of survival, a tuba and the small miracle of a big dream.
[1:35]Hi, it's a pleasure to hear today.
[1:37]It's an awesome subtitle and an awesome book.
[1:40]So there you go.
[1:41]I appreciate you.
[1:43]So what did you tell listeners what your book is about, which is really your whole life story?
[1:50]But anyway, tell them what inspired you to make it into a memoir.
[1:54]So I guess the title started with Unpossible and the idea is that it's against all odds.
[2:01]And in the book, I say that I want everyone to read it and feel like they are superhero.
[2:05]Because sometimes in life, I feel like everyone needs to make the decision to be their own hero.
[2:10]And the thing I like about heroes is that if you're in hero, it signifies that you can conquer limitations or their own limitations.
[2:19]And I really just like that.
[2:22]The book talks about my journey, you know, going homeless on the streets of Baltimore.
[2:27]Some challenges, some normal challenges and some different challenges, much like any normal kid my day consisted of playing and enjoying things.
[2:38]But a few things that are different. Sorry, the dogs.
[2:42]Oh, that's all right.
[2:44]I was very different in that I had to really get my nourishment from the environment around because we didn't have a home.
[2:52]And at the end of the day, it was my job to find my mom.
[2:56]With some days I was successful and some days I wasn't successful.
[2:59]And the book travels through that journey with my relationship with my mom.
[3:03]And the most, the most point thing I want people to get from the book is the village that helped me from those triumphs and those struggles from my mom.
[3:15]There was a village, every friend, every stranger, every teacher, every mentor.
[3:20]I tried to credit them in the book because the village, I believe, you know, you hear the saying it takes a village and the village that helped me.
[3:28]I think it's remarkable because the one thing they have in common is that none of them ever came up on me.
[3:34]After that, it travels through my education and my career.
[3:39]And ultimately I made history by becoming the first African American in the world to get a DM in tuba performance, which is incredible.
[3:48]And against all odds, I made it into the New Mexico Symphony, which is now the Mexico to harmonic.
[3:56]That's a really brief synopsis book.
[3:59]That's good.
[4:00]That's forward.
[4:01]We can unpack some of that if we can.
[4:06]Well, it was really amazing.
[4:09]The way you talked about going up and waking up and there was a CD wrote about where you would wake up in front of a tree and you'd be like, okay, well, where's mom today?
[4:20]And then you'd go have to like pick yourself up at the roots of a tree and literally just go try to find her.
[4:25]And that the one seed where you are a baby, which you don't remember.
[4:29]But when you were crying and the people heard you crying and had to come rescue you in the house.
[4:34]And I mean, this is like, this is tough stuff.
[4:38]Right.
[4:39]This is like, you're in it as a child.
[4:41]You know, go ahead.
[4:44]Do it all.
[4:46]I'm often asked what I change anything.
[4:48]And the answer is absolutely not.
[4:50]It was the hand I was dealt and I played it to the best of my ability.
[4:54]And if I change anything, I might not be the person that I am today.
[4:57]And I'm okay with the person that I am today.
[4:59]Doesn't mean, you know, I don't have my own faults, but you know, I'm working on them.
[5:04]And I'm proud of who I am.
[5:06]I saw a word the other day.
[5:09]Floss them and floss them means an awesome person that understands they have faults.
[5:15]But it's working on them.
[5:16]I'm like, what an incredible word.
[5:18]Whether it's a real word or not.
[5:20]But it's really awesome.
[5:21]You know, you and I, you and I are just going to decide to make it a word today.
[5:25]I'll start using it.
[5:27]You start using it.
[5:28]And, you know, who's to say, I mean, that's how it starts.
[5:31]Well, I mean, most people have flaws and faults.
[5:35]Like there's, it's hard to find someone who doesn't.
[5:38]And I guess in truth, we're all really products of our environment.
[5:42]And it was to say if we would have been better.
[5:45]I mean, I can't imagine you achieving anything more.
[5:47]Right.
[5:48]Like let's pretend you've been worded into a different environment.
[5:51]It is.
[5:52]Well, I always feel behind.
[5:54]You reach the heights of your career.
[5:56]But you can't go any higher in other words.
[5:58]So that that is true.
[5:59]But there are new endeavors.
[6:00]I always feel behind.
[6:01]I have a huge bucket list.
[6:03]And, you know, one of the saddest things to realize in life is that, you know, you get to age and you realize, I'm not going to do everything I want to do in this life.
[6:11]Yeah.
[6:12]That's a sad thought.
[6:13]But at the same time, it also puts things in perspective to say, well, let me cross as many as I can't off.
[6:19]Yeah.
[6:20]You know, we're probably both at that age.
[6:22]Yeah.
[6:23]I guess.
[6:24]I don't know.
[6:25]Well, maybe I will go at a safari ever.
[6:27]Yeah.
[6:28]You know, maybe I will forget to India, but Australia.
[6:31]I don't know.
[6:33]Probably not.
[6:34]Awesome.
[6:35]Yeah.
[6:36]What, what's something you've like resigned yourself to maybe not achieving that you wish you could or somewhere you wanted to go or something.
[6:44]Like when you scratch for the bucket list.
[6:47]So, I think I could, I could best answer by telling what's on my bucket list.
[6:52]Okay.
[6:53]Let's do that.
[6:54]So my bucket list includes being the first classical musician to say I've done a recital and all seven continents.
[7:01]Australia, Australia, and Oregon, Africa, and I've gotten invitations from Africa and Australia.
[7:06]Because I was on another interview and I said this and they're like, we love to have you here.
[7:10]Oh, my gosh.
[7:11]That's going to happen.
[7:12]I want to win a Grammy one day.
[7:15]So I have this idea to create a yoga CD because I think low tones would be just great for any yoga studio to have those vibrations.
[7:24]And the ultimate, which you've read in my book is that I want to create my raw tuba ranch, which is now kind of open into, you know, a place where people can come 24 seven have beer and chili.
[7:38]But the city of Albuquerque, acknowledging me.
[7:41]And we're thinking about having a music and art school.
[7:44]They're looking at my residence too.
[7:46]And so trying to put all the pieces together.
[7:48]But those are the top three things on my bucket list.
[7:52]I guess if I, if I had to answer the question of what's on my bucket list that I think I will be able to do is that my ultimate goal in life is infinite.
[8:01]And it's not going to have a completion.
[8:04]You know, when I write on a piece of paper, what do I want most in life?
[8:07]The two things I want most is to be a monumental figure in classical music and to inspire hope.
[8:14]And what I realized is that is that those things are ongoing.
[8:17]I could always do something more in the classical field and inspiring hope is something that's infinite.
[8:23]So maybe it will happen after I'm gone.
[8:25]I used to think the only thing that will stop me from being successful in life is death.
[8:29]I no longer believe that because I think if you leave the correct legacy, you'll still have a life after death.
[8:35]And I hope I can accomplish that.
[8:37]Wow.
[8:39]That's a serious goal.
[8:42]I think it's a serious goal.
[8:44]It's a reality, really.
[8:47]That's good to be too.
[8:49]I'll take that.
[8:51]Wow.
[8:52]Well, you know, by, that's the cool thing I think about books, like books like yours.
[8:57]You spill your story.
[8:59]You would inspire and then each time you, like you leave it behind and then that's it.
[9:05]Like that's exactly what you're talking about.
[9:07]And I think that's what I think is that are the, like tangible proof of immortality and that your words of the live on.
[9:14]So there you go. You already did it.
[9:16]We have to start thinking collaboratively in our world.
[9:19]Like, you know, I always say if it was up to me, I would sit on the couch every day.
[9:24]You don't know how to play my Nintendo Switch and be just happy.
[9:27]But I want to offer the world my very best.
[9:30]I don't want to pride the world of the best version of me.
[9:33]I don't want to pride you of the best version of me.
[9:35]I don't want you to deprive me of the best version of you.
[9:38]I don't think you're getting the best version of me.
[9:42]Sorry.
[9:43]I'm blowing my nose every two seconds.
[9:45]But you know, but keep my heart to the right place.
[9:48]You can always put out best efforts forward.
[9:52]Then that has to equal something magnificent.
[9:55]You know, that's sometimes best effort is a while I got a 70% today.
[9:59]But if that's your...
[10:00]best. That is awesome because we have this conception. Oh, I'm going to win. I'm going to win.
[10:04]We have to remember the goal is never to win. The goal is always to do your best. And winning
[10:10]is a byproduct of doing your best. Yes. That's true. You know, so you're doing your best today.
[10:15]Oh, thank you. Thank you. You're awesome. Tell me also about I saw on your website the
[10:25]film version as well. The raw tuba tell me all about that with early light media and everything
[10:30]part of the invisible threat. Oh, wow. It's it's amazing. And right now, there's all kinds of
[10:35]confusion. So if the listeners are listening, if you go search raw tuba, which is the title of the
[10:40]initial film, it's not going to come up. It's all magnolia as of January 5th, but it's called high. I'm
[10:46]Richard Antoine White. It's part of their high series. And the way this came about, they were making a film
[10:53]about the arts and how the arts are under published in that, you know, underfunded. And we
[10:58]should give to the arts. And someone at the Baltimore School of the Arts, because they were connected
[11:03]to the Mountain Film, which is a big film festival, said, Hey, you really ought to talk about
[11:07]Richard to talk to Richard White. So they called me up, hoping that they would have like a 10-minute
[11:13]conversation. We had a 45-minute conversation. They said, we don't know what's going on, but we're
[11:18]pretty sure you just changed our mind. We're going to do a movie about you now. We'll call you
[11:22]back. Amazing, right? Yeah. That was like what? And so we ventured out, you know, they came out with
[11:30]her. Yeah, went to Baltimore. Lots of weeks into making. I had no idea how much time goes into
[11:36]10 seconds of a film. When you see it, it's actually actually incredible. They made the film,
[11:43]and the rest is history now. It's touching so many people. My ultimate hope is that the film and
[11:49]book will be part of school curriculums there. Hopefully as a young reader's edition coming,
[11:54]and I just got an email today saying, Hey, how about a picture book? Yes. So I think that's a great
[12:01]idea. Maybe we'll have a remake of of Tubby the Tubal, but it'll be raw too, but Tubby the Tubal.
[12:06]I love that. Yeah. That's perfect. No, it's perfect. I mean, it's already so visual, right? You can
[12:13]take these cover characters and it should actually be animated, right? What do you think about the
[12:18]cover? By the way, because it was a big decision to pick the covers. I think what do you think about
[12:23]the cover? I love it. Yeah. I think it's remnants of key pairing. Yes, it does remind me of key
[12:31]thing. Yeah, for sure. No, I think, yeah, you could do like a whole little, you could do a whole
[12:38]thing with those characters. Oh, I see a mine working over there. It is. It is working. I'm
[12:45]envisioning the whole thing. Yeah. That's awesome. There's so much potential. So here's what I always
[12:53]wonder, like, what if, and this is going to sound ridiculous? Like, I've never tried to play the
[12:58]tuba. What if I was the best tuba player in the world and I never even knew it? Like, how do you make
[13:03]sure you find the thing that like, it's going to distinguish you in the world. Like, you and tuba,
[13:09]like, how do you know? How, like, how did you know? How do you know going forward? Like,
[13:15]where does that? Where do these skills come from? Do you really understand what you're saying?
[13:21]I think without sounding too, you know, romantic, it was meant to be there was no other option.
[13:29]I got lucky. I found what I was supposed to do. I found my voice. I found the relationship with
[13:35]an instrument that was me. There was no other choice. And I think when you're presented with
[13:40]those situations in life, you really get to shine and be the best that you can be because it's
[13:46]all you got. You're all in, you know? And I really think that the tuba found me. I didn't necessarily
[13:55]do. You're going to say that. I knew it. I knew it. It was funny. I knew it. It was like,
[14:00]okay, so I shouldn't even have that. It's all right. And you know, I know that's a cliche statement,
[14:07]but the amazing thing about this is that the tuba and me share so many similarities.
[14:13]You know, I'm 65, you know, 330 pounds could have been a football player.
[14:19]Two is the biggest instrument in the brass, low, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. You know,
[14:24]often the butt of jokes, often the underdog boy, talk about an instrument that represents my life.
[14:31]You couldn't pick another one. Wow. That would be a fun thing. If you're developing a website,
[14:38]like, well, I love your website by the way, but if you did like a whole quiz on the site, like,
[14:42]well, actually, this probably isn't brand aligned with you. But like, how do people figure out what
[14:47]instruments they are? Like, how you have that story? Like, you're the tuba. And then I could go on
[14:51]your site and, like, figure out like, well, maybe I don't like any of them. You're giving me
[14:55]lots of ideas. You know, I, I should probably write more. I used to write every game post on Facebook,
[15:00]and then I transferred them to something on my site called raw wisdom. And it's just my thoughts
[15:05]about topics from A to Z. You know, wake up and it's weird because I should go back and fix
[15:11]some of the writing, but I'll wake up at like 3 a.m. and say, hey, I'm going to write.
[15:16]How that happens? I don't know. Do you ever do that?
[15:19]I don't do it. I don't do it at 3 in the morning, but, um, but because I like forced myself
[15:24]usually to stay in bed at least till 4. I'll do it. No, I, but yes, I do that all the time.
[15:31]The other day I was in the middle of something. I shouldn't even admit what I was doing. I was
[15:33]like doing a publicly facing something or other. And on the side, I wrote a whole article
[15:39]that was like, I have to write this, I was like, I have to write this right now. And I'm going
[15:43]to like half pay attention, but I'm also going to half write and, you know, whatever. I call those
[15:48]I call those zero hours. If you get up before six, those zero hours, because nothing's going on.
[15:53]And if you can do something simultaneously, especially in this hybrid world we live in now
[15:58]with normal and virtual, uh, you, you capitalize on what I call zero hours. So congratulations.
[16:04]Thank you. Well, I think that those musics of yours though, that come at the, it's an
[16:12]unguarded moment, right? It's like exactly it's a direct line with no filters into the soul,
[16:19]essentially is what it is. So, um, sometimes it takes all the other things in life to be stripped
[16:25]away a little bit to access it. But then when you get those clear, it's like the clouds partying
[16:30]when you're, you know, when there's an airplane, all of a sudden you can like see the beautiful ground
[16:34]and you're like, oh, wow, I better look right now. Oh, I couldn't agree more. I think more people
[16:40]should embrace the point of exhaustion. I think we're all afraid to get to the point of
[16:44]exhaustion because we think that's where ends only stop. But the point of exhaustion is where new
[16:49]beginnings happen. If you keep doing what you've been doing, you're going to keep getting
[16:53]what you've been getting. When you reach the point of exhaustion, it's a new day and you're going to
[16:56]learn something that you previously didn't know that will allow you to elevate in new ways.
[17:01]Wow. Very cool. Well, I mean, in addition to the tuba, which obviously you are in every way,
[17:09]uniquely suited to be attached to, your voice itself is so distinctive and, you know, rich,
[17:19]like so different. I don't know what the words are. But anyway, I feel like you should do
[17:23]something you haven't been doing enough. But like, I don't know if you ever thought about,
[17:27]I should still give you ideas. You have plenty to do. It's not like enough. It's really awesome,
[17:33]but I've gotten several emails saying that I should do voiceovers.
[17:37]You should. I heard your audio book. And I'm just going to notice out there. I haven't
[17:44]mentioned it yet. But maybe there's a future there. I'm still trying to figure out, I'll have
[17:50]more time now because I just made full professor. I get to say no to a few things at school.
[17:58]So the work, but I think when you reach the full professor says, you can say no to a couple
[18:04]things and they'll still like you. That's amazing. You're like James Earl Jones version.
[18:12]With the professorship and student interaction, tell me about someone's life that you saw that
[18:20]you affected profoundly and what that felt like. I think regardless of what I do, I don't think
[18:28]anything will trump what I feel is my greatest accomplishment. And that is that I am a teacher
[18:33]and every day I get to go to work and make a difference in a kid's life because that's what someone
[18:38]did for me. It is my greatest accomplishment by far. I can see. So in a moment of transparency,
[18:45]I think we have a problem in our country. We're willing to give help, but we'll distribute help
[18:52]at level five. And if you don't just cheat, but you're not successful at level five, then you're
[18:57]not applying yourself or you must be lazy. And we all have different strengths and weakness. So maybe
[19:03]this person needs level six or level seven help for them to thrive. And that's what I've seen in
[19:08]my teaching. I've come in and students were like, oh man, I'm going to drop out of taking me seven
[19:13]years to finish this undergrad degree. And you know, I really don't have support. It's really hard.
[19:18]And I give them that extra help and see them thrive. And one day I want to a student, I said,
[19:23]hey, let me demonstrate how come close. Same thing I said to a friend of mine in a different way.
[19:28]But I said, you know what, whether you graduate in four years or seven years, when you walk across
[19:34]the stage, you're degree going to say the same thing as a person that graduated in four years.
[19:39]And the students eyeballs what I was like, oh my gosh, you were right. And so they finished.
[19:45]And now they're pillars in our education community here in Albuquerque. And it's more than what
[19:52]that took, you know, multiple years to graduate. And I think what we have to do is educators and
[19:57]people is to actually meet people.
[20:00]where they are. We're not honest about the level of label and
[20:04]historical typing we put on people. It's out of control, actually.
[20:10]You know, but if we're honest about that and we can fix that, then
[20:14]we're allowed to meet students where they are. What does that mean?
[20:17]That means that as an educated, you have to find something that you
[20:20]absolutely love about every student. And that will give you the
[20:26]endurance to go beyond. And that will help you both elevate because
[20:31]the student gets to see it to be successful. And you get to sit back and watch
[20:35]the student successful. And as an educated, you never take credit for
[20:39]student success because if they're successful, it's because they did the work.
[20:43]All you want to do is just nudge them in the right way.
[20:46]I love that. That's so great. Um, have you crossed
[20:50]paths yet with Brendan Slocum? Why does that name sound familiar?
[20:56]Oh my gosh, you guys have to talk. Um, he wrote a novel called The
[21:00]Violent Conspiracy. And it's fiction, but he is also, he's a,
[21:06]the symphony is a violinist. Um, and has in his novel, which is loosely based
[21:11]on parts of his life, tracks his journey being, you know, a black teenager
[21:16]renting the violin, you know, his whole journey and the novel goes off
[21:20]and talks about, like it has a, you know, more of a thriller aspect to it.
[21:23]Oh, wow. But I think both of you, you know, you're
[21:25]most referencing the same percentage of how there's, you know, less than
[21:28]3% he had said 1.7% of, of performers and symphonies were black.
[21:34]Yes. But I will, you know, whatever the percentage is, it's
[21:37]does moly love, of course, and ridiculous. So, um,
[21:40]anyway, I feel like you have so much in common from different sides of the stage.
[21:44]Wow, definitely reach out and read his book. Thank you for, for the tip.
[21:49]Uh, what do you like to read? So, uh, I like a lot of self-help books.
[21:54]One of my routines every day is to look up quotes, obviously, because I'm a motivational
[21:58]speaker now. I really like to read a lot of quotes. And, uh, in my spare time,
[22:04]if I'm not reading or playing tuba, my, my guilty pleasure is playing Pokemon Go.
[22:11]Have a Pokemon Go player. So, I need self-help books though. I really like to read,
[22:16]you know, Stephen Covey, seven habits, uh, seven habits, highly effective people,
[22:23]you know, Tim Ferriss, the four hour work week, those are my type books.
[22:27]I went awesome. And I bet you'll add your own to the mix at some point.
[22:31]Well, I hope so. You know, I do. I want my book to be like, there's a famous music book that's
[22:37]often recommended when students have trouble. It's called a soprano on our head.
[22:42]You know, I'm drawn a blank with the author right now, but I hope my book becomes that book
[22:46]where teachers go, hey, read this, read this, you know, I've been publishing business this crazy,
[22:51]it's a slow cry, but I'm trying to inspire hope as best I can. So, I really appreciate you having
[22:58]me on to tell this story because ultimately that's what I want people to understand, whether you're
[23:04]at an advantage or disadvantage. I want people to know that you can do it and I want everyone to
[23:10]recognize that great people aren't born great. They grow great. And as a community,
[23:16]you have to see that greatness. I love that. Great people are born great. They grow great.
[23:22]That's awesome. I love it. I'm inspired already.
[23:28]Well, Richard. Oh, wait, last question. What advice would you have for aspiring authors?
[23:32]Ah, wow. Aspired, I would say follow your heart.
[23:37]When I would say follow your heart and my advice to inspire authors would be think
[23:45]in spite of instead of because of, oftentimes we hear because of this, I can't do that.
[23:50]Because of this, I don't have the funding or this, but think in spite of not having the funding,
[23:55]in spite of all these roadblocks in front of me, I'm going to show you that I can do it.
[24:00]And outside of that, my message to anyone listening and just humans in general, my message
[24:06]is always there are thousands of problems in the world, but 99% of them can be solved if we would
[24:12]just kind to one another. So be kind. I love that. I'm all about that. I talked to some. I
[24:18]talked to a woman the other day had landed and she said, uh, above her desk, there's a big side that
[24:24]says, work hard and be kind. Yes. I was like, that's it. That's it right there. I love it.
[24:30]Yeah. So my, my, my message to inspire an authors think in spite of instead of because of
[24:36]because sometimes because of has a negative connotation to it, but in spite of means, I'm just
[24:42]going to show you. I'm just going to do it. I love this. All right. Well, it was great to meet you, Richard.
[24:50]Yes. So awesome. And I'm excited to see all the things you have up your sleeves.
[24:57]Coming out in the future. So free to email me with all these amazing brainstorming ideas.
[25:04]A collaboration here. I appreciate you. Great. Yeah. You know me anytime.
[25:09]All right. Take care. Bye. Bye.
[25:12]Thanks for listening to this episode of moms don't have time to read books. Don't forget to
[25:16]to follow me on Instagram at zibi Owens and at moms don't have time to read books. Also sign up for
[25:21]my newsletter at zibi Owens.com and sign up for my virtual book club and meet lots of authors on zoom
[25:26]every other week. Thanks so much to Steve and Ryan at Textures Sound for the Sound Editing.
[25:31]And thank you to Morning Moon Productions for providing this fantastic intro and out trim music.