Finding a Safe Place in Music
All the troubles she was facing would make any person seek an escape, a safe haven to avoid the harsh reality of the world. And Billie found hers in music. She had discovered the music of Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong and particularly loved them. After being released from her duties of serving in a workhouse, Billie soon landed her first paid gig as a performer.
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But it wasn’t necessarily the job she had hoped for. She went to a club called the Log Cabin Club, which was run by Jerry Preston. She told him that she was a dancer. She recalled later that night: “He said to dance. I tried it. He said I stunk. I told him I could sing. He said sing … I sang. The customers stopped drinking.”