The Side Hustle

“My general purpose in life is to help people.”

Gihad Salih, 22, is the first-born American in a long linage of a Sudanese family. However, comparing his childhood Northern Virginia home to a ‘mini Sudan’, one could say his ancestors’ country still consumes a huge chunk of his life. With that, Salih is aware of the injustice and unrest happening over 6,000 miles away with Dictator Omar al-Bashi.

Salih knew he had an opportunity to connect the two cultures and create change with one common medium: music.

“The basic amenities that we have here, that they [Sudanese people] don’t have there and realizing that there’s a disparity between life here and life there, at a young age,” Salih said. “That helped me form that purpose of I want to help people that don’t have as much as I have.”

Salih started writing when he was a freshman in high school just a decade ago. His rhymes started as journal entries, short poems and a space for him to self-reflect. He almost never shared the words he was curating.

Over the years, he put the phrases to beats but would only share his music to a select number of close friends.

“The type of feedback that I was getting is what made me take the next step with music,” He remembers. “It wasn’t just ‘Oh, this is good.’ It was ‘Yo, I listen to this, and I relate to this. This is music that inspires me.’”

Transiting into his secondary education at James Madison University, he started writing more and more. He released his first SoundCloud song his sophomore year.

Since then, G-Salih (rap name), has released singles such as “OTW,” “Bloom,” “Prominence” and “4AM Flows” as well as a few freestyles and features. His first EP is set to drop on December 16. A short album of six songs he describes to be a ‘snapshot of his life right now.’

After walking across the stage in front of Wilson Hall this past May, draped in purple, he completed hundreds of full-time job applications with music still in the back of his mind.

“My dad always says, ‘stay open minded. Don’t ever close an opportunity or close a gate.’”

He applied to jobs that if he weren’t going to pursue music, they would be his dream job. Such as a social consultant at a company called Global Impact in Alexandra, Virginia. He got in.

“No matter what the option was, I can create an optimal outcome for each one,” He thinks back on deciding between the pros and cons on taking a corporate job or following music. “My gut was telling me to not take anything and focus on music and how much you can build it, focus on your passions at this time of your life and then see where it takes you.”

This was his motto until him and a few friends were talking down the streets in Georgetown, D.C. There were homeless people at each corner and one man sitting on a cardboard box with raggedy and ripped clothes approached them.

“We didn’t have any change, we usually carried cards,” Salih remembers.

The man didn’t want money. He wanted a conversation.

He stressed that he goes through a lot of hardships, from going from soup kitchen to soup kitchen or dealing with the poorly ran homeless shelters. The biggest challenge he faces although, is being looked at as less than a human being.

That was it.

Going back to his roots of always wanting to help people, Salih and his friends decided to combine a non-profit and a clothing brand. They would call it Human International.

“On every tee it says Human. The first thing you see when you see someone is human on their tee and that’s the first label,” he said. “Before it’s their race, their culture before it’s their religion, before they can even say a word to you it’s human.”

The clothing brand gives some proceeds to different charities from each order.

The clothing company, features and touring is what keep G-Salih on his feet and secure finically. But it’s his passion that keeps his in motion each day. “I’m on a mission in terms of I know how hard it is to crack into the music industry and how bad I want it,” he said. “So, I do balance my social and my personal life and my music and my business but for me, for now, the work that I’m doing is a little bit more important because I’m trying so desperately to make it. So, it’s more like work now, have fun later.”

He is part musician, part property owner, part school board employee, and part bingo host. He is a father, husband, brother, and son. He is Chris Howdyshell, vocalist and guitarist of the band Dr. How and the Reasons to Live. Howdyshell supports his passion for music by performing alongside his brother and friends in their band. However, like the majority of other musicians, he supports his wife and children financially by pursuing a variety of other professions.

According to a survey conducted via the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2013, musicians are the highest artistic occupation which comes as second form of employment. Having more than one job as a musical artist is not only a commonality, but frequently, a necessity. There are even blog posts such as CarrersInMusic.com which provide lists titled "The Best Day Jobs for Musicians."

For Howdyshell, growing up means adapting to a plethora of professions. “Stability,” he said. “It’s just all about growing up.” His journey began with a job at Little Grill Collective, a restaurant in Harrisonburg, Virgina, which he then purchased with a group of colleagues.

After ten years managing Little Grill, he became the property manager of Agora Market, a downtown Harrisonburg marketplace for small businesses, and Ruby’s Arcade, the nextdoor arcade bar.

On Tuesday nights in Ruby’s Arcade, you can catch Howdyshell and his brother taking a break from music and running a different type of show: Bingo Night. With great enthusiasm and a beer in hand, the two call out letters, numbers, and offer prizes to lucky card holders. Finishing off his roster of jobs, Howdyshell also works within the Augusta County Public School System. Obtaining this job was prompted by his daughter’s dentist appointment and the discovery of eight cavities in her mouth. When he saw the bill reaching almost 2,000 dollars, he knew he needed to get a job that included health and dental insurance. So, he joined the school system.

“Hallelujah,” he rejoiced. “[With insurance from the school system] it only cost me a fraction.” Howdyshell says he feels fortunate to live in a prime location for live music between the venue options in Harrisonburg, Staunton, and Charlottesville. Playing a paid gig is exciting, he shares, until you realize you have to share the money with the rest of the band.

“I had a gig at JMU… gave me a grand! It was awesome! You know, you're like, ‘Wow, here's 1,000 bucks.’ At the end of the year, I got a phone call from the IRS being like, ‘Hey, you gotta pay taxes on that cause you gave us your social security number...’ I had to prove to them that I was in a band and that the money got spread out amongst five people and it wasn't all mine. So, even when you get these paid gigs if you're not, like, prepared for it, you have to deal with the consequences…”

Howdyshell says the key to overcoming this is, “Don’t do it for the money.” He plays for community.

This community has become a family… literally. Not only does he play alongside his brother, but he also met his wife, a violinist, through music. Now, they teach their son and daughter the art.