To further spread the message to the world to work against the Maintenance Crisis, Joel Leonard enlisted famed Piedmont Blues musicians Terry VunCannon and Steve Cain of the band 2 CAN to record authentic blues and reggae renditions of this increasingly popular song.
Leonard, also known as the Maintenance Evangelist, wrote the original version in October of 2002 after attending an engineering conference in Nashville. After hearing hundreds of facilities engineering executives from major corporations complain the lack of interest by future generations to enter this career and witnessing first-hand thousands of candidates brave 30-degree weather conditions to stand in line to earn a slot on "American Idol," Leonard wrote the lyrics for “The Maintenance Crisis Song.”
Leonard said, “With the pending retirements of the baby boomer generation, the lack of interest by future generations, the aging of the current equipment which requires more maintenance, and the increasing sophistication of new technology, there is truly a perfect maintenance storm brewing. This problem is going to affect us all, so everyone needs to be aware or we will endure more preventable disasters like the busted levees of New Orleans.”
Leonard has recruited bands to re-record the song in various musical genres in order to attract more awareness to this issue. Current versions include the original garage band version, funk, hip-hop, an operatic version, and now a soulful blues version and a inspiring reggae version.
To make sure more attention is generated on this issue, Leonard plans to pursue a Grammy Award with the release of a collection of maintenance crisis songs in various genres on the album entitled “Pipe Dreaming: Fix it or they will leave” later this year.
For free downloads of all versions of the Maintenance Crisis Song click on http://www.mpactlearning.com/maintenance_resources/useful_links.asp.