Alpheus (Artie) Black’s recent induction into the Music Hall of Fame is as much a testament to his talents as a musician and entertainer as it is to his grit, foresight and entrepreneurial instincts that made him an icon in Hamilton’s Economic Empowerment Zone.A blacksmith by trade, 86-year-old Artie was 16 when he began his apprenticeship. It was in a shop in Reid Street owned by Fred Knights. Fred was not a blacksmith, but a leading shipwright in the Dockyard. He owned the business which others operated for him.Fred was obliged to move out of “Front of Town”, to a site at the northern end of King Street, the so-called “Back of Town”.Artie learnt his trade well. That was in the horse and buggy days, before the advent of motor vehicles. Wages were low, but he accumulated enough to buy out his employer, when he was aged 27.Artie was the third of nine children of Calvin Black and his wife Mary. Calvin was a carpenter by trade. Times were hard. supporting the family of six daughters and three sons on his wages ranging from 15 shillings to 35 per week.Dutifully Artie pitched in. He said he hustled. He had become a skilled barber on the side, and cut hair in homes, the hospital or where ever he was called. And in the same time frame he was emerging as a soccer star.Meantime his burning ambition was to become a musician. Big band leader Ernie Leader taught him to play the saxophone. Al Davis roped him in his big dance band and for 40 years he played nightly under Davis in dance halls, concerts, hotels. Their steady engagement was at the Kindley Air Force Base, and later for over a decade at the old Naval Operating Base. Money was good, earning as much as ten pounds a week aside from his day job, enabling him to help his father complete the home he had started in Devonshire.The father of three sons and a daughter, Mr Black has cut back on his activities being faced with some medical problems. A key to his success was saving his money and not being afraid of hard work.The Black Building that Artie erected on the site that he purchased at age 27, now houses four different family businesses. It is situated on the corner of Curving Avenue and King Street, facing south; and at the other corner looking west at Union Street. The building houses Black’s Metal Works, the heart of his enterprise. It is managed by his youngest son Lynden.