2009 December » Shagtastic Voyage

Ok, so, the cats at musicianwages.com has asked music bloggers to participate in a group blogging event today (12/30/09). The topic is a question- If you could go back to 1999 and give yourself one piece of advice, what would it be?

My response is short and sweet but it definitely addresses the single biggest issue of the last decade of my musical life.

Play. Every chance you get, just play. Trust that you can do whatever the gig is and give it hell. Your life will not end nor will your soul be lost because of any wrong notes. Fact is, 99.9% of the people that will hear you won’t even know (or care, if they do). So get over yourself and play.

I’m sitting here (alone) in my new office dreaming of the year to come. New music to play, write, and discover with new experiences poised to shape me and my family into whatever it thinks we should be. Although the speakers to my left circulate the somber sounds of Other Lives, I can’t help but feel great optimism for what’s to come. It will, hopefully, prove to be a great year but I know there will need to be much improvement on my part for that to happen.

For my wife and son, I know I need to be a better person. I need to give more and teach my him to give and be grateful. For that matter, I, myself, need to be more grateful and admit that, though I really don’t like to use the word, I am blessed.

Herbie Hancock said in his 2005 documentary, Herbie Hancock: Possibilities, ” I am a human being first. Being a musician is something that I do…” and I am beginning to realize how much truth lies in that statement. I have a lot and it is time to give some back.

For my career, I have to push harder than ever and look for new ways to spread my music. I have to look to the future (or the past) to figure out how I’m going to not only sustain but grow my business. I have a busy year ahead but I can’t wait to tackle it.

I hope you all have a great 2010 and may you all find a balance for giving to yourself and to others.

Now that you we’ve beaten the confidence/worthiness monster (Mind over Music pt.1), we have to get over the issue of geography. No matter where you live (save anywhere like NYC, Chicago or Nashville) you can lament over your town’s lack of culture and/or opportunity. That’s all fine and dandy but one issue remains- That’s where you are.

So, how do you deal with being in a town seemingly void of all things art and music? As I learned the hard way, there are three options.

1) Shut down. Focus on one thing and one thing only, getting away from there.

2) Play here and there but try not to get too involved because your main goal is to get the hell out of Dodge.

3) Play/write/arrange/(insert whatever you want here)music. Basically, live music and have your musical goals take precedence over moving.

Let’s look at these in they’re listed order.

In number one, the main goal is to move. I really hope no one actually focuses so much on relocation that they don’t work on music but I want to be thorough. This could vary, though, to any degree of loss of practice or musical growth. DON’T DO THAT!! The overall goal should be to make music! Impeding musical progress is worse than being stuck in a suck-ass location.

As with number one, number two puts more emphasis on THE MOVE. While there is little practice missed, growth is still horribly affected. This was where I got stuck. With this approach, opportunities are not taken because of the fear of getting stuck in that town. I was actually afraid I would start to LIKE the town and the opportunities it DID have (no matter how few). This is just plain unhealthy. The (self inflicted) pressure to move was so great for me that I was scared to death of liking where I was. There is a word for that…it’s DUMB.

Finally, number three. With this one we see a shift of paradigm. THE MOVE is secondary to the music. The main focus is to make music and better yourself as a musician while making plans to get to a better place. There is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to be in an environment that facilitates you being who you are. Not only does this approach allow you to hone the skills you have but it can provide reference points for setting goals and deciding what you want to do. For instance, playing some local theatre may show you that you don’t want to play for Broadway after all! Plus, you can build up one hell of a resume that will help land jobs even quicker in a new city.

I know all of this may hit you as common sense but a lot of cats out there don’t see it broken down like this. I fell into thinking WHERE I lived defined me as a person and musician and, the fact is, that’s just not true. I am who I am, you know? I drink hot tea with milk and sugar (not very common in the South) and I listen to, write, and play jazz (also not very common). I wear a funny hat a lot of the time and I smoke a pipe…That’s just me. If life takes me back to New York or Atlanta or anywhere else, that’s fine but I’m not pushing it anymore. I make more money through music than I ever have and am happier than I have ever been…Coincidence? I don’t think so. I put the music first and the rest is whatever it wants to be.

So a few months ago, I saw a Sonicbids video featuring a pamphlet a band had made and distributed at one of there shows. The Band Info Pamphlet had some great information in it including merchandise and they’re upcoming shows. I thought this was a great idea and beat myself up a little for not thinking about it myself.

So, I knew I wanted to do this at my next show but I also knew that Selkow‘s version wouldn’t fit my needs. I needed it to fit the image I wanted to portray. So, I put it on thicker paper and used it to announce all my info, who was playing the group that night (with short bios), merchandise, and contact/website info. I then paper-clipped (the only real annoying part of the process) a strip of paper on each of them for email sign up with instructions to fill it out and place in tip jar.

I came across Lou (the guy who made the video) on twitter and told him about it. He dug the email slip and asked me to send him a leftover pamphlet. He made a follow up video called Band Info Pamphlet- part 2 which featured my version.

CHB Pamphlet 2

I got the template from the Microsoft website and the copies were less than $.40/per front and back.

The pamphlet was well received at the show and I actually got a call from a lady a few days back that had gotten a hold of one and wanted to book us. So, I will definitely use them again. And, since it worked for me, I figured it could work for other musicians and wanted to share. If you use it, let me know how it goes!

With all the things that seperate people (races, creeds, interests, situations, financial status, etc), it is easy to find ourselves judging each other. People we work with or see in a store or where ever. It’s human nature, I guess, or maybe it’s an aquired trait we adopted as a defense mechanism. A way to help us feel better about ourselves. Whatever the case, it’s stupid.

One thing I have learned is, when we do this, we not only discount other human beings but we rob ourselves of knowing some really awesome people. Sure, we’re not gonna hang out with most of them, but there is common ground that links us all. I mean, we are all human. We have all felt joy and sadness and anger so we can relate on some level. Even if we feel very differently about the same subject, we still feel something. There is an opportunity to learn a different perspective which can only help shed light on all the superficial things we thought defined that person and, more importantly, what defines us. Maybe instead of dislike or hate, we can agree to disagree and just get along.

Just sayin’.

In the last two years, my life (and attitude towards most everything in it) has shifted dramatically. First, while living in NYC, I realized how important family is and concluded that being close to them is more valuable to me than living in the best city in the world (this revelation even shocked me as I had spent a great portion of my existence trying to get there). This ideal was strengthened by the birth of my son. So, I was in a bit of a conundrum. How in the world am I going to make a living as a musician in such a culturally void city? The answer? MAKE it happen.

It was this reasoning that changed how I approached every aspect of getting gigs. I have made a lot of progress as a bassist and working musician during this period so I thought I would share some of the things that have made an impact in my income and schedule. I have broken it up into three main topics, each of which have several parts. Topic number one has a few (exact number yet to be determined) parts. Part one is how you view yourself and part two will deal with the mental side of getting over some common obstacles.

Self Image

My entire life, I have second guessed everything. Part OCD, part lack of confidence, and, I’m sure, a few other mental issues. I could practice my ass off for even the smallest, easiest gig and be absolutely terrified by the day of the performance/audition. There have been many opportunities missed because I made up excuses at the last minute as to why I couldn’t play somewhere. I had convinced myself that there was no way I could play whatever it was. If it was a jam session, I would tell myself that I couldn’t hang with the other players. When I did manage to make it to a freelance situation, I would play too quiet so I didn’t make a scene if I got tripped up. I would actually dread the performance…It really cost me greatly in missed connections and bookings. I knew that I had to either stop playing or change the way I handled myself.

I looked back and tried to figure out any events that caused me to see myself as such an awful musician. The only real complaints I’d ever had was about my lack of volume and not what I was actually playing. From this, I concluded that I must be decent. I mean, I do have several people that hire me on a regular basis. So, from then on, I knew I had to (at least) act confident in a playing situation- not cocky; confident.

There are a couple ways I handled this.

1) (No brainer) I make sure I am always prepared. Though my time is tight, I work on whatever as much as I can. This has always been the rule but I had to learn to actually count on it as grounds for confidence. If I have transcribed something or have a chart, I always take it to any rehearsals. That way, if something is changed or rearranged, I don’t have to depend on memory. I just trust that I wrote it down and worry about memorizing the change on my own time.

If I can take charts to the performance, I do. I put them on the stand but only look at them if I absolutely have to. If I can’t take charts, I make sure I make mental notes of the chord structure (Chorus=ii V IV I or whatever) and not just the bass line. I practice them starting at different parts or playing them backwards.

2) I take solace in knowing that I am there for a reason. It was either my audition, my resume, a recording of me, or word of mouth got me that gig so I plan on living up to whatever it was. They want me there so I need to play like I want to be there!

I am still very much aware of the fact that I have a long way to go as a bassist and a musician. The trick is to be at peace with that knowledge but know that I am still good and worthy of my current gig. I attribute most of the past two years’ success on the balance of knowing I suck with knowing I don’t suck.

Shagtastic Voyage

Dear 1999

A New Year (JE#3)

Mind over Music (pt. 2)

Band Pamphlet

I Guess We're all Human

Mind over Music (pt.1)

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