The joys of the music business

I figured out a long time ago I wasn't playing music for the fame and fortune. It wouldn't hurt my feelings but I did not align my life to making a career out of playing original music. My last high school job was working as a bass instructor at a music store and I met many very talented people that never did anything significant. I also found music stores to be where a lot of the wannabe rockstars go before dying and that I didn't particularly like teaching music to semi-interested and untalented students 4+ hours a day.

Part of that can be blamed on not trying hard enough (but there's no formula for the music business) but trying is a pain. The biz side of being in a band might be the hardest part. The unprofessionalism you encounter at the local-band level is amazing. I recently played a show that had been booked for a very long time, and the day of, I get an e-mail from the booker asking if we'll switch spots and move up and hour and half... as he'd missed an email from the original opening act weeks ago that said they had a conflict. Great. I'd promoted the show, and told lots of people. Eventually we came around to deciding we really didn't need to move spots as there was more than enough time. And many people did come out, on a rainy and dreary night, to see my band - and they paid us pretty generously for a place with no cover. Yet after that, pitching another bill, no response.

Bands too are difficult to deal with. I've been in Austin for 11 years now and know a lot of local musicians, who I frequently go see and support. Yet in asking about shows and doing the legwork of putting a bill together, it's not uncommon just not to get any response from the same people who smile, walk up, and say hello to you out at the clubs. One band refused a show as they thought the club was beneath them. They're not really even well known locally!

Sloth, ego, and incompetence rule the day. Oh well, I'll continue trying to amp up the booking for my bands and do what I can.

As many really talented musicians as I've known over the years, I really haven't known very many that have had success. This tweaks me a little on the occasions I turn on 101.X. However one story I'm happy to report is Andy McKee. My half-brother is quite the shredder, and Andy is his cousin. In his early teens my brother helped Andy learn guitar, and it took in a big way. For many years, Andy played guitar 8+ hours a day and it shows.

Now he tours the world and makes a living off it... still living in Topeka Kansas. Very well deserved, and a little hope for the rest of us!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ddn4MGaS3N4