How much time and money do you spend promoting yourself? Your business? You could pay to advertise in specific publications to get the word out, or you can use the free areas available to you, like the social media. People who follow you or subscribe to your “feed” can learn about you/your business/your shows at the speed of sound. Facebook and Twitter are fast and easy methods to inform your friends about upcoming events and shows, but you must learn to balance your posts between business and personal. Otherwise, people might simply ignore you or block you. Sometimes, they will “unfriend” you.
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How far will you go to realize a dream? Will you consider dedicating your entire life to making it happen? Are you willing to lose everything to make it succeed, including friendships, life’s savings and even your house? It takes the complete dedication of knowing that you will not let it fail in order for it to truly succeed. Venturing into something new and innovative is extremely risky, especially in the entertainment industry.

I have heard this story many times from very successful business people, not just in the entertainment world. You have to go into the dream knowing that it will not fail, and sometimes the only way to ensure that is to risk it all. “Balls to the wall!” as a dear and wise colleague once told me. And he is right.
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A friend posted a comment on one of my posts on Facebook saying that (and I’m paraphrasing) keeping up with the Jones’ would be an interesting reality show for one of the music channels. I like this idea! Gene Simmons is already a very popular and wealthy man whom I thoroughly respect and admire, but I think he is also “out of touch” with the regular working musician. His reality show about his family and career are about the success he has received later in life and are a reflection on how he got there. Yes, I find this interesting, but not a reality for an average joe who can make a decent living in music without having to hit it big. I think my show (if it does happen) would reach a broader audience of people who can relate exactly to what I and my fellow musician friends are doing to make a career in music.
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Just when you think have it figured out, there is always something surprising about corporate gigs. The key for doing these successfully is to be flexible and patient. This applies for every musician, regardless of experience and role. As much as possible should be clearly spelled out in the contract, but there are always last-minute changes. Corporate gigs are a completely different genre and audience.
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This seems to be such a simple question with a simple answer – of course, there is always an opportunity for an audience for live music! For a performer, this question then becomes “How do I find enough people to support my music/my career?” Ah, now that’s where the answer is not so simple.
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As a full-time working musician, I am truly blessed to be able to do what I love as my career! As with any job, though, there are compromises. I think the hardest single item for the average consumer to understand is that musicians rarely get to celebrate holidays or special dates with their loved ones on the ACTUAL day. This includes Christmas, birthdays, Easter, Independence Day, Thanksgiving, and most of all, New Year’s Eve.
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Sometimes I receive messages asking my advice on music-related topics. Recently, I was asked this question from a fan: “Hello, I was wondering if you could recommended an electric violin? My budget is about $800. Are there any groups who play with these?” Below is my response.

Purchasing an electric violin is much like purchasing an acoustic instrument – you find the one that works for you and matches your style of playing.
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I love to play chamber music! So many beautiful works were written for small ensembles, and were intended to showcase each and every musician. But what happens when the one and only person playing that part decides to leave out a measure, or drop out for an entire phrase? Now that depends on the musicians playing as a whole.

This applies to small string ensembles as well as rock bands (sometimes, they are both at the same time, like Violectric.)
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Every person is unique, and musicians are perhaps the most extreme example of this. It’s the similarities that bring us together, and the differences that make life interesting. When a group performs together, they are working as a team to reach that common goal – entertain their audiences. But to create that magic of a special bond onstage, that group really does need to know each other very well, and that is done OFF STAGE during the “hang” time.
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Never underestimate the value of the audience. These are words that have been told to me my entire life and that I have repeated many times these last few weeks. But what exactly does it mean? The size? The type? The ability to interact with the musicians/performers? All of these factors do play a role and impact every live performance.

No two live performances are ever identical, no matter how much we as performers strive to have it perfect every time. Yes, we are humans and not robots, so we do perform a bit differently each time. My voice may be a bit clearer one day over the next; my violin may have had more humid conditions on this show compared to last show. However, I believe that the greatest contributing factor to every live show is the audience.
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