Look What You’ve Done

Venturing into my interior painting experience, I bring you this…

The point is to get the entire house painted.  That’s the purpose of setting out on the journey.

But you stand back and look at the first wall you’ve painted and appreciate the success and completion of painting one wall. That looks good.

Then the whole room is finished…you stand at the door way looking in at the room you’ve completed, feel accomplished, and then close the door and on to the next.  It feels great to be done with one room and now there’s more to do.

Then all the bedrooms are done, great, the the whole floor, sweet relief, then the time-sucking bathrooms are completed, then the second floor is knocked out, then the third (wow, you have a big house).


In painting its easy to see and mentally celebrate lots of moments along the way to completing the entire house.  There’s visual and metal beauty to each step.

In music it is the exact opposite.  Most of the time it feels like there are zero moments to celebrate in the music business.

It’s all “onto the next room” and no “look at the room I just transformed”.

I’m not saying throw a party every time you update your website or get more than ten re-tweets…but along the way while you’re in process of completing your project, stand back and look what you’ve done.  

It looks great.

p.s. Celebrating takes practice.

p.p.s.  On a related note…Taking a break takes even more practice.  Both worth practicing and getting good at.



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I’m always interested in your perspective, whether affirming or dissenting. Continue the conversation anytime: gabethebassplayer@gmail.com

The Muse Is In The Planning

What do you hope happens at your show?

Whatever your answer is…DO things that will cause that to happen. On purpose. The muse is in your planning, not in your “lets just see what happens”. 

p.s. Great comedians never tell people to laugh, or even invite them to laugh…they tell jokes.  Most artists do the equivalent of telling, asking, demanding that people laugh, but then follow it up with a vanilla joke.

p.p.s. If you have to tell people to dance, you’re playing the wrong songs.



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I’m always interested in your perspective, whether affirming or dissenting. Continue the conversation anytime: gabethebassplayer@gmail.com

Sneak Peeks

Sneak peeks and teaser videos are for fans, not for new people or to get new fans. 

The fans are excited about the content.

The others are uninterested, teetering on annoyed…or most definitely annoyed.

Market accordingly. 

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I’m always interested in your perspective, whether affirming or dissenting. Continue the conversation anytime: gabethebassplayer@gmail.com

If You Don’t Have The Song pt. 2

The flip side to the post the other day would be….if you have the song.

What if you HAVE the song?  What if you have Uptown Funk sitting on your hard drive?

What do you do with it…could you get it heard? What’s the plan?

I know…THE song opens new opportunities and new plans precisely because it’s the song. But for all the wishing you had the song…what if you actually did?

Think about it.  Where do you take it…how to you make sure your Uptown Funk is as big as Uptown Funk?

Here’s one part of the plan…if you have the song…don’t stop playing it.  Even when it gets to be a year old, two years old, three years old.  Even when it hasn’t hit yet.  Don’t stop playing it.

You may or may not have the perfect chain of people to play your smash for, but keep leading with it.  Keep putting it into the world.

If you have the song, keep pushing, keep playing.

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I’m always interested in your perspective, whether affirming or dissenting. Continue the conversation anytime: gabethebassplayer@gmail.com

When You’re Maxed Out

When you’re doing all you can do, you can’t do more…because you’re doing everything possible, you’re maxed out.

So it’s tempting to learn how you can do more…expand your capacity.

But you’ll never be able to expand your capacity enough to do everything that needs to be done.

Instead of endlessly learning to increase your own capacity, invite people in.  Increase your ability to delegate, to inspire, to articulate a vision that others can latch on to.

You can only do so much.  You will reach your max.  If that point hasn’t come, hopefully it will soon. 

And when it does, choose to reach outward, not inward.

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I’m always interested in your perspective, whether affirming or dissenting. Continue the conversation anytime: gabethebassplayer@gmail.com

If You Don’t Have The Song

If you don’t have the song, abandon all else until you have it.

And you will know it when you have it.

Artists are insecure, second guessing melodies and lyrics, laboring over the pre-chorus lift, losing sleep over if the right co-writers are in the room, praying the label will like it.

But for all of the uncertainty, when you have the song, a different sort of feeling will come over you.  Its more of a ‘knowing’ than a ‘feeling’.

The insecurity washes away and you remember how to be a stable adult.

Go into the void.  Write more. Or maybe write less.  But stop at nothing to get that song

p.s. True “knowing” is not at all forced either. It’s not a put on, you don’t have to conjure it up, it’s not fake whatsoever.  And as I’m sure you know, It’s easy to fake it a little bit.  100% knowing is worlds apart from 99% knowing.



I’m always interested in your perspective, whether affirming or dissenting. Continue the conversation anytime: gabethebassplayer@gmail.com

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