Being Known For A Song

Where The Streets Have No Name- U2

Rehab- Amy Winehouse

Hello- Adele

Piano Man- Billy Joel

Every artist wants to be known for a song. A calling card. A song where when the first few micro seconds of the intro begin, everyone instantly knows it and freaks out.

Being known for a song is a good. It’ll keep cashflow happening and if you have a good manager you can really build a good living for being known for a song.

But for all the fame that ‘being known for a song’ can bring…what about ‘being known through a song’.

At the heart of every artist is a desire to ‘be known through’ more than ‘be known for’.

Being known through a song is the truly romantic, personal, painful, thankless, vulnerable part of being an artist.

Artists may write and track some lowest-common-denominator stuff, and thats fine…but that’s simply the part that wants to be known for and is afraid of being known through (or at least side-stepping being known through).

I hope you have both. I hope your smash is the song that you always wanted to be known for and also a song that you can be known through.

The idea of being known through a song is scary because if the song doesn’t become a hit, then you never get the pats on the back and the cashflow for putting yourself out there.  You just put yourself out there for the sake of putting yourself out there.  No accolades.  Are you willing to do that?

Being known for is great for your career.

Being known through is great for your artist heart, soul, and life.

Don’t miss a post. Sign up for free.

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

Music City Memes

Skip the rest of this blog post, get on Instagram and check out MusicCityMemes.

I’m about two months late to the party on this, but I just spent the last forty-five minutes going through every single post (there’s currently 247) and laughing out loud here on my couch.

A writer from Big Yellow Dog started it and it’s all the inside jokes you want to make about songwriting and sessions and cowriters but never had the audience to appreciate your sarcasm.

It’s so good.

Don’t miss a post. Sign up for free.

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

Nike Commercials

Nike commercials aren’t like Geico commercials.

Applebees commercials aren’t like Apple commercials.

Verizon commercials aren’t like the Mesothelioma commercials.

The look, the message and the way the message is delivered is very different for all of these.

Nike doesn’t care about saving you 15%. Nike wants you to believe you can be a great athlete. And great athletes wear Nike.

Applebees hopes they can get you in their restaurant this Thursday for a 2 for $20 entree. Apple is vying for your commitment forever and always.

Verizon wants to make your life easier. The mesothelioma ad wants to save your life.

You can envision all of these companies commercials. The way they look, what they say, what they leave out, the type of voice over, the type of music and you could probably even conjure up recollection and opinion on the camera angles used.

The commercials never told you to remember all of this information about the commercials themselves, but you do. Probably even more so than the particular product or sale being advertised.

Over time, you just know.  It just kinda ends up in your mind.

Pretty powerful.  A focused message done well over time.

Over time, what to people just know about you?

Don’t miss a post. Sign up for free.

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

When Your Surgeon is Your Plumber

It doesn’t help if the surgeon walks in and tells you about how he’s spent a lot of his time lately learning how to be a plumber and how he wants to open a little side business because he wants to diversify his skills and revenue streams, and he’s looking for new clients (i.e. you)

No. You don’t need him to be good at anything other than surgery.  You don’t need him to sell you anything other than surgery. You don’t need to think that he does anything other than spend all of his time being a really really really good surgeon.

It helps you if he helps you believe that all he does is live and breathe surgical procedures. 

Plain and simple.

The plumbing side business maybe TRUE, but it’s not USEFUL.

You don’t need to know all of the surgeons gifts, talents, interests, strengths and thoughts when you’re the one on the table.

It’s very important that the surgeon communicates and performs ONE thing very well.  

“The plumbing thing is great, and I’m sure you love rock climbing and cooking too, but right now absolutely none of that matters to me and in fact it’s confusing and causes me to question the one reason I’m here to see you.”


Stop trying to tell so many stories.

Your audience and potential audience need you to tell one story very well.  To be one thing very well. Consistently. Over and over. So they can develop trust and comfort with you. 

I know you have so many stories and sides of yourself that you want to share at your live show and through your PR campaigns and social media and your career.

But slow down…be one thing first. 

If you will be a great surgeon and fix me, and help me believe you’ll fix me, I’ll love you forever and come to you every time and give you all my money.

Don’t miss a post. Sign up for free.

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

Going To The Pep Rally

You don’t go to the pep rally to learn how many points a touchdown is worth (although you probably will if you don’t already)

You go because you enjoy the party.  

You don’t go to a Garth Brooks show to learn the words to the songs (although you probably will if you don’t already)

You go because you enjoy the party.

The show/pep rally isn’t designed to be informative, it’s designed to be experiential…for people to don’t play music or football (but love it) to enjoy the full effect of it anyway.

 
p.s.  It’s just not about informing your audience. I can’t stress this enough. We come to your show in hopes of having a moment that we can’t explain with information.  

A personal moment. Yeah, there were fireworks and confetti and an encore…but during that one song at that one moment there was just something special.  I can’t explain it. You had to be there.



Don’t miss a post. Sign up for free.

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

Hit Send More

If you’re a songwriter the best thing you can do everyday is to finish and send the song.

And by “finish” I mean, get it to a point where you believe it will get a reaction.

And by “send” I mean to the people you co-wrote it with, or to your A&R, or to your manager, or your bandmates, or people who want you to send it.

Songs are incredibly potent.  They’re a powder keg of potential excitement and action.

Hit send more.

Get more songs out there. Not necessarily to the public (although that wouldn’t be bad either), but to the world around you. The world that is looking for a song to take and do things with.  They take the song, attach themselves to it, and pass it along to someone else, taking a little credit for themselves.

The more you hit send the more reactions you’ll get.  The more reactions, the more people will remember the song and ultimately that you were the original sender.

Hit send more.

p.s. Important note here: you’re not in control of the timeline of the reactions or the reactions themselves.  That’s ok. Focus on your part of the bargain. 



Don’t miss a post. Sign up for free.

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