Forgetting

Becoming astute in cracking the code of the ‘how to make it'…i.e. memorizing the answers, memorizing the map, figuring it out…

…to go along with that, you’re going to have to be very good at forgetting.

All the answers you memorize are going to change. The mountain range on the map is going to move.

And now the old ‘knowing’ doesn’t really do you a whole lot of good. It’s best to forget as quickly as possible what you once knew in favor of what it has turned into.

That’s why it’s hard for a manager to break a second baby act. They have a really hard time forgetting the way they broke their first one.

We all want to believe we’re building our knowledge toward the sure-thing, the repeatable process.

But more than ever we need to be willing to forget in order to adapt quicker.

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

The Truck Driver

I got caught in slow city traffic behind a big pickup truck. The truck driver was slowing down for everyone who wanted to turn into our lane from the side streets.

I was furious. This driver thought they were being the nicest person on the planet by letting everyone in…but being nice to all those people meant he had to slow the rest of us down.

He was not being nice and friendly and considerate to me.


If the driver slows down, the people behind are mad. If the driver doesn’t slow down to let people in, the side street people are mad.


Sometimes you’re going to have to be ok with being the truck driver.


***Artists especially hate being the truck driver. That’s why you need to hire a good manager. But sometimes you’re just going to have to choose which people you’re going to piss off (for now) and keep on down the road.

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

Nightcap 18

Remember, when you see those amazing freshman college football players, that just a few months earlier they were asking for a hall pass to go to the bathroom.  

It’s hard to rinse the suds off of a colander.

It seems ultimately appropriate when a lady says she’s going to get dressed and then goes and gets a dress on.

Why is it that the people who are able to buy my house for cash can only afford to let me know via a hand written tag board sign at a stoplight?

If you’re smiling when you read the words: Jellyfish- Spilt Milk, we have a deep connection.

Don’t get distracted by readiness from willingness. The latter is much more powerful.

***Yep, there are 17 nightcap posts prior to this one. Just little thoughts that didn’t turn into full posts. Search ‘nightcap’ on the blog to read the rest.

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

Support Live Music

The cry of many an artist. They cry of many a venue and booking agency.

And ‘support’ might be the right word at the beginning.

When I was in middle school and high school it was nice that my family and friends came out to the shows to support me…and believe me it was borderline charity work for them to have to endure those shows.

But an artist career can’t be built on support. It can’t be built on people doing you a favor. It can’t be build on ‘support live music’.

I don’t go to U2 to support U2. I don’t buy an iPhone to support Apple.

Your career must be built on the fan paying for a ticket and feeling like they received something even greater in return.

But if the finger is turned and we look at bands and artists and tell them Support Live Music!…how would a band or artist support live music?

By putting on a better show. By making sure that when the people defy all odds and make it to your show that you deliver in a way that doesn’t say ‘thanks for supporting live music’ but instead ‘you’re welcome for the experience, I’m sure we’ll see each other again next time’.

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

On What People Think

I’ve heard it from artists in more than a couple meetings, podcasts, videos…read it in more than a couple articles, social media posts and interviews…

Regarding the new song or the new record or the new hair or new logo…

‘We just don’t care about what people think anymore.’

As though it’s an enlightened achievement, a badge of honor and maturity.

And maybe…just maybe it could be. Just maybe what is actually meant by it is…

“It’s not that we don’t care about what people think anymore and are now completely selfish, inconsiderate, detached and narcissistic…but rather, we simply know better than ever before the group of people whose thoughts we care deeply for, and if you’re not on that train we’re happy to not have you on board.”

Yeah, that’s probably what you meant.


***A short note to the crew who came over here today from Seth’s blog. I’m glad you’re here. The quickest of refreshers: I live in Nashville, I played bass for a bunch of artists, then I was in a band called The Kicksfor most of my 20’s, now I’m a live show producer (i.e. don’t used the cat walk till the 3rd song, smile more during that outro) and develop artists overall careers.

I respond to email in a timely fashion.

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

Blog Post One Thousand

This is the one thousandth time I’ve sat down to write a blog post.

On one hand, that’s a lot of sitting. On the other hand, that’s a lot of blog posts.

A few years ago at the very beginning I was the only subscriber, then my wife Sarah subscribed so I could feel good about doubling my subscriber-ship…and now a lot more people read the blog everyday.

Thank you for reading. It makes the journey really fun.

And to be out around town, or get an email or a phone call and have someone mention a post from a week ago or a year ago is truly a thrill, and I love diving into those conversations.

I’ve never had a hit post, never gone viral, never had a big re-tweet, never made a single dollar from the blog. But that was never what this blog was for.

This blog started out and continues to be a platform that helps me recommit, everyday, to care for the world around me…which is the world of the music and entertainment business.

Here’s what a thousand blog posts has done…it’s changed my mind.

I can tell you from experience, that is the power of a thousand blog posts.

Showing up everyday to contribute, connect, challenge, care about and care for…that changes me. Certainly not to perfection, but certainly in the right direction.

So I’m going to keep going.

Thank you for going with me.


A parting message for blog post one thousand:

Whether you’re in the music business for two weeks or twenty years, it can be worth your time. The more you open your eyes the more of its worth you will experience.


***One more thing…I’d to say a special Thank You to Wes Kao and Seth Godin for throwing out a challenge a few years ago to blog everyday for a week, which has now turned into this. I needed that challenge, and I’m so very glad you gave it.

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